Eco Shopping

So I went to do some grocery shopping, and I have been wanting to get more organic foods into our home...  and so today was the day to begin!!   I have been reading a lot, and it rather freaks me out how much hormones and genetically altered food there is out there!   Going to Sams Club was an easy one.. I got the Ecos "organic lavender" detergent for my washer.  A lady I didn't know asked me if I liked that brand, and I admitted I'd never bought it before.  She said she used it herself and liked it, and it was only for "high capacity" washers that used less water.  *blink*   Umm, okay.  Mine was the "energy saver" "flavor of the month" put out by Kenmore in 1997.  I guess I'll just use a little less and see how it goes.   Organic baby carrots, and organic spring mix salad greens.  Oh yeah.  And Horizon milk.  The box had three half gallons in it for just under $10.   My kids will have that gulped down in a week.  :)   We did get a few other things, but truth be told, Sams does NOT have a whole lot of organic choices.   Renewal time is coming up soon with our membership.  Will we renew?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  The jury is still out.   Voluntarily, I decided to pop in and check out Big Lots.  Bear in mind, I always swore I hated Big Lots.  Used to, it was filthy and messy.  Navigating a shopping buggy down any isle in the store was annoying at best.  Between having to "pay" to get a buggy to begin with, (I refused), then if you did procure a buggy, only two wheels worked, one wouldn't roll at all, and one (obviously the leader of all four wheels) would always point the buggy directly into the shelving of their tacky merchandise.  All it took was a slight bump... or an absentminded nudge of the buggy, and the darn thing would propel itself right into the remaining shelved items that weren't yet knocked into the floor.  I hated the store so much, I'd rather be horse whipped than to go in there.   But amazingly enough, the store has changed.  They cleaned it up, and wow... it's actually not too bad now.  Not great, mind you, but mega-tons better.  Neat and tidy, with nice new buggies.  And you don't have to actually pay to use them either.  Polite employees, and a tidy store that doesn't have an unidentifiable strange odor.  LOL  Unbelievable. I'm looking around, marveling at the transformation.  To add to my joy, I found a few canned (and well within date) organic items, and even found 4 boxes of Tom's of Maine toothpaste and a couple of bottles of Simple Green cleaner.    I bought 4 bags of a whole wheat pasta, unsure if it was organic or not, but.. I figured that it was a step in the right direction.  The pasta brand is Tomasello and it's durum whole wheat pasta.  It's pretty darn brown... I gotta say.. it sure *looks* healthy! LOL  I googled it, and yep, it's made in Italy.. in Casteldaccia  to be exact, and this company makes over 100 kinds of pasta for other countries, worldwide..  Including the Trader Joe's brand.  (not that we have a Trader Joe's here or anything, though Lord knows I wish we did!!)  But I thought that was super cool. :)  However, (just throwing it out there)  You can go to http://www.traderjoes.com and go to "contact us" and ask (beg) for them to open a store here.  I did.  I'd prefer not to be the lone beggar.  LOL  But I feel in my heart we are Trader Joe deprived.  I digress. At any rate, looking at this pasta, I don't think it's organic, but at least its not that anemic looking stuff we used to buy.  Hope it tastes okay.  LOL  I guess we'll see.  ☺ Newsflash on the sugar front.  We have officially made the switch from sugar to stevia.  Thats a biggie for me. I'm a big fan of sugar... and it was hard to give up.  Stevia is pretty good stuff.  I have found that if I make (for example) a big cup of True Blueberry tea, (Celestial Seasonings), and let it seep for about 5 minutes then pour it over ice in my huge "sippie" cup, and add 2 packs of NuStevia, it's pretty darn tasty and very, VERY blueberry. :)  Caffeine free too, so I can chug it all I want in the evenings. :)  (which is a good thing in Florida heat)  Hubby isn't much of a blueberry fan, but even he admits it's "pretty decent".  :)  He is a cranberry-apple fan, and I just discovered they (Celestial Seasonings) also make a Cranberry Apple Zinger tea I'm betting he'll love.  I plan to pick him up a box my next store run. Score a point for mom! ☺ LOL!