Friends, I have a grocery store problem. I love them! This dates back to growing up in Georgia where I loved to accompany my dad on his weekly shopping trips to the Kroger in our small town. And man, when I think about the difference in what was available with small town grocery shopping 25 years ago versus what I have access to today in a larger city…it’s mind blowing.
I’ve always really enjoyed the process of shopping for food, as well as menu planning. Again, I think that comes from how I was raised. My dad always wrote out our menu for the week and did one big shopping trip.
True story. When I lived in Birmingham, Alabama, it was a huge deal when a Whole Foods opened up. It was on my way home from work and sometimes if I had a hard or stressful day, I’d just go walk around Whole Foods to decompress. If only they had offered the “drink a glass of wine while you wander” option back then I’d have really been set! 🙂
With the prevalence of high-end and specialty grocery options, I feel like I cant’s stay out of the stores these days…it’s probably my biggest budget downfall. Is it bad that I’d rather shop for food than clothes? It’s also a great outing with Finn and he seems to really like looking around at everything.
In the last month I have shopped at Whole Foods, ALDI, Trader Joe’s and The Fresh Market. I wanted to share some photos I snapped from my most recent trip to The Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s.
THE FRESH MARKET
In the past I have never done my weekly shopping at The Fresh Market. It’s always felt like more of the type of place where I pop into to grab a few things when I need them and seems to be the most expensive of the grocery store options I regularly visit. I like their bakery items and meat/seafood department the most. Well, my neighborhood Fresh Market just got an upgrade! Check out the size of this thing!
Finn and I were killing some time last Thursday before picking the dogs up from the groomer so we stopped in to check out the grand opening of the new store. The produce department is MUCH larger now and has great selections.
I was most excited to see a HUGE case of reasonably priced ready to cook and already cooked dinner entrees. Some were even portioned for one! I will definitely be utilizing these meals for nights where I need easy dinners and for teacher training travel.
The bakery is still as great as ever and they had this giant cake that was a replica of the store on display. I was super sad they had not cut it and started serving it though. Haha.
TRADER JOE’S
I decided to leave the house for the first time in three days today and when all else fails…go to the grocery store! Our local Trader Joe’s had an amazing display of pumpkins! They were beautiful. It made me bummed that I had just purchased a boring traditional pumpkin at The Home Depot a few minutes earlier.
Trader Joe’s also turned into a bit of a social outing and I ran into three women that I know. It was so nice to see some friendly faces and to chat a bit.
I saw a few interesting new products while I was there including this apple cider jam. Anyone tried it?
These raviolis look delish!
Carrot cake spread…I definitely need someone to give me a review of this one!
I also saw fresh sea scallops there for the first time and they were super reasonably priced at $13/lb. The wild salmon looked great too.
Here’s what I bought today! It’s random.
- Olive oil
- Dates
- Grapes
- Almond butter turmeric dressing
- Kombucha (priced so well at TJs)
- Roasted red pepper and tomato soup
- Pumpkin and butternut squash soup
- Blue corn tortilla chips
- Bananas
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Argan oil
- Avocado
- Peanut butter
- Kerrygold salted butter
- Canned salmon
- Canned pumpkin
- Honey
- Autumnal pasta sauce with butternut and pumpkin
- Coconut aminos
- Arugula
- Turkey
- Pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds
- Walnuts and pecans
- Butternut squash spirals
- Frozen spinach
- Frozen cauliflower rice stir fry
Annnnddd kicking myself for not picking up some of this. I had to practice MAJOR restraint not to buy all the pumpkin and fall things. They had so much stuff that looked amazing as well as lots of things that I would never buy but in the moment I was majorly questioning why I wasn’t adding it to my cart. Oh, Trader Joe’s…you are good at what you do!
Do you enjoy grocery shopping?
Tried anything new and good at TJs lately? What about their fall stuff? Any faves?
i love running, yoga, food, and grocery shopping (and I have three babies) so finding your blog has been amazing! I love that you post so regularly and I love the way you write as if you’re talking to a good friend. Keep it up! ❤
Aw, thanks and it’s so nice to “meet” you! 🙂
I love grocery shopping too! It’s honestly the first thing that comes to mind if someone were to ask me what I enjoy doing lol I remember when I was younger always going to the grocery store with my mom on the weekends and planning our meals and then I would cook the recipes with her. It was so much fun and memories I will cherish forever. Now that I am 25 and have moved out, I still go to the grocery store every Saturday (even if I don’t need anything hahaha). I live in Birmingham, AL and I am pleased to let you know that we have upgraded!! We have 2 Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market, Sprouts, Aldi….it’s amazing! We have become quite the foodie city with some awesome restaurants, bakeries, and cafes. If you ever visit sometime please let me know!!!!!
WOW! Look at Birmingham go! I was always very impressed by the food scene in Birmingham, even 9 years ago when I lived there! Can you believe that I haven’t been back once since I moved away!? Crazy. I have a girlfriend who just moved to the area so maybe I need to make it happen!
I also enjoy grocery shopping, hopefully I can still enjoy it with a new baby like you do! My closest Tj’s is an hour away, I try to make a trip at least once a month and stock on my fav’s. Right now Im loving the pumpkin spice cream cheese! They didn’t have the fall tea or pumpkin spice granola bark when I went a few weeks ago!
It have found it to be a great excuse to get out of the house with a new baby! I saw that pumpkin spice cream cheese Looked good!
I actually find doing weekly grocery shopping tedious (probably related to my ED history, where it would stress me out), so my husband covers that. But I do occasionally enjoy wandering a special grocery store when I have time. Wegmann’s, I think, is my favorite to date. I spent a few years working for USDA doing research on retail food prices and food accessibility, so even though I don’t necessarily enjoy being IN grocery stores, I still get really excited to talk about them. In our small college town, we have Aldi, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Lucky’s, Earth Fare, AND like 15 Publix locations, which completely blows my mind. Growing up, we had to drive 20 or 25 minutes to get to Stop & Shop every week!
Agreed on Wegmans. Best mix of specialty items and value on every day items… in an amazing atmosphere.
Hey Paula – that is great that you and your husband have worked that out. And I’m sure the work you did for the USDA around food pricing and accessibility was fascinating. I am always interested to learn about things like that.
Don’t waste your $ on the pumpkin spice granola bark….it was disappointing!
Good to know! Thanks ENGAGED (!!!!) woman! 🙂
I feel like I’ve been taking too many grocery shopping trips lately and it’s been taking up too much of my time. We tried the Pumpkin Ravioli from TJ recently. It was good!
Haha, that can happen too! One of the benefits of meal planning for the week so you can get it all at once!
I also need a review of the carrot cake spread… I had it in my hand but was afraid it was too sweet? The granola wasn’t great last year so I agree nada to that one. But their pumpkin butter is sooooo good (but also sweet). Love it on oatmeal or swirled into plain greek yogurt! I could spend hours in TJ’s. It’s my escape. 😀
I love the pumpkin butter too! I just opened a jar this week and have been swirling it into my plain Greek yogurt!
I ❤️ Grocery stores too! I still remember the first time I ever visited a Whole Foods (Atlanta, Buckhead). It was like a whole new wonderland of options. ? Thanks for sharing your haul!
Yes! And now WF has changed so much and offers so much more than those earlier days!
It is too bad the first Wegmans location for NC (2019) will be in Raleigh (Wake Forest Road near 440), and not Charlotte… hopefully in a few years you will be able to experience the best right near home. 🙂
To answer the question, do I enjoy grocery shopping… yes, and locally where we have Wegmans, Weis, Price Chopper, Target, Price Rite, Aldi, and Walmart… Wegmans is the only one that is enjoyable. Price Rite is an interesting one though.
I worked at the Wegmans here as a teen when it opened in 1990… was the largest grocery store in the US when it opened, at about 120,000 square feet (36 cash registers). Now other Wegmans and some other chains have larger stores, but not as many registers. 🙂
I do hope that I can experience a Wegmans sometime! 🙂 I’ve heard only the best things!
I, too, love going to good grocery stores, sometimes just to look around or maybe get a treat or two, even if I don’t have any regular grocery shopping to do. Whenever I visit my grandmother we make a point to go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s together, as well as her local grocery store, which is possibly my favorite grocery ever. As far as TJ fall items, I love the fall pasta sauce and mashed sweet potatoes. I’ve been holding back on the fall items a little this year so far, since it still feels like summer! But the temperature is dropping tomorrow, and I have another trip to TJ planned for Saturday, so I imagine I’ll now be indulging in all the things.
My grandmother doesn’t go out to the stores with me but she LOVES it when I go shopping at WF or TJs for her and bring back all sorts of stuff for her to try! 🙂
I have the TJs Apple Cider jam and I like it! It’s quite cinnamon-y. I don’t know that it tastes like apple cider per say, it’s more just like applesauce or applebutter. But it’s good and I’d get another jar!
That sounds delicious! I think I’ll pick up a jar for me and my grandmother next time I am there!
I used to like it before kids but with a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old, they take the fun out of it. My daughter throws stuff out of the cart and escapes the straps. It’s become stressful!
I’ve heard not-great things about the carrot cake spread (too glazey/sweet tasting), but I do like tj’s pumpkin butter, pumpkin soup, and the fall spiced kombucha that they carry. I miss their pumpkin macarons and pumpkin pie cookie butter, but it doesn’t look like they are bringing them back this year. 🙁 As far as the budget woes go, I justify my “fun food” purchases by telling myself that sometimes, I just need those little joys in my daily life!
The pumpkin granola bark is delicious – grab some! 🙂 It’s dark chocolate and so not overly sweet. I’ve avoided trying the carrot cake spread for just that reason – worried it’ll be incredibly sweet.
Jen, I can review the ready-to-cook meals at Fresh Market because I had steered clear of them for months, thinking they would be processed and just not better than ‘fresh’. We have been SO pleasantly surprised with these meals! They remind us so much of a small business that used to be located here called ‘The Chef’s Secret’. The meals were so great and healthy and fresh.
Do you have any tips for grocery shopping with a newborn? Were you nervous the first time? My son is 3 weeks old and I haven’t attempted this yet but want to because like you it is something I enjoy doing each week. I haven’t even attempted driving with him yet! (To clarify, we are a 1 car family and live downtown in a major city so I can do a lot on foot 🙂 ). Any tips appreciated!
I LOVE grocery shopping and grocery stores. At my old home, I had a regular rotation between Aldi, Lucky’s, Kroger, Trader Joe’s, and Giant Eagle – each of which had different favorites. I banned myself from Whole Foods because I spent too much money there, haha.
Sadly, I’ve moved to a much smaller town with fewer options, but I still rotate between 3 stores and a cooperative grocery store that we’re members of. Most staples we get at Aldi, and we go to the others when we need something fresh that we like from there (produce, meat, etc.). And last weekend we drove 1 hour to go to Trader Joe’s just to shake things up…and because I wanted the pumpkin bread mix and some other staples that are really cheap there.
Now I feel like a really high-maintenance grocery shopper seeing what I just typed, lol.
Over the past 3 or 4 years, going to grocery stores has become a favorite past time of mine. I love going to different stores and browsing the aisles to see what different stores carry, and the price point. In a given week, I’ll probably visit a Trader Joes, Stew Leondards, Foodtown, Stop & Shop, and sometimes an Hmart.
Thanks to everyone for chiming in about the fall products at Trader Joes. I was about the get the apple cider jam, but am glad I held back because hearing that it has a lot of cinnamon lets me know it’s not for me.
I am from a small town in NC so when my parents come to visit me in Charlotte, an easy way to entertain them is to take them to grocery stores. 🙂 They are so impressed by all of the stores we have with all of the choices and variety. They only have 1 run down Food Lion. So it’s kinda funny when people ask what plans I have for my parents’ visit and I say – I’m going to show them the new Whole Foods!
I’m in Texas and my favorite is Central Market. It’s a cross between TJ and Whole Foods, but less expensive and more selection.