Earth Fare Grocery Haul: What's In My Cart?

I don't know about you, but one of the hardest things I've had to do since living on my own in college is learn how to grocery shop. When I was growing up I would go with my mom all the time. I would even peruse the aisles looking for the few items she assigned for me to find. Mindlessly walking around the store with your mom, however, is not the same as having to search for items by yourself. While she spends maybe twenty minutes getting supplies for the week I spend an hour.

I also find myself buying the same brands and products as my mom does. I don't think this is bad, but I do think there are things you can learn by straying away from what you are used to. My go to grocery store when I first started college was Publix, which down in the south is the alpha of grocery stores. If you haven't tried a pub sub yet than you're missing out. Actually, until this year I always bought my groceries at Publix, until I realized how much money I was wasting! 

Publix was my comfort zone. Sadly, it didn't matter how many bogo's (buy one get one) I got or deals I found, I was still spending way too much money on my food. I still go to Publix for my prescriptions and medicine but I am trying to get out of my comfort zone and explore other shopping centers. My goal is to find the best food for the cheapest price. 

Currently, my favorite grocery store is Aldi. It doesn't have the same homey feel as Publix, but it is extremely cheap and they have a lot of the same products. They also have more organic food for a cheaper price. 

This week I wanted to change things up even more. I'm always trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and going to a new grocery store usually does the trick. I honestly don't know why I'm like this, my only excuse is that humans are just creatures of habit. With this in mind, I traveled over to Earth Fare! 

I really liked Earth Fare! They have so many organic products that don't break the bank! There were so many choices and they had organic options of everything. I really liked their produce section because they had an area specifically for seasonal items and I'm always really bad at buying seasonally. I also liked their meat section because there was barely any packaged meat. It was all fresh cut and you had to ask the butcher for what you wanted. 

I didn't like the dairy section or the frozen food section. As a college student frozen vegetables are really important to me. I hate wasting food but sometimes I get busy and forget to cook what I have. If I buy fruit and veggies frozen they last so much longer and I will always eventually eat them. The dairy section was just very expensive. 

Another aspect I really liked about Earth Fare was that they had a fresh pasta and fresh made buffet style food section that were ready to be eaten right there. It was kind of like a restaurant! You could choose whatever food you wanted and go home and have an instant meal. If I'm ever driving by Earth Fare on a busy day I may just stop in to test out these sections. 

Overall, Earth Fare has very healthy organic options. It is also eco friendly and uses recyclable paper bags. I spent a little less than what I would at Publix so it wasn't the cheapest option. However, I will go back for some of the organic food items that I can't find elsewhere. 

My Cart: 

onion 

yellow bell pepper 

3 nectarines 

Bunch of bananas 

Package of green beans 

Pre-made salad mix 

Jar of artichoke hearts 

Bag of frozen strawberries 

Bag of broccoli rice 

4 piece package of unsweetened cinnamon apple sauce 

Large jar of Siggi's vanilla yogurt

Dr. Praeger's veggie burgers 4 piece 

Chicken broth 

Orange juice  

4 RX Bars

4 chicken thighs 

3 slices of salmon