Boxed Dinner for 2

I've always loved finding new recipes, shopping for ingredients and cooking. Now with 2 kids, that's been challenging....to say the least. My recipe rotation has gotten B-O-R-I-N-G due to the lack of newness. And with the added stress of EJ's allergies, finding new recipes for the whole family is nearly impossible. Find me something delicious that doesn't include Wheat, Milk, Eggs, Peanuts or Tree-nuts....and that also doesn't include his other possible allergens; soy, mustard and peas. And while you're trying to find that recipe, imagine 2 screaming children behind you.....yeah. Oh and did I mention, I need meals 7 days a week since we really can't eat out. Good times.

A few people had mentioned the box meal delivery services. They ship you the ingredients, you cook. I honestly wasn't sure how it would work for my family but I gave it a shot. I was able to try Blue Apron for free through a fellow member of a Mom's group!

I only got a picture of 2 of the meals because I ended up doing the steak meal as a lunch on Father's Day. The lemon-pepper sauce that was supposed to accompany the steak did not turn out correctly. The instructions said to add the butter then the lemon and water, the butter sizzled to nothing but oil. So it ended up just being a plate of mashed potatoes with sugar snap peas and radishes. The ingredients were fresh and the meat was of great quality. Just didn't turn out like pictured without the sauce, so I didn't snap it. (I did remake this recipe and nailed the sauce by adding the butter last, not first.)

Seared cod with an asparagus, potato and radish salad. This was surprisingly better than expected. It called for tarragon, which I'm not a fan of, so I did cut how much I used. Super light dish with interesting flavors. Only complaint, they sent 2 dishes with radishes included. I felt it should have been a bit more mixed up.

Last, the hoisin glazed chicken meatballs with zucchini and brown rice was my least favorite. About halfway through, I couldn't handle the sweetness of the hoisin sauce. I would never attempt to make this again.

After seeing my photos on Instagram, a friend told me about Sunbasket. Same concept as Blue Apron and the same price point. They do offer 2 free meals with your initial order but I did have to pay for this box. And honestly, it was worth every penny! I was able to select the 3 meals from 7 different options. Which is important to not have 2 dishes with the same ingredients on back to back nights. But most importantly, the flavors were superior!

First up was the salmon with mango salsa. Bonus, I learned a new cooking technique for salmon! I had NEVER attempted to pan sear the salmon with the skin on. I may never cook it any other way. HA! The mango salsa was so good but next time I will probably cut the pieces a bit smaller. Not pictured was a coconut cream sauce.....to die for.

Pork belly and kimchee fried rice. My mouth is watering just looking at the photo. I had never attempted a dish like this before. Now I am trying to find out where to find some pork belly so I can recreate this one!!!

Last up, thai turkey lettuce cups that we had for lunch. I wasn't sure these would be filling enough for dinner but I was wrong. We were stuffed! My hubby said it smelled like a restaurant in the house. HA!

I honestly am so excited for this weeks box to arrive. These are going to be our weekend meals and I'll be making the kids a separate easy meal like gluten-free pasta and baked chicken strips. We'll also keep my boring rotation during the week. Or maybe because we've added in these yummy meals, my rotation won't seem so boring. Either way, I'm excited to have some new flavors and cooking techniques in my kitchen!!!