Yesterday was my first trek into the new Mom's Organic Market closest to my house. The store is a bit small, but you can still find everything you need from basic groceries to laundry supplies and hair care. Price wise, it wasn't much more than buying organic at the nearby large chain supermarket. The produce at MOM's was a hundred times better looking than any produce I've seen all year! I picked up the biggest Portobello mushrooms I've ever seen and they were locally grown, a few limes, tomatoes, red peppers, local apples, zucchini, kale, parsley, and an orange (the only fruit Kiddo will eat). I also grabbed the other things I needed for my Fresh 20 meals for this week and a few other odds and ends. I came out at $131. Not much different than if I did the same at the mega supermarket.
Some other things I love about the store:
The staff was friendly and knowlegeable and very willing to help me find anything I needed
The store was super clean! Unlike the other store I'm used to where there are boxes EVERYWHERE and a ton of people constantly stocking, the aisles are clear and only one or two people out stocking things and taking notes of items that were low
The checkout is not cluttered with junk candies and things aimed at little kids. A HUGE plus when shopping with Kiddo in tow!
Samples of new products available right by the products in the aisles. Quite handy when I contemplate gluten free graham crackers and there's a new flavor to try right there (they got kiddo's seal of approval btw)
Lots of vegan options of favorite foods
I think this is my new grocery store!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
A Week of Discovery
So...
I finished Forks Over Knives! LOVE IT! Then went on to watch Vegucated. While I also loved that, it included some graphic slaughterhouse images that I just couldn't handle. Both my horses were one step away from the auction house. The youngest horse was headed to an auction that deals with slaughterhouses. I couldn't help but think of my babies being put in that misery. Most of the documentary was just following three individuals on their path to being Vegan. The graphic scenes were few and far between. Lots of information on factory farming and how such farming is horrible for the planet. I definitely recommend both documentaries!
I also had a horrid experience at my local large chain grocery store. Things I needed were out of stock, the bag kid made some snide comment about my reusable bags while I was allowing my 4 year old to bag at the self check out while I scanned the last few items and took everything from Kiddo and bagged all my groceries in plastic bags. Everything I bought seems to have gone up in price because it says "organic". COME ON PEOPLE! How is anyone supposed to eat healthier and avoid unnecessary chemicals when you charge nearly twice as much for the organic versions! After leaving absolutely furious, I did some internet searching to find a better option. The perfect grocery store does exist! A GMO free zone with local produce. Unfortunately, its over an hour away.... I still want to head there to check it out but it will have to wait for a weekend trip.
Today, I'm checking out plan B, MOM's Organic Market. They opened one about 20 mins from my house and claim to keep things priced lower than other health food stores. I do like that they use green energy to run their stores and are on top of reducing waste in their stores. I will most definitely post a review in the next few days after my shopping experience.
I finished Forks Over Knives! LOVE IT! Then went on to watch Vegucated. While I also loved that, it included some graphic slaughterhouse images that I just couldn't handle. Both my horses were one step away from the auction house. The youngest horse was headed to an auction that deals with slaughterhouses. I couldn't help but think of my babies being put in that misery. Most of the documentary was just following three individuals on their path to being Vegan. The graphic scenes were few and far between. Lots of information on factory farming and how such farming is horrible for the planet. I definitely recommend both documentaries!
I also had a horrid experience at my local large chain grocery store. Things I needed were out of stock, the bag kid made some snide comment about my reusable bags while I was allowing my 4 year old to bag at the self check out while I scanned the last few items and took everything from Kiddo and bagged all my groceries in plastic bags. Everything I bought seems to have gone up in price because it says "organic". COME ON PEOPLE! How is anyone supposed to eat healthier and avoid unnecessary chemicals when you charge nearly twice as much for the organic versions! After leaving absolutely furious, I did some internet searching to find a better option. The perfect grocery store does exist! A GMO free zone with local produce. Unfortunately, its over an hour away.... I still want to head there to check it out but it will have to wait for a weekend trip.
Today, I'm checking out plan B, MOM's Organic Market. They opened one about 20 mins from my house and claim to keep things priced lower than other health food stores. I do like that they use green energy to run their stores and are on top of reducing waste in their stores. I will most definitely post a review in the next few days after my shopping experience.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Welcome!
I've recently embarked on a new journey. A food journey. I love food, but for most of my life I was loving the wrong food. Processed junk food was the staple of my diet since I was a kid. As a result, even when I was at my fittest, I never felt that healthy. After I had Kiddo, I had put on a good 40 pounds. I dieted and exercised and lost those 40 pounds. I still don't have my body back and my diet was still not the best.
Last fall, I stumbled on the 100 Days of Real Food blog http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ I was inspired to "clean up" my family's eating. Since then, I started taking baby steps into cleaning up our diets. We switched a lot of foods we loved to organic versions (like instead of Cheese Its, we get Annie's cheese crackers). Kiddo (unknowingly) switched from eating regular chicken nuggets and french fries to vegetarian versions. Then, in March, I signed up for The Fresh 20. Its a meal planning service with multiple menu options for different dietary needs including Vegetarian and Gluten free. Since March, I have been primarily vegetarian. What does that mean? Well, eating out as a vegetarian sometimes leaves me with a gross house salad as my only option for food. Now in those cases, I'll opt for a not so vegetarian, yet still healthy-ish meal. I show at a lot of horse shows and there is hardly any option for anything not deep fried much less vegetarian at those so one weekend a month a BLT wrap was my lunch.
Not long after discovering The Fresh 20, I found the documentary Forks Over Knives. I fell asleep before it was over, but I have found that it is on Netflix as well and I'm definitely planning on finishing it as soon as I get some free time! Everyone should definitely check out this documentary!! I loved the first half and can't wait to finish it!!
Where did the blog name come from?
I'm a country girl at heart. Our house is in a neighborhood in a fairly rural part of Maryland. I basically grew up on a farm though. When I was 12, I started riding lessons. Since then, I spent every weekend at the farm doing anything they needed help with. At 17, I bought my first horse, that I still own, and then spend every day at the barn as soon as I was out of school and had to be dragged home for dinner and homework. I'm actually still at the same barn, every day, and taking Kiddo along for the crazy beautiful ride of farm life.
The Crunchy Granola part is just a combo of 2 terms my bosses call those people that are just a bit out there with their "I need to be in touch with nature" beliefs.
Last fall, I stumbled on the 100 Days of Real Food blog http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ I was inspired to "clean up" my family's eating. Since then, I started taking baby steps into cleaning up our diets. We switched a lot of foods we loved to organic versions (like instead of Cheese Its, we get Annie's cheese crackers). Kiddo (unknowingly) switched from eating regular chicken nuggets and french fries to vegetarian versions. Then, in March, I signed up for The Fresh 20. Its a meal planning service with multiple menu options for different dietary needs including Vegetarian and Gluten free. Since March, I have been primarily vegetarian. What does that mean? Well, eating out as a vegetarian sometimes leaves me with a gross house salad as my only option for food. Now in those cases, I'll opt for a not so vegetarian, yet still healthy-ish meal. I show at a lot of horse shows and there is hardly any option for anything not deep fried much less vegetarian at those so one weekend a month a BLT wrap was my lunch.
Not long after discovering The Fresh 20, I found the documentary Forks Over Knives. I fell asleep before it was over, but I have found that it is on Netflix as well and I'm definitely planning on finishing it as soon as I get some free time! Everyone should definitely check out this documentary!! I loved the first half and can't wait to finish it!!
Where did the blog name come from?
I'm a country girl at heart. Our house is in a neighborhood in a fairly rural part of Maryland. I basically grew up on a farm though. When I was 12, I started riding lessons. Since then, I spent every weekend at the farm doing anything they needed help with. At 17, I bought my first horse, that I still own, and then spend every day at the barn as soon as I was out of school and had to be dragged home for dinner and homework. I'm actually still at the same barn, every day, and taking Kiddo along for the crazy beautiful ride of farm life.
The Crunchy Granola part is just a combo of 2 terms my bosses call those people that are just a bit out there with their "I need to be in touch with nature" beliefs.
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