The Bounty is Back

Saturday was Bountiful Baskets day here in our prairie corner. We haven't contributed for BB since before Thanksgiving, and it was good to get back to it. We ordered just one conventional basket and a stew pack add-on:

Here's what we got for vegetables: potatoes (a bag of small and several large russets), a bunch of kale, a bunch of broccoli, a head of lettuce, three bunches of radishes, several large and lovely carrots, a bag of fresh green beans, a bunch of fresh asparagus, two onions, orange bell peppers, several very unripe Roma tomatoes, and a very large head of cauliflower.

Fruits included: apples, clementines, lemons, and a small pineapple. 

There is also a bag of lentils and a packet with fresh bay leaves and a head of garlic.

Here's what we've done with it so far: for lunch yesterday we had a lovely green salad using some lettuce we had in the frig as well as part of this head and some of the kale. I sliced a radish and grated a carrot. 

I cooked the apples with a little cinnamon and some raisins to make a chunky applesauce that Layla and the boys are going to enjoy with their breakfast oatmeal. 

Here are the plans we have so far for the rest: Beef stew on Tuesday (potatoes, onion, carrots, green beans), which is supposed be a blizzard day here on the plains, mashed cauliflower (faux-tatoes) and cauliflower bites, broccoli/cheese soup, fajitas with the peppers and an onion, twice-baked potatoes from the large russets (they'll go in the freezer). The asparagus will be used in a breakfast casserole, and the pineapple and tomatoes will hopefully be ripe enough by next week to serve in a fruit salad to some company. I have found that if I don't make specific plans, some of our bounty gets lost in the frig and forgotten. 

We also just made our first trip to an Aldi grocery store on Thursday when we were in Lincoln. We picked up some nice produce there. I was taking a chance that the zucchinis and jalapenos wouldn't be doubled up with our BB, and they weren't. The zucchini are huge and beautiful and will make some delicious bread. I got two packages of fresh jalapenos to make sauce. 

We are blessed to be able to stock up on so much fresh lovely produce during the long winter season. It's true that you don't know what you're getting when you contribute for a basket, but you do know it will be half fruit, half veg, and whatever the specifics, you can make some deliciousness from it.