Amazon Fresh : Review #2

Hey! It's our second week ordering with Amazon Fresh and here's how things went.

I look happy, don't I? I do! Because this time ALL of our food arrived and nothing was missing. Hooray!

Right now you can get 5$ off any order of 75$ or more with code 5MULTI during your 30 day free trail!

A few things we found out with our second Amazon Fresh order:

If you search for a product that you've already purchased, the recently purchased item will show up first - Kind of cool if you want to reorder something you liked in the past.

Some items are NOT Amazon Fresh items but are Amazon Prime items. Be careful when you order. One of our items was an Amazon Prime "add on item." Since we didn't buy anything else on Amazon Prime, that item got canceled in our order since we didn't buy enough Prime items (not including Fresh items) for it to ship with.

Watch size and remember that there's a drop down option for different sizes. We went to buy Olive Oil and were pricing out sizes for which was the best deal. One only showed up as a small size, but a larger option was available (for a way better value!) So make sure you click on the products.

Don't forget to put out your old totes when your new order is scheduled to arrive. They will drop off your new totes and take the old ones to use for other orders. Recycle, yo. The planet loves it.

***

We were way happy about our order this go around.
Missed out on what happened with our first order? Check it out here.

Weekly Meal Plan

We got our cookbooks (finally) unpacked and are excited about some new meals this week!  Yum!

Day	Dinner
M	Black Bean Tortas w/ Coconut Chipotle Mayo (Thug kitchen pg143)
T	Carrot, Sweet Potato and Ginger soup w/ Baby Bok Choy (FF veg pg33)
W	Winter White Bean Salad w/ spicy cilantro pesto (Forks pg73/24)
R	Vegan Cauliflower Bites with a simple salad
F	Lemon Asparagus Pasta
S	Potato Tacos with bean dip and rice
S	*Leftover Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces

M

Coconut Chipotle Mayo

·         1 cup canned Coconut milk

·         1/3 cup hot sauce

·         ¼ olive oil

·         1 tablespoon ground flax seed

·         1 teaspoon lemon juice

·         Salt

Creamy Black beans

·         1 teaspoon oil

·         I yellow onion

·         3 cloves garlic

·         1 tablespoon chilli powder

·         ¾ teaspoon ground cumin

·         2 cans black beans

·         1 ½ cups vegetable broth

·         1 lime

·         Salt to taste

Torta trimmings

·         Crusty rolls

·         Lettuce

·         Tomatoes

·         Red onions

·         Avocado

T

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-pound carrots
• 1-pound sweet potatos
• 1 bunch scallions
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• Salt
• Cilantro
• 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno
• 6 ounces baby bok choy

W

• 1 pumpkin or similar winter squash
• 2 cans Cannellini beans
• 1 medium red onion
• Salt and pepper
• Basil pesto

R

·    1 small head cauliflower

·    ¼ to ½ cup hot sauce (we use siricha or buffalo sauce & omit for kid ‘nuggets’)

·    ½ cup flour (whole wheat flour works fine, so does white flour)

·    ½ cup milk

·    1 teaspoon salt

·    1 teaspoon ground black pepper

·    ½ teaspoon garlic powder

·    1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·    1 cup panko bread crumbs

Simple Salad: Spinach
Tomato
Cucumber
Croutons
Dressing

F
1 bunch asparagus (12 ounces), trimmed and washed

Sea salt and black pepper

2 lemons

Olive oil

3-4 large cloves garlic, minced (~2 Tbsp)

10 ounces (~5 cups) bow tie pasta (see notes if GF*)

2.5 cups unsweetened plain almond milk

3-4 Tbsp all purpose flour (sub another thickener if GF*)

1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for a subtle cheesy flavor | optional)

S

bean dip
1 can pinto beans, drained
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup pepper of choice (anaheim, pasilla, jalapeno, etc), chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil

5 russet potatoes
salt
tortillas
tomato
avocado
lettuce

Rice

Amazon Fresh : Review 1

In case you were unaware, we have four kids ages 5 and under. To say we were EXCITED to try Amazon Fresh was an understatement.

The idea of ordering our entire meal plan online and having it all delivered at one time... Sign. Us. Up.

Here's more info about signing up, straight from Amazon.

Typically we have to run to at least two different stores to get everything for our meals. We do the bulk of our shopping at Aldi and then go to Wal Mart or our local grocery chain for any items we have left over or aren't typically available at Aldi (here's looking at you, tofu).

I sent Cor a dinner meal plan and he did all the ordering over his lunch break. Here's a few things about ordering you need to know.

Orders of 40$ or more ship for free (not a problem for us). Other orders ship for $9.99.

The service costs $14.99 a month for Prime members but is FREE for the first month.

There's a $25 off your first order of $100 or more coupon out there in the universe. Google "Amazon Fresh Coupon Code" to find one.

Cheapest items will NOT show up first. For example, when Cor searched for carrots, the first to show up were rather expensive. He scrolled right on down and found a less expensive option.

Check out the size of items. Crackers were buy one get one free. The photo made it look like a full sized box, but it was a smaller snack box on sale. Check the ounce size on items.

Keep an eye out on when items are (or are not) available. Honeycrisp apples would have delayed our order for a few days. Gala apples would allow it to be delivered the very next day.

Other than that, ordering on Amazon Fresh was just as easy as ordering on Amazon. There's even specialty sections like "Kid Snacks" and speciality diet sections like "Vegan" and "Gluten Free." And the best part, our order is saved and we can quickly and easily reorder an entire meal plan worth of ingredients to add or subtract from in the future. Oh. Em. Gee.

Our order was sent and scheduled for delivery the next day. Awesome.

Everything came nicely packed and iced via USPS right to my doorstep (no more lugging grocery bags up my exterior stairs!) The kids were thrilled. As was I. Watch us unboxing our order on YouTube.

The quality of items was great too. Our grapes looked nice. And I was pleasantly surprised by the freshness of our vegetables. They even took care to package bread on top and (while we didn't order eggs) I noticed an old "Take Care: Eggs Inside" sticker on one of our totes (Amazon recollects these and reuses them to cut down on waste.)

We got to work unpacking the 4 Amazon Fresh bags (they're huge). We put everything out on the kitchen table.

I really wish Amazon included a paper inventory sheet with each order. We were warned to go through our order because some people have had items missing. A paper inventory sheet just seems logical for someone packing groceries to literally check off as they go, but maybe they still do this electronically. Technology, yo.

Anyway, I pulled up our order and realized TEN items were missing. That's a lot. I almost felt like maybe the USPS guy missed a bag, but ours were labeled 4 out of 4.

Cor was at work so I sent him an email of what was missing and he contacted Amazon. Customer service was great. They got back to us same day and provided a refund plus an additional credit towards a future order.

But alas, the convenience of ordering online groceries was lost. Cor had to run to the store after work and get the things on the list. He then had to go back a second time when we missed something in the original check. In addition to an earlier quick trip for items that weren't available for next day delivery when we initially ordered. Additionally, some Amazon Sale items weren't included in our order. So we lost both time and money. Woooomp.

We get that this service is VERY new to our area and that there's probably a lot that they need to work out. We'll ride out our full month trial (3 more shops for us) and see how it goes (and let you know too!)

Weekly Meal Plan

We are SO excited about this week's meal plan. Not only do we have a ton of new Fall recipes to try out, we also tried something new and ordered from Amazon Fresh (more on that in a later blog post).

We've already had the Thai Basil Noodles and not a drop was left. Even the kids gobbled it up.
We added some chips with the rice, black bean, and avocado bowls that were recommended to us by a sweet friend - you're going to want to make that sauce and add it to everything. The whole thing was delicious.

Enjoy!

Day	Dinner
M	Butternut Squash soup
T	Rice, Black Bean and Avocado bowl with chips
W	Thai Basil Noodles
R	Mediterranean Stew (Veg CrockPot) w bread
F	Tofu Ricotta Stuffed Shells
S	Carrot Dogs
S	*Leftover Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces

M

• 2 butternut squash cleaned and cubed.
• 2 Honey crisp apples peeled, cored and cubed
• 3 carrots peeled and cut into large pieces
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tsp curry powder
• 1-2 tsp red chili flakes plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice*
• 4-5 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup coconut milk the one from the jar
• salt and pepper
• pumpkin seeds for garnish

T
For the rice

• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 cup tomato puree/sauce (not tomato paste)
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon regular chili powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt

For the beans

• 2  cans black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 2 teaspoons regular chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the Sweet Chili Mustard Sauce (makes 1 cup)

• 1/2 cup regular yellow wet mustard (120 g)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (60 mL)
• 2 tablespoons regular chili powder (use 1 1/2 T for less heat)
• 2-4 tablespoons water

Garnish

• 1 medium avocado, chopped
• 1 cup tomatoes, optional

W

• 1 package of firm tofu , drained, pressed, and cubed 2-3 TB olive or sesame oil
• 1 small onion , chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms
• 4 small bok choy
• 8 oz rice noodles
• 1/2 cup basil cut into ribbons

SAUCE

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 TB chili paste
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 TB rice wine vinegar

R

• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 eggplant, chopped
• 1 15oz can artichoke, drained and chopped
• 1/2/ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
• 2 15oz cans diced tomatoes (we use low sodium)
• 4 cups (usually a whole box) Vegetable Broth (again, we use low sodium)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• French Bread
  

F

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 16 ounces extra firm tofu
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1 box jumbo shells
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

S

• 2 large carrots
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 TB seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 TB sesame oil
• 1/2 TB apple cider vinegar
• dash liquid smoke
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried ginger
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp granulated onion powder
• olive oil cooking spray
• 2 whole wheat hot dog buns