WinCo Foods

Speaking of Markets, earlier today, I found myself at a new market today and boy was it ever fun.

I was told by a gal who lived in South Orange County that they went to the WinCo Foods in Moreno Valley about once a month for their bulk foods, such as oatmeal and rice.  I was shocked that she would drive herself that far for a grocery store and it peaked my interest.   A month or so back, I heard that there was a new WinCo foods in Lakewood and I had had it on my radar since then.   After having breakfast in Long Beach with a girlfriend whom I hadn't seen in waay too long, (Oatmeal and a Side of Turkey Bacon, yum) I had an hour to kill and some shopping to do.

It was all that I had hoped for and did not dissapoint from my original expectations.   It is kind of like a Food 4 Less but a lot bigger and a lot nicer.  Being that this store was fairly new, it was very clean, I am not sure how they all are.

You are guided through a tunnel of boxed food at the entrance (One way in and one way out) and when you round that corner you are greated with this beatiful sight.  A huge room of produce, who could ask for more.

 As I approached the bulk section I started to get very excited, I think they call it like a kid in a candy store.  I had to text a couple of my girlfriends and shared this spice photo with a friend who loves to cook.  Talk about spice options.  The nice thing about this is that you can buy as little or as much as you need, oh and it is cheaper than buying spice in the bottle.   (They had cute little empty bottles down at the bottom in case you did not have any .)

 There was 4 full rows, front and back, of these bins.  Barrels on the bottom and push containers on the top.    I am practically dancing at this point, but trying to appear to be a composed shopper doing my thing.   Out came the camera for a second.

This one is a little blury because there were fellow shoppers around and I took the photo too fast.  Patience is not my best virtue...  These are beans, beans and more beans.  I got dried lima and a 13 bean soup mixture.

I just thought this was a funny section.  It varied from red hot candies, to tapioca pearls to instant nonfat milk to instant yeast.  Wow.

 Thought this was interesting and odd at the same time.   I didn't get any but I grabbed the recipe.  It was dried hummus mixture.  I have made homemade hummus a few times with chickpeas but I wonder what this is all about.


They had these cute little recipe cards that you could take.  Inspiration as they see it.

 Snackers heaven.

 Let's not forget our furry friends, this section was all dog treats, dog food, bird seed, etc.
The table in the middle distance was the make your own nut butter counter.

Need some coffee?

 

I had to try out the deli, which had an array of items.  Here we have pea salad, which reminds me of my mom always.  The price was right too for deli items.

 The fried chicken seemed to be a popular item but I did not partake.

 Nice little fish section.  Crawfish reminded me of Lake Arrowhead for sure.  We used to catch them under the bridge with a bucket and raw bacon then boil them up. Good times.

 I was standing there staring at these, contemplating buying them for a split second so I thought I should take a picture so it would last longer.

 Here we had a row of butter, margarine, crescent rolls and the likes.

 A whole aisle of frozen veggies.   A girl could stock her freezer full.  I'll have to look but the prices didn't seem super low on these to me.

 I don't remember why I took this photo but since it's here I will explain.  Looks like the row of frozen potatoes, french fries, sweet potatoe fries, etc.

 There was a whole aisle practically of frozen breakfast items.  I wondered if I would find anything healthy and priced right and then at the very end I found the Van's frozen waffles section.  They were priced about half or less then what they are at other stores.  Called for 2 boxes the freezer.   Topped with peanut butter, these make a balanced breakfast or what I like to call second breakfast (10am).

Last but certianly not least we have the wine section, the only thing I took from this aisle was a picture, I am such a good girl.

Here is what I came out with from the bulk section.  I was trying to behave myself and not over purchase just because it was so new.   Clockwise from the top left: Steel Cut Oats because that is a staple part of my meal plan and because this was the topic of discussion when I was given the tip about WinCo from a gal pal.  13 bean dried beans because I wanted a challenge and will now have to find a recipe.   Frosted flakes, well because a girl doesn't have to have a reason to buy a sample size of frosted flakes, now does she.  Lima beans because they just sounded good the other night and they remind me of my childhood.  Dried Peppers because I had a recipe in my purse (See I wasn't totally aimlessly shopping) for Quinoa Chile which had red peppers in the ingredients.  And dried hominy, because posole stew has been made a time or two in our household.  I wonder if I could make cornnuts out of them instead.  Hmm, wondering.. 

For a second you may think I have squash here in a bag, but no these are dog treats.   The left are the green dental chews that are normally very pricey, the right are heart and chicken boned shaped chews.   She will get one when she gets home from her nail trim, and ear wash today. 

 Here is my fruit and vegetable purchase.   Brussels because well the girl loves brussels, lima beans because the same reason as dried above (I think I'll be making some for my afternoon snack today), nectarines because they are devine to snack on, green apples because the hubby loves green apples, lemons and limes because they can be used on so many things in so many ways.

My out of ordinary splurge was the above.  Precooked Gyro Slices, I had never seen them before and had to try them. 

Not sure how well these maps do it justice but just the fact that they have a map is alluring enough.  Oh look, the entrance tunnel that I described earlier is actually called the "Wall of Values"

Have a great rest of your afternoon, it's a beatiful day. Time for me to get outside.   ~