Friday, May 3, 2019
Chowhound Recommends: Best Snacks at Whole Foods
Welcome to Chowhound Recommends, Chowhound’s weekly series where our staff shares our favorite food items around a central theme. Whole Foods is obviously known for having lots of healthy organic produce, salads, and sustainably sourced seafood and meat. But they’re also a great spot to pick up a member of the most important food group of all—snacks! This week we’re rounding up our favorite go-to sweet and savory snacks available at Whole Foods.
As food writers, editors, producers, and social media managers, we’re constantly scouring the market for the latest and greatest products. And when we find a product we love, we want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re packaging up our weekly finds and sharing them with you, because we think you’ll love them too. Be sure to follow us on Instagram @Chowhound to catch us talking about our favorite products every week.
Lauren Zupkus, Senior Social Media Producer
Product Pick: Biena Dark Chocolate Roasted Chickpeas
For my very first Chowhound Recommends pick, I wanted to choose something eccentric to flex on all the foodies out there. My dreams of being unique were squashed when our video producer Guillermo matter-of-factly said he’d already had the snack before, but hey, he likes them! Chickpeas obviously don’t have a really strong taste, so the chocolate-covered ones are a good option for when you’re craving chocolate but want to sneak in some nutrition. Yay for protein! (But mostly chocolate.)
Owen Stretch, Manager, Content Production
Product Pick: 365 Trail Mix
I chose 365 Backcountry Bundle Trail Mix as my favorite Whole Foods snack because it’s healthy and nutritious while also being delicious—a rare find! Almonds and pistachios are mixed with raisins, cranberries, and sour cherries to give this blend a filling variety.
*Editor’s note: This product is so popular it’s sold out—but we’ve linked to a similar product above (and below).
Kristin Cassidy, Director of Special Projects
Product Pick: Whole Foods Market Juju Stars
It’s no secret that I have a serious sweet tooth, and I have had a longtime crush on these Juju star gummies from Whole Foods. They are super flavorful and juicy, come in cute colors/shapes, and I feel a lot less guilty when I down an entire container than when I snack on Haribo (they must be healthy since they’re from Whole Foods, right? RIGHT?) I even put a few in a ziploc bag and snacked on them during the cycling portion of a triathlon—they were the perfect pick-me-up when I needed a sugar boost (which is always, let’s be real).
All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. For more great hand-picked products, check out the Chowhound Shop.
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Which Grocery Delivery Service Is Best for You?
Like meal kits, grocery delivery service options have proliferated to the point where we’re spoiled for choices—so determining the best grocery delivery app or online service can be tricky, and varies from person to person. But we’re here to help.
It’s an old saw, yet blatantly true: we must eat to live—ergo, we must procure food. Even urban dwellers can grow some of it at home, but the majority of us have to go grocery shopping. Luckily, we live in an age where we can buy groceries online, from pet food to pantry items. Many stores offer their own delivery or pick-up services, but there are also a number of other grocery delivery apps and services, each with their own pros and cons. So let’s examine some of the most popular options when it comes to supermarket alternatives. There may not be an overall best grocery delivery service that gets the #GOAT, but there’s definitely one that will appeal most to you.
Here’s an at-a-glance summary of some major grocery delivery apps and services. Keep scrolling for more details!
- Prime Pantry – included with Amazon Prime; free shipping on min. orders; non-perishables only
- Prime Now – included with Amazon Prime; 2-hour delivery on min. orders; groceries and select non-perishables from local stores, including Whole Foods
- AmazonFresh – add-on service for Amazon Prime; 1-hour delivery available; groceries only, including Whole Foods
- Instacart – no membership fee (upgrade for free 2-hour delivery and ability to shop from multiple stores, including Costco); in-app discounts; first delivery free
- Google Express – no membership fee; free shipping on min. orders; same-day shipping in some areas; shop Costco items; non-perishables only
- Peapod – limited service area; free delivery for 60 days; next-day delivery available; double manufacturers’ coupons; gas rewards
- Shipt – yearly or monthly fee; personal shoppers fill special orders; shop Target; no surge pricing; free delivery on minimum order
- Jet – no membership fee; free shipping on minimum orders; only for non-perishables
- Walmart – schedule pickup; delivery available in some areas; in-store prices
- FreshDirect – limited service area; free delivery with paid membership
Prime Pantry
Amazon Prime membership confers a whole host of perks, including grocery discounts with Prime Pantry. Unlike Prime Now and AmazonFresh (read more about them below), Prime Pantry is for stocking your shelves with non-perishable goods like cooking oil, pasta, cereal, and snacks, even pet food, as well as cleaning supplies and other items. If you want free shipping on Prime Pantry orders, you have two options: pay a monthly Prime Pantry membership fee ($4.99/month) and spend at least $10 on your order, or simply meet the standard order mimum of $35, easy enough to do; otherwise, there’s a flat delivery fee of $5.99. A few other cons: no two-day shipping, no shipping to dorms (sorry, Prime Student members), and no delivery to Alaska or Hawaii.Shop Now
Prime Now
If you’re looking for more fresh food in addition to pantry staples, Prime Now may be a good option. It’s included with a regular Prime membership (if you don’t have one of those, you can try a 30-day free trial) and it lets you shop for groceries and many other items, including gifts and electronics, from a range of local stores, including Whole Foods. Standard two-day delivery is free, but you can also get your order delivered within a 2-hour window (also for free, on orders over $35), or within just 1 hour (for a $7.99 fee); this includes select non-grocery items, so if you need eggs and a printer ink cartridge—and ASAP—you’re in luck! (But will probably have to place two separate orders since they’ll come from different stores.) If you prefer to pick up your groceries, you can do so in some locations (at your local Whole Foods) an hour after ordering at no extra cost, or within 30 minutes for a $4.99 service fee. Pick-up and delivery are available between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. 7 days a week. You can also order from local restaurants with Prime Now, but check Amazon’s site to see what’s available in your specific location.Shop Now
AmazonFresh
Rounding out Amazon’s grocery options, there’s AmazonFresh. It’s very similar to Prime Now (in fact, it was expected that the two services would be merged by the end of last year, though that hasn’t happened yet), but it is exclusively for groceries, and it’s an add-on service (whereas Prime Now is already included in your Prime membership). If AmazonFresh is available in your location (you can enter your ZIP code to check), you can get fresh produce, milk, meat, and more—including Whole Foods Market 365 products—delivered within an hour, or whenever is most convenient for you. You can also schedule pick-up if you prefer. All delivery and pick-up options are free in most cases, though exceptions apply (order minimums and rush delivery/pick-up windows). If you’re in New York, according to Amazon’s FAQ, “Customers with a valid SNAP EBT card issued by a participating state receive free access to the AmazonFresh selection without monthly membership fees.” (The same applies to Prime Pantry.) As with Prime Pantry, AmazonFresh does not deliver to dorms.Shop Now
Instacart
Instacart delivers from a variety of grocery stores (it depends, as always, on where you’re located), and in some areas also delivers from liquor stores, pet stores, and pharmacies. You can even order from Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale through Instacart, without needing to have a membership at those brick-and-mortar stores (though the same items will cost more than they would in-store for members)—so it’s potentially comparable to Amazon’s Prime grocery options, without the annual fee. You can upgrade to Instacart Express ($99/year or $9.99/month) in order to get free two-hour delivery on orders over $35 and to be able to shop from multiple stores in the same order. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay delivery and service fees on all orders ($3.99-$5.99), and those may be higher during busier periods. While they don’t honor in-store coupons, there are often in-app discounts on various items. New users get their first order delivered free.Shop Now
Google Express
Google Express is sort of like a hybrid of Instacart and Prime Pantry; there’s no membership fee required, and you can order from various stores, including Costco (with the same price caveat, though some items do go on sale at times), Target, Best Buy, and more, but you can’t get any perishables. If you meet the minimum order amount ($25 or $35 depending on the store you choose), you get free shipping. You may be able to get same-day shipping, but not always (depending on when you place your order), and they use companies like FedEx, UPS, and OnTrac for their deliveries.Shop Now
Peapod
Peapod isn’t available in as many regions, but if you are in their delivery zones (several mid-Atlantic and northeastern states, plus Chicago and nearby metro areas), you can rack up major savings. They double manufacturers’ coupons up to $0.99, and offer a full 60 days of free delivery (with promo code 60DAYSFREE, which also gets you $20 off your first order, with a $75 order minimum); after that, you can buy a Pod Pass to get free delivery if you wish. Otherwise, the delivery fee is calculated based on your order total. Rather than sending shoppers into various stores for your, orders are fulfilled at Peapod warehouses, and you can schedule delivery up to two weeks in advance, if you like to plan ahead. You can’t get two-hour delivery as with most other services, but you can get it as soon as next-day—or schedule a pickup at certain local stores. Peapod also offers its own meal kits, and in some markets where Peapod is affiliated with Giant and Stop & Shop stores, you can even earn gas rewards points with your purchases. A couple other nifty features: You can type a grocery list into their notepad and populate items in your cart, or use the Shopping Genius feature to auto-fill your online cart with items you regularly purchase.Shop Now
Shipt
Shipt is pretty similar to Instacart, with a less widespread range and a lower annual membership fee—but you do have to purchase a membership to use the app, at $99/year or $14/month. The benefit is that you basically have a personal shopper who you can text with specific instructions and requests, so you get exactly what you want. You can even order items that aren’t listed in the app but that you know the store carries. They deliver from Target as well as Kroger and Meijer grocery stores and CVS. There’s never any surge pricing, and no delivery charge on orders over $35 (otherwise, delivery will be about $7).Shop Now
Jet
Jet is owned by Walmart and is similar to Google Express, in that there’s no membership fee, there’s free shipping on orders over $35 (otherwise, it’s $5.99 for delivery), and you can only order non-perishable goods. They offer their own line of “Uniquely J” branded items (like sauces, condiments, coffee, and snacks), and have a real-time savings engine that indicates items you can add to your order to lower the total price. You can pay less for items you know you won’t want to return (like toilet paper or your favorite granola bars) by opting out of the free return option. They offer same-day delivery in select areas of New York, but you can order from anywhere in the continental U.S. if you don’t mind waiting a few days.Shop Now
Walmart
Walmart initially partnered with Uber to deliver groceries from the store, but that experiment ended in 2018. Currently, they’re working with restaurant delivery company DoorDash to deliver groceries in certain areas nationwide—but you can also order online and pick up your completed order at your convenience anywhere. While it may not be quite as easy as home delivery, it’s still quicker than shopping yourself, and means there’s no extra fee. Either way, prices are always the same as in-store, and same-day pickup service is available.Shop Now
FreshDirect
FreshDirect only delivers to parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, D.C., and a few other areas (some, like the Hamptons, only seasonally), but they’re a great option if you live in one of those places. In addition to all the usual grocery store items like fresh vegetables, meat, dairy, dry goods, and home care supplies, they offer their own line of meals (both meal kits and fully prepared foods), as well as farmshare boxes. These farmshare boxes are just like what you would get if you joined a CSA, but with no long-term commitment; get fresh produce from local farms, including eggs and cheese in some areas. As with most other services, you can upgrade to a paid membership (see pricing tiers here) in order to get free delivery, as well as special offers and discounts. If you’re in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens, check out their little sister service FoodKick too (it includes alcohol delivery).Shop Now
UberEats
Since Uber Eats no longer delivers from Walmart, you can’t get your groceries from them, but they do, of course, deliver from all sorts of restaurants. So on those days when you don’t want to cook at all (and since your magically delivered groceries still won’t cook themselves—yet), it’s a great backup choice!Order Now
Another Alternative: Meal Kits
A happy medium between grocery delivery and takeout is the meal kit option—get fresh ingredients delivered to your door in just the quantities you need, with instructions on what to make with them and exactly how to do it, so dinner is easy and comparatively low effort, but still healthy and homemade. Check out Guide.com’s favorite meal kits, CNET’s meal kit recommendations, and our review of 5 popular meal kits—and if you want fully prepared foods with a healthy bent, see our Sakara detox meal delivery service review. As with grocery delivery, there are a wealth of meal kit options out there, but these guides will help you figure out which one is best for you.
All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. For more great hand-picked products, check out the Chowhound Shop.
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The Friday Buzz! Disco Party Dishwashing and Granola Opinions
Welcome to The Friday Buzz, our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts!
I can’t believe it’s May already. WHAT IN THE WORLD. Cinco de Mayo is on Sunday, and then Mother’s Day is just around the corner… then it’s Memorial Day, then the 4th of July, then it’s practically Thanksgiving again. At the rate time is flying by, we should probably just start talking resolutions for 2020!
Just kidding. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, and let’s dish about all the juicy gossip of what the Simply Recipes Team is loving this week.
Our Favorites from the Week
- Music! Since we all work remotely from home, music is a constant for us. You’ll find Emma movin’ and groovin’ to Lizzo’s new album, The Civil Wars have Summer swaying to and fro, and I’m going to see Keith Urban for the 4th of July, so I’ve been listening to him 24/7.
- Books! Emma just finished this book on why home cooking won’t solve our problems… and it’s given her a lot to think about. Meanwhile, Summer has been readingWhere the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. She’s only a few pages in, but totally digging it.
- Disco Party Dishwashing: When my family cleans up dinner (yes, it’s a family affair), we pump up the jams and have a disco party! I just ordered these disco lights and they’ve been a huge hit. By the way, do you have a Google Home or an Alexa?
- The Best Clumpy Granola: Want to know the best part of granola? The clumps. The chunky bits. Carrie doesn’t like granola that isn’t going to stand up to grabbing it by the handful or giving her a good crunch with yogurt. Amen, sistah. Amen.
- Fan Girling on Bon Appetit: And speaking of granola… did you know you can make granola with ingredients made entirely from the BULK BIN SECTION?! Whoa. Game changer. Bon Appetit’s Carla Lalli Music shows us how in this video and we couldn’t love her more! PS Emma is a huge fan girl.
- Mother’s Day Gift Ideas! Need some gift ideas for Mother’s Day? Summer recommends a bench scraper, Emma recommends her favorite towels from Crate & Barrel (she’s searched high and low and these are now her towels for LIFE), and you simply can’t go wrong with jewelry! If your mom is on the creative side, I think she’d love this instant camera. It’s a little bit retro and a whole lot of fun! My husband and kids got me this robot vacuum last year, and I was less than amused. HOWEVER… it has actually become my favorite gift of all time!
Meanwhile on Instagram…
We asked our readers what brought a smiled to their face this week and here are some of their answers:
- “Paying $0.50 for over a dozen ripe bananas.” SCORE.
- “My newborn grandson; he looks like a miniature of his grandpa, my husband!” ISN’T THAT THE SWEETEST?
- “My mom gave me a surprise visit.” THAT’S SIMPLY THE BEST.
Reader Comment of the Week!
Our comment of the week came from our reader, Audrey, who had this to say about our Pineapple Upside Down Cake:
“My mother always made pineapple upside down cake for Easter. So I wanted to start the tradition again and scoured the internet for a recipe candidate. Yours won for a test run because of the dark brown sugar. This was the best pineapple upside down cake I have ever had. The addition of almond flour gave the cake more body and denseness. Love the flavor it added also. The dark brown sugar definitely made the caramel portion have a great depth of flavor! It disappeared from the table in minutes!”
Knowing that she was able to continue the tradition of what her mother started was our little drop of sunshine this week!
Before I leave you for next time, I wanted to send you off with the most ADORABLE HEDGEHOG video! Admit it, you totally want one now!
What little bits of life have made you smile this week? We’re always looking for new and fun things to talk about. #gossipqueens I’d love for you to share and I may just add it to our next addition of The Friday Buzz.
Cheers to the weekend!
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Best Cooking Shows On Netflix for the Foodie in You
Binging cooking shows on Netflix. Yes, you can do it anytime of year, but there’s something especially satisfying about doing it bundled up in your comfies on the couch during the mandatory, months-long, anti-social hibernation period that is the winter season. We may be into spring now, but tell Mother Nature that.
And, of course, the bonus hooray for us food-obsessed viewers is that there is tons of compelling culinary content streaming right now. From wanderlusty docuseries and fluffy baking competitions to insightful commentaries on food and culture, these are 11 food and cooking shows we’re devouring on Netflix right now.
1. “Street Food”
A brand-new offering in 2019 that explores street food (aka the often-humble and vibrant dishes that make local dining scenes so special), this docuseries from the “Chef’s Table” team will not only make you hungry for Indonesian market snacks, Japanese takoyaki, and Indian chaat, but for travel to all these enticing places. The first season focuses on nine cities in Asia and spotlights dishes like golden crab omelettes in Bangkok, knife-cut noodles in Seoul, and buffalo stew in Delhi that people wait in line for for hours. More than mere food porn (though it is also very much that), the show introduces us to the people behind these dishes, many of whom have been perfecting their cooking—and sometimes focusing on mastering a single dish—for decades. Watch this and you’ll probably be checking ticket prices for the next flight to Vietnam in no time. In the meanwhile, check out The 10 Dishes from Netflix’s “Street Food” We Want to Eat Right Now.
2. “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat”
Based on the award-winning cookbook of the same title, this docuseries chronicles cook and author Samin Nosrat as she deep-dives into four of the essential elements involved in making food taste so damn good. It’s part culinary wanderlust—complete with gorgeously captured shots of far-flung locales and engaging up-close-and-personals with experts—and part friendly, approachable cooking show. What I love (aside from the envy-inducing travel porn that’ll make you want to jump up off the couch and cash in your credit card points), is that the cooking show bit is so relaxed and broadly helpful. Instead of being presented with a formulaic one-off recipe, you’re given foundational, reusable advice on cooking philosophy. I.e., “This is why you want to season different components of a dish individually,” vs. “Add two cups of salt to the water.” It’s fun, and you will leave hungry, and hungry for more.
3. “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having”
Finally! A show about a foodie and his international culinary exploits that doesn’t make you want punch said person in the face. Quite the opposite, in fact. Originally aired on PBS, this absolutely charming show follows Phil Rosenthal, the writer and creator behind the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” as he eats and explores his way around the world with wide-eyed, gushing enthusiasm. Obviously, it’s a formula we’ve seen before: Food-obsessed person ventures to a food mecca to dine, drink, take in the culture and hang with the local culinary luminaries. But in this case, the food-obsessed person is not some higher-than-thou snob, but rather a nerdy, average dad type. And watching him totally and genuinely geek out in each hour-long episode makes for some refreshingly fun food TV. (Can you tell I’m a little obsessed?)
4. “Chef’s Table”
Do you follow the chefs behind the world’s top-ranked restaurants the way some people follow players on a favorite sports team? Are you interested in the stories and experiences that have shaped their careers and personalities? Do you crave behind-the-scenes access to their lauded temples of gastronomy? Do you geek for cinematic, porn-y shots of food (that you might never get to try yourself and most likely won’t be able to recreate yourself)? Yeah? Then “Chef’s Table” (and its offshoots “Chef’s Table: France” and “Chef’s Table: Pastry”) will be your jam. It’s the gold standard of culinary escapism meets aspirational chef profile.
5. “The Final Table”
Basically, this show is like “Chef’s Table” and “Top Chef” had a baby. The schtick of this “global cooking competition” is that each episode is dedicated to the cuisine of an iconic food country. In the initial round, the chefs have to cook their version of that country’s signature dish, which has been decided by a panel of local “culinary ambassadors” (aka food writers, media personalities, and celebrities). The chefs responsible for the least successful plates are forced to cook in an elimination round for a surprise big-name chef who is briefly profiled “Chef’s Table”-style. And there’s an added twist too: Instead of playing solo, the cheftestants—who come from across the world and are all quite well established in their careers—are participating in teams of two. In most cases they’re friends but have never really worked together, and so watching them navigate each other’s styles and personalities brings an added layer of intrigue to the competition. And unlike some other cheap thrill cooking competitions where the ridiculousness of the ingredients is more important than the actual dish being produced, this show really has you marveling at and learning from the techniques and creativity that the chefs display.
6. “The Mind of a Chef”
Chefs are constantly being questioned about their inspiration: “Where’d you get the idea for this dish?” “Why did you use that technique?” “How does where you grew up and what you ate affect the food you make today? Inquiring, hungry minds want to know and thankfully we have this smartly put together program to help satiate some of these curiosities. Narrated by the late, great Anthony Bourdain, each season focuses on one or two chefs and explores the many topics that have inspired them and driven their success. For example, noodles and David Chang, preservation and heritage and with Sean Brock, leftovers and “nasty bits” with April Bloomfield. It’s got cooking demos, eating, traveling, learning, cameos from chefie friends—all in all, entertaining brain food to be sure.
7. “The Great British Baking Show”
I can’t bake, don’t bake, don’t care about learning to bake, and yet even I can’t get enough of this show (also known as GBBS or GBBO to many fans). Legit, it is the most friendly, low-drama cooking competition you’ll ever watch. There are no provocative villain types looking for their 15 minutes of fame. Instead of sabotaging one another, these competitors actually jump in to help each other out and give thumbs-up to their opponents when they have a “good bake” or get an elusive congratulating handshake from Simon Cowell-esque judge, Paul Hollywood. It’s fascinating. Episodes are an hour long and feature three different challenges—”signature bake,” a surprise “technical challenge,” and the “showstopper”—that center around a weekly theme (i.e. bread, pastry, spice, vegan, etc.). “Ready? Set. Binge watch!”
8. “Cooked”
This is the food studies student’s food show. Hosted by best-selling author and activist, Michael Pollan, this sleekly shot four-part docu-series is essentially a heartfelt, motivational speech about the fundamental role of food in our lives and why caring about what you eat really, truly matters. Each episode uses a different core cooking element—fire, earth, water, and air—as a vehicle to discuss everything from food history, culture and tradition to technique and industry. It’s cerebral stuff to be sure, but presented in a way that feels less patronizing lecture and more inspiring rally cry. (It’s worth mentioning also that if this sort of program speaks to you, definitely also check out “Rotten,” which gives a no-holds-barred look inside some of the biggest industrial food production businesses.)
9. “The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell”
If you like crafty, project-centric baking and watched a lot of “Beetlejuice,” “Addams Family,” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as a kid (or still do now, no judgement), then “Curious Creations” is for you. In this unquestionably unconventional take on the conventional how-to baking show, host Christine McConnell, assisted by her charming band of miscreant puppet creatures, displays how to create playfully macabre sweet treats. Even if learning how to sculpt a realistic-looking bone out of peanut butter, white chocolate, and pretzel sticks isn’t your thing, you have to applaud McConnell’s innovation of what can easily feel like a stale show format.
10. “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”
In case you need a reminder of the gift that was Anthony Bourdain’s smart, thought-provoking, and irreverent approach to the intersection of food, travel, and culture, “Parts Unknown” lives on, thankfully.
11. “7 Days Out” — The “Eleven Madison Park” Episode
Ok, ok, so this one is maybe a bit of a cheat because it’s not technically a full show. Still, for anyone who’s curious about the level of detail/stress/work/pressure/multitasking/putting out of fires/absolute general insanity that goes into opening up a restaurant at the highest level, go watch this immediately.
If you do Hulu, we’ve got you covered—see The Best Food Shows on Hulu Right Now (and upcoming New Hulu Food Shows with Chrissy Teigen and David Chang). And check out The Best Food Podcasts too.
All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. For more great hand-picked products, check out the Chowhound Shop
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The Simply Recipes 2019 Mother’s Day Gift Guide
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