Grocery Shopping Is A Vibe

In a world full of blogs written by AI, I'd like to think that including my voice in my blog posts makes reading my content much more exciting. At some point, AI will probably be able to actively select this tone without being prompted to do so. But for today, this is me! Today begins the week of the final holiday of the year. Once Christmas is finished, the focus will be shifted to ‘how can I be better for 2025?’. This year was truly extraordinary for me. I achieved 85% of my goals within the first three months of the year. I can’t wait to see phenomenal results I can pull out next year. 

Yesterday I went through my usual panic of figuring out where I was going to charge my car before the week began. I stopped at my favorite small grocer to get a few free miles in from a trickle charger while I browsed what funky ingredients or snacks they were carrying this time of year. I remember walking through this store a year ago and telling myself ‘you are going to be able to shop here one day’. I was in a rebuilding phase since moving across the country and needed some sort of motivation to keep going. 

A bit more lore.. A few weeks ago when I started creating my goal list for 2025, committing to more volunteer opportunities in my area was in the top three of my list. I sent out a few emails to my community to see what was available, and one of those contacts was the community coordinator for this co-op. I already do a lot of work with obesity and disease prevention for adolescents, so hearing that this grocer was consistently coordinating events that provided healthy and organic foods to low income and unhoused families really struck a chord for me. 

I got a handful of responses for upcoming volunteer opportunities, and more excitedly, I created a contact with the finance board at the co-op. So now, I also have something set up in the new year to explore their operations side that covers their fresh harvest to shelf strategy. 

*record scratch*

So there I was, 10 am, in the aisles of this store that I knew was going to blow my mind. Here were some things that caught my eye: 

Beet jerky was not on my bingo card for 2024, but most processed meat upsets my stomach so these would be a nice alternative! They also had sweet potato jerky, but it looked too similar to dog food for me.

I absolutely love these fruit snacks. I first got a bag during a very stressful midterm season. They taste amazing! Minimal ingredients and not stale or dry at all. This brand also makes really good lollipops. Sprouts carries them more often.

HERE ME OUT! Dr. Bronners made so many videos on Instagram about these chocolate bars for MONTHS! And for months, I have been on the hunt for them. No Whole Foods or any other healthy grocery store carried them. I almost screamed when I saw these!! They have 4 flavors and each one is phenomenal. I had the crunchy hazelnut after my lunch and I wanted to pass away. That one is definitely my favorite.

I did not get these cookies because I currently have some beef with Siete Foods, but id assume that they would be good!

I grabbed a few of these from the baby/applesauce section. I like the packaged protein smoothies to throw in my purse. I have some traveling coming up so I thought that commute might be a chance to try something new. I am praying that the texture isn’t gritty! I will update on my Instagram once I try it.

I found the original to one of my favorite gluten free snacks that Walmart makes a dupe of. Identical ingredients, Walmart brand is about $3 less.

Marinara will absolutely send me to my maker if I ate too much.. But look at how cute this marketing is LMAO!

ok! That is all I have for you.. time to get to work. Rent is due next week. Ugh.