Bountiful Baskets, Indeed!

I don't think I've blogged about this before, but if I have and this is repetitive, let me know.  I recently joined a Co-Op called Bountiful Baskets.  It's a participatory, all-volunteer effort to source reasonably priced produce and breads every other week.  Because the money is pooled by the Co-Op, the prices are unbeatable.  You opt in whenever you want.

Today, I had my pickup for my $25 food share order.  You can order the food in shares, or baskets, that are a grab-bag of produce - good quality, and usually a mix of fruits and vegetables. You can also select an organic share, or add artisan breads to your order.  This time, I decided to order one food basket, and one order of artisan bread.  It was listed as English Muffins, two savory loaves, and a baguette.  Well, the English Muffin bread is in loaf form - that's new to me, and it seems much more bread by volume than buying the 6- or 8-pack of English muffins at the store!  

At any rate, the pickup for these orders is 8 am sharp at the Hyattville Community Center.  Nancy does a fantastic job of managing the orders, dividing up the produce, having it ready for pickup, and overall managing the program for the town. 

Now, I was prepared for this week's haul to be lightweight since it's just before Thanksgiving, and because the previous order was so good.  The orders are every other week, so for a single person like me, that gives me enough time - if I'm really dedicated - to get through the whole haul in two weeks' time.  Except I didn't.  I still have two zucchini, two acorn squash, and some lemons from the last order.  

Today, I decided to walk the two blocks or so to the Community Center.  I thought it silly to start and drive the vehicle two blocks to pick up a grocery order.  I took my dog (of course), my regular sized back-pack, and just in case, a trash bag (to carry the bread).  Unfortunately, I was the last one to arrive to pick up my order - although the prior person was just leaving, so I hope I didn't make anyone wait on me. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw an entire produce box waiting for me - in addition to the breads!  Nancy and the others who were there were pretty doubtful that I'd be able to carry everything in just my backpack and trash bag.  In the end, I was able to fit everything in the backpack and trashbag, but Nancy insisted on driving my "haul" back to the house, since she was also dropping off Jo Ann's order at the Cafe.  I gladly accepted the hauling help!  

At any rate, here is the unloaded haul on the dining room / work table.  Remember, the squash, zucchini, and lemons are from the prior order (two weeks ago), but everything else is fresh.  Could you buy this for $25 or less in a store?

This week's rundown:

5 artisan bread loaves

1 honeydew melon

1 pomelo

1 pineapple

1 bunch of Romaine lettuce

1 bunch Celery

3 bags of full sized carrots

4 Russet potatoes

12 navel oranges

9 green apples

3 vine tomatoes

6 bananas

This haul was deceptively heavy, and I consider myself challenged to consume all of it, but I'll give it my best.  At $25, if the worst case scenario happens and something goes bad before I can eat it, my losses are very minimal.  

One new tool I've discovered to help with ideas on what to do with the food is a website called AllRecipes - particularly their search panel.  In it, you can enter the ingredients that you have, and be provided with a list of recipe options for those items.  A thank-you shout out to Karen C for the tip on the website!