5.12.2009

A Whole Lotta Green

Since my day's of living in Seattle, I am a undying fan of Whole Foods Market. Having a large family, I am not able to shop there as much as I'd like, but when I do, I consider it a real treat. I could get lost in their aisles of healthy, earth friendly, organic products. From their frozen beef bones for my dog, "Buffy", to their home baked rhubarb pies. Where some like to shop at Macy's or Kate Spade, I prefer a trip to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

Months ago I purchased an arm load of Whole Foods Market's "A Better Bag" in my attempt to rid our household of plastic bags once and for all. I love the mission behind them and I love the fact that they were super inexpensive and have held up incredibly well, even through washes. The smaller, lunch size is .79¢ & the grocery bag size is .99¢. After I've unloaded them, they go directly back into the car trunk as to not forget them for the next shopping jaunt. Buy small ones to use for gifts instead of paper gift bags. Housewarming gift- throw in a bottle of wine, and a handcrafted cheese or a combo of organic hand lotion and kitchen handsoap.

Great cause, great recycled product, and terrific looking; and I ask you, who doesn't love Sheryl Crow?

About A Better Bag™

from Whole Foods Market website:

Whole Foods Market® teamed up with pop music icon and environmental activist Sheryl Crow to create a special edition of our signature reusable shopping bag, A Better Bag™. These bags are made from 80 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. In fact each bag represents approximately two or three 20-ounce plastic bottles depending on the size of the bag you choose.

As part of the continued efforts to care for our communities and environment, Whole Foods Market® and Sheryl Crow are using this campaign to help raise awareness for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and its Simple Steps program. Whole Foods Market® made a donation to the NRDC in support of their initiative and each bag bears the SimpleSteps.org web address encouraging shoppers to learn more about how they can get involved.

"I am a big believer in doing what you can, even if it's something as small as reducing the amount of plastic we each use daily that ends up in landfills, whether it is plastic bags, water bottles or product packaging. I'm so happy to be working with Whole Foods Market on this project."

— Sheryl Crow

Oh so fond of Whole Foods Market's recipes that they pass on to us consumers. Here is one of my newest favorites:

Blueberry Coffee Cake


Rated by 7 people

Serves 12

This coffee cake relies on a healthy portion of blueberries for sweetness, almonds for richness and yogurt for moistness.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons plus 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, divided
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt or blueberry yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen, thawed and drained blueberries, divided
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; set aside. Put 2 tablespoons of the whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and cardamom in a medium bowl and mix together with a fork or your fingers until well combined and mixture is in large clumps; set streusel aside.

Put remaining 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, vanilla and eggs then pour into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until combined. Gently fold in 1 cup of the blueberries.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and sprinkle reserved streusel over the top. Scatter remaining 1 cup blueberries over the streusel then top with almonds and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Once cooled, loosen edges of cake and transfer to a plate. Cut into slices and serve.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 3oz/81g-wt.): 150 calories (40 from fat), 4g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 40mg cholesterol, 210mg sodium, 23g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 9g sugar), 5g protein


{go forth & shop responsibly}

ban plastic shopping bags




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2 comments:

Lexie said...

The blueberry coffee cake sounds and looks amazing! Is there a difference b/t whole wheat pastry flour and just whole wheat flour?

Tofu Accessories said...

Thankss for sharing this