why i love waitrose (and the organic veg box)

i've always hated supermarkets. parking, other people, other people's children, the aisle traipsing and trolley rage led the husband and i to ban weekend visits to sainsbury's very early in our marriage.

my alternative is the internet shop. i've tried all the big names and the current love of my life is waitrose. deliveries over £75 are free, so i make sure to spend over that amount every two weeks. the food, booze and nappies is delivered to the door - the fridge door - by a handy (and once a deliciously tattooed) helper.

thus the weekly shop is reduced to clicking on the waitrose website and waiting until the alloted hour with the thrilling prospect of opening my front door to the tattooed one and pointing him to the fridge.

but that's not the last word in my labour saving slummy mummy ways. the second, and slightly more wholesome delivery habit of mine is the organic veg box.

every thursday ( after a few more clicks online) a recyclable brown box filled with weird and wonderful fruit and veg is delivered to the door. in one swift move, any decisions over which veg to buy, what to cook and what to test or try is made for me. of course the choices are seasonal and nothing's imported by air (say goodbye to any thoughts of exotica over the winter months) but the delivery still ticks my box.

as for price, i spend an average of £15 a week on the box scheme. put together with my waitrose bill i'm spending less on food per month than i ever did with my weekly visits to the supermarket. and i'm expending no energy in getting my produce - excellent in slummy mummy term and er, good i think for the environment.