Bountiful Basket: 2/18/2012

I finally got back to ordering our weekly basket from Bountiful Baskets. As you can see we got all kinds of yummy things. It was nice to get back and get fresh ORGANIC produce at a good price. If you are interested in learning more about Bountiful Baskets (they offer both conventional and organic produce baskets) visit them here.
Our basket included this week:

Lettuce

Bok Choy

Green Beans

Onions

Cucumbers

Zuchinni 

Potatoes

Grape Tomatoes

Mangoes

Blueberries

Kiwi

Apples 

Oranges

I will be sharing our weekly Paleo meal plan later today or tomorrow with these items included too. I have never had Bok Choy before so I am excited to try that. 

Basket Round Up 10/1

You know those weeks when it seems like you are just always behind or running late? Well that has been my week. I am taking a full course load of classes for my accounting degree, running my AVON business, and caring for H our busy 2 1/2 year old. I thought I had gotten this week's basket posted but I guess I didn't get that done. Anyway without any further time wasting here is this weeks Bountiful Basket .

*Excuse the messy table it was a hectic morning

This week's basket included: onions, beets, broccoli, lettuce, peppers, potatoes, melon, mangoes, bananas, plums, and grapes. All of the items in my basket are organic. Bountiful Baskets also offers a conventional basket for just $15.

Visit Bountiful Baskets to find out how to get involved!

Bountiful Basket Round Up 9/24

This week's organic basket was full of yummy goodness. The basket included: Carrots, Broccoli, Celery, Radishes, Lettuce, Strawberries (H loves his "straws"), grapes, mango, blueberries, and cantaloupe. I also got a package of 9 Grain Bread, 5 loaves for $10 can't beat that deal. I throw all but one loaf in the freezer and pull it out as we need it. The bread is fresh baked and not full of all the preservatives and junk that grocery store bread often has in it. We love the bread!
Head over to Bountiful Baskets to find a location near you!

Bountiful Basket Round Up 9/10

This week's Organic Bountiful Basket included: artichokes (I have no idea what to do with these so recommendations would be GREAT!), purple cabbage, sweet potatoes, onions, and lettuce for the veggies. The fruits included: bananas, strawberries, blueberries, pears, apples and peaches.

Bountiful Baskets is such a great organization and a great way to bring healthy foods into your house. If you haven't participated yet visit Bountiful Baskets to find a site near you! Oh and as I mentioned I am looking for recipes ideas for the artichoke and the sweet potatoes...send em my way.

Bountiful Basket Round Up

This week's Organic basket came with all kinds of great produce including: tomatoes, celery, lettuce, celery, cucumber, squash, bananas, limes, peaces, watermelon, and mango.

Head over to Bountiful Baskets to see if baskets are available in your area! A great way to provide your family with produce at a great cost.

This morning I finally got the chance to head to the pickup site early and volunteered with Bountiful Baskets. It was a great experience and I will be heading back to volunteer every week. It was great to get the opportunity to help participants get their produce.
I arrived at 8am to be greeted by the site coordinators, who were very welcoming. We eagerly awaited the arrival of the semi-truck to deliver our site's produce. Once the truck arrived the hard work began. We had to unload the pallets of produce and organize them into piles. After everything was unloaded it was time to fill the baskets. It was fun to see what was going into each of the baskets. Finally as the participants began to arrive I was able to help everyone get their basket.
Volunteering was a great experience and very rewarding! I love Bountiful Baskets even more now. I look forward to seeing what surprises are in next week's basket and volunteering again.

Basket 8/27/2011

Today was our weekly Bountiful Basket pickup. As I mentioned in a previous post we purchase an organic basket every week for $26.50 (conventional baskets are available too for $16.50).

As you can see we got quite a bit of produce this week including: Green Grapes, Bananas, Watermelon, Cantelope, Avocado, Tomatoes, Onion, Celery, Green Beans, Broccolt, and Cabbage.


I have never eaten or cooked with an Avocado and don't usually eat cabbage (though S loves to eat a cabbage, potato, and vinegar salad). I am looking forward to finding things ways to use all of our produce this week.
*Sorry about the quality of the picture, I forgot to take a picture until this evening so I had to gather everything back up and was kind of hurrying*

Plums, Plums, and More Plums

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this weeks Bountiful Baskets offering include a large variety of plums. We received 12lbs of plums for $10.50! Now that I have all of these yummy plums I am trying to find ways to use them besides simply eating them. My plans for my plums include:
-Dehydrating some for dried plums
-Using plums in my daily Green Smoothies
-Plum Crisp
-Plum Tart
-Freeze some as well.
I look forward to trying out all of these new recipes. I also have enjoyed sampling all the different varieties of plums that were included in our basket. As you can see from the picture there are quite a few different types of plums. I will keep you updated on how everything turns out.

Green Smoothies

A few weeks ago on my friend's on a Military Spouse support forum introduced me to Green Smoothies. I have seen them before but thought the list of ingredients always sounded awful. I finally convinced myself to try and now must say I am addicted to them. They are so much fun to make because I never make use the exact same ingredients twice.
I have actually started replacing two meals a day with a Green Smoothie. Thanks to Bountiful Baskets I am able to have a variety of fresh, organic produce available to me at all times. I am by no means an expert on how to make the best green smoothie but some of my favorite ingredients include: spinach, kale, frozen bananas, flaxseed oil, and grapes. I always include spinach and bananas in my smoothies. From there I just toss what sounds good into the blender and go from there. I do not use milk or yogurt in my smoothies. I have found that my smoothies are nice and smoothie like without the extra calories of dairy products. I always include about a cup of water too. If I don't use any frozen ingredients I will toss in some ice too but I don't like things too cold so I skip ice most of the time.
Smoothies are great for a quick meal. I have found that I am fuller longer when I drink a smoothie than when I eat a full meal. As I start to explore the world of green smoothies further I will share with you what works and doesn't work for me. Have you tried green smoothies? What are your favorites?
If you are interested here is a link to get you started on your Green Smoothie adventure. Green Smoothie Recipes

Bountiful Baskets

Over a year ago I discovered a product co-op here in Las Vegas, Bountiful Baskets. I love fresh produce and living in Las Vegas makes it difficult to find affordable produce that is fresh and hasn't traveled thousands of miles. Every Saturday morning I get to go to a local park and pick up a basket of veggies and a basket of fruit (all organic) for only $26! They also over conventional baskets, which aren't organic for only $16.
Each week I find either a vegetable or fruit that I have no experience with and sometimes both. I love that I can get fresh, organic produce for a great price and discover new recipes. I get to experiment each week with something new and get out of my comfort zone just a bit.
This past week one of the offerings was a box of plums with nearly 12 different varieties. I currently have an overabundance of plums but thanks to my dehydrator and Google I am going to find some yummy ways to use all of these great plums.
How it works?
Bountiful Baskets is completely volunteer run and organized. It started in Arizona and now has weekly offerings all over the country. Each week participants log onto the website and purchase their basket. The money from all contributions are pooled together and produce is purchased. From Bountiful Baskets website:
This is a grass roots, all volunteer, no contracts, no catch co-operative. Without volunteers this co-op wouldn’t happen, so you will need to help as you are able. There are many opportunities to help!...As a group, we purchase items at deep discounts. Items are then distributed evenly among participants...We get a variety of high-quality seasonal produce. We balance variety with seasonality in order to get the most appealing and cost-effective basket possible. We choose to use local produce first when available, then regional produce if it is not.
Bountiful Baskets is a great opportunity to add fresh, seasonal produce to your weekly menu at great prices. Check out Bountiful Baskets to see if there are any offerings in your area or to get a local site started.
I will start sharing my weekly basket contents each week so you can see the great produce I get each week!