Hey everyone!! Happy Friday!
I hope you all have some great plans for the weekend, I sure do! I’m meeting up with some blogger friends Friday night, maybe going to the Chipotle Cultivate festival Saturday, my big 20 miler Sunday, AND I’m puppy sitting Molly all weekend! But before the weekend begins, I wanted to share with all of you an experience I had yesterday. I had 2.5 hours in the middle of the day where I had no class, so first I decided to eat my packed lunch for dinner (I eat lunch and dinner at school on Thursdays) and I headed to chipotle for lunch! I was jealous of Chelsey’s enchilada recipe so I wanted something Mexican.
After I wanted to kill some time (instead of being productive…) so I walked over to the Walmart Neighborhood Market near my school. I’d never been in one and thought I’d check it out. Umm. I was impressed. My cousin is going to hate me for this, but we’re supposed to be getting one in our neighborhood soon and now I’m selfishly excited. Not that it’s Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods awesome, but it carries things neither of those stores do and for way less.
The bad thing about them coming is that the ACTUAL neighborhood markets, owned by small business owners, will probably loose a ton of business. That’s what I dislike about them coming in. The stores survived a Trader Joe’s in my neighborhood, but I’m afraid they won’t survive this which makes me really sad. It’s hard in the city, you want cheap places but you also want to keep small businesses. But I’m rambling here, haha, we need to get to the point of this post, which is my assessment of the store!
Let me take you on a tour: First there was a huge produce section:
I’d probably stick to my Trader Joe’s produce since it’s inexpensive and they have a lot of organic, but hey, at least they’ve got it!
And the now obligatory gluten free section:
And an amazing Greek Yogurt section! I was really impressed and found some great finds. Both Danon and Yoplait have low calorie, high protein and LOW SUGAR flavored Greek yogurts. That has always been my issue with some other brands, but these were impressive! I haven’t tasted them, so you never know, but it looked good!
They had almond and soy milk (weirdly only Silk brand products…):
And this was a great find: they had a huge (and cheap!) selection of flavored extracts! I had no idea some of these existed!! Butter? Banana? Raspberry??
I had planned to not get anything since I’d have to carry it home along with 3 big books, but I couldn’t resist! I got maple and caramel. I put the caramel into my protein ice cream that night, and WOAH. It was good. Really good.
Last but not least, I was shocked at the liquor selection! I still can’t get over the fact that in Chicago you can sell liquor just about anywhere, even Target and 7 Eleven! I got used to South Carolina, where you had to have specific stores for alcohol and couldn’t sell liquor anywhere else. Also it couldn’t be sold after 6pm or on Sundays. Haha, it took a lot of planning ahead.
They even had a cider I’ve been wanting to try!
So, there you have it. I was impressed by Walmart. In writing.
What do you think of Walmart Neighborhood Market?
What’s your favorite extract flavor? What flavor would you invent? I’d invent birthday cake!
OMG i am so jealous of that flavor extract aisle. maybe i need to check out wal-mart? i have been looking for peanut butter and chocolate everywhere but i cannot find them anywhere! super jealous. i love the maple extract i finally bit the bullet and ordered online – i have been putting it in everything, lol. and caramel rocks my world 🙂 butter is good for cake batter flavorings!
haha now I want to go back and buy ALL of them! And it was a walmart neighborhood market, you should see if they have any near you, they’re a lot smaller than a Walmart
We have a Walmart market, but it’s not nearly half as fantastic. (The story of shopping life in Canada, hence why we all travel south-of-the-border to shop whenever possible!!)
Fabulous choice on the maple and caramel extracts. Birthday cake flavour would be a good one, cheesecake icing would probably be up there on my list. But I’d be WAY more than content settling for the maple. Maple favoured everything = life would be perfect. 🙂
Haha maple flavor is amazing!
I have to second your opinion. I went to Walmart a couple weeks ago and they have made serious strides. They had a ton of healthier options. I can find stuff there that I can’t in other grocery stores….and I can get things like face wash, lotion, etc. for cheaper.
It’s a good deal.
I definitely like it for that reason: I can get food and other products all at once!
sadly i really do miss having Walmart, they had everything and it was super cheap. super cheap. take advantage of it!
I haven’t been in there yet but it’s not that far from me. Thanks for the tour!
Does sucralose bother you? Fake sugar products taste SO GROSS to me.
I haven’t noticed that sucralose bothers me, but I don’t eat many sugar free things. I definitely can’t have sorbitol or aspartame, and if it doesn’t have either of those I get excited because they’re so common!
Our Walmarts in Canada aren’t nearly as awesome as yours! But that’s because we just don’t get the same selection of food products as you guys – like we only have a few Greek yogurt brands here, so I’m always so overwhelmed with all the choices when I visit the US!
The only flavour extract I own is vanilla. I really need to change that. I bet I would love the caramel one. Especially paired with chocolate… yum!
The caramel is my favorite so far!
I don’t know if you noticed/care but those Greek yogurts use sucralose and aspartame — that’s why there’s “less sugar” — no good in my book!
I did actually look because I can’t eat anything with sorbitol or aspartame because it bloats up my stomach, but they didn’t have either of those. I do believe the yoplait had sucralose, although I don’t have that on my radar.
They have all of those extracts at my regular wal-mart too. I just can’t have them because some have gluten and corn. BOO.
I’m totally jealous of that gluten-free section though! I wish my wal-mart had one. That would be SO. COOL.
they have gluten?! Lol I’ll have to double check the ingredients…
Ya. Watkins uses a grain-based alcohol, which they cannot “guarantee” comes from a gluten-free source. Most alcohols come from corn or wheat. *Sad face*
ah okay, well I don’t have celiac, just an intolerance, so I don’t think it will be a problem for me. But that’s too bad!
I kind of need that banana extract. and the caramel. And probably the peanut too.
I always judge a grocery store by the Greek yogurt selection – if it sucks, I probably won’t shop there often. 😉
Haha me too! And I almost bought the banana… I was tempted!
Wow! Look at all of those extracts!
And anything with a decent Greek yogurt selection is a winner for me 🙂
I always judge a grocery store on their greek yogurt! It shows how up to date they are!
Wowza. That’s quite the extract selection! You didn’t happen to notice how much almond extract costs there, did you? I paid an arm and a leg for it at Jewel last week because I was out and put it in a tonnnnn of my overnight oats and pancakes, but I’d love to find a cheaper alternative for the next time I run out.
I didn’t look at the almond specifically, but I didn’t notice any being especially expensive, some were near $4 but most around $3.
Wow–I think that’s awesome they have that extract aisle?! Rock on. Walmart can have some really awesome stuff….the people that always shop there (at least near where we live), are always interesting to watch too. Hehe 😉
Hahahahaha there is always great people watching
While my budget LOVES WalMart, I haven’t had luck with their produce section. Nothing really tastes how it should taste, it’s all just kinda bland and watery 🙁 That’s just been my experience though. I still go there to buy everything but my produce though!
Lol yea I don’t know if I’d be buying my produce there, but it’s good for packaged things
I love-hate Walmarts too! I don’t love supporting a huge chain that doesn’t treat their workers well but their stuff is so cheap! I usually make a trip a month to stock up on cleaning supplies and products like coffee & spices that can be super expensive at WF or Target and that Walmart sells for cheap. I’ll have to look into the extracts though, I’ve wanted to buy some for a while!
Also, I’ve tried that cider and it’s good but it doesn’t taste quite like cider. It’s more of a mix of cider/wine which isn’t but it’s just not very cider-y.
Lol okay good to know, I was expecting more of a cider! But I’ll try it anyway!
I would definitely invent cheesecake! Or oreo blizzard 🙂
Haha I’d vote Oreo Blizzard!
In college, the closest grocery store to my house was Walmart Neighborhood Market, and I got so much flack for liking it, so this post really speaks to me haha! And, three years later, I STILL talk about my love for WNM and how much I miss it.
Haha they had a lot of great stuff!
I have never even heard of a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market!
Maybe it’s a big-city thing? Although I think we have at least one in Kansas city
I’ve gotten butter extract before! I use it to make birthday cake smoothies! You should actually get the butter kind if you like birthday cake flavor. But be careful… a little goes a long way and you don’t want an overpowering butter flavor!(well i don’t)
I got the butter the other day! It really does taste like cake flavor!
Those “greek yogurts” actually have artifical sweeteners and thickeners, as they are actually just trying to manipulate real greek yogurt to make money. Real true greek yogurt have been strained and usually have 2-3 ingredients (milk and a bacteria culture, such as lactobacilli or bifidobacterium). Many brands use thickeners such as gums, starches and gelatin to recreate the thick, creamy, texture of real greek yogurt. Sorry to be blunt but it just bothers me when people fall into advertising traps and buy something that isn’t as healthy as the real deal. I prefer just a simple non-fat plain greek yogurt and usually sweeten with some honey if I like.
Very true! It’s easy to get sucked into advertising and then you’re not getting what you think
Dannon’s Light and Fit vanilla is SO good! I go through a pack of 4 every 4-5 days or so… Try mixing it with some cottage cheese and granola–delicious! 🙂
Haha what! Butter extract? That’s crazy stuff!
I used to live near a Neighborhood Walmart when I lived in Orlando last year, and it was actually pretty convenient! A much cheaper option than Publix (we don’t have TJs down here 🙁 )
I used to go to Publix all the time in college!
Birthday cake extract?! You may be onto something there!
Hey Katie! I’m a new Chicago resident, so I love reading your blog:)
I’m totally a fan of walmart! Growing up, that’s the only place my mom shopped, so I got used to it. We didn’t have any TJ’s in texas (sad face) but I hear they’re building one in Dallas pretty soon!
Thanks for reading, Kelsey! I hope you’re liking Chicago!