Bountiful Baskets this week

Springville added baskets this week if anyone wants to try it out. The pickup is Reagan Elementary at 10:45am

Here is the link: Bountiful Baskets You can sign up on the website now until Wednesday at 10 pm.

Soups, soups, soups

My 8 year old commented the other day, "We sure eat a lot of soups lately." This is largely in part to recent budget cuts but also because I love the new dutch oven pot I got for Christmas (thanks mom). I have been loving the soups though. The best part is that I've had 95% of the items in my home already so I didn't have to buy things. The following have made appearances over the last 3 weeks.

Caribbean Black Bean Soup
1 pound dried black beans
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 medium red onions, chopped
4 jalapenos, seeded and minced (I only added one, then added more heat in my own serving)
2 Tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 cups water
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 12 oz. each ) peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 limes cut into wedges

Place beans in colander and pick through, discarding any stones or debris. Rinse beans with cold running water and drain. Transfer beans to large bowl. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and let stand overnight. Drain and rinse beans.

In 6 quart saucepot, heat canola oil over medium heat until hot. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, about 10 minutes. Add jalapenos, ginger, garlic, allspice and thyme and cook, stirring, 3 minutes.

Add beans and water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beans are almost tender.

Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and salt; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until beans and sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes longer.

Transfer 1 cup bean mixture to blender; cover with center part of cover removed to allow steam to escape, and puree until smooth. Return to saucepot. Stir in green onions and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze onto individual servings.


Red Potato and Ham Soup
6 red potatoes diced with skins
1 onion diced
1 cup of ham diced

1. first heat a dutch oven(large pot) over medium heat with 4 tablespoons of olive oil
2. add onion and about 1 tsp salt, saute until tender
3. Add the ham and continue to cook until brown around edges, about 8 minutes
4. Add diced potatoes and continue to cook for about 5 minutes
5. Add enough water to cover ingredients about an inch
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes, until potatoes are tender
7. With a potato masher, mash the mixture and watch it thicken up. Make sure to leave some
texture.
8. Add about 2 cups 1% milk, bring back to a simmer, and it's ready to serve
9.As a garnish I add shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream

I also made this with chicken which was tasty.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
I know there are a bazillion variations of this recipe. This one is tried and true though!
1 1/2 lbs cooked chicken
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 10 oz can enchilada sauce
1 med onion, chopped
1 4 oz can chopped chilies
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 c water
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 t ground cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 bay leaf
1 10 oz can corn
1 15 oz can black beans
1 T dried chopped cilantro
toppings: cheese, sour creams, lime, chips

Combine all but toppings in a crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Bountiful Baskets

I had my first experience with "co-ops" this last weekend. I participated in Bountiful Baskets.

A lot of people on PinchingYourPennies have talked about this, and it always looked appealing, but had never tried it out. Since I had a few grocery dollars to spend, and a very empty produce drawer I signed up.

The program is set up where you pay $15 for a basket of miscellaneous fruits and vegetables. This weeks basket included: 8 bananas, 7 Braeburn apples, 1 lb strawberries, 8 tangelos(?), 5 large grapefruits, 3 lbs pears, 7 red peppers, 3 zucchinis, 2 cucumbers, 10 roma tomatoes, broccoli, and a head of green leaf lettuce.

You can also purchase additional add ons. They had a "mexican basket" for $7.50 that ended up having tomatillos, onions, avocadoes, tortillas and a few other things. Also a granola packet that looked delicious and some 9 grain bread (which I ordered).

Some things I learned is that there is a one-time $3 fee and a $1.50 handling fee each time you order. No sales tax though. There are a limited amount of baskets available and you don't know what items will be included in your basket. You are also asked to occasionally volunteer. It was interesting showing up at the pick-up site, which for me was Reagan Elementary. There were a ton of people there.

Overall I was pleased with my first time experience and will sign up again in a couple weeks. Utah Deal Diva has a post on her blog about another co-op that I hope to try sometime. Check it out here: Crossroads Urban Center Co-op

Emergency Essentials Food Storage Analyzer

Emergency Essentials has a pretty neat food storage tool on their Preparedness Pantry site. It is a food storage analyzer where you input the items in your food storage and the ages and genders of the members in your family. It will then tell you how long your food storage will last. You can include items in buckets, #10 cans, MRE, and even regular grocery items.

You'll be happy to know that my family of 7 has a current supply of food that will last us 114 days.

I liked the analyzer because I could see where some obvious holes in my food storage lie. I know I could use a lot more grains, more sugar, more oil, and meats. Well, from the looks of it I could use a little more of everything.

Check it out, then post about it on your blog and you can get a $10 gift card to Emergency Essentials. Happy food storage analyzing!