Sweet tooth

Are you craving that perfect sweet treat? We have several items that will fit that bill. Pictured here are the vegan blueberry and lemon scones with a vanilla glaze and the vegan chocolate and chili cupcakes, these are filled and topped with a sweet and mildly spicy cayenne buttercream and sprinkled with cacao nibs and a chili and dark chocolate dusted almond. Other yumminess from the bakery today includes pineapple upside down cake, vegan peach and pecan muffins and powdered sugar brownies.

Southern Style

Look at whats new in the kitchen today- fried green tomatoes! A few times each year Chef Ernie takes the time to make this treat! His fried green tomatoes are breaded in a crispy corn meal and served along side rice with collard greens and okra! I could probably eat two dozen of these with hot sauce and smile for the rest of the day. Look for these in the entree case and enjoy! For a vegan version, try the southern fried tofu over the same rice, okra and collard greens.
Also in the kitchen, take the time to try the eggplant roll-ups! These are filled with veggies and cheese, topped with cheese and marinara.

Vegan Delights

Attention vegans! It will not be hard to find the latest cookies in the case, unless they are sold out.. black and whites! Just like fancy bakeries in NYC! Enjoy this cakey cookie with chocolate and vanilla glaze. Which side will you eat first?
Also look for the new German chocolate cake with toasted coconut and pecans on top. Other goodies to look for in the case include vegan vanilla cupcakes, coffee brownies and banana brownies with walnuts. Grab a piece of our orange icebox cake too while it is with us this summer!

Ohio City

Did you know that most of our pasta used in entrees are from Ohio City Pasta? You will find them in our lasagnas, pasta salads and warm entrees too. Ohio City supplies us with traditional pastas as well as gourmet flavors and vegan pastas as well. Today I spotted a Caprese salad made with spinach spirals, mozzarella, basil and roasted cherry tomato. Find this with chicken sausage too for a nice variety. Gnocchi is something to look for as well from our buddies at Ohio City! Thanks guys!
All kinds of things are happening early this week in the kitchen. We can cool you off with a blue cheese broccoli slaw (I would love to put this on top of a hot dog straight from the grill!) Feel free to steal this idea from me if you would like! Look at this delicious work of art otherwise known as a fresh fruit salad. Josh worked hard on this masterpiece for a catering order, it is really the best time ever to enjoy all of the fresh produce that we have available. This was the most picture worthy item that I could find in the kitchen. We were all full of oooh's and ahhh's when we saw this.
Other things to look forward to today are Ohio City Pasta's potato pirogi with sauteed onions, chicken Marsala and chicken Parmesan, Chef Sije's cold eggplant salad, Chef Ernie's Tofu Loaf with roasted potatoes and a big batch of summer veggie gumbo. We are off to a good start this week!

Rootbeer Floats

"Pop", "Soda", where ever you hail from or whatever you call it, I consider myself an expert in all things soda related. After all, I have a cat named "Sodapop". That being said, I will take this time to tell you about my favorite thing in the store- Virgils!
If you take the time to read the package, you will see that they have won some major awards for this stuff. Here at work we sell it by the bottle or in a four pack, in cola, orange cream and cream flavors but by far, I have to go with root beer. With each sip I take, I taste different things, anise, nutmeg, wintergreen. It is amazing!
To drive my point home... take this and combine it with a scoop or two of Jeni's Vanilla ice cream and you have the greatest ice cream float in the world.
Spoil yourself, you deserve it!

Guess our favorites

Hi Carolyn! I see you are working hard in the Health and Beauty Department as always. Thank you for taking the time to tell me about your favorite item here at work. Carolyn tells me that she uses Nature's Way Alive Vitamins three times a day and it keeps her "happy, strong and energetic" and that she would never switch to any other vitamin. Anyone who knows Carolyn knows that she is a bundle of energy and always zipping around the store. Just ask if you are interested in similar results. This product can be found in Carolyn's department of course and comes in a three month supply (90 tablets) for $26.99. She tells me that it is worth every single penny! Pep in her step!

Eat Cake!

Happy Friday to you! Do you have a special event or even a Birthday coming up this weekend? Lots of people do, I can tell because I spent my entire day making cakes. We offer sheet cakes for Birthdays and all kinds of occasions here at Nature's Bin. Check our website for flavors and prices. Cakes are decorated with a fancy border and writing on top if you wish, they are delicious in the flavors that you find in our bakery case. Also keep in mind that I can leave room for toys, pictures or fancy candles for you or you can bring decorations in for me to work with. I want to make sure that you have a Happy Birthday and of course, love your cake!

Icebox treats

I had lots of fun making goodies for the bakery case today. I love cake, cheesecake and brownies straight out of the refrigerator. Like good old fashioned icebox cakes! Two that are must-haves are pictured above- fudge brownies with macadamia nuts and a sweet banana topping and vegan vanilla cheesecake with dark chocolate sauce and a Newman's Own sandwich cookie. Also in the case are red raspberry cheesecake bars, vegan fruit and nut chocolate bark, pineapple banana snack cake and tart cherry and orange oat squares.

Hot or cold?

Trust me when I tell you that this is some of the most amazing pasta I have ever tried. Inside these little bundles of golden pasta are roasted PEARS and Parmesan cheese. Chef Eric boiled this entree up to perfection and added ham and a garnish of Italian parsley for the perfect entree. I enjoyed this entree cold for the perfect dinner and loved every single creamy and sweet bite. Gourmet pasta just for you! Find this in our deli case and ENJOY!

Also look for our coconut chicken curry over rice. This one makes for a wonderful cold dish as well with tri-color peppers, peas, mushrooms, onions and a korma coconut sauce and just like grandma makes- meatballs and stroganoff over penne pasta will be in our deli case tomorrow.

ALOHA!

If you have been into the store this week, you may have noticed a festive tropical atmosphere. All week long we are lightening things up here at work and wearing our Hawaiian shirts and listening to tropical music. You can join us too! Just come dressed in your favorite tropical gear or Hawaiian shirt to receive 10% off of your total grocery purchase. Today I noticed several customers participating! Nice Job!!

Look for baked goods containing fresh pineapple, bananas and coconut! Notice how nice all of the produce is at this time of year and just come in to get out of the heat! We can do the cooking for you and you can go home with all kinds of prepared foods rather than turn on your oven.

Close your eyes...

Hello Nature's Bin followers! Please take a minute and use your imagination and let your creativity illustrate what I am about to describe to you (because I sadly do not have a camera with me at work today).
Today the kitchen was hard at work creating beautiful catering trays for the movie crew that is filming in town. All of these items are of course available to YOU if ever you were to need us for any event. They can be viewed online with full descriptions on our website. A few yummy gourmet meat platters were put together with roasted pork loin, grilled chicken breast and roasted turkey. This platter is served with an out of this world creamy horseradish sauce and rolls. Also ready to go are pastry trays with scones, muffins and danish as well as a bar cookie tray with bite sized buckeye bliss, lemon bars, brownies and date and nut bars. Can you see it?

Other things happening in the kitchen are Chef Sije's granny smith slaw, manicotti with a veggie tomato and black olive sauce, veggie and chicken enchiladas, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, broccoli slaw, three bean salad and veggie pasta salad.

I have been baking up some goodness today too, with a fresh batch of vegan everything cookies (oats, chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts are the everything that I am talking about here). Look forward to a new batch of 7 layer bars, mint brownies, walnut brownies, vegan chocolate cupcakes with fluffy chocolate almond frosting and our bread pudding will delight you because it was made with fresh strawberries (they are out of this world right now) and chunks of pound cake!
Have a wonderful weekend and eat lots of yummy things!!

Snack Attack

As I am spending time upstairs at Nature's Bin working at the computer, something
is really smelling great in the kitchen... oh, I know, it has got to be Brittany's wheat free and vegan chocolate chip cookies.
I will help myself to one of those! And I just could not get out of the kitchen without noticing few trays of turkey and cheese calzones. Check, that will taste great once I get home from work today. All I have to do is warm it up and I will have dinner all worked out, it is too hot to turn on my oven anyhow. Speaking of hot, one of our customers favorites- the Ginger Pear Cake is in the case right now. It has candied ginger as well as the nice fresh and ripe pears from the produce department baked right in. Thanks Nature's Bin! Love ya!!

Time to make the donuts

I am so happy to announce that we have been perfecting our vegan doughnut recipe and it is safe to say that everyone loves the results. Todays batch are cinnamon and sugar and a glazed version as well. These little beauties are made with garbanzo bean flour and of course they are baked and not fried. Thanks to new doughnut pans, they are uniform and perfect with a hole in the center. Look for these with a variety of toppings and glazes but don't wait as I am sure that they will be as popular as they are yummy!
Did you know that we have three new flavors of cake pops? Cheryl Ann of OH! Cake Pops delivered a Gluten Free Birthday Cake -complete with sprinkles, a Strawberry Supreme and a Chocolate Supreme. Gluten Free treats are always a plus!

So many cooks in the kitchen.

Hi Jess! Thank you so much for working so hard in the kitchen while I was on vacation! I was thrilled to see all of the great pictures and posts and know that things were swimming along while I was taking a little break.
I noticed some wonderful things were made for everyone to enjoy. The bread pudding in the case this week looks beautiful! Honey Orange and Cream Cheese is a flavor that Brittany dreamed up. A few kinds of delicious vegan cheesecakes are ready for the case including lemon blueberry and raspberry, blackberry. Chocolate pretzel cheesecake didn't last long and I will insist that we make this one again soon!

Chocolate Attack!

There are two chocolate items in our case today that cannot be overlooked! Chocolate is pretty fantastic on it's own but when combined with other flavors it can be taken to a greater height. You will understand this concept after trying our Vegan Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes, a dash of cinnamon both in and on top of the cupcakes spices things up and a dab of buttercream on top smooths things over.

The other chocolate item offered is Vegan Chocolate Stout Cupcakes- what a treat! As you know, our cupcakes are a big hit, as well as being very big in size. If a bite is all you need, please try our brownie bites. Just a bite of chocolate brownie with peanut butter buttercream, raspberry preserves and rainbow sprinkles. I have a feeling that these will go over well with the 10 and under crowd. That reminds me... have you seen our coloring page yet? Nature's Bin is looking to include our youngest shoppers and get some feedback in the form of our coloring page. Kids have the chance to illustrate a few of the goodies that they find delicious here at Nature's Bin. The next time you stop in to the store, check at the register for these coloring sheets and return them so they can be hung up in the store for everyone to enjoy. All children are encouraged to participate and these will be looked over and judged in the future.

Refreshing!

It's great to be back! I am refreshed and ready to make all kinds of new things in the bakery. It must be catchy because so is everyone else it seems! Today Chef Ernie was working on catering for the cast and crew of the movie that is currently being filmed in Cleveland- "Fun Sized". Over the past few weeks, the crew has filmed here in Lakewood, Cleveland Heights and now downtown. Exciting! The anti-pasta tray pictured above is something that will surely be loved on the set.

Other goodies to look forward to finding at the Deli include the greek salad, pictured here and due to overwhelming response, the chefs have made a big batch of traditional gazpacho and well as a golden avocado version that contains corn, yellow squash, cucumbers and peppers. Chilled soups fly out of our case and you can also find several chilled fruit soups as well. Just yesterday I tried a chilled berry and mint soup that left me speechless.

Hail Caesar!

Happy Friday everyone!!

I can never resist a good Chicken Caesar salad, and these delicious entrée salads are no exception. In addition to the crisp greens, red onions, chicken and Parmesan cheese one normally finds on salad, these are topped with lemon slices for an interesting twist.

For those who prefer their citrus meatless, Head Chef Ernie has put together a couple of tasty stir-fry entrées: Pineapple Stir-Fry and Mandarin Mango Tofu Stir-Fry. As you can see, when I took the picture, Ernie was in the process of topping the Pineapple Stir-Fry with fresh-chopped green onions. This colorful concoction also comes in a chicken variety for the carnivores among us.

It’s been such fun filling in for Traci – I’m going to miss it when she comes back from vacation on Monday! A big THANK YOU to the kitchen staff for letting me into their domain!

What's your favorite?

When I came downstairs looking for breakfast this morning, I was ecstatic to find a big bowl of freshly-made Strawberry Israeli Couscous with Fruit in the deli case! This sweet vegan salad is made with big, soft pearls of Israeli couscous, fresh fruit like pineapple and grapes, and a locally-made strawberry vinaigrette. The picture doesn't do this salad justice - it's the prettiest baby pink color. It's my absolute favorite Deli salad and I've been bugging the cooks to make it for weeks now.

There are so many great recipes the Deli and Bakery have made in the past! Do you have a Nature's Bin Deli or Bakery favorite that hasn't been seen here in a while? Leave a comment with the item you'd like to see again and we'll give the kitchen your requests. Or you can talk to the Deli staff yourself - they're always open to suggestions!

Gluten-free goodies!!

Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and triticale, can cause very serious problems for someone with a gluten sensitivity, a wheat allergy, or Celiac disease. In these individuals, even a tiny speck of gluten can trigger symptoms such as digestive problems, weight loss or gain, fatigue, osteoporosis, delayed growth, tooth discoloration, rashes, or anemia. Because of the increasing medical knowledge of gluten intolerance, an increasing number of people are being diagnosed with a condition that requires a gluten-free diet.

Anyone who is on a gluten-free diet will tell you how hard it is to find tasty, gluten-free baked goods. Gluten is one of the ingredients that makes baked goods soft and moist, so it takes a talented baker to make a gluten-free treat as delicious as its traditional counterpart. Fortunately for us at Nature’s Bin, we know one of those talented bakers!

Michelle of Joi! Foods makes incredible gluten-free cookies, cupcakes, pie crusts, breads, and frozen goods. Every week on Friday we receive a delivery of fresh-baked and frozen goods fro

m her kitchen nearby. Michelle is Celiac herself and bakes everything in her gluten-free home kitchen.

Josh in the kitchen recommended to me that anyone who wants one of these tasty treats should aim to come into the store on the weekend, when our selection is the largest. These goods are so popular, by Monday they’re almost gone!

For anyone who wants to learn more about Celiac Disease and taste some gluten-free foods, gastroenterologist Dr. Owen Tully from North Shore Gastroenterology will be giving a presentation on July 12 at the Lakewood Congregational Church. This presentation is free, but registration is required, so go ahead and register at Eventbrite.com or let the cashiers know you’d like to attend the next time you’re in the store!!

Quinoa & Cookies

Hello, Bin Peek readers! This is Bonnie, filling in for Traci while she's on vacation.

This morning the kitchen called me downstairs, excited to share the new recipes they'd just made! First Denise wanted to show off her fresh-made Asian Quinoa Salad. This colorful side dish is made with red, black and white quinoa, edamame, red & yellow bell peppers, bok choy, soy sauce and oriental sauce. It looks delicious!




As soon as the bakers spotted me, they were like "Oh my gosh, you have to see what Jess made last night!!" And when they pulled a tray of Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies out of the bakery case, I could see why they were so excited. I'm not a vegan, but it doesn't matter - I can't wait to try these with my lunch today!

I can't wait to see what the cooks and the bakers come up with over the course of the next week. Stay tuned!!