It's like dining at home

[Long Run]

I've tried Blue Apron food delivery service for a couple of weeks. Here is a good article comparing various meal-to-prepare businesses and I pretty much agree with her assessment: http://observer.com/2016/01/we-tried-bl ... -the-best/

The model is you select from a menu of meals, and then all of the ingredients are shipped to your house in a cooled box. You follow the recipe card and voila, you are a hero who just cooked a tasty home cooked meal. The upsides are apparent: you don't have to go shopping; you get only the amount of food you need for the meal; the meal is pretty good; and the cost is fairly reasonable ($8-12 per person per meal for decent to good ingredients).

The downside is that you still have to do all of the food prep, including washing the vegetables, cutting them; you have several things going at once so you have no down time, so between the prep, cooking and serving, you are working in the kitchen non-stop for 75 minutes. Doesn't sound like an easy meal to me (at least not compared to my typical lineup of weeknight dishes that taste better and require about half the time and effort). While the delivery meal prices are reasonable, they are still higher than if you go to the market and buy higher quality ingredients, and I don't mind shopping most of the time since my neighborhood has a ton of great stores where I regularly bump into friends.

One of the big downsides is all the packaging you have to deal with. The big cardboard box is easy enough to recycle, or use as a cat trap or child toy (or vice versa), but it still will take up a big chunk of your recycle bin. There are big ice packs, that you have to cut open, drain, and then recycle with your other plastic bags. There is a big insulation bag that is not recyclable that just gets thrown out, and then all of the smaller plastic bags that do not have recycle symbols that get thrown out. Between the delivery effort, and all the packing materials, your carbon footprint just grew a size.

I wonder how these firms will do after the potential customers give their services a try. Given the time and effort to prepare a meal -- 75 minutes plus all the cleanup after -- this service does not meet the needs of those looking for a simple meal. Those who like to cook are going to quickly tire of all the boxing, bagging, recycling, etc., plus most who like to cook, also like to improvise and generally want to pick out their own ingredients at the store. That leaves the person who wants to cook a meal, but is inexperienced, and there just aren't that many of these folks out there (plus, at some point, they become competent and grow beyond the meal in a box). Any others have experience with these services?

[Sue U]

My mom tried out Blue Apron for a couple of weeks as an introductory offer or a gift or something a year or two back. Not worth it. I suppose if you are single and live somewhere far removed from a halfway decent grocery store that's only open while you're at work it might be a not-terrible option.

At my house we like to cook, and we can generally prepare dinner for a family of 5 with less than a half hour of prep and an average cost of $2 per person or less. Tonight we're having spatchcocked chicken with garlic chutney rub, basmati rice, curried okra and an arugula salad. I prepped the chicken in under 10 minutes before I left for work; making the rice, okra and salad will all be done during the half hour it takes to cook the chicken. Total cost will be about $1.55 per person. And we'll probably have some leftover chicken that I can throw on a caesar salad for lunch tomorrow.

[rubato]

I guess I don't see the advantage of it. I still have to go to the market for miscellaneous things for breakfast and lunch and stock items like coffee and wine. And I would prefer to select my own produce.

They seem to be trying to find a space in between going out to dinner (or getting takeout) and shopping and cooking for yourself. If there was a way I would short the stock.

Tonight we're having spatchcocked chicken

We haven't done that in a while, thanks for the reminder.

yrs,
rubato

[Guinevere]

Not for me, thanks. I like cooking and even if I don't have a ton of time during the week, I usually cook enough over the week to have the pieces of a different meal, or leftovers.

All that packaging would be the absolute end for me. Non, merci. I'd rather just go out for a meal and support a local biz.

[Guinevere]

My mom tried out Blue Apron for a couple of weeks as an introductory offer or a gift or something a year or two back. Not worth it. I suppose if you are single and live somewhere far removed from a halfway decent grocery store that's only open while you're at work it might be a not-terrible option.

At my house we like to cook, and we can generally prepare dinner for a family of 5 with less than a half hour of prep and an average cost of $2 per person or less. Tonight we're having spatchcocked chicken with garlic chutney rub, basmati rice, curried okra and an arugula salad. I prepped the chicken in under 10 minutes before I left for work; making the rice, okra and salad will all be done during the half hour it takes to cook the chicken. Total cost will be about $1.55 per person. And we'll probably have some leftover chicken that I can throw on a caesar salad for lunch tomorrow.

Curried okra?

I've had it in my local Indian joint where they manage to make okra palatable, but it takes skills. You got those kinds of skills?

[Sue U]

Sweetie, I love okra, whether a real bhindi masala, deep-fried or in a Louisiana gumbo or maque-choux. (Our kids love it, too.) For a weeknight, we just take whole baby okra (frozen is fine, fresh when in season) and saute with oil, butter, salt and madras curry powder until softened. You can also steam it in a covered pan if you don't want to saute. What's not to like?

[Guinevere]

Texture. Slimy.... Ugh.

[oldr_n_wsr]

La. Gumbo. Good stuff.

[Big RR]

IMHO--gumbo is the highest destination to which okra can aspire---and it is a lofty position well worthy of oldr's "good stuff" (from him that's a rave.

[rubato]

In gumbo okra is just a thickener. By itself it is a slimy icky mess.


yrs,
rubato

[Guinevere]

Yes, I love good gumbo. The skillz I was referring to were for okra outside of gumbo, in and off itself (although it can still get slimy if not handled properly in gumbo, too).

[Sue U]

Yes, I love good gumbo. The skillz I was referring to were for okra outside of gumbo, in and off itself (although it can still get slimy if not handled properly in gumbo, too).

I thought you was a southern girl. Well, Bawlimer at least.

[Guinevere]

And yet they named a musical after you, hon!

[Gob]

I guess I don't see the advantage of it. I still have to go to the market for miscellaneous things for breakfast and lunch and stock items like coffee and wine. And I would prefer to select my own produce.

Ditto.

We've been thinking about doing this;

https://www.eatwith.com/

[Bicycle Bill]

And yet they named a musical after you, hon!

Which one was that — "Wicked"? 

-"BB"-