This Sunday’s Big Game is likely to offer a little something for nearly everyone – serious football for the sports enthusiast, a star-studded halftime show for the drama queen and outlandishly high-budget commercials for anyone who doesn’t want to be left out of the all-important water-cooler discussions on Monday.   But what Game Day gatherings don’t typically offer, however, are decent food options, especially for those with special dietary needs.

But this year, have no fear.  Along with a couple of food blogging friends, we’ve put together a tasty Big Game spread sure to please any fan of good football and/or good food:

Appetizers

Spicy Cheddar-Jack Cauliflower Dip (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free) and
Eight-Layer Mediterranean Dip (Vegetarian) from Whole Foods Market

Vegan Pita Chips, Caramelized Onion Dip (Gluten-Free), and
Cheesy Straws from Bittersweet (all Vegan)

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It’s probably obvious that all of the food products we carry are made from recipes. You may not know that there are also basic “recipes” for the personal care products carried on our shelves, although the ingredients may be less familiar. For example, a basic loaf of bread is made of flour, water, salt and leavening agent. A basic shampoo includes surfactants, actives, preservative and fragrance. Thinking of the analogy between cooking foods and making personal care products may help put into perspective all of the long names found on their ingredient lists – and hopefully make them seem less foreign.

The first in a series, this post breaks down the basic anatomy of a shampoo, helping to decipher the key ingredients that comprise the shampoos that you use on a daily basis – and what you may want to think about when choosing your next one.

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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday… hmm.  What are my plans for Sunday?  Well, I think I’ll kick off the morning with an aerial dance class, work my way through halftime with some local theater and make my final touchdown with having some friends over my place for a writer’s workshop.  Is there something I’m forgetting?

Oh right, it’s Game Day!  Well, whether this Sunday will be a football filled frenzy or just another beautiful weekend day, try out some of these great Game Day tips!

Each week we’ve been choosing customer tips to be featured in our weekly The Whole Deal™ blog post, and every chosen tip received a $25 gift card. This weekly giveaway ends this week with these last three tips!  We wanted to thank you all for your great ideas and hope that you continue to share this great info with each other in our Forums.

From Renee:

Here are some tips for how our family will have healthy and fun snacks for the game that will score praise without tackling our money.

Dips and healthy dipping options.

The kids love to make a sweet dip by mixing: vanilla yogurt with small amounts of vanilla, honey, maple syrup and raisins. Sweet dip for pretzels or your own pita chips (small pieces of pita bread cooked at 350 degrees for 8 minutes in oven). Tastes great with cut up fruit and carrot or celery sticks.

It’s fun to make your own guacamole (moderate spice level): mix two mashed avocados with cut-up red or green peppers, one small red onion, three tablespoons of fresh minced garlic, pinch of chile paste, four teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice and one jar tomato paste (or cut up some tomatoes).

To dip…we make sweet potato or regular potato chips baked with olive oil and sea salt and black pepper in the oven (10 minutes for 350 degrees).

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…Save Money, Keep Stuff Out Of The Landfill, and Have Fun Doing It

My friends are always asking me for tips on how to green up their workplaces – but they need stuff that won’t freak out their coworkers (I guess I shouldn’t tell them to get rid of all the trash cans just yet). I thought I’d share some ideas that are really simple and have worked for us here in our Austin office.  And, conveniently enough, some of these will even save your company some money.

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I grew up in Hawaii and lived there until my early twenties. (I was born in Louisiana, though, so I have Cajun roots!) My wintertime was spent in bathing suits, muumuus, and bare feet. The thought of simmering nourishing hot soup or slow roasting meat and root vegetables somehow didn’t seem to inspire my mother or me. Those were not the sort of foods we were mostly craving. So, being the domestic, kitchen-loving person that I am, you can imagine how crazy I went when I finally moved to the “mainland” and discovered the pleasure of cooking in cold weather. Having lived mostly in warm climates, it took me a while to adjust to truly cold weather. And quite honestly, cooking when it’s cold outside made the adjustment much easier. I learned quickly that I could warm myself up easily by eating simmering hot foods and adding warming spices.

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******Updated 2/16/09********

Please refer to our latest blog post for updates on the PCA recall.

******Updated 1-29-09*******

The Peanut Butter Corporation of American (PCA) has now expanded their recall to include all types of peanuts and peanut products processed in its Blakely, Georgia, facility since January 1, 2007. This greatly expands the scope of this health issue and every manufacturer of peanut-containing foods, including us, will need to re-examine their products.

Please note: While new research is being conducted, we will not be able to answer questions about specific peanut related products. Please refer to our new blog post for updates to the situation as they become available. Additionally, our answers to previous comments on this blog post about the recall are not necessarily accurate any longer given the new developments.

*****Updated 1/28/09 a.m.*****

Added the following products to the recall list:

Uncle Eddies Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Uncle Eddies Individual Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Uncle Eddies Individual Organic Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
SunRidge Chocolate Energy Bar (sold in bulk)
SunRidge Energy Nuggets
****Updated 1/24/09 a.m.****

Last night we announced a recall of our Whole Foods Carob Energee Nuggets in four states (California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada) because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported to date, but our product supplier, Marin Foods, notified us of the potential for contamination of Salmonella. The product comes in a nine-ounce, clear plastic package with a label reading “Whole Foods Carob Energee Nuggets” and bears a UPC of 999482-000274. All lot codes are being recalled. If you purchased Whole Foods Carob Energee Nuggets, please return them to the store for a full refund.

***Updated 1/23/09 a.m.***

Added additional products to recall list:

Dancing Stars’ Chunks of Energy Carob/Hawaiian Spirulina and High Country Gorp

Can Do Kid Chocolate Crunch and Cookies & Cream Bars

**Updated 1/22/09 p.m.**

Clarification: Many manufacturers receive their supply of ingredients from multiple vendors. Therefore, not all products listed below are recalled in total, but rather specific lot or batch numbers made on certain dates. Please link through to our Product Recalls page to get more specifics directly from each manufacturer.

*Updated 1/22/09 a.m.*

Added additional products to recall list: ThinkThin Dark Chocolate and Chocolate Mudslide Bars

You’ve probably heard by now that due to cases involving salmonella poisoning, the FDA has warned U.S. consumers “to postpone eating commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter-containing products and institutionally-served peanut butter until further information becomes available about which products may be affected.”

Before we get into exactly what this means and what Whole Foods Market is doing about it, we wanted to share the latest safety recall information on products sold in our stores.

Recalled products we sell:

*Note: Many manufacturers receive their supply of ingredients from multiple vendors. Therefore, not all products listed below are recalled in total, but rather specific lot or batch numbers made on certain dates. Please link through to our Product Recalls page to get more specifics directly from each manufacturer.

• Can Do Kid Chocolate Crunch and Cookies & Cream Bars *** added 1/23/09
• Clif Bars: Crunchy Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch, Peanut Toffee Buzz and Variety Pack
• Clif Builder’s Bar: Peanut Butter and Variety Pack
• Clif Kid ZBaR: Peanut Butter and Variety Pack
• Dancing Stars’ Chunks of Energy Carob/Hawaiian Spirulina and High Country Gorp *** added 1/23/09
• Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars
• JamFrakas Peanut Butter BlissCrisp snack bars
• LÄRABAR Peanut Butter Cookie
• Luna Bars: Nutz Over Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cookie and Mini’s Variety pack
• MOJO Bar: Honey Roasted Peanut, Mixed Nuts, Mountain Mix, and Peanut Butter Pretzel
• MOJO Dipped: Chocolate Peanut, Peanut Butter & Jelly, and Fruit & Nut
• Nature’s Path Optimum Energy Bars, Peanut Butter Flavor
• SunRidge Chocolate Energy Bar (sold in bulk) *** Added 1/28/09
• SunRidge Energy Nuggets *** Added 1/28/09
• ThinkThin Dark Chocolate and Chocolate Mudslide Bars *** Added 1/22/09
• Uncle Eddies Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies *** Added 1/28/09
• Uncle Eddies Individual Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies *** Added 1/28/09
• Uncle Eddies Individual Organic Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies  *** Added 1/28/09
• Whole Foods Carob Energee Nuggets *** Added 1/23/09
• ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars
• ZonePerfect Peanut Toffee bars

We will update this list as more information becomes available. Customers may return these products to their local Whole Foods Market store for a full refund.  Please note there are other products being recalled that are not listed here because we do not carry them in our stores. The FDA has a searchable database of all recalled peanut butter products.

While the FDA is a United States regulatory body, the individual companies issuing recalls may be recalling their products from Canada as well. Please refer to each company directly for their specific recall information.
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We had a lot of fun with our first ever Live Blog: Ask the Expert. Angela Rakis, a Purchasing team member from our Northeast region, did a great job answering questions about value shopping in our stores. If you missed it, you can check out the transcript below.

We plan to do more of these Live Blogs with a variety of experts around here. What would you like to chat about? Maybe healthy eating, our products or green mission. As long as we have experts with nimble typing fingers, the sky’s the limit! Let us know.

Thanks to our Whole Trade Guarantee program, I get to work with a ton of great vendors who are using their businesses in order to change people’s lives. Every day I hear stories that are truly inspiring, and this blog is a place where I get to share it all with you.

As you may remember, The Whole Trade Guarantee is a buying program that brings together a strict set of criteria for products from developing countries. This program guarantees exceptional product quality, more money for producers, better wages and working conditions for workers, sound environmental production practices and the support of poverty eradication through a donation of one percent of product sales to our Whole Planet Foundation.

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As one of the pioneers of organic farming in Georgia, Nicolas Donck grows a diverse selection of certified organic vegetables and herbs year-round on his family’s land east of Atlanta.  When Nicolas was 16, he left his home in Belgium and moved to Georgia to join his mother on her 175-acre farm.  Since then, Nicolas started Atlanta’s first organic farmer’s market in 1995, and has continued to add considerable acreage into organic production on his farm.  Nicolas says the best thing about farming is having the opportunity to live close to the earth with his family.

Note: Our Farm to Market slide shows currently feature farmers and producers from our South and MidAtlantic Regions. We hope to expand to others in the future.

Join us for this week’s encore presentation of the Secret Ingredient and discover two ways to enjoy Whole Catch Wild-Caught Key West Pink Shrimp. Tune in as Scott Simons prepares Vietnamese-inspired fresh spring rolls and crisp lettuce wraps — perfect for adding a breath of summer to winter get-togethers. Fresh, easy-to-make and enhanced with the incomparable sweetness, fresh flavor and firm texture found in Wild-Caught Key West Pink Shrimp, we hope you’ll enjoy these recipes as much as we do.