While eating breakfast this morning the local newscaster said that the average age a daughter begins to notice 'she's becoming her mother' is at age 32. I'm pretty sure I began to realize this as a teenager. Something my mom and I both share is a love of Whole Foods Market. Not only am I thankful for Whole Foods Market but I am even more thankful that North Raleigh's newest store is less than two miles from my house!
I have many friends who say, "Whole Foods is so expensive, how do you justify shopping there?" My response is always the same, "Pay Whole Foods now or pay a hospital later! They do have weekly sales and accept coupons too ya know?"
Now granted not everything needs to be purchased at Whole Foods. Buying an organic banana doesn't make much sense but buying good quality meats and healthy snacks without artificial sweeteners, colors and preservatives does! So please indulge me and let me share with you a few of my favorite Whole Foods products.
Whole Foods has been open for two weeks and I have been at least seven times. I cannot help but be inspired to cook after walking through their beautiful store full of fresh produce, seafood, meats, etc. It's so fulfilling to know that I am eating and serving Jason a nutritious meal that won't be taking any years off of our lives! A note about living forever...please see John 3:16, the only guarantee!
Meats and Seafood: Applegate Farms is a staple for organic meats and cheeses. Their animals eat grass (as animals should) and are never given artificial growth hormones or antibiotics. Healthy animals don't need medicine! Their meats don't have nitrates or nitrites and products like bacon and hot dogs are uncured. Some of these products can be expensive so I stock up when they go on sale! Remember that they all freeze well! In the past two weeks I've also purchased these selections fresh from the counter: flounder (on sale), catfish (on sale) and grass-fed ground chuck (free with a coupon). No need to be a vegetarian if you buy good meat! Bring it on!
Cheese: YUM! Organic Valley is my 'go to' brand. I bought the raw sharp cheddar cheese for 50% off combining a sale and coupon and I bought the other sliced cheeses on sale too. Did you know any of these cheeses can be frozen if needed? I also like to buy real shredded Parmigiano Reggiano straight off the cheese wheel. I dream of traveling to Parma, an Italian cheese mecca, and seeing these beautiful wheels in person one day. I cannot get enough parmesean cheese! In the unlikely event it lasts more than a week or two in my fridge, it can be frozen. Whole Foods' fresh mozzarella is also excellent. A cheese connoisseur will never go hungry here!
Here's where Paula Deen and I always agree...butter, sour cream and mayonaise make everything better! You'll never find margarine in this house! See the previous post about cool whip-plastic isn't for eating. Butter on the other hand, always unsalted, we go through this quickly! Sour cream-wow what a gift! I don't remember being exposed to sour cream until college. Boy was I missing out! Currently it is the star ingredient in my blueberry pancakes which I make from scratch every Saturday morning. (recipe to follow in a later post) And who can enjoy a tomato sandwich without mayo? I buy safflower mayonaise at the recommendation of my mom. Safflower oil is a polyunsaturated fat (this has been shown to lower your risk of heart disease).
Yogurt: AKA Jason's new favorite snack! We've become quite the yogurt experts these past two weeks. Greece doesn't have the corner on the yogurt market any more. Who knew there was Australian and Icelandic style yogurt too? All of these pictured were purchased on sale!
Here's what we've learned...
Australian-style (Wallaby): smooth and the thinnest of the three kinds
Greek-style (Chobani): smooth and thick, Jason's favorite
Icelandic-style (Siggi's): smooth and VERY thick, my favorite
Pastas and Grains: We've been eating Near East products for years! They have a wonderful line of rice pilafs and couscous, every flavor and style! Another staple in our pantry is Annie's pasta. They make several varieties of mac and cheese, white cheddar, aged cheddar and regular cheddar - all natural and organic ingredients of course. Both Near East and Annie's products are regularly on sale. Time to toss out your Rice-A-Roni and Kraft macaroni and cheese!
Snacks: When I've got a few minutes to snack between patients at work, I grab a Cascadian Farms organic chocolate chip granola bar. These are just as good if not better than the Quaker chewy counterpart. Jason likes the harvest spice variety which is comparable to General Mills Nature Valley crunchy granola bars. My other go-to snack is 1/4 cup of cashews, roasted and unsalted. Instead of Ritz crackers, I like Late July's butter rounds or the 365 crackers shown here. A good substitute for Oreos is Newman-O's creme filled cookies. No partially hydrogenated oils or trans-fatty acids here! Late July also makes many good cookies!
Extras: While I do prefer the taste of 'fake' maple syrup, it's hard to justify using it after reading the ingredient lable. Luckily Jason prefers the real stuff! I love honey-on biscuits, on toast, on engligh muffins, on cornbread, on anything! Raw is better! (generally the rule when it comes to healthy eating) Jason and I keep at least five types of jam and jelly on hand at all times. What can I say, we like options. Blackberry is one of our favorites! And last but definitely not least, peanut butter. Please throw away your Jif, Peter Pan or any other scary fake processed brand! My rule of thumb for peanut butter is if it doesn't need to be refrigerated, there's something very bad in it which keeps it preserved and soft at room temperature. Real peanut butter needs to be refrigerated and gets hard in the fridge. Once you taste the difference it won't be hard to switch! Real peanut butter actually tastes like peanuts!
Now America you be the judge...what will you be serving your family for dinner tonight?
Per my accountant, I'm now offering personal tours of North Raleigh's Whole Foods Market to supplement my grocery budget.
6 comments:
now I see where the 3 hours comes into play with this post. What a very informative write up and I'd be glad to take you up on a personal tour. I have my free pizza coupon to use. And I love your quote...Pay Whole Foods now or pay a hospital later. haha!
you are quite the natural blogger!!! I must be honest and admit that I still just thoroughly enjoyed my cinnamon rolls... fake and from a can. Maybe you should make me some homemade, raw cinnamon rolls and I might change my mind!? :)
I love you Caitlin! And I remember getting a lecture from you about butter in the seventh grade. No margarine. Only REAL butter! I listened then... I'm still listening and learning! I love Whole Foods, too. Are you hunting down raw milk as well? (You don't have to answer that since it's illegal in NC, because our laws are backwards about that kind of thing.) Are you heading up the farmers markets there as well?
I LOVE that you now have a blog and I LOVED this post! We watched Food, Inc. a couple of months ago (have you seen it?? It was definitely life-changing for us) and have slowly tried to incorporate more whole foods into our diet. I like to think we've always been healthy eaters, but healthy doesn't always just mean low-calorie. We have switched to cage-free eggs and are trying to only buy grass-fed meats. (I'm telling you, you won't be the same after watching Food, Inc.) Keep up these kinds of posts! I love the humor you add, too. :)
Love.this.blog!!! I will be a frequent blog-reader here!! As to a comment for this post: inspiring! I would gladly take a tour of Whole Foods with you. I am a little intimidated (in large part b/c I have never done the research into why organic, which ones matter if organic, etc) when I walk in. I want to feed my family responsibly, with good-balance, but on a strict budget. Teach me how to do both (like do you have a main source for Whole Foods brands coupons).
Can't wait for the next post!
LOVE your blog girl!! I used to go to Whole Foods ALL THE TIME when we were first married and living downtown. I almost fell out of my chair when I read that they opened a store in North Raleigh- score! I am slowly adding organic and natural products to our regular list of pantry staples. We love most of the brands you mentioned, and I learned a few new ones too! I can't wait to check out this new location after we move!
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