Stretching Our Food Dollars

For about a year now my family and I have been participating in a food co-op.  It's been really reasonable and beneficial for us.  It's called Bountiful Baskets and they have many locations in about 22 states.  You "contribute" $15 dollars and get a generous amount of fruits and veggies.  Saturday I got melon, onion, blueberries, plums, pineapple and papaya in my basket, among other things.

Sometimes you get things you've never heard of before or at least never thought to purchase on your own.  Yesterday in my basket, I got Swiss chard.  It looks a bit like rhubarb.  I've never cooked with Swiss chard.  Or rhubarb.  I think my chances would be better with rhubarb.  But, I've googled some recipes and we will try it.  Steve, the husband unit, is a bit more picky than our two boys.  Maybe picky isn't the right word.  Snobbishly selective.  If he is unfamiliar with a food he will pick it up, look at it, sniff it, make a face.  I tell him he has to take 2 "no thank you" bites and then he can ditch it.  Most of the time it works and he's discovered that he doesn't mind certain things now.  Sometimes I sneak the unfamiliar item in with something familiar and no one even knows.  He's caught on to me though and has busted me on several occasions and now knows to just ask,  "...and what ELSE is in it?"  The boys, on the other hand, will eat just about anything and are willing to try new things.  Unless it looks absolutely disgusting, they will try it. 

Friday, my cousin Bonnie told me about a local, non-profit organization called Market on the Move.  It's a food "rescue" organization.  The produce is still fresh, still edible, still very, very good but markets pass it by because it might have an odd shape, the color isn't bright enough, etc.  So the organization "rescues" it and offers it up to the public, otherwise it would go to waste in a landfill somewhere.  For $10 you can get up to 60 pounds of produce.  Saturday I got tons of tomatoes, 20 orange bell peppers, a huge grocery bag full of jalapenos, fresh green beans, more melon and zucchini.  They also offered egg plant but I always mess it up when I cook it so I passed.  They had also run out of cucumbers and watermelon by the time I got there.  But, $10 for 60 POUNDS OF FOOD!!  I put together a few bags to share, which is the idea behind MOM.  Check it out:

Neither MOM nor Bountiful Baskets has endorsed this post and I have not received any compensation for this post.  I'm simply passing along some great information in hopes that people can benefit from them also.