A Whole (Foods) New World

I had never been to Whole Foods before Monday. It was out of pure intimidation. People seem to have strong opinions about this grocery store-- it's too expensive, they have the absolute best produce, everything is organic and natural, etc. Jason and I are very money conscious. We clip coupons, shop the sales, and shop at Food Lion. We try to keep our grocery bill down.

But Monday was different. I had a gift card. A student gave me a $25 gift card to Whole Foods. He is one of my favorite students and the gift his family gave me at the end of the year was like a ticket to take an adventure to this mysterious place ---- Whole Foods.

So, I enlisted the help of my friend Lauren. I knew she had been there before and even makes her own salad dressing with balsamic vinegar and olive oil she purchased from Whole Foods. I knew she would be the perfect guide to take me through the store for the first time.

And, boy did I need it. There was an entire aisle of granola. Not the boxed kind, but the kind you buy in bulk. And you are allowed to sample it without paying for it. You can make your own peanut butter. And they have a cheese bar. There must have been 50 different kinds of cheeses. Lauren introduced me to the meat section. We bought a prepackaged parmesean chicken that the meat men at Whole Foods had prepared. I thought it was 2 pieces side by side in the package, but it was 2 pieces on top of each other in the package. It was a huge portion. Then came the bakery. I could put on some pounds if I shopped there every week. They had fruit tarts and cheesecakes. It was a far cry from the sheet cakes I usually see at my local Food Lion.

I purchased:
2 lbs red potatoes
1 pkg blackberries
1 watermelon
2 ears of corn
1 pkg of parmesean chicken
balsamic vinegar
4 izze grapefruit sodas
1 french baguete
1 very large container of spring mix salad

For a grand total of $35. I ended up paying $10 of my own money.I think that is a good price for all of the things that I ended up buying. I don't think I could shop there each week for the same amount of money I spend at Food Lion. But, I think I will go back for special things. Mabye one of those fruit tarts....