On Sunday I took one of my sons to get new gym shoes, because his pair from the beginning of the year were torn, and tattered and falling apart! We went to a strip mall and as we were walking back to the car, I see a sign for a grocery store I have never seen! I knew immediately I would be coming back today since I had the day off and check it out. If I am driving anywhere and see a grocery store, no matter how big or small, ethnic, mom & pop, I am going to make it my mission to check it out. I love being introduced to new things I have never seen before, or tried. I also think smaller grocery stores tend to have better prices.
This was the name of the store. I like when stores have some of their items in front so to entice you in!
My sister taught me a trick about grocery stores. Usually they have a rack of items that are a great deal! I saw these bananas and knew there was going to be muffins or a banana bread in my future! 9 bananas for .39 cents!
And since I am a stir frying fool, I picked up some pea pods. Look at the price $1.32! I easily would have paid $3.00 or more at Jewel or Dominick’s.
I love buying new things I wouldn’t find anywhere else. Check out this guava yogurt! They also had pear flavor, mango, papaya and I bought all different flavors!
All the aisles were neat and clean. The layout of the food was comparable to Whole Foods. The best part about it was almost half the store was fruits and veggies!
This was my bounty! You can’t even see in the back, but I have ground sirloin, boneless chicken breasts and a pork tenderloin. I also got lots of veggies, cantelope, papaya, mexican mango, strawberries, milk, etc… And the total of all this:
Yep! $50.00!!! And I am making stir fry tonight, pork tenderloin one night, burgers, and I have lots of veggies and fruit to take to work, and fill the kids lunch boxes. I will definitely go here again! Right next door to this market is a Fruitful Yield. It’s a health food store. So, I had to go in and check it out.
They sell a lot of vitamins and supplements, plus have a lot of vegan items and gluten free products. I wanted to get some new flours I have been hearing/reading about
I actually didn’t know this existed until today. Quinoa contains all 9 essential amino acids your body needs. I knew I could probably add it to make muffins, pancake mix, waffles, cookies etc…
I also picked up Oat Flour. I have read a few recipes using that which I will post later
A lot of recipes for baked goods call for Whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve always used whole wheat flour and once I saw this bag, I immediately knew the difference. Whole wheat pastry flour is much softer and sifted more making a lighter bread/muffin.
I’m not sure what to do with the wheat bran yet, I have to do some more research on that. I’m assuming you can also add it to baked goods for added fiber. If someone already uses this, I would love to hear your ideas.
So after all the shopping, I came home and made banana muffins. I used the pastry flour, the oat flour, the quinoa flour, ground flax seed, honey. I will be posting the recipe tomorrow, because this is a super long post! They turned out so good!
I hope when the opportunity arises, you can check out smaller grocery stores, ethnic grocery stores, etc… and learn some new things like I did today!
I love all those local markets!!! I’m a huge fan of Valli Produce and Shop-n-Save, they’re mostly Latino foods, but the most amazing produce and deli! Jewel? Dominicks? Did we discuss this? Are you in Chicago??? Sorry if we’ve talked about this already… i lose track of who’s where!
oh. my. gosh.
$50?! FIVE ZERO?
Holy cow!!!!!! good job!!
Wow, I’m impressed!!! $50 for all of that …. nice!!!!
And 9 bananas for .39 cents?? Ha, that’s awesome!
I love grocery shopping and grocery stores, too … I only wish I had more in my town. Most of them are kinda junky unfortunatley and there’s not a huge selection … to get to the places I’d prefer to shop at I’d have to drive an hour sooo that rarely happens. Ha, maybe I’ll have to move! ; )
Mara, I don’t think we’ve talked about that before…I live in Oak Park. The store I talked about is in North Riverside.
Where do you live??
Jennifer,
Is this the one over by Shoe Carnival? I’ve never actually been in there but I feel like it looks familiar… I’ll have to check it out!
Also, have you been in Tony’s on 26th and Harlem yet? I wouldn’t say they have totally outstanding deals, but the few times I’ve been there their produce section gives Whole Foods a run for their money in my opinion!
Kelly, yes it is the one by Shoe Carnival. I have been to Tony’s except my only problem there is that the store is so big, I tend to buy more food! I love their deli and cheeses and meats are really inexpensive!
Hey! Thanks for stopping by my blog and showing support! Your advice was definitely good and it’s something I’ve considered as an option – saying something along the lines of that I can’t eat it for health reasons. So, thanks for letting me know it works!
What a GREAT shopping trip you made! Wow, everything looks so healthy and beautiful!
Thanks so much for visiting my blog and posting your tip about ice cream! smaller bowls sometimes really do the trick 🙂
what great grocery buys!!!!! all those fresh fruits and veggies look delish.
Thanks for the comment. The bolognese was good and had nothing much in really. It’s amazing what you can make with the scraps you have left in the fridge.
I love grocery shopping too and you have some amazing finds and cheap. I’ve just posted my grocery shopping if you’re interested.
Grocery shopping = catharsis.
Oh, man! I am impressed!!!
We always get stuff off the produce rack in the back too. Great deals and the finds provide inspiration! I’m glad you had fun exploring the new store!
Jenn, I just noticed this new store too but hadn’t checked it out yet. But after your post, I def will. Isn’t this where the old Egg Store used to be or maybe it was the Italian grocery store that had wonderful meats and cheeses — both are out of business now. I have been to that Fruitful Yield in the past. Like the other post, I like Super Tony’s although sometimes it overwhelms me but the prices of their produce are about half of Jewel (I have checked!).
Deb, The store I went to is where the old egg store was. Where the Italian grocery store was (right next to it) is closed, and nothing is in its place yet.
You must check it out!! Big Savings!!!