Touring Alexander’s Highland Market With Dietician Melissa Martin

On January 30th, Red Stick Moms Blog and 25 readers had the privilege of touring the locally-owned Alexander’s Highland Market alongside registered dietician, Melissa Martin, of Woman’s Center for Wellness for our first Mom’s Night at the Market.  Alexander’s Highland Market offers moms an incredible shopping experience with a focus on providing healthy foods as well as local and specialty items. Our group had the chance to walk through the store slowly, which moms never get to do, learn about shopping for healthy foods in each section, and ask questions along the way.  It was such a fun night for all the moms: learning, enjoying yummy food, meeting other moms, and winning some great prizes!

The evening began with the tour, as we were led through the store with clipboards in hand, taking notes from Melissa.  She did a wonderful job of teaching us how to shop. Her first bit of advice…shop the perimeter. Think produce, meat, and diary. She began the tour in the produce section, and we couldn’t help but be amazed by the freshness of the produce. Right off the produce aisle, is a comprehensive organic/special diet/nutrition section, where we learned about some great snack options. We continued on through the store, checking out all of what Alexander’s has to offer. The wine department rivals that of a specialty shop. They also offer a wide variety of prepared meals, sushi, and deli if you are just looking for a last minute dinner. And the bakery and desserts looked amazing (and of course are for occasional treats!)

Here are few things we learned from Melissa:

• Buy fresh, local, and seasonal produce.
• If nothing else, buy ORGANIC chicken and natural deli meat that is nitrate free.
• If you have a tendency of letting produce spoil, spend the extra money on prechopped produce.
•  It’s not always about the fat and calories. Watch the sodium in breads and prepackaged foods.
• Look for salad dressings with less than 200mg of sodium.
• Try new, healthy twists on classics: how about turnip french fries!?

After the tour, moms enjoyed some delicious refreshments, chatted with one another, and anxiously awaited the winners of the evening’s raffles! Attendee, Amy Crain, took home a $100 gift card to Alexander’s. And Kristina Acosta won $110 in Nutrition Services from Woman’s Center for Wellness! Woman’s offers one on one nutrition counseling, weight managment programs, and life coaching.  Several other moms won gift baskets, cookbooks, small gift cards, and even a Mardi Gras print! And every mom took home an Alexander’s reusable grocery bag filled with goodies.

Thank you to Alexander’s Highland Market for graciously hosting our moms and letting us take over your aisles for the night.  We enjoyed the incredible food, especially the king cake! And thank you to Melissa Martin and Woman’s Center for Wellness for preparing such an educational and helpful tour! Thank you as well to all the moms who attended. We had such a great time meeting you and hanging out for the evening.  If you would like to join at other fun events, be sure to check our RSMB Events page.

Finally, we want to thank our photographer for the evening, Erin Guedry, for her beautiful pictures.  She really captured the details of the evening! Be sure to check out her beautiful work on her website and her Facebook page!

If you want to learn more about Alexander’s and all they have to offer, visit them here. To learn more about the great services of Woman’s Center for Wellness, visit them here.