Sally Van Eycke's Twitch

Sally Van Eycke's Twitch
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Monday, August 14, 2017

Blue Apron - First Recipe - Black Pepper Beef

This post is to go along with my YouTube unboxing video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhZINWwRglY

And this blog is about my first recipe!

FIRST, though, you are probably asking "WTF is Blue Apron anyway?"

It's basically a lazy way to get delicious fresh ingredients and recipes sent to your doorstep like the partially lazy piece of crap you are. I might be projecting here a bit. I personally have a really hard time getting out and doing fresh grocery shopping with any kind of frequency. We go shopping like once a month. So that results in a lot of frozen food. This is nice for fresh.

"Sounds Expensive."

I'm not going to say this is cheap. Because it isn't. It's $60 basically for 3 meals a week for 2 adults. And our monthly huge grocery shopping haul is usually just under $300 (again for 2 adults). But, its fresh. Its delivered to your house. You are paying for convenience. And it's cheaper and healthier than ordering GrubHub for 3 nights a week! There are two huge ice blocks in the box that you can use again later in your cooler. So its not without reason behind the cost.

(click to en-biggen any photos)

You can change your plan and when it is delivered here:

Here are the other pricing options:




"Cool. I have dietary restrictions. What about that?"

I was really kind of irritated you couldn't list food allergies or other dietary restrictions. Specifically, I am on a Keto diet. And my mom is diabetic. I was trialing this to see if it was easy enough and had the right food options to test and see if I could get this for my mom as a gift. As it stands right now, I don't think I will get it for her. But I've only prepared 1 of 3 meals sent to me so far. There are options for vegetarian and what kind of meats you want. Check it out here:



FINALLY, on to the ACTUAL FOOD ITSELF. This is the first recipe I made. Its the Black Pepper Beef.

All the ingredients come labeled and in bags. With only a few exceptions. It also came with a handy card that said what to refrigerate and what not to. And even where to put it in the fridge.

The little paper bag had the sauces and seasonings. The only seasoning it called for that didn't come with it was salt. And it asked for olive oil for frying.

Again, the carbs on this were way too high for a Keto diet, so not entirely sure if I want to stick with this.

For prettiness, I did each step of the recipe and put them in nice little bowls. The literally give you a step by step. I do recommend reading them once through before proceeding though.

Here are all the vegetables in the wok. Bok choy, islander pepper, scallions, ginger, garlic. You do the rice vinegar 1 min before it comes out.

This is the already-cut meat.

I mixed the ponzu sauce, black pepper, sweet chili sauce into the little bowl. Moved the veg out and the meat in. After the meat was nearly all cooked, I put the veg back in and added the liquid.


Here is the final plate with the jasmine-garlic rice underneath and garnished with the chives.

This shows the front of the recipe card. The back has the step-by-step instructions.

OVERALL, I give it a 10 out of 10 for flavor and ease.

It was very delicious. And was the perfect amount for two adults. No leftovers. It took about 35+ minutes for me to do this. But I went a little beyond: I prepped everything first into dishes and then cooked it and washed the dishes while the next step cooked. I don't like a dirty kitchen and to me it was worth the extra time to have everything all laid out like a cooking show. 

This would be $240 if I get it every week of the month. And again, our normal monthly grocery bill is about the same-ish, $300. And sometimes we stretch more than a month. So is it worth the money? Eh, it really depends on what you normally spend. If you are going out to eat all the time? Sure. Probably cheaper. For me, maybe once a month would be OK. I cook on my own for much cheaper obviously. I ultimately don't think this is affordable for me personally. It was really yummy and I do think the instructions were easy to follow. But kinda pricey for me. 

Stay tuned to other reviews of similar services!


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