The Cure to Being Burdened by Shopping for Food

I used to enjoy going to the grocery store. I loved picking out items, seeing what’s new in stock, and hunting good deals in the store’s weekly ads. However, grocery shopping has become physically challenging as my Friedreich’s ataxia slowly progresses. It’s tough to deal with the crowds and fatigue of walking around, plus grocery shopping in a city with bad parking can be cumbersome since I need to walk home with bags of groceries.

My husband Justin and I have been waking up early to visit a store right when it opens so we get a good parking spot and avoid the crowds. Luckily, the two places where we shop have parking lots and we always get an open handicap spot right in front of the buildings. At that early hour, we don’t have a far walk to get inside, the store is empty, and we can move right along. We can also take our time if we need to and avoid the anxiety of being rushed. This helps reduce expended energy and the stress of crowds.

Blue Apron, a service that delivers meal kits including ingredients and recipes, also has been helpful. We have two meal kits per week delivered to our door. Blue Apron offers two major counters to my Friedreich’s ataxia challenges.

1. Less time and energy in the grocery store. Blue Apron delivers all the necessary ingredients so we do not need to search stores for individual items. As mentioned above, it has become difficult to do something that I once was able to do weekly, but I still like going to the food store because it gives me a sense of accomplishment. With only occasional meals from Blue Apron, I am getting the best of both worlds by obtaining a sense of independence and spending less time grocery shopping.

2. Less time and energy in the kitchen. Standing in the kitchen and preparing a meal for dinner after an eight-hour day of work can be exhausting. Sometimes, the last thing someone with Friedreich’s ataxia wants to do is to make food with the little energy they have left in their body at the end of the day. Blue Apron solves this issue! With prep and cook times of 20-45 minutes, pre-measured ingredients, and step-by-step instructions, they couldn’t make it any easier to prepare meals. This creates less time and energy in the kitchen, and more time and energy goes into enjoying the meal with the person you’re sharing with!

Blue Apron’s weekly service often has great promotions for active members. For example, they have $30 off a box or $60 off if you purchase meals three weeks in a row. This special is worth it to Justin and me because it means not having to deal with crowds and fatigue that come with the simple errand of grocery shopping.

We also like to use Blue Apron because there are so many meal options that we thought we could never make ourselves. For example, this week we had cumin Sichuan peppercorn beef with ramen noodles and broccoli, and prosciutto and fontina grilled cheese with kale salad. Both were very delicious, so we were happy with our selections for the week! It’s safe to say we’ll be sticking to Blue Apron’s services for quite some time.