Ode to Whole Foods

Whether you've been reading for awhile or you're new to Girl Emerging, I'll shout it from the mountaintops (again):
 I love Whole Foods!
Thankfully, Ian has finally taken an interest in scoping out my natural-food haven for interesting goodies. (Well, if I'm being 100 percent honest, he's always offered to go with me, but we've never actually gone.)

Today, we had two important errands we needed to run: cleaning out the ABC store's miniatures collection, and spending the day grinning like mindless idiots through the aisles of Whole Foods. I'm telling you, I could easily spend an entire day in that magical place. Unfortunately, it's cost-prohibitive, but that doesn't cause me to love it any less!

I was on a mission to find chia seeds; I've been on the hunt for months, and I haven't had any luck (without ordering them online at the cost of an arm and a leg). I found a wide variety, including chia seeds that can be drunk!

Like quinoa, Synergy was a first-time food for me. One of Ian's prematriculation classmates recommended these to me via him, but I can't say I give it a rave review. As my sister put it, "It's like drinking a jellyfish after it's been put through a blender." The texture doesn't bother me, but the flavor isn't as sharp as I expected it to be. However, I like the low-cal, low-sugar, low-fat, and low-sodium factors. Overall, I give it a 4 for flavor and an 8 for health benefits. I will say that it's growing on me the more I drink it.
Of course, I was more interested in chia seeds that are consumed in a traditional manner, and I finally, at long last, found them. I cannot wait to dig into these superfood babies:

Speaking of quinoa...
It's not easy to find where I live. Here in Richmond, there is an abundance of health food stores, farmers markets, local produce stands, and oft unheard of -- outside of the blog world -- luxurious grocery items. I decided to pick up a new-to-me quinoa while I had the opportunity. I'll admit, I'm intimidated by the idea of working with raw, unprepared quinoa that I need to rinse and parcel out "1 part quinoa to 2 parts water" or however. Someday.

I was also on a mission at Whole Foods to get some yummy granola, whether from the bulk bins or Bear Naked. I selected the Rain Forest variety, so I'm definitely excited to try it in my Chobani.

Now, as you may remember, kale chips and I did not agree with one another. I half-heartedly browsed for kale chips, but I was perfectly happy with my selection of Dude Ranch chips.

KIND bars have become a staple in my diet. I take them to 3-hour classes with me, I sometimes grab one before an a.m. run, and I carry them with me whenever I think my blood sugar might get low. Whole Foods had flavors that my local Kroger doesn't offer, and they were on sale -- double win!

I didn't really have a rationale for these fruit strips, but they were on sale for 59 cents apiece. I thought maybe they'd be tasty blood sugar boosters or treats for in-class breaks.

I'm Kashi cereal's number one fan, so I figured, why not give Kashi granola bars a go? I've tried a few varieties, but they didn't do for me what KIND bars do in terms of flavor or crunch satisfaction. Maybe this GoLean roll! will change my mind :)

After our visit to Whole Foods, as if our day hadn't been exciting enough, Ian treated me to lunch at Moe's! Unanimous Decision, we meet again ;)
What a day!

P.S. What have you been up to on this beautiful Saturday? Are you a Whole Foods worshipper like me? I feel like I'm starstruck when I'm in there. It's rather embarrassing... for other people.