Bountiful Baskets

Bountiful Baskets

This was one of our first baskets from the new Belle Fourche site. Everything you see here came in the basket except the box of strawberries which were an add on, 8 lbs for $12!! There were approximately 6 types of fruits and 6 types of vegetables & many of each kind as you can see. An incredible deal for $15!!

 

A little over a year ago we were introduced to a new concept called Bountiful Baskets. Some Gillette friends were talking about these produce “baskets” you could get that were half fruit and half vegetable and for an additional $10 you could get all organic. They also had “add ons” of breads and specific bulk items. And these things were selling like mad! These women were driving 30-40 minutes to get these. Don’t get me wrong, I drive an hour for my shopping that cannot be obtained at Walmart 15 miles away, but I can also make a day of it and go when I want and hit many places. These baskets you have to get online and purchase at NOON on MONDAYS and by 12:07 they are gone. Then THEY pick the site and the time on SATURDAY for you to go wait in line a pick it up within 15 minutes, or they give it away- policy!!!! Not to mention you chance that you like what’s in the basket, because, “You get what you get and you don’t…..” and I don’t like many vegetables to begin with.

 

Kale from a BB (and it was delicious)

 

 

Well, by the time Spring hit, I had seen a few of these baskets and heard some testimonials of how the produce was better than the stores by far and near garden quality, the bread was thick and spongy and so delicious, and the 8lb add on of strawberries was the kicker. I wanted strawberries!



8lbs of strawberries $12

 

So I decided to register with the site once Spearfish and St. Onge were up and running. The first 4 times I tried to log on I had something go wrong and the sites were sold out within 5 minutes. We are talking, the page was slow to load and I had to refresh, SOLD OUT, the computer froze, I had to restart, SOLD OUT, the site had a glitch and kept saying St. Onge was in Meade County, refresh, refresh refresh, SOLD OUT. Grrrrrrrrrrr. To boot, my neighbor who previously had no interest in purchasing one until I did, kept getting them and rubbing it in my face, but could she help me…..no, she helped some other friends instead. Grrrrrrrrrr. Then it was soccer season and with two kids playing opposite times, there was no way to get away and get to a site on time. Soooooo, finally we got our first basket late spring of 2012 when I introduced my in-laws to it and my sister-in-law was able to get a couple of baskets 35 miles from her home in Gillette. She drove down and picked them up so we could try them out, then brought ours to us before our spring Murder Mystery Party  (neither of us have had to drive since either).

 

SO WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN NOT SAY ENOUGH HOW WORTH IT any enduring frustrations are! The bread is all they said it would be, no matter which variation you purchase, and the loaves are slightly cheaper than the store! The tomatoes are better than any store and nearly as good as garden fresh, I don’t eat them, this is coming from world’s toughest kitchen critic husband and sons. Then the fruit, oh the fruit!!!!  TO. DIE.FOR.

"Lunch Box" Add On

 

As for not being able to choose and getting what comes to you, this is a total PERK in the end, if you ask me. We have tried so many fruits and vegetables that we would have never tried due to thinking we wouldn’t like them, or simply do to the cost! When they come in your basket, you use them or lose them. So you find a way to use them.

 

Even if you absolutely do not like something that comes in your basket, or can’t find a way to use it, or it goes bad before you get a chance to use it, usually the cost has been made up anyway. Here are some examples of high priced items we have gotten in our $15 basket (keep in mind you get 50% fruit, 50% vegetable and usually this means around 6 different kinds of each at a couple items per kind)…

Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

 

 

Cherries $4.98 per lb at WalMart last year,  we got two lb bags of cherries in our basket along with countless other fruits and veggies!!

Grapes $3.98 per lb at WalMart off season, we received huge bags of grapes with pineapples, clamshells of strawberries, peaches and pears not to mension the peppers and onions and other veggies

 

Bell Peppers, $1 each multiple times throughout the year at WalMart, we receive an average of 3-6 per basket

Asparagus,  around $4 a bushel at WalMart, we received a bushel in our last basket, some were lucky enough to get two (after the baskets receive everything off the list, the volunteers go around with the excess putting one item in each basket repeatedly until all extras are gone so you end up with a little extra of something each time as an added bonus).

Pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins an dsquash which are around $4 a pop at WalMart we will get a couple of in each basket.



5 leaf salad with romain, iceberg, spinach, live butter lettuce & leaks

 

So just with these items alone you are making up for the cost of random less liked things that come with them. Then there’s the fact that it keeps you eating fresh and healthy and trying new recipes, new things and keeps your kids trying new things and eating healthier.

cases with add ons atthe Belle Site

 

Lets move on to the add ons. I try to restrict myself to one add on per order and try to keep the total between $25-30. Sometimes I just have to get two though. There are always bread choices. There’s usually a variety pack option (my fav) that includes 3 loaves of 9 grain, a baguette and a bonus loaf. We have gotten dill, cranberry, cran-pecan and sourdough before. Then there’s a straight up sourdough, a sweet 9 grain and sometimes other options. Usually always 5 loaves. The variety pack is $10 and the others range from $12-14. Then there are tortilla add ons occasionally. I have yet to get one, but I believe it is 8lbs of tortillas! Some flour, some wheat and some corn, some jalapeno and some spinach. They also throw in other fun add ons like granola, almond oil, once there was a sugar cookie kit, sometimes there’s a “lunchbox add on” with apples and oranges, a “Mexican add on” with various peppers and onions, sometimes an “Italian” one with garlic, onions and tomatoes, and then usually there are fruit ones. We have gotten oranges, pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, peaches and blueberries before. The Blackberries contained 16 clamshells for $14!!! Killer price as the clamshells are usually $3-4 at WalMart, especially this season.




Mexi Lover's Add On



chili's add on, making rotel

9 grain bread

peaches add on

Peaches for Jam

Peach Jam

 

I never go organic, I just don’t care. Sorry, no hippie babble will change my mind. I will get cancer either way it runs rampant in my family, in one branch, every single person has died of cancer no matter what great links they went to to change their fate, then there is my son who is already a cancer survivor at age 4. It is something we live with. I don’t mind immunities and I will take my chances with washing away pesticides and whatever else. I just don’t care to go organic, saves me $10 for add ons.

purple, yellow & white carrots

 

Some interesting items we have received that we may not have even tried had they not been in our baskets…..

Leaks

Kale

Spaghetti Squash

Purple and white carrots

Papaya

Mango

Some weird melon

and...

BLOOD ORANGES!!

Anyone anywhere can start up a Bountiful Baskets site and distribute by visiting their site HERE and going through the training. It is ran by volunteers (there are some perks to volunteering like the extra item you get to pick) on Saturday mornings and each participant who buys baskets is asked to try to volunteer once every 4 or so baskets they purchase. I believe the site coordinator gets their basket free. We have volunteered many times and it is actually pretty fun, plus there’s that whole good feeling for contributing to a good cause and society as a whole.

Volunteering at the Belle Fourche Site

I highly recommend looking into Bountiful Baskets!!!!