Fresh Vegetables and Good Eats!

This is a peek into my fridge after one of my Bountiful Baskets pick up Saturdays!

I just love BB.  I actually get two beautiful baskets full of fresh fruits and vegetables for the price of $17.50!  No matter how many times I add it up, I never get less than $35 worth of produce, and sometimes it is much more.

This is good not only because I love to save money on my produce, but because of their choice of items I may not have tried in the past, I find myself with such lovely choices as Tamarind pods, White yams, Cactus leaves and various other kinds of wonderful surprises.

I am a fairly adventurous cook and person, so many times I HAVE tried some of the more exotic selections.  It is therefore fun for me to share my recipe ideas with those who may not have tried a daikon radish or a white yam or many of the other choices.  Oh we usually get things like carrots, rainbow carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce and tomatoes, but I just love those surprise things.  I also love volunteering at my site.

My site has a pick up time of 7 AM...yep, pretty early.  Volunteer time is at 6 AM...even earlier, but I don't mind.  It gets me up early and moving on every other Saturday when I volunteer at the Layton "B" site.  The other volunteers are a fun group and we all meet, unload the truck, count out and distribute the vegetables and fruits.  I also love the frequent "add on" items such as cases of tomatoes, peaches and cucumbers.  I love to can, so this works well for me.  I also freeze a lot of fresh fruits in the Summer for use in the colder months.

After our trip to Italy last Spring, I decided to use my lemons for Limoncello!  It was a fun experience, and when I compared it to the bottled version I bought here, it was absolutely amazing!

Home made jams, jellies, canned tomatoes and even limoncello are ALWAYS better than store bought.

Sometimes I "over order," and then I share my bounty with my daughter.

The boxes below are just examples of some of the lovely fruits and veggies that come into my house because of Bountiful Baskets.

This weeks basket included some gorgeous Poblano Peppers. I decided to make Stuffed Peppers using these lovely dark green jewels.  I want to share this recipe with you - my hubby says it was the "BEST EVER!"

Trust me, they were delicious!

So look for the recipe at the end of this post and by all means, ENJOY!
Ingredients:

4-5 large poblanos, roasted, seeded and skins removed
2    tablespoons butter
1 small diced onion
2 cups of cooked yellow or white rice
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 pound of mild Italian Sausage (or hot if you like!), casings removed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped Cilantro leaves (optional)

On a preheated grill or in the broiler roast your poblanos until the skins begin to blister and char.  Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 5-8 minutes. Then they are easily peeled, gently split them and remove seeds and membranes.
Saute your sausage in a small frying pan, and when browned add onions and sauté til transparent.
Mix cooked rice, sausage, onions and shredded cheese with one package of Old El Paso Roasted Tomato (or other delicious ones like Chipotle) Mexican Cooking Sauce together and carefully stuff the peppers.

Place slices of Monterey Jack Cheese atop the stuffing, and sprinkle with Chipotle Panko or other Panko bread crumbs.

Place in a pre-heated 350F oven for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and heated through!

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

You won't be disappointed!

It's A Bountiful World!

I just love fresh fruits and vegetables!  Raw or cooked I prefer having lots of veggies and not so much meat.

I have found that eating lots of vegetables and fruits and eliminating or greatly reducing heavy carbs has really made keeping my weight under control much easier.

I recently joined a Food Co-op out here in Utah called Bountiful Baskets!  I love it!  By "contributing" weekly in an amount of about $22 I get two laundry baskets full of lovely fresh vegetables. 

I am just discovering what a wonderful idea this food co-op really is.  Volunteers appear at the distribution sites each week at about 5:30 am to unload the truck, separate the vegetables into baskets (dividing them evenly) and then distribute them to people who have contributed for the week. 

I have found it amusing on the blog for Bountiful Baskets that many times people have no idea what precious jewels they have in their baskets.  Last week, for instance I saw a lady ask what something was - sent a picture - it was a Persimmon.  Then another picture appeared and the individual wanted to know what it was - hmmm, it was a yam!  Wow, what a great way to introduce people to new fruits and veggies that they might not try in the grocery store because they are unfamiliar with them.

Bountiful Baskets Blog allows the participants to share not only information on WHAT the vegetables and fruits are, but recipes and ways to use them.  I think this is the greatest thing ever!  I am happy to report that there are currently about 94 people participating at this one location!  Wow!  Not only are they saving money, they are feeding their families healthy fruits and vegetables and saving money at the same time. 

I wish this way of cutting out the "middle man" and saving money were available in more areas.  Oh, we still need grocery stores, but so many people avoid buying those "expensive" fruits and vegetables and opt for processed foods instead to save money.

I would like to encourage you to seek out a co-op in your area.  The only drawback if you could call it one, is that you can't "order" specific veggies and fruits...whatever comes on the truck is what you get - high quality assortment! It's time to try something new too!   You can order additional things as they are offered.  They even offer bushels of some fruits and veggies if you like to can. 

This week I made a lovely fruit salad ...
 2 pears finely chopped
1 apple finely chopped
1 pineapple finely chopped
4 Persimmons finely chopped
6 ounces blackberries
1 lime
4 packets Truvia (Stevia) sweetener

Combine all the chopped fruits and berries and squeeze juice of lime over all and sprinkle Truvia...stir gently and serve!  GREAT!!!  and healthy!

PEACE - LOVE & JOY

Linda