The Loot

 I know you all care so much about my grocery shopping trip, and you have been dying to see what I purchased at my two favorite stores that I live 2 hours away from, and you have been wondering what is taking me so long to show you. Or probably not. But it is my blog and it is exciting to me so you will have to endure it I guess. Or maybe not.

So here goes....

Here is the loot in all it's glory along with one little girl who really wanted to be in the pictures for some reason.

See what I mean about the little girl. When I first glanced at this picture I didn't notice her there because I was concentrating on the beautiful blood oranges and the manilla mangoes. But then I saw her sneaky little face and had to laugh. This is the Whole Foods side of the table. In addition to the oranges and mangoes we purchased the newest kind of Z Bars for kids, Iced Oatmeal Cookie, some gorgeous organic green grapes, Annie's snack mix, some fresh basil and radishes, a couple cans of black beans, aged balsamic vinegar, and a green tea I wanted to try.

But some of you know me too well and know this really is the only reason I needed to go that store. These organic raisins!!! We bought 2 pounds of them because they are heavenly and we have waited a long time to have these again. These taste like a raisin should taste, plump and juicy and not covered in sugar! Excitement!

We also purchased some more millet, whole wheat orzo, sunflower seeds, and sesame sticks, and Miles wanted to try some different kinds of La Croix which is kind of like a flavored carbonated water/pop.

We love sweet potato fries and when I saw that they had the waffle version I was super excited. I had passed on the 2 for $6 deal for the plain ones because they actually have more ingredients then I like, especially when you can make your own from a plain old sweet potato, but the waffle version sucked me in, as did the beautiful heirloom tomatoes. I love heirloom tomatoes so much! One of the other things I love about Whole Foods is the samples they have in the produce section. We picked up those apples which are called Pinata after sampling them. INCREDIBLE flavor! I grabbed the pita bread because it said it should come home with me and Faith picked out the cheese sticks which she loved from last time and of course my favorite seaside english cheddar had to come with us. The earth balance and Fage yogurt were on sale so I grabbed those too but I can get those in town.

Now on to our loot from Trader Joe's! These are apple pears. Doesn't that sound so interesting? I haven't eaten them yet but I bet they are going to be really good and then I will wish that I didn't know that they existed because I won't get anymore for a while!

Not such a great picture but we did pick up a little lunch meat that is nitrate free and some chicken sausages with sun-dried tomato. The sugar plum tomatoes also looked fabulous to me and and you can barely see it but we grabbed some whole wheat cous cous and those ginger snaps are the best! Triple ginger = completely awesome. But the real reason for our stop to Trader Joe's is those sesame almonds. I will not share.

I have said a few posts ago that I haven't really been buying salad dressing much anymore because I prefer to make it but hello! Hummus salad dressing???? I'm totally in! We cracked open the bottle yesterday just because we couldn't wait any longer. It will be on my salad at lunch today. The salsa was absolutely awesome as well. I made a cream cheese dip with it for small group Sunday night.

I served it with those veggie and flaxseed chips that I think could be my new favorite thing. Yes to carrot and tomato, spinach and garlic, and red beet and onion chips! The falafel chips were for the husband who just nodded emphatically when I showed him the bag. He has a thing for falafel.

Somebody is a total genius! This is basil perfectly portioned in one teaspoon cubes. Thank you very much to whoever thought of this!

ARE YOU SICK OF ME AND MY ENTHUSIASM FOR GOOD FOOD YET?

The last few things we grabbed from Trader Joe's were our favorite sprouted grain bread and whole wheat tortillas. Those tortillas are handmade and extra thick. Of course I also had to grab my favorite Greek olives because they are such a great deal there at only $2.99, and some tri-colored peppers, organic carrots, and already diced up kale. I grabbed some artichoke hearts and diced tomatoes because they were also a great deal. Then I decided to bring a papaya home with me too.

I almost forgot. I picked up this flavored sparkling water and while Miles was loading the groceries in the car I grabbed it from the bag to try because I was really thirsty. I opened it. I sprayed it all over the back of my husband. He didn't laugh. How did it get so shaken up just walking out to the car?

So that is my loot.

And this is my fruit bowl.

I am sure you all think I am absolutely insane to drive 2 hours to go to these stores but that fruit bowl explains much. Does your fruit bowl have a papaya, manilla mangoes, blood oranges, pinata apples, and apple pears in it? It is about variety and quality. We try to buy the things we know we can't get in Willmar and the things that have become our favorites. We also like to find new things to try. It is also about the sense of trust I have in those stores and for sure at Trader Joe's the quality for the price. I mean I can't even get those olives at Walmart for less than $4.99!

Thank you for reading this post and for putting up with my excitement. Normally I absolutely loathe grocery shopping. It is a waste of two hours of my life and you have to handle the groceries like 5 times by the time you put them all away and it costs too much money! But you could take me to these two stores for my birthday and I wouldn't complain!

Have a happy, healthy, day!