Feb 28 2011

My First Basket

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Karin

I ordered my first basket last Monday. Saturday finally arrived. We packed the kids up and drove the short distance to the designated pick up spot. It was really simple. We brought our own basket to put the food in and stood in line for a short time. They were well organized and kept the line moving quickly. I was surprised with how many people were showing up. We took the basket home and lined everything up to take inventory. 7 Bananas 2 Mangoes 2 Bundles of Asparagus

5 Roma Tomatoes 1 Coconut 1 Carton of Strawberries

1 Cantaloupe 6 Forelle Pears 1 Head Romain Lettuce

3 lb bag of Butter Gold Potatoes 2 Bundles of Broccoli

After weighing everything and putting it away we made a trip to the grocery store. You’re probably thinking, why the grocery store? Didn’t you just get a bunch of food? Well I wanted to go to the grocery store to calculate how much all this food would cost me if I had bought it there. The basket cost $15. I also had a one time basket fee of $3. There is also a handling fee of $1.50. So all together it cost me $19.50. On my trip to the grocery store the only item I had trouble with were the pears. I couldn’t find that exact pear so I had to estimate according what was there. All together if I had bought all this at the grocery store it would have cost me about $26 + tax. So far the value is great. I’m a little concerned about eating everything before it goes bad. We don’t get coconut very often and I’m not sure what to do with that. My next dilemma, do I buy another basket for this Saturday or wait a week. I have so much in my refrigerator it’s really hard to tell what I’ll need next week.

Feb 27 2011

The Experiment

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Karin

I wanted to do something different for a change. As some of you already know I graduated from BYU almost 10 years ago. I got a bachelors of science degree in community health. While in school I had an internship with the Utah County Health Department. I put in over 300 hours of time and energy devoted to the cardiovascular health department. I spent time at farmers markets, classrooms, and health fairs promoting eating healthy foods and more specifically eating more fruits and vegetables. So, what have I done since then? To be honest not much. Don’t get me wrong I eat pretty healthy and have taught my kids to make healthy choices. I exercise at least 3 times a week. I just don’t share my knowledge with those around me. In an effort to refresh my memory and maybe share a little, I’ve started a new experiment.

My inspiration for this experiment came while exercising with a couple of friends. These friends know that Corey and I don’t like to eat processed and boxed foods. We both like to cook and try new foods. They asked me if I had ever ordered a Bountiful Basket before. I had heard of it but never really knew what it was. They told me to look it up and try it. Here is a quick run down of what it is. Basically it is a food co-op that started in Arizona. You order from the website, starting Monday 12:00pm and ending Tuesday 10:00 pm, and pick up at a location near you on Saturday.

These were the common complaints from my friends. The window time to order is very short and specific and if you want to pick up at a popular spot than you need to order early. They also complained that they would get so much food that a lot of it would go to waste. Sometimes you would get foods that you have never seen or heard of and you don’t know what to do with it. So for this experiment these are the questions I want to answer:

Is it worth my money?
Do we eat more fruits and veggies?
Does it make us try new things? and do my kids like it?
How much goes to waste?

Along with answering these questions I am also going to take an inventory on what is in my basket. I’ll tell you how we have used the fruits and veggies that we got. It’s also good to know why it’s important to eat fruits and vegetables, so I will tell you what nutrients you get from them.

From this experiment I hope to show you, and remind myself and family, how easy, delicious, and healthy fresh fruits and veggies can be. I strongly believe in eating fresh fruits and veggies rather than canned or processed. I hope that this experiment will help my family and I to become less dependent on those kinds of foods. This will also help me to find things to blog about and maybe I can become a little more consistent.

Stay tuned. I ordered last Monday and picked up my first basket yesterday. I already have a couple of post in the works.

Feb 5 2011

Cabin Fever

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Karin

According to Wikipedia the definition for cabin fever is “a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period.” Every year since we moved here to Idaho Falls we get cabin fever. It usually starts snowing here in October and doesn’t stop until April. Leaving us pretty much stuck inside for that period of time. Cabin fever usually starts to set in around January and into February. Some of the symptoms (again according to Wiki) are “restlessness, irritability, irrational frustration with everyday objects, forgetfulness, laughter, excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow or dark.”

To break up some of the monotony we’ll go on short trips or do something fun for a day. A couple of weeks ago I was able to take my kids and go to Boise for a day. My mom was there with my nieces and we went swimming a “Givens Hot Springs”. Of course I forgot my camera and don’t have any pictures of that fun trip. It was the best medicine for my cabin fever. I not only got to get out for a while but I also got to see my mom. It was like killing two birds with one stone, cabin fever and homesickness.

After a few weeks the cabin fever starts to set in again. I start to feel restless and irritable. I just want to get out and do something. In the past week our lows were around -15 degrees Fahrenheit and the highs were not much higher. I feel like I’m just going to snap. Then we have a day like today. It was around 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The kids suggested we go sledding. So that’s what we did. We packed the kids and sleds up and drove out to a new (new to us) sledding hill. Because it has been so cold the snow was pretty icy. That made the sleds go really fast. We had so much fun. I’m sure my tushy is going to regret it tomorrow but at least the cabin fever is gone for a while. The boys really liked going over the jumps and Preston really caught some air. Corey went to take a picture of him going up but the batteries in the camera ran out. After going up and down the hill 5 or 6 times my body was telling me that was enough. So Sophia, Corey, and I sat in the back of the truck and watched as the boys went down. It was nice just to be outside and enjoying the scenery. It wouldn’t be a sledding trip if we didn’t have some hot cocoa afterward. We really enjoyed our day out.