Brandon recently discovered this meal delivery service going by the name of Blue Apron. He sent me this honest review to look over, and we decided we should give it a shot. The service offers a 2 person plan with 3 meals a week, and a 4 person plan with 2 meals a week, charging 9.99 a person, per meal. The thought of 3 less meals to plan and shop for was intriguing enough for me, because time is money, and my least favorite chore is meal planning. I fall back on the same recipes often, stick to the same meat and veggies, cooked the same way, and blah blah blah blah blah. I made a pretty good crockpot chili recently, so two weeks later I made it again. And this crockpot chili.. it made A LOT of chili. So here we were eating chili two days in a row for lunch and dinner two weeks apart. Worse things have happened at dinner time I absolutely realize this, but after four years of cooking for two I am fresh out of ideas.

I signed up for Blue Apron after I found a $20 off coupon from a Facebook ad. I was sold. Half the time wracking my brain for yummy meal ideas I hated cooking, and slicing off some time in the grocery store. Absolutely I’m in.

With Blue Apron you can view the menu for the week before it ships, and you choose the day it ships to you.. What the what? We buy everything we can on Amazon, and that’s not a big deal. We order Bingley’s food from Chewy, because it’s not sold just anywhere, and it’s cheaper online! So sure I’ll take a 28lb bag of dog food autoshipped straight to my DOORSTEP every 6 weeks.. because hello? Convenient. Why on earth have we not ordered dinner straight to our door that’s not take out sooner? Beats me! You can also check off certain meats you do not want to receive, opt for the vegetarian meals.. And you can cancel at anytime. Sold. Right?

A few days ago I recieved my first box, and I have never been so excited to see a box full of vegetables in my life! Our ingredients came in a refrigerated box, along with step by step photo recipe cards, and a letter stating where the vegetables had been grown. I started pulling out these vegetables I had never cooked or even heard of before like Celeriac, or Celery Root, Fennel Bulb, and Fronds. I placed the veggies in the fridge unsure if I was going to be a fan of the mushrooms, and mostly certain I’d be in over my head with those radishes.

After putting the veggies away I placed the ice packs that covered the meat in the freezer, cause they fit perfect in our cooler, and once we start to collect too many Blue Apron suggests that you recycle them, or donate them to boy scout troops, or food shelters.

Saturday night I made our first meal and it was fantastic! Hello tastebuds, I never knew Salmon I cooked with these two hands would ever taste so good!

Dukkah-Spiced Salmon

I always thought that I hated cooking. Hated the planning. Hated the shopping. Hated the preparing, and measureing, and figuring what veggies go well together, and with what meats. I’ll admit the majority of meals lately have been chicken, and pork chops, baked with some generic seasonings, and breadcrumbs. Salad, frozen steamable veggies, sweet potato, or asparagus on the side. Zucchini is about as exciting as it got with veggies in the kitchen. Simply roasted on the stovetop with some salt, pepper, and olive oil. Cause.. I don’t know.. what else do you do with a zucchini? I’m a twenty three year old wife trying to cook an appealing dinner. I need to learn these things like what on earth else to do with that zucchini.

…So I’ve hated cooking for a long long time. Settling for Breakfast for dinner way too often, or eating out more than is necessary, or Brandon’s personal favorite, griping and complaining about how now I have to make dinner because it’s already 5:30, and that’s about dinner time, and never mind the fact that I was perfectly comfortable on the couch, I have a husband to cook for.

But now… Blue Apron has made me appreciative. I have a husband to cook for. I have a husband I get to show off my fancy meals to.. And he delights in their flavor, and sends compliments across the table. Giving kisses when his plate is clean, and his belly is full.

Sirloin Tip Steak with new potato, asparagus, and radish hash

I realized in the midst of this meal prep that a diced red onion, fresh green parsley, finely chopped pistachios, and freshly squeezed lemon juice all smells pretty dang good together. So good my eyes were watering from the potency. Those smells are welcome to stay in my kitchen forever.

When I signed up for Blue Apron I was only expecting to have a few meals a week taken care of. But it’s been so much more. Not only is their website an excellent resource for recipes, but I’m also familiarizing myself with several different foods, and spices I’ve never heard of, or would have tried otherwise. Which I hope will allow me to eventually create my own new recipes.

I understand meal delivery plans are not for everyone, but I had to share our positive results. Just keep in mind they’re not particularly cost effective, but they are super tasty, and a great kick start if you have a bad case of the meal planning blahs.

And guess what? I was a fan of the mushrooms.

Here’s what you’ll need…

• Glass JarPreferably with a wide mouth
• WicksFound in craft stores
• 7-8Depending on the jar size used candles from the same scent family
• Tongs
• Pot
• Pot holders

I’m a big fan of candlelight, so I needed to find a way to use up every drop of my candles. Candles typically blow out with about 1/2 an inch of wax left over. When this happens stow your candles away together to be made into a new layer candle. This project is fairly easy, but keep in mind it can be time consuming to do all at once.

I used 8 left over candles in a wide mouth, pint sized mason jar. Be sure to only layer scents in the same scent family. i.e keep fresh linen with sea breeze, and hazelnut with sugar cookies. My candle was a vanilla, pumpkin, apple pie, lemon, sweet scented combo.

The trickiest part of creating this candle is getting the wicks to stay in place. I’ve tried hot glue before, adhesive, and nothing seemed to work. Your best bet is to place 2 wicks in the center of the jar. In the case of one sliding off to the side you’ll have another to even it out. I’d recommend placing the wicks in the center of the jar, and pouring your first candle’s wax in, allow it time to harden, and then continue. I placed little skewers on the jar to try and keep the wicks from falling.

 To melt down the wax boil a pot of water and set your candle inside being careful that no water enters the candle. The thicker the jar the longer it’ll take. Swirling it around often with tongs will help to distribute the heat, and melt the wax faster.

  Once the wax has fully melted pour it into your jar and allow it time to harden. You could place it in the fridge in between pours to let it cool. Continue doing so until you have melted down, and poured all of your candles.

Originally I started with 6 candles, and they did not quite fill the mason jar I had. I decided not to cut the wicks and wait until 2 more candles were finished off. I had one candle that was almost out, and all the wax was liquified. That’s when I realized a shortcut. I grabbed the unfinished layer candle and went ahead and poured the wax in.

Essentially you could skip the time consuming boiling pot of water step, and whenever your candles are about to go out, and are completely liquified pour them into a prepared jar. It’s much quicker, and easier that way.

Look at all those pretty layers. Cut the wicks and enjoy your new candle!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Christmas Light StrandI used a white strand
• Rotary Cutter or Fabric Scissors
• Fabric Scraps

This is probably one of the easiest DIY projects I’ve ever done. I had an extra strand of christmas lights sitting around so I decided to put together a garland on a whim. Sift through your scrap fabrics, or grab a few squares of fabric from the craft store. I’ve been experimenting with mixing textiles so I chose to go with  flannel, cotton, and lace fabrics.

Slice up the fabric of your choosing into about 1in strips. Some of mine came out skinnier than that, some wider. That’s the beauty of this project, it still turns out great! My strips were different widths, and lengths.

A rotary cuttter is the easiest way to cut your fabric for this project. I used this Fiscars set.

After you’ve cut as many strips you think you’ll need start tying your fabric around the light strand in a single knot. I did three strips in between each light, which seemed to flll the space well. This is the time consuming part.

You’ll end up with this heap of cozy lit fabric. Place on a mantle, stair well, entryway, or wherever needs to be decorated! I placed ours in the kitchen which mirrors our tree in the living room.

 Happy Crafting!

I made this adorable frame a few weeks ago, and had to share. I’ve had some more DIY stuff recently because I’ve been spending a little more time in the craft room. I love every part of our house, but the craft room is my own pretty little space. A place that is fairly untouched by rolled up husband socks, and dog toys.

I started out with this old frame I had laying around.

Picked up the fun glitter tape in the Target $1 section. The flower was found in Hobby Lobby. All I had to do was measure out my pieces of tape, and place them.

Squeeze a little hot glue on the back of the flower and apply it. Clean the glass to freshen it up. I stuck a piece of scrapbook paper behind the glass so the frame could be utilized as a decorative piece. I love  finding ways to repurpose things. Reviving them, and molding them into something unique.

Here’s what you’ll need…

• Mason Jar
• Fabric
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Fluff
• Things to decorate the outside such as card stock stickers (Optional)

Step One: Cut out a circle of fabric that measures about twice as large as your lid. Extra fabric can be cut if necessary. You don’t want to be left with too little fabric. Step Two: Place a ball of fluff on your fabric, and press the mason jar lid to it. Use a little more than you would think necessary. You want a fluffy top.

Step Three: Squeeze hot glue onto the rubber part of the lid, and press fabric onto the hot glue. If you feel like you need to add more fluff this is your last chance. When there’s a small opening like the picture shown below you can stuff more fluff in before you seal the circle.

Step Four: Place lid on top of mason jar and screw the second lid over it. Because of the hot glue and the fabric the lid will not screw on all the way down, but it should still be able to close.

Step Five. Add any decorative things you’d like on the outside. Place push pins in the top, and any sewing materials you’d like on the bottom. Such as bobbins, buttons, pins, measuring tape, etc.

I made these as gifts for Mother’s Day, So I tossed a long piece of lace and buttons in the jars for looks.

Enjoy!