Shop til you Drop

Best part of Sundays… shopping! Grocery shopping to be specific. I absolutely love the grocery store. I love just wandering through the aisles looking at new products and hopefully scoring samples. My favorite grocery store in Texas is called Central Market. Its kind of a cross between a Whole Foods and a traditional grocery store. Sadly, Central Market is in downtown Houston, a 45 minute drive away. Needless to say, I don’t go there weekly. Probably good for my wallet. This week I hit up HEB. HEB is a TX-based grocery store. And what does the acronym stand for you might ask… Howard Edward Butt, the son of the grocery store’s founder. Guess he didn’t want to include his last name? 🙂

Check out this week’s loot.

Ryan and I go through lots of eggs. Ryan eats them most mornings… and I hope to do some baking! The chicken is for a recipe I ripped out of Food Network magazine. Hopefully it turns out as good as it sounds! And bacon… no explanation needed.

Got all of the milk varieties covered. Almond milk for smoothies and oatmeal. I was intrigued by the So Delicious Coconut Milk French Vanilla Creamer. I tried it in my coffee today. It was a little watery, but you could taste the coconut flavor.

The food blogger’s version of the beer can pyramid. I am in love with the OIKOS Key Lime Pie and Strawberry flavors. I like these two low-fat flavors because they are so much creamier than the fat free varieties. They only have 20 or 30 more calories!

Bananas and grapes to replenish the freezer stock. Some nectarines and a mango that will hopefully ripen in a few days. These are to supplement the neverending apples:)

Carrots, sweet potatoes, red onions, bell pepper, kale, spinach, and an acorn squash hiding in the back. I think this is my new favorite squash variety.

Had to replenish the pumpkin stock! They were out of the big cans… maybe next week. I decided to try a local brand too… Hill Country Pumpkin. I don’t have high expectations… but maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Roasted red peppers for my chicken dish and tuna for some more freestyle tuna. Diced tomatoes, baked beans, and marinara sauce straight from Italy… impulse buys at their finest.

4 for 5 on Larabars and Peanut Butter Puffins for less than 3 dollars. Yes please! Kashi Heart to Heart and a Carrot Cake Clif Bar round out the mix.

Phew… Ryan and I won’t go hungry this week:)

Something to think about. I learned via the radio this morning that Waste Management in Houston has teamed up with RecycleBank. What does this mean? Houstonians will now be rewarded for recycling. RecycleBank tracks people’s recycling habits and provides incentives and rewards for participation. By recycling, you gain points which can be redeemed for rewards and discounts. I think that this is a big step forward for Houston. Recycling is not emphasized here and although this program is essentially bribing people to recycle, I think that it is a step in the right direction. At least it will make people more aware of what they throw away.

Question: Do you believe in incentive programs to create a positive change?