Shopping Around - Brief Article

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 1999 by Andrea Mather

The Breakfast Club

Java Time

Add a little kitsch to your kitchen. Tasty has converted a New York icon, the to-go paper coffee cup, into a campy keepsake clock ($24/4 inches high). For info: (718) 59 11; www.tasty.com.

Jam On

La Paolina's organic Wild Plum Conserve ($10/14.1 oz.), made from Tuscan-grown fruit simmered over an open fire, is a delectable sugar-free spread for your toast bagel or croissant. Available in peach and apricot flavors with added sugar. For info: (212) 572-8372.

Dunkin' Delight

Perk up your java break with Alex & Dani's Biscotti Mini Cookies ($2.99/6 oz.). These light and crispy sweets come in hazelnut, oatmeal raisin, chocolate and chocolate chip. For info: (212) 486-4343.

Home Brew

Instead of stopping at that mega-coffee chain on your way to work, brew up a delicious--and eco-conscious--cuppa Frontier's Organic Colombian Cafe ($8.89/10 oz.) at home. Besides saving yourself money, you'll be supporting the Arhuaco tribe of Colombia, who raise the shade-grown coffee beans without using harmful pesticides or destroying local bird habitats. For info: (800) 669-3275; www.frontiercoop.com.

Cream of the Crop

Soy milk curdling in your coffee will be a thing of the past, thanks to White Wave's Silk Soy Milk Creamer ($1.45/16 oz.). One creamy tablespoon contains just 15 calories and 1 gram of unsaturated fat; ingredients include certified organic soybeans, non-hydrogenated canola oil and sugar cane crystals. For info: (303) 443-3470; www.whitewave.com.

Minty Fresh

You'll be ready to face your day after scrubbing with V'tae's tingly Peppermint Body Buff ($10/22 oz.), which features exfoliating Pacific sea salt, nourishing vitamin E, soothing aloe vera gel and invigorating peppermint essential oil. To order: (800) 643-3011.

Off'a Coffee

Just Dandy blend herbal tea ($9.98/5 oz.) from The Root of It offers coffee drinkers a satisfying, full-bodied caffeine-free alternative, created from organic dandelion leaf and slow-roasted dandelion root. Prepare in enclosed reusable muslin bag or in a coffeemaker. One box yields 65 servings. To order: (877) 640-3129.

Fit for a King

Bob's Red Mill Pharaoh's Pharina ($2.78/24 oz.), made from stone-ground organic grown kamut, provides a filling, high-fiber, high-protein breakfast. Cooked on the stovetop (or in the microwave) and ready in 10 minutes, the hot cereal tastes great with honey, raisins, bananas and walnuts. To order: (800) 553-2258; www.bobsredmill.com.