The great thing about this site is that you can sign up to be contacted when ordering is open only for the products you are interested in. They offer a TON of products from dry goods to fresh produce. What I usually buy from them are peaches, concord grapes, apples, pears & honey to name a few. You may be wondering what on earth I do with bulk fresh produce. The apples and pears come in 25 pound boxes which is half a bushel. In years past I have bought apples and split the order with a friend, kept the whole order and what we couldn't eat, I made apple juice or applesauce. The peaches, we eat and then I peel, chop and freeze for smoothies or homemade ice cream or cobbler. The grapes we do not eat, because they have seeds. I actually buy those only for making juice. The honey, when bought at the best price point, comes in a 5 pound bucket. So I split that up with friends and divide it out among quart jars. Most all of the sweetener I use when baking is honey, so I go through it faster than most! We also eat honey by the spoonful once a day during the spring and fall for our seasonal allergies. The reason this works is because the I get it local.
Today, I was noticing that the latest order of pears I bought was beginning to get some soft spots. Because I CAN NOT stand to waste anything at all ever, I decided to make pear sauce. I used my apple sauce recipe and substituted pears instead.
Recipe:
Pears pealed and cored, chopped (not sure how many I used, just enough till my pot was full)
fresh juice from 1 lemon
2 cups filtered water
Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 1 hour, or until pears easily mash
add to blender and puree (this took me about 3 blender fulls)
pour into clean jars, cool and refridgerate
I did not add spices or sweeteners, I prefer it this way and so do my kids. Can use this in any recipe that calls for unsweetened applesauce.
If you think it needs sweetened, add 1 cup pure maple syrup to the entire batch while hot and stir well to incorporate, then blend. Could also experiment around with cinnamon and nutmeg, spices.
If you are using the powdered probiotics for your kids, try mixing them into the pear or apple sauce and you should have no problem getting the kids to take them! My 7 year old came to me last night with an upset stomach. She said it felt crampy and like bubbles were popping in there. So I gave her some probiotics and rubbed peppermint oil on her forehead for the headache she also complained of having. She went to bed and slept all night with no complaints this morning!
Have you heard of Under the Sun Natural Foods? http://www.underthesunnaturalfoods.com/retailer/store_templates/shell_id_1.asp?storeID=7DC6AE1B944845A4BBE5FC3D3EBD2441 I have used them for most of my bulk items for 2 or 3 years now. I order once a year with another lady and they deliver the order. I'm sure they're much much closer to you and perhaps in driving distance from you. I find their prices to be very reasonable after looking at many other bulk food providers in the region.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Once I went to the site, I noticed that I have actually been to the store in Lobeville, TN. I looked at the price list, and compared it to things I usually buy. I still think that Trader Joes is cheapest on the dried goods things I buy most often! With Bulk Natural Foods, I mainly buy fresh produce, as in my fruits. They have farmers all over the US that they work with to buy at a discounted rate. Then there is a drop off location here in my city. They have many drop locations all around. Thank you though for giving those following and reading another option to think about!
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