Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Granola, Granola Everywhere!

Continuing with our food theme this morning, I stopped in at my local Whole Foods market in the Foggy Bottom section of Northwest DC last Friday.  This particular store is, how shall I say, very eclectic.  You have quite a dynamic going on.  Foggy Bottom borders Georgetown, so you have a very affluent group shopping here.  The store is located on the George Washington University campus, so you have the college group running about.  Then there are the professionals who work in nearby offices along K Street who live in the suburbs and pop in for lunch or to pick up something for dinner.  And on top of all this, you have panhandlers on the corner shaking their empty Slurpee cups asking for a quarter.  So it always makes for an interesting visit.

I was looking for some healthy snack items on Friday.  I ended up being a little healthy and a little decadent.  One of my decadent items was a container of these delicious Double Chocolate Chip cookies.


Don't worry.  I didn't eat all of them.  I had one.  The rest I shared with friends.  If you are ever craving something chocolate and there is a Whole Foods market near you, treat yourself to a container of these.  There is no description for how delicious they are, so I will not even try to describe them.

I also got some Butter Pistachio and Nonna Lemon cookies from the bakery.  Again, if you have a Whole Foods market nearby, you should try these cookies.

Once I was done with the decadent, I moved on to the healthy.  They carry a wide range of granola in different containers or in the big tubes where you help yourself to what you want by pouring the granola into a bag and then writing the PLU # on the bag.  I ended up getting four different kinds of granola in bags.  Then I thought, how am I going to store this?  It would go stale in the bag.  So, I decided to use my little condiment cups from Sam's Club.


This really is a perfect way to store granola for a couple of different reasons.  Of course, the first reason is that with the snap-on lids it will stay fresh.  Secondly, it is a great way to maintain portion control.  I mean, give me a full bag of yummy granola and that will be gone rather quickly.

 
Another idea I had was, let's say you are having a party and you need to fill in some empty spaces on the appetizer table.  Fill your condiment cups and place them in a serving dish and then fill in on the table.  These would work perfectly at a stand up cocktail party.  People could grab a container and munch on them while enjoying their bellini.  You could also do a dish of cups filled with a savory mix, like Pub Mix or Chex Mix.  That would go perfectly for those enjoying a beer at the party.


These little containers will be shared with those at the office and kept close at hand for a midnight snack.  I hope you will try this idea. 

No comments: