Groceries

This evening we decided to check out the local meat market. 99% of the goods there are locally grown and raised and brought there every morning. The prices are great, too, considering most everything is local and organic. They have fresh fruit and veggies, quite a few we had never heard of.

Around the cases of beef, they have pictures and documentation of the cattle with their owners. You know exactly where your food came from. Although they do not sell kobe beef, the marbling in the meat there is unlike anything I've ever seen.

The eggs are sold in the usual containers, however I found eggs being sold in little bowls! We found local, organic, hand-made ketchup and tomato juice in glass jars, local honey, various kinds of seafood (both dead and alive), fresh seaweed, and a slew of other things. I'm very happy that I now know where to buy fresh seaweed. I do not like it dried, like you usually find wrapped around sushi and the like, so I'm very interested in fixing it in a fresh state.

One interesting green we picked up is ashitaba. Neither of us had ever seen it before, and it had flowers on it, so that was really neat. After some research, we found out this plant is extremely nutritious. Ashitaba is nicknamed the longevity herb and contains 13 minerals, 11 vitamins, and is high in fiber and protein. We will have to find a really good recipe since it is supposed to be more on the bitter side. We will let you know how that goes!