Thursday, August 17, 2017

Back to School with Roche Bros. and the Dinner Daily

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Roche Bros. and The Dinner Daily. All opinions expressed are my own. 



In a few weeks my family and I will celebrate the one year anniversary of home ownership and our return to Boston after a 9 year hiatus. Pre-kids, when I was a student at Wellesley College, I had fond memories of shopping at Roche Bros., a 65 year old grocery store chain, not only for myself while I was in summer housing on-campus, but also for families I babysat for. Now with kids of my own, I was thrilled to learn about Roche Bros.' partnership with the Dinner Daily and how it's making meal planning during back-to-school season so much easier. 



Earlier this month Grayson accompanied me during my visit to Roche Bros. We learned how online orders are fulfilled and had the opportunity to walk alongside Kelly, a personal shopper, to see exactly how the items are selected. Picking out produce tends to be the most important item that customers tend to be concerned about and rest assured, Roche Bros. is meticulous in their selection. You can even indicate if you want bananas more on the green or yellow side. 

After selecting the groceries we were treated to a delicious meal (pictured above) with recipes served up by Roche Bros. Chef Jason as well the Dinner Daily founder, Laurin Mills, who created the website out of necessity. 



I was excited to learn how the Dinner Daily provides efficient and healthy recipes that tie into your local grocery store making it easy to create shopping lists and take advantage of sale items as well. 


A screenshot of my family's personalized menu
We were traveling to Ohio the following day after our trip to Roche Bros. so I knew when we returned I'd need to place our grocery shopping order. It was my first time grocery shopping online since moving back to Boston, and I nearly forgot how awesome it is! I was able to pick my family's meals and customize items such as sides, swapping out for things I knew I either had on hand that my family would prefer. 

It is required to keep both screens up to manually write the shopping list items into the Dinner Daily app so that took a bit of extra time, and I'd imagine as you get more familiar with the particular grocery store's website it'd be easier to search for exact items. 



Once my menu was set I placed my order. Grayson was napping at the time it arrived, and it was so nice not to have to worry about dragging him in and out of a store or being too nervous to do the infamous car seat to bed transfer. My delivery truck arrived well within the allotted time slot and brought everything right into the kitchen. Roche Bros. prides itself on customer service and will happily place your items exactly where you want them. Even heavier items such as the seltzer I ordered was offered to be placed in my pantry, but I assured the delivery man that I could do it. My receipt was given to me in an envelope, and I checked that everything was indeed there. 



The first meal I made for my family was gnocchi with tomatoes and spinach with a side dish of sugar snap peas. This was a new pasta for my family, and I loved how it was full of so many fresh vegetables and herbs. 



It was very filling and while my husband and I each had seconds, we were still able to have leftovers. I appreciated how the items showed how much time it'd take and with our scheduled I was able to know which menus would work best on certain days. 

This one's a keeper!
The meal I made for my family that got the best feedback was the easy roast chicken with sautéed squash and quinoa tabouleh. Although my kids love helping me in the kitchen, I didn't involve them with my Dinner Daily recipes, but I did show Nia a preview of the things I was making especially the quinoa, something she hadn't eaten before. She was very curious and eneded up complimenting the meal over and over telling me how much she loved it. I can't remember the last time she did that! 

To give Dinner Daily a try and see how it ties into your local grocery store you can opt for the free trial on the website. You're not obligated to do online shopping and can just do the meal planning portion if you prefer. I foresee myself doing that during the school year as formal meal planning is something I need to get better at. 

You can follow the Dinner Daily on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest as well. 

Thank you to both Roche Bros. and the Dinner Daily for helping me and my family make dinner time easier this school year!