Two weeks down and only two more to go. I can’t say that it’s gotten any easier, especially since the temps have dropped into below-freezing territory and all I want to do is cuddle up under a blanket with a pizza and hibernate there until spring. Alas, the diet must go on.
After analyzing the Blue Apron company logistics for my Food Service Management course last semester, we decided to try it out and see if it made the diet any easier. Among the meal kit delivery services, Blue Apron probably has the least diet-specific meal options out of most of the other companies (HelloFresh, Green Chef, etc), but I still seemed to like the recipes more from Blue Apron even if I would have to edit them a little bit to be compliant. None of the meal kit companies have a completely Whole30 option for meals, but some offer keto, paleo, vegan, and others. Even weighing all of those, I still chose Blue Apron based on recipes and price.
Right off the bat, it helped lessen the stress of creating and planning meals, which is a huge plus because otherwise planning for Whole30 can feel like a full-time job. We opted for 4 meals per week thinking that we could cook Monday through Thursday, order in something Whole30 compliant on Friday night, and then cook on Saturday and Sunday when we have more time to brainstorm meals and prep.
Because of Whole30, we tried to choose recipes that included potatoes as a starch, since those are pretty much all we can eat on the program. One of our recipes did include brown rice, but we just set it aside and used leftover potatoes we had instead, and it worked out perfectly fine. We chose two chicken recipes, a pork recipe, and a tilapia recipe, and overall we didn’t really have to omit too much from any of them, other than cheese or butter (and the one brown rice).
All of the recipes truly tasted great, even if some of them were slightly different than the Blue Apron team had imagined them. They were easy to prepare with clear step-by-step instructions, and having the exact right amount of ingredients for each recipe is so helpful. I really felt like they were way easier and faster than recipes I think of on my own, probably because they have people who spend their entire days fine-tuning and perfecting these recipes to make them as streamlined as possible. Thank god for those people.
Pretty much the only downside we’ve noted is that the portions are fairly small. If we were eating normally and not on Whole30, we wouldn’t be quite as starving at the end of every day and the portions would be perfect. It’s definitely an ideal situation if you’re trying to work on portion control and balanced meals, but when you’re on Whole30 and just trying to consume enough calories of protein and vegetables to sustain life, it can be a little tricky. We ended up adding extra potatoes to most of the dishes, which was fine and easy for the most part.
Overall, I really love the meal kit delivery service. You would be fine choosing any of the companies depending on what you’re looking for, but so far we’ve really enjoyed our experience with Blue Apron. The price is reasonable, especially for getting everything delivered, and compared to NYC grocery store prices, we’re paying about the same, if not less. Plus, almost every single company offers a ton of free meals just for signing up, so for your first month you’re paying way less and definitely saving some money.
If you’re trying to save money, cook more, or work on portion control, I highly recommend signing up for a meal kit delivery service. Or if you lack the creativity to come up with a new and exciting meal every night, let these companies do it for you! It saves time for sure and it’s easy enough for even inexperienced home cooks to figure out. It’s also made following Whole30 a little easier for us!
Also this week on Whole30, we ventured to the grocery store to find some snacks. The Whole30 program kind of tells you to stay away from snacks, unless it’s for pre- or post-workout, but if I kept myself from munching on compliant snacks, I would be way more likely to break the diet. So with that being said, we had been eating fruit, raw nuts, and occasionally homemade kale chips for our daily snacks, but my least favorite time of the month crept up on me and I was in desperate need of chocolate.
Lucky for me, Rx Bars are compliant, although they’re supposed to be saved for “emergencies” when there may not be any other options available. I considered my situation to be pretty much an emergency, and again, I’d rather slightly bend the interpretation of the rules than break them completely. And let me tell you, it was worth it to taste a compliant, chocolatey snack after two weeks of zero sweets.
Some of the snacks and other things we picked up:
Chocolate Sea Salt Rx Bars
Mint Chocolate Rx Bars
Compliant Lara Bars (flavors include Pecan Pie, Apple Pie, Banana Bread, Cashew Cookie and Coconut Cream Pie)
Raisins
Raw Cashews
Unsalted Almonds
Seaweed crisps
Dried mango slices
Nut Pods Toasted Marshmallow Flavor (a compliant milk alternative that’s super creamy and has fun flavors!)
Week one was all about staying strict and on track, and week two became just trying to make it through. But that’s okay! I’m proud of how long I’ve stayed with this honestly, and I can’t believe I haven’t just given in and panic-ordered a pizza. Just over two more weeks and we’ll be done!
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