Since my resolution to enter my 30s on a healthy note last year, I’ve been on a nice, consistent start and stop progression. By that I mean, I exercise consistently for a few weeks, then take a lazy week off. Or eat like a rabbit one week and then consume half a box of Girl Scout cookies after an otherwise healthy dinner. So, I’m happy to have started (again) participating in a food co-op that not only helps us integrate more healthy options into our diet but also saves us money on groceries.
I’m all about the fits and starts. Last summer, a friend mentioned Bountiful Baskets on her blog, describing it as a great way to get a lot of high-quality produce for not much money. Sign me up! So, I did that for a few months last fall. But then I got tired of not purchasing whatever I wanted (mostly Brussels sprouts and honeycrisp apples) and being stuck with whatever the co-op’s organizers decided we all needed to eat for the week. So, I quit and started traditional grocery shopping again. Well, our food bill went back up, and we ate the same food consistently, on sale or not. I just don’t have the discipline to purchase based on what’s on sale each week and plan our meals around that (yes, I plan and cook most of our meals, and I feel quite liberated doing so).
At Christmas, I was talking food and cooking with Brandon’s Aunt Pamela. Both of us LOVE to cook and enjoy trying and experimenting with different foods. She and Uncle Ken live in Lubbock and have struggled to find a decent selection of organic foods. Last summer, I told her about Bountiful Baskets because they offer an organic option for a little bit more of a contribution. By Christmas, though, I had quit participating. Pamela still really loved it, so I was inspired to get started again.
We’ve been participating again for a few weeks now, and we LOVE it once again. Now that we’ve done the co-op thing and then gone back to traditional grocery buying, Brandon and I agree that we eat better and cheaper by participating in the co-op. I can’t stand seeing produce go to waste, so we eat all we get in our baskets. It saves us from spending so much on eating out. We look forward to trying new things. And I am adding so many fun and interesting new recipes to my repertoire!
I generally order a basket every two weeks. Here’s what I got this week:
5 apples
8 small oranges (Cuties)
1 pineapple
8 bananas
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 leeks
1 5 lb sack of potatoes
1 bunch broccoli
1 head iceberg lettuce
3 green bell peppers
1 avocado
Last night, I made potato leek soup, salad and French bread. For the salad, I had greens and leftover blood oranges from a previous basket. I sliced up the oranges and threw them in with the baby greens and some herbed feta cheese. The potato leek soup was totally new to me, but because I know leeks have a gentle onion flavor, I figured we would enjoy it. It was easy to make and very forgiving. We agreed it was just as good as traditional baked potato soup (not to mention healthier since I put bacon grease in my baked potato soup). The bread, I am sorry to say, was an epic fail. I misread the instructions and added the flour too early. So, it ended up a little flat and dense. Better luck next time, I guess. At least Brandon said he enjoyed it!
Disclaimer: This is a totally random post. I’m trying to get back into the practice of writing and blogging. I’m a little rusty, so for the foreseeable future, I’m just going to blog about whatever strikes my fancy.
