The Produce Box

Quick, what’s 10 x $100? Answer = $1000 and that’s how much The Produce Box recently donated to North Carolina schools. We went back to school in March for National Nutrition Month to spread the word about healthy, fresh and local food with students and families all over the state! The Produce Box helped our school partners raise funds while they educated students about the importance of a produce-rich diet. Each school partner received a special code and for every new member who joined with the code, the school received $10. From farmers to families, we love supporting our community, so if you know of a local school, team or group who would like to participate in our next fundraising drive, send an email to kristin@theproducebox.com .

Any shortbread cookie recipe would work. We will have Susan’s Vanilla Extract and Culinary Lavender on the menu this weekend so you can stock up! The lavender buds come to us from Lisa at Little Herb House Farm, just outside of Raleigh. Lisa has been kind enough to invite the ENTIRE membership out to her gorgeous farm for a Spring Harvest Hoedown on Sunday, May 3rd ! Get tickets on the menu this weekend! $5 per car, with a portion of the proceeds going to Abundance Foundation, a great organization that does work with sustainability and fiscal sponsorship of community efforts around the state including Farm to Fork events, emerging food markets and more! Fun activities will include games for the kids, an inflatable slide and dancing! Fire Chef Food Truck will be there with fire hats for the kids and Chef Kevin will be manning the truck, cooking our farmer’s produce with artisan accoutrements! There will be artisan goods to taste and buy directly including Delight Soy snacks, Chesh...

Great idea shared by Jessica Oliver, our Chapel Hill Area Manager. Thanks, Jessica! I love cooking. I especially love trying new recipes. However (many moons ago!) with my two year old toddling around and my six month old on my hip, I was missing cooking. I really longed to enjoy meals that took more than 15 minutes to pull together and didn’t come out of a box! Then, as if the stars aligned, I saw a high school friend’s Facebook post about a dinner swap she and her friends did. I immediately emailed her to get the details. Within a week, my own dinner swap group was born and none of us have ever looked back! I think the success of our dinner swap is in its simplicity. We have four families, all neighbors. Dinner Swap is one night a week – we chose Tuesday, but are flexible if the chef-of-the-week needs to pick another night.  I have a home cooked meal delivered to me three out of four Tuesdays, and I bring a meal to the other three families every fourth Tuesday.  ...

We all have seem to have at least one person in the family that is just anti-veggie.  Try a few of these ideas to help you convert your non-veg lover but also maybe boost your own veggie intake as well! Hide the Veggies Smoothies —kale and spinach become invisible when mixed into a blueberry smoothie using fresh blueberries! Sauce —Meat sauce can be full of nearly undetectable vegetables. Pesto is mostly basil, but try adding baby greens as well. Stir Fry —match up each bite of chicken or beef with a small bit of veggie.  A small bit of broccoli with your chicken or a little squash with a bit of beef. Mac and Cheese or pancake batter —puree up some butternut squash or sweet potatoes and add to your kiddos mac or pancake batter. Burgers, meatloaf or ground beef —add  bits of finely chopped up veggies. Try diced carrots, celery and peppers for a start.  Use finely chopped up kale like parsley. Using parsley or cilantro in something? Add some ...

Guest post by Hailey Barrow from The Edible Garden in Greensboro After months of winter, spring has finally sprung!  As flowers begin to bloom and the weather gets warmer, here are some ways to find a little extra joy this season. Enjoy Spring Salads . Relish local, leafy greens for as long as you can before the summer heat arrives! Add a little freshness to any meal (using your Produce Box!) by creating an interesting salad, perhaps using a type of leafy green that’s new to your family such as swiss chard, arugula, kale, tatsoi, or radicchio. Fill Your Home with Seasonal Flowers . North Carolina is brimming with beautiful blooms in the springtime. Visit your local farmers market to buy a fresh bouquet or take cuttings from your own garden to fill your home with color and fragrance. Lovely, seasonal blooms you may encounter include daffodils, irises, peonies, pansies, hyacinths, ranunculus, roses, and hydrangeas.  Fill Your Plate with Strawberries . Strawberries are ...

Easy and delicious from Neighborhood Coordinator Rachel C! Having grown up in Texas, I crave Mexican food... a lot!!! I had discovered Cilantro coming up in my garden from last year's seed a few weeks before delivering The Produce Box sweet peppers and field tomatoes.  Sometimes life gives lemons, last week it gave me what I needed for salsa!  I turned the tomatoes upside down to let fully ripen for a few days and let the cilantro grow a bit more. I have to give credit to my children (13 and 10) for helping with Taco night food prep. My daughter made guacamole while my son did most of the work on the salsa... We used : 3 field tomatoes, a mix of the sweet peppers (about a cup or more worth), and an onion. Give them each a whirl in the food processor or chop with a knife if you prefer chunky salsa. Combine them in a bowl with the juice of 1/2 a lime (the other 1/2 of the lime was squeezed over avacado for guacamole). Mince a few garlic cloves an...