Tag Archives: Fruits

Mar 30 2011

Hawaiian Haystack

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Hawaiian Haystack

Hawaiian haystacks were another staple growing up.  Traditionally we ate it with chicken and a chicken gravy but I had some left over gingered pork that I needed to use up.  I cut the pork up into small pieces and then added some water and terriaki sauce.  I brought it to a boil and then thickened it with cornstarch.  Never done this before but it turned out alright.  A haystack begins with a layer of chow mien noodles.  Then you add a layer of rice.  Lastly you top it with what ever toppings you like.  Today we had, from the basket, fresh pineapple, celery, and tomatoes.  I also added cheese and onions.  Then you top it off with some gravy.  This was pretty good although I think I still prefer the chicken and gravy.  Pineapple is high in vitamin C.  Celery is a good source of Vitamin C & A.  Tomatoes are high in Vitamin A & C and a good source of potassium.

Mar 27 2011

The experiement week 5: final week

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I’m on the last week of this experiment.  So I decided, since the bountiful baskets are possible primarily because of volunteers, that I would volunteer this week.  The pick up time was 9:45am the volunteers have to show up an hour earlier at 8:45am.  When I got there there were already 5 others there to volunteer.  We unloaded the produce from the truck and then started putting them in baskets, 60 baskets to be exact.  There were other volunteers who showed up after me and we ended up with about 10 people there.  Everything went very smoothly.  We were done putting all the produce in the baskets ready for pick up by 9:30 fifteen minutes before pick up time.  Once everyone started showing up it went very quickly and I was home by 10:00am.  However, this isn’t how it always goes.  It is all dependent on how many people volunteer.  Last week there were only a few volunteers and they didn’t finish until about 10:30.  They had a line of people waiting for their baskets. When you volunteer you get an extra big item or 2 extra small items.  I choose for my extra a bundle of spinach.

This week I feel is better than last because I feel we got a lot of produce.  When I tallied everything and priced it out it ended up totaling $23.57.  Really not what I expected.  I expected that I would save a lot more this week but really this and last week savings are around the same. This weeks basket contained:

1 pineapple           6 bananas         2 bundles of asparagus

2 zucchini              3 mangoes         3 tomatoes

2 grapefruit            6 apples             6 sweet potatoes

2 bundles of spinach             1lb carrots              1 head of green leaf lettuce

Just because I say this is the final week of the experiment doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ll stop getting the baskets just that I’ll hopefully form a conclusion and then stop blogging about it.  This week is spring break and, in theory,  I should be able to find a little more time to blog about what I have done with my items.  I hope I can end this experiment with a bang.

Mar 24 2011

Mango Salsa

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Mango Salsa on Red pepper Parmesan Talapia

It’s been a busy week and I haven’t found as much time to blog.  I had to take time to blog about this.  I love mango salsa.  Corey and I especially like it on fish.  The mangoes we got from the basket this week have been perfectly ripe and very sweet.  To make the mango salsa I cubed a mango, chopped red pepper and jalepeno finely, zested and juiced a lime, chopped some cilantro, and added salt to taste.  Corey and I aren’t very fond of fish and have really tried to figure out how to make it.  This recipe was good.  I got it from a new cook book that I bought from Taste of Homes website.  It had a little kick to it so the kids weren’t impressed.  I, however,  really enjoyed it.  Again, mangoes are high in Vitamin A and a good source of Vitamin C.

 

Mar 21 2011

Bountiful Basket Week 4

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There were a few things that went wrong for this week.  First off I got a little busy last Monday and totally forgot to put my order in until 4:30 pm.  When I did put my order in all the spots were taken for the site I usually pick up at.  So I had to pick up at a site that was across town.  It’s only about a 15 minute drive but when you’re used to going just a few blocks from your house it’s disappointing.  The other down side was the pick up time was 2 hours earlier.  It was at 7:45 am.  The one I normally go it is at 9:45 am.  On Thursday I started to come down with some kind of cold.  By Saturday I was in no mood to do anything.  Luckily I have a wonderful husband who volunteered to pick up the basket for me (no really he did).  He even took Levi with him and they made a daddy son time out of it.  I was a little disappointed with the basket turn out.  Here is what we got this week.

3 Mangos                          4 Tomatoes                   12 Tangerines

5 Apples                            1 Carton Blueberries       8 Bananas

1 Cantaloupe                    1lb Asparagus

1 Head of Cauliflower       1 Stalk of Celery                3 crowns of Broccoli

The reason for my disappointment is I felt there wasn’t very much this week.  Usually we end up with something exotic and new.  All of these fruits and veggies are things I’m familiar with.  Don’t get me wrong I still love what I got just not sure I got a great deal this week.  I took my list to the grocery store and priced everything out.  If I had bought all this at the store it would have cost me  $22.03 plus tax.  This is only about $5.50 savings.  Since we had to drive further to get all this I’m not sure it’s worth the money.  If I was consistently getting the same results I might not even bother with the basket, but in the previous weeks I have saved a considerable amount so I don’t think I’ll let one week sway me.  I did end up with some blueberries and more cantaloupe. I’m very excited about that.

Mar 18 2011

A little Detour

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I’m taking a little detour from the basket for a moment.  This time I’m going to talk about that dirty little word sugar. As you see from the picture I’m about to eat my birthday cheesecake which happens to be loaded with sugar.  Sugar is a dirty word for me for different reasons than it is for most of you.  For most people sugar is about calories and diets.  For me sugar is about pain and nausea.  You see I’m sucrose intolerant.  Meaning my body lacks the enzyme sucrase to break down sucrose (table sugar).  When I was younger I used to get really sick whenever I ate even a little bit of sugar.  I still get sick just not as much as before.  I’m not going to go into detail about what happens to me believe me it’s not pleasant.

So why am I eating cheesecake?  Well just like a lot of you I have weaknesses.  Cheesecake is one of my weaknesses.  I don’t eat sugar all the time just occasionally and that is how it should be not just for me but for everyone.  I see immediate results when I eat sugar which makes it a little easier to avoid it.  However,  most won’t see the results in consuming sugar until much later when their body turns it into fat.  Our bodies do naturally need sugar to function but sugar in excess amounts can cause our bodies to store it.

So how should we avoid those constant sugar cravings?  My suggestion is to seek out those things that are naturally sweet.  Many of the fruits that I’ve been discussing in my recent posts are an excellent replacement for those sugar cravings.  I’m not saying we need to give up sugar altogether, it’s still okay to consume it occasionally, but there is always a healthier option that we should consider first. When the occasion does arise that you can consume some sugar, I say enjoy it while it last.

Mar 14 2011

Steak, Pineapple, and Green beans

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Steak, pineapple, and green beans

A few weeks ago my husband had to get new tires on his truck.  So obviously that means we get some free steak.  I know not really what you think you would get for getting tires.  Well I took the steaks out of the freezer and thawed them.  I was a little disappointed with the freshness of the steaks.  So I decided that I would have to do something to them to make them taste good.  It was about 50 degrees out (warm for this area).  I got the grill prepped and ready.  Corey normally does the grilling but he wasn’t feeling good so I got to take a shot at it.  I had sliced the pineapple a few days earlier for easy use and access.  So after putting the steaks onto grill I also put pineapple slices on the grill.  We love grilled pineapple.  It really brings out its natural sweetness.  After flipping the steaks and pineapple I basted them with our favorite teriyaki sauce.  I put some beans on to steam and while I was grilling they got a little too done.  They still tasted great but I like them to be a little brighter in color and more crisp tender.  Over all dinner was a success.  No complaints this time.  The pineapple turned out just right and we had to fight over who was going to get the last piece.  Pineapple is high in vitamin C.  The green beans, which also came from the basket, are a good source of fiber and vitamin C.

Mar 13 2011

Week 3 of the experiment

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This week I didn’t order a basket.  I now wish I had.  It is hard to tell when you will run out of the veggies.  I still have 2 yellow squash (I forgot I had), 1 turnip, 4 apples, 2 cucumbers, and 2 oranges.  Last Monday when it was time to put in an order,  I had an abundance of veggies in the fridge and was afraid that if I ordered another basket for this week that I wouldn’t have room.  Now I’m afraid that I don’t have enough veggies to get through the week.  Sure, I still have the canned and frozen things that I canned last fall.  I’ve grown accustomed to having the fresh stuff on hand.  I heard that this week’s basket included some blackberries.  That would have been fun to have.  Oh, to have another cantaloupe (heard that was in there this week too).

This is what I’ve learned so far.  It is possible for our small family of 5 to go through a whole basket of food.  We have been eating more fruits and veggies.  This is making us think outside the box and be creative.

I still have some posts that I haven’t published yet.  I’ll keep telling you what we have done with what we got from last week’s basket.  Since I did not receive a basket this week,  I would like to know what you have done or plan to do.  That’ll give me some ideas for maybe next time.  In the meantime I’ll be putting my order in tomorrow.

Mar 9 2011

Tomato and Spinach Pizza

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Yummy Pizza

This is one of my favorite things to do with spinach and tomatoes.  I used to like pizza a lot. When you have children who want to eat it all the time pizza doesn’t sound so good anymore.  This puts a healthy twist on the pizza.  During the summer we like to grill this type of pizza and it is so yummy.  Since it is still too cold to grill outside we made due with the oven.  Instead of a tomato sauce we use a mixture of garlic and olive oil.  then we layer a little mozzarella , chopped fresh spinach, and sliced tomatoes.  We top all of that off with a little more cheese.  Put it in a 500 degree oven and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes.  We have to make a separate pizza for the kids (normal pepperoni and cheese), but Corey and I really enjoy eating this one.  I need to make it clear that I didn’t use tomatoes mentioned in the previous post for this meal.  I actually used the tomatoes from last week.  Tomatoes are high in Vitamins A and C.  They are also a good source of potassium.  Spinach is high in fiber, Vitamins A and C, iron, and folate.  It is also a good source of magnesium.  Your body needs iron for healthy blood and normal cell functioning.  Magnesium is necessary for healthy bones.

Mar 8 2011

Disappointing Tomatoes

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what's that fuzz on the tomato? Eww yuck!

This weeks basket doesn’t seem as fresh as last.  I’ve had some disappointing things happen with this one. First it was the over ripe mango.  Then last night while preparing dinner I noticed that 3 of this weeks tomatoes had mold growing on them.  I picked them up and they were soft and mushy.  I still had 2 tomatoes left from last week and they are still good.  That doesn’t seem right.  Last week I didn’t have anything go bad.  This week I’ve had 4 things go bad already.  I hope that this isn’t a trend.  I thought I needed to share both the good and bad that can happen with these baskets.  I still think that the basket is worth my money even with the mango and tomatoes going bad.

Mar 8 2011

Orange slices, Bananas, and Scones

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The kids didn’t have school Monday morning do to a teacher work day.  This gave me more time to work on breakfast.  This breakfast hits a soft spot for me.  Growing up my family owned a cabin in Warm Lake Idaho.  Every summer we would take off for a week each month and go to the cabin.  I have many great memories of this place.  One memory is of these scones.  My mom would always plan on having scones for at least one of the breakfasts while we were there.  She would buy a package of frozen rolls and let them thaw overnight.  Then in the morning she would flatten and fry them and serve them with honey and sugar.  They disappeared faster than she could make them.  The kids love these.  These scones are really just a fry bread and aren’t that healthy all by themselves.  So I sliced three oranges and  2 bananas for  the kids to eat along with the scones.  This breakfast was a success.  Nothing was left.  Oranges are high in vitamin C and are a good source or dietary fiber.  Bananas are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and potassium.

Oranges and Bananas