A year ago I would have laughed at the thought of saving money while eating healthier--that is until I found a co-op with the benefits of both worlds! The best part? No pesky coupons to clip or organize.

If you haven't already heard of Bountiful Baskets, a cooperative that began in Arizona, then you are really missing out! Bountiful Baskets started just a few years ago and has made strides in offering high quality, low cost produce to its participants. They are now active in at least 16 states and are constantly growing and adding new pick up sites around the nation. Lewisville has had a pick up site for a while now, and the DFW area number of participants and pick up sites has just now really began to grow. Don't see your city listed on the location tab? We're opening several new sites in the DFW area soon so check back!

With Bountiful Baskets co-op you'll contribute $15 (for a conventional produce basket) or $25 (for an organic produce basket), and you'll typically receive anywhere from $30 to $50 of produce in return! Once you contribute towards a basket, you will then have the opportunity of purchasing limited "extra" items such as cases of apples, carrots, pomegranates, organic breads, cookies, wheat berries, grains, etc. The extra items change every week. For more FAQ click HERE.

Here's a real conventional basket from Bountiful Baskets that I received in February (you don't know what you'll get until Saturday):



8 large oranges
2 grapefruit
3 yellow onions
8 pears
4 green bell peppers
6 oz blueberries
6 tomatoes
7 apples
1 head cabbage
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 pound green beans
1 bunch asparagus
3+ pounds red potatoes
I also bought 25 pounds of carrots for $8.50 as an add-on/extra item that week

Rule of thumb: One conventional basket will feed a family of 5 for 1 week.

Bountiful Baskets is completely volunteer run which is one of the reasons you end up saving money. I happen to be one of the hundreds of Volunteer Site Coordinators which means I spend 2-3 hours every other week setting up the Lewisville site and running it on pick up day. Lewisville runs both A and B week (that's means every week) with participation time starting on Mondays at NOON and ending Tuesday evening or until all baskets are spoken for (limited number of baskets, usually 96, at each site). Lewisville however has been consistently "selling out" for the past two months Monday afternoon or evening. That's why we need your help!

First, if you are interested in participating in this co-op, go to BountifulBaskets.org, register for an account, and contribute online starting at NOON today.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We NEED more Volunteer Site Coordinators in Lewisville! Our current site (LISD Bolin Administrative Center on Garden Ridge and Main) will soon be losing our A week unless someone steps up to run it. That means Lewisville will go back to running every other week again. We could also use additional pick up locations in Lewisville so I've added that information below too.

Some of the benefits of starting your own site or being a Volunteer Site Coordinator with Bountiful Baskets include:

FREE basket! (for your time and hard work); I now contribute $30 for up to $200 worth of produce each month

No more trying to remember to order on your week (BB automatically does this for you!)

Feeling really good because you know you are helping your community save money and eat healthier!


To start your own site or become a Volunteer Site Coordinator, you must:

*Train at an existing site for a minimum of 3 times, plus a 1 hour on the computer or telephone paperwork training session
*Get permission from a business or other venue to host your site at (I'm thinking southern Lewisville, Bus 121 area, but anywhere will work). No churches.
*Be flexible, pick up times change, truck schedules change, trucks are late, etc
*Be patient, participants can get grumpy, volunteers sometimes don't know what they're doing, see be flexible above
*Find a back up person in case you cannot run the site for a weekend and have them train 3 times as well (vacation, work, family, etc)
*VSCs (Volunteer Site Coordinators) spend around 2-3 hours each week, mostly on Saturdays, performing various simple tasks
*Commit to donating unclaimed produce to a local fire station

If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer Site Coordinator or starting your own site, please email me at screweduptexan (at) gmail (dot) com. Questions and comments can also be added to this post and I will answer them if I can.

(This is Fartface, above. My kids named him for his stinky farts when he was kitten. We found him at the Old Alton/Goatman's Bridge in Copper Canyon.)

Hey all y'all cat loving creatures out there! Thought I'd pass along a great deal being offered by Animal Wellness Center of Lewisville and The Colony--get your male cat neutered for just 5 CENTS this February 7, 2012 (Thursday)!

Our cat, Fartface, got his male parts snipped a few months ago by this same vet and we couldn't be happier. He no longer pees in our house and we don't have to worry about contributing to the cat overpopulation (though not guaranteed for you, our male cat now asks to go potty by meowing at the back door, weird yes, but hey no pee in the house). Neutering also has many benefits for your feline friend such as:

1. Besides preventing unwanted litters, neutering your male companion prevents testicular cancer, if done before six months of age.

2. Neutered cats and dogs focus their attention on their human families. On the other hand, unneutered dogs and cats may mark their territory by spraying strong-smelling urine all over the house. Many aggression problems can be avoided by early neutering.

3. Don’t use that old excuse! Lack of exercise and overfeeding will cause your pet to pack on the extra pounds—not neutering. Your pet will remain fit and trim as long as you continue to provide exercise and monitor food intake.

4. The cost of your pet's spay/neuter surgery is a lot less than the cost of having and caring for a litter (ESPECIALLY AT 5 CENTS!). It also beats the cost of treatment when your unneutered tom escapes and gets into fights with the neighborhood stray!

(read more facts about neutering and spaying on the ASPCA's website)

Info from Animal Wellness Center of Lewisville and The Colony:

The nickel neuter is for male cats only.

NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY

Feral cats OK.

In The Colony- On Tuesday February 7th- Drop off starts at 8am and continues through 10am. All cats will be awake and ready to go home by 1pm that afternoon.

In Lewisville- On Tuesday February 7th- Drop off starts at 10am and continues through 3pm. All cats will be awake and ready to go home by 7pm that night.

For All Surgeries:

*All Cats must be in a carrier. Please put a towel in the carrier with your cat.
*ONE cat per carrier.
*An additional fee will be charged for pets who are:
Cryptorchid (retained testicles in males)- additional $25.00
*Current Rabies vaccination required on all surgery patients. Bring Rabies certificate as proof of current vaccination or Rabies vaccination can be given for $15.00 per patient.
*Remember to put all food up and out of your pet's reach by midnight on Monday February 6th. Water is ok. Do not take up your pet’s water.

Find addresses and phone numbers by checking out Animal Wellness Center's website.

Personally I think "Gingrich Wins S.C. Primary and Obama laughs his head off because he knows it's going to be an easy win now" makes for a better headline than what The Washington Post wrote. See, if I wrote the headlines, people might actually start buying newspapers again.



PS: I bet Steve Southwell is now rethinking his decision to give me writing privileges.

PPS: Can anyone think of a better/funnier headline?

We had two birthdays recently--my oldest son turned 9 and my husband celebrated his 34th birthday. I think the birthday that ages me the most is my son's. I mean he's 9. NINE. Gah, it seems just yesterday he was starting pre-K and just last week I was changing his diapers. I remember when I thought people who had nine-year-olds were old...and well now I'm that person with the nine-year-old.

I think the number one mistake I ever made with my children's birthdays is not planning any sooner. Last year's birthday was my first attempt at organizing anything it was just a small get together with three of his friends from school. Not a big deal. This year I thought I'd make his ninth birthday extra special by actually planning some activities with some of his friends. So, I sent out an email and text literally TWO days before the date.

You'd think only one or two people could make it with that short of a notice.