Bok Choy?

Once again I am so jealous of week B's Bountiful Basket. One of my favorite veggies is Bok Choy. I have tried to grow it in my garden but have had no luck. Once again I am trying again this year and we will wait to see how it grows. Many of you have never cooked with Bok Choy but I can promise if you have eaten Chinese food, you have eaten Bok Choy.

Thanks to Jo Rowley from the Star Valley Osmond site for sharing this recipe.

Asian Carrot and Bok Choy Medley

6-8 large carrots

3-4 bunches of bok choy

1 TB of soy sauce

3-4 finely diced garlic cloves

1 finely diced large onion

2-3 tsp of grated ginger

1 tsp of sesame seeds

2 TB olive oil

Add olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Sauté garlic, onion, sesame seeds and ginger on med-high heat until browned. Add carrots, chopped into diagonal slices, and sauté as well, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. Add a little water it steam is needed and cover to help soften the carrots quicker, if soft carrots are desired. Cut off the end of the bok choy bunch about a ½ inch and then separate leaves and add to skillet. Also add the soy sauce and stir everything together. Cook over med heat until bok choy is tender. Ready to serve.

No Coop this week

Due to the new site and all the website bugs there will be no Co-op this week. Sorry for any inconvienence.

Transaction Problems???

Well, it looks like BB just hit a bump in the road and we need everyone in the Co-op who participated this week to follow the instructions sent out today by Sally and Tanya.

Participants,

It came to our attention yesterday that for a portion of the contribution
period this week our credit/debit card processor was set to not settle
transactions or even capture the data that was typed in. Because of this, you
were never charged for your basket. No money was removed from your account.

Because timing is very important for the co-op to function properly we went out
on a limb and ordered all the produce that we will need for Saturday so that
everyone will receive their basket as planned. We realize that families have
come to depend on Bountiful Baskets to make ends meet. Now, we absolutely need
your help now in order to get your money in for the group purchase to pay for
the produce.

We would appreciate it greatly if you would go back to our website, log in, and
check out with the items that are in your basket.

https://contrib.BountifulBaskets.org/viewcart.html

Best,
Sally & Tanya"

Organic Choices

So I guess we are going organic everywhere. This was a post from the website.


Earth day would have been a more appropriate time to announce this, but better late than never!

From now on organic will be available to all sites in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada! Anyone anywhere will be able to get an organic basket. You will just select the Organic Up-charge of $10!

The organic baskets will be assembled when they arrive that way all sites big or small will get the full assortment of items! You will need to CAREFULLY transfer over the produce from the black plastic container it arrives in to your own container. Then leave the black container there. As ecologically friendly as ever!

For those of you who have never seen an organic basket, the amount varies but it is often (especially not during harvest season) smaller than the conventional. Same as always though, we pool everyone’s money and spend 100% of it on Organic produce on the wholesale market. You are getting a FANTASTIC deal for 100% Certified Organic Produce. Most of the time when we have tried to shop the basket at the store, there isn’t even nearly the variety that comes in the basket at the store.

The organic basket is generally more seasonally oriented. Organic produce doesn’t have the boon of sprays & extreme fertilizers so it does much better during the time of year nature intended! It’s a nice way to get used to eating with the seasons.

Enjoy ORGANIC!

Sally & Tanya

New Sites in Afton, Hyattville and Lovell

Just a reminder that Lovell, Hyattville & Afton will be opening a new site on Saturday May, 22nd. To order go to www.bountifulbaskets.org and order starting on Monday May 17th at 10:00 am until Tuesday at 10:00 pm. Good Luck ordering.

Key Lime Pie

Yesterday in our Bountiful Baskets we recieved a lot of key limes. I had no idea what to do with them. So my husband suggested that I make a key lime pie. I have never made one. So, this is new to me too. I will try it out and report back.

Ingredients

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice (about 12-15 limes)
1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.

3.Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

Brussels Sprouts

As a child, growing up I had never did try Brussels sprouts. I had always heard that they were not Americans favorite veggie. So, one day at the grocery store they had some and my daughter asked me what they were. She said she loved the baby cabbages. So we purchased some and brought them home for dinner. My kids were really excited to try these cute little objects. I had never cooked Brussels sprout and knew nothing about them. So I did some research. and this is what I came up with. The kids loved them. Husband on the other hand still has some convincing to do. He prefers them with pepper bacon.

Ingredients

1 lb fresh Brussels sprouts
4-6 Tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
Salt and Pepper
1 teaspoon orange juice or 1 Tbsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Directions

1 Remove any ragged or old-looking outer leaves on the Brussels sprouts and discard. Parboil the Brussels sprouts (or steam them) for 3 minutes or until just tender. They should be almost cooked all the way through (split one in half to test). Strain the hot water and place the sprouts in a bowl of ice water, this will keep their color bright green. Cut the sprouts into halves.

2 Heat 2-3 Tbsp of butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add 2-3 Tbsp more of butter and the Brussels sprouts halves. Increase the heat to medium high and cook for several more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste, while the Brussels sprouts are cooking. Do not overcook! Overcooked Brussels sprouts are bitter and are the main reason why some people don't like them.

3 Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the orange or lemon juice and half of the toasted almonds. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in serving dish and garnish with the rest of the toasted almonds.

Serves 6-8.

Order History

There is now an Order History button on the Bountiful Baskets website. Please click HERE to be direected to that site. You will be able to view your order history from there.

May 15th Pick up times

There was alot of confusion as to what is the actual pick up times for this Saturday May 15th. So here is the low down on times.

Thermopolis: 7:30am

Worland: 7:30 am

Ten Sleep: 8:30 am

Basin: 9:45 am

Burlington: 10:45 am

Cowley: 11:30 am

Star Valley: 12:15 pm

If you would like to help volunteer this Saturday. Please show up 1 hour early to help. It will be greatly appreciated.

If you live outside of Wyoming and you would like to know what time your site pick up is. Please click here to be directed to Bountiful Baskets.

No Add ons

Just to let everyone know that due to the new website going live this week there will only be baskets available this week. There are no Add ons.

Update*** Looks like the Internet Explorer glitch is fixed. Thanks to all of Sally's hard work this morning. I believe Internet 6 will have issues.

I have found a few glitches in the system. This might help you out if you are having a hard time ordering baskets. If you are using Internet Explorer 7, you might have a few problems ordering. For some reason you cannot see any submit buttons when ordering, or at checkout. Try using firefox or upgrading your browser to Internet Explorer 8. Email me if you have anymore problems ordering. nichold@bountifulbaskets.org GOOD LUCK!

How Do I Order On The New Site?

First off, you are going to want to know what day to make your contributions. You can find this from the contribution schedule. This will help you to know when to contribute to the co-op. (order your basket) Right now the contribution schedule is as follows.

Wyoming: Monday at 10am until Tuesday at 10pm

Northern Utah: Monday at 1pm until Tuesday at 10pm

Southern Utah: Monday at 4pm until Tuesday at 10pm

Idaho: Monday at 7pm until Tuesday at 10pm

Arizona: Tuesday at 9am until Wednesday at 10pm

Nevada: Tuesday at 9am until Wednesday at 10pm

Washington: Tuesday at 9am until Wednesday at 10pm

Once you have reached that magical time to contribute to the co-op, you will find a square with your state name under the co-op offerings section of the website. It will look something like this, but with your state listed. You will want to click on More Information to get into the ordering part of the site. Once you are in you will find this page that says Offer. From here you will be able to pick your site from the pull down menu. If you don't see your site listed that is because it is either not offered that week, or unfortunately the site has sold out of baskets. You will then need to either choose another site that is located near you or wait for another week to participate.
You will also see many add ons that you can purchase beyond your basket. Just put in the amount you want and when you are finished with your order hit the "enter" key and you should get a check out page. I will add more to this post once I am able to make a purchase on Monday evening. Hope this helps.

The New Website Is Up

Hurray! Bountiful Baskets new website is up and running. The site in my opinion is more user friendly. You will notice that on the home page you will need to recover your password from the old site if you have registered with Bountiful Baskets before.

Just click on password recovery and it will ask for your email address. After typing in your email address a new password will be sent to your email.

If you want to change your password look for your name under the Shopping Cart on the far right hand side. You can click on your name to get access to your account profile. You can edit your account from there. I have noticed that after putting in your new password there is not a submit button or an ok button. I just hit enter and it took my new password.

If you no longer have access to the email account that you registered with, or if you are unable to recall the email address that you used on the old site, you may need to register for a new account. Please do not email Bountiful Baskets directly to recover your passwords. They are extremely busy updating the new site and are unable to recover passwords. Just create another account.

To create a new account all you need to go is go to the register section. Fill out your information and your registered. Again I don't see a submit button so go ahead and just hit the enter button, after you put all your infromation in the form. I hope everyone has an easy time making these simple changes. If you have any problems please send me an email nichold@bountifulbaskets.org

Im so Jealous!

I really need to find someone in Greybull, Meeteetse, Powell, or Cody that is willing to open up a site in their town. Lovell is ready to go on B weeks but, I need another site to get a truck up here. I am really sad because todays drop was awesome and we don't have any sites here in the Big Horn area that runs on B weeks. I guess I am being selfish and I want produce every week. This is what they recieved all for $16.50.

• 3 lbs. of Cameo Apples
• 5-6 Bananas
• 4 Green Bell Peppers
• 1 Green Cauliflower
• 6 Yellow Corn
• 1 Romaine Lettuce
• 5 mangoes
• 8 Minneolas (Oranges)
• 1 Bunch of Spinach
• 3 Roma tomatoes
• 1 Watermelon

So if you are interested in opening a site in one of these town or any town here in Wyoming let me know. Email me at Nichold@bountifulbaskets.org

How to cook Artichokes

I have had alot of people ask me what to do with the Artichokes. This is a great place to learn.
How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke

What a SUPER SATURDAY!

Today we had an awesome offering! I had wonderful volunteers. Someone made off with two baskets that weren't theirs. I was not happy about that but, all in all it was a great day.
Today we received.

• 8 kiwi
• 5 Bananas
• Cantaloupe Melon
• Honey Dew Melon
• 3 lbs. of Jazz Apples
• 3/6 oz cartons of Blackberries
• Romain Lettuce
• 4 Roma Tomatoes
• radishes
• 4 Artichokes
• Spinach
• 2 Cucumbers (not shown)

I also ordered the Mexican Pack for an additional $6.50. I received

• 2 Grey Squash
• 6 Limes
• 4 Jalapenos
• 10 Tomatillos
• 1 Head of Garlic
• 4 Avocados
• 2 White Onions
• Cilantro
• 2 green onions

So what should I do with my Mexican pack?

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe
To cook the tomatillos, you can either roast them in the oven, or boil them. Roasting will deliver more flavor; boiling may be faster and use less energy. Either way works, though boiling is a more common way to cook the tomatillos.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.
2a Roasting method Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.
2b Boiling method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.
2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.
Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
Makes 3 cups.

New Website

Starting Monday April 26 http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ will be getting a new website. I haven't seen it yet so I can't help you out on ordering. From my understanding it is going to be alot easier to navigate around in. So please be patient with the new site rolling out.
Don't forget to order your baskets starting at 10:00 am.

What a Bounty

Todays offerings were well... can I just say WONDERFUL. I didn't have any complaints, everyone remembered their baskets for the most part and I had tons of volunteers. We will be ordering again on April 26th starting at 10 am.

What I got in my baskets today.

11 apples

15 red potatoes

1 pkg. mushrooms

1 pkg. grape tomatoes

1 pineapple

1 Galia melon

1 Pkg. Blackberries

7 Bananas

2 bunches of Romain lettuce

2 bunches of swiss chard

1 bunch of broccoli

I also received an extra pkg of blackberries for volunteering it was wonderful. I can't wait until April 26th to order again. Delivery on May 1st.

So excited for Saturday!!!

Can I just tell you how excited I am for Saturday and our first drop here in Basin, Burlington and Star Valley. If your were able to get a basket please plan on being on time to pick up your baskets. Bring your receipt and a container to transfer your fruits and veggies into. (laundry basket, box etc.) Please post under comments what you think of your new COOP experience.

Pick Up times:
Basin - 8:30 am
Burlington - 9:15 am
Osmond Elementary school- Star Valley - 12:30 pm

***Remember if you don't pick up your basket on time it will be donated to the fire department.***

This weeks offerings

Bountiful Basket will only be offering 9 grain bread this week. I hear the 9 grain bread is wonderful! There are still plenty of baskets. I will see you all Saturday.

Contrabutions for baskets, MONDAY

Contributions for baskets will begin on Monday April 12th at 10 am. Wyoming time. If you would like a basket please got to www.bountifulbaskets.org to order on Monday. If you don't see Basin, Burlington or Osmond Elementary (under Wyoming), all the baskets have been sold out. Once the cap is met at each site the baskets are all gone and you can try to order on May 1st. Ordering will continue until Tuesday evening or until all baskets are gone. If you have questions on how to order please Check out the post below or email me at nichold@bountifulbaskets.org. Good Luck!

By the way... Utah starts ordering at 1pm and the system will get bogged down a bit, so I recommend you try to order before Utah starts ordering or on Tuesday.

New Site in Star Valley

I just wanted to let everyone know that there will be a site opening on April 17th in Star Valley. The collection site will be at Osmond Elementary School. Time will be announce later.

I am really excited for sites to be opening around Wyoming. Please remember that this is a coop and in order for this to work and run properly we will need volunteers.

The following places should have sites opening in May ot June

Cowley, Wy.
Ten Sleep, Wy.
Worland, Wy.
Lovell, Wy.

And of course, opening up April 17th

Basin, Wy. 95 Baskets
Burlington, Wy 45 Baskets
Star Valley, Wy. 95 Baskets


If you would like to bring Bountiful Basket to your area, please email me at nichold@bountifulbaskets.org

HOW DO I ORDER???

I have been receiving numerous email with questions regarding how to order your baskets. So here is the skinny. You won't be able to order your baskets until April 12th so don't get frustrated if you can't order yet. This is just a demonstration on how to order.

First you will need to go our coop site at http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ if should look something like this...

You will want to look under Co-0p Offerings. ( This will only be available on our contribution days. Which will be Mondays fom 10 am until Tuesdays.) There will be nothing under the coop offerings tab until our contribution time. If you don't see your site listed, one of two things has happened. They havn't turn on the ordering part yet or all the baskets have sold out.

You should get a page that looks similar to this.

Basket Type: Right now we are only offering Conventional Baskets. In the future we hope to be able to offer organic. So please choose the "Conventional".

Date: This date will be the date your Bountiful Baskets arrive.

Site: Make sure that you choose the right site. If you are ordering in Basin WY. Make sure that it says Basin etc.

Is this your first time getting a basket You will want to say "yes". You will get charged $3.00 the first time you contribute to Bountiful Basket. This $3.00 covers the two baskets used to hold your produce. You will not be taking your baskets with you. They will stay with the site coordinater for future uses.

This is an example of what was offered on March 20, 2010. It changes each week. As you can see you can order more than just a basket. You don't need to order more but to get the add-ons you need to order a basket. Remember add-ons are optional.


When ordering you will be able to see how many baskets are left at that particular site.

Check out: Make sure everything looks right before checking out. At this time the only way to order is by credit card online. We are having success by having a friends/neighbors make the contribution for you if you don’t have Internet or a debit or credit card.

Print off your contribution conformation (receipt): Bring it to the site when you pick up your produce.

Last Saturdays Baskets

I just got off the phone with my mother in Utah and this is what she got this last Saturday.

3lbs of apples
1 lb strawberries
5 Kiwis
1 carton blueberries
8 bananas
1 head cabbage
2 bunches of asparagus
3 bunches of celery
5 cucumbers
2 heads of lettuce
1 pound of radishes
1 acorn squash

What a wonderful variety of food for $16.50. I am still in contact with the Co-0ps founders and I will keep plugging along. I have been promised that we will get a site here in Basin. I am looking for some volunteers for surrounding towns. If you are interested in bringing Bountiful Basket to your area, please email me at nichold@bountifulbaskets.org . Keep spreading the word. The more people we have in our CO-OP the better. Thanks Nichol

Welcome

Welcome to Wyomings Bountiful Basket. We are currently in the process of bringing Bountiful Basket to the Big Horn Basin. It looks like we will be getting our first deliveries in April. I have been getting alot of questions about how all this works. So here is a short explanation.

The basics: Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op, with this group there is no long term commitment- you can try it one week & then skip it the next. So far we will have two drop locations. One in Basin Wyoming at Nichol Duncans house and one in Burlington at the town hall. (There are a limited number of baskets at each site). You will pick up your fruits & veggies every two weeks and pay around $16.50 for a ‘conventional’ basket. There are also add-ons like fresh bread or granola available each week. You place your order online Friday/Saturday the week before pick-up. You will Pick up on Saturday the week after you order, show up with your receipt to receive your basket of yumminess! Remember this is year round fresh fruits a veggies.

Distribution of goods

What is the cost? The cost for a "coventional" basket is $15.00. When you first sign up there will be an additional $3.00 cost for your basket. This is a one time charge. Currently there is $1.50 for handeling and we might get a $1.00 fuel surcharge here in Wyoming, but they are trying to avoid that if possible. You will pay for all transactions online when you order. You can use a credit card or debt card.

Mexican Basket $6.50

What do you get when you order? You get a basket that is 1/2 fruits and 1/2 veggies. There are also opportunities to purchase additional items such as a variety of breads, specialty fruit/veggie packs (Mexican, Italian, Island packs) and sometimes you can order cases of things, like cherries, apples, peaches etc... All of the extras mentioned above are additional purchases above the cost of your original fruit/veggie pack (you will see the prices as you order).

White Bread 5 loaves $10.00

What is expected of me? Co-op's are purely volunteer run. Please plan to arrive an hour early if you would like to help set up baskets, distribute the produce, break down boxes, haul them off and then distribute the produce to those who ordered.

Tortillas 7 dozen $10.00

What do I need to bring?

1 - Bring your own box, bag, laundry basket or something to take your produce with you. You'll want something sturdy and durable. The baskets used at the site are re-used each time and you can't take them with you.

2 - Know the weather, this will be outside most of the time. Hats, gloves, drinking water, rain slicker, coats and jackets will be handy while working. Everything that's brought in needs to be taken away. Volunteers/Participants need to haul all the cardboard boxes away after distribution. You have between 20 and 30 minutes after your assigned pick up time to arrive and get your basket. If you do not show, that produce will be donated to a community food program.

Please email me if you are interested in Bountiful Baskets. This way I can put you on our email list to notify you of ordering dates and times. If you're interested in getting a site started in your area, let me know you can reach me by email at nichold@bountifulbaskets.org