We are fairly new to the organic side of food. Words & phrases like, “All Natural”, “Hormone Free”, “Pesticide Free”, “Grass Fed”, “Organic”, “Gluten Free”, “Grain Free” “Free Range”, “Cage Free” … lots of free going on and they all mean something different and important for those in the know.

We are not in the know. We just assume it’s healthier than white bread and unpumped / unsprayed full of bad things.

Wheat is bad for you! No, it’s grain!
What did that animal live in while it was alive? How do I know?!
Do you know what “All Natural” really means?
Refined sugar is the sweetest poison of all. Huh?
Do you know if your ground beef was washed in ammonia solution? If it was WHAT?
Canned tomatoes can kill you? I seriously love canned tomatoes.

I also really love a fresh piece of Bunny bread slathered with butter and sprinkled with semi-sweet chocolate chips and white sugar.

Brian & I both, admittedly, are intimidated by our beautiful new Whole Foods grocery store up the road because we are not fully aware of the differences in what we’ve been accustomed to eating or how to balance the cost comparison of what benefit we are gaining. I mean, minus sugar mountain on the white bread. That’s just a blatant disregard for my insides.

We aren’t actually sure, aside from “healthy”, how we wish to eat. We REALLY LOVE to cook together & eat different things. I asked for a deep fryer but Brian said that was not happening, so I’m at least clear on that side of the spectrum. Sadness.

Last week we ventured back to Whole Foods. “I’m glad we’re here together. It’s less intimidating to be with you.” Awww.

“I feel the same way”  I whispered to him…  “And I’m SO glad you wore your Vibrams in here today!”  It kind of balanced my fur boots.

We didn’t do so good that day with finding something new & healthy. We made it out of the store with beer, organic cheese & local onions. Nothing groundbreaking, but at least we bonded over exploring a new environment together. Win.

Despite my feelings of being lost inside that specific grocery store and the health food world in general, I have really grown to love some things about it, specifically the cheese department. Show me a Dutch girl who doesn’t appreciate cheese and I’ll ask for her genealogy records. Whoa man. There are some crazy good cheeses to be had in the back corner of that store!

This afternoon I found a recipe I wanted to try using spaghetti squash & I remembered the beautiful display of them at WF. The girls & I headed over there and hopped on inside to get what we needed and uhh, splurge on a bit of cheese for the weekend.

As we walked out to the car, my friend Rachel drove up next to us and said hi. I told her I noticed something under my windshield wiper and was so curious I just had to go get it a second…I walked over grabbed it and in my hand held this:

Oh my. I laughed a little, but inside I was sucked back into the hyper colored tunnel of emotion known as 10th grade. I started looking around. Like, in the parking lot, down the lane, at the front door and on the top of the building.

Was someone watching me? Did they do an emissions test while I was sampling Brie a few minutes ago?

I felt safe hugged up against Rachel’s Ford Expedition. “Is that a bad parking job?” I asked her. We agreed it wasn’t. I was totally between the white lines.

I’m fine with hormone-packed poultry. I think it’s tastier. I thought.
No one liked the fresh ground peanut butter I bought from here last month. Meh.
The crab cakes weren’t mind blowing.
I sure will miss that cheese department. They are the friendliest folks ever.
And the Napoli Sausage.
And Lucy’s Cheesecake.

Dog.Gone.

I’m not about to be losin out on Lucy’s Cheesecakes now! Truth is, I love my vehicle. It enables me to help with the kids field trips when my nerves tolerate it the need arises, or like last week, load up with some of our best friends & the kids and mugs full of hot chocolate and buzz all over town looking at Christmas lights. So much fun. I don’t feel bad about the size of my car OR my parking skillz one teeny bit.

Big cars are great. So is good quality cheese though. Perhaps next time I go back, I’ll have an I LOVE WHOLE FOODS sticker firmly in place on my bumper. And a Publix one on my heart.