You Better Shop Around

Another thing that had intimidated me before starting the Caveman Diet was visiting a Farmers Market.  For some reason I thought, "That's not a place for me, I don't belong there.  People from Brooklyn do not visit Farmers Markets."  That's a mentality that I think has followed me around my whole life and has stopped me from trying new things.  I mean, I knew people in Brooklyn, that despite our proximity to Manhattan, had never even crossed the river!  Can you imagine never having the wonton soup at Wo Hop, when you're only 30 minutes away?  Inconceivable, but true.  But being on this diet (no, wonton soup is not on the caveman diet), has forced me to find alternate methods of shopping.  There's only so many places that sell organic food, although the industry is growing bigger and bigger everyday.  My local Ralph's (a moderately priced grocery store) has doubled the size of their organic produce section in just the last 6 months.  And I saw a report on CBS Sunday Morning that said the number of Farmers Markets in America have doubled in the last year!  And some of the best ones are in Brooklyn (there goes the neighborhood)!  Trader Joe's still has the best prices, but their selection is limited.  Whole Foods is great, but expensive (my friend Joe calls it, "Whole Paycheck").  Although they do have the best prices on canned and jarred organic products, like olive oil, canned wild tunafish, etc.  They're much cheaper than family owned health food stores, because they can buy in bulk.  Whole foods also has the best prices on meat, I'm guessing for the same reason.

But for produce, I like to hit the local farmers markets.  One, because you can usually find better prices than the stores (but not always, some farmers sell at extremely high prices, more than Whole Foods and Trader Joe's combined, so you have to compare and shop within the farmers markets themselves).  Two, because everything you're buying is IN SEASON, which is a big part of the paleo diet, since cavemen ALWAYS ate in season (they eat seasonal food in Italy as well, and they're the best fed people on the planet).  And finally because you know the food is extremely fresh!  I have a farmers market near me (in Burbank) , and I've narrowed down my shopping to a few farms that I trust, and have great prices as well.  I visit it almost every Saturday morning, and my haul looks like this:

Top left are a brown and red onion, top row are red and green bell peppers, with some weird skinny sweet Italian green pepper below the reds.  Grapes on the top right, which I will stick in the freezer (after never having one until last week, I am now officially addicted to frozen grapes).  Under the peppers, we have some sweet figs in season, and next to them some organic roma tomatoes, my favorite (I must have been Italian in another life)!  Under the tomatoes some carrots, a favorite snack.  On the bottom left is some dill and basil, then autumn apricots, and assorted plums, peaches, and nectarines, as the summer fruit winds down.  I think back to the Atkins Low Carb diet I was on for almost three years, where you couldn't eat fruit OR carrots!  I am so glad I have seen the light, and can enjoy a piece of fruit now and then!  No diet that says organic fruits and carrots are bad for you can be good for you.  I bring my haul home from the farmers market, rinse it all off and then let it dry on a familiar orange cloth (this photo sponsored by Sham-Wow, for all your drying needs).  Once dry, I stick them in Green Bags, which have saved my life.  No, these products are not real sponsors, but I must praise Green Bags for a moment.  They're made by the As Seen On TV brand (like the TV Magic cards I had as a kid, where every other card was the ace of spades), and they keep the produce fresh for about two weeks, or in some cases longer!  Without them, I'd have to go shopping every two days.  This diet already takes too much of my time, I'd go crazy if it took even more.  This way, I can shop for all my fruit and veggies for about two weeks worth.  I highly recommend them!

I'm going to use the tomatoes, brown onion, and peppers, to make Chicken Cacciatore tonight!  Farm fresh and yummy!  I may use the apricots and plums to make some kind of sauce later in the week, or I might just have them for dessert, I'll play it by ear.  The dill I will use in some salad dressings, and sandwiches, and the rest I'll use up eventually in something or other (must I plan EVERY meal right now for you people?!).  I'll also take some of the tomatoes and basil as a mid day snack, chopping it with garlic, olive oil, and black pepper and spreading it like bruschetta on some almond bread I accidentally burned the other day (oops, but still yummy), or just sliced with some olive oil, red onion, and spices drizzled over it, like this:

Delish!

So the intimidation of the farmers markets is now gone, and I've become quite the shopper.  By the way, bring cash, your ATM card will not work in a parking lot in Burbank.  They also don't take Visa, MasterCard, Amex, or Bank of Ugga-Bugga.

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