If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, but I cannot get over how much I am loving having my own kitchen again. Sure, I could still cook when we lived with our friends and with my parents, but it’s just different, you know? Things aren’t where you’d have them, they don’t have everything you’d have; it’s just…different. The kitchen has always been one of my favorite rooms of the house, especially after our major kitchen remodel in our previous house (I was sad to say goodbye to that kitchen!).
We’ve been in our house now just under 3 weeks, which seems kind of crazy. It felt like it was taking forever for the day to get here, then it came, and now here we are. And despite the fact that we’ve been here less than three weeks, it’s still already starting to feel like home.
When we first arrived, one of the first rooms I began tackling was the kitchen. For one, it had the most STUFF to unpack (ohmygod, if I ever move again, I’m getting rid of half the stuff in my kitchen before we go), and two, it was the room I was most excited to really dig into. Make my own. Have FUN with.
It’s far from finished, but we’re getting there, and I just love how cozy it feels at night.
And I’ll tell you, I think I’m still switching things up daily. Moving stuff from one cabinet to the next… trying to find the best spot for certain items…rearranging shelves in the pantry…shifting things in the fridge and freezer. My mom tells me it’ll be that way for some time, so I’m prepared.
One thing I haven’t been so prepared with is restocking the kitchen with all of the “essentials.” You know, things like broths, stocks, pastas, condiments, spices. Sure, we still had some that we were able to unpack, but we’re a far cry from having the fully stocked kitchen like we used to (and don’t be fooled…I was still almost always missing an ingredient or two when I wanted to make something on the fly).
Luckily, we just had one week of Blue Apron meals last week (which you probably noticed on my meal plan post!), then we had one more arrive yesterday. And I’ll tell you, they have been SO incredibly helpful.
If you’ve been reading STSL for any amount of time, then you probably already know that we’re in love with Blue Apron. We’ve been trying their meals occasionally for almost a year now (we purchase with our own money fairly often), and have had the pleasure of trying out both their 2-Person Plan and the Family Plan (you can see more about the Family Plan in my last post from when we were living with friends!).
Now that it’s back to just the three of us, the 2-Person Plan is the best option for us. We get the box delivered right to our doorstep, and we just recently decided to switch our delivery date to Wednesday from Friday, because it just works better for us logistically (I work from home on Wednesdays, so I like being able to put everything in the fridge when it arrives – even though it does come in a refrigerated box). Our box comes with three delicious meals, and on any given delivery, I’d say there’s at least one meal that has some sort of new spice, ingredient, or cooking method that we’ve never tried.
In this past box, the Tandoori-Spiced Chicken with Green Lentils, Heirloom Eggplant & Cucumber-Mint Yogurt was definitely outside of our comfort zone.
If I had proposed this meal to Jay on my own, I can tell you that there’s NO way he would have eaten it. But after trying it, he said he liked it “way more than he thought he would.”
I was pleasantly surprised, too. Such unique flavors.
It certainly makes cooking fun!
And right now, it’s also making cooking incredibly easy, since it gives me all of the ingredients I need, in the exact portions I need, too.
Lately I’ll get home from work, play with Lucas for a bit, then I’ll sit him on the counter with me and we’ll both work on getting dinner ready (or he’ll eat his own dinner if what was sent isn’t something he’d be in to). As long as we’re not in any sort of rush, it’s one of my favorite times of the day lately!
And as for the rest of the meals in this past box?
These Seared Pork Chops & Kamut with Corn, Spinach & Stone Fruit-Cherry Tomato Salsa were totally unique and delicious. I LOVED the salsa, and used leftovers of it on some chicken the next day.
But I think our favorite was actually the Rigatoni Puttanesca with Eggplant.
What can I say? We’re pasta lovers through and through over here. <3
Blue Apron offers a large selection of recipes and is always adding new dishes to their menu every week. I’ve recently started bookmarking some potential recipes for fall, including their Oven-Fried Chicken with Coleslaw & Buttermilk Biscuits (hello, comfort food…and happy husband). But if you want to know some of our favorites…
- Pan-Seared Steaks with Green Peppercorn Sauce & Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
- Chinese Five-Spice Meatballs with Snow Peas & Jasmine Rice
- Seared Salmon and Tomato Chutney with Cranberry Bean and Spinach Stew (incredible!)
I could go on and on!
If you haven’t already tried them out, I really can’t recommend them enough. Right now, Blue Apron ships to most of the country, shipping is always free, and there’s no commitment – you can skip or cancel the service at any time!
So if I haven’t convinced you yet…
First, Blue Apron is offering a discount to STSL readers. The first 50 readers will get two meals off their first Blue Apron order free! Just CLICK HERE to set up your order!
Second, and I know I did this the last time I posted about Blue Apron…but I recently got some more new invitations added to my personal account to give away a week of free meals. So I’m offering to give away THREE of them to you guys once again! To enter for a week of free meals from Blue Apron (no commitment!), just leave a comment below saying a meal from Blue Apron you’d love to try (you’ll love ‘em if you haven’t tried them already!).
I’ll choose two random winners on Tuesday, September 8th. Good Luck!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Blue Apron but the giveaway is from me! Thank you for your continued support of STSL. <3
Comments