Misfits Market

The name alone caught my eye. I've been seeing ads on Facebook for something called "Misfits Market." It looked interesting but not enough to really make me look further. And then I had a couple of local friends order boxes and start sharing how much they liked it!

As the name implies, the company is dedicated, as they say, to ending food waste. The food they sell are items that cannot be sold in stores - for whatever reason. Most often it is simply due to what the food looks like - it isn't "pretty enough."

Based on what my friends liked about it, I decided to give it a try. Using one of my friends referral codes, I ordered my first box. The referral code gives you 25% off your first order. I opted for the smaller box, the Mischief size, since I'm not cooking a lot nor do most of my family eat fruits and veggies. Yes, I know, that's another battle for another day. (My referral code is at the end of this post...hint...hint...hint...)

The photo above is what I received - all for just under $20 - and all organic.

onions, mangoes, and red potatoes 

lots of small multi-colored peppers

head of romaine lettuce, bunch of radishes 

head of cauliflower, squash, zucchini 

I did receive three peaches in the box. One came already going bad and the other two went bad within just a couple of days of receiving them. I have found peaches to be a little like avocados in there regard to when they are ripe. My hubby has already eaten some of the peppers and loved them. I'm planning to use some of the other produce for meals this week. 

Misfits Market offers a one time purchase or a subscription. I opted to do a subscription and have it delivered every two weeks. I do not enjoy gardening and this is a quick and easy way to ensure that we have some good fruits and veggies on hand for meals.

The food is shipped in a box lined with plastic covered Styrofoam - essentially making a regular cardboard box into a cooler. Most of the food is loose in the box. You can see in the photos that some were contained in bags. There were also two reusable cold packs included. This shipped very quickly to me via UPS. The day I ordered it, it was out for shipping and I received it two days later. 

If you are interested in trying out your own box, here is my referral code: http://misfitsmarket.refr.cc/lisaberry You can click on that to receive 25% off your first order. I do receive a small kickback for you using it - it's a win-win!

Disclaimer: I ordered through Misfits Market all on my own. I received nothing in exchange for this review. I just really liked the service they offer so I wanted to share about it. 

Freezer Cooking - Take One

Pizza in the making

My sister and I have embarked on a new cooking adventure. We're trying out freezer cooking together. Typically one makes a menu, shops, and then spends an entire day cooking meals up to place in the freezer. The goal is to make cooking meals an easier experience. We tweaked this a bit to work for us.

First we spent an afternoon going through recipes together. We split them up and came up with a workable list for each of us. We would make enough for both families and then swap our completed meals.

We decided to also tackle desserts and breakfasts. My sister was already in the habit of making waffles for her freezer so she took on that task. It worked for me as I dislike making waffles but my kids love eating them. Amazingly enough she even made some gluten-free ones for my youngest son.

Draining ground beef/venison mix

Here is how our lists broke down:

My sister made:

• Waffles (plain, cinnamon, and gluten-free also with cinnamon & nutmeg - delicious!)
• Pancakes
• Meatloaf
• Chicken pot pie
• Hamburger pie
• Chicken parmigiana
• Hamburger pie
• Mini cheeseburger pies 
• Meatloaf volcanos
• Peanut butter cookies
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Kaiser rolls
• Oatmeal rolls

So far from this list we've eaten the breakfast items, the chicken pot pie, mini cheeseburger pies, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and most of the Kaiser rolls. When she can, she makes the items gluten-free, but not always. That is how I cook as well. My youngest has a gluten-intolerance, so we try not to cross-contaminate, but I don't have a completely gluten-free home.

Finished pizzas ready for the freezer

I am making:

• Gluten-free pumpkin muffins
• Regular pumpkin muffins
• Gluten-free banana muffins
• Regular banana muffins
• Blueberry muffins
• Donut muffins
• Apple-cinnamon muffins
• Pizza crusts 
• Freezer biscuits
• BBQ Pulled Pork
• Pizza Pasta casserole
• Crunchy Chicken strips (made with GF bread crumbs)
• Teriyaki Chicken Dump
• Caribbean Chicken Dump (minus the raisens) 
• Sticky Chicken Dump
• Chocolate Caramel Cookies
• Molasses Crinkles Cookies
• Brownies
• Congo Bars

We decided on who would make what based on time and who was better at making certain items. My sister enjoys making pies while I really hate it so she willingly made the chicken pot pie, hamburger pie, and mini-cheeseburger pies. My hubby was thrilled as he loves all of those but I never make them! She also makes amazing Kaiser rolls and oatmeal rolls (our mom's recipe on the last one) so I was happy she volunteered to make those!

I confess to taking on a lot of "dump" recipes for the ease of them. You simply "dump" all the ingredients in to a bag. When you are ready to cook, you just thaw it out and toss it all in the crock-pot to cook. Super simple - which I like!!!!

I am now working on the muffins and will hopefully have those done by the end of the month. So far this has been a success - I think! It has allowed us to try new recipes and take a break from cooking - kind of. Since we didn't take one whole day to do up everything, it can sometimes feel like we are always cooking, but I am hoping we see the benefits soon.

I am planning to take some time soon and brown a bunch more beef/venison burger and freeze that. It will make it easier for things like pizza toppings and shepherd's pie.

Finished pizza pasta casserole

So far it's been fun. We'll see how much money it actually saves us as well as time.