"Blue (Apron) is the New Black..."

My Spinach and Butternut Squash Pizza

Cooking is something that I am learning to enjoy. However, I like to get things done quickly, so I’m impatient with recipes that require any more work than grilling or roasting. I also tend to stick with salt and pepper and one or two “go to” herbs for seasoning. Rarely do I go outside of my comfort zone any time besides a holiday meal.

When I started reading about some of the subscription meal prep delivery companies, I was curious. Was it worth the money? Would I be able to make the recipes? Would I like the food?  I finally settled on Blue Apron, and tried some of their meals last week.

According to a 2014 article in Forbes Magazine, Blue Apron was founded in 2012 by Matt Salzberg, a Harvard M.B.A. with venture capital experience, and Ilia Papas, an engineer and former consultant, and chef Matt Wadiak. The company creates meal kits: precisely portioned ingredients and specific instructions needed to cook exactly three dinners a week and sold on a subscription basis.

Portioned ingredients

Blue Apron’s approach, the meal kit, offers the convenience of delivery while keeping home cooks in the kitchen. The precisely portioned dinners minimize waste and allow consumers to try ingredients they might not otherwise buy, at a price they can afford–about $10 per meal per person.

Originally named Part & Parsley, Chef Wadiak insisted that the new name be based on the traditional garb worn by French chefs in training: blue aprons.  He wants home cooks to learn new techniques and get comfortable with “different cultivars.”

I tried two recipe kits that served four people, and one kit that served two. (The kit for two, Asian Cod, belonged to my daughter who does NOT like fish). They contained all the ingredients needed to cook the meals, complete with recipes and step-by-step photos.

The meals came neatly packaged in a cardboard box lined with ice packs to keep the contents fresh for a few hours. The meats, fish and chicken were vacuum-sealed, which gave me an extra week or two to use them, just in case I couldn’t be home to cook one of the nights.

Each recipe was well explained and included all ingredients needed, so making dinner was almost as easy as ordering carry-out, without the guilt.

The photos included with the recipes showed the major steps in the process with instructions below the picture of how to prep and cook all the ingredients.

They post the upcoming two week's menus on the site, so you have the opportunity to make sure the menu looks good before ordering. Nutritionally balanced, each meal comes out to around 650-700 calories per person. In a restaurant, you have no idea how much oil, butter, salt or other secret calories are going into your meal, so you definitely have more control.

Although Blue Apron is a subscription service, you can opt out of any week or skip a few weeks depending on your food preferences or eating plans.

And even if you don’t order one week, the recipes are free to anyone browsing Blue Apron's website and aren't restricted to paying customers. So you could potentially pick up the necessary ingredients at your grocery store (But that kind of defeats the purpose of having everything you need right at your fingertips).

So my take on the meal kits:

Packaging: I’m obsessed with food freshness and tend to buy the food I’m going to cook that same day, so I was a little wary of the “packaged” produce and proteins, but I was pleasantly surprised. The kale and spinach were bagged, but still tasted delicious. The herbs were plentiful and free of any spots. Vacuum sealing the proteins made them taste like I had just purchased them at the store and the quality of the cheeses, and condiments was superb.

Variety: You can list your preferences and dislikes when you sign up, so they won’t send you something you are allergic to or don’t eat. But, there are six choices for three meals and I don’t think you can pick the exact ones you want delivered.

The ingredient variety was outstanding though. I used spices, marinades, herbs and veggies that I haven’t cooked with or tried before. Tamarind on the cod, jasmine rice, kale in a casserole and squash and spinach on a pizza; I never would have considered those combinations.

Cod with tamarind over jasmine rice

Convenience: Delivered to my front door, everything I needed, and exact instructions. What could be better?

Taste: Ok, this is the most important and the meals didn’t disappoint. Blue Apron uses high quality ingredients and the flavor combinations are outstanding. I never would have thought to mix honey, ricotta cheese and black pepper and dollop it onto a hot pizza, but the flavor was incredible.

Lime zest in jasmine rice, freshly grated white cheddar and Amish chicken in a casserole. Yum!!

It’s really like going to a new trendy restaurant in your own kitchen.

Chicken and Kale Casserole with White Cheddar 

Will I subscribe to the meals? I’m pretty sure I will try a week of meals from time to time. I’d be more likely to subscribe if I could choose the exact meals I wanted delivered from the week’s menu.

If you are looking to cook more at home in the new year, or, like my friend Sarah, who cooks like Martha Stewart, but is tired of planning and shopping for meals. Or, just looking for more interesting ingredients,  check out their website, www.blueapron.com  for information and sign up for their emails to get the weekly recipes and delivery choices.

"Stir It Up..."

If you’ve read my previous blogs about restaurant ordering, you know that I can be a server’s nightmare. I often change what’s listed on the menu to eliminate the extra calories and fat from sauces or certain preparation methods. I’ll usually substitute a vegetable for a high carb side and dressing for my salad is always “on the side”. Usually this isn’t too much of a problem at many of the restaurants I frequent, but in the world of “fast-casual” restaurants, you usually can’t have it your way.

However, since my family has been on board with healthy eating, and since I don’t like to cook EVERY week night, we’ve discovered a great fast-casual restaurant that lets us have our meal EXACTLY like we want it!

At Genghis Grill you can create your own stir-fry bowl using a variety of meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, sauces, and spices. The many proteins include chicken, steak, shrimp, crab, fish, turkey, and even scallops along with seasonal items. The veggies are fresh and crisp (I am very particular about my veggies, so if I say they’re fresh, they are!) and refilled on a regular basis. They have a huge selection from broccoli to cabbage and carrots, onions, peppers, baby corn, mushrooms, and water chestnuts or snap peas.

As you go through the line, you choose how much of each item to put into your bowl, then you choose a seasoning or two, a sauce or two and give it to the chefs to cook on the grill. They call it “an interactive style of exhibition cooking modeled after a centuries-old legend". Based on this "legend," Genghis Khan and his warriors used their shields not only for protection but for preparing their meals. It seems during lulls of battle, their shields were used as a grill by placing food on them and positioning them over open fires on the battlefield. At the restaurant, instead of shield, they have a huge grill.

After handing over your bowl, you return to your table where a server brings you your food when it’s ready. The stir-fry is served over your choice of white, brown, or fried rice, udon or spiral noodles, or even tortillas. On their website, there’s an awesome nutrition calculator, so you can figure the calories of your bowl ahead of time by clicking on http://www.genghisgrill.com/byo_bowl.php
Since we were following a lower carb eating plan, we started ordering our brown rice on the side. I ask for light oil and have them cook it well-done. With a protein or two, lots of veggies, a sauce and some brown rice, the bowl usually adds up to about 350-400 calories for a filling and delicious dinner. I save about 150 calories if I leave out the starch.

And the nice thing is, you don’t feel like you’re eating fast food. They have a great selection of wines and beers and often have special prices on specific brands. You can eat a healthy dinner, and not spend a lot of money. Bowls are usually $9.99 (or $12.99 for unlimited refills, but that kind of defeats the purpose of eating healthfully). They have kids bowls at kid-sized prices and , for now, they're running a promotion where kids eat free on Tuesday nights. And local newspapers often have a coupon for a buy one, get one free bowl or $20 for two bowls and two drinks. They also have a loyalty card, and after you’ve gotten six bowls, the seventh one is free. We’ve been going there at least once a week for the past few years, so I think we’ve taken advantage of our card!

The chain began in Dallas, and they have locations all over the country. If you click on http://www.genghisgrill.com/locations.php ,you can find the one closest to where you live. In the St. Louis area, Genghis Grill has one location in Ellisville, right next to Lifetime Fitness at 15819 Fountain Drive. The owner and general manager, Brian Durbin is usually there making sure that everything is making his customers happy (tell him Fitness Barista sent you). So, if you’re hungry after a workout or just ready to enjoy a healthy, fresh meal made the way YOU want it, stop in. I promise you, you’ll go back for more!

"My Plate Runneth Over..."

With the debut of “My Plate”, USDA officials have created a model to replace the confusing and outdated “My Pyramid” The pyramid was overly complex and tried to communicate too many different nutrition facts at once. Robert C. Post, the USDA's deputy director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion believes Americans are looking for simple and clear directions about what to eat. "There is a need to provide a simpler approach to empower consumers in knowing about healthier choices," he said.

"My Plate" — a simple circle divided into quadrants that contain fruits, vegetables, protein and grains, gives diners an idea of what should be on their plates when they sit down at the dinner table and comes with an accompanying website.

The hope is that "MyPlate" will help navigate consumers through a maze of confusing nutritional dos and don'ts. Instead of trying to decipher food labels, busy shoppers can stick to the basics by dedicating half the plate to produce, 1/4 to protein, including meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, soy, and beans and 1/4 to grains such as rice, bread and cereal. Today’s parents don't have the time to measure out exactly three to five ounces of chicken or look up how much rice or brocoli is in a serving. But they do have time to look at their kids' plates. And as long as they're eating proper portions, with half of their meal fruits and vegetables along their lean proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy, then they’re good.

In The Huffington Post, Dr. Andrew Weil says, “The new, simple, plate-shaped graphic is split into four sections: red for fruits, green for vegetables, purple for protein and orange for grains. A separate blue section, shaped like a drinking glass, represents dairy foods. I like the fact that the green section is largest, providing a visual reminder of the most fundamental nutrition truth: Vegetables, the foundation of a healthy diet, should fill most of a plate at every meal.
Marion Nestle, nutrition professor at New York University and consumer advocate, says the plate "is a huge step forward. I love it that the messages begin with 'enjoy your food!"

So,how does that translate to your table? Well, first of all, you need to spend a little time educating yourself as to what constitutes lean protein, whole grains, even veggies and fruit. (No, French fries are not a vegetable and gummy bears are not fruit). The “My Plate” website allows you to click on a section of the plate for a complete list of foods that fit the bill. Each category has a printable list that you can use to menu plan and grocery shop.



Figure out which foods in each category you actually like eating, and then buy and prepare the food in appropriate portions.

For your proteins, (Lean beef, pork, boneless, skinless chicken, fish, tofu, eggs) have the butcher cut and trim chicken breasts into 4-5 ounce pieces and buy only enough lean, ground beef for the servings you need. Cut the fish into 4-6 ounce portions before you cook it and serve only that portion on the plate. No family style or buffet.

With whole grains, again, look through the list, pick few you enjoy eating, and prepare only enough for your meal. Choose smaller potatoes and measure whole grain pasta carefully.

Veggies are your bonus and you can have more of your favorites. (and your kids’ favorites), like broccoli, green beans, asparagus, red peppers, cauliflower, carrots, beets, brussel sprouts, and squash. Steaming is effective and roasting really brings out the flavor of most vegetables. Fill a spary bottle with olive oil and lightly coat the greens rather than covering them with heavy sauces. Salads fill the role too, but serve a measured out portion of dressing on the side.

Same with fruits. Cut up melons or add berries, apples and pears to the plate. Choose ripe, fresh fruit that tastes delicious on its own without the need for added sugar or fruit dip.
Pick the veggies and fruits in colors with the most nutritional benefits. Many options can be found at:

Dairy is found at the side of the plate with the suggestion that low-fat dairy products provide the most benefit.

Once you have an idea of the suggested foods, list each category and write down the foods you and your family will actually want to eat: 4-5 different whole grains, 6-8 kinds of veggies, 3-5 types of protein, and 4-5 seasonal fruits and dairy. Use the list to shop for food and then mix and match for each meal!

Most of us are going to fluctuate a bit on the actual divisions on our plate, but it never hurts to have a visual reminder of what you should be eating!