Menu Plan: Bountiful Baskets Ideas

This week in our Bountiful Basket, we received (as you can see) pears, apples, oranges, bananas, a pineapple, two lemons, romaine lettuce, broccoli, eggplant, mushrooms, corn on the cob, two bunches of celery, and asparagus. I also ordered organic nine-grain bread.

In what seems like perfect timing, a friend of mine told me about and let me borrow her Colorado Collage cookbook. It's wonderful! There are so many unique recipes, using ingredients that you'll find from time to time in your Bountiful Basket (like fresh mint) or any grocery store. Here are a few new ideas from the cookbook using the asparagus, eggplant, and limes and mint I still need to use up:

• Roasted eggplant soup
• Chilled asparagus soup
• Chilled minted pea soup (uses limes and mint)

Other recipes to try from this cookbook this week or next:

• Spiced Pear muffins
• Baked pears
• Oatmeal banana waffles

There are over 300 pages in this cookbook. I ordered one used on Amazon and am really excited to receive my own copy!

In other news, yesterday I made egg rolls using the recipe a good friend from church gave me. I used the cabbage I had leftover, along with the some of the 25 pound bag of carrots I bought last time, water chestnuts, green pepper, green onion, and ground beef.  I plan to do a tutorial post sometime this week on how to make egg rolls. They were yummy! (Leftover filling made great fried rice tonight).

Last week, I ordered a box of apples. I plan to make applesauce this week, and an apple pie or apple crisp. We juiced a few before our juicer stopped working in the middle of juicing. The juice was delicious! Tasted like cider. (We have/had this juicer: Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juicing Machine)

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal, grapefruit
• Applesauce bread, yogurt (maybe smoothies) 
• Scrambled eggs, toast, pineapple
• Spiced pear muffins, yogurt, granola
• Coco-Wheats (the boys always ask for this on Fridays) with a spoonful of peanut butter swirled in
• Banana Oatmeal waffles
• Pancakes, freshly squeezed orange juice (or if we can get our juicer working...)

Lunches:

• Chicken strips, applesauce, broccoli, carrots, celery and ranch dip
• Carrot soup, breadsticks from Master mix
• Broccoli-cheese quiche, carrot sticks
• Bow-tie pasta carbonara (using bacon and asparagus), salad
• Chili, cornbread
• Roasted eggplant soup, or one of the others from the list above
• Dinner leftovers

Dinners:

• Steak (probably pan-seared, since using the broiler smoked up the whole house last time)
• sauteed mushrooms, corn on the cob, salad, maybe baked pears for dessert
• Coconut shrimp with pineapple dipping sauce, Ginger lime carrots, strawberry cake or cupcakes with buttercream frosting
• Sloppy joes, oven fries, orange wedges
• Enchiladas, salad, pineapple
• Tilapia with asparagus gremolata, tossed salad with lime vinaigrette, homemade applesauce
• Italian shell pasta (with sauteed eggplant)
• possibly eggplant parmigiana (if I can talk the guys around here into eating it)

I still have lots of limes to use up, so here are some snacks and desserts to try, time permitting:
Lime muffins
Lime mousse
Lime bars

What are some of your favorite ways/recipes to use the produce I have on hand right now (pictured above)?

(sharing with Menu Plan Monday)