Every Wednesday feels a little bit like Christmas at our house. We’ve started getting an organic veg box and it is the best thing ever. A lovely surprise of treats waiting on the doorstep for us when we get home after work.
A Foody Holiday
This has all happened because I took my family to Corfu in the summer while I photographed a wedding. The wedding was amazing and then we had a blissful two weeks of family time afterwards. Where the toughest decision we faced was where to swim and what to eat. And all the food was amazing, so scented and flavourful, locally grown and often a bit wonky! None of the insipid perfectly formed vegetables that the supermarkets insist on giving us in this country.
I was telling a friend all of this when we got home and he told me about the veg box that he has been getting for years and has never been disappointed with. I thought it was worth a try and ordered one that week from the same company – Growing with Grace.
And Wow!
It is worth getting a delivery for the salad alone. The bag is a medley of leaves that you simply don’t see in the supermarket. And they are garnished with pretty peppery nasturtium flowers, making any salad look and taste like the creation of a classy restaurant. We’re ordering an extra bag of this every week now!
The rest of the box is made up of staples like potato, onion and carrot and then a range of greens that vary every week. All rich in flavour, chemical free and mostly grown just down the road, cutting out those unfriendly food miles.
Added Benefits
Unexpectedly though, the box is bringing us so much more than tasty food which had been the original goal. Yes, it’s healthy and organic veg and I’m sure we are all feeling the bennefits for eating such good stuff. But the best value we’ve discovered is that it’s making us cook! And creatively, too because we’ve never seen half of this food before!
To begin with I created soups and stews that were favourites of mine when I was a child and the kids have loved these. Then I got a little braver and stated learning new recipes; Jamie Oliver was finally dug off the shelf and delved into.
Now, a few weeks on I’m intrepidly venturing into the world of Google recipies – there is a world of food out there for the taking and the cooking! I have even made a curry with our organic veg. I made it from scratch and it was quick and easy, and ever so tasty!
All this new food is making the kids braver in their own pallet too; I made a Greek inspired spinach pie last night and even that all got eaten.
Quality Time and Quality Food
My next step is to get the kids involved in the cooking too. I’ve discovered cooking is a fun and creative activity, so we should do it together. As well as enriching our quality time together this will set my children up with an invaluable skill. It will demystify cooking for them, and they will be even more excited about eating new and exotic foods.
And if you are thinking this sounds great but you don’t have time, I don’t actually think there is much difference in the cooking time between starting from scratch and cooking from a jar – you just need to make sure you have the right things in the cupboard.
I set us up by taking Jamie Oliver’s larder list to the supermarket a few weeks ago and stocking up on all the herbs and spices and tins he recommends.
And with our well stocked larder and weekly deliver, now we only need to pop to the shop for the odd pint of milk or cut of meat. So we’ve saved time there too!
Organic Treats
Who would have thought a humble veg box could have made our home life so much richer! Tonight we are trying our hand at French Onion soup.
Now roll on Wednesday! I can’t wait to see what treats Growing with Grace have in store for us next. I thoroughly recommend you give them a try!
