Great food deals

OK, I'm going to let you in on a little secret of mine. I live in an area that has a lot of Amish people. This past summer I hit the fresh produce gold mine when I stumbled across a farm in the middle of nowhere. This family of Amish has nine children, and a HUGE garden and greenhouse. I was in heaven. They sold everything! Chemical free! Unbelievable prices! I bought tons of green beans, onions, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, green peppers, eggplant, watermelon and more there every week. The lady always remembered me, too. She would say things like, "How did you like the Swiss chard last week?" She would send her kids to the garden to pick me some fresh carrots and weigh them on a scale. The kids would all stand around, barefoot and big-eyed as they watched me and my children. I will be going back there every summer.

Anyway, this past year I discovered that there are a few little Amish stores in the area where they sell things that regular stores can't sell anymore...things that are slightly out of date or cans that are dented, etc. The first one I went to I found Vegennaise, and bought it for 50 cents. If I had known then how freaking awesome that stuff is, I would have bought all of them. I just can't bear to pay $5 for a jar in the health food store. I go back all the time, and they haven't stocked it again. That's the only problem, and also the fun of it. You never know what you will find. I recently bought a big box of Truvia, a sweetener made from the Stevia plant that is better tasting than plain Stevia. I bought the box for $1.00, and it was awesome in my coffee. I needed no sugar at all! But now it's gone, and I can't even find the stuff anywhere around here and online the box is like $10.

I have bought a lot of organic products that just cost too much at the health food store I shop at. I have found vegetarian worchestershire sauce and vegetable buillon cubes. There is also a small store about ten miles away that sells bulk spices, and I can buy raw sugar, dates, raisins, popcorn, all kinds of flours and spices there for very cheap. I recently bought a bunch of stuff that was so cheap I couldn't pass it up, but I don't know yet what I will do with it, like almond meal, textured vegetable protein, dry soy beans, and quinoa flakes. I have found pastas, rice, cans of beans, juice for my kids, silken tofu, cereal, snacks, salad dressing, soy, rice and almond milk, and so much more. The most I have ever spent in one trip was $30, and I came out of there with 6 bags full of food. It's so much fun!

Now I am definitely in the mood to cook.