Going to Whole Foods for the 1st time- What should I be sure to get? Recommendations?

Whole Foods has a relatively inexpensive in-store brand of organic foods for children--organic breakfast cereal, peanut butter, soy milk, etc. You will have to check to see whether these are a good bargain relative to Trader Joes' offerings. I get some great bread flours at my WF in the bulk bins--organic white bread flour with the germ included and organic whole wheat. They also carry relatively inexpensive organic frozen vegetables, but I think TJs does too and I don't know which is less expensive. We like the frozen organic green beans. Conventionally grown green beans are high in pesticide residues, and fresh organic green beans cost the earth. They even have frozen organic haricots verts (the long kind.)

Their kid's PB is great -- it is the texture Skippy without hydorgenated oils. They're bakery is TO DIE FOR -- you MUST try their sourdough bread. Get the big loaf -- it will be gone in no time. Barbara's Bakery cereals, like Peanut Butter Puffins and Shredded spoonfuls.

I go there to buy my face soap and to drool at their produce and cheese selections. If I get locally grown produce, I can get quite a bit of organic stuff for a relatively small amount of money.

Around here, the WF brand of things like canned beans, cream cheese, etc. are comparable price-wise to big box supermarket chains. I love the bulk foods section, and the spice section--if you need just 1 teaspoon of an unusual and/or expensive spice like cardamom, you can buy just 1 teaspoon. They carry a lot of different kind of teas, both loose and bagged, too.

Healthy stuff aside, I LOVE their bakery. Frosted mint brownie, yum. Carmelita bar, double yum. Pie, yum. Their in-house brand of cookies are all good, even the no-fat ginger cookies. I have a friend who swears by the two-bite brownies, but I haven't tried those.

At the deli, the curried chicken salad is excellent (and I don't normally like chicken salad), as is the Israeli couscous salad.

I've found that going to Whole Foods to buy high-quality ingredients is as cost-effective as going to a traditional supermarket--it's when I start buying the prepared foods that it gets expensive (hence the nickname "Whole Paycheck").