Bountiful Baskets, updated

Above is the Bountiful Basket contents from Saturday, February 4th. Caroline and I went to Volunteer in the early morning (she had a sleepover at our house the night before). We received:
1 head of Romaine lettuce, 3 celery bunches, 4 huge tomatoes, 3 stalks of large broccoli, 3 red bell peppers, 2 very nice bunches of asparagus, a 5 lb bag of potatoes, 1 bunch of large radishes, 6 apples, one lovely pineapple, 3 Japanese pears, a box of strawberries. All for $16.50. Plus 2 hours of hard work this week, but that is optional. For volunteering, Caroline selected an extra box of strawberries and I selected an additional pineapple. I also took home some tomatoes that were not good enough to put in the baskets of others. They had bad spots on them. But the bad spots can be cut off and I'm going to make them into soup! In addition, I have an extra apple and pear than most baskets--but two less onions. They sometimes make substitutions if things don't pan out quite exactly to cover all the baskets, so a few of us volunteered the onions in our baskets to be put in the baskets that were short. I didn't know they were going to compensate me for them, so that was a nice surprise.

Have I blogged before about how much I love Bountiful Baskets? I think not.

I just adore Bountiful Baskets. They have a website at Bountifulbaskets.org. Go check it out.

When we're not eating our own produce from the garden, this has been SUCH a great thing for me. It's a food co-op, it is available in many states, and I just really enjoy it! We've been trying to eat healthier, and this helps so much. It's half fruit, half veggies, the price is right, it saves me going to the store. For a while, I felt guilty NOT going to the store and giving them (our local businesses) my money. But you know, they get plenty of our money!

I've volunteered at the co-op a couple of times and enjoyed that, too. I should volunteer more. The pickup for our area is Saturday morning, and I think it's a great way to start the day. Well, except that it's really cold in the winter! ha. I love having variety of fruits and vegetables around. I love that I don't have to go to a store and pick it out--they just give it to me and there's no choices. I like surprises. Of course, it's not really free, but the cost is so reasonable! And since it's paid for on-line previously in the week, it kind of feels like it's practically free. I haven't had a bad experience yet with the stuff I've received.

Our Sunday dinner today was mostly vegetables. Not EVERYthing was from Bountiful Baskets, but most was. We had

Parsley New Potatoes
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Green Salad with everything in it
Brussel Sprouts
(Chocolate cake for dessert--doesn't that cancel out all the good stuff??!!)

I get to grab a couple of pieces of fruit almost daily to take to work with me. I can have salad most days if I choose to take the time to make it.

LAST Sunday, we had soups in bread bowls. And green salad. I made a great creamy vegetable soup that day, and we also had pumpkin soup and some chicken noodle soup that were left-overs from earlier in the week. Yummy stuff.

Now, when we go to the store, it's just to pick up a gallon or two of milk and some eggs, a few specials, etc. It's a liberating feeling. Be ambitious and become a site coordinator in your area so you can have one, too, if you don't already. If you DO have one in your area (check the website for locations), then I urge you to take advantage of it.

Here's to healthy eating!