After I started the blog, I received several e-mails via Facebook from people recommending books and restaurants to me or just offering words of encouragement. One such e-mail, from Mandy, that I went to high school with, suggested KC Door to Door Organics to me.
It's actually something that I had considered months ago after a Groupon was sent out that I looked into a little bit. But ultimately, I didn't sign up because I was afraid that it would be too much produce for me and half of it would end up going bad before I would get it eaten. And in my family, wasting food is not acceptable. Well, now after my decision to try life as a vegetarian, I've reconsidered. I assume I'll be eating more produce than before, but I am also hoping that if it's delivered right to my house, I will make more of an effort to eat the fresh produce that is here than some of the more processed stuff that I might be inclined to pick up at the grocery store. Remember, up to this point, I haven't been eating the healthiest vegetarian diet ever...
So what is it exactly? KC Door to Door Organics delivers organically grown produce from local farms to your doorstep. One of my favorite things is that it is SO customizable. You select whether you want to receive just veggies, just fruit or a mixture of both. And you decide from 4 different box sizes how much produce you would like to receive. I chose the "Bitty Box," which is the smallest option, but you can also choose a small, medium or large box. You also decide whether you want your delivery to come once a week or once every other week.
Then, each Friday, I will receive an e-mail telling me what produce will be arriving with my order. And this is based on what produce is coming from the farms looking particularly good that week. I look through the list and if there's something that I happen to already have in the kitchen or just don't want that week, I can log in and make up to 5 substitutions per order. When the e-mail came to me on Friday, it had a bunch of carrots on it- I'm not much of a carrot eater and I have a bag of baby carrots in the fridge so I subbed out the carrots for a bunch of radishes. In addition, you can set up some preferences for things that you do or don't particularly like. I went in a made "pears" a dislike, so I don't think pears will even come as one of the items that is supposed to arrive in my box.
As if supporting local farmers and only choosing organically grown produce wasn't good enough, they really win my heart over with their green ways. All of the paperwork that came to me was printed on 100% recycled paper and my English peas came in a biodegradable plastic bag. You can put out a cooler for them to put your produce in (which I did) but if you don't, they'll leave your stuff in a box- but then they ask you to put that box out the next week for them to pick up and use again. Same thing with the ice packs they leave with your produce to help keep it fresh. They ask that you leave them out for the next delivery so they can be picked up and reused. Those of you that really know me, and know my recycling ways, are well aware of how much I appreciate their eco-friendly business practices. :-)
This week I received: 2 Gala apples, 2 zucchini, 2 black plums, 1 head of leaf lettuce, 1/2 lb. English peas, 1 green bell pepper, 1 bunch of radishes, 2 white peaches and 1 lb of red seedless grapes. Remember, it's all organic, and you've seen the price of organic produce at the grocery store, and it was delivered to my doorstep for just over $27. I think it's a steal!
And the wonderful added bonus that I LOVE is this "DTDO Produce Care Sheet" below that explains how you should store your produce items to get the longest life from them. I'm sad to say, I've been storing lots of things wrong. :-(
And the final reason for my excitement over this is that it's also going to increase my food knowledge and cooking repertoire by providing me with different ingredients than I might usually pick up at the grocery store. English peas? What do I do with those? I don't know, but I just received 1/2 lb. of them, so as soon as I'm done here, I'm off to find out. And according to my Produce Care Sheet, their shelf life is only 1-2 days, so I better get to it!
Cool company, that looks awesome! It even makes the non-vegatable eaters want to eat veggies! :)
ReplyDeleteI know!! You should give some veggies a try... :-)
ReplyDeleteI did a CSA at Hen House a couple years ago and loved it. My kids also thought it was cool to see what new items were in our bag each week. Their CSA also included local meat (obviously not of interest to you :0) as well as cheese, eggs, and honey sometimes. I'm all for trying your service out too! -Erin Vaughn
ReplyDeleteI've never been a Hen House shopper. I've always lived so much closer to Price Choppers and HyVees that I've always gone there... And I don't think either of those stores have offered a CSA. It's fun isn't it?? That's cool that Hen House offered it!! And, doesn't it help pull you out of the rut of making the same things over and over? I like that it included other stuff too.
ReplyDeleteWith KC Door to Door Organics, there are other organic and natural things (cheese, honey, meat...) that you can add to your order. As long as they're also delivering a box to you, they'll deliver any add-ons you choose.