While I see the need for GMO foods (how do we feed 9 billion people with organics!?  answer the billion dollar question.), personally I try to limit our exposure at home.  When you’re eating out, particularly where I live, there’s practically no hope of our family not consuming something that has genetically modified organisms.  If I asked my waiter if my meal was made with GMO ingredients I would likely get a blank stare.  But thankfully we don’t eat out a ton.

I probably look like the most psuedo healthy person at the grocery store since most of what I buy is frozen veggies and fruits, cheese, hummus and butter.  so random!  We have okra growing out back and hope to do a raised garden for the fall (which is much more our growing season than summer!).  I buy almost all of our fresh fruits and vegetables at local stands.  My favorite is Geraldson’s– love how I can buy what they’ve personally grown (it’s always the best), and everything else is labeled as to where it came from- I know they do that in the stores as well, but it’s always so much more locally sourced there.  We have a fruit and veggie stand around the corner from where we live which is good; not as good as Geraldson’s though!  Every Saturday after swim class we go to Brown’s Grove  – where we get our eggs for the week from the chickens tuck gets to play with/chase.  We also buy our meat there – which is sourced locally or from  North Carolina.  You can read about how they select that here.  We buy our Dakin milk which comes from very well taken care of (and well fed) cows just down the street.

But then there is all the non perishables I have to buy!  Since having a toddler I’ve started to buy those online at Vitacost.  It’s just easier – with a toddler boy in tow, time is of the essence – no time for browsing or reading labels.  At the farms or farm stands Tuck has something to do (run wild, pet the goats, etc)- sitting in the buggy at the grocery store is equal to torture in tucks mind.  And I’m always being the best mom ever – bribe bribe bribe with food!  Thus, I love being able to shop online during naptime for the stuff in the inner aisles that always seem to take up so much of my time at the grocery store.  Vitacost makes shopping for those items so easy – I can even limit my search to all non-gmo project verified.  Or if you need gluten free AND non gmo project verfied:  voila!  Since I live in a small town I don’t have a ton of access to most of these items – it’s so nice I can buy these items for much cheaper than if I had a Whole Foods around the corner.

Here’s what’s on my recurring list from Vitacost (which are all non-gmo project verified)!

Snacks:
Beanitos – my favorite chips with hummus
Roasted Seaweed chips  – pop these in my bag for on the go
justin’s little butter packs – on the go as well
chickpeas – I roast these with some garlic salt.  so good for a mid day snack.
Annie’s cheddar bunnies – I may eat a few of these myself (:

For smoothies:
Coconut Milk – so I always have it on hand for smoothies.
Chia Seeds
Hemp Protein
Raw Protein

For sides: (which I usually just throw in my rice cooker with some chicken or beef broth + veggies)
Rice
Quinoa

For the hard times:  aka a lazy dinner
Annie’s Mac n Cheese – I usually unthaw corn and peas to put in there to give it some nutritional value

Random:
Coconut Flour – started using this much more than actual flour
Chocolate chips – I put these in pancakes, baked goods, and as a little bribe from time to time
Olive Oil
Coffee – JB is a major coffee snob.  But he likes this for a good weekday coffee.

**This post was sponsored by Vitacost, a company I love and who is making shopping with a toddler much easier(:    this link will  get you $10 off your first order – I’ll get $10 credit as well **