Eating Well in Mesa, Arizona

I hope that everyone made it home last week for Christmas and that you got all you wanted. It was a little strange not having snow during Christmas, but somehow I got over it while I sat in the sun in the hot tub in Mesa, Ariz.  Speaking of strange, while checking my Facebook I saw that there were two people I know stuck in the Mesa airport, it was just strange, and they were there for one and half days! NO LIE.
So in my first week here in Arizona, I have really not eaten out a lot like I thought I would. I have, though, been going to different markets and buying some amazing veggies and fixins for Mexican cooking.  My sister Angie turned me on to a great place called Superstition Market on East Main in Mesa. The prices are absolutely out of this world! They have produce coming in all the time. My first trip I purchased the following items: some jalapeño, to make her jalapeño pesto, some fruit, beautiful asparagus, celery, tomatoes, and it came to less than $6. I was in heaven!
I decided for the first week I would make as many meals as I could. My sister continually said,“Oh I have to take you to the soul food restaurant, the best pizza place, oh did I tell you about the new Thai place, and of course the new sushi place.” UGH, I know I will be running and walking every day while I am here if I can. I am gaining weight just listing the places to go! Also, I was surprised my sister even knew about these places—she is about the size of a pencil for Pete’s sake!
Mike and I have found our favorite place to eat so far, and it is a grocery store called Rancho Grande on Stapley and Main in Mesa. I was so excited. We found this place last time we came. It just made my mouth water walking into the store. There is always just a lot of activity going on from the minute you step into the store.

Having catered now for as long as I have, I do not get so excited when I go to a grocery store. It has become go and get what you need and leave. Not here, I was just so glad to get that little girl feeling of being in my kind of “candy store.”

They have three different delis and a bakery, AMAZING baked goods and a window for picking up fresh tamales, corn tortillas and, if you want,  just the products to make them yourself. Let me tell you the lines were L-O-N-G at that booth.

We, Mike and I, liked the big deli! The menu at this one listed all kinds of things, but I found myself looking more at the pictures than what it said on them. There was a man who had just ordered and he could tell I was not sure what I wanted. He said it was his second time there, he was there the day before, and he was having something nice and spicy.

I wanted spicy too, so he said “Try this,” pointing to what I thought was steak in green sauce. Right before I ordered he tilted his head and said, “I really should tell you what it is.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Tongue and it is really good.” OK, not for me and thank you very much, Mr. Stranger, for letting me know.

After that I did read everything. No lengua for me I had the shredded chicken taco with everything possible on it! Okay, I had the rice and beans too. What a pig I am.  I think I will get over it.
So as I said in the beginning, I plan to cook mostly this first week. The place I found that I would also spend a lot of my time buying these groceries at is, hold onto your hat, TRADER JOE’S!  I know that there is one in Minneapolis or maybe more, but I have never been to it. I love this store. It is a place you really have to experience. They have samples, samples, and more wine and food samples. It was great to be excited again about being in a store. 

Trader Joe’s was also a very busy place every time we went there. For Christmas we purchased a ham. Let me tell you, this was one of the best hams I have ever had! I purchased a lot of fresh breads and fruit there too. What I found surprising was that items were very reasonable.  One of the items we purchased every time we went there was Trader Joe’s nuts, candied pecans and sweet & spicy pecans. They were both lightly sweetened and great for salad too. This store was, I thought, a great mix for everyone.   

What I found to be the most impressive was all the literature there was on what you can find in the store.—literature on products like vegetarian, vegan, kosher, low sodium and fat-free products. I, of course, took all the literature home. I wanted to see exactly what things I was missing when I went shopping there. 
Here are some of the things:

Vegetarian Products have a trifoliate symbol, one of the items that we tried out of this section was the black bean & cheese taquitos. They were wonderful. I liked it that you had an option to use the microwave or the stove top. They heated up fast and the flavor was fresh and tangy. Two of them were plenty to eat.

Vegan Products are “for the love of wit (and a few other reasons), we’ve identified the products with the V.”  What I was hoping to see was a large section on entrees. Sadly I did not, only eleven of them. Now mind you, those eleven items are all items that you can make a wonderful meal out of. All the other sections under Vegan were quite lengthy.

Kosher Products are marked with many different symbols, a very large K, a star with a K in the middle of it, K inside of a circle. The point being they have “sailed all over the seas in search of new and exciting products.” Because they span the globe, you may spot kosher symbols that you do not recognize. So they have an appendix just for this section. I love it!

Low Sodium, yep, you got it, a salt shaker marks the spot with these items.

Fat Free Products are marked with two letters, “Ff ” and a statement that said, “Careful, fat intake is intelligent and can be achieved through moderation and inclusion of products that contain .5 grams of fat per serving or less (aka, Fat-Free).”

Each of these pieces of literature had a quotation. My favorite was this one. “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” -La Rochefoucauld.

As I continue this vacation, I think I will try very hard to keep that quote in mind. Maybe more moderation when I eat out, but enjoying every bite. I look forward to next week when we go out to all those restaurants that I listed before.

Oh yes, I also have a great new recipe to share with you. I will be making it for New Years. 

Until next issue, stay safe and warm, and of course eat well. 

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