Bountiful Baskets

Let's play a game. H0w much do you think I paid for all this food:

6 bananas
6 apples
6 peaches
1 seedless watermelon
1 cantaloupe
12 sweet peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
6 tomatoes
4 onions
4 artichokes
1 head romaine lettuce
1 head spinach


I got ALL of that for $15!! How, you ask, did I accomplish such an amazing feat of shopping genius?

Bountiful Baskets is how!

Bountiful Baskets is a local food co-op that allows you to buy produce for about 2/3 less than you would pay at the grocery store. I heard about it from my boss a few weeks ago, and then it came up again when we started doing a Local Food Challenge this month at work. I got my first basket this morning and I was so amazed at how much food was in there!

My favorite part about it is that you don't know ahead of time what food you will get each week (except that it's half fruits and half veggies) so it really forces you to think outside the box and try new recipes. I already made a peach-pear smoothy for breakfast and some fresh salsa for lunch. Tomorrow I'm going to bake some onion rings. The artichokes seem like a challenge, but I am excited to try them!

Day 12: My favorite recipe (for real this time)

Creamy Southwest Chicken Crockpot

Combine in crockpot and cook on low all day:

• 1 lb chicken breasts (raw or frozen is fine)
• 1 c salsa
• 1 c chicken broth
• 1 can corn (drained)
• 1 can black beans (drained)
• 1 pkg taco seasoning
• 1 can green chilies or jalapenos

During last 30 minutes, stir in:

• 1 c sour cream
• 1 c shredded cheese

Serve with tortillas or over tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Day 11: Your celebrity crush

Day 10: My favorite neighbor

I don't have a favorite neighbor. I hate them all, specifically:

• The skinny, white, wanna-be gangster who wears the same wife-beater-style Lakers jersey every time there is a Lakers game
  
• The family above us with two small kids, a dog, and wood floors
• The guy downstairs who threatened to sue us for something the previous owners of our condo did
• The guy in the next building who doesn't have car insurance but decided to drive his car anyway and rear-ended me in the process
• The lady with one arm and her ghetto friends who tried to get me in the middle of their cat fight
• Whoever is responsible for the cops being here at least once a week
• All the people who pile their trash up next to the dumpster rather than throwing it inside
  
• The new people across the hall who really need a Diaper Genie

Day 9: iPod on shuffle

Well, it's not actually an iPod, it's a Zune, which in my opinion is much better :)

First 100 artists on shuffle:
(duplicates removed)

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Beck
Queens of the Stone Age
Robin Thicke
Atmosphere
Paulina Rubio
Sufjan Stevens
The Game
Regina Spektor
Janelle Monae

Green Day
Blue October
Carlos Ponce
2 Live Crew
The Black Keys
The Frames
Buddha-Bar
Daddy Yankee
Sharleen Spiteri
Liz Phair

Dave Matthews Band
Papa Roach
Zero 7
The Dirty Projectors
Jane's Addiction
Semisonic
Alanis Morissette
Mary J. Blige
Citizen Cope
India Arie

Busta Rhymes
Maroon 5
My Chemical Romance
Gin Wigmore
Sara Bareilles
Rilo Kiley
Thelonious Monk
The Vandals
Girls Aloud
Carrie Underwood

OK Go
Goo Goo Dolls
Sia
Shakira
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Fleetwood Mac
Bjork
Ani DiFranco
Destiny's Child
Flogging Molly

Indigo Girls
Tracy Chapman
Jill Scott
Nek
Mark Ronson
Madeleine Peyroux
Missy Elliott
Hilltop Hoods
Elvis Crespo
Tegan and Sara

Elbow
Gym Class Heroes
Fey
Warpaint
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Jack Johnson
Hoobastank
Felt
The Kooks
Otis Redding

Outkast
Ray Lamontagne
Beyonce
Neko Case
Sam Cooke
Lily Allen
Mercedes Sosa
Bettye Swann
Them Crooked Vultures
Local H

Joan Osborne
Joss Stone
Julie Andrews (Sound of Music Soundtrack)
Gary Jules
Foo Fighters
Mr. Cheeks
Kelly Clarkson
Curumin
Marit Larsen
Keller Williams

Shelby Lynne
Linkin Park
Alesha Dixon
Dispatch
88 Keys
The Killers
Seether
Griffin House
She Wants Revenge
Phoenix

How many artists do you have in common with me?

Day 8: When I was lost

Working in Tooele brings some adventures and challenges that I never experienced in Salt Lake. Since Tooele County is so large, we sometimes have to drive many hours to our client's homes. The farthest locale is Ibapah, which is basically in the opposite corner of the county. You have to drive 90 minutes to Wendover and then south through Nevada and Utah for another 90 minutes to get there.



Ibapah is located on the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Indian Reservation. I was asked by the Tribe to come out and give a presentation about child welfare and to meet the ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) specialists that we work with on the reservation.

Remember that scene in the Hangover when they show up late to Doug's wedding and Stu says, "Sorry, Mapquest took us a on really crazy route." That was my life last Tuesday when my coworker and I drove to Ibapah.

Things were fine until about an hour south of Wendover, when my GPS said to take a left. You would think the fact that it was a gravel road would cue me in, but I was oblivious. We drove higher and higher into the hills for nearly 30 minutes before we realized how lost we were. We drove through a little abandoned mining town called Gold Hill. Then the GPS conveniently lost its signal. The higher we got, the wetter the roads became. It got so slick and muddy at one point that I didn't dare stop the car for fear that we would sink and never get started again. We wouldn't have been found for days.

I bet I am the first person to go 4-wheeling in the State's Civic. Bet you didn't know that your tax dollars got spent on things like that!

On top of being lost and pumped on adrenaline, I had to pee like a race horse. I nearly had to pull over and pee on the side of the road in front of my male coworker. There aren't even trees or bushes to squat behind!

After being lost for over an hour, we decided to give up on the presentation and make our way back to the highway. Turns out if we had stayed on the highway rather than taken that left, we would have made it to Ibapah about 20 minutes later. We eventually made it, and were still able to give the presentation. Lucky for us, Native Americans have a very fluid sense of time, so they really didn't care that we were late. They were even gracious enough to enter us in their drawing in which my coworker and I both won a prize! Where else can you win a prize for being late?

There are many other funny tidbits from that day, including the police officer who bullied me during my presentation and the embarrassing sex scene in my book on tape, but I'll save those stories for another day :)

Day 7: What invention would you like to see in your lifetime?

I hate when you have this great idea to invent something, and then you find out someone else already invented it! When I was about 10, I had this amazing idea to invent a drive-through gas station. Why go inside if you could order your Diet Coke and your Hot Tamales from the guy in the little window?! I was SO MAD the first time I actually saw one of these places.

I also hate it when you see the coolest, simplest invention and you think, "Why didn't I think of that?! I could be a millionaire right now!" I should have invented:

• Those photos that looks like letters by Letter Perspectives
• Monthly shoe clubs and/or monthly purse clubs
• Dr. Scholls Fast Flats (I never would have had to walk around Vegas without shoes!)
• Electric wine openers
• E-book readers
  

I think it's funny to hear about other people's ideas for new inventions. My college roommate wanted to invent a GIANT person-sized blow dryer to put in your bathroom and stand in front of when you get out of the shower. It would dry you instantly so you'd never have to use towels or be cold. That sounds so stupid to me!!

I can't wait to see what sort of technology is invented before I die. I hope one day I'll be able to buy my groceries or board a plane with a simple scan of my eyeball (a la Minority Report). I want to be able to see images on the backs of my eyelids, like movies, books, or the internet. Maybe one day we can get cell phones and MP3 players implanted in our bodies so we can control them instantaneously just by thinking who we want to call or what music we want to hear. And of course, I would love the ability to teleport (cheaply) so I can visit any place I want and never have to commute to work!

Day 6: My first encounter with a bully

The first bully I knew? Myself!! I was a really mean kid in elementary school. I distinctly remember at least three times I got in trouble for bullying other kids:

1. I pulled the chair right out from underneath a kid who was working on an art project. He had done nothing wrong to me. He was just dorky so I wanted to make fun of him. He fell FLAT on his ass and everyone in the class was laughing hysterically.

2. A group of "mean girls" and I got kept inside during recess for a whole month by the school social worker to participate in some group activities designed to teach us about the evils of gossiping. We played that game Telephone in which one girl starts by whispering a sentence to the girl next to her, and by the time it gets through 10 girls, it's a totally different sentence. For example, "The leaves are in the trees," could be, "Australia has kangaroos and wallabies." OK not that drastic, but you get the point.

3. My mom and dad got summoned to a meeting in the principal's office to address my penchant for pinching my peer's butts. Pretty bad boundaries, right?! My parents were mortified because I learned it from seeing my dad do it to my mom all the time.

Why was I such a mean kid? I think back on this a lot because I'm so ashamed to admit I did those things. My best hypothesis is that I was trying to compensate for a pretty mortifying medical problem I was experiencing at the same time -- chronic urinary tract infections, which contributed to me peeing my pants in public at least 3 times that I can remember in elementary school. Excuses aside, I still feel horrible for my behavior, and I hope I never caused long-term emotional or social damage to anyone. Maybe my career choice was a subconscious way to counteract all the bad things I did when I was younger.

Day 5: My favorite recipe

Well I might not say it's my favorite recipe of all time, but it's my favorite this week, because it won me the "Most Creative" prize at our office bake-off!

Cake Pops (a.k.a. Cake Balls)
1. Bake a cake.
2. Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes.
3. Crumble the cake into a large bowl (use a hand mixer to crumble very finely).
4. Stir in 3/4 -- 1 can of frosting (depending how creamy you want it).
5. Blend with a hand mixer until a dough forms.
6. Chill the mixture in the fridge for about 30 min (this makes the next step easier).
7. Roll the dough into balls. Place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. (I use a melonballer so my balls are consistently-sized).
8. Freeze the balls for many hours (otherwise they will get crumbly and fall apart in step 9).
9. Dip the balls in melted chocolate.
10. Enjoy!!

The first time I made them, I had a hard time getting the chocolate to coat the whole ball evenly. It was really bugging me because I wanted them to be perfect. The next time I made them, I put sticks in each ball (hence the name "pops" this time) and it was MUCH easier to dip because you don't have to worry about 100% coverage. I won't do them without sticks now.

You can use any flavor of cake/frosting/chocolate that you like. I tried white cake/chocolate frosting/white chocolate as a trial run before the bake-off. Then for the bake-off, I used red velvet cake/cream cheese frosting/white chocolate. They were a huge hit both times! The next flavor I want to try is key lime, and I might coat with salt.

You could also use various toppings or decorations for added pizazz. I did U of U for the bake-off. I heard about someone else rolling the balls in crushed candy bars. I also heard about someone who decorated each pop like an owl for her daughter's birthday party at the aviary. Cute!!

It was easier for me to break the process into two nights. Day 1: bake the cake, forms balls, and freeze all night. Day 2: dip in chocolate. Sounds labor-intensive, but it was really simple that way. We also found that the pops tend to taste better the next day. Overall summary: easy, cheap, popular, and delicious!

Day 4: My first concert

My mom never let me go to concerts, so my first one wasn't until I moved out. I was 18 or 19. I saw Green Day and Jimmy Eat World at the E-Center (now the Maverick Center) with two friends from my ward and high school, Beth and Dusty. Those bands are okay, but I don't like them enough to pay to see them nowadays. I think I just went for the sake of going. I remember there was so much pot in there! I couldn't figure out how people got away with that at the time. The coolest part was when the drummer from Jimmy Eat World and his entire drum set turned completely upside down! It was pretty sick. After we left, Beth rear-ended someone in my car. Luckily it didn't do any damage.

Now, I have a concert addiction. I guess I'm trying to make up for lost time. I would go to a concert every night if I had the money. My next few concerts are:

• Janelle Monae & Bruno Mars
• hopefully Adele if I can get a ticket
• Brandi Carlile & Ray Lamontagne