This post is sponsored by Blue Apron.

With lots of travel planned and our garden overflowing, we decided our standard Blue Apron delivery of three meals a week might get a little overwhelming, so we switched to the four-person, two-meals-a-week Family Plan a few times this summer. One of the more charming surprises of this particular plan (besides all the delicious foooooooood), was the inclusion of a weekly "Kids' Cooking Camp." Every week, our box included cooking activities, games and challenges for the boys to try. It was a really great idea. 

One week covered easy food prep techniques (peeling garlic, washing produce, rolling pizza dough), another week challenged us to keep the dinner table a family-focused, screen-free zone (that was harder on the grown-ups than the kids), yet another taught kids what grows in what season and why it matters; all summer kids were encouraged to submit recipes and photos and stay hands-on in the kitchen. 

The best week, according to my kids, was this one:

Not only were the recipes a hit (Moroccan lamb & beef pitas and a crispy cod with corn on the cob), but tucked inside our box of ingredients was a packet of pea shoot seeds and instructions for making a paper pot to plant them in. 

Ike and Ezra are pretty garden-obsessed already, so they took this project incredibly seriously. 

After our pot was done and full of dirt, we added the seeds...

...and then Ike added water.

Like, okay, way way too much water...

Hmmm.

So it still remains to be seen if we'll actually get some pea shoots out of our wee swampy pot, but I was grateful for the diversion, as we are DEFINITELY RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS FOR OUR DAYS over here. It's too hot to play outside, too boring to stay inside, so anything that gave us something new and interesting to do -- or that made the daily routine of cooking dinner into something new and interesting -- was much appreciated. 

(Even though summer is over, the cooking camp activities can be done any time of year -- head to Blue Apron's blog to download the worksheets and watch the video demos and more!) 

(And it goes without saying that dinner has been a consistently good time all summer.)

(Find these recent recipes and hundred more here.)

The aforementioned Moroccan lamb & beef pitas.

My third or fourth remake of zucchini mozzarella pizza paninis because the kids loved them so much.

Pork chops with plum salsa.

Chicken lemongrass burgers with hoisin mayo.

Brown butter cod with corn, purple potatoes, Shishito peppers & a tomato from our garden because we are at peak tomatoes right now so every meal must use up at least one no matter what the recipe cards says. 

Thanks to Blue Apron for the summer fun and continuing to sponsor blog posts here. It's been awhile, but yay, another deal: Get THREE (3) free meals added to your first order, limited to the first 50 readers. Follow this link to claim your meals.