I absolutely love that I can shop for groceries from the comfort of my own home.  It’s not just an issue of convenience.  For me (and for many other parents) it’s a matter of preserving our sanity.  Taking Joe to the grocery requires a certain amount of coordination.  That coordination jumps up a level when you consider that it has to be done without a vehicle and involves carting the groceries up a flight of stairs while also holding a baby, a pram, keys, and a nappy bag.

I do our meal-planning over the weekend.  Usually it’s Sunday night, where I find myself scrambling to come up with recipes (love using Pinterest for this!), looking at the calendar, searching through the pantry, and then coming up with a grocery list.  I often buy fruits or veggies at the farmer’s market, but the supply has been dwindling as summer draws to a close.  As a result, I’ve started to shop for our fruits and veggies online, too.

My usual store is Countdown.  I was also ordering from a store called Green Eden, but no more.  I ordered from them about 6 – 7 times.  Of those times, there were 2 times when they came outside of the 3-7:30pm time-frame listed on their website, and I was lucky to be home (they can leave your order at your doorstep, but as we live in the middle of the city in a locked-access apartment building, this isn’t an option).  They also twice failed to deliver my order (2 weeks in a row!).  I wouldn’t have ordered from them again after the 1st failed delivery, but rather than refunding my money, they gave me a voucher.  The 2nd time around, I said, “no thanks” and made sure to get a refund.

The delivery fees vary with Countdown (the more you spend, the less the delivery fee).  There’s a Countdown grocery near us that’s newly opened, and as a result it’s much easier for me to walk there than in the past.

If you’re new to New Zealand, I strongly suggest physically visiting the grocery for at least that first month.  You’ll need to familiarize yourself with what’s available and get used to the different names (capsicum = bell pepper, kumara = a type of sweet potato, pumpkin = squash, coriander = cilantro… the list goes on!).  But once you’ve got it down, it’s worth searching out the delivery options in your area.