When my husband and I moved to Guelph in the summer of 2014, I began the mission of locating a grocery store that could provide me with the same quality of produce that I have become completely dependent on from Garden Foods in Bolton Ontario. For 12 years I could go to Garden Foods and find the beset selection of FRESH produce, greens, and organics. I scoured the city of Guelph, and was sadly very disappointed. There are some places in Guelph for sure that offer close to the same concept, however they have attached boutique prices that I just can’t justify. Garden Foods was comparable to the regular grocery chains in price points. However the Quality eclipsed them.
My son, encouraged me to get off my slowly growing backside to join the Good Life Fitness Club down the street from us (I am so pathetic that I had avoided this conversation for almost a year… as I could probably WALK to this location, but that would fall under the exercise category…)
When I obtained the membership (that day really does seem like a blur… not sure what he slipped in my coffee) I was offered a half price personal training package of 10 sessions. I said yes, as it would be far more difficult to weasel out of an appointment with someone (I have excellent work ethics) making the chances of success far improved. I was matched with Alicia…. a perky, tiny like whirlwind who radiates energy and joy. Oddly … I liked her… Usually perky joyful people seem to aggravate me, but she seemed genuinely sincere.
I know, I know – GET TO THE POINT _ YOU’RE WANDERING RAYMOND…
Alicia is very much about FOOD… GOOD FOOD – not low calorie crap, or packaged nonsense purporting to help you lose weight, but honest to goodness healthy food that you can add into your diet. Of course we bonded. Very very people GET my green smoothies… but she does.
Alicia told me about OrganicsLive.ca – you can go to the website, sign up choose your commitment level (Price Point and Frequency) and you get an amazing selection of produce, including hard to find greens, and other oddities – like garlic scapes, jerusalem artichokes… etc.
I tried it, and I have to say that I am thrilled. The greens are fresh and amazing. it looks like Garden Foods – and at the price point I am willing to spend. Each week is something different, and you can customize your box. We are not huge fruit eaters in this house, so I can switch out Pears for Collard Greens. I recently sat and spoke to Chris the franchise owner of the Fergus and Guelph area, and he had mentioned that sometimes people get a little overwhelmed with how to prepare this stuff or how to use it all…
I realized it was time to get the blog going about food. No one cares that I build websites, or manage a marketing firm, create graphics, or any of the business things that I do… they care about the food.
So I will be listing recipes that you can share, use or ignore for the items that I get in the box!