Bountiful Baskets in the dawn morning

This week the Bountiful Baskets resumed after a long break for the holiday. The Baskets for our area had stopped even prior to the holiday because the numbers for the state of Georgia had been consistently low, and they stopped delivering so as to re-asses whether or not to drop the whole state. We were all holding our breath after the holiday to see of Georgia would be on the list again. I don't know how long it will stay, but I'm grateful that it came back, even for one time. Look at all that we got!

We received tomatoes, avocado, onions, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, grapefruit, apples, poblano chili peppers, navel oranges, mango, kiwi, and cucumbers.

The cost is $15 for the basket which is equally divided with fruit and vegetables, and there is a $6.50 handling and truck fuel fee, but if you go in on one order with someone you can split that fee up to three ways. All this produce cost me $17.50 all-in.

I also bought a flat of Kent mangoes and will cube half of them and freeze them. I am down to my last half-ziploc of frozen mangoes since I bought the mango add-on last year. I like putting frozen, cubed mango chunks in yogurt and blending it in the blender. It makes a sort of mango gelato, cold and refreshing.

The chilis will be roasted on Monday, the oranges will be made into sugared slices with the rind on. The bag of apples will be given away, and the grapefruits, kiwis, and the loose apples will be eaten regular, as snacks or desserts for my lunch at school. The onions and cauliflower will be both roasted and go into a veggie soup on Monday.

Our time to pick up the Baskets is 7:30am, which is tough on a Saturday (tougher is the volunteer time to show up- 6:30) but the up side to that it forces me to get out of bed and dressed early. Another bonus is that I get to see the town in the dawn. Where I pick it up there are cows and farms and pastures, and the sun coming up is very pretty. The day today is warm to start, predicted to get warmer (into the 60s) so the warm ground produced a lot of ground fog and mist, too. That is always pretty with the rising sun's rays coming through the wet air. It turns it pink, did you ever notice? A soft, flower dew laced pink. But don't take my word for it. Here are shots out the window as I was driving.

I'm grateful for every Bountiful Basket I receive, and for friends who order it and who go pick it up in Athens. It is a terrific way to obtain quality, fresh produce at an extremely affordable price. If you haven't looked into it, I encourage you. The website is here. You can click on "Locations" to see if there is a BB delivery site near you, and if there is not, it is easy to start one. Really. Read this.

It's a long weekend so I hope everyone has an opportunity to rest and relax. If not, then thank you for your labors and I hope you get to relax sometime soon. Don't put off relaxing and having fun with the family/dog/cat/spouse/friend. Enjoy the day, because as as Augustine of Hippo said,

Procrastination: God has promised forgiveness to your repentance; but he has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.

Bountiful Baskets (may) be back

The Danielsville chapter of Bountiful Baskets gone away due to a lack of volunteer help with administration. I was mightily saddened over that. I'd been picking up my basket (or my friends have for me) in the next closest Georgia site: Athens. However a while ago, all of Georgia was suspended for reasons they stated were truck routing issues.  But now we've received this message from Danielsville Food Co-op (our defunct D'ville chapter):

Great news everyone! It looks like Bountiful Baskets will run in Georgia next week! There is a small catch though! We need everyone's help to show that there is still a demand in Georgia. Our numbers have been low and some other sites have been low as well. We have to get numbers up and tell all of our friends about how awesome baskets are! I don't know about y'all but my food budget has taken a huge hit since baskets have been gone! Get the word out! Start telling friends now and preparing for Monday
And reminder that Athens is our local pickup now.

My grocery bill has taken a huge hit since the Athens site closed, too, and Bountiful Baskets has not been available at all in Georgia. I forget how long it's been but at least two, maybe three months. Food is just so expensive now, and quality fruits and vegetables in abundance is such a treasure, which is what you get with BB.  So I'm posting this in hopes that anyone in Georgia who sees it will order a basket on Monday!!

Bountiful Baskets this week

Today is Bountiful Basket Saturday. Every other week, we receive from the produce co-op a basket of fruits and vegetables that can't be beat. Fresh, pretty, nutritious, and inexpensive. For $15.00 plus an administrative fee (total $21.50) we receive a delicious pot of produce gold at the end of the rainbow. Our local chapter's pick up is in a town just 6 miles away. I am loving this accessibility to quality fruit and vegetables, the variety, and the location.

However, the co-op won't continue in our town if there are consistently low numbers. It isn't cost effective to ship via 18 wheeler to a location with only a few contributors. The 18-wheeler makes many stops in a logical path, and soon, a stop with low numbers is dropped off the list in order to keep it cost-effective for everyone.

Two weeks ago we only had about 20 out of a quota limit of 95. This week we only had ten. Oh my. People, get on board with this, it is a ministry also. Good food that's accessible to families is a God-send to many. If these low numbers keep up, they'll cut us. They already cut one co-op in Georgia for that reason.

That's my plug.

This week we received red grapes, bananas, oranges, limes, figs, lychee nuts, avocados, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, and radishes. I think that's everything. Here are the lychee nuts. They are actually not a nut but are a soft fruit. You sit it on its stem and look for the little seam at the point, and slice it gently along the seam. You can also use a long fingernail. Gently squeeze from the stem and the alligator skin's exterior peels back. What is exposed is the fruit. Unfortunately it looks like a jellyfish or an eyeball. But the fruit's good. There is one large inedible seed inside the fruit.

Often called alligator strawberries due to their size, color and shape, except the skin is tough like an alligator

See what I mean about the eyeball situation?

The skin peels away easily to reveal the grape-like fruit inside

The fruit comes out easily

You can pop the whole thing in your mouth and chew around the seed
or you can nibble around it.

The seed

The lychee seed can be planted. It is planted in a starter germinator container or a pot by placing the seed sideways as above, an inch or so beneath the soil. Keep moist, not wet. YouTube abounds with lessons on planting lychee seeds.

I like the fruit but I would not buy it or be especially excited if we got it in the Bountiful Basket again. It's not that it's hard to deal with, I find oranges more of a struggle. It's not that it's tasteless, they actually have juice and flavor. But I'm not a huge fan.

The radishes we got have that tart pepper afterbite that I love. And the avocados are plump and large. The figs are large and as a happy surprise, organic. And the Basket beat goes on.

Cooking frenzy

This morning has been cool. Overnight the low was in the upper 50s and at 10:30 temps are still only in the low 70s. I'm taking advantage of the weather to get some cooking and baking done.

That's part of adopting a frugal mindset. In trying to keep my AC off for as long as possible, I take advantage of the weather for various things. Wash the heavy blankets on a hot day and hang them outside to dry. When it's cool, cook and bake.

Being the first weekday of my summer break, I'd much prefer to stay in bed, read, and generally do nothing. But the cool temperatures call.

Part of budgeting also means that I look ahead to the month and see that as the monthly paycheck gets thin, to take advantage of the food I have now; cook it, freeze it, have it later. That way, no food is wasted and I have prepared ahead like the ants do for the financial winter that is the last 10 days of my monthly paycheck.

Here is what I made:

Spaghetti squash soup. I've never made this before. The Bountiful Basket Co-Op basket had the largest spaghetti squash I'd ever seen. I cooked it a day or so ago and the amount of squash that came out of the thing filled four Corning ware dishes. I'd never eat it all before it went bad. So I kept one Corning dish of squash so I could eat the squash like I like it: topped with butter, Parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. As for the rest, what else are you going to do when you have a truckload of something, but either make a casserole or a soup? In this case I preferred soup.

The recipe I found called for celery and carrots, both of which I had on hand, and away I went. I used one Corning ware dish of roasted squash as-is, for texture and bulk. I sauteed the celery and carrots, and mixed that with the squash. I boiled some bouillon cubes for the broth. I put the main part of the squash into the blender with some broth to make a thick stock and added that back into the soup. Let simmer for half an hour and you're good to go!

It's hard to tell here, but the soup has a
golden yellowy butter color to it

Roasted red pepper quiche. At the last BB we received a huge amount of red peppers and green chile peppers. I roasted them right away (lol). I've used some in scrambled eggs, or sandwiches, but I still had a lot left. What to do? Make quiche. Why? Because on the last day of school a friend who keeps chickens gave me 2 dozen eggs, and I had eggs to spare. I found a recipe that didn't use flour and away I went.

Roasted red & green peppers, and mushroom & onion quiches.
Just need to top with the whisked eggs and some cheese, then bake.

Mushroom-Onion quiche. The local grocery store often has mushrooms for $.99 on sale. But they are either a little brown or about to go brown. That's why they're on sale. When they're on sale it means they need to be used right away. Hence the quiche, with the same reasoning as above RE the eggs. Another reason for making two quiches besides having lots of eggs to use, is that we should never turn on the oven for only one item. The most expensive things in the house to run (after the AC) are the dryer and the oven. I also planned to make an apple crisp. I planned to put the oven to good use on a cool day.

Done! That was easy!

Apple crisp: Once again BB came through and I had a bag of green apples. I used some in chicken salad sandwiches, or just to eat, but a bag (plus the extras on the side that also came in the BB) made for a lot of apples for one gal to eat. But I like having a lot of fruit and vegetables around. This is because I like to make recipes that use a lot of the item yet don't exhaust my larder. I can make 2 quiches and still have eggs left over. BB makes me feel like I don't have to "ration out" my items. I can use them mindfully but not impecuniously. So I had apples several different ways this week. I like to make crisp because I don't have to peel or core the apples. I am not a fan of labor-intensive cooking or baking.

Nom nom nom...I'll heat and top with cold vanilla yogurt when the time comes

On the last day of school another friend at work was cleaning out her shelves and found a box of raisins. She asked me if I wanted them. (The frugal woman always answers "yes", unless she knows she truly can't use something. In that case, it would be wasteful to accept something.). I added the raisins to the apple crisp to make up for the little amount of oatmeal I had. I know it's not a taste substitution. It was a bulk substitution. And also raisins and apple crisp are a good combo, even though the particular recipe I was following didn't call for raisins.

Never be afraid to monkey around with a recipe (unless it's a chemically delicate dish like souffle or fragile macaroons or something). Never discount an entire recipe just because you don't have one ingredient on hand. Say 'Yes, thank you' when offered something and figure out how to use it later, (like the raisins, a food I use frequently) and next, use what you have (as in, never run to the store for one item).

Green bean pate. This is also called mock chopped liver. I don't know why because it is nothing like chopped liver. Anyway, a while ago, another friend gave me green beans from her garden that she had blanched and frozen. A lot of green beans. So what to do with a bulk amount of an item? If you're not going to make a casserole or a soup, then grind it up, lol.

It's greener in real life. This actually looks like Baba Ganouj...

This is a recipe I'd had several times before. Always in my quest to make sure I eat enough vegetables, I look for unique ways to serve them. This is essentially a green bean dip held together by hard boiled eggs. I mentioned above that my friend gave me a lot of eggs, and I immediately thought of the green beans I had in the freezer. I knew right away that I had a large amount of both of the main ingredients to make this dip. The only other main item in it is walnuts. They are too expensive for me so I got almonds at the Dollar Store when I was there for my regular shopping. Green Beans Almondine was a favorite dish of my mother's and I knew that green beans and almonds were OK together.

I say often "Use what you have" but also it's important to "Know what you have." Go through your cupboards and freezer often and eyeball what you've got in there. I know at the back of the bottom shelf on the left cupboard I have dried apricots, raisins, and cranberries. I know I've got canned carrots but not peas. I know I've got a can of black beans in the cupboard and quinoa in the freezer so if I wanted to make black bean patties at some point, I can. Like that. I hate it when I buy something at the store and I get home and realize I had it all along.

Keep track of your groceries in your mind. Doing this also helps when you get home and you're tired and if you know what you have you don't have to spend time mulling over, searching, or scrounging to put a dinner together. You can just grab the can of peas you know you have, and boil some eggs for an Egg N Pea salad and make a burger with the little bit of hamburger meat you have in the bottom drawer. Voila, dinner.

Hard boiled eggs. When I boiled the eggs for the green bean pate, in keeping with the motto 'never turn on an oven or a burner without doing more than one thing', I boiled four extra eggs to have on hand for snacks.

Water. I made lime-infused water and chamomile sun tea, also. Choosing not to buy soda, juices or other beverages means I have to plan ahead for when I want to get a chilled drink.

I used fewer lime slices this time. Last time it was pretty sour

Sun tea brewing

So that was my morning. I listened to a couple of sermons while I was making all my wonderful dishes, and listened to a movie while I cleaned up. Now I think I'll buy the next round of Bountiful Baskets, and then take a nap. It IS summer, after all.

Bountiful Basket Day: ideas and recipes

OK, this is an incredible Bountiful Basket this week. For Veggies we got:

2 bags carrots
13 large red potatoes
2 huge bunches asparagus
7 large tomatoes (not Roma)
2 med bunches fresh spinach
2 leeks

For fruits:

a pineapple
5 bananas
9 golf ball sized tangerines (Murcotte)
7 small-med. green apples
3 avocados

I also purchased the blackberry add-on. The flat turned out to cost $1.18 each, and seeing that they usually cost $3.00 each I could not resist. I already ate 2 of the packs.

I plan to make:

Blackberry cobbler
Leek and potato soup
Spinach salad
Roasted asparagus, roasted carrots (also will roast the other half cabbage I got in the last basket 2 weeks ago and 4 green peppers from same)

I might try grilling the pineapple on the George Foreman...we'll see.

Here are some frugal tips

1. Turn oven or stove off before food is finished cooking. Not long, but a minute or two. Saving 2 min of electricity 3X a day is 6 minutes, 300 days a year saves 1800 minutes per year. You do the math. No really, you do the math. I can't figure out the kilowatt hours. Anyway, as Depression Cooking Clara Cannucciari said, "Anything to save anything."

2. Use what you have. In the BB today we received potatoes and leeks so I'll make potato leek soup. We received avocados and tangerines, so I'll make avocado tangerine salad. Driving to the store to buy one or two special ingredients to make one certain dish is expensive in terms of money, time, and gas.

3. Save twist ties. Don't throw them out after once.

4. Save the elastic bands wrapped around bunches of scallions, leeks, asparagus.

5. Save (and wash out) plastic bags that produce comes in. I bought shredded carrots in a packaged ziploc bag. Now the spinach is inside it.

6. Cook ahead. If quality food is already cooked it is available when you get peckish and want a snack. This saves on buying junk food. It also saves on buying lunches out. Bring your lunch from home. Invest in good plastic containers and bring your soups and salads to work. I also bring a lot of fruit and have several pieces throughout the day. Thanks to Bountiful Baskets, I have plenty to spare.

Here are the results of my labors. The green peppers were from the last basket. The mushrooms were $1 from the grocery store because they were brown.

Just a very few of the fresh goodies we received today in the basket

Clockwise, potato leek soup, roasted peppers,
sauteed mushrooms, roasted carrots, blackberry cobbler

Anyway, I hope you can find a Bountiful Baskets co-op near you. Or start one! It is not hard.

Small spaces and kitties with large personalities

It seems strange to still see salt on the roads and the temperatures are now in the 50s and climbing. I'm glad the storm is gone and so are any remnants, at least around here. I hate snow.

I went to pick up my Bountiful Basket this morning. This week we got:

blackberries
LOTS of pears
Asian apples
bananas

beautiful broccoli
cabbage
romaine
lots of tomatoes
a zucchini
lot of green peppers
artichokes

I don't know what I'll make from all that, except maybe pear compote or pear cobbler because we got a LOT of pears, but other than that... I'll probably roast the broccoli since that is just so luscious. The rest...we'll see.

After I got the fruits and veggies washed and sorted, I sat down to eat a wonderful lunch. I had bought some non-preservative bread from BB and I sliced a tomato-dill piece from the baguette, and toasted it. I topped it with hummus and ate a quinoa-orange-feta salad on the side. Chai black tea finished the meal.

I live in a small space. It is two real rooms with a small ell for the tiny kitchen. So...two and a half rooms? The rooms themselves are rather large. The high ceilings help. I calculated the square footage. It's 340 sf. I excluded the bathroom. When I read in design magazines of studio apartments and small living spaces and I read 340 sf it sounds small. But my apartment feels incredibly spacious.

Here is a closeup of a detail on a handmade textile I have hanging on my wall,

Ans here is my curious kitty ready to attack my dangling lens cap

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Bountiful Baskets: love at first sight

My friend brought me a Bountiful Basket two weeks ago. In our town a local co-op opened up that is a site for the nationwide co-op known as Bountiful Baskets. The baskets are loaded with fruit and vegetables, and they are overflowing with bounty indeed. The produce is spectacular also, very fresh and tasty. The fruit TASTES like something. Here is what I got this week.

Great basket today. Cantaloupe, 2 heads Kale, large and fresh head Romaine lettuce, blueberries, 6 bananas, 2 lb grapes, huge head cauliflower, head of cabbage, 6 kiwis, 8 plums 3 mangoes. Wow. Just wow. The head of cauliflower is very large, so is the head of romaine.

I plan to grill the cabbage, bake the kale into chips, and roast the cauliflower. Mango smoothie, cantaloupe smoothie, blueberry muffins, and corn flakes with bananas (and banana pancakes). Romaine salads with seasonally ripe garden tomatoes. Yum.

How much did it all cost? $15 and ten minutes of time. WOOT!

Bountiful Baskets and Danielsville Co-op

I joined Danielsville Co-Op this week. It is affiliated with Bountiful Baskets. For $15 you receive a basket of fruit and veggies. You never know what you are going to get. In this week's basket I got the following- 7 peaches, 5 plums, a pineapple, 2lb grapes, 2 mangoes, 4 bananas, huge head lettuce, great looking broccoli, 6 very large carrots, 6 red onions. There was a baby watermelon too but I gave that to a friend.

Huge carrots!

Gorgeous peaches!

The carrots were so large my friend only needed one to make a three-layer carrot cake. I made roasted veggies, peach cobbler and broccoli quiche. Tomorrow I’ll grill the remaining peaches and the plums.

It is a huge amount of food, and very cost effective. And the food is GOOD. $30 is my weekly budget and so the $15 is half which is consistent with the food I get at the store, half of my budget going to fruits and veggies, but I got so much more with this $15 than I do at the store. The grapes alone would have been $5. You don’t have to buy every week and they ask you to work at the co-op only once every 6-8 weeks.

It is a good deal. Check out the Danielsville Co-op on Facebook or Bountiful Baskets to see where a co-op near you is. They have them in many states.