Some folks live in the boonies. Relatively speaking. So my friend up in Snohomish, Washington thought I should let folks know where to get the foods that aren’t available at every grocery store.

After all, not everyone has their choice of which natural food stores to go to. I thought it was rough when the closest Trader Joe’s was 15 minutes away (gasp). Now we have one down the street, about 5 minutes away. There are at least a hundred Trader Joe’s in California; by comparison, Washington has eight. Total. Many states have even less, or none at all. We’re pretty spoiled in the Bay Area…

Whole Foods Market has 270 stores (in the U.S. and the U.K.). That’s still not enough to make it accessible for everyone. Small mom and pop style health food stores fill in some of the gaps, but aren’t an option for everyone.

What does the savvy shopper do? I’ll give you a run-down of what I get at what stores- maybe that’ll give you some ideas. I don’t shop all that often, but can usually pull a good meal together with what’s on hand. Every night of the week!

JEN’S EASY LIST: SIMPLE GROCERY SHOPPING

Grocery Store (or a farmer’s market for the produce)

• Fruits & Veggies that keep well (onions, yams, potatoes, carrots, winter squash, cabbage, broccoli, apples) plus more perishable ones (lettuce, tomato, avocado, cucumber, summer squash, strawberries, etc.)
• Fresh herbs (most of which I process right away, chopping and freezing the extra with oil in ice cube trays)
• Pasta (we haven’t had much pasta on our latest paleo-kick, but it can be handy to have some on hand. Buckwheat Soba noodles are my fave, when I do splurge on pasta…)
• Meats & Poultry, grass-fed or free-range, ideally (extra is stocked in freezer for later dates)
• Fish: Frozen is good if freshness is questionable (again, extra’s kept in freezer)
• Eggs & Dairy (many cheeses, plus kefir and yogurt, keep longer than milk, which is rarely even stocked in our fridge)

Health Food Store , Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, etc. (or see links at bottom of page, to purchase on Amazon)

• Bulk grains (last a long time, and are good for bread-making too, if you’ve got something like a Vita-Mix to grind the flour in)
• Bulk beans (lots of protein, and they store well)
• Bulk herbs (saves $$ buying in bulk)
• 100% Virgin Olive Oil: it’s non-GMO, and more stable than other PUFA (polyunsaturated) oils
• Coconut oil (good for cooking with, and very healthy)
• Coconut manna (a pureed blend of the whole coconut- great for soups, sauces, smoothies and such)
• Nuts, seeds, and dried fruits (some of these can be found at the grocery store, but stuff like raw sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and macadamias are best found at the specialty places)

If you just happen to live in the boonies, try Amazon

Here are a few links to a few products, competitively priced, that you can find (very conveniently) on Amazon:

• Bulk grains (like Bob’s Red Mill Organic Grain Quinoa)
• Bulk beans (like this GMO Free Sample Pack of garbanzo beans, wheat Berries, lentils and split peas)
• Bulk herbs (like Marshalls Creek’s Herb De Provence, 3 Ounce)
• 100% Real Olive Oil (many brands often add cheaper oils to their blend, but Kirkland Signature Extra Virgin Olive Oil is an authentic, quality, 100% olive oil)
• Coconut Oil (Vitacost Extra Virgin Certified Organic Coconut Oil is most economical, although Costco’s product often rivals it in price)
• Coconut Manna (Nutiva’s 15-Ounce is often found at a decent price; the 5 Pound
  large size is usually even more economical)
• Miscellaneous dried fruits and nuts (you might need to get larger quantities, like these almonds sold in a 4 lb. bag, but they’ll keep in the fridge or freezer)