Homemade Blueberry Muffins

I have decided that deciding what to put on here is just as bad as "what's for dinner". I hate that questions. I often find myself too hot in the summer to even think about cooking. So to make my life easier, I am just going to start posting recipes that I will be using my produce from Bountiful Baskets. Seeing as how we are really trying to save our pennies around here, I have really liked picking up the produce and then deciding my meals around that. It keeps me out of my rut and back in the kitchen.




So if you did the Bountiful Baskets this past week, you would have received Blueberries! I was so excited about getting these. I have two recipes that I have been wanting to make, but did not want to fork out the money for blueberries. The first one is Blueberry muffins. I love these and really do not mind the "muffins out of the box" kind, but there is something about homemade.


Blueberry Muffins


1 cup Milk
1/4 cup veggie oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (you can use frozen if you like)


Streusel Topping:


1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp firm butter
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon


* Heat oven to 400 degrees.
* Prepare streusel topping by mixing ingredients together until crumbly.
* Grease bottoms of 12 medium muffing cups (or use paper muffin cups)
* Beat milk, oil, vanilla and egg.
* Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until flour is moist. The batter will be lumpy.
* Fold in blueberries.
* Divide evenly among the muffin cups.
* Sprinkle with 2 tsp of streusel topping.
* Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Keep checking back for another yummy recipe I am making with my Bountiful Basket

Davis County School Peanut Butter Fingers

This one is for Kallie!

There were a few things I really liked about school lunch. The rolls for example. Loved those, and their peanut butter fingers. I would buy school lunch on the days that they made these, just so I would get one! They are that good. I am not sure that they still make these or not. Seeing as I have not had school lunch in... well, lets just say a long time. So as per request, here are the famous, super yummy, no good for you, Davis County School Peanut Butter Fingers.

Peanut Butter Fingers

Cookie:

3/4 c butter, softened (not melted!)
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c peanut butter
2 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 c oatmeal

* Cream sugars and butter together.
* Mix all other ingredients into sugar mixture
* Spread on greased cookie sheet
* Bake @ 325 for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE!!!!! You want the cookies to look almost done. Still soft.
* While the cookies are still warm, spread a thin layer of peanut butter on top. The warm cookies will melt the peanut butter enough to be able to spread it.
* Let cookies cool before frosting.

Frosting:

1 cube butter, softened (not melted)
3-4 T cocoa
4 c powdered sugar
1/3 c milk

Enjoy, and yes, these will go straight to your hips!

Bountiful Baskets

(This is one of the baskets that I got)
I really feel like I need to pass along this tip. Times are tough, and I just seem to be spending more and more at the grocery store. I have tried couponing and yes, I do like it and it does help. Yet I never see any coupons for produce, just some sales. Fresh produce is one thing that we love at our house. I would much rather give my kiddos nectarines than fruit snacks. I also am a firm believer in having your milk delivered. It may cost me slightly more, but then I do not run to the store for milk and end up with Oreos, more milk to go with the Oreos, and every other thing that was on sale, even though I did not plan to participate in that sale. It seems to get me every time. For example, Alberstons had a really good deal on soda pop. (Like we need that!) But I was in there picking up 1 thing that I forgot that we were out of and ended up with a cart full of "sales". It is just better for me to stay away as much as possible and having my milk and other dairy items delivered has really helped. So when I found out about Bountiful Baskets I was excited but also skeptical. It was one of those "too good to be true" things. I also was worried about the quality I would get. Was it really worth it? So let me explain a bit about it and why I am so excited.

Bountiful Baskets (click here for their website.) is a co-op of produce. They have pick-ups every other week. (This Saturday August 8th is one of them) They have slots that you have to reserve. Reservations are open on the Tuesday before the pick up at noon, and close the next day, Wednesday at 10:00 pm. Slots do fill up, so I recommend reserving yours on Tuesday. What you do is you go online and make what they call a "donation". This is $15.00 plus a $1.50 handling fee. If it is your first time, there is a $3.00 charge as well. You can order with friends and share the $1.50 handling fee. You just need one person to reserve all the slots for everyone. What this "donation" gets you is a basket of produce. 1/2 fruit, 1/2 veggies. It has been around 30 lbs of produce each time I have gone. (So about $.50/lb.... can't beat that!) You do not get to pick what produce you get. As Kenzi says, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Each time I have gone, I have loved all that I have gotten. And plan my meals with what I have. I was worried that the produce would be sub-par, and stuff that needs to be thrown out. This is not the case. All the produce is on the verge of being ripe. So you do not need to use it all that day.

Once you make your donation then you can also purchase cases of produce. The choices change each time. One time it was a case of peaches for $18.00. While another time it was 25 lbs of tomatoes for $10.00. They also do breads and speciality packs. The specialty packs I have seen are Italian and Mexican. Both come with spices and other produce to you would need to make some really good Italian or Mexican dishes. You can not purchase a case of produce, bread or a speciality pack without getting a basket. So if you are doing it with friends and one friend does get the basket, then you can add on your case, bread or pack on to theirs. You simply need to have at least one basket ordered.

If you forget to pick up your basket, or are late, (they usually only give you 20-30 minutes after the pick up starts to get your produce), they will donate it to the local fire house, where, they will either use it or donate it to a homeless shelter or other charity. There are no refunds.

Since this is a co-op, everyone is a volunteer. To volunteer, all you need to do is show up 1 hour earlier than the scheduled pick-up. Volunteers help sort the produce and help those who ordered pick up their produce. Volunteers also get to get their baskets first.

When you pick up your order, don't forget to bring a laundry basket or rubbermaid tote, something to take your produce home in. Many people bring gallon sized ziploc bags to organize their produce right there. I just take my laundry basket and sort my produce when I get home. I also recommend getting there 15-20 minutes early. The lines can be long and they fill up really fast.

You may be asking where are the pick ups? Check the website, there are many pick up locations through out Utah and Arizona. Arizona does have an organic pick up on the off weeks. Utah does not.

Wow, that is a lot of info. If you have questions, post them. I will be happy to help. I am just so excited about this that I really thought I needed to share! I love seeing the "sales" as the store and adding up what I would have paid if I had gone to the store to get all this produce. It is amazing to see the difference.