Whole Food Shopping

My friend, Lori, and I went to Fairfield today to check out their whole foods store and the natural health section at their Hy-Vee.  We stopped along at my dear favorite Dutchman store on the way home and our day was complete.  We had a fantastic time and came home with a great haul.  I had made my monthly menu and a list, but was also on the hunt for the ingredients to make my own lotion (based on this recipe), as well as to find some inspiration for new healthy cooking from Lori (the queen of feeding her family vegetables) and the ingredients around us.  We had plenty of "what is this?" moments and I asked many times, "and how do I cook that!?" but I did come home with several new things from the veggies section, some new organic snack foods to have on hand for those "have to" moments, and a couple of other exciting things.

For the first time EVER (don't make fun of me), I bought real garlic cloves, 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, a bag of onions (not exactly sure what I'm going to do with those yet as Mike HATES them!), green spinach tortilla shells, beets, and brown whole grain rice.  Lori says we can take those beets & slice them thin and bake them into chips (we'll see!).  I was also quite proud of my organic produce purchases (bananas, broccoli, apples, beets, and all the oils I bought for lotion making).  The trip was definitely worth our while, opened our eyes to some new foods, and was a lot of fun!

The ingredients for lotion making.  The recipe calls for cosmetic grade borax but I'm substituting real sea salt instead.  The beeswax I bought from the Dutchman store in Cantril and I grated a hunk of it for lotion making tomorrow.  The Vitamin E oil I ordered from Vitacost in anticipation of making lotion.  All of the other ingredients were found at Everybody's - organic grapeseed oil, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic coconut oil, and organic aloe vera gel.  I didn't buy any essential oils for my lotion but maybe I'll put in a little peppermint oil since I have some of it already.

And lastly...(drum roll please....)

 A BUTTER KEEPER!  I found this little gem (the only one) at the Dutchman store!  It was only $8!!! I'm so excited!  I've been wanting a Butter Bell Crock since I discovered that real butter could be left at at room temperature for easy spreading but was reluctant to part with the money to buy one so my butter continued to reside in a bowl with a saucer as a "lid" to keep it clean.  Bowl and saucer no more!  Very excited about my butter keeper and that God answers even our silliest prayers and rewards us for being patient, following our budget, and waiting for something that is a "want" not a "need."

So, friends, send me YOUR best recipes using onions, beets, garlic, peppers, real green beans, and any oil from the above (there WILL be left over!).  I'm anxious to try new things (and Mike will get over the sighing and eye rolling!).