One of the things I love about living in the Chicago suburbs is the diversity of things to do, see, and EAT! If you’re open to new adventures, you’ll never get bored.

Okay, that is the good part.

Here is the annoying part. I live within close proximity to many different grocery stores – ALDI, Garden Fresh and Target (my favorites) as well as Dominick’s, Jewel (avoid if possible) – but sometimes cannot find the things I want to buy. So I have to ask my family to pick them up for me in Iowa.

In frickin’ Iowa!!!

HyVee is a grocery store chain in Iowa and other parts of the midwest, but not Chicagoland. They have a huge “health” selection with more vegan options than I have seen out here in Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s! What gives?! I thought we were supposed to be the progressive big city.

And funny thing, the product I often ask my mom to buy for me isn’t a vegan specialty. It’s Maple and Brown Sugar Malt-O-Meal – my go-to weekend breakfast treat.

We have Malt-O-Meal out here, but I never see that flavor! I found this ALDI imitation (Millville brand above) last weekend.

I made it Sunday morning with high expectations (still have to try the Chocolate).

Blech. It is NOT the same.

I just think it’s ridiculous that I have a plethora of grocery stores around me and cannot find some products. Seriously, we pick up items in Iowa, and sometimes even drive to Woodman’s in Kenosha, WI (which is actually closer to our house than Chicago).

And yes, we have tried talking to the grocers about carrying certain items. That never seems to work for us.

So… this kind of turned out to be a rant. Oops!

I will say, there are definitely many items I buy here that cannot be bought in Iowa. It just seems silly that I cannot find the simple things, like Maple and Brown Sugar Malt-O-Meal, here.

Are there any products you like but cannot buy near your home? What are they and how do you procure them?

We used to love the Nueva Cucina Mexican Rice Mix. When they stopped selling it at Target, we started buying it on Amazon! Since then, we have moved on to other rice mixes (and really, we need to make up our own). When I was at Whole Foods with Jen two weeks ago, I found the mix, but it was not the same. Good thing I only bought one box (when I brought it home, Steven asked why I didn’t buy more, ha ha).