A Trip to Whole Foods - Ouch!

The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
~ Psalm 28:7

Today I volunteered, taking along the two little ones, at our homeschool resource center -- which is similar to a really fun small library. We checked items in and out, chatted with other homeschool families and had a good time. We're going to try some books on tape and cd. I think they'll be good!

My kids came across a handbell set and I honestly got a headache. OMG... both were fighting over who could ring bells the loudest and the fastest... and singing at the tops of their lungs... Oh my aching head.. The noise ended and the headache did not. I was pretty hungry though, having only eaten a banana and a half a gallon of coffee... we needed some food, and soon - before Nicolas "dropped' (hypoglycemic). The kids ate all the food we had brought with us and even my "emergency" food of apples and bananas.

We were near in location - to the only Whole Foods market/store in the Madison area...

Hmmm, I had planned on going to Trader Joe's, which I know pretty well now. But - I had heard good things about W.F., including the fact that they have a nice big fresh organic food bar. I thought - why not? The kids have been good, other than the bell incident... so, I (knowingly and willingly) decided to break the rules and make a run for some rice milk at Whole Foods.

I knew that there was a slim chance we would get out of the store without drama. The question now was "how much drama?" There was some drama when they both wanted to stand/ride on the end of the cart and that would normally catch some moms off-guard. Not me! I expect them to try to do this every time. I won - they did not. But - they did scream at each other at least 4 times. But - it didn't affect me much. The fact that the store was so busy - cray-busy, was stressful. Little kids walking around with lots of people driving their full carts all over... ugh...

I had 3 total strangers overhear (eavesdrop) what I was saying or hear what I was looking for and they gave me their personal recommendations, without hesitation. Wow - good thing those opinions were free, because the prices were more than what I am accustomed to. ((Cha-ching!))



The things that put us over of budget were the food bars. BEWARE of the delicious, succulent, esthetically pleasing and incredible smelling food bars... OMG. And, I am not talking about little individually wrapped candy-bar or granola bar-types of items. I mean a big food bar - as in salad bar buffet.

You would think that having 3 children who are all master manipulators would have made me wise and tough by now. Aw shucks, I think I've gone soft! Poor little kids, they just wanted to eat some fresh, organic healthy fruits and vegetables, after all...


The food bars price out at $7.99 per pound. They each filled their cardboard boxes (wonder what they weighed?) with fresh mushrooms, tomatoes and fruits. Uh...yeah - $17 later... and the food was gone in just 10 minutes after getting them buckled in the van. Nope - never taking them there again.

Did Whole Foods have a nice market? Yes. Was the food organic? Yes. Did it meet my expectations? It went beyond my expectations as far as cleanliness, VARIETY, selection, etc. But, it also cost me $55 for just 2 little paper bags of food and the fresh food. That's a lotta money, on food, for mostly just Nicolas.

I did get 2 bottles of organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, casein-free, soy-free, high fructose corn syrup-free, tasty salad dressings! They were 2 for $5, on sale. A good deal. I have been searching all over the county for dressings for the boy, as we eat fresh salads at almost every meal now. The same exact product at a big city grocery store would have been $6. So, a buck more. Not normally something I would notice... but - with all the dietary changes, I notice. In fact, I keep every single receipt now. Not a penny is unaccounted for.

Our treasures from Whole Foods.

See that Gorilla Munch? It's pretty yummy, actually. And - the giggles come out from our 4-year-old, who forgets the name and calls it Monkey Munch. It sure gets the kids going, that's for sure. And - it's good to be able to laugh at our new special diets. Really good... The only breakfast cereal that we have been eating is Rice Chex, which is approved by the Celiac Disease Foundation. Free tip: Buy Rice Chex at a large discount store, rather than a small locally owned grocery store. It will be like bogo. Buy one - get one free. Honest truth.

Speaking of those with Celiac disease. I am sorry, if you do have this condition. I don't know what you are going through, but - I know how it is for my son, who is GF and CF... But - please, please look at what you can have!! Ok? You can have dairy. Milk, butter, cheese, cream cheese, and just about any form of cheese. Hey - we do live in Wisconsin! Please be thankful for what you can have. : We also have to avoid soy and sugar.

It took us almost 2 full hours to go through about half of the store. Label reading takes a long, long time.

IMPRESSIVE - ok, I have to say that I am extremely impressed with something I found on the Whole Foods website. I'm even almost excited. Ready? It's this:

Unacceptable Ingredients for Food, at Whole Foods - Click here to see

What? No benzoates? I am allergic to them and didn't even consider that I could find others, let alone a market, that knew about them. No aspartame? Cool, I banned that from our house in 1999.

They buy locally too. That's important to me. I like to support the little guy. If I had more money, in addition to the housekeeper and laundry lady, I would shop a lot more at Whole Foods. Maybe Hubs and I can go there on a date sometime. Remove the words "Hubs" and "date" and it will be a strong possibility! (Ha!)

The bigger brother and the little sister.

They're 17 years apart. She adores him. Can't you tell?

They've been great about not eating forbidden foods in front of Nick. And, Nicolas has been great too, because he wants to be able to concentrate better. It's amazing, actually - for a Friday. Maybe I should start calling our Fridays fantastic? Freaky would apply and be more fitting, but - fantastic has a nice ring to it - don't you think?