Baskets of Bounty

We have been participating in the Bountiful Baskets co-op the last few months.  Every other week I order a basket online and then I go up to the elementary school on Saturday morning and pick it up.  It is a co-op where everyone pays the same amount, $15, and gets the same amount of fruits and vegetables.  We usually end up getting $40-$50 dollars worth of produce.  The participants are asked to come and volunteer atleast once a month.  Volunteering means helping unload the trucks and distributing the produce to the baskets.  I have been volunteering quite a bit and now I am in charge of the distribution once a month.  I get a free basket out of it so what the heck.  We have been eating so many more fruits and vegetables than we really ever have.  I never know what we are going to get but once we have the produce I try and make menus and figure out ways to use it all.  We always get bananas and grapes and usually lettuce.  We have had broccoli, spinach, potatoes, yams, and even parsnips.  For fruits we have had different kinds of pears and apples, oranges, nectarines, pineapple and one time the most awesome mangoes I have ever had. This time we are getting persimmons.  Hmm that is interesting.  As long as you order a basket you can order what they call add-ons.  One of the add-ons is the most awesome 9 grain bread.  We love it toasted with peanut butter and my homemade peach-nectarine-mango freezer jam.  I also made raspberry freezer jam, raspberry peach freezer jam, bottled tomatoes and apple pie filling.  I end up making banana bread as often as once a week and I make a mean fresh tomato pasta sauce.