Bountiful Baskets 101

One of my favorite ways to get fresh fruits and veggies is via Bountiful Baskets. Before I found Bountiful Baskets, I had been researching other co-ops and just wasn't ready for the long term commitment. What I loved about Bountiful Baskets is that you can order on a week to week basic. Since I started a few years ago, it has really taken off in Utah and there are so many locations available.

Here's how it works. You place your order on Monday/Tuesday. I pay $16.50 for two circular laundry baskets full of fruits and veggies. You can see everything I got this week in the picture above! You select a location and then pick it up Saturday morning. The co-op is entirely run by volunteers. In fact, my sister in law runs one of community sites. Bountiful Baskets doesn't have store fronts ... you just pick it up at various community locations. You don't know what fruits and veggies you will get in advance, but it is always a great variety of in season produce. It's been fun trying new things!

Besides conventional fruit/veggie baskets, you can order organic basket and other bulk items that rotate weekly. Depending on the season you can get apples, cherries, etc. in bulk. They also have the most DELICIOUS 9 grain wheat bread. It is all my family will eat now.

One of the blogs I follow, Prepared LDS Family priced out this week's basket at Smith's Marketpalce. Here is what she posted:

8 Granny Smith apples ($2.70 SM)
6 Mangoes ($2.47 SM) How to store and prepare
14 Limes ($3.92 SM)
5 Bananas, extra large ($1.71 SM)
6 Peaches ($3.52 SM)
8 Plums ($4.58 SM)
1 lb. Strawberries ($2.19 SM)
1 pint Grape tomatoes ($3.00 SM)
1 Green lettuce head ($1.29 SM)
1 Cabbage ($1.59 SM)
1 Green onion bunch ($.69 SM)
6 Carrots, lg. ($1.39 SM)
1 Celery bunch, lg. ($1.29 SM)

Bountiful Baskets: $16.50
Smith's: $30.34
That is a 54% savings!

Isn't that awesome! I was so glad that she priced it out and posted! You can check out her site fort lots of great food storage tips here.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week's menu went really well! This week we are gearing up for 4th of July festivities and have lots of yummy links to share!

Breakfast

Pumpkin French Toast

Oatmeal

Tote in Hole

Whole Wheat Crepes

Smoothies

Lunch

BLT Salad

Family reunion luncheon - fruit salad

Apple Bacon Cheddar Toasted Sandwiches

Leftovers

PB&J Picnic in the Park

Easy Snack Wraps

Dinner

Cabbage Rolls

Chicken Parmesan in the Crock Pot

Cajun Tuna Rice

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Freezer Lasagna - My hubby's yummy recipe!

Sunday Dinner at Mom's

Taco Salad

Snacks:
Homemade Hummus

Banana Ice Cream

Check out Orgjunkie.com for more great menu plans!

Restaurant Deals

It's customer appreciation day at Jimmy Johns! My husband loves this place and there is one right by his work. You can get any 8 inch sub for only $1. Taking advantage of customer appreciation days is a great way to keep within your budget.

Check here to see if your store is participating. The deal lasts from 11 am to 3 pm so run on over!

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Panda Express also has a great deal going on.

Panda Express is giving out a Free Orange Chicken Single Serving at participating locations with this coupon (thanks Freebies2deals.com). It is only valid June 24th after 9 pm for those late night cravings! Definitely doing this one because their orange chicken sounds great to this pregnant lady!

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Any fans of Buca di Beppo? We tried them out for the first time last year and we are hooked! I wish they had one a little closer to us! Head on over and like them on facebook. Join their e-club and get a $10 gift certificate! You also get freebies for joining and on your birthday.

Favorite Recipe Sites

My poor mom - cooking without the Internet! I go online now for all of my recipes. Cookbooks are nice, but I love reading reviews and how people tweak recipes to make them more healthy or to fit their families needs.

Over the course of the All You Challenge, I am going to share some of my favorite recipe sites that I use for menu planning. The first site I want to share is Healthy Mom's Kitchen. I met one of the creators, Nisha, at the May Power of Mom's retreat in Park City. I heard her talking about her site during one of our small group chats and I knew that I just had to check it out.

Her site has uber healthy recipes that are also yummy! I like that she includes lots of scientific info about losing and maintaining weight. She also puts together a weekly menu plan based on what comes in Bountiful Baskets. Bountiful Baskets is a weekly coop where you pay $15 for a big basket of fresh fruits and veggies. They have the best wheat bread, too. That's all we eat these days! You don't know in advance what comes in the basket, so sometimes you get surprised by less common ingredients - like kale or swiss chard. That is when Nisha's site comes in handy to help me know what to do with them!

One of her recipes that we recently tried and loved is the Kid Friendly Quiche. It was so easy to make and my toddler and preschooler loved it and asked for seconds.

So head on over to her site and check it out! What sites do you use for menu planning?

Target Shopping Trip 6/19-6/25

I had a few more deals that I wanted to get at Target, but they were either out or the prices were different so I ended up with these yummy items in the picture. I am looking forward to trying the Ritz Crackerfuls and the Bull's Eye BBQ sauces have crock pot chicken written all over them for this week! The elbow noodles and spaghetti sauce were perfect for a quick lunch before Lily's big birthday party.

Here's the breakdown of the deals:

Tic Tacs $1.02
Use the $1.00 off of one Tic Tac Single Pack Coupon from the 06-12-11 RP (mine was actually .75 cents off so it ended up being more. I ended up just getting one for in the car)
Total cost $0.02 or $.27!

Up & Up hair detangler spray, 1.34
Use: .50/1 Up & Up hair care item, Target WEB coupon
Final: .84

Ritz Crackfuls crackers, on sale 2.40
Use: 1.00/1 Ritz Crackerfuls 6ct, Target WEB coupon
Also use: Ritz Crackerfuls Filled Crackers, any variety 6 oz. $1/1 (7-10-11) SafeKidsSS-4/17
Final: .40

Market Pantry pasta sauce (1.34) and pasta (1.09)
Use: 1.00/2 Market Pantry 26oz pasta sauce AND any dry pasta, Target WEB coupon
Final: 1.43 for both (.72 ea)

Bull’s-Eye barbecue sauce, on sale 1.37
Use: 1.00/2 Bull’s-Eye barbecue sauces 18- or 28-oz sizes, Target WEB coupon
Also use: (2) Bulls-Eye BBQ Sauce, any variety bottle .50/1 (7-10-11) SS-6/12
Final: .37 ea wyb 2

Thanks Freebies2Deals.com for the weekly match-ups!

This birthday girl was a great helper on the shopping trip! She wore the tiara the whole time!

Supplement your pantry with food giveaways!

One fun way to supplement your food supply without spending a single cent is to enter food giveaways online! So many mommy bloggers do food giveaways from top brands! Is it a sure deal - nope - but sometimes you're chances are pretty good!

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For example, I entered this giveaway for Seneca Farms Oatmeal and Fruit by Wholesome Mommy. Lucky me won 2 6-packs of the oatmeal. Boy oh boy was I thrilled when they arrived on my door step! According to the description, it is a six ounce microwavable cup that contains oatmeal with peaches or apples and doesn’t require any water or milk! So, you just pop it in the microwave for 45 seconds and it is ready to go! Now that is easy. Plus the ingredients are healthy as well.

There were only 53 entrants in this giveaway so my chances were pretty darn good. On Amazon, the same products I received retailed for $19.95.

I spend about 15 minutes every other day entering blog giveaways and typically win something once a month! I wouldn't spend hours on it, but for a few minutes a day - it is totally worth it!

Here are some food giveaways currently available:

Fiber One Giveaway (6/20) low entries!
Another Fiber One Giveaway (6/27)
And Another Fiber One Giveaway (7/11)

Gorton's Grilled Seafood Giveaway (6/28)

Mi-Del's Organic Cookies (6/29)
Country Crock "Love My Veggies" Giveaway (6/27)
General Mills Prize Pack Giveaway (6/23)
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Prize Pack (6/30)
Cupcake Kit (6/26)
>Prize Pack by Frito Lay

There's even giveaways for grocery giftcards!
$15 Wal-mart Card Giveaway (6/24)
$15 Wal-mart Card Giveaway (6/29)
$15 Wal-mart Card Giveaway from Blessings Abound Mommy (7/6)

Link Up if you have a food giveaway, too!

Menu Plan Monday

Welcome to my Menu Plan Monday! Today begins the first week of the All You Grocery Challenge where I have $25 per person in my family per week. So I'll be pulling from my pantry and from the grocery deals. I am super excited to eat healthy and save money this month. Not to mention continue/start some great habits!

Breakfast:
Apple Muffins
Amish Baked Oatmeal - We already had this once over the weekend and it was a big hit! I am going to make a bigger batch and freeze some.

Scrambled Eggs with Wholewheat Toast

Crepes

Granola

Lunch:

Black Bean and Rice Burritos
Mac and Cheese, Peas

Grilled Bacon Apple and Cheddar Sandwiches
Quesadillas with Cheddar Potato Strips

Leftovers

Zuchinni Bread and Cheese sticks

Dinner
1. Quinoa Burgers

2. Johnny's Spicy Primavera Lasagna (one for dinner, one to freeze)
3. Vintage Hamburger Goulash with Pear Crumb Pie
4. Ham and Potatoes in the crockpot
5. Creamy Carrot Soup with Breadsticks
6. Burritos and Strawberry Smoothies
7. Quinoa and Black Beans

Snacks:
Cheddar Coins
Hard Boiled Eggs

Hummus and Pita Chips

Oatmeal Cookies (one for this week, one for freezing)

Check out more great menu plans at www.Orgjunkie.com!

Giveaways!

Giveaway Round Up This Week!

Happily Yours is giving way cute swimsuits from Modestly Yours!

Economical Me is giving away a Betty Crocker Gluten-free Gift Pack!

Cheap Movie Tickets!

Who wants an inexpensive date night?!? Living Social is offering 2 movite tickets for only $9 through Fandango. You will get a voucher to purchase 2 movie tickets on Fandango and go to any participating theater (most I have gone to in Utah work with Fandango). The voucher expires September 9th. It is ONLY AVAILABLE TODAY!



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Amazon Deal on Austin Animal Crackers!

Need some yummy summer snacks! Amazon has a great price on the 36 pack of Austin Zoo Animal Crackers, 2-Ounce Packages (Pack of 36)right now. The list price is $7.18, but with the subscribe and save option the price drops to $6.10. Plus you get free shipping! (Remember to cancel your subscription after you receive the first shipment if you no longer want to receive them.)

End price is .17 a pack and delivered to your door! They have a four star rating on amazon as well with lots of yummy reviews.