Check It Out

by 
Karen Plourde, Weavers Way Communications Staff

Goings On in Grocery

Local juices for the new year. And a kit for making ice cream without a machine.

The lure of fresh-made juice squeezed out by others is strong. So huzzah that Manayunk’s Juice Merchant is now delivering bottles of its creations to Mt. Airy. There are four flavors available, all made from organic ingredients. 

Hill shoppers can make restocking the freezer with ice cream into an activity with Curious Creamery ice cream mix. Based in Long Beach, CA, the Curious folks have made it their mission to reduce the carbon footprint associated with ice-cream making. Also, providing only the “mix” part leaves plenty of room for YOU to experiment with fresh ingredients. BYO electric mixer and blender. Instructions are inside the package, or you can watch the video on the website: www.thecuriouscreamery.com.

Bulk & Beyond

A new cereal made from hemp greens. And buckwheat kasha now has a bin.

The Incredible Bulk has always carried nutritious stuff along with treats. Recently added to their slate of healthy is Organic Hemp Greens Superfood Cereal. It’s loaded with hemp protein, spirulina, chlorella, spinach, alfalfa and dandelion. Mostly, it’s green.

Fans of buckwheat kasha will delight in the addition of the organic toasted version upstairs. This Eastern European staple can be augmented any number of ways and eaten as a cereal or as a side.

Meat & Fish Market

Marinated meats in the cases from Niman Ranch. And local grass-fed beef is back in the Hill.

Pre-marinated meats are a boon to snappy dinner prep, and the Co-op now features a brand that takes special care with the animals they raise. Niman Ranch, headquartered in Alameda, CA, is a network of family farmers and ranchers who are committed to sustainability and raising their animals humanely. And their mustard-marinated pork loin and rosemary-marinated pork chop are delicious, and on sale for $11.99 a pound through Jan. 17. 

Meanwhile, Stryker Farm grass-fed beef (Saylorsburg, Monroe County) is back in Chestnut Hill after an absence of several months. (Stryker’s all-natural beef and grass-fed ground beef have been available in Mt. Airy since earlier this year.) Chestnut Hill's new meat manager, Valerie Baker, plans to bring back several cuts as well as the ground beef.

Picks in Produce

Sprinkle liberally — microgreens are on sale! And organic grapefruit can keep you in the pink.

A salad with fresh ingredients is good eating anytime, but especially appreciated right now — even more so when the fixins’ are local. Buckingham, Bucks County’s Blue Moon Acres has been doing fresh and local since 1992, and through Jan. 17, the organic microgreens sampler is on sale for $3.99. Try them on a sandwich or to garnish a soup or finish off your latest culinary creation.

On the fruit front, citrus is the thing in winter, and organic grapefruit is marked down to $1.49 each through the middle of the month. Hey, how about a winter salad with grapefruit, microgreens, and… you take it from there!