Blue Apron- the down low on chef-inspired recipes on your doorstep!

I'll be honest here... I'm not a huge fan of cooking.

It's not that I don't actually like to cook. Really, it's a combination of challenges that combine to making cooking virtually anything but an unpleasant feat.

1. My girls hate anything I make. Seriously. If McDonald's made shrimp po'boys, they'd eat them like there's no tomorrow. When Mom makes them, time to whine, throw your food and act as though they are made from pure poison.

2. I hate shopping for ingredients. For two reasons. Either: 1. I buy a large amount of an obscure ingredient I don't otherwise want or need, such as an odd type of vinegar or a bizarre seasoning. I'll spend $10 when I just need one teaspoon and the rest will sit in my pantry for years until I toss it. Or 2. I get home and go to prep a meal, only to realize I don't actually have enough of an ingredient that is key to the recipe, such as eggs or butter or flour. So I either have to go back to the store or find a new recipe.

3. Lastly, cooking takes time. Especially if I have to slice, dice, prep, etc. I don't mind the work, really. It's just that... My girls can do a large amount of damage in a small amount of time. And, referring you back to reason one, my girls will not only color on all my walls while I dice onions, they will then refuse to eat until I heat up turkey dogs and pull the tops of strawberries so they don't starve to death because, gross, Mom has lost her mind if she thinks I'm going to eat whatever she has prepared.

So when a friend offered me a totally free trial of Blue Apron, I jumped at the chance. It was totally free- and provided by a friend who subscribes to the service, not Blue Apron itself. So my opinion is totally my own and not influenced by the company at all.

I got online to Blueapron.com and selected my meal plan. I could choose between three meals in a week that each served two, or two meals in one week that each served four. Because we are a family of five, I selected the later, knowing that it would at least feed the hubby and me and maybe produce leftovers when my girls refused to eat the mom-prepared meals.

I'm fairly picky about meat- I spent many years a vegetarian before adding turkey and chicken back to my diet. To my Texas-born husband's dismay, I still will not touch red meat, bacon, pork or anything game-y, and Blue Apron gave me the opportunity to tell them this. I answered their questions about my eating preferences, and they assigned my recipes using my profile.

There was a week delay on my order, so I ordered on a Wednesday and it was delivered on a Tuesday, almost exactly two weeks later. The box arrived on my door step fully insulated, so it didn't matter that it was delivered in the morning and I wasn't home until early afternoon. My favorite part of the whole process was that it came with absolutely everything I needed to make each recipe, from fresh garlic to two tablespoons of butter to the meat required for the recipe. This definitely made me like Blue Apron immediately.

I unpacked all the items and separated them by recipe. I was assigned Chicken Rollatini with spinach and Parmesan and Shrimp Po'Boys with homemade slaw. Each recipe came with a print out of directions complete with recipe, ingredients and step-by-step instructions. Basically, even a novice cook like myself couldn't, in theory, mess it up. Another win.

I chose to make the Chicken Rollatini that night. So I got out all the ingredients and got to work. My biggest complaint in the process was that I had to prep everything. Not a single item came sliced, diced, or otherwise prepped and ready for the recipe, unless you count that a few items came in the serving size needed for the recipe. I had to mince onions and dice capers and ready everything for cooking. The recipe sheet said that the process should take me 35 minutes from start to dinner,and I would say this was incredibly accurate. I followed each step to a tee, and I was pleased to find out that each step I prepared looked like the pictures on my recipe sheet- a good sign I wasn't screwing anything up!

I served the meal to my parents and my oldest, and I had the fourth helping. My little two tried a bit of the pasta but refused to eat the chicken (typical). The meal was actually really good! I was pleasantly surprised that, for as involved and gourmet as the meal felt when I was preparing, it turned out as it was supposed to. Even my parents and oldest daughter complimented me!

While I would say that the serving size on this meal was accurate- it could easily feed the four of us- I prepared the Shrimp Po'Boys two days later and would say that a meal for four it was not. My husband and I alone could have eaten the four sandwiches, which would have been fine because all three of my girls refused to even try them anyway. This recipe took more prep- lots of slicing, dicing, mixing, marinating- and it was, again, about 35 minutes from start to dinner.

Overall, I really liked my experience with Blue Apron. I did not continue past the two meals- I would need to do some thinking before committing long-term to a program like this. The cost of two meals twice a week that are meant to feed four people is about $65, which I find a bit steep. However, it was nice for a change to get to actually "make" dinner, rather than just heating something on the stove that I pulled out of the freezer or microwaving turkey dogs and dicing fruit for my boring eaters.

Two things that would probably make me stay- 1. Easier recipes. Yes, it was nice to know that I prepped these meals from start to finish, but 35 minute meals aren't typically I have time for in the evenings. We run from dance to gymnastics, fit in homework and reading and meetings. If some of the items that needed to be sliced and diced came, well, sliced and diced, that would be a total game changer! 2. Cheaper prices. $65 a week for two meals is a bit pricey. My grocery budget for the week is typically between $100-$120 for breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Continuing with Blue Apron would eat up half that budget and yield me two meals and maybe enough for one extra when you factor in leftovers.

What about you, reader? Do you use any of the home delivery meals? Which services have you tried? Are there others that would work better for me? I'd love to hear your thoughts!