Saturday, July 23, 2011

Bountiful Baskets -- July 23





Okay, so here is a photo of the produce in my basic basket from Bountiful Baskets today.  Thomas picked the background... I think this would have looked better with fewer bright colors behind it!



Anyway, my basket had:
  • one bunch celery
  • 2 English cucumbers (I'm pretty sure I've never had any of these!)
  • 1 head of some type of lettuce
  • about 3/4 pound of green beans
  • 10 oz. package of little tomatoes
  • Over a pound of white sweet potatoes
  • 7 peaches
  • 3 mongo mangoes  (they are HUGE)
  • 8 plums
  • 1 organic cantaloupe
  • 6 bananas
  • a pound of strawberries
I also got the Mexican package, but didn't get a picture.  I have no idea what was in that... okay, maybe I sort of do:
  • 2 big yellow onions
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 2 bunches green onions
  • 2 avocadoes
  • 5 limes
  • 10 tomatillos
  • 4 (jalepeno?) peppers
  • 8 other peppers  (okay, so I could identify all but this)
  • 1 bunch of cilantro
In addition, I purchased a 20 pound box of peaches, and I purchased a tortilla pack.

I have sat down with my list of produce in the last couple weeks, and I'm telling you, this really is a great value.  Maybe not for everyone... but I really don't have time to do a ton of running around to find quality produce at the best possible prices.  And I really think that even in my super-shopper hey-dey I would have been hard pressed to actually *beat* these prices.

What I love more than anything about doing Bountiful Baskets is that my kids are actually eating FRUIT on a consistent basis now.

So, for dinner, we had burritos.  And I browned up some ground beef and froze it.  I used an onion with that.  I also used half a jalepeno, some of the lettuce, some garlic, and a lime, and a bunch of the tortillas.  The kids had a plum each as a snack.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to make this guacamole.  I'm also planning to make up some chili to freeze, so that will probably take care of the other onion, and maybe some mystery pepper too.

I'm going to have to work on figuring out something to do with all the peaches, as I'm not wanting to use my oven, nor are we likely to get through them all before they start going bad.

I do need to start figuring out ways to bury celery in other cooking... I probably should have fried some up with the hamburger earlier.


You really should check out the website, and if there is a location near you, you ought to check it out.  If you live in Colorado, I'd really love for you to check it out. 


5 comments:

Jill said...

I was only able to do Bountiful Baskets twice before we left Idaho. I am sad it is not here in NM yet. (at least not in the town I am in.)
For your peaches Google "Freezer peach pie" and you can find peach pie fillings that you don't need to bake, just freeze and then pull out when you want to bake pie. I did that last year and it was wonderful. Also freezer peach jam is easy and fast.

Debra said...

Jill -- that is exactly what I had in mind!! LOL! Thanks for the search terms, that helps a lot. Because as I was searching tonight, I knew what I wanted to find, but I could NOT come up with the words to do it. :)

Hopefully Bountiful Baskets will come your way soon... We've only had them here since the second weekend in June, maybe? It's a new experience for me, and I. Am. Loving. It.

Thanks again. :)

Tess said...

That is so weird that I was checking out Bountiful Baskets and here you were blogging about it! This afternoon as I was grocery shopping I was thinking, I need a cheaper alternative so that we can eat FRESH fruit and veggies. Oh and celery works great with hamburger dishes that you are already using onion and or bell pepper in. Celery also works as a filler in sweet and sour dishes or chow mein. Oh and soup. I tend to use celery the most in soups oh and pasta or macaroni salads. Since it is too hot to cook maybe if you are making a cold tuna or chicken macaroni salad (or meatless for lunch or side dish maybe?) finely chop up some celery.

Vickie said...

We got our basket today too! We got everything you got including the box of peaches and the Salsa kit :) We also got the 5 loaves of 9-grain bread. Ever try that? It has to be the best bread out there. I've been searching online for the recipe this afternoon.

This is the 3rd time we've done a pick up. I can't remember who it was on the crew that posted about Bountiful Baskets...but I know we are very very grateful.

Oh, the lettuce...I think it is Romaine lettuce. Chop it up with a head of ice-berg lettuce for salads - very very yummy!!!

Off to check out Jill's recommendation because this is why I got peaches as well :)

Debra said...

Tess -- I was laughing when I saw your post on FB... TRY IT. You really do need to. And then try it at least a second time...

Vickie -- I was guessing Romaine lettuce, but I didn't want to actually SAY that. No problem with using it...

I have NOT tried the bread. I've been forcing myself to not try the bread... I'm sure it is amazing, and then I'm going to want to purchase it each time.

Funny that we got virtually identical stuff though. :)