Blessings, Baskets & Breadsticks

Wonder, of wonder, miracle of miracles, the casserole fairy came to visit my house last night! I had posted on facebook saying that I was very happy, all I wished for was a casserole fairy to make my breakfast for the morning. Forty-seven minutes later we heard a knock on the door, and who do you suppose it could be? You guessed it:

We found two delicious breakfast casseroles in a foil pans and some yummy chocolate chip cookies to boot. The casserole fairy still has not revealed him or herself. I suppose that is the way with fairies. Well, I let Titus test the cookies for poison and he didn't die, so we figured it was safe. I was delighted by this kind act. How joyous to have food show up randomly on your doorstep! Next time I will have to post on facebook about my wish for a massage fairy.......

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To attest to the high intensity, high excitement life that we live around here, I will share one of my highlights of last week. It was like a produce Christmas. What I am talking about is called, Bountiful Baskets. It is a co-op that I heard about from a friend at MOPS. Basically you pay $16.50 and they pool every one's money to buy high quality, low cost, as local as possible produce. You are also supposed to help volunteer if you are able. Then you show up and voila:

A bountiful basket. Just to give you an idea, here is what I got for $16.50:

6 grapefruit

3 (bad) mangoes

7 bananas

5 red delicious apples (and they were delicious - super sweet and crispy)

4 pears

8 kiwi fruit

5 oranges

1 bunch kale

1 bunch romaine lettuce

5 Roma tomatoes

1 lb small white mushrooms

5 green peppers

Overall, everything was excellent quality except the mangoes. I haven't calculated it yet, but I think that it was a pretty good deal. I especially like the variety of fruit. As a pregnant person I could eat fruit 6 times a day, but usually only buy 1 or 2 kinds per week (whatever is on sale). It was fun to have so many different options. The main drawback is that you are supposed to volunteer. This will end up making me feel guilty, because I highly doubt if as a pregnant mother of small children that I will wake up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning to sort produce. But, I will feel bad about it. So, there you have it. Our exciting life, revealed.

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Oh yes, with my bunch of kale I made Zuppa Tuscana, from the Olive Garden. It was super delicious!