Green Grocer Goodness

Yay!  It came today!

Last week I signed up with Washington's Green Grocer, and you've never seen a family so excited about a vegetable delivery.  We've been talking about the box for the last few days. My boys' eyes lit up as we carefully unpacked each specimen, and discussed all the yummy things we could do with them as we put them away.

There are a lot of reasons I'm excited to start using this service specifically.  I like that I don't have to commit to a certain number of weeks, and they deliver right to my door.  While the produce isn't as local as a CSA, they do work with regional farmers for as much of their goods as they can.  It's also fun.  I'm not specifying anything that I do or do not want in my box (which you can do if you want) so I may end up with items I would never think of buying in the store.  I'm looking forward to trying new things and finding new recipes.  It's also going to challenge me to plan my meals around the vegetables I have, instead of around a meat.  Too often I think of veggies as a side, and forget that they have just a much right to the starring role.

It may end up being a little more expensive, but I figure if I use it all, it's worth it. Of course, there's also the fact that the produce is not as "pretty" as you find in the store.  I know that really, that's a good thing.  Things are grown to be picked and eaten fresh, not shipped across the country to sit in a store and look appealing until someone buys it.  Still, it's been ingrained in me that apples should be big and shiny, oranges smooth and bright, and my lettuce triple washed.  Hopefully this summer I'll get over my "pretty fruit" thing, and learn to just savor the flavors.