I used to dread the “quick” errands my mom would take me on.  “We just have to do one quick errand,” my mom would say.  After the first store I would think, “Well that wasn’t too bad,”  but I always thought too soon as I sat in the back of the car staring through the rusted hole to the road below.  “We just need to make a quick stop to Dutch Boy.”  and that would be followed by “I just have to get a few things at the health food store.  You can choose a treat from one of the bulk bins though!”  Then we’d take a quick detour out of town somewhere at some farm to pick up a 1/4 of some animal or other to put in the chest freezer.

Yet, here I am decades later, dragging my children around town from store to store getting just the right ingredients for just the right prices to keep the pantry, root “cellar”, and chest freezer well stocked.  We have a CSA.  We get weekly deliveries from VT via Farmer’s To You.  I get most of my grocery store staples from a local market.  Some weeks it works and some weeks it is a bit much.

When my children were first born I used Peapod Delivery.  The perfect choice especially after two  C-sections and a flight of stairs up to the kitchen.  At every food store from Whole Foods to local specialty markets I have noticed a recent upswing of options.  During end of school craziness, the “personal shopping” option piqued my interest but I never got it together to step outside my usual shopping routines and try it out.

It is a bit ridiculous that it took an assignment and offer from the folks at Peapod by Stop & Shop to get me to take that step in a new direction.  It just goes to show how set in our ways we can be and what it takes to change such habits. Within about 3 minutes I was fully on board and I am now going to  make this a regular thing.

How it works:

Where it works

Not all Stop and Shop locations have the Peapod Pick Up service.  I did pick up at the Watertown location which is perfect for me.  I love to go to Russo’s but rarely want to make a second shopping stop next door at Stop and Shop.  Pick up allows me to shop both stores without dragging the kids in and out of two stores and with less than 5 additional minutes added to the trip. Check the website  to see which Peapod Pick Up service works best for you.

My pick up location was:  Super Stop & Shop at 700 Pleasant Street in Watertown.  There are 29 locations within 30 miles of me so check to see if you have a pick up location near you.