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.

Summers in New England are the best. And while I'm sad it's coming to an end, I am looking forward to having the kids back in school. But... Back-to-School can be the worst when it comes to the breakfast-chaos-packing-lunches-school-night-dinner-scramble routine. A major sanity-saver for me is meal planning, which I've blogged about previously here and here.

But... meal planning is a lot of work. On any given Saturday or Sunday morning, you will find me in front of my computer with a stack of cookbooks next to me. I have about a dozen separate tabs in my web browser - one for my meal planning google sheet, another open to weather.com (need to know what to cook depending on the weather), another to google calendar (need to know what after-school activities we have and how much time we have to cook), and a bunch more to different recipe websites. About an hour+ later, I will have a plan for next week's meals and a shopping list. And then 2+ hours later, I'll be home with my arms loaded with grocery bags, and my mood significantly darker.

So when I learned that The Dinner Daily, a meal planning service that designs weekly menus based on your grocery store specials (!), and Roche Bros. have joined forces, I couldn't wait to give it a try.

Step 1: Set Your Preferences
The Dinner Daily creates meal plans based on criteria such as family size, meal type (everything, no seafood, vegetarian, poultry & vegetarian, etc.) and where you shop. The Dinner Daily has partnered with over 11,000 grocery stores across the country.

Step 2: Receive Your Plan
Members receive weekly plans for five dinners based on store specials along with a shopping list and link to coupons. Say goodbye to flyer scanning. The Dinner Daily members can save $1,000 or more on annual food costs.


Step 3: Order Groceries 
Thanks to local grocer Roche Bros. online shopping and home delivery service, you can have everything on your shopping list plus any additional groceries you need delivered right to your door. So while you have to manually enter your order (looking forward to the day your Dinner Daily Shopping list can be uploaded/synced to Roche Bros. platform), the whole process takes less time to drive to the store (in my case, multiple stores), shop, and return home.


Step 4: Roche Bros. Personal Shopper
Your online order is sent to your local Roche Bros. and given to a personal shopper. I had the opportunity to shadow this process with other local bloggers. I saw first-hand how personal shoppers take great care in picking out your groceries. Finding the perfect avocado is no easy task! And Kelly did it like a pro.


Step 5: Receive Your Groceries
Probably my favorite step! Groceries are delivered to your home at a time you schedule. Our groceries were delivered on time, and with a smile (thanks Ira!).

Step 6: Cook! 
The Dinner Daily Meals are designed to be quick, healthy and easy to make - perfect for a school night. And I was glad to see a lot of variety when it came to cuisine. Here's a look at some of our favorite dinners from last week's meal plan. Definitely some keepers here!

Next Level Meal Kit Delivery
While we have tried and have been pleased with a variety of meal kit delivery services like Just Add Cooking and Blue Apron, The Dinner Daily + Roche Bros goes beyond what other companies offer. You get five meals, menu flexibility, the ability to customize and add to your shopping list, and save a good chunk of money. Eat better. Save money. Save Time.


Disclaimer: Thanks to The Dinner Daily for giving me a trial membership and to Roche Bros. for giving me the opportunity to try home delivery service. As always, all opinions are my own.