My favorite vegetable store show and tell

Today was my shopping day and since we were in Cedar Lake for music this morning I made a special trip to Produce Depot in Dyer.  Besides Whole Foods, and really I don't do to much fruit and vegetable shopping there, it's to expensive and I am finding they aren't carrying to many organic veggies there lately???  I stock up on other things there.  But wait a minute I was talking about Produce Depot.  I love this store.  The owners are supper nice and very accommodating.  Want a 25lb bag of organic juicing carrots?  They can get it.  Want a case of honey crisp apples?  They can get that too.  They make fresh bread daily with no preservatives, smoothies that can be made conventionally or organically, homemade soup. 

As I am driving home a post from a friend ran through my mind.  She had done the Walgreen thing.  I am not sure how it works but she got a ton of "stuff" for really cheap.  So I thought I would show you what I got today.  My food budget is $125 weekly and that includes paper products and dish soaps.  With a family of 5 and we try and eat organic as much as possible it is really hard.  Okay so I also have another $100 I spend at a dry food co-op monthly but still.  So how do I do it and not clip coupons?  First of all we buy a 1/2 of a cow.  We grow a lot of our own vegetables and freeze them.  We take advantage of local fruit in season and freeze that too.  Then we do our shopping. 

Today I stopped at Produce Depot, Costco and Walmart.  I spent more than usual because we were out of everything.  I really haven't been grocery shopping in a few weeks. 

Produce Depot $62.64

gingeroot

jicima

2 jalapeno peppers

5 red delicious apples (organic)

3 green peppers (organic)

5 red pears (organic)

2 mangos

2 green onion bunches (organic)

3 red onions

cilantro

huge bag of limes

6 lemons (organic)

2 5 # bags of apples (organic)

2 5 # bags of potatoes (organic)

bunch of bananas

strawberries (organic)

2 bunches of asparagus

7 naval oranges

pineapple

2 Boston lettuce (pesticide free)

red leaf lettuce (organic)

green leaf lettuce (organic)

2 romaine (organic)

I wish I could buy everything organic but I just can't.  There are some things I simply won't buy unless they are like apples, strawberries, corn, spinach & celery.  Here is a list of the Dirty Dozen in pesticide rankings.

Celery

Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce

The Clean 15

Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions

You'll notice that one of the things I won't buy unless organic is corn.  Yet it is on the clean 15 list.  Why?Corn is typically not a scale tipper when it comes to pesticide residues. But, take into account that 75- 90% of all domestic corn has been genetically-modified, that the average American eats 11 pounds of it, that most cooking oils include corn oil, and that most everything is sweetened with corn syrup, and suddenly, buying organic corn and corn products, makes more than a little sense. Eat local organic corn in season and freeze some for later, or, leave some kernels to dry, and plant them in the spring.  Buying organic corn is the only way to be sure the corn has not been genetically modified besides growing it yourself.

Hope this has been helpful.  Happy shopping!