Bountiful Baskets

I am so excited that Bountiful Baskets has come to our area.  For those of you not familiar with it, it is a produce co-op that serves some of the western and southern states.   For just $15 you can get a conventional basket and for $25 an organic one.  You can add on extras, like bread for $2 a loaf or whatever they have in stock that week (example: 25# roma tomatoes for $11 or 48 ears of corn for $14, etc.)

Bountiful Baskets has been such a blessing to our family.  Our growing kids continue to eat more and more and more!  In the last year I have not been buying as much produce as I'd like to because it is just so expensive!  We usually eat salad, bananas, and whatever fruit happens to be $1 a pound that week.  I stock up on frozen peas, beans, and corn when they go on sale and usually have carrots around, but beyond that, it's too expensive to bring much variety to our table.

That is until Bountiful Baskets!  I love the suprise element of not knowing what you are going to get until you show up to get the basket you paid for.  It's like someone else does your grocery shopping for you and you get to try new recipes to work with what you have!  In the past 6 weeks of getting baskets (they only come every other Sat.) we have gotten to eat kale, figs, mangos, asian pears, italian plums, yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, mini cucumbers, pluots, etc.  I'm lovin' it!

The contents of this photo's basket? 

I ordered 2 regular baskets and added on 10 loaves of bread (for an extra $20). 

The produce included:

4 large bunches of green leaf lettuce

5 huge bunches spinach

9 bananas

2 stalks celery

10# yukon gold potatoes

8 peaches

20 italian plums

10 asian pears

3 large mangoes

2 heads of cauliflower

Since it's a bit of a drive to get our baskets, my friends and I are taking turns with the pick-ups.  However, after picking up for 10 friends, I realized that was TOO MUCH!  My poor van was stuffed to the max, even with all the seats out of it!  So we've decided to divide into groups of 3 or 4 for the future.  And hopefully soon someone will head up starting a drop-off point in our town so we only have to drive a few blocks instead of half an hour to pick-up.  I don't mind doing pick-ups since my friend Tracy and I go together and get some girl time in!  She brings mochas and I bring chocolate muffins!  Unfortunately our drop off is at 7am and if you don't get there within 20 minutes, your basket, which you've paid for online with a debit card, gets donated to the local food shelf!  So, the only draw-back for us is the early morning run!

This is what came in the organic basket (above).  A little less produce for a bit more money but still less than half of what we'd pay for organic produce at our local grocery stores.

So, what came in this basket?  This last time I got 2 regular baskets.  So I spent $30, plus the $1.50 shipping fee you get charged each time.  I got:
14 mini cucumbers
22 pears
14 bananas
8 Gala apples
8 giant plums
18 sweet potatoes
6# brocolli
5# grapes
5 large yellow onions
3 packages of figs
(and some zuchinni and yellow squash someone was giving away for free at the drop-off site)

This week my friends and I had the challenge of figuring out what to do with figs.  I'd never had them before!  I found a great recipe online (from Emeril) for Fig Preserves that called for two ingredients.  I washed the figs (24 oz. of them) and cut the stems off the top and threw them in a pot with 1 c. brown sugar.  (You could use honey, agave nectar, rapadura, etc. if you wanted to).  You simmer on low, stirring occasionally, and after 30 minutes, it's done!  I did add a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves just because I thought it would give it an extra kick.  Then I put it in a blender and blended so my jam would be smooth (for the kids).  It made 3 cups of jam which I stored in the fridge as it will be gone soon!  A friend sent me a link to a sweet potato biscuit recipe so I made those and topped them with warm fig jam!  Yum!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 C. whole wheat flour

2 t. baking powder

1 stick of butter

1 mashed banana

1 large sweet potato, peeled, cooked, and mashed

(or use 8 ounces of sweet potato baby food)

1 C. milk

Mix dry ingredients and then cut butter into flour.  Using a pastry blender or fork, mash until butter and flour has formed into little pea-sized crumbles.  Then mix in banana and potato.  Add milk all at once.  Stir just until mixed in (don't over-stir) and then drop large spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400 until lightly browned on top (12-15 minutes).  Makes 6 large biscuits.

Since I'm such a smoothie addict I freeze whatever can't be used within a week or two.  The one week we got about 5 huge bunches of spinach, I froze most of it, which will keep my spinach-yogurt smoothie habit going for a long time!  I freeze the extra loaves of bread and it's so nice not to ever be out of bread or to have to make 6 loaves by hand once or twice a week!  So far, 2 regular baskets are lasting us 2 weeks and the kids are eating fruits and vegetables every day for their snacks and we're having more vegetables with dinner each night.

I've also discovered that kale is delicioso when you chop it up, stir it up with melted butter, sprinkle with sea salt, and cook on a cookie sheet in the oven until it gets crispy like chips.


And cauliflower?  It is WONDERFUL when you chop it up and put it in a cake pan, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil, sprinkle with a garlic-herb seasoning, roast for 45 minutes in the oven and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  FABULOUS!

How do you save on produce and feed your family healthy food on a dime?

Keeping Kids Fed--Monday's Project

During my pregnancy and the stage of having a new infant I purchased bread because I just didn't have the extra energy to make it.  But lately, I've been feeling energetic again and have noticed that quality bread has gotten VERY expensive in our town.

So, on Monday, I decided to make up a week's worth of bread for my menu plan.  I took my favorite recipe and multiplied it by 6.  I'm thankful for my enormous tupperware bowl that I got at a yard sale for 25 cents because it is big enough to mix it all in.

If I had been making 1 loaf, I would have used my trusty bread machine.  But this batch was far too big for that.

I set it on the porch in the hot sunshine for a while and it rose very nicely.  Am I the only one who uses her van to raise bread sometimes in the spring, summer, or fall?  Cars sitting in the sunshine are always nice and toasty, perfect for raising bread dough.

The recipe x 6 ended up making 3 pans of homemade hamburger buns, 1 pan of breadsticks, 3 smaller loaves and 2 large loaves.

We ate the breadsticks with ravioli later in the week.

We shared a couple of loaves with friends who came over for Pray and Play one morning.

We used the buns for BBQ chicken sandwiches one night and Ham and Cheese Melts another night later in the week.

Would you believe that every bit of this bread was gone by Thursday night after dinner?  That means from Monday afternoon, when we had some for snack, to Thursday night, we ate 6 large loaves worth of bread!  If we hadn't shared with company it may have lasted a day or two longer, but still, that means our family can easily eat 6 large loaves a week! 

In a perfect world I would make this much bread every Monday.  I'm going to try to continue to do so on Mondays in the future, but I'm not opposed to being flexible and buying bread as I need to if my schedule doesn't allow for it.  Do you bake your own bread or find it cheaper/easier to buy it?

Fall Food

 When I had a mountain of zucchinni in my kitchen thanks to friends and family, I wasn't sure how to use it all.  I asked my facebook friends for tips.  In addition to serving some sauteed and making a quadruple batch of chocolate zuke bread, I processed about 20 C. in the food processor and froze it for future baking.  One friend suggested I freeze some in ice cube trays to be added to smoothies and sauces for an extra boost of nutrition.  What a great idea!

 Apple Ladder Loaf is one of the tastiest things I've ever made!  Mmmmmm!

Ali and I made 4 loaves in the week following our trip to the orchard for various social functions and everyone agreed that it was amazing stuff!

 I wanted to try making pumpkin-shaped rolls but I had never done it before.  I discovered that adding food coloring to the dough is very difficult, especially when you have a huge double batch of dough to work with.  I used my favorite, tried-and-true roll recipe.  My cousin suggested that next time instead of using food coloring I should try adding juiced carrots to the liquid part of the dough in place of some of the water or milk.  I took a small part of dough and dyed it green to make stems with and since I had extra I made a few "zucchinni rolls."  Next time I think I'll try making actual pumpkin roll dough for pumpkin-shaped rolls! 



Homemade Hamburger Buns

Using this recipe (though I used some whole wheat flour and some cane sugar instead of all white flour and white sugar) I decided to try making hamburger buns one night for our BLT's.  They turned out so tasty that I will have to start making them in bulk and freezing!

Mmmm Good!

Now that the sickness is officially gone, I find myself eating ALL THE TIME!  Thankfully, I've only gained 6# so far but it's bound to quintuple since I'm only halfway through this pregnancy!

I have been sorting my photo files since I'm a year behind on organizing my digital photos on our computer and I came across these pics.  Now...if you'll excuse me...I need to head to the kitchen......

Zuchinni Brownies

Apple Struesel Pizza

Cheesy Spinach Quiche

Vegetable Pizza made with Vodka Sauce

Jell-O Popcorn Balls

Brocolli Couscous Stir-Fry, Homemade Rolls

My Favorite Rolls:  The Duggar's Dinner Rolls

Green Bean Casserole

Blueberry Muffins

Have I mentioned we eat salad about every day?

Fruit Pizza--my yearly birthday dessert

Peach Pie from scratch

Lupe's Authentic Enchiladas, Homemade Refried Beans, Mexican Rice

Fry Bread Tacos

Most of the recipes for these items above are in my Cooking or New Recipes I Love threads!

How to Make GORP

I'm not sure if GORP stands for Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts or Granola Oats Raisins and Peanuts but it is an excellent snack for hiking, the zoo, the park, cross-country skiing, or traveling, etc.

Add whatever ingredients you like.  Options include: dried fruits and berries, nuts of any kind, granola or oats or granola clusters, crackers or pretzels of any kind, chocolate chips, favorite candies, or dried cereals.

This is what looked good to me when I went shopping for GORP ingredients.  If I wasn't so spacey while pregnant, I would have remembered the box of Rice Chex in my pantry and added it in.  I only added about 1/3 of the bag of marshmallows and half of the bag of pretzels.

Mix thoroughly in a large bowl.

Put about 1-2 cups of GORP in each little plastic bag for an individual portion.  Stash in a safe, kid-free zone and throw them in your backpack for a handy, and delicious snack-on-the-go!  Kids love GORP and mommies and daddies love GORP too!

Depending on what you add into the GORP, it can be fairly inexpensive.  I spent about $10 and was able to make around 12 or 13 large portions that served us very well at the zoo and for snacks in the van.  However, if I had been able to get to Walmart to purchase the ingredients, it would have been a bit cheaper. 

*If you have young children be sure to keep in mind what they are able to handle chewing and watch them carefully lest they choke on a craisin or peanut, etc.*

Cake Tip

I mentioned that I made the Angelina cake a couple of days before the party to save myself stress the day of the party.  How did I protect it in a small house with lots of little children that love cake?

My first thought was to grab a cardboard box to put it in, but then I thought of the dust, dirt, and smells that it could absorb if I went that route.  So, I decided to raid my kids' closet.  I am a container-freak and have all their playsets and homeschooling supplies in plastic tubs so I had plenty on hand.  I just dumped one out, stored the games that had been in it on a shelf temporarily, rinsed it out, flipped it over, and kept the cake safe!

Tortilla Recipe

For those of you who asked about my tortilla recipe, it's here. There are some recipes on the web that don't use baking powder if you prefer that; one of my friends makes those because she doesn't like the taste of these. I've recently been quadrupling this batch and using ALL whole wheat instead of half and half. Use whatever variety of flour you like best. Using my new large pancake griddle alongside of my skillet, I can whip out about 30 tortillas in an hour and then freeze them in gallon ziploc bags so I can whip one out whenever we feel like tacos or burritos.

Yummy Meal--Mexican Casserole

8 oz ground beef
1 can (12 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 jar ( 12 oz) chunky salsa
1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced olives drained
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 carton ( 8 oz) sour cream
5 cups tortilla chips
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped tomato

Brown ground beef in large skillet; drain. Add corn and salsa. Cook until heated. Reserve 2 tablespoons of olives. Put remaining olives in beef mixture. In a separate bowl combine cottage cheese and sour cream in bowl. In a 2 quart casserole, layer 2 cups chips, half of meat mixture, 3/4 c. cheese and half of cottage cheese mixture . Repeat layers, cover. Bake in preheated 350 for 35 minutes. Line edge of casserole with remaining 1 cup of chips and top with tomatoes, olives, and cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and chips are hot.

I've found that substituting black beans for hamburger works great too! If you don't like olives, try a different item, like green chilis, or onions, etc. My friend made this for me (pictured above) when we were going through our rough time with getting ready to move and house hunting and it was such a tasty meal!



I had trouble layering the cottage cheese mix so when I make this again I plan to just mix everything together, except the chips, and just skip the layering steps.

Baking/Cooking Day!

The results of my two day cook-a-rama!

Multi-grain roll mixes. I just need to throw a bag in the bread machine, add water, and 2 T. butter. I find that as a homeschooling mom, I have less motivation to bake so making mixes will get the ball rolling and could also be used for holiday dinners and/or church potlucks.

Results of Day #2, minus a couple of the pizza ingredients for my son's upcoming birthday (still in the fridge). I'm doing 4 homemade pizzas for a family birthday party.

Results of Day #1, not including 4 bags of tortillas (already in the freezer), and 2 batches of Chicken Tetrazzini (we ate one for supper and gave one to my mom as a fun surprise when she dropped by after work for a minute.)

Lots of food!

Did tortillas for a couple of hours while chatting with

a dear friend on the phone (kids were asleep in bed.)

40-ish wheat tortillas ready to go! My family will have these eaten in no time!

Healthier and cheaper!

Homemade cream of chicken soup. Used wheat flour instead of white. Using natural chicken broth (no MSG) and milk and spices makes a much healthier cream soup than store-bought.

Froze it in baby food jars and when I ran out I used plastic cups and when they are frozen I plan to pop the soup out and put in a ziploc.

Cramming it all in the freezer was no easy task!

Making pumpkin pancakes (triple batch) for breakfast

Cream butter imported from Denmark was on an amazing markdown deal this week so I snatched up a few. It is delicious butter!

Super yummy granola using this recipe. I substituted butter for the oil and did a double batch.

------------------------

Written Results of Baking Day:

4.5 cooked, shredded chicken breasts

1 dozen hardboiled eggs (kid snacks)

3 # elk hamburger cooked as taco meat

4 bags of brown rice

4 bags of chicken tetrazzini

5 C. zesty hummus

40 large whole wheat tortillas

2 dozen pumpkin pancakes

Pizza dough for 8 pizzas

Bagged 10# of mozzarella from Sam's Club divided into 2-pizza portions to freeze

4 multi-grain rolls mixes

4 cornbread mixes

4 large bags freezer potatoes

2 gallons honey/raisin granola

10 C. of homemade cream of chicken soup

All in all, I think it took about 10 hours of work in two days. We still did a park playdate, went to the grocery store, went to the post office, and did schooling one of those days (the other day my daughter wanted to nap, and since she NEVER wants to nap, I felt her body must really need the sleep!)

How did I get it done with kiddoes? About 6 of the cooking hours were when they were napping or in bed for the night (and my daughter colored pictures while the boys napped) and when they were awake I allowed them to watch one movie each day while I cooked. If Justus was awake he sat in his high chair and snacked or ran around in the kitchen or re-arranged my pantry (one of his favorite pasttimes.)