February 2012 newsletter
Yes, Better Food has taken a bold step into the 21st century. If you’re receiving this as an e-mail, we hope you like the new format. We welcome your feedback…
Keep those bugs at bay and bolster your general health
Our St Werburgh’s Health and Bodycare department goes from strength to strength, and February sees the launch of a similar range of supplements in our Whiteladies store. Viridian, BioCare and Higher Nature are our three main suppliers, and here’s why …
Founder, Cheryl Thallon, launched her first range of Viridian Organic Supplements 13 years ago when the supplement company she worked for was taken over by an American pharmaceutical corporation. Now an established and award-winning market leader, Viridian also guarantee non-GM, non-irradiated and 100% active ingredients with no added sugars, colourings or artificial flavourings, making their products as clean and pure as they can be.
BioCare Supplements are often the nutritional practitioner’s supplement of choice. With a great research team, BioCare focus on getting the best quality most potent raw goodness down you in the most absorbable form. With 25 year’s experience to draw on, their range and quality are very highly regarded, particularly by those with allergies and food intolerances.
Like all our favourite suppliers, Higher Nature is a family company, and like our other supplements, is long-standing and established with excellent ethical credentials. In collaboration with the Department of Analytical Chemistry,SurreyUniversity, Higher Nature work hard to ensure the maximum bio-absorption from their range.
This Month we Love … all things raw
The Better Food Company is all about supporting food that is quite simply better for you and better for the world in which we live, and raw food is most definitely part of the better food movement. Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increasing rise in the number of raw products arriving on our shelves and with a recent influx of some particularly tasty morsels, what better time to shout about them.
Raw food is living food, and it is just common sense that, as such, it preserves more of the goodness that heating and cooking can destroy. Raw foods have an alkalising effect which supports your body in ridding itself of toxins and helps to maintain the delicate acid-alkaline balance, the disruption of which can cause weight problems and numerous diseases. Cooking also kills the enzymes that are essential in optimising nutrient and mineral absorption and in maintaining good digestive health.
RAW Health
Raw Health use raw and sprouted ingredients that are full of vitality, power and nutrition. Try their crackers, which are dehydrated at low temperatures and great as a snack on their own or topped with a raw sprouted chickpea hummous.
Beond
Beond are the new snack bar from the lovely Pulsin’ boys. Packed with dates and almonds, these are much more moist than similar brands with that special raw-foody texture…
Radek’s Chocolate
Radek’s chocolates are handmade in Bristol and Radek definitely qualifies as one of our local food heroes. His wild and wonderful chocs include lots of superfoods for optimum nutritional value.
Nak’d
The famous Nak’d bars are packed full of dried fruit and nuts and unlike many snack bars, they’re free from all sweeteners and syrups as well as sugar. They’re naturally gluten-free too. Pecan Pie is a personal favourite.
Biona
Biona coconut oil is raw, delicious and a rich source of health-full fatty acids. Try adding to homemade smoothies, chocolates and snack bars.
Gourmet Raw
Crammed with creamy cashews, this is healthy snacking at its most luxurious. Sweetened with coconut palm and with added buckwheat, these bars truly qualify as a brownie on a par if not exceeding the taste of less healthy alternatives.
In St Werburghs only… try our new InSpiral range of raw food treats including raw kale chips and superfood granolas, great on their own or with a homemade nut milk, raw of course!
In-store Tastings
Saturday 4th Feb, 11am – 2pm
Whiteladies Road
Aromafoods make delicious, award-winning vegan deli treats in Bath.
Saturday 11th Feb, 11am – 1pm
Both stores
Plush chocolatiers - come and meet the people behind our great new range of organic, fair trade and utterly beautiful chocolate.
Saturday 18th Feb, 11am – 2pm
St Werburghs
Aromafoods bring their wares to St Werburghs (see above)
Saturday 3rd March, am – Whiteladies, pm – St Werburghs
Both stores
Alara will be in-store sampling some tasty, healthy and innovative organic mueslis
Lovely things for Valentine’s Day
In our usual way, we’ve chosen some special and unusual treats for you to lavish on your loved ones this year. A new range of Plush organic and Fairtrade chocolate includes this lovely hearty lolly (£2.49) and heart shaped choc filled boxes (£5.99).
Recipe for Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday is on February 21st this year… Children love this variation on regular pancakes and don’t realise they’re eating something that’s so good for them too. You can slip in ground linseed, sesame and hemp seeds, as long as the dry ingredients stay at something like 115g in total and buckwheat remains the main ingredient.
Lucy’s gluten-free nutty pancakes
(about enough for 4 big/8 small pancakes)
65g buckwheat flour
25g millet flour
25g ground almonds
1 egg
285ml (½ pint) milk or water
knob of oil for frying
Great served with agave syrup, sprinkle of cinnamon, lemon juice and best made with hand-held electric whisk
- Put the liquid into a bowl, add the dry ingredients and the egg and whiz well.
- Heat the oil in the frying pan so it’s ready when the mixture’s whisked.
- Wipe excess oil from the pan with some kitchen towel.
- Pour or ladle the mixture (which is quite thick because of the buckwheat) into the pan – do as much as you think you’ll be able to flip in one piece – depends on the non-stickiness of your pan and the spatula you have.
- Cook for about a minute on one side, 30 seconds on the other, until the mixture sets and becomes speckled with brown.
Next month we’re focusing on gluten-free. Look out for the red dots in-store indicating our gluten-free range.
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