Becoming A Mom Chef

Since becoming a mom, I have found great joy in cooking for my family, and relish the entire process, from start to finish. Grocery shopping is no longer a chore. In fact, it’s become therapy in some ways, as a peaceful time when I am able to browse through the aisles, uninterrupted. Naturally, my trips to the market take place while the kids are in school, so I look at it as my quiet downtime. I do my best to cook dinner for my family at least four nights per week, and love getting the kids involved in help prep while in the kitchen. There’s no better feeling than all three actually eating an entire dinner, and asking me to make it again.

My recipe database is somewhat limited, so I am constantly asking friends and family what makes it onto their dinner menus. Like most of us, I only have an hour, if that, to prep dinner and cook each night, so the same meals with abbreviated prep time usually tend to make their way into the rotation. Recently, while chatting with two moms about new recipes, they started to rave about Blue Apron, and how convenient it was, paired with their hectic schedules. Blue Apron actually provides everything you need to prepare a meal, and most prep and cook times are under 45 minutes combined. Hearing that, I went home and placed my first order.

About a week after signing up, my first two meals of Soy Ginger Pork Meatballs with Zucchini and Snow Pea Fried Rice, and Seared Chicken with Crispy Smashed Potatoes and Green Beans arrived, in a refrigerated box, containing each and every ingredient needed, all measured out precisely. Also included were beautiful recipe and direction cards, and a fun wine paring sheet, which made preparing the recipes a breeze. I even downloaded the Blue Apron app, that offers quick cooking tutorials on how to properly mince, chop, caramelize, and more.  The directions and app proved to be a great help, because I always get tripped up when cooking something for the first time.

The Soy-Ginger Meatballs were up first. I rarely cook Asian inspired cuisine at home, but knowing we all enjoy those flavors, I knew this would be a hit. While I was cooking , the kids kept coming into the kitchen, watching what I was doing, compared to the colorful sheet provided. Needless to say, dinner the huge success, and I’m fully addicted to this new service.

I still need to shop at the grocery store, but having two meals a week fully prepared in advance, not only helps with planning out the week, but it’s been surprisingly cost effective. We are currently enrolled in two meals per week option for four people, which has proved to be plenty for our family of five.

I’ve discovered exciting, new seasonal and healthy recipes, and have been extremely impressed with their specialty ingredients. All of their meats are naturally raised, on antibiotic and hormone-free diets. We are three weeks into our Blue Apron subscription, and I’m totally digging my new mom chef role. It’s been pretty neat watching the kids enjoy seeing what our dinner plans are before I even start cooking, and they love taking part in the process. So looking forward to our delivery next week, where I will be making Shredded BBQ Sliders and a Red, White & Blue Quiche!

Psyched to offer all SITC readers your first 2 meals free upon signing up or $20 off your first order HERE!