Places I like to snack (part 1)

Jamba Juice - fills in the cracks in my stomach after an unsatisfying meal, or allows me to soldier on until I make it home to cook. Started in San Luis Obispo as something like "Juice Club" which sounds like a retirement home for old steroid users. Kudos on the name change. Click here for their allergen list. Last time I checked, you must AVOID the Pomegranate Heart Happy Smooth as it will make your Intestine Unhappy Smoothy (lame, I know)...there are also some Boosts and Super-Boosts to avoid...not to sure about where they draw the line between Boosts and Super-Boosts...what if you only need an Adequate-Boost or an Above-Average Boost? I also don't know why the boosts are capitalized.

Trader Joe's - There is always something to try. They have the lovely new label (seen here) which denotes No Gluten Ingredients, which makes life much easier. It will be easier still when all the packaging has been updated to reflect this. There is a long list of Gluten Free items available online by clicking here, or you can ask them to print you one out in the store. The customer service people are always friendly, if sometimes clueless. Also, why does it seem like 5 tattoos is a prerequisite for employment at TJs? I've got no problem with tattoos, but it seems like tattoos tend to congregate on the arms of TJ employees.

Overheard...one tattoo talking to another... (I am not sure where I was going with this joke, so to save your sense of humor, I gave up. Maybe an update later?)

Whole Food's Market - probably the most expensive meat department I have ever seen (short of a bar on the Sunset Strip...) but I don't snack on raw meat, so I'll save that for another time. Pretty easy to navigate through the gluten free aisles - the South Pasadena WF is particularly good with a GF corner upstairs. They also have a GF flyer (ask at customer service) to help you shop, but it is very private label centric. They have a section of their website dedicated to GF shopping (click here) which is more than I can say for some other markets. To get back on track...I go here for the wide variety of cookies/almond crackers/and other total junk food.

I need to do a post on "good snacks" and another for "bad snacks" so that I don't keep throwing money away on GF prospects that aren't getting it done.