HEB Faves

I love HEB!  Yep, they give my kids balloons, they have two seater shopping carts, helpful employees (at least at my HEB), and great fresh produce.  I also happen to love many of their store brand products...some even more than name brand!  Here are my top ten favorite HEB/Hill Country Fair Store Brand Foods:
 

HEB Fruit Spread (Jam)

Their fruit spreads are delicious, have less sugar than most jams (and only one gram more than Smuckers Low Sugar jam), and even come in a cute jar!

HEB Creamy Tomato Herb Soup

Tastes just like La Madeline Tomato soup, only cheaper!

HEB Bake Shop Bran and Wheat Bread

Where else can you get healthy bran bread?  I've never seen it

anywhere else in a grocery store!

HEB Granola Bars

I personally think both HEB and Walmart store brand granola 

bars taste better then Quaker.  They're moister...Quaker's are more dry.

HEB Fruit/Veggie Drinks

That's not the actual name for it, but they're the type of drink like V8 splash

I think they taste just as good too.

HEB Oatmeal

Just as good as Quaker, and cheaper.

HEB Nacho Cheeze Chips (Dorito Style)

Not sure if that's the name for them, but they are the ones that are like

the original Doritos.  I can't tell the difference!

Bobillas

These sandwhich rolls are made daily and you can get them for 4 for a dollar in the fresh baked bread section.  LOVE IT!

Hill Country Fair Strogonof 

Hill Country Fair may not technically be a store brand, but since it's store brand price and I've only ever seen it at HEB, I'm counting this.  We love Strogonof but have someone in our family with egg allergies.  Hamburger Helper has eggs.  The Hill Country Fair version doesn't...and tastes close enough for us..

HEB Creamy Creations Ice Cream

Oh, this stuff is good.  Super creamy, and no eggs (an essential if you have egg allergies). 

I'd love to here what your favorite store brand products are!

The Secret to Saving on Spices

I have a secret to save 50% or more on spices!   Buy them "loose" from the bulk spices section at HEB (and no, I'm not working with or affiliated with HEB...I just love their bulk herb section).

The bulk herb section of the HEB in Hewitt

It takes a few seconds more work but the savings are phenomenal.  All you do is grab a baggie, scoop yourself some spice, take note of the number on the jar, then go down the aisle to a scale, weight your baggies, type in the number, and print out a sticker with the price.

Above is some cumin I purchased--two small scoops.  Notice the price, 69 cents!   The bag doesn't look big, but it filled up the whole spice jar below.

And yes, that jar was EMPTY.   So $0.69 filled up a whole jar which usually costs around $6.  Now, that jar was organic*, and so might have been a little pricier than most.  But even compared to of the LOWEST priced jar I could find of bottled cumin ($1.99 for 1.7 oz of HEB generic cumin), my bag of cumin was 1/3 the cost!   Guess you pay a lot for that jar!

And yes, I've tried similar comparisons with other spices.  You get an even better deal with some bulk herbs (bay leaves ESPECIALLY).


*(SIDE NOTE:  If you are concerned about GMO, you should know that very few herbs have ever been genetically modified, probably because they tend to be naturally critter resistant.   The only ones I'm aware of are sugar cane, alfalfa, chicory, flax, eucalyptus, rose and chrysanthemum [edible flowers], and tobacco if you count that (and except for sugar, you would not find any of those on the HEB spice aisle anyways).  You could check back for changes on the GMO crops list on wikipedia or this list at the International Service for the Aquisition of Bio-Tech Applications.)



Linking up at Throwback Thursday.

Spotted: Baylor Pride

Spotted this at the HEB on Hewitt Drive (in Hewitt, of course).

Gotta love that Baylor Pride 

(and the creativity and skill to make this!)

Tips for Saving at HEB (and a recipe)

ALL the main ingredients to my favorite fruit salad were on sale today at HEB (the one on Hewitt Dr)...

Strawberries:  $0.99 a lb or $1.98 for two lbs.
Kiwi:  3 for $1
Pineapple:  Small ones 2 for $1!!!  (Large ones were $1.50)

I weighed the pineapple and the small ones were still a better price, though, really, once you remove core and fronds it might be about equal.  (That wasn't the only thing I found where bigger wasn't better/cheaper at HEB today...more about that in a bit, but first, the recipe).

My Favorite Fruit Salad

2 small pineapple or one large one.
1 lb (more or less) of strawberries, minus a few to munch on.
1 - 3 Kiwis
(Optional) 1 Banana
(Optional) 1 Orange

Start with the strawberries so they have time to create a syrup.  Slice strawberries into pieces (whatever size you like).  Stir roughly with a spoon to start the syruping process.  Chop pineapple into slices or squares.  Remove peel from kiwi and slice (I find the best way to peel a kiwi  is to chop off both rounded ends so you can slice the skin off straight down the sides of the kiwi).  Add kiwi and pineapple.  (You can slice up oranges and bannas too to add.  If I include bananas I always add them last so they don't get too mushy).


Savings Tip:  Bulk Isn't Always Better

I mentioned another deal where bulk wasn't better:  today a 3 lb bag of Gala apples was $2.98.  If you buy two that's $6 lb of apples for under $6 while the larger 5 lb bag of Gala apples was $6.47.  Yep, bulk is not always best.


After Easter Sales (Great for Birthday Party Favors Too)!

Also, today is a great day to pick up some after Easter deals (wherever you shop:  Walmart, HEB, Target, etc.)  At HEB all their easter items were 50% off.   You can stock up on things like plastic easter eggs and Easter basket fillers for next year, and,  if you have any kids birthday's coming up, this is a good place to find party favors.  Some of the toys, as well as the specialty shaped "eggs" (like the Doc McStuffins Flower Shaped "Eggs", Iron Man "Eggs", and Basketball "Eggs" pictured above), could absolutely work for other events.  Stuff those "eggs" with candy and stickers and you have yourself a great birthday party favor!