Veggie/Fruit Co-op

With some help from my sister-in-law we started our 1^st round of veggie/fruit co-op last week! It’s been in the works for a few months so I was excited to start it up and reap the rewards. Above is a picture of our car full to the brim with all the goodies we bought to fill our members baskets.

Members dropped their laundry baskets off Friday night so they were ready to go Saturday morning….and by morning I mean right at the crack of dawn. My bud Jennifer and I left her house at 5:15am to make our way to down to the bulk market before they sold out of fruit and veggies. It was definitely an experienced and I’m so glad my veggie co-op experienced sister-in-law was there to hold our hands through the process!


Once we were done with our shopping trip we headed home, unloaded the car, and started sorting all the goods. Kent (my fiancée) even came out to help! He’s a math genius which I am not so his awesome math skills came in handy. He’s in the mist of sorting a huge bag carrots in the picture above.


Here’s the breakdown: Our basket this cycle included 6 oranges, 6 apples, 4 grapefruit, 4 plums, 1 cantaloupe, 2 heads of cabbage, 2 heads of romaine lettuce, 3 sweet potatoes, 4 rustic potatoes, several broccoli crowns, 1 package of cherry tomatoes, 1 package of mushrooms, 5 jalapenos, and fresh garlic. All that for only $15.00! I was super excited. As many of you know I’m a bargain shopper so it was fun to shop and see what a deal we were getting!

    Once everything was sorted and ready we called our members to let them know their baskets were ready to be picked up. Most people were just as just as excited as Jennifer and I!

    
Above are a couple meals I made with previous veggie co-op basket. I was lucky enough to sub in another group for a week. That’s when I caught the bug and knew I needed to get my veggie/fruit co-op group going.
Left Picture: Oven roasted yellow squash, baked chicken breast breaded and stuffed with cream cheese and green onions, oven roosted jalapenos stuffed with pepper jack cheese and turkey bacon.
Right Picture: Veggie stir-fry with firm tofu, fresh mushroom couscous, fresh green beans sautéed with a little garlic and turkey bacon.

On the Menu this Week (using co-op goodies of course)

*Stuffed Cabbage Stoup (yes I meant to say stoup) with brown rice
*Spaghetti with mushrooms and whole wheat pasta
*Grilled pork chops with grilled sweet potatoes topped with parsley lemon butter
*Marinated chicken breast served with Texas style stuffed jalapenos and a dinner salad
*Whole wheat apple muffins as a little treat

I’m Liking up With:
My Frugal Family
Tip Junky
Hope Studios
The Thrifty Home