Bountiful Basket

 I am loving this weeks basket!!! The bananas actually look good for once! Here is the haul:
1 bunch of Bananas
1 Cantaloupe that smells amazing
1 Buttercup Squash (Never used one of these before. Ideas anyone?)
5 Roma Tomatoes, but one was moldy. Yuck! So technically, 4 tomatoes
5 Red Plums that feel super juicy
4 ears of Corn
I head of Romaine Lettuce
2 Mangoes
2 Red Bell Peppers
1 box of Strawberries
and 1 bag of seedless Black Grapes

 I may just pick up a red onion and some cilantro at the store to make some mango salsa with those mangoes and the tomatoes. Excited to have banana slices in my cereal, grapes to snack on, and corn for a side dish, maybe with some kind of herb butter. Little bags of fruit pectin are free at Walmart, so I might stop by there to get some and then make some more strawberry freezer jam. I also smell plum cobbler i the near future. Mmm! The squash may just turn into baby food. Cantaloupe for a side dish, lettuce for side salads. . . the only thing I'm not sure about are the bell peppers. I love them, but Brad doesn't. I may just end up slicing them up to add to my salads or something. We'll see.

I also bought 5 loaves of the yummiest bread ever from Bountiful Baskets for $10. That's $2/loaf and it's SO GOOD! Brad and I can eat an entire loaf in one day, just eating it plain. I already busted into one, having toast and jam for breakfast, but the other 4 are safely tucked away in the freezer for later consumption. :D

I always highly recommend Bountiful Baskets. It was $15 for all that produce I just posted about, and $10 for all that bread! (The bread is optional with the basket)
It's such a good deal and because you don't know what will be in the basket each week, it forces you to try new fruits and vegetables that you might have never picked up at the store on your own.
Here is their website to find a site near you.
http://bountifulbaskets.org/
I will briefly explain how it works, since a lot of people get confused:
BB (Bountiful baskets) is volunteer-run. You, as the consumer, place and order for a basket between the hours of Noon on Monday (10 a.m. for Utah) and 10 pm on Tuesday. Try to get on as early as you possibly can because when you order a basket, you choose a pick-up location and time, always on the coming Saturday. Locations only get a limited amount of baskets and in some areas, the locations fill up FAST! Like for mine here in Riverton, UT, the spots fill up in a matter of minutes after the site opens up at 10 on Monday.
After you order your basket, and any extras you might want like the 9-grain bread I usually get, you will get an email with your confirmation number. On Saturday, print out the email with your confirmation number (or pull up the email on your smartphone of iPod touch like I do) and take it with you to the pick-up location at the correct time. You can arrive no more than 20 minutes late. If you show up later than 20 minutes, your basket gets donated. Sorry. This is because the people there are only volunteers and to be fair, they can't wait around forever. You CAN ask someone else to pick up your BB for you if you can't make it. They just need your confirmation number. Take either reusable bags or a laundry basket with you to put all your produce in. They will have 2 little baskets for you, one with fruit and one with veggies. Transfer them from the little baskets into your own. You sign in when you get there, and sign out after you get your stuff. And voila! You're done! You can choose to do BB whenever you want, it is NOT a weekly commitment. You can do it every 2 weeks, every month, every 2 months, whenever you want, or never again if you weren't satisfied.
They currently have locations in:
Arizona
Colorado
Georgia
Idaho
Kansas
Montana
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Nevada
Oregon
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Wyoming
and of course Utah

If your state is not offered, you can find info on the website and on their facebook page for starting up your own location! Also, you should try to volunteer at your local site every once in a while. To volunteer, you simply show up one hour earlier than the pick-up time and sometimes, you get any produce that is left over! Woo!