My Organic Market

Ok, we have officially spent way too much money on gluten-free junk novelty food lately. One of the nice things about being gluten-free and cheap, like me, is that it's a lot easier to eat a lot more healthfully. Snack food is expensive, and pre-packed gluten-free food even more so. However, since we already finished up the bag of goodies from The Grainless Baker, I keep finding myself rooting around for more. What can I say? It's spring break!

Among the yummy looking treats I picked up at Mom's to try, I had to grab a bag of these because they are a tried and true favorite of ours.
In fact, my mom may or may not have given my husband a box full of little bags of Pamela's cookies for Christmas. I also grabbed a box of the pecan shortbread cookies, because I think they taste almost just like Keebler Pecan Sandies. Those used to be my mom's favorite cookies. She doesn't think the Pamela cookies compare, but then, true love stays true. I sure do miss those little elves and their cookie-making magic, probably even more than the girl scouts. A moment of silence, please:
Anyway, a couple of items of interest from my otherwise uninteresting trip to the grocery store:

1. They have started selling sweet rice flour at MOM. But guess how much? No, seriously, guess! You'll never guess! $13.99 for eight ounces! Geez Louise! I guess they don't know you can get a 2-pound bag at Lotte for $2.99. Gluten-free markups make me furious. Do not get suckered into this kind of craziness!

2. MOM brand is selling some new vitamins that are supposed to be easier for the body to absorb. I picked up a few of kinds I take, because I figured it can't hurt. I'm going to do a little more research, but I'm wondering if since my celiac body has a hard time absorping nutrients properly, that these might help. Check out this comment on chelated iron.

I actually really like browsing around at specialty/organic food stores like MOM, Roots and Wholefoods. Even though things tend to be out of my Christian-school-teacher-married-to-a-youth-pastor budget, there really are some great products out there. You can also get lots of new ideas just browsing around, and then try to find similar products more affordably elsewhere. That said, my mom always says that the most important investment you can make is in your own health, and if that means paying a little more for foods that you know are celiac safe or free from harmful antibiotics and pesticides, then so be it. While I completely agree, and I think it's really, really important to eat as much locally grown, organic and free-range food as possible, I'm still working on reconciling that with my wallet. I'm getting there though, and knowing I've outsmarted the MOM powers-that-be with my Lotte sweet rice flour tells me I'll get these sooner rather than later.