Your Dekalb Farmers Market

Hello There!

There is this place that we have been hearing about. We have been told it is amazing. We have been told it is huge. We have been told it is unbelievable. We have been told we must go to this place.

What is this place you may ask? It is called, "Your Dekalb Farmers Market", yes "Your" is actually in the title - here is the website.

It is about 10 maybe 15 minutes from our apartment. We have been wanting to go check it out but we haven't succeeded...until Saturday that is! I was SUPER excited. It was a rainy, dreary day so it was perfect to go check out the Market. We had plenty of reusable bags, I was ready to snap some pics so I could show you the fun, and we had cash in hand to pay all the different vendors.

Well, this place was a little different!

First, it was in a GINORMOUS warehouse. I was in awe when we pulled into the parking lot. I really didn't know what to expect since I had not done any recon for the experience. Doctor Bob likes to check places out before we go but I like to be surprised.

It hit me that this was going to be different from past trips to the farmers market as there were shopping cart return corrals in the parking lot. What market needs shopping carts? Obviously this one!

Next I noticed a big sign as we were entering the market "No cameras/picture taking allowed!" What?! Boo! How was I supposed to sufficiently describe our experience? (I encourage you to click here to check out this place as even the pictures on their website don't allow you to cut and paste.)

Then our carts were checked as soon as you walked in. All bags needed to be placed under the cart. The woman didn't let you pass until you did so.

But all of the descriptions we heard about this place were totally spot on! It was definitely overwhelming at first. There was so much to look at, so much to take in!

Produce was the first thing we saw as we walked into the market. And there were plenty of people in the produce section. We decided we would skip it for now and come back towards the end of our trip.

The bakery was next which had all sorts of delicious types of breads, desserts, and rolls. All shapes and sizes. We decided to get a package of mini French baguette's that we would transform into garlic bread for an upcoming dinner, a half loaf of oatmeal oat bran bread, whole wheat hot dog buns that were used for turkey meatball sandwiches, and a package of 2 soft pretzels as a treat. We have since tried all of the above and they were beyond delish!

After we pried ourselves away from the bakery we then checked out all the fresh meat and boy was there a lot to choose from! We ended up getting 2.5 pounds of chicken drummettes and a certified angus beef chuck roast. Don't worry, Dr. Bob will be updating you with how he prepared these into tasty meals.

Besides the fresh meat, I would have to say that Dr. Bob's favorite part of the market had to be the aisles of different sauces. He loves to check out new marinades or olive oils. We walked out with a mere 4 bottles:

And after a quick stop in the beer/wine section for some Guiness (again Dr. Bob will fill you in on how he used that special ingredient) we were ready to brave the produce section. Besides getting some new potatoes and an onion we basically stuck with the fresh fruit. I <3 fruit. I love summer time because you are surrounded by fresh fruit. I love to buy in bulk and then prep for the freezer (I have another post planned specifically for that). My new discovery/fruit friend is the kiwi so we picked up some of those. I can never resist Granny Smith apples, so they jumped in the cart as well as a package of raspberries and a package of blackberries for my morning shakes. And then I saw probably the most wonderful thing I saw ALL.DAY.LONG: a gigantic container of fresh strawberries! I was in heaven! After doing quick math to make sure we were getting the best deal, the strawberries were safely secured in the shopping cart. Our final item from the produce section was a pineapple. This summer I have been trying "new to me" fruit. It's not the first time I have tried the fruit but it is usually the first time I have prepared it. So far this summer has included: kiwi, mango, nectarine, and now pineapple. I can't wait to cut into it!

So now that we had officially finished perusing the store - it was time to check out. I was a little nervous about the final total but it actually wasn't terrible. We got all of the following:

for a grand total of $85.94. Not too bad if you consider all that we got and what it would cost at a normal grocery store.

We won't be doing this big of a shopping trip all the time but it was a great first experience!

Do you have a huge market like this near you?