Boston Organics - Coming Soon!

I am only telling you this if you promise not to come and steal our weekly produce delivery off our front porch. Promise? We signed up (again) for Boston Organics!! After watching Food Inc and simply spending more time thinking about what fuel I am putting in my body, I talked to the Mister and we're in!

I had a Boston Organics account about five years ago, I think they were still relatively new at that time and hadn't fully taken grasp of the power of the innerwebs. For those who don't know, Boston Organics is a company that delivers organic produce to your doorstep on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Most of the food is US Grown, and all is Organic. The idea is pretty awesome, they buy from farmers who are sharing their values, and magically every week organic produce comes to your door!

I want to be clear when I tell you, I am trying to do my part without going broke and inconveniencing myself or the Mister. I hate to be inconvenienced. Ask my mom, she'll tell you. This means I've started recycling because we have Single Stream Recycling now. I am using a mix of reusable bags and plastic from the store. I use the plastic ones for the daily combing and dumping of cat litter. I always bring the reusables at Trader Joes because of the raffle (although I haven't won yet). I do all laundry with cold water, mostly because I don't want to pay for the hot-water, and I don't run the faucet while I am brushing my teeth. It's not saving the world, but it's what I can do. This organic's thing is another step in what I can do.

I looked through all our receipts (and by "looked through" I mean "I thought about them in my head") for grocery shopping and a lot of our spending is on produce. I estimated that 50% of our weekly spend is on fruits and veggies. No lie people, we're trying to get healthy over here! So it seemed like a no-brainer to revisit Boston Organics and give it another go.

Things have changed since I used the service before, and I have to say - I think the new system is really fabulous! Before, the fruits and veggies came, but you never knew what you were getting until it showed up (I'll admit, there may have been somewhere to look, but it must not have been clear since I don't remember). Now, the list of things that will arrive this week is clearly displayed so I can start my recipe planning early. They've kept the NEVER SEND ME list, a list you create of things you never want to receive, EVER! As I remember it, the list of NEVER SEND ME produce used to be VERY long.  Now, the list is short and took only a minute to fill out.

Amazing new features: they now offer other types of organics for delivery. Eggs, Cheeses, Breads, etc. We're getting a dozen eggs from happy chickens this week! Lastly, you can do bulk buys of common produce like potatoes and carrots.

There were two basic problems I had with the system last time I used it. 1. I couldn't figure out what to do with a lot of the things they sent and 2. There were often times too much of certain things for one person to eat. I am happy to see that now, it looks like they have really focused their energy on staples that people need, and now that I have the Mister, we should be good to go.

The only thing they are sending this week that I am not sure how to use is green cabbage. Maybe some of you know a good coleslaw recipe or another use for green cabbage. Let me know if you do!

I will let you know how it goes this time around with Boston Organics. Oh, here's what we're getting this week so you can see the variety. Remember it's too early in the season for New England to be producing anything, but I assume as time goes on we'll start getting more locally grown items. Boston Organics does, however, have a special box for produce that is locally grown. We didn't sign up for that one though, one step at a time :)

3 Anjou Pears (WA)
2 lbs Fair Trade Bananas (Ecuador)
3 Golden Delicious Apples (WA)
3 Minneola Tangelos (CA)
3 Valencia Oranges (CA)
1 bunch Broccoli (CA)
0.75 lbs Green Beans (FL)
2 Green Bell Peppers (FL)
1 head Green Cabbage (FL)
1 head Green Leaf Lettuce (FL)
1 bunch Kale (CA)   -- this is on our NEVER SEND ME list, so we'll get something else in its place.
0.5 lbs Salad Tomatoes (FL)
1 lbs Yellow Onions (NY)
0.75 lbs Zucchini (CA)