Bountiful Baskets v.3

Another exciting trip to pick up our goods from the co-op.  This has been such a great endeavor for us - not only because we get fresh veggies and fruit from local sources, but it really encourages us to eat better.  We love to try to come up with new ways to use our loot, especially the veggies.  The fruit is pretty basic but some of the vegetables we have rarely or never tried!

This week:

One bunch fresh spinach
one bunch of broccoli
head of green leaf lettuce (have you seen the price of lettuce at the store lately?!)
a carton of mushrooms
4 orange bell peppers
2 bags of carrots

2 lemons
7 minneolas
5 fugi apples
a container of strawberries
one cantelope
one bunch of bananas

I can tell you that as I write this, those strawberries have long been polished off!

All of this was $15 plus $1.50 handling fee = $16.50!  And it's unbelievably fresh.  Last time I used the broccoli I was a bit short for my recipe so I added some that I had bought at the grocery store.  The co-op broccoli, upon cutting the florets off was a nice dark green color.  However, the grocery store version was almost white inside.  Funny how I'd never noticed the inner light green color until there was something to compare to.  Not only is this a great deal, but the quality can't be matched!

If you want to see if Bountiful Baskets has a pick up site in your area, go HERE.

Foodgawker and corn salsa

Recently, my journey through blogland has led me to a new website - foodgawker!

The recipes are crazy awesome and the photography is even BETTER!  What I like most is that you scroll through these lovely photos with just titles or brief descriptions...no write ups.  It's total eye candy!  If you like it or want to get the recipe or read more about it, you simply clock the photo and - wa lah - it takes you to the original article!

Here's a screen shot to demonstrate:

Nice, huh?  A small warning:  if you add this to your Google Reader, it will give you LOTS of posts to read!  It updates VERY often.

After coming across this post for corn salsa...

I had to give it a try.   But, being the lazy improvisational type I had to alter the recipe to fit what was already in my fridge.  Here's what I came up with:

First I took the corn (frozen of course) and put it in a pan with some hot olive oil in it (maybe 1 -2 tbsp or a quick turn of the pan) and roasted it up, until it started to smell nutty and sweet.  Then I added in some diced onion for just another minute.  Then I put the mixture into a glass bowl to which I had added a couple of small Roma tomatoes, garbanzo beans and some finely diced and orange & yellow bell peppers.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The heat from the corn speeds up the coming together of all the flavors.

You know how regular tomato salsa taste even better when it sits for a while....same is true here.  In fact, the next day I had this as a dip with some tortilla chips for lunch and it was delish!

Simple, easy and tasty! The best part is that you can use any ingredients that you have and it will taste great.  Don't have garbanzo beans?  Use black, pinto or white beans.  It wold also be fab with some diced avocado added!  A simple "go to" salad, dip or condiment :)

February Menu Plan

Lucky for me I'm no longer dizzy & lightheaded but still have some time while sick in bed to organize my menu plan for next month! YAY!  {said with much sarcasm}

For the most part, I'm trying to keep the weeknights simple, so if I get delayed at work anyone can step in & get things rolling. {Insert best Wayne's World impression..."Shaa...right!} I'd like to incorporate more fish and you will notice I've started doing so on Fridays, especially with Lent approaching.

Some nights are themed (Sundays - Mexican, Mondays - Italian, Thursdays - Asian, Fridays - fish) and others are just things that everyone likes.

Doing this menu at the beginning of the month gives me a guideline for shopping and organizing.  Each week, on Sunday, I write the ACTUAL menu for that week on a weekly planner we have in the laundry room.  This planner also holds any appointments, play dates or special events for the week.

Even though I've already got the menu pre-planned, again it's just a guide line.  I revise & substitute according to what we get in our Bountiful Baskets or what sales may have influenced my Saturday shopping trip.

How do you organize your family meals?  Would love to hear your ideas!

Time Out

That's what I'm doing....taking a time out. Any guesses as to why?

Yup!  It got me.

Stuffy nose, dizzy, lightheaded, nausea, can't eat or sleep nasty cold.  A trip to the Dr. this morning revealed a sinus infection to boot.  Antibiotics and some rest are the only thing on the agenda for me.

Thus, no photos from the Bountiful Basket pick up today, or the grocery store, since I didn't go...but here's a run down:

One bunch of PENCIL THIN asparagus
Head of lettuce
3 cucumbers
8 roma tomatoes
2 bunches of broccoli
Head of cauliflower (looking for a good recipe, anyone?)

7 green apples
2 bananas
8 oranges
one container of strawberries
3 pummelos
one cantaloupe

Never heard of a pummelo?  My parents actually had a pummelo tree when we lived in California.

It's very similar to a grapefruit but sweeter.  Originally native to Asia, it's flower is also used in making perfumes.

That's one of the best things about the co-op...we look forward to the surprise of what we will get in our baskets :)  Plus the kids get to try new things which is ALWAYS a big plus in my book!

Black Heels & Tractor Wheels

Can I just say how much I LOVE the Pioneer Woman.  She's coming out with a new book titled "Black Heels & Tractor Wheels."  That's such a cute title and so is she!

Needless to say I SOOOOOO enjoy trying her recipes.  They're sophisticated and full of flavor, creative and delicious, but never so complex that I can't make them work.  Perfect for me!

This week in our Bountiful Baskets share we had Anaheim chiles and a pineapple.  I've only used these peppers a time or two.  And I've always avoided whole pineapples since it's so intimidating to attempt to cut it up.... but this recipe just screamed at me!

Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapple - absolutely di.vine!  Served over basmati rice.  My kids totally DEVOURED it and made me promise to make it again.

This recipe is simple and awesome!  I very much appreciate the Pioneer Woman's awesomeness and beautiful photography & tutorials on her site.   Check her out - you won't be disappointed.  Not just recipes...photography, family & life stories, farm life depiction, etc.  Plus, she's a total smarty pants and will make you laugh :)

Big Boy Status

It can't be put off any longer....my little guy isn't so little and BARELY fits in his crib any longer :( {sniff sniff}  After multiple attempts to order the side rails to convert his crib into a full size bed, along with many turn downs, I've resolved to the fact that I'm gonna have to wing it.

The crib manufacturer (of course) has since discontinued this particular model and it's accessories.  If I want to make the conversion I'd have to pay $175 for non-matching sides.  Not so much.  We'll just go without the footboard.  I've used this as my excuse for so long.  Now I just feel bad for making him sleep in his tiny crib.  The front has been off for the past year though, so at least it's like a daybed.  Still...so here's the before:

and the after:

Since all of his clothes are in his dresser or armoire, I also decided to take off the bi-fold closet doors and make it into a little reading nook.

 (Yes, that's a punching bag!  Gotta get the wiggles out somehow on snowy days! :)

 The bookshelf was actually in the basement and recently came out of his sister room.  It worked out nicely for holding stacks of wooden puzzles, dress up clothes (capes, fireman costume and Go Diego Do vest & backpack), Lincoln Logs and his lap desk, which also has a sports theme.

This little leather chair:

 has a matching love seat and comes from Pottery Barn.  The "hideout" needs some sprucing up yet, perhaps some curtains and maybe some hooks or another shelf along the wall??

All in all, I'm happy with how it turned out so far, and feel very relieved that he can finally feel like he's graduated to Big Boy status.  Love you, my big boy!

Bountiful Baskets

As another component to my New Years SIMPLIFY goal, I've decided to partake in the Bountiful Baskets food co-op.  Local, fresh and less expensive - doesn't get any better than that, right?

There are a few food co-ops that I checked out before deciding on one:

Bountiful Baskets
Community Food Co-op of Utah
Green Bee Produce

They each have different pick-up locations and different guidelines, but we ultimately chose Bountiful Baskets.  Our first pick up was this Saturday.

 With Bountiful Baskets you have two choices for your produce:  Regular for $16.50 or Organic for $25.       They try to get as local of products as possible and whatever is fresh and in season.  Not knowing exactly what you will get is part of the fun :)

With the pick up spot less than 5 minutes from our house, we were super excited to see what we would get.  Typically you will get 6 fruits and 6 vegetables.  This time we received:

2 bunches of fresh spinach
1 head of green leaf lettuce
7 anaheim chiles
1 basket of cherry tomatoes
3 small butternut squash
1 bunch of fresh asparagus

6 apples
9 tangelos
6 kiwi fruit
1 pineapple
3 asian pears
1 5# bag of Bosc pears

We also signed up for 5 loaves of 9 grain bread from a local bakery for an additional $10.  It's honestly THE best bread I've tasted in such a long time and the kids can't stop raving about it!

Everything so far has been delicious and wonderfully fresh.  This is definitely something we look forward to continuing.