Bountiful Basket Loot

If you've been following me over at Where in the World is Kacey?!? you'll know that we have moved to a crappy quaint itsy-bitsy town in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma.  We've been here for a month.  We've asked nearly EVERYONE we have encountered, "What do you do in this town?".  Do you want to know what their response is?

This isn't a joke.  At all.  This is EVERYONE'S response.  Ready for it?

"Leave."

I'm not kidding.  When people get time on their hands, they leave town.  They leave town to eat.  They leave town to drink.  They leave town to do nothing, in another town.  They just, get outta town.  People hate it here.  A lot of people hate it here.  Most people hate it here.  But while we, and the rest of the population (ha! population! What a joke!) hate it here, we do our damnedest to make the best of it.

That being said, it's not that bad here.  Lots of people are in the same situation as us, and that helps a lot.  We know we are moving, and we know we are moving to a fucking kick ass location.  That helps even more.  We might be living in a furnished 1 bedroom apartment without much of our own belongings, but it's okay.  It does the job, and is fine, especially for only 4 more months.

Oh shit, only 4 more months? I gotta get cracking on the Rosetta Stone...yikes!

Anyway, the point of this post was to show you something really cool we found while we were here.  One of the best things about this town.  I'm not even kidding.  I'm really excited about this, and I look forward to it every week!  Another military spouse pointed me to Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op.  I had never heard of it before, and I'm a little bummed I didn't hear about it in the last town we were in, because I would have totally taken advantage of it.  If you haven't heard of it either I'll quote their site to describe them:

"BBFC is a group of people who work together for mutual benefit. This is a grassroots, all volunteer, no contracts, no catch co-operative. Since there are no employees at Bountiful Baskets, we as a group pay rock bottom prices on your food."

 Each week you place your order online for as many baskets as you want.  These are 50% fruit and 50% veggies.  You never know what you are going to get, so it's a surprise every week!  The reason being is the folks in charge of getting the produce will only pick the best quality supplies they can find.  It's totally worth it, and every week it's really exciting to claim your basket.

A standard box costs $15 and if you want a 100% organic basket, it costs $25.  According to Bountiful Baskets, you are saving approximately $35 by ordering a box rather then at your grocery store.  They also have special offerings which also vary from week to week but include things like: Cases of Peaches, Citrus, Tomatoes, Apples, Chilies, a large variety of breads, specialty produce packs (Italian, Asian, Guacamole, Lunch, Party), Pantry Items (Rice, Beans, Oils, Nut Butters, Granola), and desserts.  Each specialty item varies in price and not many quantities are available, so it's best to place your order as soon as possible.

Right now they offer baskets in the following states: AZ, CO, GA, IA, ID, KS, KY, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, and WY.  So if you're located in any of those states, I recommend you check them out.

I'm totally self promoting them here by the way, Bountiful Baskets only knows of me because they have my credit card number and I've ordered all of 2 baskets from them.  I just think it's a great program and would love my friends and family to experience it too!  You know, if you're into the whole great food great produce sort of thing.

Okay, so now that you've read all that crap up there, do you want to see all the goodies I've received?  Of course you do!

The first week I participated I ordered 1 regular basket, a specialty pack of tortillas, and a specialty pack of bread.  Including the 1st time basket fee of $3, and a $1.50 handling fee, my total was $40 for everything you see below.  I'll break it down for you in a minute.

 Everything I received the first week I participated.

 My bread and tortilla packs.

Week 1 Breakdown:

$15 for:

• 4 corn
• 8 pears
• 2 grapefruit
• 1 huge head of lettuce
• 1 huge bag of purple grapes
• 3 avocados
• 5 limes
• 1 5lb bag of red potatoes
• 3 loose red potatoes
• 8 plums
• 4 tomatoes
• 10 hatch chilies

$10.50 for:

• 3dz 12" flour tortillas
• 2dz 6" flour tortillas
• 2dz 6" corn tortillas

$10 for:

• 3 loaves savory 9 grain bread
• 1 loaf dill & herb bread
• 1 baguette

And a view of the pickup!

My first basket lasted more than 2 weeks.  I even shared some with friends.  And let me tell you, everything was soooo delicious.  Much better than any produce I've found locally.

Two weeks later I ordered another basket, and picked it up Saturday.  Here's what we got.

 Above is everything that came in the standard 50/50 pack for $15 (crazy, right?!)

 Here is everything PLUS the Veggie Lovers Pack (Italian Theme, $8.50).  Including a handling fee of $1.50, I got everything above for $25.00.

Breakdown (Everything, $25):

• 8 bananas
• 2 english cucumbers
• 5 nectarines
• 15 mirabelle plums
• 7 apples
• 2 organic green peppers
• 3 large heads broccoli
• 7 sweet potatoes
• 1 large head of lettuce
• 1 small watermellon
• 1 brown lunch bag filled with raddishes
• 2 zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 2 yellow onions
• 1 red onion
• 1 head garlic
• 1lb white mushrooms
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch rosemary
• 1 bunch sage

So, what do you think?  Do you participate in anything like this?  If you do, please let me know and I'll post it with the location, so more people can get wonderful foods like this!!!

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