Health Starts Here at Whole Foods

Ever since learning about this new initiative from John Mackey at the last McDougall Advanced Study Weekend we've been dreaming of the day when we could wander into our neighborhood Whole Foods and grab healthy meals to go!  That day is here!!!!   (previously it was all oil soaked crap)

"Over the years, we realized that providing the healthiest foods available is simply not enough. We are now deepening our commitment to healthy eating by providing education and support tools to inspire interest in foods that help improve and maintain health and vitality." -says Margaret Wittenberg, global vice president of quality standards and leader of Health Starts Here at Whole Foods Market.


Now not all of the items marked Health Starts here meet our requirements, some aren't even VEGAN!  So watch out!    We are not complaining, however, because the ones that pass our tests (low fat) are HOME RUNS!  

Keep a lookout for the "Health Starts Here" logo in the prepared foods section, food bar & meals to go area.

Its even on the labels.  This Yam Salad was AMAZING and not a drop of oil!   We also have been getting the Plantain Black Bean and Rice Whole Meals To Go.  You'll notice the Health Starts Here on the label as well next to my thumb.  One thing to point out is that they differ from store to store due to the cooking skills and excitement of who ever prepares them.  We grab a far superior Plantain meal at the Whole Foods on Ventura vs a less inspired version the day before in Brentwood.

Thank you for Whole Foods!  You've got a lot to loose educating your consumers that your aisles of meat, dairy, oil, and nutritional supplements are complete crap.  The above meals are $5.99 each and we split two of them for a KNOCK OUT 5 STAR dinner.  Its nice walking out of there only spending $12 for dinner!

Meeting Vegan Friendlies for Drinks & Food

In St.louis there are a few options for meeting friends who are considerate about our vegan eats.  I've been trying to check off all my old haunts one by one in my extended time here and last night bought a nice opportunity to meet a friend who's New Years Resolution is to become vegan!  Boogaloo would  host a Monday Night Vegetarian night in my day and always had a few vegan items on the menu (sad to see the sloppy joe gone from the menu).  It was an especially good drinking hole for me as well since the left side of the restaurant/bar is NON SMOKING (STL is slowly passing smoking bans).  Luckily the snowfall we had that morning had left the chef with plenty of time on his hands to whip something up for me.  Not satisfied with the vegan menu options I said "I'll eat anything you bring out that's a plant, has a starch (rice, potato, pasta) and is prepared with no oil (steamed, boiled, baked)"   Quite impressed with the results below!

Boogaloo markets itself as Cubano Creole Caribe restaurant and the chef spiced up my seemingly simple dish and flared out the tomatoes quite nicely.  I was completely ecstatic with the results and will definitely keep Boogaloo on my short list of outstanding places a vegan can eat in St.louis while interacting with locals (j/k).

NICHE ~ Delicata Squash

We are happy to be back to the world of blogging.  We've just returned from a trip to Australia and New Zealand where the internet is $10/hour for 10megs most of the time!  We are marooned at our parents until we plot our return to Los Angeles next week.  We have been doing a TON of cooking over the holidays, its the only time we aren't frozen solid.  The only exercise we get is doing laps down the aisles at Whole Foods.  For NYE we had an amazing meal at the St. Louis Restaurant Niche the chef there is beyond compare and introduced us to Delicata Squash.

We couldn't pass up the delightful looking winter squash when we saw it again at Whole Foods.  I googled around and came up with this amazing little recipe.

Baked Delicata Squash. - Cut off the ends and slice down the middle.  Remove the seeds and scrap clean.  Take a spoon full of  -Suzanne's Rice Mellow -Brown Sugar -Dash of Cayenne Pepper -Sprinkle of Rosemary  Mix all bits together until the inside of the squash is well coated to your liking.     Put it on parchment paper in a pyrex dish and set into preheated over at 400 degrees for one hour.  Let cool a little bit and the mix hardens up before eating.

I can't tell you how amazing this turned out.  Sweet, spicy, marsh mellowly, savory.  I'll forever grab one when I see a good Delicata Squash at the supermarket.