What’s Fresh? Pixie Tangerines! By Seth McBride, Marketing Intern March has been unofficially deemed Pixie Tangerine month due to their recent arrival at the Co-op. Pixie Tangerines are sweet, juicy, and easy to peel. However, they distinguish themselves from regular tangerines by being seedless. Tangerines were developed in 1927 at University of California Citrus
What’s Fresh? Greens!
By Seth McBride, Marketing Intern
The women and men of Organicgirl deliver fresh, flavorful greens in every package. They carefully pick their seeds and ingredients to ensure great flavor that is USDA certified organic. Salads are one healthy meal that have become so common that they are sometimes overlooked. However, the greens in salad are loaded with antioxidants and fiber. This week the Co-op is offering five of these organic, pre-packaged salads for only $3.99 each:
Super Spinach – A trifecta of healthy greens: baby bok choy, baby kale, and baby spinach that is loaded with Vitamin C and B9 aka folic acid, which has been known to prevent heart disorders, stroke, cancer, and birth defects.
SuperGreens! – A nutritional superstar mixture of baby greens and red chard, baby tat soi, spinach, and arugula.
Baby Spinach & Arugula – A 50-50 mixture of Popeye’s steroids and the peppery mixture of arugula.
Baby Kale – Kale is known for being a tough and bitter cooking green. However baby kale has all the nutrition of mature kale, but with better flavor. It is tenderer, and is more versatile when it comes to cooking.
Baby Spring Mix – A mix of 14 tender baby greens for just the right amount of sweetness. It was designed by selecting sweet, young lettuces over traditional bitter, more mature leaves to be Organicgirl’s best tasting blend available.
These mixtures work well alone, but these greens are also wonderful cooking ingredients. Enjoy some of these green and delicious recipes:
What’s Fresh? Cabbage! Did you know that cabbage has high concentrations of disease-fighting compounds? Cabbage, like its close relative broccoli, is generally written off the menu because of its bitter bite. However, this bitter taste is caused by sulfur compounds, which have cancer-fighting properties. Cabbage is also great for maintaining a healthy heart. The
by Seth McBride, Marketing Intern
Once upon a time, we believed that consuming an extra helping at dinner would aid our survival. As times have changed, we now have a surplus of food that has led to an epidemic of obesity. In our modern times of plenty, it is healthier to eat smaller meals that focus on key nutrients rather than stuffing ourselves.
A study published by the Nutrition Journal in 2011 debunked the common myth that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Oftentimes, we believe that the more you eat for breakfast, the less hungry you’ll be throughout the day. However, larger breakfasts do not satiate you for extended periods of time. This means that you actually tend to consume more calories as the day progresses after eating a big breakfast.
Lunch should be the largest meal of the day because your metabolism corresponds to how long you’ve been awake. In other words, you’re more likely to burn off the calories from a large lunch than a large breakfast or dinner. Go out on a limb and think of us as plants in the sense that there are specific times each day that our body is able to utilize the sugars we consume.
Don’t sleep on an empty stomach. While dinner should be the lightest meal of your day as you become less active, it’s still important to eat. Whatever you do, don’t skip a meal. Skipping dinner means there is an extensive time gap between meals, which can result in disrupted sleep patterns, craving sweets, nausea, and ravenous hunger. Also, be sure that your dinner is light because excessive amounts of sugar and fatty foods can overload your digestive system. This can result in fatigue, both mentally and physically, the following day. And don’t forget to wait two hours after eating dinner to fall asleep, allowing your body the recommended amount of time for digestion.
The most important benefit of eating light is that you will begin to eat at the right time of day. When foods are eaten at the wrong time of day, your body stores more fats. Not only will you lose weight, but you will also feel revitalized when your sleeping and eating schedules complement one another. So much so, you’ll live healthily ever after.
What’s Fresh? Broccoli! Did you know that broccoli comes from the Italian word broccolo meaning “flowering crest of cabbage?” We’ve got fresh, crisp broccoli on sale this week at the Co-op. Although the taste of broccoli is slightly bitter like its relative the cabbage, it is also high in vitamin C. You can consume your
What’s Fresh? Peppers! Score big with a variety of game day snack ideas in this week’s produce section. Look for fresh peppers, including the party-favorite jalapenos, as well as habaneros and cherry bombs. Each pepper has its own level of heat, perfect for adding a little kick to your guacamole or salsa. We also have
Today is one of our favorite food holidays: National Chocolate Cake Day! Although its origin is uncertain, it’s easy to see why this is a day worth celebrating. Before chocolate was used to bake one of our favorite cakes, it was primarily consumed as a beverage to have with yellow cake. It wasn’t until
What’s Fresh? Mandarins! Citrus season is in full swing at the Co-op this week. Look for a number of new varieties that you can peel, eat, and enjoy. Along with the common Clementine, you’ll also find blood oranges, daisy tangerines, cara cara navels, kishus, Minneolas, and satsumas. Each has its own distinct flavor and is
Have you noticed how popular kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha have become? Or how yogurt in all its forms has taken over a wide swath of the dairy case? The fermentation movement has been blossoming on your co-op shelves, and beyond. Fermented and pickled foods are loved for their tangy flavors, as well as their health
What’s Fresh? Asparagus! Asparagus is fresh in the produce cooler this week, plus it’s on sale. Add one of these delicious asparagus dishes to your next meal. – Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes – Chicken and Asparagus Stir-fry – Mini Peppers Filled with Goat Cheese and Asparagus – Savory Orange-Roasted Tofu with Asparagus – Creamy Asparagus
We all know that food can nourish us in more ways than one. In fact, we have a special name for foods that feed our emotional well-being — comfort foods. Sometimes these foods comfort us by triggering positive memories of childhood favorites (think macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes), and other times they soothe via