Earth Fare!

Today, I went to my very first Health Food store. My husband and I braved Earth Fare. Since it's a Saturday and they had something special going on, it was pretty crowded. I wish I would have made my first experience at a little less crazy time, but that's ok. We just braved the crowd :)

The good news is that I found a lot of great stuff that really wasn't that expensive. The bad news is that I found a lot of great stuff that was terribly expensive! So, I really am going to see what all stores are available in my area and see what are the best deals at each store. Then I'll have to rotate where I shop each week and stock up on what the best deals are at each store.

So, the big question, what did I get? Well, I really wanted to take a picture, but got home and washed all my fruit and vegetables and put everything away before I remembered. So, you'll just have to be happy with a list.

Unsweetened Almond Milk, Organic Applesauce, Organic crakers, citrus soda (ok, this was a Bob Marley brand that my husband just HAD to try), Organic peanut butter, Gallon of Organic Whole Milk, Frozen Berries, Organic Strawberry Jam, 2 Jars of Organic Salsa, Organic cookies, 3 Lemon Yogurts, Whole Organic Chicken, Bunch of Organic Bananas, 2 containers of Organic Blueberries & a Container of Grapes.

Wow, that's a lot of stuff! And guess how much I paid for everything? Drum roll please....$31.64! Can you believe it? Ok, so I have to confess that this is probably a once in a lifetime thing. You see, when you sign up for their Tomato Bank program, they give you 1,000 points which is $10 off. They also send you a coupon for a free whole chicken and to get five of their organic products for $1. That was the peanut butter, strawberry jam, applesauce, cookies and crackers. I honestly would not buy the cookies and crackers again. I wasn't that impressed with their ingredients, while certainly better that what I used to buy!

All in all, it was a great stop and I got some great things. It's always easier once the first shopping trip is behind you! There were a couple of things that I felt were pretty pricey and so didn't buy while I was there. First was organic apples. They were a little over $7 a bag and I knew Walmart had organic apples. So I decided to check out the price on them there since we had to return something anyway. I was glad I waited when I found out they were only $5 a bag there. I also waited on cottage cheese, big mistake! No organic cottage cheese at Walmart, so I had to buy normal and it was only about $1 cheaper than the organic at Earth Fare.

So, for you newbies, like me, here are some tips:
1. Grab the small book of coupons that are in a basket by the front door. I saved 75 cents on my frozen berries.
2. Bring you own bag! You get Tomato Bank points if you do!
3. Still read labels! There were some yogurts that had a ton of sugar in them!