The Farmer's Market

Enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables picked at your local farmer's market can be a real treat for the kids!

It is amazing how fresh the produce is, and how excited the kids get when they get to choose their own fruits and vegetables.

Tom's Market in Bartlett, IL

Well, we had plans on going to the farm for our fresh produce, but decided that our local farmer's market would be just as good for what we were looking to purchase.  On our drive there, I started asking the kids what type of things would they like to try and what things should we make for dinner.  Corn and mashed potatoes were high on the list of likes.

Fresh produce straight from the farm.  Also, check out their homemade pies!

The kids were excited as we pulled up to the farmer's stand that sits off of Lake Street in Bartlett.  There was so much to choose from I had to keep telling the kids to wait just a minute as I was filling bags left and right.  Between cantaloupe, corn, green beans, lettuce, potatoes, grapes, cucumbers and strawberries, I had to enlist my kids to help me carry it all.

No, we didn't pick our own corn today!

My youngest kept chanting, "salad, salad, salad", so he got to pick out the lettuce.  We picked out 2 cucumbers to go with the lettuce, and each of my kids got to grab a handful of green beans while I picked out the corn.  Do I think they will eat the green beans?  Probably not, but I feel that if they are touching it and choosing it, they may be more likely to try it.

My oldest daughter's eyes lit up when she saw the basket of strawberries.  "Oh mom, they smell so fresh!"  I tried one when I got home, and they are not just fresh they are sweet too!  She also picked out the cantaloupe which I can tell is ready to eat, YUM!

We didn't leave without a bag of grapes from the USA.  They were so tempting, my kids could barely wait to get back to the car to eat some.

Grapes!  Too good to wait!

I really wish, I would have thought about the farmers market earlier in the summer, I feel that I got a great value for the variety of produce I purchased and the staff at Tom's Market were as nice as can be.  I do hope that next time I will make it to their farm. 

Tonight we will be enjoying burgers with cheese and lettuce on kaiser rolls, corn on the cob and cantaloupe.  Tomorrow Swedish Meatballs, egg noodles and green beans.  Then I have this green pepper I am not sure what to do with, but it looked so good I had to buy it.

I feel good that I bought fresh food for my family, just one step closer making a healthy change!