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Making Summer Get-Togethers a Breeze! The highly anticipated season of summer gatherings is here! We’re here to help you throw a low-stress summer get-together. Whether you’re preparing all the food or just the main course here are some ideas to get you started: Make as much as you can ahead of time. Preparing a day in advance leaves the fun tasks like decorating and food presentation for the day of your party. Dips, desserts and cold salads can easily be prepared the day before, but leave the vegetable and fruit cutting until the day of. You can also marinate meat, vegetables or tofu for the grill the day before to give your dishes that extra flavor boost. Keep it Simple. Don’t feel like you have to make a seven course meal. It’s okay to supplement your main course with already prepared side dishes. Our deli offers

Some new products have arrived just in time for Cinco de Mayo! Siete Grain Free Tortillas and Tortilla Chips. Siete Family Foods started when Veronica Garza was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions. She needed to make a change and her family of seven was up to the challenge to adopt a grain-free and anti-inflammatory diet with her. They learned about what foods may be harmful or beneficial to their diet and started experimenting with some of their favorite foods that have grain in them. As a Mexican-American family, tacos and fajitas were among some of their traditional family meals, so that’s where they started. Since then they’ve perfected their recipes for various grain free tortillas and tortilla chips and Seite Family Foods was born! (Did you know that siete means seven in Spanish) We now carry the following Siete products: Almond Flour Tortillas (find

It’s that time of year when it is time to start preparing for Easter and spring! Whether you celebrate or not, it can be fun to participate in spring traditions like dyeing eggs and hiding Easter baskets! Coloring Easter eggs can be a fun way to get the whole family involved. We have natural egg coloring kits available for purchase by Color Kitchen that contain no artificial ingredients and produce vibrant colored eggs from plant colors. They use cabbage to create a bluish-purple hue, radish for red/pink and annatto for orange/yellow colored eggs. Eggs can also be dyed naturally using a variety of herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables as “dyestuff”. Experimenting is half of the fun, and here are some suggestions for natural “dyestuff” to get you started: Purple cabbage will turn white eggs bluish-purple and brown eggs green Turmeric powder will

[caption id="attachment_28982" align="alignleft" width="174"] Wyat Switz Photography [/caption] An exciting event is coming to Valley Natural Foods! Brace yourself for a Bootlegger Kombucha Keg Party! You read that right; Bootlegger Brewing will be at our demo kiosk sampling their popular flavors of kombucha along with limited edition flavors. Bootlegger Brewing Organic Kombucha is locally produced in Apple Valley, Minnesota. They’re passionate about brewing organic kombucha made with simple ingredients that are locally sourced; like organic tea, evaporated cane juice and of course the mother SCOBY. What is a SCOBY you ask? SCOBY is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, but don’t be afraid of the bacteria because it’s actually good for you! The bacteria and yeast work together to ferment the sugars in the sweet tea to produce vitamins, enzymes, and probiotics which can help improve digestion along with other health benefits. Their kombuchas are

A smashing new treat has hit the shelves at Valley Natural Foods; Smash Mallows! Smash Mallows are snackable marshmallows made with organic cane sugar and simple, all-natural ingredients. They are then “whipped to perfection” and made into bite-size pieces. Each serving is only 80 calories and contains less than 1 gram of fat. We carry three of their flavors including: Cinnamon Churro, Strawberries & Cream, and Root Beer Float. Enjoy as is, or try using Smash Mallows in a variety of ways: Place on top of brownies for the last 5 minutes of baking and let them melt. Then using a lightly greased rubber scraper, spread the marshmallows evenly across the surface. Add to your cup of coffee or hot chocolate for new flavor combinations Use in place of regular marshmallows for crispy rice bars Visit their website for more recipe ideas: https://smashmallow.com/recipes/

Since 2008 Better Life has been developing and sharing their natural cleaning products. The inspiration started one afternoon when two lifelong friends watched as their children crawled across freshly cleaned floors. They began to express concern about the safety of their children and whether or not they were picking up potentially dangerous residue caused by traditional cleaning products. With a background in chemistry and an optimistic mind-set they set out to develop effective and safer cleaning products. After 6 months of preparation and a solid line of products they took a giant risk and pitched their business idea on the show “Shark Tank”. Like any pitch on the show they were greeted with a lot of criticism at first, but then one of the judges suggested that since their products were so safe they should spray it in their mouths to

Have you ever wanted to brew your own Kombucha or Kefir? Or have you wanted to experiment with making your own sourdough? Well now you can! We now carry the following Cultures for Health Starter Kits for making at home: Kefir Kefir has a tart, yogurt-like flavor and contains beneficial yeast and probiotics. Since this is a powdered culture it is easier to maintain than a grain-based kefir starter kit and it comes with two packets. Once prepared, the culture can be used 2-7 times when a small amount is reserved from the previous batch. Kombucha Their Kombucha Kit is a great way to learn how to start your own kombucha at home. Their kit includes one kombucha starter culture with specific, but easy to follow instructions. You can even transfer the culture from one batch to the next. Since you have to add tea

As the end of the month draws near there are still those last minute shoppers trying to find the perfect holiday gift. If you’re like me, time is of the essence, so you’ll need to find something quick and convenient. You can browse our housewares selection while making your way to our customer service counter. There you can purchase a gift card for you or your loved ones. Gift cards can be used in-store and at our drive-thru for a quick pick-me-up. Or maybe you have someone on your list who has been contemplating becoming an owner of the co-op. Although you cannot physically purchase a membership for someone else at customer service you may purchase a gift card that can be used towards ownership. Not an owner yourself? Ownership at Valley Natural Foods is a one-time investment made to purchase equity shares,

This week’s focus is all about inspiring you to put together the perfect gift basket. At Valley Natural Foods we have plenty of unique items for creating the perfect basket, well almost… Although we do not sell baskets, we do sell great basket substitutes, like our Valley Natural Foods Reusable Rag Bags or Golden Road Imports Fair-Trade purses and backpacks. To me, gift baskets (or themed gift bags) are a great way to make a gift more personal, and it’s easy to cater to your budget. Here are some ideas to create a cohesive gift with items available at Valley Natural Foods: For the Bloody Mary Enthusiast My recent acquired taste for Bloody Mary’s inspired this gift basket idea. It all began when we started carrying Suckerpunch Gourmet Bloody Mary Mix. The name alone drew me in, and as I took a

A new seasonal item has joined the shelves of our produce department, Gourmet Garden Herb Pastes.  We carry 4 of their varieties including: basil, lemongrass, dill, and Italian herbs. Their pastes can be stirred into soups, stir fries, sauces, and dressings or used as a marinade. Their herb pastes can help reduce prep time and will maintain best flavor within 3 months of opening. Gourmet Garden is an herb farm based in Queensland and Victoria, Australia. Their team has dedicated their work to producing and researching fresh herbs and perfecting their herb products. Their herbs are picked at the peak of freshness when the essential oil yield is high which is important for the plant’s flavor, aroma and color. Once picked their herbs are transported in a temperature-controlled vehicle to an herb prepping facility where they are washed, cut and prepared within