I have professed my love for Blue Apron time and again. I have been using it consistently for the past couple of months. I typically get two meals a week, and I sincerely feel like it has continued to hone my cooking skills.
I was a little curious about how I could leverage Blue Apron for the holidays. The week before Thanksgiving, I logged into my account and chose a meal that I thought could work well for bringing to our family Thanksgiving. I went with a butternut squash and sage mac and cheese. I figured it would be a unique side dish to my mother-in-law’s turkey, and I also figured it could be something that the kids would eat. (Is it just me or do children universally despise Thanksgiving fare? My kids typically fill their plates with Jell-O. Only Jell-O.)
The mac and cheese required me to make a béchamel sauce, which was a new one for me. It was so good I wanted to just drink it. Between the fontina cheese and the sage, I loved the way this one smelled in the oven.
I decided to portion out about 1/4 of the mac and cheese for the kids, blending the sauce and then
pouring it over the pasta. It was a great way to disguise the veggies.
This grown-up version of mac and cheese was a hit on Thanksgiving, and was enjoyed by parents and kids alike.
For my second meal the week of Thanksgiving, I ordered a turkey dinner. Confession – I have never cooked a turkey myself. It’s not a food I really love, and I have always been daunted by both the cooking process and the thought of all of those leftovers. So I loved that blue apron sent a small turkey breast perfect for one meal. Enough to feed my family, but not so much that it took hours to cook.
This version had me cook the turkey very simply, but then make a browned butter and sage gravy. You guys – I could write poetry about this gravy. It was insane. And this was some of the most tender and flavorful turkey I’ve ever had.
Using Blue Apron for the holiday worked well for me for Thanksgiving and I’m anxious to make some of their meals at Christmas as well.
If you’d like to try Blue Apron they are offering my readers a special deal – the first 50 readers will get two free meals on their first Blue Apron order!
