This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
I used to think meal kits were not for me. After all, I work from home and I had a list of go-to recipes that I could whip up on a weeknight.
Are you laughing now?
Fast forward to having a teen and tween with their various after school activities. Suddenly life was busy. A good busy but that meant a tired mom squeezing in trips to the grocery store and falling into a cooking rut.
Enter Peapod and meal kits to the rescue.
This was my time buying groceries from Peapod grocery delivery service. I found the site easy to use. Groceries are are organized by categories. You can use one of the many filters, including nutrition and dietary filters, to sort the items as you shop.
The best part is everything is delivered right to my door! I was able to choose the day and time frame for my delivery. I opted for text updates and knew when my driver was in my neighborhood. He brought everything inside the door for me.
Try Peapod and use code NANNY to receive $20 off total order of $75 and 60 days of free delivery.
Peapod collaborated with Mark Bittman to provide a fresh meal kit (easy pho) and shoppable recipes. My kids immediately requested the Brown Butter Salmon recipe. Peapod made it super easy listing the ingredients right under the recipe. I didn’t have to search around for the items.
I also added two more Peapod meal kits to my cart: sweet and savory pork tacos and beef and broccoli bowls. I currently don’t see these meal kits on their site, but it looks like they change up the meal kits. Which means no cooking slump!
In addition to trying out their meal kits, the Peapod team sent me Mark Bittman’s Dinner for Everyone. The cookbook features iconic recipes that can be made in 3 different ways. Each recipe has an easy (30 minutes or less to cook), vegan, and all out version. Basically something for everyone. Be forewarned that some versions of these recipes are not at all authentic such as the easy pho version. Bittman admits that the 30-minute version is only inspired by pho. (My 30-minute chicken pho recipe is here)
The brown butter salmon was a hit with our family. Even though my kids don’t care for tomatoes or capers, they liked how those ingredients flavored the butter. This was a super fast recipe. It took longer for my oven to preheat than it took to cook the salmon!
Note that this recipe only includes the main dish. Since it calls for finishing the salmon in a very hot oven, I roasted broccoli at the same time. It would also pair well with mashed potatoes, couscous, and rice. I would definitely make this recipe again.
On to the prepared meal kits. We love tacos and not just on Tuesdays. As you can see in the earlier photo, the meal kits were delivered in a bag. Everything we needed was in the bag. All the ingredients came pre-chopped and ready to go. This is a huge timesaver for me.
The only thing that wasn’t already precut was the avocado which is a good thing. Cut avocado browns very easily. My son was more than happy to take charge of making the fresh guacamole for our dinner. He enjoys mashing them.
This was our favorite of the two meal kits. The only items we added were hard-shell tacos and shredded cheese. The portions fed 4 with generous servings. My teen and tween were actually full after this meal! I didn’t even need to add the hard-shelled tacos.
Overall, I was very impressed with Peapod. Delivery day was easy and low stress. Their meal kits were generous and budget-friendly. I like that I’m not bound to a subscription. I can log into my Peapod account anytime and place an order.
Don’t forget you can try Peapod and use code NANNY to receive $20 off total order of $75 and 60 days of free delivery.
Have you ever used Peapod or tried their meal kits?
Easy Brown Butter Salmon
Simple yet flavorful salmon recipe that can be prepared in 30 minutes. Recipe courtesy of Peapod and Mark Bittman
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- salt
- pepper
- 4 salmon fillets or steaks (about 1 ½ pounds total), skin on
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp drained capers
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 475° F. Put the butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, add the salmon and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Cook, undisturbed, until the salmon sizzles and the butter darkens, 2 to 3 minutes. Scatter the tomatoes and capers around the fish and transfer the pan to the oven.
- Roast without turning until the salmon browns on top and the inside is as cooked as you like (you’ve got to peek between the flakes with a knife to check), 3 to 8 minutes. (If you’d rather they be opaque all the way through, then leave in the oven for up to 8 minutes. Just don’t overcook them or they’ll be dry.) Serve the salmon steaks with the tomato-caper sauce spooned on top, passing the lemon wedges at the table.