By Kelly
Lee, Buying Club Group Supervisor
Jill Rokes,
Kelly Lee, and Nicole Marovich, from the
Buying Club group took their show on the
road traveling to Indiana and Michigan
in the month of May.
We had
three Regional Meetings all together and
it was great being on the road meeting
and talking to our customers. Thanks to
all you of you who took time out of your
busy schedules to attend the meetings
and talk with us.
Regional
meetings are a great way to meet and
learn from our customers. It also allows
you the chance to meet and ask questions
of us. At the meeting we sampled
products, enjoyed a potluck prepared by
members of the buying club. It gave
groups an opportunity to network with
other buying clubs in the area and
participate in a group discussion:
answering questions, providing solutions
to problems, and just being with people
that have the same interest in the
environment and good, healthful food.
Our first
meeting was at our warehouse in
Greenwood, IN where customers had an
opportunity to tour the warehouse and
sample products. Mike Hammons,
Operations Manager lead the tour and was
on hand to answer questions.
We then
traveled North to South Bend, IN, home
of the Fighting Irish. Mike Hammons
joined us for this leg of the journey
too. We shared good food, talked about
what was on your minds, enjoyed good
company.
Thursday
we were back in the car and heading for
Roseville, MI. We had a good number of
people who attended this meeting and
were able to have members break out into
small groups. This gave groups from
every size large or small a perspective
about the positives and challenges of
running a buying club. This opportunity
to share ideas is not only helpful for
all of you; it’s a great learning
experience for us too.
We’ll be
taking the show on the road again soon-possibly
to an area near you. We look
for areas where there are a higher
number of buying clubs within a 50-mile
radius so we can bring as many of you
together as possible. If you have
interest in having a regional meeting
please have the coordinator of your
group contact me at
bcinfo@unfi.com.
I would
like to send a special thank you to Mike
Hammons for coming with us on our trip.
Mike felt it was important to go out and
meet you all and made it a priority to
make this happen. Also a big thank you
goes out to Jill Rokes and Nicole
Marovich for all their hard work before,
during, and after the meetings. I was
very impressed with how many peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches you all
could make in such a short amount of
time. You ladies are amazing!!
Recipes
from the Road
I wanted to
share the recipes of some of the great
food we ate during the meeting. Enjoy!
Taco Dip
Christina DeSota with the Bulk Food Barn
1 - 15oz can Little Bear organic fat
free refried beans
1/2 pkg. Simply Organic taco seasoning
8oz organic Horizon neufchatel
8oz organic cottage cheese or sour cream
2 c. organic shredded monteray jack
cheese
1 bag Fronterra organic sea salt and
lime tortilla chips
Spread refried beans at the bottom of a
9x13 pan. Mix neufchatel, sour cream or
cream cheese and taco seasoning together
and spread over top of the refried
beans. Sprinkle with cheese. This can be
either served cold or hot. Serve with
chips. To heat: Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Bake for 10 minutes.
Split Pea Soup
Karen Cox, Plymouth, IN
4 c split peas
10 c water
1 lg onion – finely chopped
1 ½ c celery – finely chopped
3-5 cl garlic – minced
2 T olive oil
2 T dried parsley
4 t ground cumin
2 t ground curry
1 t ground ginger
salt & pepper to taste
(I use frozen jalapeño from my garden)
In pot bring water and peas to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour or
until peas begin to disintegrate. Add
water as necessary if peas become too
thick. Add remaining ingredients and
simmer for ½ hour. Serves 6-8.
Granola
Carolyn Uraban, LaPaz, IN
8 c rolled oats
½ c coconut oil (melted)
½ c maple syrup
1 c shredded coconut
1 c slivered almonds
1-2 T cinnamon
In large bowl, mix oats, oil and syrup.
Stir until oats are covered. Add
remaining ingredients and stir well.
Place in a large baking dish and bake 45
minutes at 250 degrees, stirring every
15 minutes. Let cool and store in
airtight container in refrigerator.
When serving add ground flax seed and
raisins or dried cranberries.
Honey Zucchini Cookies
Barbara Lawrence, MI Country Kitchen
1 cup grated zucchini
2/3 cup stirred whole wheat flour
2/3 cup stirred unbleached all purpose
flour
¼ cup soy flour
¼ cup wheat germ
1/3 cup rolled oats
½ cup non-instant nonfat dry milk
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ lb butter or safflower margarine (room
temp)
¾ cup honey
1 egg
1 ½ cup chopped walnuts
1 ½ cup raisins, chopped dates, or carob
chips
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut (if desired)
Preheat oven to 325°
Drain zucchini in sieve for 20 minutes
and press out excess liquid. Combine dry
ingredients. Mix butter, honey, egg, and
zucchini until creamy (by hand works
well). Fold in dry ingredients and then
nuts, raisins, ect. Drop by the
spoonfuls 1 ½ inch apart on a lightly
greased sheets. Bake until golden brown
and firm, about 15 minutes. Cool on
racks. Can freeze separated by wax paper
and thaw in refrigerator. Makes 6 dozen
Oriental Nappa Cabbage Salad
1 head Nappa cabbage
5 green onions
Shred cabbage, slice onions. Toss
together in a large bowl. Sauté in ¼ cup
butter or oil. 3 packages ramen noodles
soup, any flavor. Crush in pkg w/rolling
pin (discard flavor packets). Add 1/3
cup sesame seeds & 6 oz slivered almonds
and sauté until slightly brown, stirring
frequently. Will burn easily. Let cool.
Dressing:
½ cup rice vinegar
½ cup oil
1 cup sugar, fructose, or Stevia
3 Tbs. Tamari or soy sauce
Stir together. Pour over salad and toss
just before serving.
Taco Casserole
1 lb ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup water
1 ¼ - ounce envelope taco seasoning mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 16 oz can red kidney beans, drained
1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 taco or tostada shells, coarsely
crushed (2 ½ cups)
1 cup shredded lettuce
½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 small tomato, chopped
¼ cup slice pitted ripe olives
In large skillet cook ground beef and
onion til beef is just browned. Drain
off excess fat. Stir in tomato sauce,
water, and taco seasoning mix into meat
mixture; heat through. Remove from heat.
Beat eggs; stir in milk. Add a small
amount of the tomato sauce mixture to
the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
Return all to skillet. Stir in kidney
beans, the 1 ½ cups Monterey Jack, and
the crushed taco or tostada shells. Turn
into a 12x7 ½x2-inch baking dish. Bake
at 350° oven for about 30 minutes. Top
with lettuce, ½ cup cheese, tomato, and
olives. Let stand 5-10 minutes before
cutting into squares. Makes 6 servings
I used Shelton’s ground turkey instead
of ground beef. For the taco seasoning I
used Little Bear Taco seasoning and taco
shells. The tomato sauce is from Muir
Glen.
Burghul ( Bulgar) Salad (Tabbouleh)
Madelyn Godsey, Fresh & Pure BC
1 cup fine burghul
3 ¾ Tbs finely chopped spring onions or
scallions
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups finely chopped parsley
6 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs lemon juice
Soak the burghul in water for 30 minutes
before preparing salad. It will expand
enormously. Drain and wrap in a clean
tea towel and squeeze out as much
moisture as possible. Spread out to dry
further. Mix the burghul with the
chopped shallots, crushing the onions as
much as possible so that their juices
penetrate the burghul. Season with sea
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add the parsley, mint, olive oil and
lemon juice, mix well. Serve salad
decorated with black olives, slices of
tomato, cucumber, or strips of green
pepper, and sprigs of parsley.
Wild-Style Salad
Grub: Ideas for the Urban Organic
Kitchen, Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry
1 cup wild rice, rinsed, and soaked
overnight in the refrigerator
Coarse Sea Salt
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup dice carrots
½ cup thinly sliced celery
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup thinly sliced scallions
½ cup cashews, toasted and chopped
Combine the wild rice with 3 cups of
water in a medium saucepan over high
heat. Bring to boil, add ½ tsp salt,
reduce the heat to low, cover, and
simmer for 30 minutes, or until all the
water is absorbed. Remove from heat,
transfer to a strainer or sieve, and
rinse under cold water until the rice is
completely cooked. In a large bowl,
using clean hands, combine the cooked
rice, bell pepper, carrots, celery,
raisins, scallions, and cashews.
The Dressing:
3 Tbs. Apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs. Fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Pure maple syrup
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbs. Chopped parlsey
fine sea salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
In a small mixing bowl, combine the
vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, maple
syrup, garlic, parsley, ½ tsp salt and
white pepper to taste. Mix well. Slowly
pour in olive oil, whisking until
emulsified.
Pour the dressing over the rice and toss
well using clean hands. Cover and
refrigerate for one hour to allow
flavors to combine. Remove the rice from
refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
