Why I love Bountiful Baskets
Off and on over the last few years I’ve ordered bountiful baskets and have
really enjoyed the variety of vegetables and fruits that are in each basket.
After a long spell of not ordering one, I finally decided to order one last
week. It’s been wonderful! (By the way, if you don’t know what they are, check
them out HERE!)
I’ve been thinking about why I like them so much and here’s what I came up with:
1. It forces us to eat more fruits and veggies. Ok, I confess: I don’t naturally default to buying fresh produce in the store. *gasp* In fact, potatoes and onions are about as “fresh” as it gets for me, with some occasional bananas, oranges, and apples thrown in every few weeks. That’s about it. So yeah…despite the fact that I grew up in Brazil eating tons of fresh fruit practically every single day of my life until I came back here to the US, I forget to eat my fruits and veggies. *double gasp* With Bountiful baskets being so reasonable—you can hardly beat paying $20 for a good 10-15 pounds (or more!) of fresh produce! And how else am I going to get a real pineapple sitting on my counter in the middle of winter in South Dakota?!?
2. It makes me meal plan. Here’s my deal with Isaac: I get to order a basket but I can’t let the food die in the vegetable coffin (as that drawer in the refrigerator has often been called!) In order to keep that from happening, I figure I need to plan my meals around the produce that comes in the basket. So…when there’s lots of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes…guess what we’re going to be eating for the next 2 weeks? Yep, lots of salad and other dishes that include broccoli and cauliflower! It’s a no-brainer.
3. It helps with the food budget. (Or at least I think it does.) Ok, this point is a little anticipated…but I’ll add it to my list of reasons anyway. This month I am experimenting with planning meals around the the produce in my basket and just buying groceries according to the meal plans. My challenge: to see how much I can cut back on my food budget! I’d be super happy if I could cut back $100…but I don’t know if it’ll work that well…we’ll see. Putting together even just a rough 2-week plan for meals has helped take away a lot of the stress of figuring out the “what’s for supper?” dilemma and also cut back on the trips to the grocery store! At the very least, menu-planning has also kept me from impulse-buying because I know what I’ve planned for the next 2 weeks, so “why would I need that?” I dutifully put it back on the shelf and walk away with only the items I came to the store to buy.
4. It helps us eat healthier. When a meal is centered around a particular vegetable, suddenly all those carbs and starches that typically dominate our meal end up on the back burner (at least a lot of the time.) Since getting my basket a week ago, there have been several meals that were mostly carb and gluten free! And I didn’t even plan it that way! It just happened that way. I’ve never been one to be super-paranoid about my daily calorie intake or how many different carbs I just had in one meal…but…I do know that I shouldn’t eat a ton of starches and carbs without also eating other foods. Sooo, now that I experienced first-hand how almost-effortless it can be to eliminate how often we eat a lot of those things just by having more vegetables and fruits on the daily menu, I can’t help but feel quite accomplished!
5. It pushes me to try new recipes. Just ask Isaac: if I can’t think of anything to make for supper, my default is either spaghetti, cheater fajita chicken, or quesadillas. And sometimes that happens multiple times a week. But…since I know I have fresh vegetables to use up, and with this week’s “how am I going to use this up??” vegetable being cauliflower,(which is actually something I don’t know how to use very well!) I looked in all my cookbooks for some ideas (this is where those indexes in the back organized according to ingredient come in really handy!) and came up with a few possibilities: what about a variation on the common 3-bean salad? Or a roasted cauliflower/root vegetables combination? Or mashed cauliflower (instead of potatoes)?
Ok, enough raving about my Bountiful Basket. Maybe this is just another let’s-get-healthy kick. Maybe not. Whatever the case, I’m having fun with it right now!
I’ve been thinking about why I like them so much and here’s what I came up with:
1. It forces us to eat more fruits and veggies. Ok, I confess: I don’t naturally default to buying fresh produce in the store. *gasp* In fact, potatoes and onions are about as “fresh” as it gets for me, with some occasional bananas, oranges, and apples thrown in every few weeks. That’s about it. So yeah…despite the fact that I grew up in Brazil eating tons of fresh fruit practically every single day of my life until I came back here to the US, I forget to eat my fruits and veggies. *double gasp* With Bountiful baskets being so reasonable—you can hardly beat paying $20 for a good 10-15 pounds (or more!) of fresh produce! And how else am I going to get a real pineapple sitting on my counter in the middle of winter in South Dakota?!?
2. It makes me meal plan. Here’s my deal with Isaac: I get to order a basket but I can’t let the food die in the vegetable coffin (as that drawer in the refrigerator has often been called!) In order to keep that from happening, I figure I need to plan my meals around the produce that comes in the basket. So…when there’s lots of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes…guess what we’re going to be eating for the next 2 weeks? Yep, lots of salad and other dishes that include broccoli and cauliflower! It’s a no-brainer.
3. It helps with the food budget. (Or at least I think it does.) Ok, this point is a little anticipated…but I’ll add it to my list of reasons anyway. This month I am experimenting with planning meals around the the produce in my basket and just buying groceries according to the meal plans. My challenge: to see how much I can cut back on my food budget! I’d be super happy if I could cut back $100…but I don’t know if it’ll work that well…we’ll see. Putting together even just a rough 2-week plan for meals has helped take away a lot of the stress of figuring out the “what’s for supper?” dilemma and also cut back on the trips to the grocery store! At the very least, menu-planning has also kept me from impulse-buying because I know what I’ve planned for the next 2 weeks, so “why would I need that?” I dutifully put it back on the shelf and walk away with only the items I came to the store to buy.
4. It helps us eat healthier. When a meal is centered around a particular vegetable, suddenly all those carbs and starches that typically dominate our meal end up on the back burner (at least a lot of the time.) Since getting my basket a week ago, there have been several meals that were mostly carb and gluten free! And I didn’t even plan it that way! It just happened that way. I’ve never been one to be super-paranoid about my daily calorie intake or how many different carbs I just had in one meal…but…I do know that I shouldn’t eat a ton of starches and carbs without also eating other foods. Sooo, now that I experienced first-hand how almost-effortless it can be to eliminate how often we eat a lot of those things just by having more vegetables and fruits on the daily menu, I can’t help but feel quite accomplished!
5. It pushes me to try new recipes. Just ask Isaac: if I can’t think of anything to make for supper, my default is either spaghetti, cheater fajita chicken, or quesadillas. And sometimes that happens multiple times a week. But…since I know I have fresh vegetables to use up, and with this week’s “how am I going to use this up??” vegetable being cauliflower,(which is actually something I don’t know how to use very well!) I looked in all my cookbooks for some ideas (this is where those indexes in the back organized according to ingredient come in really handy!) and came up with a few possibilities: what about a variation on the common 3-bean salad? Or a roasted cauliflower/root vegetables combination? Or mashed cauliflower (instead of potatoes)?
Ok, enough raving about my Bountiful Basket. Maybe this is just another let’s-get-healthy kick. Maybe not. Whatever the case, I’m having fun with it right now!
Agreed! :D
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