I stumbled upon Hy-Vee grocery delivery while I was on bed rest. Although Hy-Vee was only a 3-minute drive from my house at the time, pushing the cart up and down the aisles and trying to get my pregnant brain to remember what to buy were two uneasy feats. Then I discovered that I could stay put on the couch with my feet in the air and plug in ingredients for that week’s meals, and voila: full grocery bags were being set on my kitchen counter by my Hy-Vee angel! #LIFESAVER!
As a New Year’s resolution (yep, I’m a resolution-er) I am hoping to be better about meal planning. Since my baby is happy, healthy, currently in love with all his new solid foods, and much too chunky/wiggly to wear through the grocery store – I’m going back to grocery delivery to meet this goal. I reached out to my fellow Kansas City Mom writers to find out what sources they use for food delivery and discovered there are actually a ton of options in KC! So whether you are pregnant, bed-rested, lugging a newborn around, chasing a toddler around, working too many hours for your family, or just don’t want to spend an hour plus picking up your own groceries, here is your grocery (and other essentials) delivery survival guide!
Delivery Options – from the store to your door
Hy-Vee
This is the delivery service I have used the most just because I found it first. Hy-Vee has two different options – pick up or delivery. You can browse the entire store selection on your computer and select the items that you want. Your personal shopper will gather everything and include similar replacements if your items are unavailable. Then the items are delivered and carried into your house and place on your counter! Or brought out to your car while you wait in its warmth. That’s a helpful smile beyond every aisle. For pick up, there is $2.95 charge and for delivery $4.95, but that fee is waived if you spend more than $100. If you spend less than that on your weekly groceries, I need to know your secret.
Instacart
Instacart is a catchall service that sets you up to get deliveries from several different stores. When I plug in my zip code, I am able to schedule delivery from Price Chopper, Costco, Petco, Natural Grocers, and CVS. It seems almost too good to be true that I could hermit it up and have ALL the essentials delivered! I can also choose to do pick up at Consentinos. I haven’t had a chance to order yet (at the time this is going to press!). But, the site is extremely easy to navigate. Delivery is $5.99 for orders over $35 and $7.99 if you want that delivery in an hour! Or for $149 a year you can have unlimited deliveries. But your first delivery is free, so it’s worth giving it a shot.
Shatto Milk Company
This is the delivery service I am most excited about – the milkman still delivers! From my fellow moms, I learned the service is not only convenient but there are so many more options than milk (although I could live on Shatto’s chocolate and Root Beer Milk, just saying). In addition to a complete grocery list with mostly local/regional fares, they also offer pre-prepared meals in collaboration with the Kearney Culinary Institute. I just signed up, and can’t wait for my first delivery!
Pick-Up Options – cause I’m out of the house, but I don’t want to be here long
Walmart
Let’s be real, no one really loves scaling the aisles of Walmart under their fluorescent lights. But man if they don’t have good deals every now and then (i.e. all the time because of sketchy reasons, but I just got ibuprofen for $2 so I’m guilty of feeding the monster). Walmart pick up allows you to grab those needed items and be in and out as quickly as a bouncing smiley face in the night. The great thing about Walmart pick up is that you have a full grocery selection as well as lots of other household items. The even greater thing about Walmart pick up is that they load everything right in your car for you!
CVS
Another genius curbside pickup is good ‘ole CVS. Now not only can you drive through for prescriptions but you can also quickly grab other necessities. As one fellow mom blogger told me, this is especially helpful for when you have a sick kiddo and you just need to get home with the goods. It’s also great for those late night PJ runs when I just need a snickers with those paper towels I forgot to buy earlier …
Target
The pick up option I have personally used the most is for Target. Which actually isn’t as great as it sounds, because you still have to walk in and go to Customer Service. And once I’m in, I usually realize there are a couple other things I should grab. And by the end of it I’ve lugged my 24 pound 8 month old back and forth down every aisle and we are still leaving with $75 worth of stuff we didn’t really need. BUT if you are more disciplined than me and you want to tell the kids “but we did go somewhere today” then run in and grab your goods. All you have to do is order online and select “pick up” in the check out!
Other Options – because this is a survival guide after all
Meal kits
I’m a fan of Blue Apron. We use it to supplement two of our meals per week and it gives me ideas for things we wouldn’t normally try. Fellow moms have told me they also like Hello Fresh, Plated, etc. The meal kits all generally work the same: fresh ingredients and easy to read recipes are delivered once a week to your front porch. Prepare, serve, and be full. The best thing about Blue Apron for me is that it has taught me (a novice domestica at best) a lot of cooking tricks I did not know before. Now that I have some of that under my belt, its given me confidence in doing the meal prep planning for my goal this year.
Food delivery
Why food delivery? Because sometimes you just don’t want to cook, or reheat, or heat in the first place, but your favorite Thai joint doesn’t have it’s own delivery service check out GrubHub, Postmates, or UberEats. Not going to lie, this is my craving go to, when my craving is big but the baby is already in bed!
There you go moms, get your food.
