Organic Update: Whole Foods Revisited

Remember last week when I sent forth the Organic Challenge: What's Your View? Okay, I promised I would give you the low down on whether the food stretched or we felt it was worth it etc. So here's the highs and lows.

Best Purchase- The $15 turkey breast...not organic, but all natural, which means, no hormones, steroids or antibiotics. They are free roaming and well kept. Their diet is monitored but not promised to be organic. Okay, I can live with that. That turkey breast was approx. 2 1/2lbs. before cooking. It was dinner one night and a hefty sandwich fixin' the next day for four. Yes, the same one that was the proverbial Phoenix rising from the ashes with the curry crust. Click here to get the recipe. It was so luscious and moist; it sliced beautifully for a sandwich on crusty bread, aged cheddar cheese and a big handful of lettuce. Totally worth the initial cost. It was a bargain with the amount of meals we made out of it. We still have a nubbin' of it left in the frig.

Coupons!- I guess I was expecting that Whole Foods wouldn't have coupons. But they do and they are good ones. Most all are a dollar, some even $2 off. The fliers at the entrance of the store are full of them and then I found yesterday (after my trip to the store...wah, wah.) that there are more on line, click here! So take advantage.

Buy one, Get one free?- Yes, WF (we will refer to Whole Foods as WF from now on) had some two-fers going on. I found a fabulous, I mean fabulous, all natural smoked sausage, buy one get one free. No nitrates or preservatives. Meat was all natural etc. Awesome. It was so delicious, much less salty and process-y tasting.

Did the food stretch all week long?- The answer is YES! I was surprised. When I looked in our basket I thought, I'm for sure going to have to run to the big Texas market, that is close to my house, at least once this week...ehm, okay, I just remembered. I did have to go there once, but it wasn't because we ran out of food, it was for stuff like diapers and stuff I just plain forgot at WF. But as far as what we bought, cooked and prepared from WF, it was plenty and we were quite satisfied.

365 and WF brand- Their version of generic brand, great quality, good price. I buy their organic milk, canned items and the frozen pizza was great and a fab price!

One of my favorite "SCORE!" items-Well, as I was meandering over to the bread section, bracing myself for the price of organic bread, I was distracted by the WF fresh baked items. What I found was loaves of their rustic Italian mini breads for 99 cents each! The ingredients are simple and organic. It looks and tastes like white, crusty bread but a bit healthier. Is it as healthy as the 18 grain bread? Probably not, but for it being organic and delish...it was going in the basket. I got 4 loaves and 3 loaves would have lasted the week. But SUCH A GOOD BUY! The bread is so great for toasting...it's amazing. It was even more amazing as I saw the price for the organic regular loaf bread for $4.95 a loaf.

Other pluses- I found that because we were spending a bit more for our food, placing more focus on choosing better quality and buying less over all, we were more careful and caring with our food. I think it's a good way to look at our food, making it stretch, not be so wasteful and in turn getting better food down into our tummies creating healthier bodies.

Two words, Olive Bar- It's $8.99 lb. It's a buffet of salty, rich, meaty olive-y-ness. My personal favorite? A green olive that I cannot remember the name of, let alone pronounce, but I know it from the cafes along the sea walk in Naples. They aren't overly salty, that's why I like them and they have such a oily, olive flavor. Oh, so good. And the most perfect color of green.

Let down, sorta: Things are just more expensive but not just for the sake of being expensive. You really are getting better quality. But for things like diapers, trash bags, Q-tips and razors, those best be bought at Target or Wal-mart. Ya know? Also, I think the more I shop there the more I will figure out the in's-n-out's of the place.

I will say I am pleased with WF. Service is superb. I truly enjoyed "grilling" the fish monger and butchers. I can't help myself. I mean, I am paying an arm and leg for meat now, so they better give me the 411 on it all. And you know, I can honestly say, they deliver every time. I've machine-gunned questions at about 4 different meat/fish peeps and they have all been knowledgeable, kind, helpful and quick to answer. So they get the Foodie House stamp of approval. Tip on the meat/fish: I buy 3 meat/fish items for the week. Last week it was the turkey breast, salmon and house made hot dogs. The rest of the nights were leftovers or a vegetable main. It was not hard to do. I was so pleasantly surprised. This week was house made sausage (for sausage lentil soup), rock fish (which was insane) and skirt steak which will be made into fajitas.

Oh! I forgot to mention the produce. It's just exquisite. The strawberries I got this week were organic and so incredibly delicious. I have lowered my expectations of strawberries in the past because no matter how good they looked they would always fall short of being really, really good. They could be bright red, perfectly shaped but so tasteless it was pointless to even eat them. But these, oh these were beautiful and juicy, sweet, soft and full of taste! Now I know what I've been missing out on. Don't even get me started on the peaches...

Cheers, my dears!