After yesterday’s WOD, a couple of my CrossFit friends and I drove to Northborough to visit the Wegmans. It was about an hour away, so we hit up Cumberland Farm for some post-WOD beverages. I added coconut and chocolate syrup and milk to my iced coffee. Mmm!
The three of us had lots to talk about on the drive, so the time passed quickly and, before we knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot of Wegmans. Hooray! We were pumped.
The produce section greeted us as we walked through the front door of Wegmans. The space was bright, open, and colorful with a good mix of both organic and conventional produce.
For the most part, the produce prices were cheaper than Stop & Shop. Just to give you an idea: bananas were $0.49/pound, sweet potatoes were $0.99/pound, and 4 avocados were $5.99.
After shopping the produce section, we found our way to the Mediterranean Bar (olive, hummus, and other deliciousness) and bakery.
There were so many amazing options at the bakery. I wanted to try them all! It took me a little while to decide what I wanted (cupcake with tie-dye frosting? mini chocolate dome cake?), but I eventually decided on cookies and bought a couple of them for Mal and me.
Other highlights from our trip:
Bulk bins!
Freshly ground nut butter.
Candy! So much candy!
The warehouse of booze!
Holy moly, the booze warehouse was massive and it had everything, including a zillion kinds of flavored vodka and my very favorite pumpkin beer.
And $6 bottles of wine! Yes, please!
We spent about an hour wandering around the store and oooh-ing and awww-ing about things we saw. If I had to describe Wegmans, I’d say it was a cross between Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, and Target. It had all of your usual grocery products along with specialty items and prepared foods, but with some home goods and cooking/entertaining pieces mixed it. I think I even saw some exercise equipment? Anyway, once we finished shopping, we paid for our groceries, put them in the car, and then went back inside to the Market CafĆĀ© for lunch.
The Market CafĆĀ© was quite an experience. There were so many food options! There were sandwiches, pizza, and all that jazz, but what I really loved was all of the different salad and hot bars. Everything was the same price per pound, so I helped myself to a little bit of everything.
Lunch highlights: curried chicken salad, pulled pork, mac & cheese, roasted veggies, roasted Brussels sprouts and apple salad, General Tso’s chicken, spaghetti squash gratin, baked tofu, and roasted butternut squash. It was a fabulous lunch!
And here’s what I bought!
Fun stuff:
Tuscan Gorgonzola Dip
Garlic Simmer Sauce – going to try it with stir fry!
Ground dark chocolate peanut butter
Wine + beer
Cookie Monster cookie!
When I got home, I wanted to try some of my purchases, so I dug into the honey roasted almonds.
And then took a couple of bites of the dark chocolate peanut butter, which wasn’t super chocolaty, but still delicious!
Snack
A little while later, I snacked on some raw veggies with some leftover basil guacamole (recipe will be on Health tomorrow).
Dinner
When dinnertime rolled around, I cooked up some frozen veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and Brussels sprouts), added some roasted chickpeas, and then topped it all with a big scoop of Tuscan Gorgonzola Dip, which was the bomb! I give it an A+.
I also ate some roasted sweet potatoes with dinner.
For dessert, I devoured Cookie Monster’s face.
And then ate a couple of rectangles of Hershey’s chocolate with almonds. Once I start eating sugar, I can’t stop!
Health News & Views
When I’m out with my friends at a bar or restaurant, sometimes I just don’t feel like drinking alcohol. Maybe I’m watching my calories or I have plans to work out early the next morning. In this type of setting, I always feel a little awkward if I don’t have a drink in my hand though.
At home or a house party, I usually have plenty of ingredients to make a tasty āmocktailāĀ (an alcohol-free beverage that looks just like a cocktail), but when I’m out with my friends, I don’t readily have coconut water and cherry juice at my disposal.
Of course, I don’t want to miss out on having fun with my friends, so I started to get creative with my drink orders. Here are some of my go-to āmocktailsāĀ that you might like too! (I swear, no one will know the difference, but you, and your body will thank you later!)
5 Great Alcohol-Free āMocktailsāĀ to Sip
Question of the Day
What new delicious food(s) have you recently discovered?
P.S. Just wanted to share this article that a friend of mine sent me the other day: The Now of CrossFit. The author talks about finding āinner peace through an ass-kicking workout.āĀ I can definitey relate!
92 Comments
Wow, Wegman’s sounds all kinds of awesome! I want them to come to North Carolina now!
You made me sad! I miss Wegmans so much! The Bulk Dept. is amazing there!!!
Awww, this post makes me miss Wegmans so much! Wish they would open a store in NYC.
My two favorites from this post are the prices of the “make your own” almond butter and the wine section. So awesome! And I cannot remember the last time I had a cookie monster cookie. I think for one of my birthday parties when I was in elementary school. Jealous! š
My new favorite find is a Six Rivers Brewery Spicy Ale.. it is delicious with a KICK at the end! http://www.sixriversbrewery.com/
YUM! I bet I would love that!
I’m insanely jealous you have a wegman’s! When I lived in Central NY for grad school, that was my store! My roommate and I used to go in the middle of study sessions just to get the pumpkin moon pie. If you see it in the bakery section (individually packaged), try them! They’re amazing!
Pumpkin moon pie sound amazing!
I’ve been in my local Wegman’s a few times, but have never seriously explored! Clearly, I’m missing out.
I wouldn’t exactly call these healthy, but I recently discovered Chocolate Frosted Mini Wheats. I have a bowl with 1% milk almost every night for dessert. They are so good! And at least they’re giving me fiber! š
The Wegmans in my town opened 3 1/2 years ago. Before that, I used to drive 40 minutes to shop at the closest one. Honestly, it’s the ONLY store where I can get everything I need. The only problem is that it’s in the same shopping center as my gym, so I find myself there at least 3 times a week! I <3 Wegmans!
You can truly find everything you’d ever want there. It was pretty awesome!
I think I could move into that store…the bulk bins and $6 wines…amazing!
Haha! It was pretty amazing! š
Raw Brownies and Raw PB cookies… I cannot get enough!
http://wp.me/s32xdW-dates
YUM!
Wish my grocery stores were as exciting as half the stores I see on all the blogs I follow.
I think I found $4 bottles of wine at the Walmart in LA in the summer – wowzers!
I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I read your post – Wegmans is the dominant shopping chain where I live and I spend so much time there š However since I live in NY they do not carry wine/liquor. I absolutely love Wegmans!
make your own almond or peanut butter, how awesome!
Fresh nut butter? That’s enough to give the store an A+ from me! What a fun trip with a delicious outcome! š
I’m confused about your sugar comment – I thought you’d conquered that. How do you eat sugar in moderation? (I’m trying to figure out that balance right now).
I still eat sugar. I just don’t let it control me anymore.
After I ate the cookie, I wanted more sugar, so I ate a couple of pieces of chocolate and then cut myself off. I think splurging is totally fine as long as I don’t let it get out of hand. Back in the day, I would have eaten the chocolate all night long until it was gone. Basically, I had no “off” button when it came to sweets, but now I do.
Weyerbacher is a small brewery just 20 minutes from my home!! They have tastings and tours every weekend, so I’ve been before. I love their pumpkin beer, too. š
Oh I want to visit one so bad! The bar is BEAUTIFUL, and the produce looks so healthy and clean!
Love those Cookie Monster cookies…one day I am going to attempt making the cupcake version of them!
I am glad to know that I am not the only person who gets excited about grocery shopping! That is exactly how I feel every time that I walk into Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Now I wish that I had a Wegmans to go to, though!!
All of your purchases look absolutely delicious, but I am especially loving the looks of those honey roasted almonds. I am fairly certain I would have a hard time not eating the entire bag š
Sugar makes me want more sugar….it’s a crazy ride and my sweet tooth is intense. I recently discovered So Delicious plain coconut coffee creamer and it’s helped me kick the coffeemate habit.
I was so overwhelmed when I went to Wegmans but the selection really is incredible. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the booze but I have only heard incredible things about the selection!
I’ve discovered the magic of adding cocoa powder to everything. And i mean EVERYTHING!
Alcohol is should reduced to minimal level when you are in diet or considering weight loss. But like you said it sometimes makes out of the group, so the mocktails are really a good choice for those who are avoiding alcohols.
I always find it so funny how your grocery stores sell booze in the US! š
Wegman’s will open in Newton this year….we can not wait and it will be a lot closer for you!
eggplant puree with roasted garlic…so good on flatbread pizza
If you liked Wegmans, you would LOVE Jungle Jims! I’m going to try to do a post this weekend on our trip š Oh and by the way, I tried Kim Crawford Sav Blanc last night at Flemings and almost died it was so good! Buying some this weekend. And…I got on the sugar train too last night…my snack of choice? Justin’s Maple Almond Butter on a spoon with a milk chocolate disc in the center of it…times 10?? oops!
I love Wegmans! I grew up with the Wegman girls, the original store is in my hometown. I could spend hours in there browsing all the wonderfulness. I actually just went home this past weekend and made my obligatory trip to Wegmans. Love it!!
Wegman’s looks awesome! I think I would get lost in such a big store with so many different items to try. Freshly ground nut-butter, in-store? I think every store should have that. And that Tuscan gorgonzola dip sounds delicious. Well, now I’m hungry. Recently I’ve been experimenting more with plain Greek yogurt. For dinner I’ll mix it with a little balsamic and saltless seasoning and dip veggies in it, or for dessert I’ll throw in some cinnamon, apples and chopped almonds. Love it!
I am the year of the dragon and it fits me so well! My year is the Earth dragon and those qualities it described were exactly me… So weird.
Wow, I would go nuts in that candy aisle!!
I love Wegmans! Never know what kind of new foods I’m going to find there. Also love their sushi, it’s the best.