Grocery/ meal kit delivery service

[capt14k 2,052]

I am sorry but Blue Apron looks like a ripoff and is completely unnecessary. My wife watches food network and reads cookbooks for new recipes. Then she goes to Wegmans and buys the fresh ingredients. What is so hard about that?

 

I eat mostly seafood. I looked at Blue Apron's family plan for the next month and I saw one seafood dish per week. Each week of course that dish is made up of a cheap fish that is certainly not locally sourced. I would be willing to bet not wild caught either, being they are Talapia, Salmon, Barramundi, and Shrimp. What you are more than likely getting is frozen farmed fish where the Vietnamese crap in the same ponds the food you are eating is raised. No thanks. I go for the wild caught, ideally fresh not frozen. By going to Wegman's or Pete's Fishery I know the seafood is Good and American. Instead of frozen Vietcong large shrimp which I consider the size of salad shrimp I usually get Gulf Pinks or Atlantic White Shrimp never smaller than U16 usually U12. I'm not a big fan of Salmon but if we buy it it's Alaskan Wild Caught which is red in color not pink. The farm raised if red it's because they chemically altered it. Usually I go for Florida Grouper, Atlantic Cod, or Sashimi Grade Tuna. Scallops are one of my favorites and you can get fresh day boat dry sea scallops.

 

I'm not a big fan of chicken but my wife and kids like it. I watched an episode of Dirty Jobs that turned me off to mass produced chicken and eggs. Told my wife buy the chicken that is marked free range organic hormone free. She has never bought anything else. Eggs I get from a friend who has Rhode Island Reds that live like royalty. What a difference fresh eggs make.

 

From what I can see of Blue Apron's meal selection you could get close to the same thing by buying the frozen packaged meals at Sam's Club and for a whole lot less money and it will be even more time saving.

 

 

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[capt14k 2,052]

I just looked at the portion sizes from Blue Apron. 4.5oz burgers? 6oz of chicken? One Talapia Filet? They should revive the where's the beef campaign.

 

 

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[gleninjersey 2,139]

For regular grocery delivery my wife uses Pea Pod.  As for concerns with freshness, we have had some expired items delivered.  Wife calls them and they credit the account.  I don't believe they give her a hard time about it at all.

Been using them for a few years now.  They bring the groceries right to the kitchen table.  Tip the delivery person a few dollars.  We haven't been grocery shopping in at least two years if not more.  HUGE time saver.

As for recipes or trying new things.  YouTube.  Several YouTube channels will walk you through everything.  I just made up a venison chili con carne last night.  Recipe was on BuckMasters (I think). I'll also use Tumblr to find good looking dishes.  There is usually a link to a YouTube video in the Tumblr post.  I've made cauliflower "mashed potatoes", low carb cauliflower pizza, taco soup, sweet potatoes French fries, etc all from posts I found on Tumblr.

[Darrenf 422]

2 hours ago, capt14k said:

I just looked at the portion sizes from Blue Apron. 4.5oz burgers? 6oz of chicken? One Talapia Filet? They should revive the where's the beef campaign.

 

 

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At this point my wife and I have had over 400 meals from Blue Apron, I can only remember one leaving us still a bit hungry. I also think we are up to 4 meals that we felt didn't taste fantastic and 1 that we actually threw out.  Pretty good record in my opinion.  As to costs, we have tried to replicate some of their meals, and more times than not it costs us more to get the same quality of ingredients on our own.  Blue Apron is not only convenient, it is also cost effective for us.  

 

[capt14k 2,052]

At this point my wife and I have had over 400 meals from Blue Apron, I can only remember one leaving us still a bit hungry. I also think we are up to 4 meals that we felt didn't taste fantastic and 1 that we actually threw out.  Pretty good record in my opinion.  As to costs, we have tried to replicate some of their meals, and more times than not it costs us more to get the same quality of ingredients on our own.  Blue Apron is not only convenient, it is also cost effective for us.  

 

1/4 lb burger before cooking is very small. A good burger is double that in size. One fish filet certainly wouldn't fill me up. I also like having leftovers for lunch. Saves on buying lunch.


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[Darrenf 422]

6 minutes ago, capt14k said:

 

1/4 lb burger before cooking is very small. A good burger is double that in size. One fish filet certainly wouldn't fill me up. I also like having leftovers for lunch. Saves on buying lunch.


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Maybe for you, but the protein is only part of the dish.  Last night's meal was Ribeye and roasted veggies with kale.  I finished the ribeye but couldn't finish the veggies, my wife still had about 2 ounces of ribeye and some veggies left, which are packed in her lunch for today.  
 

And it's funny that you say a "good" burger.  Let me tell you something, you haven't had a good burger until you've had a Blue Apron burger.  We literally get giddy when we see that a burger is on the menu, because they are out of this world, on par with anything I have had from a number of gourmet places. 
 

Maybe it wouldn't work for you, but I am telling you from experience that it has been a fantastic experience for us.

 

Here is last night's meal.

[capt14k 2,052]

I also wouldn't eat anything these animals touched.

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[fishnut 2,358]

We used to use dream dinners allot. Order a month or two online and pick it up in the store. Its very conveniant for us because the store is in town. I think they might deliver for a fee also but not sure. Its great for when we don' have allot of time to cook but don't want takeout and I refuse to eat fast food. Its not.quite on the same level as blue apron but it's also cheaper. I believe they average around 10 bucks for two of us for dinner. 

In the past year we have kinda of gotten away from them and I've been using the yummly app and it' been great. I book mark meals I want to make through out the next week and on Saturdays I check mark each ingredient I need to buy and it makes a grocery list in the app. Then I shop on Sundays for what I need. 

[capt14k 2,052]

Maybe for you, but the protein is only part of the dish.  Last night's meal was Ribeye and roasted veggies with kale.  I finished the ribeye but couldn't finish the veggies, my wife still had about 2 ounces of ribeye and some veggies left, which are packed in her lunch for today.  
 
And it's funny that you say a "good" burger.  Let me tell you something, you haven't had a good burger until you've had a Blue Apron burger.  We literally get giddy when we see that a burger is on the menu, because they are out of this world, on par with anything I have had from a number of gourmet places. 
 
Maybe it wouldn't work for you, but I am telling you from experience that it has been a fantastic experience for us.
 
Here is last night's meal.

I'm really not a fan of red meat. If I'm eating meat it is usually pork or venison. If I eat red meat it's the occasional burger, filet, or prime rib. Ribeye doesn't usually cut it for me. Yes it is the same cut, but you lose taste and tenderness because most ribeye are cooked without the bone and not roasted.

If you are cooking the burger don't you think you could make a better burger going to the store and buying your own meat? Best burgers are those made at home where you decide what meat you are using and what ingredients are going into it. A good burger has minimum requirement of 1/2 lb of meat.

I have to ask how you knew your wife had 2oz of meat left? Did you weigh it post meal or is it based on half the meat was left because there was 4oz to begin with? 2oz of meat is a large bite for me. Maybe for my wife it would work for lunch. I usually cut my filets into 10oz portions and Prime Rib into 16oz portions.

I have to say I am surprised so many on this forum order prepared meals. I would have guessed AVB did, but not many others.

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[Darrenf 422]

I'm really not a fan of red meat. If I'm eating meat it is usually pork or venison. If I eat red meat it's the occasional burger, filet, or prime rib. Ribeye doesn't usually cut it for me. Yes it is the same cut, but you lose taste and tenderness because most ribeye are cooked without the bone and not roasted.

If you are cooking the burger don't you think you could make a better burger going to the store and buying your own meat? Best burgers are those made at home where you decide what meat you are using and what ingredients are going into it. A good burger has minimum requirement of 1/2 lb of meat.

I have to ask how you knew your wife had 2oz of meat left? Did you weigh it post meal or is it based on half the meat was left because there was 4oz to begin with? 2oz of meat is a large bite for me. Maybe for my wife it would work for lunch. I usually cut my filets into 10oz portions and Prime Rib into 16oz portions.

I have to say I am surprised so many on this forum order prepared meals. I would have guessed AVB did, but not many others.

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The ribeye was 13 ounces. I actually weighed it before I cooked it. She had about a third of her portion left.

[capt14k 2,052]

The ribeye was 13 ounces. I actually weighed it before I cooked it. She had about a third of her portion left.

Was it 13oz each? If so that is a decent size portion.

 

Or are you estimating 1/2 of 13oz and then 1/3 of that?

 

 

 

[fishnut 2,358]

Uuuum last time I checked (friday) venison is red meat. I don't know what your eating @capt14k but I'm guessing it's pretty gross if your venison is not red. Also how do you know the fish you buy from wegmans is always us caught and fresh? Because they told you so? Hate to break it to you but fish mongers are pretty much all liers. 

[Darrenf 422]

Was it 13oz each? If so that is a decent size portion.

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No it was 13 ounces total. Like I said, it was plenty.

[capt14k 2,052]

No it was 13 ounces total. Like I said, it was plenty.

Not to be a stickler, but 13oz raw ribeye = 10oz cooked (on average) so if she had half of it to start it would be a 5oz portion and 1/3 left it would be 1 2/3 oz.

Makes for a good word problem for helping kids with fractions, weights, and it can be an algebraic expression.

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[capt14k 2,052]

Uuuum last time I checked (friday) venison is red meat. I don't know what your eating [mention=8404]capt14k[/mention] but I'm guessing it's pretty gross if your venison is not red. Also how do you know the fish you buy from wegmans is always us caught and fresh? Because they told you so? Hate to break it to you but fish mongers are pretty much all liers. 

 

I suppose Venison is red meat but dark red meat. I would also include Bison in that class. When I was referring to red meat I meant beef from cow.

 

When you buy, eat, and cook as much seafood as I do for as long as I have you can pick out good seafood from look and smell. I would never buy from Wooly's. They have been caught multiple times swapping fish and selling skate wing as scallops.

 

Fluke, Flounder, and Blue Claw I usually catch my own.

 

 

 

 

 

[tattooo 220]

Switch between Home chef & Hello fresh but prefer Hello fresh and love the cost, convenience and variety.

 

 

[silverado427 10,681]

We tried Blue Apron  and I didn't like it, My wife was ok with it But I'm a picky SOB.

[Zeke 5,504]

7 minutes ago, silverado427 said:

We tried Blue Apron  and I didn't like it, My wife was ok with it But I'm a picky SOB.

Explain? Like portions or, jus sucked

[silverado427 10,681]

24 minutes ago, Zeke said:

Explain? Like portions or, jus sucked

jus sucked

[Zeke 5,504]

Just now, silverado427 said:

jus sucked

Okay 

[Khamil10 5]

Fresh Direct fan here. Huge time and hassle saver, though admittedly not a money-saver.

[Zeke 5,504]

@Darrenf and @High Exposure thank you my friends... let’s see how it works 

[BlueLineFish 615]

DO NOT USE BLUE APRON!!!

 

I have dealt with the workers for years now. I wouldn't let them pick up after my dog...let alone prepare my food. The quality of the individuals that prepare and box those meals is horrendous. Perps and skells are a vast majority of them. Thats from experience on a daily basis..not heresay

[voyager9 3,434]

We had Amazon Fresh until they decided not to delivery to our area.. while they were sometimes annoying, not having to go to the store for groceries was a godsend with schedules, kids, etc.  we also get a few vegetarian prepare yourself meals that are actually pretty good. I’ll look up the name in the AM

[leadunderpressure 52]

Are any of you guys and gals doing this. Grocery or meal kits jus get delivered to your residence? It seems to be taking hold

I'm a big fan of the shoprite and Weiss shop at home setups.

Shoprite will deliver right to your home and Weiss will do that shopping and then deliver to your car when you drive up.

Never had a problem with either but I use Shoprite more for the convenience.

Used it a ton when the kids were little.

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[InFamous 311]

I was able to get 2 weeks of 2 family meals from HelloFresh at a reduced price that made it worth trying. All 4 meals my wife and two kids loved! It's something I had delivered for my wife's days off so she didn't have to worry about thinking or shopping for something for dinner. Also, she doesn't really cook. Her cooking consists of asking me what she should make, how to make it, how much of everything goes into it, how to cut things etc. Needless to say HelloFresh answers all that for me so she isn't texting me those questions. The meals were great, fresh and packaged well. Saying all that praise, I have it now suspended through February unless I can find a coupon for existing customers. I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay $35 for a meal that I can shop and buy the ingredients for $15-$20. My cut off for convenience on it would be the $25 range.

If the convenience is worth $20-$25  a meal more to you then I think it's an exceptional service. For me, I keep the service suspended and just check out the meals they offer and if I see something I like I buy the ingredients myself and make it. One great thing is it definitely gives me ideas of things I'd never think about making. 

[DirtyDigz 1,811]

On 12/9/2017 at 9:24 PM, BlueLineFish said:

DO NOT USE BLUE APRON!!!

 

I have dealt with the workers for years now. I wouldn't let them pick up after my dog...let alone prepare my food. The quality of the individuals that prepare and box those meals is horrendous. Perps and skells are a vast majority of them. Thats from experience on a daily basis..not heresay

Thanks BLF - reading along this thread, I was thinking about giving Blue Apron a try on an intermittent basis, but now I'm out.

[High Exposure 5,662]

I’m aware of BA employees. I still use BA. I’ve locked up more than a few folks that list BA as their employee. 

You find the same people at any warehouse and food store that employs unskilled labor. It doesn’t matter. All you can do is not think about it.

The same diabolicals work everywhere. You can’t avoid it.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot 358]

I had the pleasure of visiting a BA fulfillment center for work.  After watching the meal kits being assembled, I think I’ll stick with ShopRite.  

[PD2K 115]

Fresh Direct is very popular. Pretty much everyone I know uses them.