I have no baby, but I use Baby Gourmet!

I have no babies in my household, but last week I bought two packages of Baby Gourmet for my baby bunny, Maverick. She has an upper respiratory infection, and we have to give her eye drops three times a day and medicine twice a day. She has no problems with the drops, but the medicine is another story! After getting pretty scratched up and frustrated a few times, we started mixing her meds with a banana (which worked, but was a pain because I always had to make sure we had bananas in the house). So, I had the idea of baby food, and why not go for the best baby food (so I've been told). She LOVES it, and when it's time for her medicine, she rattles her cage bars. Not just for babies!

http://babygourmet.com/

• 140% daily allowance of Vitamin C per serve
• 100% Organic
• No Added Sugar
• No Added Salt
• Gluten Free
• Nut Free
• No Fillers
• Kosher
• BPA Free Packaging

Zico Coconut Water

"For more than 4,000 years, coconut water has been revered as a natural source of nutrition, wellness, beauty and hydration. In times of famine and war, coconut water has been used as an intravenous fluid and saved many lives. It’s the only natural substance that can be safely injected into the human blood stream. Now modern science has validated its effectiveness, especially as a natural sports drink.

ZICO contains the five essential electrolytes that gives your body everything it needs to stay hydrated and perform at your best. One ZICO has more potassium than a banana – 15 times more than most sports drinks – to prevent cramping. Drink ZICO before or during a workout for the natural energy you need for optimal performance. After a workout, ZICO replenishes and re-hydrates you to speed recovery."

--From product website: zico.com

Never a better time to try than when it's on sale at Blush!
One of our managers said that she uses it for cooking rice, which I think is a heck of an idea. I bought a bottle the other day to try, and wasn't sold on just consuming it; however, I think once winter is over and I get back into mountain biking it would be a great alternative to sugary sports drinks (They also have a bunch of mixed drink recipes on the website, and let's be honest, that's more likely where my coconut water will end up!). Another time I have used this is when I caught the flu that's been going around... Good for replenishing those electrolytes!
Zico Coconut Water, Assorted Flavours $3.33 each, $36.78/cs. of 12.

Mangoes have landed!

I booked some mangoes this week, and asked if they would be "blushy"... Because nobody wants a rock hard green mango. They arrived, and now we have blushies at Blush! The first good ones of the season, and they only get better from here!
They're delicious, trust me-- I've eaten two already!
$2.99 each 3 for $8.00, 8-count case for $18

Next, we have CitrusFest at Blush!
So, I typed "citrus fest" in Google, just to make sure I wasn't infringing on anyone's actual CitrusFest, and I came up with this:
Menton fete du citron (Lemon Festival).
Okay, so maybe we aren't building Taj Mahals out of lemons, but the citrus we have tastes great (and you don't have to destroy a Buddha sculpture to buy it!).
The Navel Oranges and Riostar Grapefruit are on sale for $1.77/lb, and the Cara Cara Navels (aka Red Navels), are $1.99/lb. If you've never tried a Cara Cara, come in and try some... They are a personal favourite!
We've also got your standard Lemons and Limes, and then we've got Blood Oranges, Tangelos, Kumquats, and Seville Marmalade Oranges.

Lastly, Blueberries. They're in the flyer, they're fair-trade, and they're a little taste of summer in the middle of winter! They're grown by the same Chilean farmers that we helped support last year during the earthquake. Your dollars last year went towards rebuilding their homes, and this year we still have great blueberries because of it. For those who supported the farmers last year by buying blueberries, Thanks!

$3.99 each

We've gone bananas!

...And they're on sale, 99 cents a pound!

Not all organic produce is created equal. Ask me to tell the difference in taste between an organic mushroom or a conventional one, or to try to discern an organic potato from its conventional counterpart-- quite an impossible task (though you should still eat organic!!).
However, one item where the taste is glaringly much more spectacular is the organic, fair-trade bananas that we sell at Blush Lane. It's great that they are fair-trade, it's great that they are organic, but most importantly-- it's ridiculous how delicious they are. Careful though: all other bananas will taste sad and flat after these babies!
Come get some today. 99 cents a pound is cheap!

Raincoast Trading- Premium Quality Wild Seafood

This can comes with an "Ocean Wise Recommended" seal on the side of the can. But what does that mean?

We are currently carrying a cookbook called "The Ocean Wise Cookbook: Seafood recipes that are good for the planet" (Edited by Jane Mundy,2010 Whitecap Books). Here's what this book has to say about canned fish:

"...we need to be aware that all canned products are not created equal. Most of the tuna on our grocery store shelves comes from Asia, where fish is typically canned well past its "best before" date. As well, mature fish can carry high levels of toxins, such as mercury. These fish are typically heavily disguised in oil or packed in tomato sauce. It's hard to read the labels to determine the source of the fish-- its usually in fine print-- and you'll seldom find information about how it was caught.
Fortunately, Canandian products, such as those from BC's Raincoast Trading, are now appearing in our stores. Raincoast is a member of Ocean Wise because it supports sustainable fishing practices and harvests only wild-caught tuna and salmon. Plus, its canned fish is single-cooked to preserve its natural oils, nutrition, and rich flavour, and Raincoast does not add water or oil to the fish during the canning process."

Stop by Blush Lane today for some Ocean Wise Raincoast tuna and salmon!

The Deli!

Best of Blush has extended its scope over the past 2 months, which is why you haven't heard from me in a while! With the closing of the Farmer's Market, I have moved up to the store as the "Fresh Manager". The dairy, fresh and frozen meat, produce, and deli are now under my umbrella. Now that things have finally normalized, I want to keep the blog going, but it'll be a bit more product-focused.
But today, I have some photos of the Deli. We started storing our big wheels of cheese in the display case, because they are BEAUTIFUL! Also got some greenery to spruce things up a bit.