Sometimes life can get so hectic we can lose ourselves and finding our way back can seem daunting. I am an artist on many levels, but have been missing the time to express myself in a culinary fashion. With running a business and blog while homeschooling my six children, I have ached to get our diet straightened out and provide nourishing food for my family. Now is the time that I’m taking my kitchen and my family’s health back.
*this post is sponsored by Blue Apron and is 100% my own opinion.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you would know that we have had some heart-wrenching losses with two of our children returning to their heavenly home too soon. I have always been a proponent of healthy eating, but when a few things were amiss in the health of my family, I began to study in-depth. It wasn’t until I make some drastic changes to our diet that our family began to be fully nourished. I’ll elaborate on more of those details in time, but for now I have had a heavy heart about going back to what I know is best. The craziness of our weekly schedule has taken over my kitchen and it is lacking in nourishing food. I’ve let too many things creep in and it’s time for a good ol’ spankin’ of my kitchen.
NOURISHING
I had been praying about including how to prepare nourishing food on my blog and feel that God has opened the door for me. You all have been very receptive to the meals and images I share on social media, even to the point of inquiring on how to create this in your home. So… I am stepping out in faith to make it happen.
Just as I was feeling the desire to head on this adventure, the opportunity came to me to try a food service company called Blue Apron. If you haven’t heard of them before, they are a company that will send you freshly packaged food right to your door with everything you need to create your meal. This service is intriguing because I am very picky about the freshness of my food and I thought, “We’ll see…”
I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by what arrived. All of the food is packaged in a refrigerated box and marked with easy to read labels. It looked like I just picked it up from the market. I was impressed.
I can’t tell you the number of times I have seen sickly looking asparagus (I even grow my own!) and this bunch was looking so good to me. Now to cook, right?
MOM TIP: If you have picky eaters, let me tell you that the BEST way to get them to eat is to involve them. My mother will tell you a hundred times over that I am the pickiest eater she has ever known, so I know the ropes. I’m tellin’ ya, let those little people into the kitchen and give them even the basic of chores, like peeling garlic. They will have a new appreciation for their food and where it comes from.
DIG IN
We received two family plan packages with two meals, and the first one we prepared was a Seared Beef and Goat Cheese Sandwich with a side of mashed purple potatoes and asparagus. YUM.
These easy-to-follow recipes are chef-designed and show you all the steps including photos. It doesn’t get much easier than that, does it? Since we cook each of our meals fresh daily, this was a delight to try something new. My oldest three kids can cook our meals from start to finish and are an excellent help to me when days are crazy.
This was an easy to prepare dish in less than 40 minutes, and is full of color. Is your mouth watering yet? tee hee
My kids had fun in preparation and couldn’t wait to dig into our meal. I always like to watch and see what they grab first off their plate. The veggies were definitely a hit, as were those delicious beef and goat cheese sandwiches topped with caramelized onions.
Our second meal was just as easy and was of a different variety, which makes it all the more fun. Doesn’t this Middle Eastern Chicken & Chickpea Stew look amazing? I wish I had smell-o-vision for you. Mmmmm….
NONE LEFT
Needless to say, there wasn’t a speck of this left (remember, I have teenagers!). As for clean-up, easy-peasy. Equally impressive is that I can recycle all the packaging. My family works to make sure we don’t leave a trashy footprint on this earth. Also, you know making use of everything is important to me.
Now that I’ve shared with you how I’m making changes, I am excited that the first 25 of my readers that give Blue Apron a try will get two free meals on their first order! (aka free nourishing food!). Get the free meals HERE. Oh, and in case you are worrying about signing your life away, there is no commitment. In addition, you can skip or cancel at any time.
I challenge you to take a look at your own diet and see where you can make improvements. Thank you for allowing me to share my passion for creating my home with nourishing food.
So you may be wondering what’s the plan? I simply want to share recipes with you at least once a month, our gardening tips, and ways to cut corners in the kitchen without sacrificing our health. Oh, and no worries about me ditching my furniture or other DIY projects. We are still steadily working on our kitchen remodel and this food adventure is just the icing on the cake.
SHARE
My goal is to inspire and sharing my knowledge along the way. By you pinning and sharing my passion shows me love. Thank you! ♥
Next week, I’ve got a trashy good makeover for you with this wall clock that is getting a new life. Any guesses? UPDATE: See it here.
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What a wonderful story! I have used Blue Apron before and love the service! Shared.
Thank you, and happy to hear it, Amy!
Those sandwiches look yummy! I’ve hard of Blue Apron before, but hadn’t had a chance to actually check them out before now. Thanks for the push!
They were delicious, Pam. I hope you give it a try (and you can’t beat free!:) )
I’ve been wanting to try! Thanks for the opportunity! Just signed up for my family of 4 to try 2x per week!
Awesome! I’d love to hear what you think. 🙂
Wow anything that makes putting a healthy dinner on the table easier is awesome! Those sandwiches looked amazing and it was fun to see your whole family together. 🙂
You ain’t kiddin’ girl! There wasn’t a crumb left. YUM.
What a nice way to involve your kids in meal preparation and family time. 🙂
Thank you, Karen. They do much of the cooking, and we have fun!
So glad your getting back to where you want to be. I too have just lately started getting into healthy eating and gardening. I’m very excited about the whole thing although I started late in life (68), who knows I might live to the 120 yrs stated in the bible. I just want to be a healthy and sorta mobile 120. 😎
Good for you! I aim to be a rockin’ healthy woman the rest of my life and this habit we’re in has got to go. Time to clean house! 😀
Larissa, you had me at ‘goat cheese’ and then you just kept roping me in. Isn’t it nice to be able to serve a healthy dinner to your family without hours of preparation and shopping? I know that that aspect of our family live has really suffered since I began my ‘bloggin’ job. .
But nevertheless, I am still very cautious about what I buy and prepare for my family and wholeheartedly agree with you that many of our current illness/conditions are a direct result of eating too far from the source. It’s cliche, but very true that we are what we eat. I could get on my soapbox here, but will spare you! ☺
I’ve been intrigued by Blue Apron for some time now, but just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. You are giving me encouragement
Thanks for sharing Larissa.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
Hugs, Lynn
I couldn’t agree with you more and I am jumping on that soapbox. 😀 My mother was the first to introduce me to Blue Apron and I am happily surprised at the quality. Thank you!
ah those look SO GOOD! We’re working on overhauling our diet too – it takes SO much time! I’ve heard a lot of good things about Blue Apron…I may have to check them out for our family 🙂 Thanks for sharing – your family is SO cute!
awww…thank you, Christina! It does take time to get started, but I’ve found once you get going you can maintain. I hope you can kick the junk out too! 😉
i’ve gotten blue apron food for several years and LOVE it. the meals are the perfect size for just the 2 of us now. and we have realized we are saving significant money on groceries.
i have tried other businesses like this and blue apron is by far the best.
Fantastic to hear! Thank you for sharing, Cheri. 🙂
Those sandwiches looks delicious. I totally get what you mean about feeding your family a more healthy meals that doesn’t have artificial flavoring, preservatives or additives .
Yes! I am a mama on a mission, Vanessa. Time to clean up!
Laissa, I have to say you have the sweetest family all of your children are just adorable, and I’m sure they are a delight to be around.
I have had Blue Apron in the Past and they are wonderful. The only reason I stopped their service is because my husband is only home on Saturday and Sunday each week and even though my deliveries were only for three meals we just were not using them because usually we are out running errands visiting his dad etc. When you only have two days home you stay pretty busy on the go, and we eat on the go , not at home, but then there are times we go for weeks and not go anywhere, but anyway the food was piling up so I had to cancel. On top of being delicious food and nutritious, it is economical. When he retires I will sign up again, that will be one of the first things I do.
You are so sweet, Patty. Thank you! They are my absolute blessing. I totally get what you’re saying, and I am happy to hear you enjoyed the service Blue Apron offers.
We love Blue Aprons! Now…. if your kids don’t eat the meals like mine don’t (2 and 4 years old), the couples plan is slightly cheaper and has 3 meals. 😉 Those meals are sometimes more appealing to me.
Fantastic! I’m so thankful my kids aren’t picky and we are able to cook most anything for them. 🙂
Larissa,
I have been thinking about trying Blue Apron for months. Thank you for the push ;0)
You bet. Enjoy!