It’s no secret that I am not a good cook. Or maybe it’s a secret to people who I haven’t tried to cook for (such as all of you), but trust me, to the people I’ve cooked for, it’s no secret.

What was I saying?

That’s right. Cooking. I’m not good at it and – probably relatedly – I don’t enjoy it all that much either. This could be partly due to the fact that I’ve lived in San Francisco, land of the impractical galley kitchen, for the past dozen years.

Our kitchen: perfect!…For a toddler.

It could be partly due to the fact that I have no dishwasher and when I think of cooking, I think of dishes piled up, waiting for me to wash them.

It could be because the grocery store overwhelms and confuses me, and because why would I spend time laboring over an elaborate dinner when I can magic food THAT I DON’T HAVE TO MAKE straight to my door?

I mean, really.

But that gets expensive and shockingly enough, it also gets old. You can only eat delicious artisan hipster pizza so many times a week before it starts to get…well, old. Unless you are a 3-year-old and then pizza NEVER gets old.

So, we needed a solution and we needed it quick, because this chick gets hangry. We needed something easy. Something quick. Something convenient and not expensive and, above all else, delicious.

Enter Blue Apron.

For those who don’t know, Blue Apron is a food delivery service, one of many that have become all the rage around here in the past couple of years. I’d heard about it here and there and had wanted to try it, but even that seemed like a lot of work (yes, I have reached peak laziness at 33 years old. Sue me). But Mister Jess wanted to give it a try and for $10 per meal per person, it seemed like a helluva lot better than what we were currently doing.

And you know what? I love Blue Apron.

I. LOVE. BLUE. APROOOOOOOOON (I hope you read that in Oprah’s voice, because I typed it in Oprah’s voice).

Let me count the ways:

• We get to pick our three weekly meals online. And they’re delicious-sounding meals, things like seared cod and ribeye steak and juicy lamb and beef burgers.
• The ingredients are fresh. Like freshy fresh, from their farm-sourced produce to high quality meats to sustainable seafood. They say all of this on their website, but from what I can see it’s not just lip service. It’s all true!
• They only give you what you need. This is one thing that’s HUGE for us. As you can see above, our kitchen is puny. I don’t have room for a huge sack of potatoes or tons of spices. I need what I need just when I need it, and with Blue Apron I don’t even have to think about it.
• 

• It’s easy. Seriously. It’s, like, really easy. There’s a one-sheeter with the ingredients needed (see above) and directions and you just follow them and BOOM. Yummy meal. In my mouth. In my tummy. Happy Jess.
• It’s kind of zen. I chop and I mince and I bake and I stir and I dance along to my Spotify playlists and Mister Jess and Bug dance along with me, or they laugh and play in the living room, and it’s chill. It’s a surprisingly awesome, mindless way to wind down after a long day at work.
• It’s effing delicious. And at the end of the day, that’s the most important part.

Look at these meals. That *I* cooked. Me. Jessica, the girl who ruined the recipe for Santa’s chocolate chip cookies, which I got from the back of a chocolate chip bag. So fine, baking is still not my thing.

But cooking? Cooking is officially my thing.

Fried catfish over dirty rice. Hi.

Grilled pork chops with poblano salsa and sweet potato mash. ‘Sup.

Chicken and udon noodle soup. Hey, you. You were stealth delicious.

So, how about all of you? Do you love to cook? Hate it? Subscribe to a food delivery service like Blue Apron? Let’s chat in the comments!