Green B.E.A.N.

Awhile back a friend of ours mentioned they had started receiving weekly produce bins through Green BEAN Delivery. I was instantly interested. I used to really enjoy grocery shopping, but as I was in the throws of sleep deprivation and caring for a baby, someone bringing food to my door (other than the awesome meals we received) sounded really nice. Not to mention I felt like we were eating like crap (carbs, desserts, few veggies) and so a bin of fresh produce to my door sounded even better. I think we signed up the day after our friend mentioned it.

You can check out the Green BEAN web site here to learn more: www.greenbeandelivery.com

If you want the cliff notes version...the logo at the top says it all. They deliver organic produce as well as natural groceries. Deliveries come a certain day of the week depending on your location. You could practically do all your grocery shopping through this service if you wanted to (and if you had an unlimited budget - which I guess is the same thing as not having a budget). Anyways, the minimum you can do (to avoid delivery charge) is to sign up for a weekly or bi-weekly produce bin. Minimum charge is $35.

We decided to start with the smallest option and signed up for a small produce bin delivered every other week. So far we've had two deliveries. They come in one of these...

You guessed it - a green bin. The produce is nicely packaged and comes in an insulated container with ice packs to keep your food fresh in case you don't get it off your door step for a few hours.

They automatically fill your bin with things that are in season either locally or at least in the U.S. and then you have a window of time to go in and edit your basket online by removing or adding items. They have some really fun and unique options as well as fresh herbs. Here was our most recent bin:

I think it's a beautiful sight. We had a head of lettuce, a bunch of kale, cremini mushrooms, a sweet onion, bananas (not pictured), avocados, apples, brussels, carrots, mini assorted peppers, blueberries, and last but not least, green beans.

In our first bin, they got one item wrong (which they credited our account for) and a couple items were too ripe within a couple days, so I wasn't sold yet. But this bin we just got was top notch. Overall, there are pros and cons. It's not a money-saving option. You could buy the same produce (non-organic) at the grocery store for less and I honestly don't care a ton about organic - so that's not why we're doing this. But it's so convenient. I usually have an extra grocery store trip to grab a few produce items and it's always an annoying stop (esp now with Henrik), so sometimes I end up not doing it and then we eat less healthy. Convenient food usually isn't good for you, so I really like having these things filling up my fridge. I could see us canceling the service for the summer months when we (hopefully) have a garden and farmer's markets, etc. But for now...it's worth it.

Green BEAN is available in select cities in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri...in case I've peaked your interest.