IS YOUR PANTRY READY FOR THE “H” WORD?

by duluth, September 29, 2009 | Permalink

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. The “H” word in question is one that starts to show up more frequently on people’s lips about this time every year. It is a word that harried moms dread and sales-hungry marketers love.  

It’s “holidays.”

Yes, there they are, winking at us from around the corner of the calendar as we turn into October.  It’s time for party planning—Halloween or harvest parties for the little ones, Thanksgiving for the family, Passover and Christmas and New Year’s for the neighbors and long-distance friends and everyone else that wanders through your door. With all the goings-on it’s easy to fall into the trap of convenient food echoing with empty calories and no nutrition.  And if you’ve been working hard on eating healthier this year it’s easy to get discouraged, especially if you’ve done a pantry makeover and invested in fresh foods and wholesome staples.

Never fear! Whole Foods Market Johns Creek is the place where you can stay on track with your healthy eating resolutions, make everyone’s belly happy and save money.  Where to start? Your pantry!  I’ve listed some ideas below to get you started.  Print and tear out this list, then bring it to the store the next time you shop. You’ll have a head start on “H”-word planning!

PANTRY “TWEAKS” FOR THE HOLIDAYS

·         Substitute low sodium chicken or beef broth and canned beans for canned soups: canned soup can be loaded with sodium. Keep low-sodium broth and beans on hand and you control more of the sodium content plus the rest of the soup or stew ingredients.

·         Substitute low sodium canned peeled tomatoes for barbeque sauces: again, you’ll save sodium, plus you can put your own spin on sauces for grilled meats or pasta sauces.

·         Take out one box of sugared cereal and replace it with a box of whole oats:  instead of two sugared cereals, mix your morning breakfast with half a bowl of cereal and half a bowl of whole oats, then add a low-fat milk.  The kids will get their favorite flavors with a fibrous boost that’ll power them all through the school days and into sports, school plays and concerts.

·         Cook, puree and freeze your favorite squash: That way you can stir it into macaroni and cheese. You get an extra vegetable serving that doesn’t throw off the appealing color of the orange-y delicious mac and cheese.

·         Substitute whole wheat breadcrumbs for plain: and you’ll get the extra fiber and whole grain goodness. Use them as coating for boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut into planks, then bake them in the oven. They’re great for feeding hungry kids or the crowd in front of the game on TV.

·         Look for our 365 Everyday Value™ Organic Brand:  trade out your high-priced organics for our private label line when you’re baking. We’ve got great values in organic flour, cane sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and pumpkin puree.

·         Easy as (365 Everyday Value™ Organic Brand) pie: Did you know we’ve got a private label frozen whole wheat pie crust? It’s perfect for easy desserts. And if you’re craving a fruit pie, we’ve got organic frozen fruit for the filling. Pick your favorites and fill your freezer. They’re ideal for smoothies in a hurry, too.

Good News: Purple Reigns!

by duluth, September 23, 2009 | Permalink

What happened to good news? It seems to have abandoned us. Times are tense and stressful and folks are snapping like dry twigs over even the smallest incidents.  It’s hard to escape—especially here on the internet, where negativity seems to spawn in every article you read.  Readers, I’m here to break that cycle. I have a story so uplifting, so sweet, so—well, tater-y—it’ll have you cheering. Or at the very least, stampeding into our store to check out the latest in tubers. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the feel-good story of the year: Stokes’ Purple Sweet Potatoes.

Our tale begins in Stokes County, a tiny, pretty bit of central North Carolina near the Virginia border. A gentleman named Mike Sizemore retired after 30 years of service to the Tarheel State and bought what every retiree wants—a tractor. (What, did you think I was going to say a condo in Florida? Keep reading.) You see, Mr. Sizemore had always wanted to be a farmer. He took his shiny new tractor and used it to plant sweet potatoes. 

These bright orange spuds were a hit, even winning a prize or two at local festivals.  Mr. Sizemore decided to try his luck with a new kind of sweet potato. He didn’t know how people were going to feel about it. It grew in the ground, all right, and it was packed with fiber like other sweet potatoes—but this potato was purple.  It was such a bright purple you’d think it’d been colored by an overzealous kindergartener. What would this tuber taste like?

Well, Mr. Sizemore’s newest crop might be ugly but it tastes real pretty.  It’s sweet, like its orange cousins, and because of the color it’s packed with healthy antioxidants. Unlike other blue or purple-hued fruits and veggies, it doesn’t lose any of its antioxidant powers when it’s cooked. And you’re going to want to cook them. A LOT.  Rich and thick, the texture is similar to a russet potato. For your first attempt you might want to try them simply baked and touched with butter as a pardner to your ribeye this weekend. They’re friendly with fish, chicken and any other meat you can think of, too.  

Nowadays Stokes County is the purple sweet potato kingdom.  The farmers that used to grow tobacco—farmers that, before this tuber appeared, were struggling not to lose their farms—are now growing these potatoes. The same equipment that farmed tobacco can be used to grow sweet potatoes so they didn’t suffer any extra expense.  All of the processing happens in North Carolina, from the building of the bins used for harvest to the processing plant that makes the creamy, delectable purple sweet potato butter. A simple purple tuber is doing its part to save North Carolina farms for North Carolina families.

This Saturday at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek we’re going to be doing demos featuring recipes with purple sweet potatoes. You’ll learn all the basics of storing and sautéing, plus we’ll hand out recipes for you to take home. Some of the friendly folks from Stokes will be here to talk about their product.  Our Captain’s Counter will feature purple sweet potato fries on its menu, and the Trattoria will serve up a purple sweet potato salad.  In other words, purple will reign!

KIDS IN THE KITCHEN

by duluth, September 16, 2009 | Permalink

Persuading young children to eat can be exhausting.  Sometimes the struggle is just to wedge the spoon between their teeth and down their throat—ever cajoled a lip-locked toddler in a high chair to eat spinach? And in these times, when the cold hard facts on childhood obesity and food allergies shout at parents from every media outlet, the long-term implications of every meal can be especially stressful. And meals shouldn’t be stressful, right?

Luckily there’s a terrific new resource available for parents that want to please their kid’s palates and feed them nutritious, fun food.  “Kids in the Kitchen” is a program developed by the Association of Junior Leagues International designed to help combat childhood obesity.  The Junior League is an organization of women dedicated to improving the communities they live in, and each Junior League can tailor the program to the needs of their community.  Our Whole Foods Market here in Johns Creek, in conjunction with the Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton Counties, is dedicating an entire day to “Kids in the Kitchen.” This Saturday, September 19^th, you can come by the store from 11 am to 3 pm and see some of this program in action. We’ll have cooking demonstrations from the “Kids in the Kitchen” cookbook and more demos and samples of other kid-friendly, nutritious foods.  Junior Jazzercise will be in the house to conduct a fun and energetic class—after all, exercise goes hand-in-hand with good nutrition—and the kids can take home a food craft they make with their own hands. Clementine Art will set-up an art station featuring non-toxic supplies for the budding artist.  If you’ve got to buy groceries with the kids, this event is a great way to get the whole family involved and entertained. I mean, who wouldn’t want to learn how to make a Bunny Salad, Pizza Salad or a spider? (Spider?  Yes. You’ll have to come into the store and find out.)

All these nutritious, creative recipes and ideas trigger a food memory. On my daughter’s first birthday I rented a bulky camcorder (hey, that was all we had in the late Eighties) and spent the entire day recording every moment.  At lunchtime I set the camera on an equally bulky tripod and recorded for all posterity what must be the longest lunch in history. She refused every delicacy I offered except for cottage cheese, which she dug into with the gusto of a runner at a pre-marathon pasta binge. She ate for so long she overlapped nap time, and at the end of the meal she was face down in the empty bowl, belly full and happily humming herself to sleep.  She was happy, but I was stressed.  How I wish “Kids in the Kitchen” and Whole Foods had been available to me then! 

CHEAP THRILLS ON THE–WELL, CHEAP

by duluth, September 9, 2009 | Permalink

I’ve been lurking in our Whole Body department a lot lately. Today, as I was joyfully smashing the pump on all the bottles marked “tester” it occurred to me that taking a shower or a bath has become much more of an art form.  When I was a kid getting clean meant a scratchy washcloth, a tub full of steaming water and a big block of white, no-nonsense soap that smelled like medicine and could scrub away even the most stubborn Georgia red clay.

Nowadays, though, a bath can be downright sybaritic. The stores are full of exotically-named products guaranteed to transport you to another continent—how about a jaunt to Morocco during your two-minute environmentally correct shower?  Or a luxurious soak in a creamy emulsification that smells and feels suspiciously like butter? (And boy, I hope that doesn’t give Paula Deen any ideas for her next show.) Problem is, with the price of some of these products it might be cheaper to book a flight on Air Tran to partake of that Moroccan odyssey.  What’s a budget-minded product junkie to do?

Never fear, bathtub travelers. Whole Foods Market Johns Creek is now featuring the new, improved line of our 365 Every Value™ Bath Products. We’ve taken our private label favorites and reformulated them to meet our extra-stringent Premium Care standards—improving upon an already industry-high standard.  Our shower/bath gels, body lotions, shampoos and conditioners are now made as close to nature and as minimally processed as possible. They’re formulated and packaged with little environmental impact during manufacturing and when released into the environment. We believe that “what goes on the body goes into the body,” so these products are labeled as accurately as possible, have established safety data and should be less likely to cause skin irritation or allergies.

Here’s the coolest thing—they’re reasonably priced. A 16-ounce bottle will only set you back $2.99, and a 32-ounce one $4.99. We still have all the great scents, too: refreshing herbal mint, zingy citrus grapefruit, relaxing lavender (my favorite after a workout) and unscented for you purists.  Heavenly scents and products that is safe for you–all at a great value.  A cheap thrill on the cheap, indeed.  Now Paula, put down that glob of butter.

THE ART OF THE TAILGATE

by duluth, September 2, 2009 | Permalink

It’s hard for me to describe how I feel about college football.  It was part of the rhythm of my childhood, something that flowed through the fall as easily as the leaves that fell from the oak trees in our yard.  On Saturdays the game was the destination, and all the hours around it was spent in preparation, discussion and dissemination—always over a plate of food. 

The color, the pageantry and the tradition of college game day was so embedded in me that there was no question that when I wanted to go off to college it would be at a school where the art of the tailgate was practiced.   I have been lucky enough to travel to many college campuses to observe this practice and let me tell you, when someone hauls their great-great-great grandmother’s twin candelabras,  20 racks of ribs and a 32”-inch flat screen with a satellite dish out of the back of a Ford F-350 you know they’re serious about partying before the big game. And probably during and after the game, too.  

College football tailgating is about feeding the community. After a memorable late night game (well, I’d like to forget the score but we won’t dwell on that) my tailgating pals and I found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam in an on-campus lot with a mix of fans from both teams—always a treacherous predicament. And we were hungry, real hungry. No problem—my resourceful, grill-loving husband pulled out a hibachi and five packs of bratwursts, and faster than you can whistle a college fight song we had struck a bond of food with our fellow football fans, red and black and orange and blue-clad fanatics peacefully commiserating or gloating over steamy hot brats. It was a beautiful night.   

So no matter the color of your jersey, the food is the key. It can be as simple as pork barbecue sandwiches and some beans on a paper plate, seared pork tenderloin with an elaborate balsamic sauce served on Mother’s best china, or a piping hot bowl of sausage gumbo with a slab of crusty bread.  Where to start? Check out the “Goalpost Gourmet” selections at our Whole Foods Market Johns Creek. We’ve got a great assortment of tailgate staples on sale. As the season gets fired up we’ll feature lots of new recipes in our store that are perfect for tailgaters, and we’ll be sampling some of our great game day products.  And if it’s fourth and goal and you still don’t have a clue, our Prepared Foods and Catering department are ready with a slew of tailgating goodies to go.

During the season and all the way through the bowl games, I’ll be posting tailgate tips and recipes. Got one to share that features something from our store? Send it in and we’ll post it. And for the record (and at the risk of stirring up some good, old-fashioned trash talking): War Eagle!