There IS such a thing as a free lunch!

And here it is, in the form of a free Organic Fruit & Veg Box from Abel & Cole, who have kindly sent me a sample of their supplies to test out.

Having been too busy to get to the market this week or indeed my local farm shop recently, it was fabulous timing to have this arrive on my doorstep this week. And with some freshly-made chicken stock in the fridge, I've now got all the ingredients to make a tasty vegetable soup, including leeks, carrots and potatoes.

Now I'm not known to normally welcome veg boxes. I have tried them before, but the problem I've had in the past is particularly at this time of year, they're usually full of all the vegetables Mr A doesn't like. So I end up giving the damn things away, which means they can be as useful as a chocolate teapot! However, I don't think I'll have such a problem with Abel & Cole's offer because you can simply choose what you want to leave in and what you'd prefer to leave out. So if a Swede's not your cup of tea, you don't have to drink it....if you get what I mean!

And as for reduced packaging, getting the produce delivered loose in the box is great! That's another tick in The Rubbish Diet list of requirements. The only thing that doesn't quite make the mark is the little punnet of cherry tomatoes which you can see poking up in the photo. However, in my neck of the woods I can recycle the plastic punnet and the wrapper too, so in the great scheme of things it doesn't matter.

So, as well as making the soup, I'm going to have a delve around the Abel & Cole recipe section for some cheap and cheerful ideas on how to make this free box of goodies last. But I musn't forget the Love Food Hate Waste site too, which is full of great ideas on using up all the leftovers.

Now I quite like the idea of a free lunch, especially during the credit crunch. So if you fancy a veg box yourself and sign up to Abel & Cole in February, just mention The Rubbish Diet and you'll get a Free Abel & Cole cookbook and I'll get some credit to my account too. Just call 08452 626262 or for more information, visit their website at www.abelandcole.co.uk.

Now where was I....ah yes celebrating the fact that there IS such a thing as a free lunch. The only problem is...you have to make it yourself. But if I play my cards right and get myself organised, I can see I'm going to have quite a lot of fun with this Veg Box...that's if I can tear myself away from the blog!

Right then...better stop blogging and start that cooking. See you soon x

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