Hello all! Well it has literally been MONTHS since I've written here- but I have a good excuse: I am pregnant. Not just pregnant now, but super preggo- I'm due to pop any day now. Some women have great, lovely pregnancies where they feel energetic and all "a glow", angel kissed and sexy. Well, that is in no way my pregnancy. Sparing you the details, let's just say my health and energy have been on a rapid decline since I last wrote.
Recalling an earlier post I wrote about how to sustain doing the work needed to aim for a zero waste lifestyle, I discovered if I planned to use an hour every night after my toddler was in bed ( exchanging that hour of Netflix for and hour of food prep or other zero waste activity) I found I could sustain the effort needed.
However, when you start to feel icky constantly and so tired you fall asleep standing up and holding a glass mason jar ( yeah, not my proudest moment ), you start to realize what is now sustainable- for the time being, anyhow.
I truly think that in periods of time like this, had we gobs of reserves of canned foods and dried foods ready to go, had our house been in zero waste shape for years, there likely would not be much of a blip in the day to day work load- but having run out of nearly all the canned and dried items ( done mostly in the previous summer and fall) it was very, very hard to summon the energy to make bread, cereal, dry fruit for roll ups, granola bars.... I still tried, but as I got more pregnant and more sick and more tired, this work lagged. I am taking note for this coming summer and going to double my efforts in canning, preserving, and planning- but that will next year.
And so yes, some things started to slip and we began to purchase some items in packaging- but did our best not to. And then, a friend of mine, Jean White Steffeck, told me about a food service she uses ( one of those Facebook ads that fly by on your screen touting fresh food mailed to your door with the recipes to make great food for the family) and how she loved it! The service is called Blue Apron- it was reasonably priced, had organic whole foods and tried to source from local farms. All that is good- but man the packaging must be horrendous to be able to be mailed. 'Not true', said Jean, who showed me on their website where the packaging that they use is all recyclable -the plastics are a level that my local recycling center can reuse instead of burn, and all the rest of the packaging consists of brown paper bags and brown paper recycled cardboard- even the ice packs come in material that you allow to thaw, then can cut up and recycle as well. Who knew? SO I gave it try- and have been super pleased!
I have been using the service for over a month and a half and my grocery bill ( yes the one that got cut down quite a bit from going more zero waste) surprisingly did not grow at all! The meals have been really quite delicious and the produce and meat have been high quality, and as local as they can source them ( I mean some things had plantain- that wouldn't be local to Oregon ), and have consisted of mostly whole food products with the exception of some spices ( but processed super light- just by drying methods). We have eaten from a range of styles- Indian, South American, Asian, Mexican... and I feel like I am learning quite a bit about how to cook different types of meals.
Blue Apron only sends exactly what you need for each meal so there are no left over bits that you have to try to figure out to use up ( in zero waste fashion, you always need to be thinking creatively about consuming all you buy so nothing is wasted, and sometimes that takes more time and effort to make things with left over produce and the outcome is not always palpable.)
What's been another really great side effect is that many of the dishes incorporate veggies I never work with because frankly they always sounded awful to me: collard greens, swiss chard, some forms of very acidic kale... but the recipes have you use those ingredients in different Ways with lots of spices! And they end up being so very good- and BONUS- my three year loves them! My three year old who hates " anything green" on her plate, will eat collard greens. Who knew?
I do not intend to keep using Blue Apron services after baby comes because it does create an overflowing amount of recycling which in some ways is still a burden on the environment- as well as the energy and gas used for the shipping and transportation of the goods- BUT compared to giving up and shopping for non recyclable packaged goods - which are likely processed and super unhealthy too- and going back on all the progress made this year, this helpful service has been a life savor for me. So thanks Jean for the tip- and thank you Sally Robinson Kallianis ( who told Jean about the service in the first place).
I have enjoyed taking pictures of all the meals made with Blue Apron because many of them look so professional- not by me but by the great recipe directions provided by Blue Apron which include plating ( kinda fun!).
Hopefully my next post will be on the flip side of pregnancy- here's to baby boy coming soon, I hope!
OH and by the way, I've earned 5 free meals for friends- comment below if you want me to send you a coupon for one free Blue Apron meal thingy. I don't know if I get credit for it, but if you are in a pinch, going through a season if life where you are not feeling well have no energy or no time, I would promote you try this as opposed to picking up that take out!
