Many of you have told me about Bountiful Baskets through the years, but it wasn’t an option for me until now. Early Saturday morning, this is what I picked up:
It was so fun to get such a huge amount of good produce for such great savings. The best deal I got was 20 pounds of broccoli for just $12.50. It ended up being 36 broccoli crowns. That, my friends, is a lot of broccoli. I’ll share more about my broccoli adventures later this week. Be on the edge of your seat for this.
My actual basket order included everything from purple potatoes to asparagus to jicama to an English cucumber. Wow are we set for this week! Plus I had already purchased $80 worth of produce at the store like mixed greens, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, mushrooms, carrots, cantaloupe, apples, and pears. (Remember, we are a family of 6 and three of our boys are teenagers, so we tear through the groceries!)
I decided to share my weekly menu just a little bit differently today to give you a better idea of how I am now (easily!) adding many more fruits and veggies to our days. Ever since I began including 1-4 fruit and veggies sides with our meals, my menu planning has become so much easier. This seems opposite to people who feel that healthy eating is time consuming. Not the way I do it – I promise! Take note that all I have to do for most of the side dishes is pull them out of the fridge and give them a wash. I also try to keep raw veggies sliced ahead of time to make them easy to throw on the table with our meals. Cooked veggies only require a quick steam before serving. Easy, easy!!
Here’s an idea of what a week’s worth of meals looks like for us:
Breakfast
1. Peanut Butter Honey Toast, Applesauce, Blueberries
2. Pumpkin Donuts (pumpkin is a bonus veggie!), Sliced Apples
3. Quick Mix Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, Pears (Justus’ bday choice)
4. Scrambled Cheesy Eggs with Spinach, Strawberries
5. Zucchini Carrot Bread, Applesauce
6. Green Machine Milkshakes (yay, avocado!), Apple Slices, Toast
7. Instant Oatmeal Packets, Blueberries, Clementines
Lunch
1. Taco Salad (mixed greens, tomatoes), Pineapple
2. Tuna Casserole, Mixed Greens or Spinach Salad, Peas, Cantaloupe
3. Pizza Soup (includes carrots and tomato sauce), Clementines, Raw Carrots, Cucumbers, and Sweet Peppers
4. Easy Cheesy Bean Dip with Chips, Avocado, Salsa, Pineapple, Raw Carrots, Cucumbers, and Sweet Peppers
5. Lamb-burger patties, Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes (with spinach added), Sweet Peppers, Homemade Dill Pickles, Green Beans
6. Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot with Broccoli and Cheese, Peas, Kiwi
7. Pizza Boats, Mixed Greens, Olives, Sweet Peppers, Raw Carrots and Cucumbers, Apples
Dinner
1. Lasagna (recipe in What to Do With the Cow in Your Kitchen eBook), Mixed Greens, Green Beans, Strawberries (Justus’ bday choice)
2. Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls (with spinach), Fruit Salad (apples, strawberries, pineapple)
3. Calico Beans, Mixed Greens, Raw Carrots, Cucumbers, and Sweet Peppers, Pineapple
4. Easy Noodle Stir Fry with Asparagus, Broccoli, Carrots, Spinach, and Yellow Squash; Cantaloupe
5. Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken Breasts, Mixed Greens, Green Beans, Honey Glazed Carrots
6. Popcorn Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries, Raw Carrots, Cucumbers, and Sweet Peppers
7. Potato Soup (carrots and onions cooked into the broth), Homemade Pickles, Olives, Mixed Greens or Spinach
Now that doesn’t seem so hard, does it? Really, the trickiest part is finding room to fit all the food into the fridge (I have two, thankfully) when I get home from the store – or in the case of this week – when I get home from picking up my co-op order. Preparing and serving it though? That’s a piece of cake cucumber.
Tell me about some of the fruits and veggies you’re serving and eating this week!
I’ve just started participating in Bountiful baskets too for a couple months. SO amazing what we’ve been able to receive for the price! Such great variety and quality too!!! Very happy for you getting it. It’s tremendously a blessing!
Are there any fruits or veggies that you will ONLY buy organic. For example, the “dirty dozen?” I know this is up to individuals, but I’d love to know what you and others do. I am trying to decide between fewer veggies at greater expense (organic) or more veggies (non-organic) or a mix. Are there any that really should be avoided unless they are organic? Thanks in advance for the advice.
You can get all organic for $10 more.
I am ordering for the first time tomorrow. A friend of mine told me about it. Looks yummy.
Penny, I am usually underwhelmed with their organic baskets but have had some true winners, too. I hope you aren’t disappointed!
Jane, I will often give my BB lettuce and celery to the compost but not always. I am so rural, organic anything is very limited so I just have to accept what comes and pray for grace :-)
I used to be much more selective in purchasing only organic everything, especially the dirty dozen list. Then I realized that we were barely eating any fruits and vegetables – mostly because not many fresh organic items are available to me, but also because of the cost. I’ve prayed a lot about this and believe that for my family, eating fruits and vegetables in abundance is what I need to focus on, whether or not they are organic. I’m always so grateful when an organic variety of produce is available, but I no longer sweat over buying “regular” produce if that is my only option. We need nutrients and variety, so I’m thankful for all the goodness we’re now eating, even if it isn’t always organic. :)
I’m really working on getting more fruits and veggies into us. I cut up fruit at breakfast to add it to porridge, cereal or Bircher Müsli. I have an almost-3-yr-old son who is extremely texture sensitive and often just cannot get things down, even though he’ll sometimes try when he sees his sisters downing it. Enter smoothies, my new lifesaver! Everyone loves them, even with spinach (easy to buy in frozen cubes here in Germany). My son is now getting fruit and a few veggies he would never otherwise touch! I make them several times a week now, and often with the use of half a persimmon, it’s naturally sweet enough that I don’t even need to add any maple syrup.
So happy you have BB available now! Your basket looks very much like mine did this week. I see you took advantage of some the the great “extras” they offer. We love the bread! :-)
Jicama is so good on a veggie tray with dip:-)
Oh, my, thank you for this reminder about Bountiful Baskets. There is a pick up site literally 3 minutes from my house…I really need to try it out!!!
What do you do with the broccoli stems?