Hunting the Healthy Stuff

For a change of pace, I parked the car in the underground parking lot at Mega Commercial (lots of room!) and hoofed it downtown to my fave bulk food/health store as I am back at it once again with the low carb/healthier eating. (At this time of year, I actually think it's faster to walk than to drive since the main drag was pretty congested!) It's interesting to note they have a good supply of dried cranberries which are excellent for your health and do really well in banana bread or bran muffins and come to life nicely with a bit of boiling water and a packet of Splenda for a side dish with poultry--hubby loves then heaped on top of his mashed potatoes. Anyway, I got some cranberries and then I found a bag of flax seed for the Omega-3 factor and this bag is mixed with Nopal cactus for extra benefits. Next on the goody list of favourable items was a jar of 100% natural peanut butter which I enjoy on grainy toast and I also found a small container of peanut oil which is good to cook certain dishes with, especially Indian or Thai food. Just as I was wrapping up my little shop, I found a big container of pecans in the shell which the Mexicans call "nuez" although nuez are technically walnuts. I asked the girl how they crack open the pecans and she simply grabbed two in her hand and squeezed them against each other. Voila! I do possess a nut cracker and during the holidays I've been enjoying REAL walnuts from the shell. Now I have some pecans to throw in the mix. Anyway, this store full of goodies is located just south of Ley on the same side of the road and worth a visit if you're hunting for something healthy, holistic, unusual or exotic.