Grocery Hoppingby Angie

Tue
31 Mar 2009
12:03 pm
6

When I lived in Orem, I was loyal to one grocery store: Macey’s.  They were friendly, inexpensive, and relatively close to home.  Oh, I made convenience stops at Harmons, Albertsons, or Smith’s sometimes, but Macey’s generally took care of everything I needed.

Here in California, I have struggled to find any one store for the majority of my shopping.  In our little Springtown area, there is a PW Market close enough that I can walk to it, if my load will be light coming home.  After having a horrible experience there once and noticing that their produce isn’t very good, however, I haven’t been back often.  Safeway has some neat things: fresh-ground peanut butter, a gelato counter, and an extensive kitchen-ware section that takes me there every other month or so (there are no proper kitchen stores in this city!), but their stuff is generally pretty pricey.   It was wonderful, though, to have Safeway delivering groceries for a few weeks last year, when I had surgery – what a great service!  I visit Costco once or twice a month to stock up on pantry and freezer items (I never thought I’d say so, but their salmon and shrimp are so good!), but I have learned to never buy bread or produce there.

The one store that has the best blend of everything I like & need is probably Nob Hill – a friend of mine suggested I go there several months ago, and it is a really great store: decent prices, yummy bread, nice variety of healthy stuff, and really good produce.  Their staff is very nice, too.  Unfortunately, they’re way over on the other side of town.  I usually take my shopping there on the weeks that I have my blood tests, since it’s right by the lab.  Trader Joe’s is near there, as well, which has a lot of unique items, good produce, and reasonable prices.  My husband loves it when I shop there, because I usually bring home one or two interesting new things to try.

Last of all, I try to save some of my grocery money each week to go to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings.  It’s out in Pleasanton, which is about a 20 minute drive, but it is such an interesting and rewarding experience that I really feel that it’s worth the extra time.  I’m learning more about when different fruits and veggies are in season, and it’s neat to actually get to know the local growers.

Consequently, I find myself grocery hopping.  I guess that with my resolution to get more fruits and veggies on the table, a husband who is avoiding cow milk (we’ve tried soy, rice, and almond so far – our dentist says it’s healthier), and a cat who is rather particular about her litter and the brand of food she eats, on top of just trying to save money, I can’t expect to find everything in one place.

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  1. Momma Hoffman
    12:30 PM on March 31st, 2009

    Wow! That’s a lot of hopping about! Just in time for Easter – maybe the big bunny will hire you to help deliver all his goodies on Easter morning 😉

  2. Dave
    12:54 PM on March 31st, 2009

    Hey Angie,

    I am interested to hear as to why your dentist says soy, rice, almond milk would be better for you than cows milk. Is he referring to health in general or for your teeth? If it’s for teeth I have definitely heard arguments for cows milk being good for developing healthy teeth.

    I’ve also heard that drinking soy milk blocks important enzymes from being used by the body. Most of my information comes from my favorite cooking/nutrition book called nourishing traditions. It’s actually based on research done by a dentist named Weston Price. You can go here to learn more if you like:

    http://www.westonaprice.org/

    Hope you and Jim are doing great.

    Dave

  3. michelle
    8:22 PM on March 31st, 2009

    Okay, just for me, the next time you got to the farmer’s market in Pleasanton you have to try the chicken the guy in the chicken wagon has if you havent’t before.It is so good! We were just missing it this last weekend. He has yummy roasted fingerling potatoes too!

  4. karrie
    9:43 PM on March 31st, 2009

    Ya! It’s good to read you again! ; ) I LOVE TJ’s!!We’ve been to the Pleasanton FM, but it’s been a while. Have you been to the Livermore FM that’s here from May – Oct? It’s one of our favorite Thursday afternoon activities (when it’s not too hot).

  5. Angie
    9:50 PM on March 31st, 2009

    Michelle – Yes, I’ve tried the rotisserie chicken and fingerling potatoes – they are amazing! We’ve actually had that for dinner twice now 🙂

    Karrie – I’ve never been to the Livermore FM. It will certainly be easier to get down to 4th street than to drive out to Pleasanton! I look forward to exploring it when they switch in May.

  6. Angie
    9:54 PM on March 31st, 2009

    I just realized that there is one more grocery stop I often make: our favorite kind of salsa (besides, of course, my mother-in-law’s incredibly amazing homemade salsa) is “Archer Farms,” which is only sold at Target; so, when we have Mexican on the menu for the week, I often visit Target as well. 🙂

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