Food Subscription Boxes and Baby Stuff

How’s everyone doing? We’re alright over here. Being back at work has obviously left less time to sit and write out my thoughts , but on the flip side, pregnancy brings a lot of life and personal changes, and with that come a lot of emotions to think about! So while I don’t think this blog will ever be about one particular aspect of my life (medicine, motherhood, global health, etc.) I do think my thoughts on pregnancy and motherhood will probably start showing up a little more often in the coming months and years. Hope that’s still ok with y’all 😊

That being said, I wanted to write about how my diet changed since finding out I was pregnant and returning from Liberia for two reasons. One because we’ve received many Misfits Market produce boxes by this point and wanted to share our experience if anyone else is interested, and two because so much changes when you become, including what goes into your body. So hopefully this is interesting/helpful to someone. I split it into two parts because who wants to read thousands of words on foods. Also this post is NOT sponsored (this blog does not have the audience for that, haha.)

First off, a little on the Misfits Market box. The company picks out organic produce that doesn’t sell well/gets rejected from supermarkets and then distributes it to individual households on a weekly basis for a fee. Here’s an example of what we get for a typical week (we get the larger box), and here's a list of other produce delivery boxes you can subscribe to around the country.

Overall we are pretty happy with the selection. I don’t mind getting the ‘ugly’ produce at all (though it is sometimes a little harder to peel/prep.) I like that most of the packaging is either recycle-able or biodegradable. The fruit and veg also tends to be locally grown and seasonal which is another plus for eco-friendliness. I’d say the two major downsides are: 

1. We get too much of some kinds of foods (starches and root veg) and not enough green veg (we love our salads and leafy greens), so you have to be flexible. My husband doesn’t mind so much but as it turns out I’m a picky eater and don’t love squash or sweet potato as much as he does, haha. 

2. Occasionally we have gotten some bad produce. I’d say out of 20 boxes, 2-3 have had a couple pieces of smashed or rotten fruit which is inedible. Worth noting neither of us have bothered to write or complain to Misfits so I can’t say anything good or bad about their response to complaints or feedback.

The box has also diversified our palates and gotten us into making new and different kinds of food, which has been fun (with the exception of one jicama-peeling related urgent care visit for a knife injury- sorry husband!) The box also forces us to meal plan to keep us from wasting any of the fruit or vegetables, which is usually fun (but did take a bit of effort/adapting!) For now we plan to continue with the larger box.

Below are just a handful of examples of the meals we’ve made with our Misfits box.

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Top: Akis Petretzikis' Revithada or chickpea soup, Left, whole wheat bread, bottom/ right: Peter's take on Waitrose's Peperonata recipe with whole wheat pasta

We use this real simple recipe to make a super easy curry. Usually we add more curry powder and cook the tomatoes longer, occasionally add coconut milk :)

Cretan Dakos with fresh tomatoes! Super simple to make. Just pour a mix of water/olive oil on Cretan rusks (you can find them at most Greek specialty stores or make your own) and top with roughly chopped tomato, feta cheese, a sprinkling or oregano and more olive oil. Yum. 

Super easy egg and red potato scramble, I think we added some jicama but it tastes better in stir fry dishes, IMO.

Smoothie bowl SUPER loosely based on this recipe:1 spotty banana, frozen mango (1 mango or 2 cups) +/- frozen berries, 1 kiwi, spoonful of flax seeds, and a splash of oat milk and orange juice. Top with fruity granola and coconut flakes. We were loving these on the really hot days in early June.

Thoughts? Would you try Misfits Market? Or do you use another kind of CSA/subscription service?