And That's How She Ended Up Eating Tilapia.

Two weeks ago now, I was invited along with 10 other Minnesota {Mommy} Bloggers to a Cub Foods VIP Event. {I am now a VIP, don't you know? Ha!}

I admit I went into it excitedly though a little apprehensively. I mean, hello, I've been grocery shopping forever and a stinkin' day.

I am a coupon clipper, sale scrounger and absolute nut about getting the best bang for my buck and not just feeding my family junk. I could walk through Cub Foods, Target, and Costco with a blindfold over my eyes because that's how often I'm in those stores.

Yeah I pretty much went into it as a know it all. How annoying.

One of the best perks of this VIP event was the fact that they had considered ahead of time that Mommy Bloggers have children that would require care during said event. So they coordinated a Cub Foods staffer to spend the two hours with the four preschool aged kids that were there and three of us brought our babes along with us. {As an aside, H had an absolute blast and told me all about the importance of fruits and veggies ripening and being washed before eating. He was fed a healthy (mostly organic) lunch and snacks and brought home a fun little goody bag. He's actually asked when we're doing that again.} We're looking into the next Cub 4 Kids event near us!

So my littles and I traipsed to Apple Valley which is a long, long way from where we live. And we were late because really what kind of day would it be if I wasn't late to at least one commitment. I'm really not joking. I'm late pretty much every single day. It's a problem.

We got there and jumped right in with activities for H and introductions with some of the VIP's of Cub Foods, including the charming, polite and very welcoming new president of Cub, himself.

I learned, I don't know it all about Cub Foods, about the foods I'm buying, eating, serving and that I'm really glad I went.

Of course E wouldn't be staying with anyone for childcare at the event without me, so she came along through the store. E, making friends with another same aged babe. Unplanned Cooking's baby girl.


Learning about produce.

The meat department.

E, trying tilapia. TILAPIA??!???

She loved it. Obviously, this was before we knew there were any possible allergies so we've avoided seafood since but I have a feeling she's going to be a tilapia lover.

One of the biggest take aways I had from the day was being an informed shopper and though I'd like to tell you that's how I shop all the time, it's not. Cub Foods now has a program called Nutrition IQ where at the glance of a color coded sticker next to an item I can tell just how healthy that item really is or isn't. And some of those foods that are advertised or known for being "healthy", really aren't all that healthy.

I still am loving this concept and used it the last two times I've been in. Yes, I've been grocery shopping two (plus) times since this event. So quick and convenient to be able to look at the shelf and see if it meets the criteria I'm looking for. And really, you'd be surprised the things that DO and DON'T qualify.

Overall, I learned a lot. About a lot of different things. And I could probably still learn more.

Thanks Cub Foods for a great morning of teaching us how to be better consumers and lead healthier lives in your stores.

FTC Disclosure: This was NOT a sponsored post. While I did receive some freebies in exchange for my time at the event, I was not required to write about the experience and am writing my own opinion of the experience because I want to.