Hi friends and fellow bloggers,
Recently I did something new. I joined a subscription box for the delivery of fruits and vegetables weekly. I started last week with a box for 2 for just under $40. It included the delivery and was the price after a promotional discount.
The contents included a good variety of vegetables such as potatoes, cauliflower, green peppers, onions, 2 ears of corn, grape tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. The fruit included 2 grapefruits, 3 oranges, 3 apples, 2 avocados, 2 lemons and 1 bunch of green grapes. The oranges and apples barely lasted more than a day. We also go through more fruits and more variety of them every week.
I managed to create meals for most of the week with the vegetables provided.
This week I changed my order to mixed vegetables and fruits for $20. In the box will be cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, beets, lettuce, peppers, oranges, apples, berries and a mystery item.
Carrots, potatoes and onions were missing from the box's contents. I can't go without any of these though I have cut down on all three items due to price and weight. I go everywhere on foot on public transit and everything has to fit in my shopping trolley. I'm running low on several items so I decided to go out and see what I could find.
I bought navy beans, red lentils, 1 red pepper, 1 zucchini, 2 pounds onions, 1 medium cabbage, 3 giant carrots, 5 pounds of russet potatoes, 5 mandarins, 2 pounds of Fuji apples, 1 bunch of red grapes, 1 bunch of bananas, 2 pounds plain yogurt & 2 litres milk. This shopping cost me just over $51. Canadian dollars and was purchased at 3 different shops. I haven't bought any meat, chicken or fish and I'm trying to see if I can make do until the end of the month. I could change my mind if I come across any great sales. In the meantime I've got several kinds of beans, lentils, rice and pasta to combine with the good variety of vegetables I'll have on hand.
Here are some meals from last week using the vegetables I ordered and the meat we had on hand.
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| Coleslaw, pickled beets, macaroni & cheese, hamburger patty |
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| Kielbasa sausage with vegetables, tortellini & grape tomatoes |
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| Fried chicken with onions and pasta with mixed vegetables |
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| Homemade buns |
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| BBQ Pork ribs, roasted potato & garlic, green salad |
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| Green salad, corn on cob, seasoned rice and hamburger patty |
Besides cooking at home I did eat out a couple of times. I enjoyed the Bento Box I had because I had been craving sashimi.
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| Everything was wonderful! |
Update: This is the 2nd box of produce delivered on Thursday. I was pleased with the contents because it was more than I was expecting plus they added a honey dew melon. I think I'll be making creamy broccoli, spinach or cauliflower soup this week.
I've used up much of my freezer meats so this week our meals will be more bean and legume based. I've been wanting to try fewer meat meals on a more regular basis both for health and pocket book reasons. Now is as good a time as any.
What about you dear reader? Have you changed your way of cooking due to the higher cost of living? Have you ever subscribed to a produce or meat box?
2 comments:
We mostly grow our vegetables and during winter I still have pumpkin, butternut and potatoes that all store well. I bottle some vegetables and I dry some, I also dry surplus fruit. We shop fortnightly and all we buy usually is any extra fruit that we want fresh and any extra vegetables that I do not grow. I gave up with onions as I use too many and for my use they take up far too much ground. I generally grow plus/minus 50kg of potatoes and they store well in the cool barn and I have not bought potatoes in years. I also freeze somethings as well. We are not vegetarians so meat and fish are always on our shopping list.
Keep well, Diane
Ive never subscribed to one of these but I think they stretch us and help us think creatively, try things we haven't done before. It looks like your meals were successful!
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