Boulder Canyon Natural Foods

Because I'm a chipaholic, I'm dedicating this post to one of Whole Foods local vendors, Boulder Canyon Natural Foods.

Now "Natural Foods" might ordinarily suggest something other than food of the snack variety and certainly something more than potato chips.

With their newest flavor, Rice and Adzuki Bean Natural Salt Artisan Snack Chip (that's a mouthful) Boulder Canyon does offer more than your average potato chip, much more.

If you read the "Nutrition Facts" on your average bag of potato chips, you'll note that the saturated fat content is around 16g and the total fat is around 65g per 7oz serving.

I'm not concerned about my healthy oil intake, but I do like to be conscious of my consumption of saturated fat since it's better for heart health to consume a diet low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturates.

Because Boulder Canyon Natural Foods produces chips with a lower saturated and total fat content than your average chip, and because their chips contain zero trans fats and zero cholesterol, I prefer them over other brands.

The lower fat content is not the only reason I prefer them. Boulder Canyon's plain chip (pic above) contains only potato, vegetable oil and salt. Nothing else! No acronyms or numbers masquerading as food, just three ingredients, which means the taste is unadulterated fried potato.

And the crunch factor -- it's a 10!

Since Boulder Canyon chips first appeared on the shelves at WFs many years ago, they've introduced a lot more flavors. I counted 15 on their website and I've tried about 8 of those, and more recently they introduced the two Rice and Adzuki Bean chip flavors.

My favorites are the a la natural ones in the pic above, Salt & Cracked Pepper, Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt, Balsamic Vinegar & Rosemary, Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper and the Hickory Barbecue.

At different times, one or more of the flavors goes on sale at Boulder's Whole Foods. The 10 for $10 or $1 a pack (pic above) is an unbeatable price.

Having sung the praises of Boulder Canyon chips, it's probably apparent that I'm an advocate of enjoying snack foods, like chips, but in moderation.

Omega 3's For Brunch

The focus on Market to Mouth this past week has been how to get the best deals on superfoods for health and fitness.

Check last Thursday's post for my top 10 tips.

Today I'm posting a Sunday brunch idea featuring ingredients from a list of recommended foods by executive fitness coach, Bonni Doherty.

B stresses the importance of good oils and good fats, for example:

• Omega 3 eggs
• olive oil
• avocados
  
• deep-sea fish like sardines, fresh or fresh-frozen or tinned salmon, tinned tuna
• nuts like walnuts (including walnut oil), almonds (and almond oil) and seeds, like flax (and flax seed oil)

Brunch is often a meal laden with saturated fat-laden pork bacon or sausage, and carbohydrate laden pancakes and waffles.

A lean, light and healthier (as in good oils and fats) Sunday brunch might look something like this:

Eggs with Kale, Avocado and Tomato
1) Wash kale leaves well. Chop into small chunks along with some onion and a garlic clove.
2) Braise kale with onion and garlic until tender -- about 10-15 minutes.
3) Poach, or lightly fry one or two eggs per person.
4) Spoon braised greens into a bowl, top with egg, and decorate with chunks of avocado and halved cherry tomatoes. Serve with ...

Green Salad with Walnut Oil

In a separate bowl toss your choice of salad greens, and chopped radishes for crunch, drizzle with either walnut oil or olive oil, and juice of half a lemon.