After work yesterday I headed to Trader Joe’s….my favorite grocery store!
As per usual, I only had 3 things on my list but came home with much more.
I stocked up on my Goddess Dressing.
And while my new favorite bread is Dave’s Killer Bread, I grabbed a loaf of Ezekiel Sesame Bread. I’ve seen it a few times in the blogger world and was curious. I ate a slice with breakfast this morning and it was pretty good!
In the frozen section, I saw these:
My Weakness
I picked up a box twice and put it back twice. I REALLY wanted it! I just kept talking myself out of buying a box. Why? Because I REALLY REALLY want to get away from processed food. It’s such a hard thing to do, though. I feel like I could go 80% barcode free (minus things like condiments and stuff like that) but it feels like a big commitment too. I’m still working it out in my brain.
Here are my Trader Joe’s goodies from last night’s visit:
Look at all that processed food! SIGH.
Here’s a copy of my receipt:
$27 for a small basket of food. Hmmm. Processed food is expensive.
After Trader Joe’s, I headed to the Mom and Pop produce market near our house. I try to buy all of my produce there because it’s local and way cheaper than the grocery store.
For example, their Bing Cherries are 99 cents a pound! Score!
I got some sweet potatoes, cauliflower (which was $1.99 total instead of by the pound), broccoli, and cherries.
Here’s what I came home with:
I spent $4 on those goodies:
Yet another reason eating less processed food is calling to me.
QUESTION: Do you have the Barcode Blues? Could you go processed-food-free?
110 Pounds and Counting Blog 
I’m working on taking processed foods out of my diet. Its tough!
I looooove Trader Joe’s. I try to mostly eat whole foods and not much processed stuff but its easier said than done. I’d say about 80% of what I eat is whole and 20% processed.
I do this. I try to eat mostly whole foods, but allow myself one processed item per meal (doesn’t always happen). So if I want a waffle, then I have greek yogurt instead of SF syrup on top. It’s really hard to stop eating processed food. It is so convenient.
I do my best to avoid processed foods but its hard. I always have a little bit – a little carton of soup and some brown rice cakes for those days where I need quick food fast…. but really try to buy all of my ingredients raw and make my own stuff. I also don’t eat bread and I’m not a pasta or any type of sauce fan, so that makes things easier too!
“Easy food” is a hard thing to give up!
Hi, I’ve never commented before, but wanted to throw my 2 cents in here. First of all, your shopping bill was tiny compared to mine. I live in a very high cost country, your bill would have been closer to $60 here. Which is why, for about 2 months (during uni break, when I had time) we went about 90% barcode free. What we purchased with a barcode was staples like flour, meat and milk. Everything else was fruit and veg, eggs etc, purchased from the fruit and veg shop. I made everything myself, because un barcoded food doesn’t come premade! It was hard work, but well worth it. We got our shopping bill down to $50 a week (its currently around $65), which is unheard of here. So it can be done, but it takes time and commitment to make it work. The hardest thing for me was not having convenience foods, which is why we stopped our plan when I went back to university. I simply didn’t have enough time to dedicate to cooking everything from scratch.
I should have clarified that the Trader Joe’s bill was just for a “few things”. It wasn’t my regular grocery shopping items. And the BF had spent about $100 at Costco the day before on more staples.
Hadn’t heard the term “barcode free”. Got me to click on this in my reader. Makes sense. I’m on a plan where I’m trying 16 eating plans and I already can see that cutting way back on processed foods (along with limiting calories) will be up at the top.
I’m glad it caught your interest. I ate a lot of processed food when I first started losing weight because it was a controlled amount of food. I needed to learn proper serving sizes. But I now feel like I want to eat real, healthy food instead.