Peace, Love & Giraffes

I love grocery shopping. I find pleasure in walking down the isles, checking items off my list. Here it’s no different. I’ve been to a few different grocery stores, and they are all surprisingly much like American grocery stores. Sure most of the brands are different, and I find myself having to defer to my husband to see which is the tastier type of tinned (canned) tomatoes to buy or what type of cleaning spray works better, but for a foodie like me, it’s really fun to see the different types of food and flavors offered here.

My favorite store hands down is Woolworths Food. I LOVE this store. It is beautiful, very clean and organized. They have a coffee stand in the store and a hot area where they sell chicken and pies. Unlike a grocery store in the states, you won’t find a deli where they’ll slice up your lunchmeat or a bakery where they bake fresh cakes, but they do have those items in stock and have a lot of fresh, ready made food for people on the go (lasagne, noodle bowls, pasta and green salads, throw-in-the-oven-desserts, etc). I was also thrilled to see they offer vegetarian and vegan options! You will pay a little extra for some items, so for a big shopping trip, it’s not the most affordable for most families. They have a lot of gourmet and special items that you won’t find in the other stores.

I’ve also been to Pick n’ Pay, which I has the same set up as a Publix/Winn Dixie. This is your go to for basic food. You have your butcher, deli, bakery and produce on the perimeter and in the middle you have your isles of frozen and packaged food.

In Honeydew, we have a non-chain store called “Fruit Flowers and Fish.” This is my favorite place to shop besides Woolworths for fresh food. (For packaged foods I’d go to Pick N’ Pay). They have the best prices on produce and sell fresh fish. They also carry some health foods and asian items.

On my to-visit-list is the  Food Lovers Market /Fruit & Veg City. I’ve heard a lot about the Food Lovers Market and it sounds very similar to a Fresh Market/Whole Foods store. We don’t have one super close to our house, but I WILL get there and will give a full review after!

 And just for fun, I’ve made a list of foods I am on the hunt for and haven’t found here (yet)!

• Bagels
• Black beans
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Almond milk
• Flavored greek yogurt (they have plain in a large container at Woolworths, but I’m craving my Chobani/Fage individual cups!)
• Broccoli (this one is baffling me a little because I haven’t even found it in the frozen section)
• Mozzarella string cheese (don’t think I’m going to find this one)

Most of these foods are unimportant, and for every American food I’m missing, I’ve found a South African food to enjoy! Currently working on my list of my favorite South African food discoveries, so look out for that in an upcoming post!