Home delivery food service is a rising trend. I see the appeal—no wandering up and down grocery store aisles or waiting in line, and in many cases, the option to get your groceries from carefully selected local sources.
I had never tried this type of service before, so when the chance to test out Bella Bean Organics came up, I was eager to see what this local food delivery experience was all about.
Armed with $75 and an overwhelming variety of food from which to choose on the online store, I began to narrow down my search by deciding to select only local products raised, grown or caught in N.C. (Bella Bean has a specific tab for that). I also decided to focus mostly on the main proteins for meals. Regular grocery shopping tends to end in far too many snack purchases for me, so this was a great way to really stick to the task at hand—actual meal planning.
As a side "treat" I purchased a pint of local certified organic blueberries from SouthernBelle, N.C., which were on special that week.
The half pound of wild caught sea scallops from Locals Seafood was calling my name—we just don't get enough opportunities to enjoy scallops around here. With a leafy head of local certified organic butterhead lettuce from LL Urban in Cary, we made a healthy and tasty seafood salad.
On another night, we made chicken, brie, pepper and mango quesadillas with a pound of local all natural Naked Bird chicken tenderloins from Joyce Farms in Winston-Salem.
The next night, it was all-natural, grass-fed bison cheese burgers made with a pound of ground bison from Carolina Bison in Asheville.
We also ordered one pound of the "best catch," which varies depending on what the best catch that week actually is. On this particular week, it was local wild-caught tilefish filets available from Locals Seafood, NC.
Later that week, we sautéed one pound of medium (31/35) wild caught shrimp frozen fresh from the Pamlico Sound also sold from Locals Seafood.
And, I actually still have pizza dough from Melina's Fresh Pasta in Durham waiting in my freezer for later use.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a $75 delivery from Bella Bean Organics could be stretched a long way, giving my husband and I the main components for six different meals. (The portions were ideal for the two of us.)
I love that everything we ordered was local, organic, and delicious. While we still supplemented many of our meals with sides from the store or market, I liked utilizing Bella Bean's services to stock up on key elements of the meal that were local and in-season. And, you just can't beat the convenience of doorstop delivery.