Thursday, November 12, 2009

Natural Food Help?

After placing my first overseas co-op order and realizing how MUCH shipping is going to cost...I found a spot that charges more for their products than co-op BUT will ship any size order for a flate rate of $4.99. Yes, even to APO and FPO's. I'm not sure if they ship priority....but I'm ordering the liquid stuff from them. ::snort:: Vita Cost....check them out. Thanks for the tip, Connie. I love that I can SEE the items and their ingredient list in one spot.

The problem with giving everything your own names in a family is that NOW I can't find the things the kids loved to surprise them with a box of cereal....so anyone care to guess what the Penquin cereal would be? What about the one that looked like puff squares? And - Deja, what is that cereal that Doug and I loved? It's SWEET....more of a snack than a breakfast..... OH - and GRAHAM crackers so we can have s'mores on the beach without paying for it for a week..... I can't wait....I have sunflower seeds (unsalted and hulled), pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and teriyaki without HFCS coming.......STEVIA...I have vanilla stevia coming for my tea..and steamers....doing a snoopy dance here in Northern Japan. We are so blessed to have that APO address.....

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

14 comments:

Renee said...

De'Etta, I think I saw Stevia at our commissary the other day. It seemed to be indiv packets like in a restaurant.... so be sure to check with your commissary manager - he is capable of ordering anything that is in your regions' warehouse as long as you order a case.....

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

It's really hard to comprehend our commissary. I've talked to people from very small previous bases and they've mentioned as well that this is a very sad commisary. The commissary at GAFB was MUCH better stocked.

I have talked to the manager 3x. They know I'm willing to buy a case...but they say that Okinawa or Tokyo has to carry it FIRST AND be willing to part with a case. In other words they DON'T order from the states....we really do get what Lackland sends plus whatever isn't selling well down south.

No Stevia here. BUT I'm thrilled to see more and more organic/natural food show up in commissaries and I think that in three years stateside we'll be thrilled. They carry "some" things...but what happens is it comes in, everyone stocks up, it's gone and you may not send it again. No one can tell you why - not even the manager. ::snort:: I have been told that they carry a dye free/flavor free hot chocolate in Nov/Dec....so everyone stocks up and that's what I'll do. It's just a matter of watching weekly to see what Tokyo may have sent up or Lackland decided we needed. ::snort:: I mean NO flax seed????? That's not REAL exotic.

Anonymous said...

Sis:

:):) I need to live over there where I can't get or at least be tempted to get all the things I don't need to eat..... :):):) I might loose. It's only 6 lbs. so far but at least it's something. :):)

love/prayers --- Mom T.

Heather in Michigan said...

Puffins?

http://www.puffinscereal.com/

the creatures on the box appear similar to penguins

and those cereal pieces look like puff squares to us

???????????????????

I'm celebrating with you regarding your "safe" food order! What a happy day you'll have when they arrive!

Linda said...

Vitacost has food? I ordered all our supplements from them (fish oil, Vitamin D, Primadolphilus) simply because they have the best prices I can find on that stuff (some places offer free shipping but their prices aren't as good). I had no idea they had food stuff.

Deja said...

Wasn't it Golden Temple/Terrace Vanilla Almond granola? I think the graham crackers are by Hain.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Yep - they have food, but it seems that for most food items they order it from someone (probably united) and THEN ship it to you. A few of our things were available to ship now...most will ship in 7 - 14 days... THEN they ship USPS to APO's - which you MUST, but the $4.99 is NOT priority....so I'll see how long it takes and if the savings is worth it. My shipping for Priority would have been $75.00. If I weren't comparing times of ordering from co-op and vitacost and trying to give each place the rock bottom prices...I probably would have paid the priority. LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

OK - graham crackers were new morning - I ordered a case as that's how they come. Maybe someone here will want some. ::snort::

Granola, I'm just out of luck. I may have Jamin order some and bring it in his suitcase at Christmas. LOL I didn't want 25# and I didn't want you to have to mess with packing parts of thngs.LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

PUFFINS - yes....oh Deja....maybe you meant that insanely sweet graham cracker cereal is by Hain. I'm not sure I'll keep searching. LOL

Renee said...

De'Etta, the thing with paying priority shipping is that it only speeds up the shipment as far as California.... then the military takes it from there and brings it to you in Japan - they do not prioritize.

Anonymous said...

Sis:

Other than the O's cookies,, what favorite does Alexander have?

Packing boxes now for just ordinary and also Christmas.

love/prayers --- Mom T.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Mom we cannot get newman o's from anywhere...the commissary doesn't carry them, vitacost doesn't have them....those are a huge hit when you send them. They don't have to be gluten free...just the regular Newman O's are a big hit. They also like sharkies and Cheddar Bunnies.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Renee....hmmmm....I'm not sure that's how it works for each installation. I know that standard or priority is a HUGE difference timewise here so the military must handle it differently somehow as it would not be the difference of MONTHS if it were just within the states. KWIM? I know that netflix and amazon ship priority and it's QUICK but I ordered books from another spot and I'm still waiting. LOL

I'm going to have to ask our local postal officers. LOL

Janette said...

Books might have been sent media rate- so you will be waiting a long time:<(
I know priority and parcel go at the same rate to my family serving in Iraq(APO) and Afghanistan (FPO). Maybe that is where the speed is---to the war zones?
All I can say- is that I am thankful that the post office actually sends things cheaper and the military takes over after that.
We got to make requests off of naval ships as well...but then our "commersary"was only one room with very tall ceilings!