Bountiful Baskets

Bountiful baskets is a Co-op that distributes produce and other goods at a great deal. Bountiful Baskets is available in many locations. Click here to see if they are available in your area. You pay $15 per basket (plus a $2.50 fee for AZ at least) and each week you can get one or more baskets for you to pick up at a designated location.  I have been doing this for a little over a month now and I'm hooked! You really do get a great deal on produce items. This week my basket includes a 5 lb bag of potatoes, 2 heads of romaine lettuce, 2 bunches of celery, 3 acorn squash, 1 bunch of kale, 1 pineapple, 4 tomatoes, 8 oz pkg of whole white mushrooms, 8 anaheim peppers, 8 pears, 11 apples, and 2 oranges.

Another cool thing I like about this there are add-ons you can purchase as well. Each week can be different but there are some items that always seem to be available. Like the breads and granola.  This was the first time that I saw this Tropical basket as an add-on. This cost me another $23. I'll admit when I first saw how little was inside I was disappointed. But when I went home and researched the prices of some of the items I saw that I did end up getting a good deal. I searched up the prices for dragon fruit, and let me tell you, it's a bit ridiculous. The average price for ONE is $8-$12!!!! FOR ONE!! So what I ended up getting was the dragon fruit (easily was worth half the box in value alone), one plantain (about $1 for one this big), 1 pineapple, a large coconut (in my local store a small one costs $2.99), about 2 bunches of mint (again in my local store about $1.99 per bunch), 3 mangos (anywhere from 79 cents to 99 cents each), 4 whole vanilla beans (about $2 each!!), some tropical granola (considering how they price their other granola I would say this is $5 worth), 1 thing (don't think that's the proper term) of ginger, and some interesting tortillas. I say interesting because they are cinnamon and chocolate tortillas. Since they are what I considering a specialty  item I would value it at about $4 for the pack. I basically paid $23 for about $42 worth of produce. Once I realized the value, I felt much better about the box. 

I really enjoy bountiful baskets and will continue to use them as my go to place for produce. I feel that the value is incredible and it helps me mix up my cooking routine. Helps me be creative with my cooking and think outside the box, when it comes to dinner. For more info please click here.