Indiana Backpacker's Resource

“Last night I visited a new store in town (Chesterton) called Molly Bea's. They sell everything in bulk -- just scoop out the amount you need, and they sell it to you by weight.

I was totally impressed with their selection. You can get all the powdered stuff that we like for trail meals like buttermilk powder, cheese powder, dry milk, etc. There's a whole nut section -- roasted, sweetened, raw, mixes. There's lots of various GORP mixtures, a huge spice section. Of course, there is all kinds of chocolates and candies. And they even sell stuff like flax seed, couscous, a host of different flours and pastas, and many granolas. I can't even remember all the hundreds of things they had. I can't remember if they had any dried vegys, but I do know they had a whole dried fruit section.

So keep that in mind if you are ever in the area (very near Indiana Dune Nt'l Lakeshore) and just a few blocks off I-94 at Route 49 if you are passing through NW Indiana.

They have a web site (www.mollybeas.com), but there is nothing there yet. She said they were concentrating on getting the store up and running right now.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the coffe and loose tea section. And they have a peanut grinder to make your own real peanut butter.

Molly Bea's Ingredients (everything for the home economist)
761 Indian Boundary Road
Chesterton, IN 46304
(219) 983-9401”

“Sounds like a fun store! We used to have a Mister Bulkys in the area. He closed up shop ages ago, unfortunately. I'd love to find another bulk place.”

“that sounds like a place i stopped at in ontario”

“cool, wish it wasn't on the other side of the state!”

“i have learned to enjoy making my own "bulk" stuff using my dehydrator but I'll confess that the number of carrots, peppers, etc needed to make a "scoop" at a bulk store is a bit discouraging. All that stuff goes into the dehydrator and you get a dinky handfull of stuff out... i guess that's the point. :)”

“oh, and thanks ruby. i make it down to chesterton once in a while and for sure i'll check this place out.”

“Yeah, that is the point Jimmy ; ) I've noticed with my dehydrated meals that I sometimes bring way too much cause it doesn't look like I'm bringing enough. Once you get portions down pat you'll see that that little handful can go a long way.

Speaking of which I need to start dehydrating and get my stash built back up for the winter months.

Got any good recipes for me? My favorite so far is a modification of Sarbar's curry chicken and rice.”

“One more tidbit on food:

If you go a bit further down Rt. 49 (about a mile south of I-94 or a mile north of I-90) to the big WiseWay grocery store, they have a very large organic food wing. They carry the complete line of JustVeggies (www.justtomatoes.com) among lots of other food treats.”

“we have some wild oats in indy that have some bulk stuff”

“ruby, you rock!


ive been wanting to try some of the freezer bag cooking stuff and making my own dinners but have been very limited on what i could find. Im gonna have to check it out!”

“SC, if you need more specific directions to either place, let me know.”

“I map quested, thanks :)”