Is it me, or does it seem like a new meal kit delivery service springs up every day? I've had the opportunity to test drive a bunch, but I keep wishing there is one service that sources from local producers, curates only the best ingredients, doesn't overload you on one ingredient, is eco-friendly in its packaging, doesn't lock you into a long-term commitment, and delivers straight to your door.

Enter Family Dinner, a farmer's market delivery service for Boston Metro and South Shore residents. Unlike your typical meal kit delivery company, Family Dinner does not shoehorn you into specific recipes in a given week. Instead, Family Dinner works with local farmers and producers to curate the freshest produce, grains, seafood, meat and dairy products.

Family Dinner describes itself as "a better way to CSA" as it offers "all the benefits of the CSA with none of the drawbacks."  Here's how:

1. Choose your share. You can pay week to week and there's no long-term commitment like traditional CSAs.
2. Choose from "Omnivore," "Paleo," "Pescatarian," or "Vegetarian." Each share comes with protein, fruits, vegetables and a grain.
3. Select the size of your share. Options include "Veggie only share" for 1-2 people, "Half Share" for 1-2 people, "Whole Share" for 2-4 people, or "Double Share" for 4-6 people.
4. Choose to have it delivered to your home (Saturday delivery) or office (veggie only Monday delivery). Family Dinner will send you a text message when they are on their way.
5. Cook! Family Dinner will send you an email with a list of ingredients and some recipe ideas ahead of time. 

We selected a Omnivore Double Share and what arrived blew us all away in terms of quality and quantity. A Double Share easily offers a family of four 5-6 meals, with leftovers - which is perfect for my three hungry guys. Here's what our Family Dinner week looked like:









Extra: There were even ingredients for lunches and snacks too, including honey mustard for the sandwich spread,  apples, and cottage cheese with fresh raspberries.

The boys loved everything. I loved the quality, local ingredients. I also love supporting local entrepreneurs. And I especially loved that we were still able to sit down for a family dinner, even during the busiest of days.

So if you've ever thought about signing up for a CSA, but didn't want to get stuck with 3 pounds of bok choy. Or if you're getting tired of meal delivery kits (and the excessive packaging), Give Family Dinner a try. There's no commitment and if you sign up using UMOMMY50, you get 50% off your first order.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Family Dinner for giving me a trial share, which I received free of charge. As always, all opinions are my own.

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I detest winter. Mostly because I find the cold to be unbearable. Then there are the reminders that everything around me is dead or dormant: bare trees, brown grass and empty lots where our local farmers markets resided all summer long. Oh how I missed hopping from stall to stall, talking to farmers, and hand picking fresh-from-the-farm ingredients to bring home. When I was invited to try Farmers to You last week, which is like having a farmers market delivered once a week, I knew it could be the antidote to a long winter.

What is Farmers to You?
Farmers to You is a regional partnership linking New England farmers and producers to Boston-area families. Their motto is "the food you want, from farms you trust, delivered each week, all year long." Here's how it works:

1. Go online and place your order on Sunday. The website is essentially the online farmers market featuring everything from "Just In" seasonal ingredients, vegetables, meat and fish, dairy and eggs, baked goods, pantry items, fruit and juice, and pet items. 
2. On Monday, Farmers to You orders the food direct from the farmers. 
3. On Tuesday, food is delivered to the Farmers to You warehouse, where your order is packed by hand.
4. On Wednesday and Thursday, orders are delivered to Boston drop-off areas for pickup. There is also a home/office delivery for an added fee. 

Farmers to us
I ordered a little bit of everything: mesclun greens, potatoes, white fish, beef short ribs, butter, eggs, cheese, sliced bread, maple syrup, fresh pasta, jarred tomato sauce and apples. I picked up our order on Thursday and was greeted by Lisa who could not have been nicer and more helpful. She found my order and added a few things to the already-packed bags. When we arrived home with our bounty, everything was perfect - even the ice cream!


That night, I made a fish and corn chowder with a salad and some bread from Crossett Hill.


Over the weekend, I was feeling adventurous and made a beef short rib ragu over pasta. OMG.


Farmers < > Families
I've tried online grocery delivery and meal kit delivery services. Farmers to You is different in the best way possible. Everything was local and super fresh. And of course there's the convenience of online shopping. And I love how Farmers to You connects me to local farmers with videos about the producers and how they grow or make their products. But what I really appreciate is being able to support small farmers beyond our local farmers' market all year long.

Excuse me while I snack on more Cabot Clothbound Cheddar and Honeycrisp apples. Hey Old Man Winter. I'm ready for you!


Disclaimer: Thanks to Farmers to You for giving me a trial membership, which I received free of charge. As always, all opinions are my own.

My family and I had the good fortunate to have spent a long weekend on Martha's Vineyard recently. I've had the opportunity to visit several times before and was looking forward to introducing the boys to "The Vineyard" as it often called. Of course they got to experience some homemade island ice cream, The Flying Horses, the Gingerbread Houses, the sun, sand and surf of course. What we didn't expect was the amazing produce and creative food from a surprisingly large number of local producers for such a small island. It was like a mini photography retreat for me - the photo opps were too numerous to count.

So here is just a small selection of some of my favorite pics from a food blogger's perspective. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Morning Glory Farm Strawberry Festival - live music, games, activities and great food.

Strawberry cupcakes

Strawberry lemonade and Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Walnuts and Parmesan

Strawberry Salsa and Chilled Cucumber Soup

Farm hands working the grill

Festival Menu (one of each please!). Everything was outstanding.

West Tisbury Farmers Market was THE place to be Saturday morning

Garlic scape aplenty

This season's favorite ice cream parlor based on the crowds

What are some of your favorite farmers markets? How do you like to spend your summer vacation?

I attended my first blogger event yesterday thanks to Healthworks Fitness. Being new to the blogger scene, I had no idea what to expect. I've read posts from other bloggers recounting events geared just for them - and they sounded great! It should come to no surprise how excited I was to get this evite:

Chance to check out a Bosu class at one of Boston's best gyms? Trip to the farmer's market and picnic in Copley Square? Chance to meet some great local bloggers? Yes, yes and yes!

Unfortunately I was not able to make the first half of the event due to some last minute emergencies. I was truly bummed to be missing what I heard was a killer workout (check out post from foodfitnessfashion). Not only was I in need of a good workout, but as a former Healthworks member, I really miss the amazing facilities, welcoming staff and kid-friendly facilities.

So I joined the group of 13 other bloggers in the lobby at the Back Bay location at 6pm. Judith Forman, Events and Partnerships Marketing Coordinator, gave a quick overview of the rest of the day and introduced representatives from Whole Foods Market, Joos, and Mix Bakery.

Event coordinator extraordinaire Judith Forman

Judith invited us bloggers to take our pictures of the "green bag" meals from Whole Foods. It was fun watching everyone whip out their cameras and compose their shots. For the first time, I did not feel awkward breaking out my camera to take a picture of a meal before eating it (my family is growing tired of this habit I'm afraid!).

my product shot and sandwich selection

After everyone grabbed their meal of choice, we headed over to Copley Square to enjoy a casual picnic in the grass. As Linay and Melissa of Whole Foods Fresh Pond and Whole Foods Brighton explained Whole Foods' "health starts here" initiative, I thoroughly enjoyed my picnic dinner. The sandwich was fantastic - incredible bread and fresh ingredients. Ginormous bowl of fresh fruit was great the next morning. And my favorite was the orange cashew quinoa salad. It was light, slightly sweet and perfect for a warm summer night.

bloggers listen to reps from WFM talk about "health start here"

what's for dinner: turkey on sprouted grain bread, fruit salad, quinoa salad

We then were introduced to Lauri and Marissa from Joos and got to sample juices made from organic veggies, roots and herbs and a joosbite, mini muffins made from juice pulp. I thought the juice was pretty tasty, but admit that I would have a hard time slurping down a whole bottle (especially at $8.50 a bottle - yikes). The joosbite was moist and delicious.

organic, nutrient-rich juices from joos

And last but not least, we were treated to delicious cupcakes from Mix Bakery. As I proclaimed in my post about Cupcake Camp, Mix Bakery cupcakes are by far my favorite in New England. These cupcakes were so addictive, it was easy to see why the bloggers kept going back for more (check out We Are Not Martha's fun post on this).

chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

So what did I learn at my first blogger event?

• It's perfectly acceptable to take pictures of everything and anything
• You'll likely need to introduce yourself by your blog name first before your actual first name
• Bloggers are truly sincere and supportive of one another. I was so glad to have met these fabulous gals:

I had a great time at my first blogger event. It was laid-back and casual (maybe the workout mellowed everyone out). But after the day I had, it was just my speed.  

A big thank you to Healthworks for hosting a great event. And if you're in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chestnut Hill, or Salem, be sure to check out Healthworks. Click here for a FREE three-day pass for umommy readers!