Product Talk: Tomatoes

If you’re trying to get your kids to love vegetables, tomatoes are a great place to start. Nothing is more fun than tiny grape, pear and cherry tomatoes! Dip or skewer on toothpicks and watch them smile! Then you can talk about heirloom tomatoes—how these seeds are from old fashioned tomatoes that grow in crazy sizes, colors and shapes—but have wonderful flavors. Hold a taste testing party and see if you can tell the differences in the varieties!

Just What Do Women Really Want?

Flowers, cards, sugar and spice....do women want all that is nice? We aren’t sure, but we are so there to try and find out. At Harvey Convention Center that is, next Tuesday, the 9^th, for the “what women want…..The Real Women’s Expo.” Brookshire’s is excited to be a major sponsor of this event!

Ladies, look no further, this Expo is sure to be an experience for all women! From gourmet chocolates + jewels to tasty foods + sips. There will be plenty of shopping, browsing and interacting with the experts. Brookshire’s chefs will even be on the scene cooking up some yummy treats and our very own Nutrition Specialist Maggie Griffin will be hosting seminars throughout the day. Take advantage of Asking Maggie about some of her topics “Women Want Simplified Meals”, “Women Want Stress Relief at the Grocery Store”, and “Women Want To Eat Healthier—Without a Lot of Fuss”.

For more info, and to purchase tickets, visit: http://www.therealwomensexpo.com

For everything a woman could want, it seems “what women want…..The Real Women’s Expo” is the right place to be next Tuesday.

We hope to see you there!

Dining In: Avocado Salad

Avocados are on a great sale this week at Brookshire's, but you can only eat so much guacamole, right? What else do you do with avocados? My absolute favorite dish is an avocado salad. Add a bit of cheese and it's a vegetarian main course, or serve it along with whatever else you're whipping up this weekend. But wow, there's something special about an avocado, isn't there?? Creamy and rich, yet full of heart-healthy monosaturated fats—you just can't lose! 

Avocado Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 Tbs lime juice
2 Tbs Food Club honey
3 Tbs Food Club olive oil
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and chunked
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 pint (16 oz.) cherry tomatoes, leave whole 

Directions:

Place cilantro, lime juice and honey in a blender. Take off blender top and while mixing, pour in olive oil from top to create a smooth dressing. Set aside. 

Combine the avocados, onion and tomato in a bowl. Gently stir in the dressing. Serve on individual plates, a platter or even mounded in the original avocado shell. Garnish with additional cilantro, if desired.

Together, We Donated over $100,000 to Haiti Relief Efforts

How amazing are our dedicated partners and customers who heeded the call to help those in need in Haiti! Brookshire Grocery Company stores company-wide have collected nearly $100,000 in donations for the American Red Cross' Haitian earthquake relief effort.

In addition to the donations received in our stores, BGC matched the first $10,000 that was donated. And on top of that, Western Union matched our company’s donation; raising an additional $20,000!

While not surprised by the generosity from so many, our company is so very grateful and humbled that our customers and partners stepped up to the plate to become a part of a major step toward economic recovery for Haiti.

To quote my grandfather, Bruce G. Brookshire, “We may sell groceries, but people are our business.” Thank you!

Family Matters: Try a Tomato!

Kids are just like the rest of us: they learn best in a hands-on atmosphere. So when you're trying to instill a love of vegetables with your children, maybe the hands-on method will help! 

Next time you're at the store, pick up a variety of tiny tomatoes. Let your kids help pick them out, or just bring home a good selection. Grape and pear tomatoes (shaped just like they sound) are tiny bite-sized bursts of flavor. Cherry tomatoes are just a bit larger, but still small. From there, plum (or Roma) tomatoes are a big larger and egg-shaped. Slicing tomatoes are the full-sized ones. 

So what do you do when you get all these tomatoes home? First, everyone washes their hands. Then help your kids identify the different types of  tomoatoes. Pear, grape and cherry tomatoes should be easy! Talk about the thin skin that is fragile yet strong enough to hold all the juice and seeds inside.

Then get a knife—plastic or metal, depending on your child's abilities—and cut one in half from top to bottom. Notice the pretty patterns. Cut another in half from side to side. Wow, there's a difference, isn't there? Slice up several more tomatoes, put them in a bowl and sample them. Save the rest for a salad tonight. And you know what? There's a good chance your children will actually eat some!

Shop the Sale: Ground Chuck

There are some sales that you really look forward to, because you know you can stock up, save some serious money and not be at a loss for what to do with the product. This is one of those sales: ground chuck. 

Ground chuck, as we've discussed before, is the perfect type of beef for burgers. It has just enough fat to retain the juiciness, but not so much fat that your burgers cook away into little nuggets. The fat-to-meat ratio means that you get more meat for your dollar, too. 

But besides burgers, ground chuck is great for tacos, for soups, for spaghetti and lasagna and a dozen other casseroles. I like to buy it in larger lots and take it home for dividing. Some of it will be browned and packaged in 1-pound freezer containers. Some of it will be put in 1-pound packs as uncooked meat. Then I have plenty of options, all waiting in the deep freeze. It makes you feel safe and secure on a cold winter's day, that's for sure!

Healthy Living: Lunch

One of the best things you can do to eat a diabetes-friendly diet is to pack your lunch—to school, to work or to eat at home. You can control the ingredients and the preparation, so you'll know without a doubt how these foods fit into your plan. Eating at a restaurant is guesswork at best.

Product Talk: Cosmetics

Does your baby use cosmetics? Of course not! Babies don't wear perfume or makeup! But actually, cosmetics include shampoo, moisturizers and lotion. Baby cosmetics are extremely gentle to delicate, sensitive skin. They are often fragrance-free, hypo-allergenic and free of unnecessary chemicals. 

 And for those reasons, many adults choose to use baby shampoo, lotion, oil and cream. You'll find a wide range of  baby cosmetics in Brookshire's stores. In addition to the national brand names you know, you'll also find our store brand, Top Care, on the shelves. Top Care products are guaranteed to be just as high-quality as the other brands, or your money back! This is a great way to stay on your budget, but still keep your baby's skin—or your own skin—clean and baby soft!

Dining In: Potato Chip Chicken

Come on, admit it: you'd love to eat a whole bag of potato chips for dinner. But because you're a grownup, you know you shouldn't. Well, here's a way to fix a great, home-cooked dinner, take advantage of a sale, and enjoy potato chips to boot! 

Potato Chip Chicken Fingers will make everyone smile, from the smallest toddler to the biggest grownup. And since chips are on sale at Brookshire's this week, you'll save double: by not going out to eat, and by spending less at the grocery store! 

Potato Chip Chicken Fingers           

Prep time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 pounds whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups potato chips

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk          

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400° F. Cut the chicken into finger-sized pieces.

Fill a large zipper-top plastic bag with the potato chips. Seal the bag and crush the chips with your hands or a rolling pin. In medium bowl, beat the egg and milk. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg mixture, then put them in the bag and shake gently to coat with chip crumbs. 

Bake the chicken pieces on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes, turning once. Serve with ranch, barbecue or honey mustard dipping sauce. Kids, of course, love these with ketchup!

 Nutritional Information:

Calories per serving: 268.  Fat: 12 grams (3 gr. Saturated fat), Cholesterol: 103 mg. Sodium: 220 mg., Carbohydrates: 13 gr., fiber: 1 gr.

Family Matters: Swaddling a Baby: Why?

For thousands and thousands of years, babies have been swaddled—you'll read references in the Bible. This is when a blanket is wrapped snugly around the baby, holding the arms by his side. 

Why swaddle? Many experts believe that swaddling helps a baby feel secure and warm—much like his pre-birth environment, which was a little tight and cramped. It may also mimic the feeling of being held in Mother's arms, as well—that close warmth is comforting. 

Something about it must work, or otherwise, mothers for centuries wouldn't have carried on this tradition. If your baby gets fussy, give swaddling a try!