Hey ya’ll. As the title of the post says, I went home this weekend. It was awesome. Mainly because there was some sweet NCAA volleyball watched, but I also love seeing my family. We are a pretty close unit. Plus when you are in college going home for the weekend is a nice break from the hectic schedule of school and exams, drama from your friends, and various other reasons. One of my favorite things about going to see my mom is all the food shopping that is done. I’m a cheap person, so I will not splurge on super nice groceries for myself at Whole Foods, Central Market, or Sprouts, but if my parents want to donate some goods to my cause of living then I’m not going to complain.
Oh my Whole Foods. Yes, you all should be jealous. I live in the greatest city in the world (Austin) with the best Whole Foods in the world. I’m not even kidding. Since Austin is the headquarters for Whole Foods, it is only natural that we deserve the best. Also we are getting two more Whole Foods, probably just as great as the Lamar location that I attended with my mother. I won’t lie to ya’ll, but the best thing I probably got was this freezer bag. Now I can buy all kinds of freezer and cold items, and make it to my apartment without everything turning into a complete mushy mess. Who has ever forgotten they had ice-cream in the back of their car? Hmmm maybe just me. I forget things a lot. I just blame it on my old person tendencies. My other favorite purchase is the Udi’s gluten free pizza crusts. Two in a package, taste just like normal pizza crust, dare I say even better than normal. These serve as a palate for my creativity. Almost as much fun as coming up with oatmeal combinations. I said ALMOST. Other good buys are the Envirokidz bars, Gluten Free Peanut sauce, Lucys cookies, and vermicelli noodles (duh..How else would I make my spring rolls – post coming soon about how to make them). Now I was going out on a limb trying gluten free cookie dough. This is not something I recommend. I find the taste to be indescribable. I’m going to stick making it from scratch. Also, Arctic Zero. I’m still up on the fence about it. Sometimes I have it and it tastes good, but other times I will have a couple of bites and it just tastes like icy water. What gives? Make up your mind and stop trying to confuse mine please.
Central Market is Texas’s little secret. You all may have your amazing Trader Joes (I am jealous, oh how I miss all those wonderful, cheap goods – frozen orange chicken anyone?), but we have a really good alternative. Central Market is like a fancier H-E-B (one of Texas’s main grocery store chains), and it provides healthier and more local grocery options. My dad and I have this thing were whenever we are both in town we usually go hit up the central market (this journey takes about an hour and a half) slowly going through each aisle looking at what is available. For one, Central Market has one of the best gluten free sections I have seen in a grocery store. I was able to find graham crackers, animal cookies, “bread” crumbs, and bars for cheaper prices than anywhere else. Success for the Jews! That is a jar of PB&Co that you see hiding behind various other bottles of random junk. I need some healthy fat in my life, and maybe with a little extra sugar than needed won’t kill anyone. Especially when its swirled with cinnamon and raisins. I bought a lot of baking stuff this trip. Hmmm guess I may have had sweets on my mind during this specific trip. Usually I buy more produce than anything because Central Market has such a variety of fruit and vegetables that it is pure heaven going through and sampling everything. Yes, they have healthy samples. Seriously, best place ever for the health conscious or a person who is wanting to choose better foods. They also offer cooking classes, which is where I took the fish one with my mom. Good times.
It isn’t a stay at home without going to Jew central, oh I mean Cost Co. Good place to buy bulk. While I usually would not buy normal food from here because warehouses tend to cater towards restaurants and food service industries, they actually provide a various amount of good produce. For example, organic berries at a good price. No wonder all the Jews are driving crazy outside to find a parking spot to fight for some blueberries. I eat an apple every day, so being able to buy a bulk package for the cost of buying like 5 apples at the grocery store is such a good deal for me. My advice to surviving Cost Co is to focus mainly on the produce, veggies, and other healthier items that you can buy in bulk and consume every day, and steer far far away from fatty items such as bulk candy, baked goods, and other saturated fat items. Just say no, but not to all deals because then that wouldn’t be very Jewish and smart of you.
In other shopping news, one of my friends gave me a 25$ giftcard to bath and bodyworks and recently I have become obsessed. I bought this cupcake shaped wall plug that lights up, various wall plug flavors (oatmeal raisin cookie, gingerbread, sugared donut, and caramel apple), and some gingerbread hand soap. Can I say yummy? Yes, my room smells so good that I want to eat the air. I tried. Doesn’t work to well. I also bought, well my mom bought for me as an early Hannukah present, the cake pop pan. No, not that little panini machine pan, but the one on TV bake pops or something like that. I’m going to make some sweet cake pops (I just introduced the phenomenon to a friend of mine, he had no idea of the amazingness of these sweet treats) – I’m going to work on making a tasty gluten free one then get rich of it. Yes, I always think about money.
Anyways, I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week. I start finals this week. Not looking forward to that, but in 9 days I’ll be in Israel so who cares. Plus ya’ll will get a break from me and I have some amazing guest posts lined up for that time! I can’t wait.
Where is your favorite place to grocery shop?
Do you only go to certain places with your parents to buy groceries?
