I’ve eaten more fresh fruits and veggies in the last week than I have in the last month! Let me explain.
This post is sponsored by Hardie’s Fresh Foods! Thanks for the complimentary shipments!
For more than 75 years, Hardie’s Fresh Foods has curated and distributed quality meats, fresh fruit, vegetables, artisan cheeses, local produce, dairy, and specialty foods to restaurants. In response to the stressful situation at grocery stories the pandemic created, those same fresh foods are now available to everyone via Hardie’s Direct!
Hardie’s Direct offers no contact curbside pickup or free grocery delivery to your home! I tried it both ways. Obviously, it’s AMAZING to get free home delivery, but they only deliver to my area once a week and someone has to be present to accept the delivery. Just things to think about!
In placing my first order, I focused on fresh fruits and veggies – things I desperately need right now as I do ‘research’ for my 2021 Austin Ice Cream blog. Their $20 produce box caught my eye right away! Contents vary depending on what’s in season, but I thought that’d be a fun place to start! I also added a little package of salami, some goat cheese, and bratwursts to the order. Hardie’s is definitely like, the Costco of fresh produce, so some of the meats only came in very large quantities. Remember – they started as a restaurant wholesaler!
I placed my first order for curbside pickup from their facility off North Burnet. There are lots of pickup slots available, so if you need your produce immediately, this is the way to go. What’s tricky though, is FINDING it! I honestly drove around for 15 minutes trying to find them in all the commercial loading bays. They give very clear directions in their email, but what you need to know is that when they say drive to the back, they mean the WAY BACK. Once you turn off North Burnet at the correct address, you have to drive past the first building on your left to the buildings with the green corners. You’ll know what I mean when you get there! Then, find the building with the green corners in the back, and drive to the back of THAT.
Once I finally made it there, you stay in your car while they load the produce into your trunk. Super easy!
The produce box did not disappoint! It was packed with fruits and veggies that I eat on a regular basis. I was kind of afraid I’d get a lot of beets or swiss chard… Things I don’t cook with or eat on a regular basis, you know? But this box was packed with corn, potatoes, lemons, apples, tomatoes, onion, strawberries, bell peppers and so much more! Delicious.
Throughout the week, we made salads topped with tomato and carrot, brawtwursts with mashed potatoes and corn, and lunches with grapes, salami, and goat cheese – all with things from my Hardie’s shipment. Like I said, I’ve eaten more fruits and veggies this past week than in the past month! But of course, I couldn’t resist dessert, so I slipped a bag of Cowboy Cookie Mix into my first order as well.
I few days later, I placed a more strategic order. We needed to fill the pantry and fridge with some staples. I reordered cherry tomatoes, because we ate the first container in about 2 days. I also ordered Vienna beef hot dogs, nice hot dog buns, milk, eggs, avocados, bacon… you know, the necessities. I also ordered a bunch of brussels sprouts because I’ve really been wanting to cook some of those up to serve along side some of the meat Brian has been smoking lately.
I had this one delivered to my house! It’s a great option if, like I said, you can be flexible with available delivery dates and have someone at the house to grab the order when it’s dropped off.
Breakfast lately has been a feast with all the fresh food from Hardie’s! I made some avocado toast with tomato, tea with lemon from my produce box, fried up some bacon, and used the eggs to make French toast! Boom! It’s amazing what you can cook with a stocked kitchen.
If you’re trying to feed a family, Hardie’s Direct is perfect for you. You can purchase fresh food in bulk for a pretty reasonable price. If you’re an individual, or just a family of 2 like myself, the $20 produce box is 100% worth it. We’re all struggling a little more than usual to take care of ourselves, so having fresh fruits and veggies out on the counter to grab and snack on just feels like such a luxury! AND it was delivered to my house, so I didn’t even have to take time to pick it up.
This past week, I ate healthier, snacked smarter, and was able to pause my Uber Eats impulse orders (we all do it!) thanks to my Hardie’s Direct boxes. You can stock your fridge and pantry with healthy options too!
Use this link to start your first Hardie’s Direct order RIGHT NOW! And when you check out, you can use promo code “KELLY15” for $15 off your first purchase. That means you can get the $20 produce box for $5! Worth it. Order it now.
Thanks again Hardie’s Fresh Foods for sponsoring this post!
