Eat a Local Breakfast

It's the start of a new week and a new day and as I do every day, I chugged down a glass of GoodBelly Plus, a probiotic multi-vitamin infused juice drink.

I'm continuing on from last week's theme and featuring local food vendors who sell their product at Whole Foods Market.

There's over 100 local vendors at WFs Boulder, so there's plenty more reasons to stay-tuned and explore with me the foods produced by this area's food entrepreneurs.

In the effort to be prepared for today's post I popped into my local WFs, which is about a mile down the road, where I perused the shelves looking for the sign saying, "I'm local."

It was about 9.30 a.m. when I began my research and I hadn't had breakfast. One of the tips I've offered for staying on budget grocery shopping is don't grocery shop hungry; you're more likely to avoid impulse purchases if you're not thinking about your stomach (instead of your budget) while surrounded by food.

Of course my intention was to just pop into WFs, take a few pics of local food items for this week's posts, and get out, but I ended up doing a little impulse shopping because I was hungry!

As I mentioned above, I'd already had a chug of GoodBelly, the first product produced by the company NextFoods which was founded by Steve Demos, natural foods entrepreneur. Read here about how Steve came to create GoodBelly.

I can't say enough good things about GoodBelly. Over the years I've bought probiotics in pill form at great expense only to be told by my health-care practicioner that I wasn't getting the "billions of live bacteria" that I apparently needed.

Then about a year ago, I saw GoodBelly in the dairy section of the market. I read the label on the Good Belly Plus packet, and noted that it contained 20-billion clinically tested live cultures per 2.7 oz container, plus multi-vitamins, and it's dairy and wheat-free. It sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

For anyone who has traveled to a developing country and eaten bacteria-laden food or water, or who has taken antibiotics, re-populating the gut with billions of live, good bacteria is a must. And that's why GoodBelly is just what the doctor ordered; it contains all the good stuff that a belly needs to be healthy.

I'm not much of a fruit-juice drinker, but GoodBelly is more than a juice and it's not as expensive as many 100% juice products. GoodBelly products are so often on sale at WFs, that I rarely pay full price. Additionally, there are 50c off coupons inside the GoodBelly Plus packets, and the company has buy one get one free coupons available on their website.

After I took the pic of the GoodBelly quart container (above), I found myself in the bulk section of WFs, pointing my iphone at a container of "I'm Local" granola.

I poured some local granola into a bag, tagged it and then realized it was Fiona's Cinnamon and Almond Granola.

Last week I featured Fiona's granola and made the comment that I hadn't tried it because my preference is to buy grains, cereals etc. in bulk, not in packets since you always pay more for packets.

So this morning I tried Fiona's granola because I was able to pick and pay for only what I wanted.

At $6.99 lb, my few ounces cost a couple of dollars, which is no less than paying almost $5 for one of her 12 oz boxes. However, buying in bulk meant I spent $2 on impulse rather than $5.

Since my focus today is breakfast, I was pleased to see the "I'm local" sign underneath Madhava Mountain Gold Clover Honey.

Not that Fiona's granola needs the addition of honey, since it's already sweetened with agave nectar, which by the way Madhava also produces, but honey is one of those condiments to have on hand for brekkie, lunch and dinner, and for snacks in between.

Because the price of Madhava honey is competitive with other honey on the shelf at WFs, I've been buying it happily for years. It's an easy choice because it's local and because I love the heavy, syrupy texture of the Wildflower honey, and the golden color and delicate flavor of their Clover honey.

Having mentioned Boulder's, Steve Demos, and his former company WhiteWave, I might add that if you do decide to have a local breakfast of GoodBelly, followed by Fiona's granola, topped with a drizzle of Madhava honey, why not wet the lot with some local WhiteWave Soy milk or yoghurt.

Gourmet Tea and Fancy Granola

"I'm a local."

That's what the sign says in front of the tinned, Tea Spot tea on the shelf at my local Whole Foods Market a mile down the road from where I live in Boulder.

I was an enthusiastic local Tea Spot patron when the Tea Spot had a lovely little tea cafe in the center of town.

But late last winter the cafe closed, which is unfortunate. However, I'm sure it had nothing to do with their wide selection of teas and more to do with the stiff competition in Boulder.

Tea and coffee cafes abound in this town and their success is all about position, position, position. Though the Tea Spot was in a pretty locale, it wasn't in a consistently well-peopled area.

And if sitting in a cafe on your laptop drinking tea or coffee is all about being seen and connecting with others on their laptops, then the Tea Spot cafe was destined to have a short lifespan because it's position failed to attract a crowd beyond weekend foot traffic.

Never mind, the Tea Spot now wholesales to stores like WFs, as well as sells their selection of beautifully merchandised loose leaf teas online direct to the public.

You'll note that the price is around $10 per tin, which is spendy, though this is high-end gourmet tea!

There's nothing shabby about their Snowflakes tea (pic to left) which is a pure, single-estate white tea. And the gorgeous tins alone are worth collecting and keeping for use as storage containers.

Additionally, their pricing matches other gourmet tinned teas on the shelf at WFs so they're no more spendy than the competition, and their tins are by far the prettiest and the most practical for re-using.

I had several faves that I used to buy in 2 0z sachets from the cafe: Early Grey, Bolder Breakfast, Creme Caramel, and their Mango Tango, all of which are flavored black teas. Their selection goes beyond black and flavored black to include, white, green, oolong, pu'erh and herbal teas.

The last of my featured Whole Foods vendors for this week is Fiona's Granola. I remember meeting Fiona for the first time about 6 years ago. It was at a Boulder Chamber, Women's Leads Group meeting. She was trying to build her granola business and was in need of mentoring and support.

I guess she got what she needed because half a dozen years later, her line of product has really expanded, her merchandising has "wow" factor, and her brand is ubiquitous in Boulder.

To be honest, I haven't tried her 6 flavors of Granola, her Quinoa Crunch or her European Muesli. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm an advocate of buying grains, cereals, pulses and so on in bulk; it's cost-efficient and there's no packaging to dispose of, however, not all Fiona products are boxed, some of her granola is merchandised in brown bags.

I have had her quinoa bars, which sell in local tea and coffee cafes (the ones I frequent now that the Tea Spot has closed). Fiona's bars are as healthy as her granola. I read the label with interest last time I ate her Almond Chocolate Chip Quinoa Bar and it was all whole food, the kind of thing you'd make for yourself at home if you could be bothered tossing quinoa, nuts, chocolate pieces, coconut, seeds, agave nectar and canola oil into a blender.

Fiona has a delicious line of wheat-free ($4.99 for 12 0z) and gluten-free granola (pic to left, $6.99 for 12 oz).

I think if I were on a restricted diet, I would definitely try these products, knowing how dedicated she is to quality.

But if I decided to spend $7 or so on 12 ounces of gfree granola, chances are I wouldn't be on a budget.

In other words, this is not breakfast cereal for individuals or families grocery shopping on a budget.

Nevertheless, local girl Fiona Simon has clearly found a local market with her line of granola, muesli, quinoa crunch, bars and trail mix and I'm glad she has because it is better to buy local, than say, rice bubbles imported from the Middle East!