Shopping For Real Food At Sam’s Club

I wholeheartedly believe that unprocessed foods are the best for our bodies. I believe our Creator made cows to eat grass, fruits and vegetables to be grown without poisons and food to be eaten without first being turned into something unrecognizable. I know, I know, it really doesn’t seem like I eat healthy. Most of the recipes I share on here are sugar filled delights. However, I do try to feed my family nutritious meals with real food. It is difficult not to reach for a processed food when trying to make dinner quickly, but with practice making a meal from scratch becomes a piece of cake. Ooh, cake… there I go again.
So I am very far from perfect when it comes to eating completely healthy but I am not striving to be perfect. I have been aware of the benefits of real foods for almost two years now. The road has been very very bumpy and I still can’t seem to kick my sugar habit nor have I really wanted to. (God had to have made sugar cane for a reason!) Though I still bake with a less processed sugar, I try to make up for it by eating real whole foods elsewhere. So here are some minimally processed foods that I like to buy when shopping at Sam’s Club.

1. Almond Butter – Okay, this almond butter is not just almonds. The ingredients included are almond butter, organic evaporated cane sugar, palm oil and sea salt. I will say that this is a lot better than some other nut butters on the market. Regardless, I will gladly feed my family this over a more processed corn syrup ridden peanut butter.

2. Pistachio’s – roasted salted pistachios, simple as that. I have not been able to find unsalted pistachios anywhere, so I settle for these.

3. 100% Maple Syrup – It’s true, it is 100% maple syrup. Grade A so more processed, but still maple syrup.

4. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – it can be daunting to spend a lot for so much olive oil, but when making homemade bread and cutting out hydrogenated vegetable oils, extra-virgin olive oil comes in handy.

5. KerryGold Butter – I am pretty excited about this. This stuff is made from pastured cows and sure, it is not raw but it is something healthy that I can afford. You will find delicious truly golden butter when you open up this tub.

6. KerryGold Chedder Cheese – Again, from pastured cows. I haven’t tried this yet but am eager to.

7. Pomegranate Juice – The label states 100% pomegranate juice. That sounds pretty real to me.

8. Organic Produce – Sam’s Club carries organic spinach, organic salad mix and organic carrots. A salad with dinner every night can turn costly but it helps when I buy the greens in bulk.

9. Produce on the “Clean 15” List – According to the Environmental Working Group, this includes onions, pineapples, avocado, cabbage, sweet peas, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, kiwi, domestic cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, watermelon and mushrooms. They also list sweet corn but I do not consider that safe since it is now genetically modified. Therefore, I stick to organic sweet corn in hopes it has not been cross pollinated with the scary stuff.  I know organic is best but on a tight budget it is hard to stick with an all organic grocery list.

Sam’s Club also sells organic 2% reduced fat milk, but I truly believe that whole milk is where it is at. Even better is raw milk… for your pets of course.
Now I am no expert at this but these are what I consider a better alternative to their highly processed counterparts. In the future I hope to share with you some of my favorite family friendly healthy meals. Say that three times fast.
Some of my favorite resources for real food are Keeper Of The Home, Food Renegade, 100 Days of Real Food and a book by Nina Planck titled Real Food: What to Eat and Why. Most importantly, remember that eating healthy does not make you more holy, more godly or better than someone eating at Burger King.

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