Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (49 page)

Macadamia nuts

Marinara sauce

Organic spinach

Organic spring mix

Olives

Salsa

Sardines

Seasonings

Sun-dried tomatoes

Natural/health food stores

When shopping in natural food and health food stores, stick to the perimeter and look for fresh foods such as meats, fish, eggs, and produce. Health food stores are often a wonderful place to purchase prepackaged, prewashed vegetables such as stir-fry greens, chard, or kale and even prechopped onion. These items are great time savers! In the frozen section, I purchase frozen veggies, which are great in a pinch and work well for stir-fry and slow cooker meals, as well as frozen seafood and frozen berries. The health food store is also usually a good place to purchase bulk nuts because the stock moves pretty quickly, so the nuts are typically fresh.

At natural food or health food stores, be sure you stick to Paleo proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and pantry foods. Don't get lured into grabbing the crinkly packages just because you feel “covered” because you're in a health store. The biggest trap in shopping in natural food stores is assuming that because you're in a natural foods store, what you're throwing in your basket must be healthy. Don't assume the word
organic
means “healthy.” Organic foods can still be junk foods.

Community supported agriculture (CSA)

With
community supported agriculture
(CSA), you pay a seasonal fee to a farm for a share of its yield. You visit the farm once a week to get your share of vegetables; some CSAs even deliver. Many of these farms also give you the opportunity to pick some in-season produce, such as berries, or maybe even fresh wildflowers.

I have a lot of great memories of my local CSA. I took my kids there when they were little to pick up the vegetables together. The big bins of produce had signs above indicating what the weekly allotment was. We'd bring our own bags and fill them up with the vegetables.

What I like most about CSAs is that they're great way to try new vegetables. You may get a weekly share with a vegetable you've never tried before (that's how I first tried kohlrabi). Because you already paid for it, you may as well try it! You can also include the entire family in your shopping, which is a great education for the kids and a really fun family outing. It really connects them to their food and helps them grow a true appreciation for real foods. My kids have great memories of our days at the farm picking up our family farm share and picking berries.

To find a CSA near you, check out LocalHarvest (
www.localharvest.org
).

Farmers' markets

Farmers' markets are a great choice if you don't want to commit to a weekly share of vegetables with a CSA and you enjoy heading out to multiple vendors. A
farmers' market
is a community of local farmers and vendors that get together on a weekly basis to sell their products. So if you like Farmer Johnny's greens but Farmer Michael's eggs, this option is a great one-stop shop. Prices tend to be better at farmers' markets than at traditional grocery stores or natural foods markets, and sometimes you can even score eggs, meat, or poultry.

These markets are another great place to build relationships or talk about growing conditions or seasonal foods. You can get a lot of information.