All posts tagged: groceries

Bunny Eats Design turns 5 – Foodbox giveaway

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I got into Foodbox a few years ago when I was investigating different food delivery services in Auckland. Foodbox was the most well rounded service I found with fair prices for the average household. Foodbox began with with a few fruit and vege box options, now they offer many more items to make cooking at home a breeze. Foodbox offer quality free range meat, seafood, free range eggs, milk, bread and artisan goodies along with their main fruit and vege boxes. Fruit and vege are mostly local except for bananas and the odd grape or pineapple in winter. Thanks to Foodbox, I have a Big Bang worth $45 to give away. To enter, you must follow Foodbox’s Instagram account and answer a fun vege related food question. Entry form at the bottom of this post. “The Big Bang is brimming with New Zealand grown fresh fruit and vegetables for your week. It is our medium sized mixed fruit and veg box which is specifically designed for 3-4 people but would suit a vegetarian couple and/or a small family with 1-2 young children.” Due to logistics, this prize …

A Lime Free $29 Challenge

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A few years back I fundraised $635 for Live Below The Line by cooking and eating $2.25 a day worth of food for 5 days. $2.25 per day is considered the extreme poverty line in New Zealand. I came up with a bunch of simple recipes based on $11.25 worth of groceries and blogged about my experience. I won’t lie, it was miserable. I experienced hunger and deficiencies. While I made sure I ate 3+ times a day, I felt foggy and light headed. Most days, I came home from work, ate a small, unsatisfying meal and went straight to bed. This really highlighted for me, the struggles the poor have to face daily. How can someone possibly get ahead if they feel like that constantly? Yesterday I saw the fury of the internet unleashed on Gwyneth Paltrow when she posted her $29 SNAP challenge. If you missed it, here it is again. I also got swept up in the fury and I reposted it to my Facebook page. 7 limes? What planet do you live on? …

THE HONESTY BOX 3

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I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. If you are curious about CSA and like see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s In The Box over at Heather’s blog In Her Chucks. First impression Once again, a branded The Honesty Box arrived with a smart but simple typographic print. There was 10.5kg of produce in this box and at $37.50NZ including delivery, the average cost was about $3.5NZ per kilo. Good value. My first impression was that this box was very optimistic of the season. It’s early spring yet eggplants, capsicum and strawberries!? Amazing! No doubt, grown in greenhouses, it’s pretty awesome to see these in the box. It should be noted that the vegetable and fruit ratio was almost even this time round at 54% vegetables, 46% fruit. Vegetables 5.8kg Fancy red lettuce x 1 Celery x 1 Baby potatoes x 25 Eggplant x 1 Avocado x 1 Capsicum (red pepper) x 1 Carrots x 2 Onions x 2 Kumara …

The Honesty Box Menu 2

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Another well thought-out box from The Honesty Box. This is what our 11kg of produce is being turned into this week. The Honesty Box Menu 2 Items in bold are from The Honesty Box Porterhouse steak with The Koala’s fried potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce Creamy scrambled eggs with spinach, garlic, thyme, onion with Swiss-style cheese on toast Deviled sausages with onion, kiwifruit and apple. Served on potato pumpkin mash with steamed broccoli Beetroot and Chevre (soft goats cheese) risotto with fresh thyme and lemon slice (pictured) Pumpkin and rosemary soup with soft buttered bread rolls Spicy chicken nibbles with pumpkin and rosemary wedges Braised beef, carrot and beetroot with star anise, cinnamon and soy. Served on rice Smoked salmon and spinach fettuccine with garlic parmesan butter sauce Cheeseburgers with beef patties, red onion, beetroot, avocado and wasabi mayo Sangria (with fruit)

The Honesty Box 2

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Way, way back in the late ’80s, a young boy at Glenholme Primary School in Rotorua, New Zealand accidentally slammed his fingers in the classroom door. I will never forget it because he also happened to be holding a tamarillo at that precise moment. The horrific tamarillo mess will be forever etched into my mind. As the news spread that someone had squished their fingers in the door, the fact that he was also holding a tamarillo dropped away. To our active imaginations, it was finger guts that bloodied the classroom entrance. I have honestly never bought a tamarillo in my  life. I guess subconsciously, finger guts are pretty far down on the list of my preferred fruit. It’s a shame really, because I just found out that The Koala adores tamarillos. This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. If you are curious about CSA and like see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s …

The Honest Box Menu 1

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Since the success of my first pulled pork, I’m doing another twice the size this week with plenty of leftovers to play with. The Koala does not mind one bit! This week we received a whole pumpkin from our F&V small box from The Honesty Box. Sharing a 2.4kg pumpkin between two means  it features heavily in this week’s menu. I’m not a fan of pumpkin but I know what I like and as long as it’s cooked with plenty of aromatic spices I’m good to go. The pouch of herbs will be thrown willy nilly into soups and stews. The Honesty Box Menu 1 Items in bold are from The Honesty Box. Orange pulled pork with smashed garlic, onion and bay leaves Pulled pork rolls with lettuce, red onion and sour cream Pulled Pork Tortillas (see notes below) Rice noodles with pulled pork and broccoli Spiced Pumpkin and kumara soup with smoked cheddar toasties Pumpkin and chickpea curry with garlic, onion and tomato paste. Served on rice with a dollop of sour cream Sirloin steak medium rare …

THE HONESTY BOX 1

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. If you are curious about CSA and like see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s In The Box over at Heather’s blog In Her Chucks. The Lowdown The Honesty Box has a great name and refers to unmanned roadside stalls all over the New Zealand countryside, where you purchase produce by leaving money behind in the honesty box. I don’t know if this is common in other countries but around here, it’s looked upon fondly, though dishonesty is slowly taking over and honesty boxes are less and less common. With The Honesty Box, the name actually refers to their corporate programme where companies can purchase a box of fruit for the office and employees can buy fruit at work by way of honest box. A healthy alternative to the chocolate bar and chips snack box. The Honesty Box also offer home deliveries which is what we went are …

NATURALLY ORGANIC MENU 3

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We didn’t receive a lot of vegetables in our Naturally Organic this week so our meal plan reflects this. Hope to stretch a few meals so we can have leftovers for lunch but it might not happen. Plenty of fruit to snack on this week though! Naturally Organic Menu 3 Items in bold are from our Naturally Organic box. Hoisin pulled pork with apple slaw on floury baps (pictured) Chicken and leek soup with garlic butter toast Bangers and mash with kiwi caramalised onions (see recipe below) with sautéed garlic silverbeet Spicy udon with beef, onion, egg and cabbage, topped with pinenuts Pumpkin and silverbeet curry with home made roti Orange roasted chicken drumsticks with pumpkin and carrot Apple hand pies with butterscotch sauce and ice cream Butterscotch and banana smoothie I’d like to share a quickie recipe with you that I whip out for bangers and mash occasions. Call it a lazyman’s chutney. It’s chunky and delicious. The flavours of caramalised onion, kiwi and butter work really well together and this would be great with steak, sausages, chops or chicken. This …

Naturally Organic 3

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. I have already tried Foodbox.co.nz and now I am trying is Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and their produce boxes are only a small part of what they offer. Unlike other companies that have a set delivery day, Naturally Organic offer 6 day delivery. Check their website out for specific details for your area, but I can order up to 7 days in advance and get same day delivery Monday to Friday if I order by 9.30am. First impression Our first Two Person Box was overwhelming and the One Person Box wasn’t really enough so this round I requested the Two Person Box with more vegetables than fruit. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and once again we received heaps of fruit. 44 pieces of fruit! As before the produce is of excellent organic quality and the box was huge but felt a bit empty. I ordered some chicken this week and these were were individually wrapped in …

Naturally Organic Menu 2

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We had one of those weekends where you divide up your day into two-hour slots so you can get everything done. I attended Creative Mornings last Friday and witnessed the entertaining magic of Otis and Sarah Frizzell’s taco truck adventure. Inspirational stuff. When you look upon their setbacks, I think most sane people would have quit long ago. I learned that sheep scrotums taste like bacon. Considering how many sheep we have in this country, perhaps this is a largely untapped market? On Saturday The Koala and I happened to chance upon The Lucky Taco in Ponsonby so we shared four tacos and their flagship rice milk drink. I tried not to fan-girl too hard, I popped my head in the side door and maybe I gushed. Hopefully, Sarah and Otis were too busy to notice. I met up with my friend Vanessa to help her set up a blog and she sent me home with a gang of lemons from her tree. I’m super excited this week to play with the lovely delivery from …

Naturally Organic box 2

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. I have already tried Foodbox.co.nz and the next one on my list is Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and their produce boxes are only a small part of what they offer. Since our last order was a little overwhelming, this round I went for the smallest box and added some fun extras. I ordered the One Person Organic Fruit and Vege Box for $19 plus $7.98 delivery and also added some Māori potatoes (urenika) and onions to bump up the produce to $26.25 to be comparative. The $19 produce weighed 5.4kg (vegetables 2.4g, fruit 3kg) and the onion and potatoes an extra 1kg. Unlike other companies that have a set delivery day, Naturally Organic offer 6 day delivery. Check their website out for specific details for your area, but I can order up to 7 days in advance and get same day delivery Monday to Friday if I order by 9.30am. First impression Even though we …

Naturally Organic Menu 1

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. Currently our delivery is from Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and you can view the contents of the box on my post here. A brief menu this week. Plenty of leftovers for lunch though. Naturally Organic Menu 1 Items in bold are from our Naturally Organic box. Spiced pumpkin soup with garlic toast Orange roast chicken with beetroot, pumpkin and carrot Chili bean chicken with kale yellow rice Minted lamb chops with sauteed kale, mushrooms and The Koalas fried potato Cheesy kale and mushroom macaroni with breadcrumb and parmesan topping Grilled pork chops with caramalised pear, sauteed cabbage and potato mash. Beef and bean nachos with cheese Maple French toast with banana and bacon Porridge with banana Hong Kong style breakfast: macaroni soup with ham, fried egg and sliced cabbage. Chinese tea egg salad with spring onion, sesame, bean sprouts, red cabbage, grated carrot and orange   (pictured) Ham sandwich with cheese, red cabbage, bean sprouts and pickle Prawn, red cabbage, carrot and spring onion …

Naturally Organic box 1

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This winter, I’m testing out a few CSA and produce delivery companies in Auckland. I have already tried Foodbox.co.nz and the next one on my list is Naturally Organic. Naturally Organic is a market based in Albany, Auckland and their produce boxes are only a small part of what they offer. Their products are marked organic, spray-free, gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free and local where appropriate, so if that kind of thing is important, you can shop online with ease. They have a huge catalogue of products like baby products, cleaning products, drinks, pantry items and you can get even get Aoraki salmon and Harmony/Freedom Farm pork delivered with your product box. This week I ordered the Two Person Organic Fruit and Vege Box for $30 plus $7.98 delivery. Unlike other companies that have a set delivery day, Naturally Organic offer 6 day delivery. Check their website out for specific details for your area, but I can order up to 7 days in advance and get same day delivery Monday to Friday if I order by 9.30am. First …

Foodbox 4

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  First impression Winter is really here. This weeks box lends itself to roasts and soups. The produce in our Appetiser Foodbox weighed 7.5kg. Vegetables Mushrooms – Portobello x 10 (300g) Cabbage x 1 small Broccoli x 1 Leek x 1 Carrots x 2 Beetroot x 2 Kumara (sweet potato) x 2 Potatoes x 10 Fruit Apples – Royal Gala x 4 Apples – Lemonade x 4 Mandarins x 8 Kiwifruit x 4  Add ons 1 dozen free range eggs The most interesting thing in the box A cute little cabbage and our first winter leek. CSA Link Party If you are interested in CSA and what see what other people around the world are getting each week in their boxes, please check out at the weekly link party What’s In The Box over at Heather’s blog In Her Chucks.

Foodbox 3

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First impression Red and purple are my two favourite colours. Maybe not together all the time as they can be quite grabby intense, but certainly on their own. So it was a delight to unpack our Foodbox this week and see lots of red and purple. We got heaps of apples this week. I specifically requested more apples apples so it was cool to have 2 kinds of apples this week. Vegetables Red cabbage half Red capsicum x 1 Red kumara x 2 Baby red potatoes x 25 (1.6kg) Tomatoes x 2 Broccoli x 1 Button mushrooms x 250g Fruit Apples – Envy x 6 Apples – Lemonade x 5 Mandarins x 3 Lime x 1 Kiwifruit x 3 Banana x 3  Add ons 1 dozen free range eggs The most interesting thing in the box 25 baby red potatoes. They’re like a little army. They look so lovely I have to resist biting into them like I would an apple. CSA Link Party If you are interested in CSA and what see what other …

Foodbox 2

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Our second Foodbox arrived yesterday afternoon and though we had a dinner date, I couldn’t help but sample one of the lovely ambrosia apples before we left. Easily the best apple I have eaten. Ever. I made the amateur mistake of putting the apple core in my office bin instead of the heavy, lidded kitchen bin. When we got home from dinner, the rubbish was knocked over, the apple core missing, scattered seeds in the hallway and one nonchalant rabbit. I guess we’ll never know who did it. First impression Good. Seemed just as heavy as the last box though I couldn’t be bothered weighing everything this time. Some exotic things to our regular shopping list. A good thing as it’s a chance to experiment a bit with cooking and eating unfamiliar things. Vegetables Kale (cavalo nero) x 1 Mini white cabbage x 1 Sweet stem broccoli x 1 medium bag Spinach leaves x 1 large bag Mung bean sprouts x 1 medium bag Potatoes x 8 Carrots x3 Swede (rutabaga) Italiano Cherry heritage tomatoes x 1 …

Foodbox 1

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“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing that a tomato doesn’t belong in a fruit salad.” Miles Kington It is Autumn and daylight savings means I wanna cut corners. I don’t want walk to the market after work in the rain and dark, so I get stuff delivered. It’s convenient, not lazy. Lazy would be ordering takeout because there’s no food in the house. Last winter, we ate through 3 months of Ooooby deliveries. I loved receiving a weekly delivery of produce and extra tasty add ons. I am trialling FoodBox for a month or two, to compare the experience. First impression Our first Foodbox arrived this week and we received the Appetiser which is $33 per week including delivery. A major difference for us this time round is that we now have a vegetable garden so I’ve put a few things on the “do not want list”. No point in eating home grown lettuce and store bought lettuce each week. The box weighs over 7kg and I’m a seriously …