(Photo by Marg @ Prairie Sunrise)
Today, the kids and I are going to Trader Joe’s in Eugene, Oregon. Even though my list is short, one thing that is on my radar is Kerrygold butter, which many people mention, but I’ve never purchased. Right now I can’t tell you much about it, other than people I like like it… when I get there, I’m going to read the label myself before I decide if it will be a good choice for us.
When we first moved to Oregon, we went to TJs every month, then every other month. Now it is every few months; really, a few months per year. What has happened? Well, looking back, even though I *thought* we used to do pretty well with healthy food, even then we ate more packaged and imported foods – mostly produce, fresh and frozen, but also cereals, pastas, and canned goods.
Our priorities have shifted a bit since those few years back. We still look for the best deal on healthy food. But we place an emphasis on finding our food locally if we can, and we are moving (however slowly) toward producing more of our food.
The last time I wrote about our shopping – where we get what – my lists looked different than they do now. I’m going to make this short list of where we get what, currently. I hope you’ll share, too. 🙂
- A local country store – local produce
- B & K Natural Farm in Sutherlin, Oregon – pastured eggs, chickens, and poultry
- Santa Cruz Ranch in Sutherlin, Oregon – grass-fed beef
- A local lady – raw Jersey cream (got it for the first time yesterday, may not be able to get it indefinitely)
- Our Barn – raw milk, kefir, raw cheeses (couldn’t resist this one! raising our own goat milk is a dream come true)
- Central Feed in Sutherlin, Oregon – animal feed: local whole oats, dry grain mix, and regional alfalfa hay
- Hummingbird Wholesale in Eugene, OR – beans, grains, raw nuts and seeds, sweeteners, oils, condiments, Himalayan sea salt
- Azure Standard – kelp (for the animals), herbs and spices, fermented cod liver oil, toothpaste, peanut butter stock, miscellaneous bulk items
- Vital Choice – canned and fresh/frozen red salmon
- Cultures for Health – occasional starter cultures, culturing supplies, and cheesemaking supplies
- Trader Joe’s – Kerrygold butter (maybe), canned tomato products (purchased sparingly because of BPA), dish soap, vanilla extract (but I’d like to make my own soon), personal care items
- Mountain Rose Herbs – occasional herbs and spices
- Homesteader Supply – occasional farm supplies, cheesemaking supplies
That’s it for me! Although I probably forgot something… 😉 Where do you shop?
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Our list is similar to yours.
Grass fed beef (quarter) from a local farm.
Produce (fruit and veggie box) from a local CSA.
Raw milk, raw butter, pastured eggs, pastured chicken, most baking supplies, grains, produce, raw nuts and most other groceries from a local organic delivery service.
Trader Joe’s: some cheeses, pasta, canned tomatoes, etc.
U.S. Wellness: bacon, Italian and Polish sausage, tallow, organ sausage.
Vital Choice: canned salmon, canned tuna (LOVE THIS!), scallops, shrimp, etc.
Wilderness Family Naturals: coconut oil and coconut.
Sun and Earth: cleaning and laundry supplies (great products).
I need to work at sourcing a few more items locally as well, though we do get most of our food from local farms and the organic delivery service.
I love the Kerrygold butter. I can’t get raw butter at the moment and this is my choice instead. This stuff is actually yellow like butter used to be.
I’m curious if you decide to buy it and what you think of it after trying it – if you do 🙂
.-= Deb´s last blog post… Wordless Wednesday =-.
I didn’t realize you lived so close to us! (we live in Eugene) I’d love to have you over next time you are in the area. I have a couple girlfriends who grew up in/near Sutherlin.
We shop primarily through Azure Standard and a couple local farms, supplementing anything we need in a pinch with the natural and Asian grocers down the street.
.-= Marianne´s last blog post… Tuesday Twister =-.
its so cool that most of your dairy literally comes from your own backyard.
I showed Eliza,my 1 year old, the video of your goats and she started laughing with glee at them bounding about!
i shop mostly at a few different local co-ops, primarily the > the seward because its a mile away from us and always has a cull bin of organic fruits and veggies that are slightly blemished but still good and only .50-1.00/lb!
I go to TJ’s maybe twice a month,whole foods for coconut oil and coconut milk about once or twice a month.
in the summer i love getting cheap, beautiful produce and honey at the midtown farmer’s market which is about 1/2 a mile from our house.
i also get produce from a csa farmshare that my sister has and gets such a plethora of that she gives us some.
.-= emily´s last blog post… Real Food at the Grocery Store: hand-rolled butter, sheep’s milk yogurt, real kraut and kimchi =-.
My list is short!
Spring/summer/fall CSA – produce
Whole Foods – produce, grains, beans, tea, etc.
Local co-op – grains, bulk spices
Trader Joe’s – rarely, some convenience foods like canned soup
Misty Brook Farm – rarely, for fresh raw milk, eggs and meat
.-= Michelle @ Find Your Balance´s last blog post… Everything is better with you know what =-.
Good timing! Today is grocery day and I just printed my list! Here is an abridged version:
TRADER JOES
organic carrots, onions
raw almonds (at least the bag says so), hazelnuts, pecans
raw cheeses (cheddar, swiss and gruyere!)
sulfite-free lunch meats
chicken sausage
frozen wild-caught fish
whole wheat flour
multigrain cereal
beer and wine
sweeteners (incl stevia)
some condiments
personal care items
cleaning supplies
cocoa (when in season)
FARMERS MARKET
pastured eggs and chickens (Healthy Family Farms)
lettuce, broccoli, asparagus, kale, cabbage
berries, grapes, raisins
plums
A DIFFERENT LOCAL GROCER
grass fed beef (Open Spaces Meats)
dried beed
raw milk and raw cream (Organic Pastures)
organic, free-trade coffee
kombucha (when I don’t make it at home)
spices
WHOLE FOODS
wellness formula
wheat berries and other grains
makeup
cocoa (when TJ’s doesn’t have it)
MOUNTAIN ROSE HERBS
coconut oil
MY KITCHEN
sourdough bread
yoghurt
kishk granola
mustard
homemade nutella
homemade chocolate
sauerkraut
kombucha
I’m thinking about switching from the frozen fish to a local fresh fish guy. Hm… Is this an embarrassing list, or an impressive one. I have no idea! Enjoy!
.-= gilliebean´s last blog post… THE SOCIAL NETWORK =-.
Hi Wardee, I was wondering why you do not milk your Nigerians and switched to the larger goats. Is it because of getting more milk per goat? I wish we had Azure out in central Il but they haven’t got here yet. And it has been hard to find local reasonably priced anything here. Our neighbor did let us join with her and others for grain etc. but she forgot to tell us when they ordered again. We have a farmers market forty min. away but we tried to grow what we needed anyway. I am going to have to start searching a little farther away for things like meat and milk. Our goats still need to be bred and we had a difficult time milking them and getting a good amount too. Blessings.
My list isn’t as exciting. No TJ’s here, the only health food store doesn’t carry much food just alot of supplements and soy, no veggie CSA, Farmers Market only runs from the end of July to middle of Sept. So…
Weekly we go to our Cow Share place for a gallon of milk (soon to be 2 gallons), I also get eggs from her when she has them and homemade cheese on occasion. Plus soon we’ll be getting offal when she butchers.
Monthly I have beef delivered from a local rancher that does a CSA.
A few of us are developing an Azure Standard co-op. We are hoping to order monthly or every other month at some point but now it is hit and miss.
A friend (and fellow blogger) who lives a few towns away provides me with eggs and chicken on occasion (and also our Thanksgiving turkey).
4 or 5 eggs a day come from my cute little chickens.
I buy chicken feed and bedding from a local feed store.
My freezer often has some sort of wild game in it (thanks hubby!).
Everything else we still get from regular grocery stores. I am try to be very prudent about those grocery store choices. Sadly, the more I learn the less I am comfortable buying.
.-= Millie´s last blog post… Super Yummy Butterscotch Oatmeal =-.
Most of our staples like grains, beans and gf flours come from Azure. I get organic coconut oil by the gallon tub at Glory Bee in Eugene. Our beef we get from a farm near Molalla, OR. Fabulous milk and eggs from the Schack’s farm in Junction City. We have an almost year round garden which gives us most of our vegetables, but I usually stop by the Kiva in Eugene every week or two to pick up other items. I really want to go to Hummingbird to see what they have, but just haven’t had the time to do that yet. Kerrygold butter is the best! A few months ago someone told me that the grocery outlet store on River Road in Eugene had it for 2.99 a pound! I raced down there and bought 15 lbs and put them in the freezer. Unfortunately they don’t have any more, but I keep checking just in case. Nice to know you’re near Eugene!
Have you ever tried Organic Valley Pastured Butter? It’s seasonal, so I bought a bunch and froze it. It was cheaper (here) than the kerry gold.
You mentioned BPA in canned tomatoes. What’s the scoop? Although, maybe I don’t want to know ; )
We still get lots of nuts from TJ’s, even though they aren’t organic. Also some cheeses and, er, pretzel sticks (can I make that type smaller, like so small you can’t read it???).
.-= Katy´s last blog post… Caldo verde =-.
I’m not as resourceful as all of you. A lot of what we eat comes from our farm (eggs, chicken, turkey, vegetables, herbs). The rest comes from the grocery store. With the exception of honey, which I get at a local farmer. Flour, I buy organic from the flour mill. I get a few things from a health food store, like coconut oil.
I’m looking forward to being more self sufficient so that we can have our own milk, butter, cheese, pork, beef etc. For me to find those things natural or organic locally would be too cost prohibitive. Generally, I think we eat a lot more simply than most of you. So we’re making do.
P.S. I like the photo you chose. 😉 Very cool to see my hand and brown eggs here… and my jacket and rubber boots too. 😆
.-= Marg´s last blog post… Winter has arrived. =-.
This year we bought a quarter of grass-fed beef from a local farm. We’re loving it – although I’m still trying to perfect my cooking times on steak. :/
Our Farmers’ Market, which I adore, is open from May through October. So at the moment I’m doing my produce shopping at the grocery store.
Last summer we signed up with a CSA for the first time…loved it! It went from June through October.
My grocery store shopping comes from two main stores: New Seasons (which often features local fare), which I love (though it’s a bit of a drive and a bit more expensive) and Fred Meyer. I’m not thrilled with shopping at FM, but their nourishing options are better than the other stores around here…
I really want to put in an order with Azure Standard, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet…
.-= Mindy´s last blog post… family =-.
Let’s see….
Trader Joe’s occasionally because they have cheap staples (cow’s milk, eggs, nuts, etc)
Whole Foods for bulk food, sometimes for meat, and for hair care products
Farmer’s markets when in season (we don’t have much in the way of farmer’s markets near me this time of year)
My garden usually, although with a new baby I didn’t have time for one this year
My neighbour for goat milk (free in exchange for goatsitting)
Local sheep farm for lamb meat and sometimes sheep cheese and yogurt
Mountain Rose Herbs and/or Penzeys for herbs/spices
Local health food store for some bulk food/spices, but they are very pricey
Charlie Soap for laundry soap
Small discount chain supermarket for things I can’t get elsewhere (I’d love to buy everything organic and grass-fed, but that’s what we can afford for now)
I have been wanting to buy a quarter grass-fed cow, but I find that the beef prices are very high near me, and it’s hard to find a quarter cow at a time; most farmers want to sell a whole or half cow and we just don’t have the space.
We’re hoping to have chickens next year.
.-= Rebecca´s last blog post… Soaked Carob Buckwheat Pancakes =-.
It was fun to come back from our day in Eugene to read where you all shop! Fun too to find out that Marianne and Kelly live in Eugene. It would be fun to coordinate a visit someday. 🙂
I did get the Kerrygold butter. It came to $5 per pound. (Kelly – great find getting it for $2.99 per pound!) I’d like to make butter from the Jersey cream I’m getting, but I wanted the Kerrygold for the freezer. It does look nice and yellow. We haven’t tasted it yet, but will today on fresh sourdough bread…
Katy, I have not had the Organic Valley butter. I will look for it and watch for sales!
Regarding the BPA, it is used in the linings of cans for canned foods (not just plastic water bottles!). Sickening, isn’t it? A google search will yield lots of info, but here’s the info from Environmental Working Group:
http://www.ewg.org/node/20944
I’m currently looking to replace my TJs canned tomato products with tomato products in glass jars (Muir Glen does this). Some years I have gotten lots of tomatoes in the summer and canned my own, but that didn’t happen this year. I didn’t buy any yesterday at TJs.
My first stop is always the farmer’s market. We have an amazing market with local producers who sell nuts, fiber for knitting, soaps, hand made pasta, jewelry, dog bones made from “found” antlers, beans, seeds, grains, raw dairy, pastured meat and eggs, oh, and vegetables! About 80% of my grocery budget is spent at the farmer’s market.
My second stop is a small, local grocer for some specialty products like coffee beans that are shade grown, fair trade, organic and make a donation to my local organic grower’s association. I get medicinal herbs here as well. If I’ve planned poorly and have something on the menus that I couldn’t find at the farmer’s market (usually something out of season or not local), I’ll pick it up here. Another 10% of my budget is spent here.
The last 10% of my budget is spent half at the “regular” store for non-food items and half with mail order producers for non-local items like coconut oil, cultures and the like.
I’m trying to fight years of practice by not buying canned foods at all, but it’s hard with tomatoes. Glass jars are a good alternative (and reusable to boot) but I don’t put up any of my own. Next year for SURE.
.-= Peggy´s last blog post… My First Real Food Thanksgiving =-.
Which specific cod liver oil from Azure do you use, there are so many different varieties?
kara – I recommend anything by Green Pasture’s. We get the fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend – http://www.azurestandard.com/product.php?id=NS865
I get the majority of my groceries from Azure now. They are hit and miss with produce and sending me dairy that expires too soon. I am thankful, though, that they have drastically reduced the time I spend in the grocery store!
We get our produce in the summer from a local CSA, and I am missing it about now. But I have set myself a goal this winter to finally read my gardening books that are collecting dust on my shelves, and see how much of our oun produce we can produce in our little space. Any gardening book recommendations would be appreciated.
When we moved here from the Portland area, I thought I would drive up to Eugene once a month to stock up at Trader Joe’s, where I used to go weekly. I think I’ve been there 3 times in the 4 years we’ve lived here! I do get the Organic Valley pasture butter from Azure. I wonder if it is comparable to Kerrygold?
Did you get the cream from the place in Umpqua that was mentioned on the loop? I would love to pick up raw cream and milk once a week, somewhere somewhat close to us. I have not been able to give up cream in my tea, and I don’t even want to think about what I am doing to my health with conventional cream. I have tried many dairy-free alternatives, and none of them compare.
Having chickens for their eggs has been wonderful. The girls take care of them, and love them. I love knowing that we are eating eggs from happy chickens.
Palm oil and coconut oil are from Wilderness Family Naturals, when our friend places a group order.
I was thinking about making my own vanilla extract too! Do you know of a place with a good price on vanilla beans? I thought it would make good presents for Christmas next year. I just pictured myself walking out of the liquor store with vodka or bourbon, though! Maybe we shoud go to the liquor store together and walk out with a big sign, “I’m making vanilla extract! Really!”
Kelli – Ha, ha! That’s a good idea – we should team up to buy the vodka! I was wondering where even to get it? I have gotten some vanilla beans from Mountain Rose Herbs. I didn’t check Azure or price shop – if you find something cheaper, let me know?
I did get the cream from the lady in Umpqua. You’d have to ask her if she’s willing to sell you just the cream also. Also, she has both a Holstein and a Jersey cow – and I don’t recommend milk from Holstein (there’s a mutation in that modern breed that affects the protein in the milk and is not good for people).
I don’t know how Kerrygold and Organic Valley compare. Kerrygold is not organic and it is pastueurized sweet cream and salt. The butter is really yellow – which is a good sign of the cow’s diet being predominantly grass. We would have to look into how Organic Valley raises their cows (access to pasture or ON pasture?) to know more. Being organic is good. 🙂 I would also like to know if the Kerrygold or Organic Valley butter is from Jersey or Guernsey cows – which don’t have that mutation.
Abiga/Karen – Sorry for overlooking your question until now! My husband said to tell you that we aren’t milking the Nigerians because we’d have to do it with tweezers. 😉 Really, it seemed more comfortable to us to milk full-size goats, and that they’d yield better.
The veggies are from the garden
The fruit we put up last summer from ours or farmer’s market or neighbors trees or bushes
The squash, potatoes and carrots are in the root cellar from ours or the farmer’s market
The apples are from the farmer’s market (hoping to be from ours soon)
Bought a chicken package from someone who raised them according to my specs (no corn/soy)
Bought 1/2 pastured pig
Bought 1/4 grass fed cow
Bought case of wild caught salmon fillets and cans at wholesale price at the farmer’s market
Grains are from the local farmer
Beans, sugar, butter, chocolate & baking provisions come from Azure monthly
Raw milk from Dungeness Valley Creamery weekly
Coconut & cocoa from WFN
Coconut oil from Blue Pastures
Eggs from our girls
Coffee is delivered to me by bicycle from someone who roasts it in his garage just before delivering. Can you tell I live in Seattle?
Personal care ingredients, oil extracts and spices are from Mtn Rose herbs
Not going to the store? Priceless!
.-= Sustainable Eats´s last blog post… Dark Days Challenge Week #3 =-.
Marg – I think you’re very resourceful and I love the way you eat. The way you strive after simplicity makes me think sometimes that I make things too complicated. And I LOVE the picture of you with the eggs! It is one of my very favorite pictures.
Sustainable Eats – Yes, priceless! 🙂 Love the way you ended that!
Wardee, me too on the vanilla extract. Actually, I have this fantasy of growing my own vanilla orchids! I’ve been talking with some gardeners at the U of MN about how to do it. I am ordering some indoor citrus trees this week, like Meyer lemons and maybe some Key limes too.
Most of my bulk purchases are from UNFI through my local buying club, although I just bought 50 lbs of unpasteurized organic almonds from Green Smoothie Girl online. I keep meaning to look into Azure and compare, but haven’t done that yet. Smaller quantity items I try to buy from bulk bins at Whole Foods and local coops.
I love Mountain Rose Herbs, although I usually support Frontier Coop for herbs, bc it’s midwestern and actually I used to live right near it.
Wilderness Family Naturals is really nice and I’m interested in using more of their products. Right now, I’m using Whole Foods 365 Organics (store brand) for coconut oil and olive oil.
We almost never use butter, but I prefer this brand http://www.pastureland.coop/ – it is organic, grass-fed, and cultured (and local for me). A natural deep yellow color. I’ve never tried any dairy from TJ’s except for some of the the cheeses (I really like their pricing on raw pecorino romano and a raw sheep’s milk gouda), so can’t comment on their butter.
I get some seaweed in bulk from this wonderful business http://www.ironboundisland.com/ like dulse and I get toasted nori from an Asian market very cheaply.
I’m still buying eggs at the coop bc I haven’t found a local farmer for them yet. I get a brand called Harmony Organics… I think they play classical music for the free-range chickens to listen to!
We buy pretty much basics only – produce, grains, beans, oils… Almost anything I can make at home – like almond milk, dressings, ketchup, mayo, ferments, etc. I usually do unless we’re traveling.
Emily, hi! I shop at Seward, too. I’ll have to check out your MPLS blog.
I love listening to how everyone shops, I’ve really enjoyed this post!
About BPA in canned tomatoes, the only brand I know that is free of BPA in their canned goods is Eden. Also, their tomatoes are in glass like Muir Glen’s, but I don’t think MG’s canned products are BPA-free (but not sure of that). I often soak sundried tomatoes and use as a substitute in some recipes.
.-= Faith´s last blog post… The Vegan B12 Discussion =-.
Faith – thanks for clarifiying about Eden having the BPA free cans! I mixed them up with MG, I guess. 😉
Wardee,
Which cultures have you gotten from Cultures for Health? I’m especially curious which sourdough cultures people have tried, there’s so many to pick from!
Faith – I’ve been using the New England sourdough starter. I picked that one because Julie @ CFH recommended it as a versatile, easy, and a nicely flavored starter. And it has proved to be so! I’ve also gotten my water kefir and dairy kefir grains there, a yogurt starter (villi – which I didn’t keep up as I found kefir to be easier and fit the same bill as well as provide many more beneficial bacteria), and a buttermilk starter (which I haven’t used yet). I’ve also gotten liquid rennet for cheesemaking, muslin bags to hold the water kefir grains (definitely recommend those!), and a gallon-size vegetable fermentation master (worked awesome for sauerkraut). You didn’t ask about those things, but I thought I’d mention them anyway. 🙂
Wardee, I’d love to meet you and Marianne next time you make a trip to Eugene. Keep it in mind and send me an email or facebook if you like to do that sometime.
Kelly – Okay, sounds good!
Oh, I wanted to tell you and Marianne some news about Eugene. My dear friend from college lives there. She and her husband are opening up a healthy frozen yogurt shop – using kefir from Nancy’s and low sugar and virtually all organic ingredients. We’re excited about getting “treats” there every now and then. 🙂 She said they’re shooting to be open sometime in Feb. It will be on Coburg Rd. somewhere. Maybe we could meet there? 🙂
Faith – Thanks for mentioning how you soak the dried tomatoes. Last year, I dried tons of tomatoes, instead of canning them. They’re still in the freezer. I wasn’t sure how to get them in sauces. About how much water to tomato do you do?
A frozen yogurt shop!! Awesome. I’ll be there! I have a friend just north of Coburg and she recently has wanted to make some big changes in her eating habits, so I’ve been sharing with her Body Ecology and WAPF info. Now, maybe we’ll have a good meeting place for a yogurt or kefir. Thanks for the info.
Wardee, that’s great you have so many tomatoes! Water to sundried tomato amounts vary. If I’m making a soup, I just throw them in unless they are too big, in which case I’ll soak them in just enough water to cover and then cut them when they are soft and put water plus tomatoes in the soup. I will try to do a post on making marina and ketschup sometime and get more specific, but usually I just put the dried tomatoes straight in the Vitamix and try to add as little water as I can get by with. I do add other liquids, depending on what I’m doing and also sometimes fresh tomatoes. If it’s something else, like salads or stirfry, again, I do just enough water to cover.
You can also cover sundried tomatoes with olive oil, which is nice for salads, omelets, and other quick things and flavors the oil too.
Faith – Thanks for that info, it was very helpful and will get me over the hump of not knowing what to do.
Kelly – I’ll let you know more about the shop as I know more, but probably you’ll hear when I do, since you live in Eugene. It is great you’re sharing real food info with your friend.
Wardeh, I know these comments were made four years ago, but did your friend ever open the frozen yogurt shop!? And is it still open? I’m always looking for good places to take my oldest on mama/son dates and he LOVES frozen yogurt. 🙂 Also, thank you to everyone for your lists! I gleaned some great ideas from you on this. Our farm is just east of Springfield (neighboring town to Eugene) so it’s great to know there are more of us up here!!
Laura, I wonder if it’s the shop just north of Oakway Mall, across from the car wash on Coburg Road. Couldn’t find the name in the phone book. Cafe 44 is in there also, and a little clothes boutique, eye glasses place.
It’s a really wonderful place to go and the flavors are varied often.