As I mentioned earlier in the week, we began participating in the Bountiful Baskets program here in Phoenix. We picked up our first order this weekend and I am SO excited to tell you about this wonderful program!
Let me start by explaining what this program is and how you can get involved in your area.
Bountiful Baskets is a co-op of purchasing power. The group as a whole is able to buy produce (both organic and traditionally farmed) in large quantities at lower costs. As a customer I am able to order a basket of produce once every two weeks (prepaid) at prices much less than I would pay at the local grocery store.
Often Co-ops will ask you to join and pay up front for several months or a year. There are programs like Bountiful Baskets, that allow you to order when you want to with no commitment to continue.
You can find a local co-op by visiting the Local Harvest website,
OR simply type “food co-op in ____(your city, state)” in your search bar.
We participated in the Organic produce offering this time around. I ordered online last week and picked up the basket of produce early Saturday morning.
Here is a photo of the order we received.
I was very surprised by the quantity of produce and the variety!
I’ve done a price comparison to see how much this saved me…
Contents of the Basket (ALL ORGANIC):
2 bunches of green leaf lettuce
2 lbs grapes (estimate)
6 peaches (I’ll say about 6 pounds – these were MASSIVE peaches)
2 bunches green chard
6 Roma tomatoes (3lbs)
1 cantaloupe
10 plums
6 zucchini
My best calculation of local grocery store prices for the same: $40.80 Actual price through Bountiful Baskets: $25.96 (incl. a $1.50 handling fee)
I’ll admit it’s a rough estimate as there is no way to know the individual weight. The total is said to be 25 lbs minimum but I know we received extra plums and peaches this time around.
Now, I had to quickly find out about storing the chard…and what to make out of it!
Here is our menu for the next THREE WEEKS! This will be the longest menu I have planned in advance so we’ll see how it goes.
Dinners:
- 1 dinner out (we went to Rainforest cafe Saturday with the kids)
- hamburgers with sweet potato french fries and salad
- baby back ribs with pasta salad, chard and green beans
- sweet & sour meatballs with rice
- cheese quesadillas, refried beans and Spanish rice
- homemade pizzas with hamburger & onions
- zucchini and cheese frittata with (homemade english muffins)
- spaghetti
- veggie night and pasta w/marinara sauce
- breakfast (pancakes and eggs) (twice)
- grilled chicken salads with fruit
- my healthy version of nachos (with turkey and vegetables)
- birthday dinner for my son (grilled hotdogs, chips, birthday cake and ice cream)
- bbq chicken, baked potatoes
- tilapia with vegetables, rice
- turkey tacos
- OYO (or leftovers – 3 times)
That’s 19 meals – I have one open night I can play with down the road!
