ROC A BOX
In our quest to eat more veggies, more organic, and more natural we found this amazing restaurant called Season's Harvest. It is amazing.. pricey but so so yummy and so fresh. All organic and includes one vegan meal everyday that is piled with tons of fresh veggies. Their facebook page directed to me to an awesome discovery, Rawfully Organic. Check out this link!
Rawfully Organic is a vegetable co-op here in Houston that is run by Kristina Gabrielle Carrillo-Bucaram. Look at her picture! Justin says it definitely makes him want to eat more veggies :-)
Really though. You should go to her website and read her bio and all that she does. She is a low- fat raw vegan and has been for 7 years. Meaning she eats all raw fruits and veggies. She teaches classes here at Sur La Table that look amazing! She also has another website just for her eating raw lifestyle called Fully Raw. Click Rawfully Organic Videos to check out amazing videos. Seriously, if you are in to fruits and veggies, she has tons of amazing tips and recipes.
Well, we are not going fully raw around here anytime soon but we did sign up to be part of the Rawfully Organic co-op. The way it works is there are 3 pick up locations in Houston. You order your box by midnight of the night before your pick up. Then you show up, get your box, have an opportunity to shop and pick up your box the day before. You don't really know whats going to be in it although if you sign up on her website for her newsletter (DO IT NOW) then you get a hint with some recipes for each box.
When the Armstrongs were visiting, I signed up for our first box. 1/2 box I should say. Nikki and I were super excited to see what was going to be in it but we are also SUPER excited about meeting Kristina. Seriously, we kept saying "wonder if she will be there!" And guess what, she was! In fact, she told us that she is at every box pick up. I highly recommend following her and veggie self on Facebook because she has great pictures and is super interesting. Ok, back to the box pick up. We leave the zoo with 4 kids in the back and head to the pick up location - we are running late. In fact, we were the last box to be picked up she said. We get out of the car, and she is so friendly. She walks right up and hugs us and says, you must be Riley. Your first pick up!
Now, what I think was the most fun part of getting the box was knowing that you have to eat it fast and use all of the ingredients or it will go bad. I felt like we were on an episode of Chopped! The boys were on a date so once we got the kids in bed, Nikki and I dug through the box and made an awesome dinner. It was really so fun. Really. We giggled so much because after our dinner of all these nice fruits and veggies what happened? SWEET TOOTH! I told Nikki " I think Kristina forgot the chocolate" and we rolled on the ground laughing like we were the funniest humans on earth. Dorks, huh? We planned our next meals throughout the week all around "the box" and you know what? It made me try new things and new recipes that I would not have tried if I didn't have the mystery selection of veggies! So what was in the box?
And what did we do that whole yummy pineapple? Sliced it up and made pina colada's of course. We got even luckier because Ma sent us a Pineapple from Harry and David's for Easter so we got to do it twice!
I am looking forward to ordering again. That is the best part. You don't have to sign up every week. You can choose when and what days and how often you want to do the box.
If you are looking for something fun in your inbox each week, sign up for her newsletter. You will love it! Here is the website. www.rawfullyorganic.com!
As Kristina says.. "HUGS!"
Love,
The Riley's
Rawfully Organic is a vegetable co-op here in Houston that is run by Kristina Gabrielle Carrillo-Bucaram. Look at her picture! Justin says it definitely makes him want to eat more veggies :-)
Really though. You should go to her website and read her bio and all that she does. She is a low- fat raw vegan and has been for 7 years. Meaning she eats all raw fruits and veggies. She teaches classes here at Sur La Table that look amazing! She also has another website just for her eating raw lifestyle called Fully Raw. Click Rawfully Organic Videos to check out amazing videos. Seriously, if you are in to fruits and veggies, she has tons of amazing tips and recipes.
Well, we are not going fully raw around here anytime soon but we did sign up to be part of the Rawfully Organic co-op. The way it works is there are 3 pick up locations in Houston. You order your box by midnight of the night before your pick up. Then you show up, get your box, have an opportunity to shop and pick up your box the day before. You don't really know whats going to be in it although if you sign up on her website for her newsletter (DO IT NOW) then you get a hint with some recipes for each box.
When the Armstrongs were visiting, I signed up for our first box. 1/2 box I should say. Nikki and I were super excited to see what was going to be in it but we are also SUPER excited about meeting Kristina. Seriously, we kept saying "wonder if she will be there!" And guess what, she was! In fact, she told us that she is at every box pick up. I highly recommend following her and veggie self on Facebook because she has great pictures and is super interesting. Ok, back to the box pick up. We leave the zoo with 4 kids in the back and head to the pick up location - we are running late. In fact, we were the last box to be picked up she said. We get out of the car, and she is so friendly. She walks right up and hugs us and says, you must be Riley. Your first pick up!
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| Kristina showing us our box |
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| So super nice |
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| Nikki picking our our extras |
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| Signing up for newsletter and checking out |
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| The box headed home with us! |
Now, what I think was the most fun part of getting the box was knowing that you have to eat it fast and use all of the ingredients or it will go bad. I felt like we were on an episode of Chopped! The boys were on a date so once we got the kids in bed, Nikki and I dug through the box and made an awesome dinner. It was really so fun. Really. We giggled so much because after our dinner of all these nice fruits and veggies what happened? SWEET TOOTH! I told Nikki " I think Kristina forgot the chocolate" and we rolled on the ground laughing like we were the funniest humans on earth. Dorks, huh? We planned our next meals throughout the week all around "the box" and you know what? It made me try new things and new recipes that I would not have tried if I didn't have the mystery selection of veggies! So what was in the box?
- swiss chard
- kale
- romaine
- green leaf lettuce
- bok choy
- texas sweet onions
- avocados
- tomatoes
- baby carrots
- large carrots
- spinach
- oranges
- limes
- lemons
- bananas
- pears
- cucumber
- celery
- broccoli
- a whole pineapple!
Here are some recipes that I LOVE now that were inspired by the box. (No, sorry Kristina, we did not eat the whole box raw) But I will say that Nikki went home and at raw for 7 days and said she felt amazing! Just like Kristina said :-)
Okay - here is one of the best discoveries I think. Herbed Vegetable Soup with Quinoa- would never have made this if I hadn't been looking for recipes that included lots of our box veggies. Justin said "best you have ever made!"
Guacamole Chicken Salad - maybe my favorite. But I have to say, I don't even need the chicken. Or the olive oil if I use a large ripe Hass Avocado. This is so good! The only thing I added was cilantro. YUMMY!
Guacamole Chicken Salad
Via the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal
Via the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal
* 1 cup cooked, diced chicken breast
* 2 tablespoons minced chives
* 1 small avocado, peeled, pitted and finely chopped
* 1 medium tomato, cored and diced
* 1 to 2 teaspoons minced jalapenos
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper or to taste
* 2 tablespoons minced chives
* 1 small avocado, peeled, pitted and finely chopped
* 1 medium tomato, cored and diced
* 1 to 2 teaspoons minced jalapenos
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper or to taste
And wouldn't you know? My friend Ina :-) (The Barefoot Contessa) has the BEST carrot recipe. I am not kidding you. My boys at almost an entire pound of baby carrots the first time I made this and Eli asks for carrots every day. Every day. No joke. I can eat an entire bag by myself. You don't even have to slice them. Just put the whole baby carrots in the pan, use the butter, cover and make them nice and carmelized. Add the parsley (LOTS) salt and pepper and the end. OMG. YUMMY. Thank you Nikki for introducing us to these carrots!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or flat-leaf parsley
And what did we do that whole yummy pineapple? Sliced it up and made pina colada's of course. We got even luckier because Ma sent us a Pineapple from Harry and David's for Easter so we got to do it twice!
I am looking forward to ordering again. That is the best part. You don't have to sign up every week. You can choose when and what days and how often you want to do the box.
If you are looking for something fun in your inbox each week, sign up for her newsletter. You will love it! Here is the website. www.rawfullyorganic.com!
As Kristina says.. "HUGS!"
Love,
The Riley's