Blue Apron 2-Person Box Review

Blue Apron gave product (a courtesy 2-person box) in exchange for this unbiased review. Not a Boomerang's Readers are eligible for a limited-time special discount- receive two free meals by subscribing today!

Blue Apron "makes incredible home cooking accessible by delivering original recipes and fresh ingredients to customers nationwide. Launched in 2012, Blue Apron is the largest fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the United States and delivers over 5 million meals a month to its loyal following of home chefs, with delivery currently reaching 99 percent of the continental United States. By reinventing the grocery supply chain from the farm to the dinner table, Blue Apron is able to source the highest quality, seasonal ingredients, that are fresher and more affordable than customers can get on their own at their local supermarket. Chefs around the world wear blue aprons when learning to cook, and the blue apron has become a symbol of lifelong learning in cooking. Blue Apron encourages this lifelong learning by introducing customers to new ingredients, flavors and cooking techniques with every recipe it creates. For more information, visit: blueapron.com."

The box comes packed in insulated freezer bags resting on top of thick ice packs. This made the package much heavier than I anticipated, but is convenient because busy subscribers do not have to worry about food (including raw meat) spoiling if left out on a doorstep. In fact, this worked perfectly in my case because my husband had no idea what this was and left it out for hours. Everything was edible and refrigerated. I was relieved.

Here is what you see after opening up the box. Ooh...ahh...

And here is what all of the goodies look like unboxed. There was so much food!

Three meals, three reviews:

• Recipe: Seared Pork Chops & Plum Salsa
• Recipe: Lemongrass Chicken Burgers with Hoisin Mayo and Roasted Potato Wedges
• Recipe: Brown Butter Cod with Corn, Shishito Peppers, & Purple Potatoes

This isn't a food blog. This is a personal finance blog. How do the numbers pan out?

Most importantly, is it worth signing up for?

Blue Apron: Lemongrass Chicken Burgers

Blue Apron gave product (a courtesy 2-person box) in exchange for this unbiased review. Not a Boomerang's Readers are eligible for a limited-time special discount- receive two free meals by subscribing today!

Makes: 2 servings

Calories: ~800 per serving

Prep: 15 min.

Cook time: 20-30 min.

Burgers are an American staple. There are so many ways to cook a burger well, and sometimes a few extra ingredients can take a burger from pretty good to extraordinary. In my household, the difference is usually the type of bun and/or cheese used, and whether or not there will be bacon or avocado. Hint: Always say 'yes' to bacon and/or avocado. 

Artisan potato buns? We're there. Chicken burger? Hmm...healthier than beef. An Asian twist on a classic? I'm in. Let's give it a go.

On to the meal!

Blue Apron: Brown Butter Cod

Blue Apron gave product (a courtesy 2-person box) in exchange for this unbiased review. Not a Boomerang's Readers are eligible for a limited-time special discount- receive two free meals by subscribing today!

Makes: 2 servings

Calories: ~590 per serving

Prep: 15 min.

Cook time: 25-35 min.

I was raised on seafood - salmon, crabs, mussels, lobster, squid, octopus, shrimp. Cod fish (see: health benefits and risks), while easily found in stores, and I do not often cross paths. The wild-caught fillets included in this meal were hearty enough for two people but would have been skimping if made for three. Other than that I was comfortable with all of the ingredients in this recipe, and looked forward to trying purple potatoes. Nutrition-wise, they are very similar to Russet potatoes except they contain more anthocyanin (causing the purple hue) which is high in antioxidants. 

On to the meal!

Blue Apron: Seared Pork Chops & Plum Salsa

Blue Apron gave product (a courtesy 2-person box) in exchange for this unbiased review. Not a Boomerang's Readers are eligible for a limited-time special discount- receive two free meals by subscribing today!

Makes: 2 servings

Calories: ~800 per serving

Prep: 10 min.

Cook time: 25-35 min.

I was excited to try cooking a new dinner recipe, something protein-based with some gourmet flair. Blue Apron included several ingredients I never used before (farro and scallions) and a few intimidating others- kale usually results in something inedible (my attempts, anyway), mixing fruit into dinner is a roll of the dice (usually ending up with my husband not-so-subtly grimacing when he sees it on his plate near "real food") and I'm allergic to almonds. I was not entirely confident I could make it work. 

On to the meal!

How to Get Your Money's Worth from Beauty and Personal Care Products

According to a recent Washington Post article, most American women are more likely to buy luxe beauty products over clothing. However, I recommend using samples first. Shaking brand loyalty is a little more difficult to do.

I spend hundreds each year on personal care products and cosmetics, but most upscale brands simply cost too much for the average person, myself included, to grab on a whim. With Sephora letting customers have up to three samples per in-store visit and plenty of competitors giving away free trial sizes online, I am part of a new wave of consumers the common retailer may struggle to engage. 

Poor packaging only compounds the pricing pain point. Why would I buy something that is not only difficult to use, wasteful even, and expensive? Before throwing out that next shampoo bottle, open the cap and take a look inside. You will be surprised by how much is left- that's a lot of discarded money over time.

Nars Satin Lip Pencil (deluxe sample shown) retails for $26 for 0.07 oz. 

The solution? Scissors, in most cases. In the above, I used a matchstick after cutting the sample open because anything else would have been too large. A small spatula with an extended handle is cost-effective and can get the job done too.

MDSolarSciences Mineral Tinted Crème Broad Spectrum SPF 30 UVA-UVB: $32 for 1.7 oz.

It may seem petty and cheap to bother, but doing this greatly extends the "life" of most products by 3-5 days on average, and full-sized products even longer. In short, you will notice a cost difference over time. Your bank account balance will thank you.

Half Full & Empty Cart Friday

A tell-all of what I resisted and impulsively bought this week.

New Year, Better You, Fuller Wallet

Your credit line(s) and/or bank account(s) may not have recovered from the haze of holiday shopping but that's what setting a New Year resolution is all about! Right?! This is the year you're going to get out of debt! This is the year things turn around!

That's fantastic, but not so fast.

I know how this works. We're all going to save more. For retirement. From each paycheck. At the end of each month. We'll spend less too, but only after so-and-so's birthday. Or best friend's wedding. Or after replacing yet another car tire. And while we're on it, we're going to exercise every day without fail, every other day, every other week, when nothing good is on tv, etc. C'mon! I'm the queen of that kind of talk, so I know. And it's okay.

There's always room for improvement. Setting goals then working toward them is admirable. However, it's easy to get derailed before even having a chance to begin. My New Year's Challenge to you is to set your goals and work admirably toward them, but do so by using resources you already have, free of charge or currently owned without buying anything new.

Some examples:
Don't get sucked into that new gym membership until you've used a friend's free guest pass a few times and you've worked it into your budget. If willing to go for it, cut something else back from your monthly expenses to balance it out.

By all means, eat healthier. If you use coupons, buy seasonally (and pre-cut/frozen), shop by unit price, and look for local deals you can make it work. Tally up how much you spend on not-so-good-for-you food each week and there is your new allocation for more nutritious items. Crunch the numbers before heading out to the grocery store with a whole new list of things to buy.

My financial goals for this year...

Bed Bath & Beyond Haul

After finding out that Bed Bath & Beyond will be scaling back on their generous coupon offers, I finally put a large gift card and stash of 20% and $5 off coupons to good use.

Here's a breakdown of what I bought-