In The Bag :: Save Mart Supermarkets Blog

In The Bag :: Save Mart Supermarkets Blog - Blogen-usMon, 20 May 2013 07:24:55 -0700DigitalAttic FoundationCopyright (c) 2013 DigitalAttic All rights reservedhttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?c=25Canyon Classic Century Bicycle Ride in Pattersonhttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=367<img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_1.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> Come join the Rotary Clubs of Modesto North, Modesto Gateway and Modesto Sunrise on Saturday, June 8, for the Canyon Classic Century bicycle ride. This is a great opportunity to help raise money for charity while engaged in a fun and healthy activity, as proceeds will benefit Make a Wish Foundation and other Central Valley charitable causes. In its 24th year, the ride was originally organized as the Graffiti Century and was subsequently renamed when the start and finish was moved to Patterson so that riders could experience more varied and challenging routes. With four routes, the ride can be equally enjoyed by novice and expert riders.  The family-friendly Quarter Century ride features a flat route through the valley floor, while the Metric Century adds miles and the foothills above Patterson.  For a real challenge, try the ride to Lick Observatory on top of Mt. Hamilton; approximately 90 miles round trip. When you reach the top you will receive the coveted “I Licked Lick” commemorative pin.  The Century Route takes riders through the foothills, the Livermore wine country, Tracy, Grayson and back to Patterson.  Along the way you will encounter some rollers, steep climbs and descents; truly a ride to remember. Both the Mt. Hamilton and Century rides wind through beautiful and picturesque Del Puerto Canyon. All routes offer ample rest stops and rider support. Please remember to mark your calendar for June 8th and go to <a href="http://www.active.com/">Active.Com</a> or our web site <a href="http://www.canyonclassiccentury.org">www.canyonclassiccentury.org</a> to register for this exciting ride.  Check out some photos from last year's ride below.  <img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_2.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> <img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_3.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> <img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_4.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> <img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_5.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> <img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_11.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> <img style="width: 100%;" title="Canyon Classic Century" src="photos/367/pic_10.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" />2013-05-19 15:47:58We Heart Momhttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=366<img style="width: 100%;" title="MothersMonth" src="photos/366/mothersmonth_may.jpg" alt="MothersMonth" /> Mother’s Day is almost here, and keeping with tradition, we want to do something nice for the moms in our communities.   We heart moms. Without them, there would be no “we.” But we got to thinking, why only one day? Shouldn’t moms get more than a single day? We certainly think so. That’s why for the next five weeks, we’re celebrating Mother’s Month.   All month long, we’ll have specials throughout our stores made just for moms, including our immensely popular chocolate-covered Driscoll’s strawberries. Get a dozen of them for your mom (or treat yourself) in our Bakery today.   But a mom cannot live on chocolate-covered strawberries alone, so head to our Facebook page for our Mother’s Day Sweepstakes and enter to win a gift card for mom.   We’re giving away ten $25 Save Mart gift cards every week for five weeks, plus one $500 grand prize gift card. But hurry, the sweepstakes ends May 24th. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveMartSupermarkets/app_359664204144096" target="_blank">savemartlovesmom.com</a>   This is our small way of saying “thank you” to all the moms out there. Good luck and Happy Mother’s Day!2013-05-20 00:33:02Driscoll's Season's Finest Blackberrieshttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=356We're big fans of sweet deals at Save Mart. In fact, we've built our business on it. But today, we've got one for you we're really excited about. For a limited time, we're carrying Driscoll's Season's Finest Blackberries, which are specially selected for exceptional sweetness and quality.   These available exclusively at Save Mart, and we're only carrying them from April 17 - May 8, or until supplies last.   Perhaps you're wondering, "What's so special about these blackberries?"   The Season's Finest blackberries grow in Central Mexico and are selected to exceed Driscoll's unrivaled standards for flavor. At certain times of the year, nature provides ideal conditions for growing berries with exquisite taste and appearance.   The sweetness of fruit is measured using degrees Brix, which measures sugar content. Driscoll's blackberries need to contain a minimum of seven degrees to meet their quality standards. Season's Finest Blackberries, however, require a minimum of 13 degrees Brix, with many coming in at 15!   Sure, it’s a geeky calculation, but the folks at Driscoll’s take their berries seriously.  Once you try one this will all make sense.   Driscoll's has some great blackberry recipe ideas on their website—<a href="http://www.driscolls.com/berries/blackberries">check them out by clicking here.</a>   Enjoy!2013-05-20 04:10:48Quality time is the only timehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=355 Like most mamas, I want everything for my kids.   Only I forget that “everything” isn’t what they want at all. They want something: that “something” is a very specific something at a very specific moment that likely isn’t the something that I want to give at that moment.   “Look at me, Mom! Come here!” is shouted from the playroom fourteen times a day, thirteen of which are likely delivered when I am making dinner/doing laundry/cleaning up a spill on the floor/talking on the phone/trying to figure out what exactly the dog got into.   While I love to plan “special” things for my family, things I imagine will provide a plethora of quality time – trips and crafts and picnics - the demand from my kids is for me to be in the moment with them, right now.  Truthfully, often the trips and crafts and picnics ultimately end up being a bit overblown and ridden with motion sickness, or glue that won’t bind, or bees that want to nibble on our turkey sandwiches.   It is really when I relinquish control – the control I so long to have – that our best moments, our time together truly becomes quality time.   This morning, instead of rushing them off to school, I said yes to square dancing with my nine-year old in the living room. I said yes to fixing valentines in need of blue lollipops instead of pink ones. I let a hug go on and on and on. I did not peel anyone off of me while they still needed to be exactly there. I let my six-year old explain for the sixth or seventh time – in February – what he wants to be for Halloween.   When they left for school, I couldn’t help feeling like our two hours of what is normally a rushed, crazy morning time – because I hadn’t insisted that it be, was something else completely.   It was quality time and it was lovely.  2013-05-18 23:45:35The Amazing Avocadohttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=339<img style="width: 100%;" title="Avacado" src="photos/339/avocado_pic.jpg" alt="Avacado" /> In general, avocados are an incredible fruit. They are delicious, nutritious, and essential for any football party.  Avocados from Save Mart specifically, however, are downright delightful. We sell more avocados per capita than any retailer in the United States, and for good reason(s).   Our supplier, Calavo, has provided some trade secrets that give a behind-the-scenes look at why the avocados in our stores are consistently ripe and lovely.   <ul> <li>Calavo grows avocados in California and Mexico which extends the peak season so we can provide high quality avocados year-round at affordable prices.</li> <li>The ProRipe VIP® program ensures you can always grab a ripe avocado— you won’t have to wait a few days unless you want to. </li> <li>Calavo uses an exclusive process called Acoustic Firmess Sorting to determine the ripeness  of the fruit. It’s the most accurate system in the business. Here’s how it works: <a href="http://www.calavo.com/store/pro_ripe_vip.html">http://www.calavo.com</a></li> </ul>   <img style="float: left;" title="Ripe Now" src="photos/339/1245202381-proripevip-stickers.gif" alt="Ripe Now" width="150" height="184" />When selecting avocados at the store, it’s important to know what you’re looking for: Do you want to eat it the same day, or stock up for the week? Calavo makes this easy with the Ripe Now sticker—you can’t miss it. Ripe avocados will keep for up to one week if stored in the refrigerator.   We hope you’ve enjoyed our “Ode to avocados” and found the information, well, informative.   Lastly, no blog post would be complete without a few recipes, so feel free to check out the extensive list from our friends at The Amazing Avocado here: <a href="http://www.theamazingavocado.com/category/recipes/">http://www.theamazingavocado.com/category/recipes/</a>2013-05-20 01:20:48The Breakfast Principlehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=338  I wish life was like breakfast.   Breakfast time at the Murray house is very simple. There are a total of three healthy choices: oatmeal, eggs or cold cereal. The breakfast decision is made while pulling on your clothes, making your bed and picking up your room and takes all of thirty seconds.   “Cold cereal, please. Raisin Crunchie O’s,” they will call out from their rooms, their voices muffled by the fourteen stuffed animals that adorn their beds and must be arranged very specifically.   It is a relief, breakfast. There is no second-guessing your choice. There is no drama. No “well, I really love eggs, but I’m not sure, what if the poaching doesn’t go as planned?” Breakfast is limited, and therefore comforting, I think. It’s an oasis of simplicity in a world of complexity.   Perhaps I should apply the breakfast principle to my life in general. Perhaps I should have a three-color palette for home décor: if it’s not brown, mustard or green, it doesn’t darken our doorstep. We will have three options for dinner every night: spaghetti, spaghetti with meatballs and turkey corndogs (I have a six-year old who’s middle name is corndog. Really. Finn Corndog Murray). We will have three clothing options: uniform 1, uniform 2 and weekend wear. We will have three friends to socialize with. Three hobbies to choose from. Three places we vacation.   Ah, I feel the relaxation, the simplicity taking over.   OK, life might get boring after a while living under the breakfast principle, but actual breakfast never does. I believe it was Hunter Thompson who said everyone needs at least one psychic anchor every twenty-four hours and his was breakfast. I’m thinking mine might be too. How about you?2013-05-19 20:27:57Little Life Lessonshttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=334"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." - Angela Schwindt   Lately, Finn, my youngest, has been waking in the night. He’s become, at six, suddenly afraid of things: the dark, monsters, old people.    “I don’t like how old people look. They are scary,” he whispers to me when we are coming close to an elderly person, careful not to hurt their feelings.  I assure him there is nothing to be scared about; old people were young people once. We, too, will get old.   “But I don’t want to get old. I don’t want to die. I don’t want you to die,” he says, looking into my eyes, his own watery and blinking.   You are not going to die for like a hundred years, I say, meaning it, willing it.   These conversations we have, the ones I have with my children, at bedtime, driving in the car, at someone’s bedside – these are the conversations that crystalize more of what I feel about life and what’s important about it than any other thing I do.   Perhaps it’s because children – at least mine – don’t allow for grey areas. Something is either wrong or right. Yes or no. There is going to be dessert or there isn’t. There is a Santa or there isn’t. There is a good way to treat people and there is a bad way.   They make me state my principles – and then they hold me to them.   I tell them kindness and respect are the rules of the house, so if they catch me being less than exemplary in either area, they will bring it to my attention and quickly. They pin me on questions of ethics and nutrition, the existence of an afterlife, bullying and how elves can possibly know how to make Hex Bugs.   They have clarified my position on so many things and having done so, have made me take the high road and cling onto it, wanting to make them proud, wanting them to have something to emulate.   And then I find myself not only clinging to that high road, but also occasionally trucking right along. When I do falter, as I am prone to do, it can be messy and disappointing for all of us.   Ultimately though, my children’s natural sweetness and tendency toward prioritizing the important things - playing outside as long as possible, swinging for the fences, going barefoot in the summer, splashing puddles in the winter, watching the fireworks until every last one is done and gone – have shaped my idea of what’s important.   However, when their fears arise, like Finn’s of late, I try to create pillars of safety for him, even in a world that feels so unstable. As much as my children have made me a truth teller and a high road seeker, I will also create whatever haven, real or imagined, to protect their innocence and light.   What our children teach us most, is that they are everything.2013-05-20 00:24:222013: Let's make it the year of kindnesshttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=320Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. - Scott Adams   It started with this: <a href="http://ow.ly/ghT6t" target="_blank">http://ow.ly/ghT6t</a>   “Doing good, feels good,” Ann Curry said. And if there was anything more clear in the days after the Newtown shooting, this was a country that needed to feel better, to be better, to do better. I, always up for a short-term challenge and for feeling good, joined in.   What I didn’t realize is that #26acts wasn’t a challenge at all; it was a gift.   Without getting into Newtown specifically, I rallied the family to join me in my efforts, explaining that the holidays were a great time to flex our kindness muscle. Certainly, together we could do twenty-six acts of kindness; Reese, my nine-year old was quick on the math – that was six and a half acts each, she reported proudly.   We were in, even though Finn, my six-year old, kept asking what he could do that would count as half of an act.   We started small: Finn put Reese’s doll away for her, without being asked, gently. Reese let two people cut in line at school. We gave a dollar to a homeless person.   It felt great, we all agreed. We started feeling saucy.   I cleaned out our closets. Instead of selling things we didn’t need anymore, I gave them away. Gladly. The recipients couldn’t believe their luck.   I felt even better than they did.   I won something that I couldn’t use in a contest. I gave it away, giddy now.   I went to the post office to mail holiday cards. On a whim, I scratched out three index cards hiding in the depths of my purse and wrote this on them:   “This is an act of kindness. Pass it on.”   Once at the register, I bought three books of stamps and asked the sullen postal worker to give them to the next three folks who came in, along with my note. I told her my family and I were trying to put some kindness out into the world, in honor of those who had died at Newtown.   The postal worker was surprised. She smiled a beautiful smile, like sun after a storm.   That smile would have been enough; her witnessing my kindness changed her for that moment. See her change, changed me.   Afterward, I went and did my weekly shopping. Oddly, I found myself, instead avoiding meeting eyes with other shoppers or store workers, actively engaging with them, smiling and saying “hi” as they passed by.   Stranger still, the shoppers and workers smiled right back. They said hello. It felt like a revelation, somehow. This is how the world can be; a tiny kindness opens the door, then a flood comes rushing in.   I arrived home to an email from a friend. She knew of my stamp giveaway and she had been stunned to see another friend of hers post this on Facebook (see image).   Had it really gone full circle that quickly? I knew that kindness would feel good, would do good, but this good, this quickly?   I have been amazed, transformed by this simple, easy approach to the world. And I think my family has too.   Finn just bounded into my bedroom, reporting another act of kindness he had been responsible for at school yesterday - something about giving his action figure to a kid who had no action figures.   “Doesn’t being kind feel so good, Finn?” I asked, knowing the answer.   “Yep, I think we should just do it everyday.” He answered, matter of factly.   I agree, Finn. Yes, let’s.   2013: Let’s make it the year of kindness.2013-05-16 21:43:00Embracing the Mess this Holiday Seasonhttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=319"One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly." -Andy Rooney   I am not very good with messes or excessive noise, which usually accompanies the making of said messes. Unfortunately, these two are the frankincense and myrrh of the holiday season, which in our house, is also birthday season; every person in our family and extended family (except for myself) is born during this last, most festive, quarter of the year.   You can imagine if you are the only person without a birthday during this time of year, you can pretty much count on being the only person truly responsible for bringing on the merriment. Additionally, if you are the mom at this time of year, you can count on being the main person verifying Santa’s list (along with aiding in his fulfillment), organizing holiday events, addressing holiday cards, lighting menorahs, supervising the rooftop holiday light hanging, along with accompanying minors to Nutcracker performance and consuming large amounts of holiday chocolate.   That last one is really not an obligation, more of a choice.   In years past, I did my best to handle the holiday season like a swim across a long pool, holding my breath until I got to the other side, gasping. This year motherhood continues to teach me, and I’m doing my best to pay attention: it’s all about living in the moment. I am doing my best to ignore the wrapping, the peppermint stickiness everywhere, the pine needles; I am instead focusing on the faces of my children reflected in the glowing lights. I am witnessing my husband’s hands, rough and worn after spending the day proudly hanging lights on the home we have made together. I am letting the kids lick the bowl, stay up later and watch Elf twice in a row. Alright, three times, but the last one was my idea.   I am trying to be not just OK with the mess this year. I am trying to embrace it, to know that soon enough everything will be clean and shiny, my kids will be grownups, and I will yearn for stickiness and wrappings and long holiday shopping lists with little ones hugging onto my leg, begging me not to leave.   So if you come over this year and our place is a bit in shambles, don’t judge, OK? I’m embracing, that’s all.2013-05-16 00:48:22Who doesn't love a parade?http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=318Hi everybody! I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. I know I am. I have been so busy with parades and food drives and other cool events…I feel like a hot rod rock star!    Last month, I was in TWO Veterans Day Parades, one in Sacramento and the other in Porterville. Then I celebrated the grand opening of the FoodMaxx in Watsonville and the Mayor and members of City Council let me give them a ride. And I got my <a href="http://www.register-pajaronian.com/fe_view_article_window.php?story_id=13478&page_id=72&heading=0">picture posted online in the local newspaper!</a>   Next, I went back to Sacramento for the KCRA-TV Turkey Drive, <a href="http://www.kcra.com/tv/as-seen-on/Turkey-Drive-2012/-/11799020/17329666/-/62fhdmz/-/index.html">which was a real blast</a>. I rode around with the anchors from the television station while they did a live remote with me for the news! The best part is that we collected over 6,300 turkeys for the Sacramento Food Bank, including 200 that were donated by all of us at Save Mart.    On Thanksgiving Day, I cheered on all the runners at the <a href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/75790/19th_annual_Run_to_Feed_the_Hungry">Thanksgiving Day Run to Feed the Hungr</a>y. Lots of my Save Mart buddies ran to support this worthy cause and I was very proud to be a part of it.   After that, I was in the Sonora Christmas Parade and the Hollister Lights On Parade. <a href="http://www.sanbenitocountytoday.com/news/nonprofits/lights-on-is-downtown-s-bright-makeover/article_3d3ff8f0-38be-11e2-8e72-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=image">I got my picture in the paper again!</a><a href="http://www.sanbenitocountytoday.com/news/nonprofits/lights-on-is-downtown-s-bright-makeover/article_3d3ff8f0-38be-11e2-8e72-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=image"> </a>   I was also in the Family Tree Lighting Parade and Canned Food Drive in Davis. The weather wasn’t very nice, but all of the people who came out to see us and donate food were awesome!      Here are a few of my upcoming appearances:    Turlock Downtown Christmas Parade Friday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m.   Downtown Fresno Christmas Parade Saturday, December 8 at 11 a.m.   Sutter Creek Parade of Lights Saturday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m.   Like I said, it’s a whirlwind but, as you can see from the pictures I’ve posted here, I love every minute of it!  It’s been great meeting all of you and I hope make even more friends at the upcoming parades and festivities.   Gotta go get ready for Turlock now, but I’ll be back soon with more pictures and updates. TTYL!   Big Red2013-05-20 03:37:52On Gratitudehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=317Here’s the truth about being grateful: it’s hard to be grateful while cleaning up puke, or dog poop, or listening to siblings quibble about who got the bigger half of the granola bar (the one neither of them wanted until the other one did.)   It’s challenging keeping gratitude top of mind when you’re up to your elbows in the work that is being a parent.: 9pm runs to the grocery store to pick up “homemade” treats for the class party, trying to remove Sharpie pen from your only outfit that is both (fairly) fashionable and (somewhat) flattering while simultaneously comforting the sobbing “artist”, searching for appropriate clothing for the family holiday photograph that won’t reveal (or confirm) to the world how truly unfashionable and mismatched you all are .   “Oh, look how nicely they clean up!” you imagine the yearly recipients of your holiday card exclaiming, as they take in your familial one-time 'kemptness', your lack of a self-imposed haircut or a crumb-laden chin.   You know what though? The truth is, for me, it’s not the big things that get in the way of the gratitude; it’s all the little, silly, insignificant details- the ones that pile up and block my light.   So instead of taking in the smile of my six-year old as he basks in the glow of his birthday cake, I’m worrying whether everyone (adults!) need more wine, or whether everyone (children!) need more juice or time to go potty. It’s all goes so fast. By the time my brain registers how lovely everything is, the party’s over and it’s time for brushing teeth and getting ready for bed and negotiating the length of story time. Meanwhile, my adrenaline is still pumping, my gratitude valve still waiting to be released.   I am learning though. Of course, the chaos and confusion - those squeaky wheels of parenthood- still reign, demanding my attention, but I’m aiming not to notice as much, not to wait to appreciate the smaller moments that are happening too. I am looking in the cracks more: for the laughter, the small arm around a small shoulder, the afternoon light, the perfectly, unbelievably lucky normal-ness of everything.   Like on the morning of the birthday party, when my son snuggled up in our bed and opened his gift - the CD player he’d been hoping for. We put on the CD his dad had made especially for him. When Finn’s favorite song began to play, his eyes welled up with tears and he quickly ducked his head under the covers, because he was “so happy.”   Feeling grateful that day? Feeling grateful for my son's gratitude? Not hard at all.2013-05-15 18:07:01If you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=315Finn, my six-year old was taking his last trip through the kitchen before bed; it had put him into a contemplative mood.   “Mom, you know, my friend R.? He gets so many treats in his lunch! He is so lucky.”   “Hmmm,” I say, stalling, the words “Type II Diabetes” and “teeth rotting out of his head” rolling around in my mouth like pebbles, but I hold onto them and instead say:   “Well, that’s what R’s parents choose for him. Every family makes different choices.”   Finn stares at me for a moment, searching my face. Then:   “He’s probably going to die quick, right?”   Oh boy. My brain whirs through the range of possible responses:   I’m not a doctor, honey, but I can’t imagine a steady diet of Lunchables is going to win any longevity contests.   Probably not. His parents look pretty hearty to me. Genetics can get you out of a lot, actually.   In the end I go with:   “Who knows, sweetie. We need to worry about our health, not other people’s.”   True though, right? After all, we don’t know if letting our kids raid the Halloween candy three weeks past Halloween is going to doom them to tooth decay and childhood obesity; we only know that balance is key – as is exercise, moderation and common sense.   As I kid, sugar was pretty much non-existent in my house and it made me yearn for the stuff; come my bestie’s birthday sleepover party, I was the kid at the breakfast table commandeering the Captain Crunch and mini-donuts.   “What is this wonderfulness?” I would ask with glee, flakes and powdered sugar flying.   I try to be little more even-handed with my own kids. We have dessert a lot of nights, and sometimes we don’t; you’ve got to eat your healthy food first, and we offer mostly tasty, healthy food options. My kids actually like broccoli. And tomatoes. One likes sushi. One’s crazy for cashews. Of course, they both love chocolate too. But who doesn’t?   One can only hope that the saying is mostly true: if you keep good food around, you (and the kiddos) will eat good food. And also: if you have a good attitude towards the not-so-good for you food, hopefully your kid won’t be the one in the corner bogarting the box of Captain Crunch.  2013-05-18 11:19:55My son wants to be an Oompa Loompahttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=314For Halloween, of course. And let me tell you, an Oompa Loompa costume for a six-year old boy is not easily found – at least not in a pre-assembled package for $19.99 plus tax.   Believe me, I have looked.   So, I have been forced to go at this Oompa Loompa thing in retail piecemeal: two different green, altogether unwearable-ever-again wigs have been purchased, along with a unattractive brown turtleneck and a yard of white fleece hopefully destined to fashion itself magically into a suspender-like accessory worthy of the Chocolate Factory.   Really, I had no idea how lucky I was these last few years, skating by, producing a very streamlined Spiderman, a muscular Superman, a princessy princess.   This year, instead of a quick stop at the gaudy Halloween end cap, I’m spending an inordinate amount of time searching for elfin shoes and little people socks. Specifically, ones that:   A)   a six-year old boy would find “cool”   and B)   that Gene Wilder’s “little people” might actually don.    (By the way, in case you were wondering, there is no sock or shoe in existence that is both A and B.)   Now, it’s not like I haven’t been Halloween challenged before; I have previously styled a blue M&M (twice), a Denver Bronco Cheerleader (twice), even a samurai warrior with a (pretend) sword larger than the costumed child himself.   I have to say that truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of Halloween; maybe it’s all the ghosts and ghouls and their frightening effect on my soft, easily startled heart. Or maybe I just don’t get the whole spectacle of it all: the outlandish costumes, the gooey props, the orange Rice Crispy treats in unappetizing shapes of scythes and bats.   Something I do get however, are our infrequent opportunities for imagination to take flight – for the chance to be in someone else’s skin; only one night a year do we have full license to be terribly bad, to be really good, to be scary, to be, well, an Oompa Loompa.   If only discovering who we really are, was as simple as finding the right wig and suspenders; as I witness my children as they make their way to their future selves, it’s a relief to know that for now, for one night at least, with the help of a green wig and some orange face make-up, I can help them get there.2013-05-18 19:49:36New website reveals facts about pesticides in producehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=313Americans just don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. This has been the reality of our country for several years, but the consumption of produce has actually declined since the recent recession, especially among lower income families. As a grocery chain rooted in California’s Central Valley (a place that grows the finest fruits and vegetables on the planet) it pains us to hear this.   Eating fewer fruits and vegetables is contributing to the rise of many diseases such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. We want people eating fruits and vegetables every day, and more of them.   The popularity of the <a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/">“Dirty Dozen”</a> lists of fruits and vegetables is not helping the cause. These lists frighten and confuse consumers, and have the potential to drive them away from eating fruits and vegetables. In order to educate consumers about the safe practices and science behind both organic and conventional produce, the Food and Farming Alliance has created a great resource called <a href="http://www.safefruitsandveggies.com/">safefruitsandveggies.com</a>. There is a wealth of studies regarding food safety, as well as interviews from a panel of experts from various disciplines including environment and health sciences, toxicology, and nutrition.   Another resource available on the website, The Residue Calculator, shows exactly how many servings of common fruits and vegetables a man, woman, or child would have to consume before any of the pesticides found in those foods would have any effect on the body.   There is so much great information on the website we would be remiss in not posting it here.   Any organization that promotes eating FEWER fruits and vegetables goes against what we know is scientifically best for the health of Americans. There’s a ton of information out there, and we’d love to know what you think about safefruitsandveggies.com, so leave us a comment below. 2013-05-20 07:01:01Big Red's Big Blog - The Thoughts and Dreams of a Giant Red Hot Rod Shopping Carthttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=312Dear Friends, Kermit the Frog, one of my favorite people in the world, always says, “It’s not easy to be Green.” And, I am sure he is right. I think it’s much easier to be Red…especially Big and Red!  I am about five times the size of any other grocery cart in my class and I was born with a huge racing motor.  So, I am really different than all of my friends who carry groceries for our customers at Save Mart…but that’s what is so great about being me! My name is Big Red and my dad, Bob Piccinini, who owns Save Mart Supermarkets, designed me. Dad loves the grocery industry and he has a real “need for speed,” so I guess you can say that he made me what I am today. I get to go on a lot of fun trips, visiting Save Mart stores and hanging out at NASCAR races and other cool events. And, the best part is that I get to have my picture taken with lots of nice people like you…which is my favorite thing to do! Anyway, Dad suggested I start blogging so that I could reach out to all of you and let you know how much the whole Save Mart family values you. Especially me (but, don’t tell him I said that!). So now, I will be writing to you each week to let you know what’s going on in my life and what we are doing to make your shopping experience even better at Save Mart. I will also post pictures of my travels and let you know where I am going next so you can visit me.  I love you guys and I totally want to make as many friends as I can. In fact, I think I am going to start a Facebook page so you can friend me… as long as Dad says it’s okay! Here is my upcoming appearance schedule:    Veteran's Day Parade - Sacramento Sunday, November 11 at 10:00 am   Veteran's Day Parade - Porterville Monday, November 12 at 10:00 am   Turkey Drive - Sacramento Friday, November 16   Sylvia Besana Holiday Parade - Roseville Saturday, November 17 at 3:00 pm   Run to Feed the Hungry - Sacramento Thursday, November 22   Sonora Christmas Parade - Sonora Friday, November 23 at 5:30 pm   Hollister Light's On Parade - Hollister Saturday, November 24 at 5:30 pm   Family Tree Lighting and Parade - Davis Thursday, November 29 at 6:00 pm   Ciao for now! Big Red2013-05-19 15:22:57What do you win by playing sports?http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=281My almost nine-year old daughter is in her fifth year of playing soccer. She loves everything about it: the activity, the friends, the snacks. She will tell you, without reservation and at length, how dearly she loves the game. Last year, she scored her first goal. Ever. This year, five games in, she has yet to score. She’s in good company though; her entire team has been scoreless so far this season. I’d like to say I’ve handled the challenging 10-0 style losses with grace. I’d love to say that. Unfortunately, the truth is I’m the worst sport out there - the typical crazy sports parent on the sidelines screaming idiotic, unhelpful phrases:   Get to the ball!   C’mon, follow the ball!   You can do it! All the while, my girl and her friends gamely run back and forth on a ginormous field in the mid-day sun, doing their best to keep a bunch of tiny Mia Hamms at bay. In turn, they each get tired; they fall down, they get up, they keep going. Meanwhile I’m sweating it out on the sidelines, wondering what I’ve done wrong – how I must certainly be damaging my child by allowing her to be this bad at something. Why am I continuing to let her experience losing every single week? After each game, the team runs through our parent “tunnel” of cheers; I take in each of the girls’ flushed faces as they fly by and always they are glowing, smiling ear to ear. They don’t seem to care that they’ve lost. That not a single goal was scored. They are radiant. They look like girls that have accomplished something. And I leave every game confused, truly missing the point of all the exercise, and even more importantly, the greater exercise. It wasn’t until today that I got it, really - thanks to our wise friend Rachel who had been at my daughter’s last game and wrote her a lovely letter all about it. Rachel captured in one letter, after a single game, what I’ve been missing all along:   “…At the end of the game I was nervous because you guys didn’t score and the other team had. But then you all ran through the tunnel and your whole team was smiling and laughing. And it made me so happy because I knew that your team was the right place for you to be. I’m going to tell you something you already know: soccer isn’t about scoring points and winning games (even though those things are cool and feel great), it’s about running around with your friends, it’s about learning how to be better every game and it’s about smiling at the end of a game because you know you have tried so hard. You won’t remember if you won all your games or not, but you will remember having fun, you will remember the great friends you had and you will remember that your amazing family (and friends like me) were always there to cheer you on.”   And now, thanks to Rachel, I can go to next week’s game knowing that my girl – and her entire team – have already won.2013-05-19 21:46:32My husband is the king of Pinterest and he doesn't even know it.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=280Pinterest is beautiful. I always browse over there, after a night of an unremarkable chicken dinner and organizing my paperwork into non-cute, non-color coded files. Friends, I do not own a craft cabinet. I can barely wrap a birthday gift. I aspire to entertain creatively, really I do; I would love to host a dinner party under the Golden Gate Bridge or have an afternoon picnic in a field of poppies with real china. Unfortunately, my hair frizzes in foggy weather and I never registered for wedding china when we married a decade ago, thinking it impractical. And, there’s the undeniable fact that I can’t cook anything more challenging than a recipe that can be downloaded, made and on a plastic plate in less than fifteen minutes. But, still, Pinterest, with your beautifully lit photos and your plethora of seemingly doable Do-It-Your-Self projects—I yearn for you, and for a more Pinterest-y kind of life. Last weekend, for one brief night, I had one. Thanks to my husband.   Chris is the king of the creative idea. He turns a simple soccer banner into a 3-D piece of art. Chris – if he spent any time at all on timewasting sites like I do - would soon see that he is the uncrowned king of Pinterest. The man can make anything out of PVC pipe. He once made six wedding boutonnieres (not out of PVC pipe). He gives me an artful collage of our family photos each year. He can write. He can draw. He can shoot and edit a beautiful film. So when he came to me with the Movie Night Under the Stars idea, I was optimistic. And, thanks to Mr. Pinterest, it turned out great. We invited seven or eight families to our humble little driveway. We had beer, root beer, popcorn and caramel corn, and, of course, movie candy. Everyone brought chairs and blankets. Chris borrowed a projector from work and set it up on the kids’ picnic bench. We pulled the mini vans in the driveway and the kids all squashed in and pretended they were at a drive-in. (Once we explained what a drive-in was.)   Something else that was beyond perfect was our friend Rachel’s caramel corn;  she’s been gracious enough to let me share the recipe with all of you. Trust me, if you’re not up to the whole movie night thing, at least make this caramel corn and pop a bottle of vino after the kids are in bed. You won’t regret it.   Rachel’s Amazing Caramel Corn Pop 3 bags of microwave popcorn, remove un-popped kernels and place in a large brown paper grocery bag. Combine:          2 cups brown sugar, packed          1/2 cup light corn syrup          1 cup butter          1 tsp. salt          1 tsp. vanilla   In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Boil without stirring for 5 minutes (260 degrees with candy thermometer--I never use one, just boil for 5 min). Remove mixture from heat and add:          1/2 tsp baking soda Stir.  Candy mixture will foam when baking soda is added. Pour over popped corn in sack.  Stir well.  Place sack in microwave for 1 minute (full power), remove and stir.  Repeat 2 more times (for a total of 3 minutes). Place corn on wax paper/parchment paper lined cookie sheets to cool. Break into clusters, store tightly covered. Note: If desired, 1 cup nuts may be added to caramel mixture just before pouring over popped corn.    2013-05-19 07:45:31How I worry about everything. Realize that everything is mostly about luck. And then realize how lucky I am.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=279I am neurotic about many things, but most of all, I am neurotic about my kids’ health.   I blame my grandmother, Sadie.   She was a typical Jewish grandmother; a sniffle was analyzed for signs of origin:   “Geeeerrrrri!” she would exclaim, feeling my seven-year old forehead for fever, while examining my throat glands for signs of strep, her other two hands simultaneously tucking me into bed and putting some soup on to boil.   Is it no wonder I hover over my own kids’ (totally normal) bronchial colds (what if it’s pneumonia?), stomach flus (what if she never stops throwing up) and bumps and bruises (why is it turning that color?)?   Strangely, for all my hovering, I simply lucked into my pediatrician. I somehow missed the prominently placed “Interview the Pediatrician” chapter in What to Expect. I had randomly selected a name from some long insurance list months before the birth, so when a tiny, college student looking girl in jeans and a sweater appeared in my hospital room the day after my daughter was born claiming to be my pediatrician, I had no idea I had justwon the Pediatric Lottery.   Kind Dr. W. was there that day – almost nine years ago – to calmly inform us that my baby had jaundice and would need to be “under the lights” for a few days; she stayed with us, perched on an uncomfortable chair, for over an hour, going over the options (Should we take home a light kit? When would I nurse? What were the advantages of keeping the baby in the hospital a few extra days?)   She never once made us (me) feel like the crazy, neurotic parents we were (are).   Since that day, Dr. W. has eased my two children through all the (thankfully) ordinary childhood illnesses – with extraordinary gentleness and compassion (for all of us). She listens to their hearts and lungs like she is listening to a concerto, carefully and with great interest. She laughs at their jokes and stories like she is at a cocktail party and they are the evening’s most charming guests.   This week, however, Dr. W. transcended extraordinary.   Both kids had been in for check-ups last week; my daughter had some wax in her ear, which Dr. W. tried to remove. Tears were shed; Dr. W stopped immediately. All was fine. Stickers and shots were distributed to those who wanted/needed them. Thoughtful questions were asked. It was a normal, Dr. W. visit.   Yesterday, a small silver envelope addressed to my daughter arrived: inside were additional stickers and a note from Dr. W. letting my daughter know that she was sorry for any pain during the wax removal; how much she appreciated that my girl still smiled at her afterward; how she had been thinking about her and hoping she was feeling better now.   It’s amazing, isn’t it? All the planning, the hand wringing, the worrying that we do as parents, hoping that if we make the right choices for our kids they will be OK, it still catches me by surprise that so much comes down to just plain luck.   And that we’ve been so very lucky.   Today, I remind myself that as parents, mostly, we are powerless; we can only love our children, listen to them well and hope for the best. Along with a pediatrician that has a heart the size of a semi to care for us all.  2013-05-18 15:47:55All I really need to know (about parenting) I learned (when my son went to) Kindergarten.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=278Finn, my youngest, my baby, started Kindergarten this month and I have to say, it caught me off guard. It’s not like he didn’t warn me; he’s been on a development binge this summer, checking off milestones like he’s going for a record: Lose first tooth, Learn how to tie shoes, Master riding a two-wheeler.   It’s been the summer of: Wow, Finn, you did it.   But still, seeing him don his first non-superhero backpack (“I’m ready for a big boy backpack”) and head off to “real” school, it suddenly felt like the last five and half years slipped through my hands like water. Or maybe Capri-Sun.   Every single day is so filled with making meals and giving out hugs and settling arguments and driving to soccer practice and holding sleepovers that it seems odd that five and half years could seem, in retrospect, like about five and a half minutes.   And yet.   I’ve had about two weeks now to adjust to my new life as the mom of two “big kids”; Finn is the special “VIP” at school today and for sharing time, he is demonstrating for the class how he ties his own shoes, complete with a crayoned how-to diagram. It brings me to the first thing I learned about parenting since Finn has gone to Kindergarten:   Make sure he knows how to tie his shoes. I can’t remember if my eldest knew how to tie her shoes when she left for Kinder, but the fact that my little guy, despite the advances of Velcro and whatnot, is capable of lacing up a pair of Chuck Taylors, makes me feel as though he will be just fine. In Kindergarten and in life. This might be an overestimation.     Trust that you’ve done enough. When my husband’s car pulls away from the curb to take them to school in each morning, I want to run after it - to remind them of something, or to dole out a last kiss, or to make sure the homework has made it safely into the backpack. But the last few weeks, I have held fast, steadying my neurotic mommy heart. After all, I tell myself, if I’ve been doing my job of growing responsible, loving small people, they can make it through the next few hours without my hovering.   Take lots of pictures. I take lots of pictures already, too many, really.  But these, of his first day, I will never forget: <a href="http://bit.ly/PsJPqy">http://bit.ly/PsJPqy</a>   And then stop taking pictures. Just stop and watch. When I put the camera down that first morning, I could pull Finn to me, nothing blocking my way. I could tell him how much I loved him without distraction. And when I picked him up at school later that day, I had my hands free when he spotted me at the other end of the playground and ran straight into my arms. I didn’t need a picture of it; I lived it.2013-05-20 02:44:38I hate my birthday.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=275I love my birthday. I hate that I love my birthday. I think it all started because I have a summer birthday. As a child with a summer birthday, it’s a lot like having a birthday on Christmas; everyone’s off doing other, non-birthday things. They are out of town. They are at the lake, the beach, the grandparents’.  The one place they are certainly not? At your six-year old park birthday party in the city’s sweltering 100+ degree heat, playing pin the tail on the donkey and burning their bum on the plastic swings. Ah, poor me, right? I am though, much as I loathe to admit, one who loves/hates to have a fuss made over her. When it comes to my birthday, I’m the worst kind of friend/daughter/wife/sister to have. “Don’t make a big deal of it!” followed a week later by a sharply disappointed, “Why didn’t anyone make a big deal of it?”  I know, I know. I wish I could tell you that this time - on my 42nd birthday - I will be different. I want to tell you that this on this birthday, it will not matter in the least whether my mom calls me, or my sister; I want to say it won’t mean a thing if I don’t get my usual thoughtful gift from my husband, my handmade cards from the kids. Really, I do so want to be over my birthday, but there’s just something that keeps me eternally six-years old when July 18th rolls around, still wondering whether the kids will show up to my party or not. One year – I was probably seven or eight – my mom decided (to help avoid any disappointment) that we would forego the usual summer celebration and instead mark my half birthday, in January. She surprised me by bringing donuts to school for my entire class; every kid let out a squeal of joy like I was giving away trips to Disneyland. I was the hero of the day and it felt amazing, mostly because I had no idea it was coming. That’s the thing with zero expectations – overdelivering is much more doable. Perhaps next year I should have my husband reschedule my birthday altogether and not tell me. It’ll be just like donut day, only we will have mimosas to go with them. Consider yourself officially invited. 2013-05-19 03:05:56Keep Your Family Safehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=261In the midst of grilling season, we would like to take a few minutes to remind our friends and customers about a few safe-handling tips to use each and every time you cook and prepare food. But first, a little background information. The Center for Disease Control estimates that approximately 1 in 6 Americans (48 million people) will suffer from food poisoning illness this year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. As a grocery store chain, we take every precaution to insure our food and groceries are at the absolute highest quality of freshness and safety, but the journey to your kitchen table doesn’t end at our registers. That’s why Save Mart is proud to announce our participation in the Food Safe Families campaign, a national effort with one goal: Raise awareness of the risks of food poisoning and motivate consumers, particularly parents, to take specific actions to reduce their risk and keep their families healthy. This is especially important during grilling season, when the ‘kitchen’ is moved out onto the patio and cooking conditions may be irregular. The campaign offers four simple reminders that will help you keep your family safe:   Clean: Clean kitchen surfaces, utensils, and hands with soap and water while preparing food. Separate: Separate raw meats from vegetables and other ready-to-eat foods by using different cutting boards to avoid cross-contamination. Cook: Cook foods to the right temperature by using a food thermometer. That’s the only way to know it’s a safe temperature. Chill: Chill raw and prepared foods promptly if not consuming after cooking.   For more information and to “Check your steps,” please visit FoodSafety.gov, where you can learn about food safety practices and assess your own. If you have a specific question and can’t find the answer, try “Ask Karen,” an online database with 1,500 answers to specific questions related to preventing foodborne illnesses. We hope you have a fun and safe grilling season everyone! 2013-05-17 09:46:02WHAT I KNOW MY KIDS KNOW. AND WHAT I WORRY THEY DON'T.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=260My eight-year old is in the kitchen. There is fumbling going on, banging. I am trying to encourage self-sufficiency so I keep quiet and listen from my bedroom. One moment passes while I sit on my hands, hold my tongue. “We’re out of paper towels!” she yells out to me. “In the hallway closet,” I yell back, possibly unhelpfully. “Which hallway closet?” she yells back. There are a few things I could say about this exchange.   <ol> <li>We yell more than we should.</li> <li>There is only one hallway in our house.</li> <li>There is only one hallway closet in our hallway.</li> </ol>   Granted, there is a coat closet (at the end of the hallway) which is where my daughter is at the moment, apparently searching for the paper towels among the winter coats and umbrellas.  “They’re not in here,” she yells, muffled by wool and fake fur.  This is when I realize (not for the first time) that perhaps I am teaching my children all the wrong things. Or more accurately, just not covering enough of the right things, the basic things.  Here are the things I know for sure that they know:    <ol> <li>That dessert will likely come after dinner. Negotiation (and veggies) may be necessary.</li> <li>How to respond on the count of three. (right at 2 1/2, usually).</li> <li>Exactly how to drive one another (and me) out of their gourd.</li> <li>That they are loved. Infinitely.</li> <li>How to be kind.</li> <li>How to get through an “adult dinner” with pretty decent table manners and impressive patience.</li> <li>That they are good people. And that they come from good people.</li> <li>Not to approach a dog without asking the owner first.</li> <li>How to wipe.</li> <li>To say please and thank you. </li> </ol>   Things I am not sure they know:    <ol> <li>Where we keep the toilet paper, the milk, the cat food and obviously, the paper towels.</li> <li>That they will sometimes need to work very hard, for no reward at all.</li> <li>That they will lose sometimes. And that it will sting.</li> <li>That people may not like them sometimes and there’s not a thing they can do about it.</li> <li>That life is not fair.</li> <li>How money really works. And how much work is involved to get it, keep it and save it well.</li> <li>The concept of sarcasm.</li> <li>That driving them around is not my actual job.</li> <li>That I think board games are kind of boring.</li> <li>That their tooth fairy pays less than the going rate. And that not all Santa’s limit the gifting to three gifts or so, give or take a coloring book. </li> </ol>   I just want to make sure I cover the important stuff, you know? I don’t want to show up at my thirty-year old son’s apartment one day and discover he can’t tie his shoes or brush his own teeth. Or learn that my daughter never understood the concept of laundry because folded clothes have always magically appeared before her.  It’s a lucky, fortunate thing to be able to give so much to our children. I just want to make sure I’m giving them the right things. You understand, don’t you?2013-05-19 04:11:49Brown Bag Throw-down Cooking Challengehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=258If you were presented with a grocery bag filled with creative ingredients including: fettuccini noodles, artichoke hearts, Gruyere cheese, red wine, butternut squash, colorful bell peppers, rice cakes, Ricotta cheese, and Al Fresco Chicken Sausage Links (Roasted Pepper Asiago and Chicken Apple flavors)….what two dishes would you create?  This was our Brown Bag Thrown-down Challenge for two local Sacramento chefs on Tuesday, June 11th.  Chef Pedro from <a href="http://www.ettores.com/">Ettore’s Bakery </a> and Chef Adrianna from <a href="http://www.ardenhills.net/">Arden Hills</a> started their cooking challenge at Save Mart Supermarket located on Fair Oaks Blvd with CW 31 Good Day Sacramento host Mark S. Allen. Grocery ingredients where secretly picked by Mark S. Allen and chefs took their bag of groceries to the American River College Culinary Kitchen to create their masterpiece dishes.  In approximately 45 minutes, these two talented chefs created amazing dishes for judging and a chance to win title (bragging rights) of Brown Bag Throw-down Champ! I had the tasty opportunity to judge these out-of-this world dishes. The entrées presented were: butternut squash and sausage pasta; breaded stuffed egg served over dumplings; red wine “drunken” noodles with stuffed bell peppers; and butternut corn cakes with sausage and relish topping. WOW! That’s all I can say. How can anyone select a winner? It was a difficult task, but I selected winner based on complimenting flavors, textures, and plating presentation. Special thanks to both chefs as all dishes ranked #1 by my taste buds. And the winner is…..Chef Pedro from Ettore’s for his butternut squash pasta and breaded stuffed egg with dumplings. Take a look at our Throw-down food photos and start your own culinary challenge. Be inspired to cook a new dish for dinner tonight! At <a href="http://www.savemart.com/">Save Mart</a> we’ll help assist you with your grocery needs, just ask us. Our <a href="http://www.igtezine.com/home/index.php">{in good taste}</a> recipe magazine can help you get started.   Happy Cooking! LeAnna Jean2013-05-20 03:00:05When home chooses youhttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=255There was no tree when we moved in. Just an ugly brick wall outside our bedroom window; where the brick met the ground, there was dirt, weeds. Our daughter was one and we planned on moving in a few years time. The house was small, we contended. A few years passed, a son appeared; we tried to sell and move. We wanted more: bigger, nicer, better. It might have been then that I noticed a tree was growing outside of our bedroom window, from the crack in between the wall and the dirt - a skinny tree with bright green leaves shot up, maybe four feet tall. "That can't be a tree," my husband said. I agreed. A tree put down roots here, without our planning it, without endless trips to Home Depot? We both knew roots don't simply appear. The house didn't sell. In the winter, the leaves fell from whatever was growing outside our window. We added onto our house, just a few hundred square feet, but with them, it seemed our need to leave lessened. The now three-year old and six-year old danced noisily on the hardwood floors, taped artwork on every wall and embedded their memories in every square foot. The next spring, the leaves returned. On our tree. "I guess it's a tree," we agreed. It's huge this year, our tree. So are our children. We are still in our house, the house whose roots wouldn't let us go, with the tree who chose us, who kept us blooming despite ourselves.2013-05-18 05:54:51Weighty Lieshttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=252As far as I can recall, I have never lied to my children.   Sure, there’s probably been a “we’re all out of ice cream” or a “the park’s closing” here and there, but generally, I give it to them straight.   Until yesterday.   Like all bombs, this one was unexpected. In the middle of my getting dinner on the table, my eight-year old daughter lobs this one into the air:   “Mom, how much do you weigh?”   Serving dishes in both hands, without skipping a beat, I throw out a number; it’s a good twenty pounds less than the actual, somewhat rapidly ascending number of late.   “Wow, I think Miss H at school weighs more than that,” she responds, impressed.   Miss H, a gorgeous long-limbed nineteen year old, likely weighs what my left thigh weighs.   “Hmmm,” I answer cheerily, “Well, not everyone can be as fit as your mom.”   I do not, under any circumstances, meet the eyes of my husband during this exchange. I don’t have to. We both know that my daughter has a brain for numbers and whatever number I had thrown out would’ve likely been shared with half the second grade by recess the next morning; I certainly wasn’t going to endure our next field trip lunch being stared down by eight-year olds nodding knowingly while I wolfed down my fruit roll-up.   Really, I do my best to not discuss weight or dieting in front of my kids; we just focus on eating balanced meals and getting plenty of exercise. I don’t vilify any foods. Too much of anything can hurt, I purport; moderation is key.   Of course, I don’t always take my own advice. I’ve gotten, as I approach my forty-second birthday, decidedly fluffy.   I will not make that my daughter’s problem, however. I want her to be free to eat well and without hang-ups about her waistline. I want her to stay in the place she is, for as long as she can: loving her body and thinking it is beautiful and perfect in every way – seeing food as nutrition and delight, seeing exercise as sport, as a fun part of life.   As I prepare to hit the cardio and the yoga a bit harder, to limit the sweets and the sitting, I will keep the motivation for that private. I will let her find her own balance – and her own ways to keep it – without suffering the weight of my journey. I will do all of this, even if it means telling a little – OK, a medium sized – lie.2013-05-13 06:31:11No, really. Five is the best age.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=248My son Finn has been five for about six months now and I have to say – even though I say some version of this every year that we add another spindly blue candle to his (Superhero, Spongebob, Thomas the Train) cake – this is really is my favorite age. Just look at what I wrote about him when he was four: “Yesterday was exactly one week since Finn joined his sister at ‘big kid school.’ He is the youngest student in a school that goes all the way to the sixth grade; Finn still has the distinct whiff of diaper cream on him and yet he is rubbing elbows with boys on their way to needing aftershave. It is a delight and a confusing sight to see him here: he is a hit. Everyone loves him and he them, especially the older kids. ‘Hey, Finn!’ the ten and eleven-year olds call to him, patting his little hooded sweatshirt, his 4T pants rolled up so they don't drag on the ground behind him in the cafeteria. He swoons over the girls twice his height and tries to match the stride of the big boys, joking with them, teasing them, and they return his affections in that way that boys do, making crazy faces and grunting like small mammals, which they are. Everyone is pleased with this situation, save Finn's sister, my sweet girl and soon to be seven-year old, Reese, who is completely mortified by the antics of her little brother. And, in addition to being mortified, is also, loving and worried and overprotective. She tells me lunchtime is stressful, at least for her; Finn won't eat enough and he keeps raising his shirt up and dancing at inappropriate times. She doesn't know if she's up to the challenge of maintaining the force that is Finn. And I tell her, she doesn't have to; there are teachers there, aides and helpers, all she has to do is be his sister, his friend, but she looks at me as though I have no idea what I am asking of her. And maybe I don't. Or maybe I do. To love Finn is a full-time job, even for Reese, I guess.” At five, loving Finn is still a full-time occupation, though far less a job. Even for Reese. They have more fun together; he gets taking turns (“OK, we’ll play Family for ten minutes and then Shoot ‘Em Up for ten minutes”) and though he can still be embarrassing, he now has learned empathy too, so the behaviors are milder, sillier, sweeter. He keeps his shirt on. He dances when he’s supposed to dance. His pants no longer sag from his tiny waistline. And he is lovely to be with, so fun. Every sign we pass in the car he tries excitedly to read, absolutely stunned when he gets it right (“Ham-bur-ger? Hamburger? Really?!”) and – while, always an affectionate guy, he now also dispenses the love along with receiving it. Still, the feeling of him sidling up to next me and throwing his arm my shoulder catches me off guard – you’re such a big boy, I want to say, but I hold my tongue, not wanting to embarrass him or break the spell of his ease in the world. What’s also come with five is kindness and an ability to be “the big boy” to smaller kids, to pay forward all the doting he has received. Everywhere we go, there seem to be a line of sticky three-year olds in his wake, wanting to be just like him. Really, from what I can tell, five is the perfect mix of innocence and wonder and the ability to wipe your own tush when necessary. Five is Finn yelling out from the other room today: “I’m a hero! I pulled off my own hangnail!” Yes, you are a hero, Finn. My hero.2013-05-20 00:17:53Live Deliciously with California Fresh Producehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=247With vibrant sunshine, flowers blooming, and the perfect amount of rain- California spring and summer seasons provides plentiful varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables. Save Mart’s warehouses are located in the Central Valley, close to major growing areas. In the summertime most of our produce is grown within 100 miles of our warehouse and 90% of our produce are locally grown in CA, just a day’s ride from farm to warehouse! And just a few days from farm to table! You can live deliciously this summer with California Grown Produce: <ul> <li>Apricots</li> <li>Artichokes</li> <li>Asparagus</li> <li>Avocados</li> <li>Berries (Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries-Spring & Early Summer)</li> <li>Cherries</li> <li>Corn</li> <li>Cucumbers</li> <li>Figs</li> <li>Grapes</li> <li>Leafy Greens</li> <li>Melons (Cantaloupe, Casaba, Crenshaw, Honeydew, Watermelon)</li> <li>Nectarines</li> <li>Peaches</li> <li>Pears</li> <li>Peppers</li> <li>Plums</li> <li>Snap beans</li> <li>Strawberries</li> <li>Summer squash</li> <li>Tomatoes</li> <li>Zucchini</li> </ul> Sizzling Summer Recipes: CA Summer Salad 4 cups mixed greens or baby spinach 1 cup sliced nectarines 1-2 cups sliced strawberries or mixed berries ¼ cup sliced red onion ½ cup cubed mozzarella cheese 2 cups sliced grilled chicken ¼ cup raspberry vinaigrette Sliced almonds (optional) Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon onto serving plates; sprinkle with sliced almonds if desired. Serves 4 Watermelon Ice Pops 3 cups chopped seedless watermelon ½ cup sugar ½ cup water 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Place watermelon cubes in blender; puree. In small pot combine sugar and water; place over medium heat. Simmer 3-5 minutes; stirring. Remove from heat; stir in watermelon puree and lemon juice. Spoon mixture into ice-pop trays, freeze until mushy; insert ice-pop stick in each holder. Freeze until firm. BBQ Chicken Kabobs with Plum Sauce 1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1 ½-inch cubes 4 plums, pit removed, cut into chunks 1 EACH sweet yellow onion, bell pepper AND yellow squash, cut into chunks ½ cup Sunny Select BBQ Sauce ½ cup Asian Plum Sauce Coat grill rack with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat grill to medium heat. Thread chicken, plum, and vegetables on 8 metal or water soaked wooden skewers, alternating chicken, plum, & vegetables. In small pot or microwave safe dish, add BBQ and plum sauce. Heat until hot; stir. Pour ½ cup sauce into small bowl for basting. Grill kabobs 3 to 5 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked thoroughly, turning occasionally and brushing frequently with sauce. Discard basting sauce, if any. Serve with remaining (non-basting) heated BBQ-plum sauce. Serve with grilled potatoes and vegetables, garden salad, and shortcake sandwich for dessert! *Shortcake Sandwich: Sliced pound or angel foods cake layered with whipped topping, sliced peaches, plums, & berries topped with second slice of cake! Yummy Happy Healthy Cooking! -LeAnna Jean2013-05-16 20:25:53Fresh Comes Firsthttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=246Save Mart Supermarkets is passionate about providing fresh, high quality foods to our customers. So much in fact, that it has become priority in our business- “Fresh Comes First!” For produce, the journey from the farm to table is often a long one.  This is not a challenge for our supermarkets. Our warehouses are located in the Central Valley, close to major farming areas…our growers. In the summertime most of our produce is grown within 100 miles of our warehouses and 90% of our produce is locally grown in CA, just a day’s ride from farm to warehouse. Safety and quality inspections are important to ensure product freshness— all produce is checked five times or more for quality and freshness. Then store produce experts check and rotate items throughout the day. Fresh is always on our shelves! We deliver to the stores six to seven days per week and our corporate buying team only buys what we need to ensure freshness. Save Mart’s produce standards are higher than the USDA, it’s our priority to provide fresh! Our priority for freshness doesn’t just stand in produce alone; our meat department provides MasterCut Aged Tender Beef that is hand-cut every day. Our stores have professionally trained meat experts to help you pick out the perfect cut or meat variety. They will also hand-cut something special upon request. Our bakery department bakes fresh breads and cookies several times a day. The deli provides “prepared fresh daily” salads, sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, and hot food items for entrees and side dishes! While strolling up and down our center store isles, you’ll notice clean fully stocked shelves, free from damaged packages and out of date products. Fresh is important throughout the store!  We provide fresh products for you by checking code dates on products daily, rotating product, and keeping the shelves full. You’ll also notice our new Nutrition ID tags on the shelves. This makes it much easier for you to find healthy choices throughout the store. In the journey to bring food to your table, we go the extra mile! We care that your family has the freshest food, that’s both tasty and good for you!  At Save Mart Supermarkets, fresh comes first!2013-05-20 07:09:45Sleepless in Sacramentohttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=240Can a girl go eight years without a good night’s sleep?   OK, I’m exaggerating, but I honestly feel – and when I dare take a good look under these baggy eyes of mine – look as though it’s been a good long while since I slept well.   There’s a reason they don’t tell you during your first pregnancy check-up that your sleep will be interrupted mostly every night, for the next eight to ten years.   In the beginning, of course, it’s understandable. This baby needs to eat, after all, and poop and cry and be too hot or too cold or too cranky to sleep. But then you get through that, and the baby (OK, he’s two!) is sleeping (sort of) through the night except for you needing to lay in his bed for a long time to get him to sleep in the first place (who needs sleep training, you say!) whereupon you wake up at some point (after your favorite show is long over!) with a crick in your neck and a promise to yourself that tomorrow night you will say a firm good night from the doorway.   And then, you have another baby.   Fast forward five years and you have me. This morning, at 4:30 am, I unfurled myself from a snoring five-year old (who had crawled in at some point unannounced) and a scratchy cat. My husband was breathing somewhat loudly. Our almost ten-year old dog on the floor kept making heaving sounds with her arthritic self, wondering what the heck was wrong with us all and why couldn’t we keep it down.   I know this will be like everything with raising young kids – just when you think this is your world, it changes on you. One day, I will be well-rested, bag-free – but I will miss falling asleep rubbing the back of my eight-year old, I will miss my five-year old telling me sleepily how much he loves me, how much he loves Superman.   Perhaps sleep is overrated.2013-05-20 03:31:29Earth Day at Save Marthttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=239We strongly believe in taking one day out of the year to celebrate our beautiful planet, and this year is no exception. So, in honor of Earth Day, we’ve got some environmentally friendly deals we’re going to pass on to our customers. They are:   <ul> <li>20% off all <a href="http://www.fullcirclefoods.com/">Full Circle Organic products</a></li> <li>Buy-one-get-one-free organic compost (available year-round)</li> </ul>   We really hope you enjoy saving on the things you need to eat healthy and improve your garden, but in order to truly celebrate Earth Day we feel the need to give something back to the environment as well.   The importance of preserving our natural resources and surroundings cannot be overstated; it’s great to show our appreciation for nature today, but a real commitment to sustainability is a year-round effort. For the 12th year in a row, Save Mart has won a Waste Reduction Award Program title for our efforts in sustainability, specifically reducing landfill input by nearly 60 percent and 85,000 tons annually.   Energy efficient buildings, our reusable bag program and our aggressive process of plastic and cardboard recycling practices are a few ways we show our commitment to sustainability all year long.   We understand that conservation is a process, and it’s constantly evolving, so what would you like to see us do in the future? Sound off in the comments.2013-05-16 06:13:59Just the Two of Ushttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=237I lost my temper.   We had driven to the snow for the weekend. It had been the usual drive that drives are with kids – lots of are-we-there-yet’s and numerous requests for snacks, quibbles over what to play on our perilously strung DVD player, half-hearted sing-alongs and games of I Spy; by the time we made it to the cabin, up the snow-covered stairs and into the mud room, I was simultaneously cold and sweaty. As I tried to remove everyone’s boots, my eight-year old asked for something (Gum? An answer to an economics question? Whether she could use the bathroom?) and I could feel my patience give way like a levee. I yelled something at her; I really don’t know what I said – something about can she see that I needed a moment here – but whatever it was, it was enough to provoke a bursting into tears.   But they weren’t her tears; they were her five-year old brothers’.   “You can’t talk to her like that!” he stood, speaking firmly to me, defending her.  “You shouldn’t raise your voice. You should say sorry to her, Mom!” he demanded, huge crocodile tears rolling down his face onto his snowsuit, his ski hat askew, a tiny Robin Hood in a parka.   She and I both stared at him, stunned.   I apologized, of course. In my quest for a fun family trip, I had lost the point of it all: the fun. As we hugged, the three of us a pile of insulation, I realized the long hoped for shift had happened: they had each other’s backs.   After all, during the past five years of normal sibling squabbles – she got more, he got more, it’s not fair, he picked last time – I’ve often said to them: Remember, when the chips are down, your brother, your sister will always be there for you. Take care of one another. Look out for each other.   Of course, I imagined they would be standing up to a bully on the playground – not to me, an overwrought, impatient Snow Shrew. But still, once I got over feeling terrible about being so terrible, I felt great for them.   It’s them against the world, I hope – even when I’m the world.2013-05-20 00:38:50Dinnertime is the (second) best time.http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=235I want to be that mom that can look in the fridge and spy four lonely ingredients and combine them with a douse of olive oil and create a meal the entire family will devour appreciatively. Instead, I am the mom that ends up microwaving chicken nuggets for one child, mac and cheese for the other and finds herself standing at the sink at nine at night consuming a bowl of cereal, wondering how I missed the culinary gene so completely.   It’s sad, right? Pathetic even.   Cooking, especially in 2012, is something anyone with a couple of bucks and access to the internet should be able to achieve fairly easily. Shall I call it an affliction then, the fact that you will hand me a perfectly serviceable chicken, a bunch of potatoes and carrots and I will return them to you several hours later as a barely recognizable, mostly inedible mush?   When the kids tell me they “don’t want any,” I can’t blame them. I don’t want any either. Thus the bowl of cereal at 9pm.   I do have my moments of grace in the kitchen though, none of them particularly healthy or easy on the midsection: guacamole (my Dad’s recipe), oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my mom’s + some help from the inside of the oatmeal box) and mashed potatoes (lots and lots of butter.) One can see that a family cannot live on my few culinary capabilities; so I am forced to rise to the occasion regularly, taking on a new recipe from allrecipes.com or some rediscovered, battered cookbook.   Occasionally, there are victories: a meal that turns out tasting and looking good to those under (and over) the age of eight. Lasagna, a baked ziti, tri-tip; I keep these successes in my back pocket like a lucky rabbit’s foot, reminding myself that I am capable, that being perfectly pedestrian in the kitchen does not have to be my forever fate. More is possible.   However, I have to say, regardless of my lack of talent, we do sit down for dinner as a family almost every night and though the cuisine might often lack, the comedic value of the event never does. There’s occasionally a reenactment of something that occurred on the schoolyard that day, or perhaps a scene out of a beloved family film. Often there are knock knock jokes with answers that beguile and confuse. Always there is inappropriate language, talking with the mouth open, laughter and multiple inquiries regarding dessert. There is feeding of the dogs from the table, several bathroom runs (with requests for company) and rarely - but it does happen - someone falls out of their chair.   These are the reasons, as much as I fear and loath cooking, I really adore dinnertime.   Almost as much as I adore bedtime.2013-05-19 18:09:53March is National Nutrition Month!http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=232National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. For more nutrition information visit <a href="http://www.eatright.org/">www.eatright.org</a> A few tips and recipes to “Get Your Plate in Shape”: <ul> <li>Serve half your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables.</li> <li>Replace high calorie and sugary packaged snacks with fruits and veggies.</li> <li>Display a fruit bowl on your kitchen table or counter filled with apples, bananas, and oranges.</li> <li>Have a variety of produce available in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Best choices are often made when good for you foods are readily available. <ul> <li>My favorite “Must Have…Keep in Stock Items” <ul> <li>Refrigerator: Baby carrots, lettuce, cucumber, celery, berries, cilantro, and chopped onion</li> <li>Freezer: Mixed vegetables like stir-fry and Southwest blend, sliced bell pepper, artichoke hearts, chopped onion, broccoli, green beans, sweet peas, sliced peaches, and berries</li> <li>Pantry: Low-sodium diced tomatoes, green beans, corn, canned fruit in fruit juice or lite-syrup, and apple sauce</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> Caramel Apple Salad 4 green or red apples, chopped 1 banana, sliced or diced ½ cup raisins ½ cup blueberries ¼ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt ¼ cup reduced-fat granola, if desired 2 tablespoons caramel sundae topping   Add fruit to medium size bowl. Stir in yogurt; mix to coat. Sprinkle with granola, if desired.  Just before serving drizzle with caramel sauce. Keep refrigerated.  Yummy treat for breakfast, snack, or dessert! Serves 4   Chilled Pesto Salad 2 cucumbers, sliced ½ cup sliced red onion 1 red, yellow, or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1 tomato, sliced or chopped ¼ cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt 1 tablespoon prepared pesto Shredded Parmesan Cheese to taste   Add vegetables to medium bowl. Mix yogurt and pesto; add to vegetables and mix. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if desired.  Serves 4     Rustic Rutabaga Mashed Potatoes 1 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled and cut into ¾-inch pieces 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 1 small rutabaga (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into ½-pieces ¾ cup low-fat buttermilk or reduced-fat cream ¼ cup chopped green onions Salt and pepper to taste   In large stockpot, add potatoes, garlic, and rutabaga; cover with water and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. In colander, drain cooked vegetables and return to stockpot. Add remaining ingredients; with potato masher, mash to slightly chunky consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 82013-05-18 03:06:33The Price is Right at Save Mart Supermarkets!http://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=231<a href="http://www.savemart.com/priceisright"> <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7PFRSmKy9VY?showinfo=0;rel=0;autohide=1;theme=light;wmode=transparent" width="500" height="284"></iframe></a> <h1><a href="http://www.savemart.com/priceisright">Already know how to play? Click here.</a></h1> Who didn’t watch Price is Right as a kid? Who doesn’t watch it now as an adult? It’s one of the all-time classic game shows, and now you can play at your local Save Mart! Sure, it might be more fun to go up on stage with Drew Carey, to drop that Plinko chip or to spin the wheel to get to the Showcase Showdown, but with a one-in-five shot at winning some fabulous prizes, this in-store game is TOO GOOD to miss! Check out the details on prizes and how to play below, but get to Save Mart and pick up a game board soon – this game lasts from March 14th to June 5th. Good luck! Prizes: Remember, one in five wins! <ul> <li>$1,000,000   Grand Prize</li> <li>Hundreds of other cash prizes</li> <li>House Mortgage </li> <li>Kitchen Makeover</li> <li>Convertible</li> <li>Cruise Vacation</li> <li>Thousands of other great prizes</li> <li>Almost $2 million in Instant Win Prizes</li> </ul> How to play: Head down to your local Save Mart store and pick up The Price is Right game board. They’re free, fun, and you can win a million dollars so definitely don’t forget to grab one! While you’re there, do some shopping – every $20 gets you a Game Ticket. Your checker will automatically calculate how many Game Tickets you’re due, so don’t worry about keeping track. ***Note – Sponsored items will be marked at the shelf throughout the store, and buying each of those items gets you an EXTRA Game Ticket with minimum $20 purchase. Woohoo! Take your tickets home and open them up. If it’s an Instant Win Game Ticket, then you’ve won! Redeem the prize next time you’re in the store. Same for coupons and free game pieces. If it’s an Internet game code, go to <a href="http://www.savemart.com/priceisright">http://www.savemart.com/priceisright</a> to enter your code and see if you’ve won! If it’s a regular Game Ticket, peel off the sticker and apply it to The Price is Right game board in the appropriate spot. Keep collecting for the chance at MILLIONS in prizes! Don’t forget to check the “How to Play” section on the inside of your game board for more details on game play and claiming your prizes! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mysavemart">And of course, if you ever have any questions through the course of your Price is Right experience, ask us on Facebook</a>. Thanks so much for shopping at Save Mart and GOOD LUCK!2013-05-20 04:05:00If you let me playhttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=230You probably haven’t seen this ad lately: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ_XSHpIbZE&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ_XSHpIbZE&feature=related</a>   Pretty great though, right?   I didn’t grow up playing sports. I was the only daughter of a single mom. We lived with my grandmother in an urban area; my main running was for the public bus, and later, from bullies.   No one “didn’t let me play” – it just wasn’t an option.   I probably would’ve been terrible anyway; I am one of those people who bump into things not even remotely in her way. In fact, it would appear I go out of my way to bump into things. Some mornings I wake up with a bruise and I don’t bother trying to figure out where it came from; I know where it came from – it came from my mostly uncoordinated movement through life.   When my daughter was born, it was quickly apparent that she had inherited my coordination, or lack thereof. But no one told her that. On the contrary, actually. Her dad played soccer with her from the time she could kick a ball; we danced crazily every night in the living room as a family; she went hiking and skiing and inner tubing, all before she was seven. Now eight, she just played her fourth season of soccer and her first season of basketball. She is starting her first season of softball.   I rarely see her without a ball in her hand. Or at her feet.   Often I pass by her purple and yellow room and she is standing up, reading a book while dribbling a ball around the floor with her feet. In the mornings, the moment she finishes her chores, she is throwing a ball against the hall closet, practicing catching it with her mitt. When we get home from school, she races to the hoop in our driveway and shoots a dozen shots, sinking most of them.   She has run several races already. Medals and trophies line her shelves.   But her biggest accomplishment, I think? I have never seen a more confident young girl.   I’m not crediting sports for her kind heart, her admirable math mind or her good humor. But I do think the fact that we let her play, that we encouraged it even, helped plant the seed of what I see so clearly in bloom in her now: a steely strength around which everything else revolves, around which everything shines brighter. There is a core belief in her, a way she moves through the world that says she knows where she’s going and that she’s strong enough to get there. It’s led me to believe that sports have given my girl the ultimate win: she likes herself.   And what more can we ask for our girls? For us all?2013-05-18 09:23:52Pools of Hopehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=227      Geralyn Broder Murray, East Sacramento resident, writes about her family's favorite community pool. Learn how you can help save the pools with just a "Like" at the end of the post :)   Our pool is not really our pool; it’s everyone’s pool – Bertha Henschel Pool in East Sacramento.   Our kids think it’s theirs though, and that’s true too.   When you live in Sacramento, home of the 100+ degree summer, you need a pool to call your own and Bertha is ours. She’s a wading pool, really, and our kids are now 8 and 5; technically this summer they are too old to wade, but wade they will. They’ve been screeching and splashing and floating and running through “the mushroom” – a towering raining fountain of fun – since they were infants. I brought them to Bertha in their little swimsuits, lathered in SPF 300, or something close to it, and I laid them down on towels and bravely donned my own suit, too – so I could be there while their tiny hands held tightly onto my index fingers and their strong, chunky legs trudged from one side of the pool to the other.   The last few years, the pool has been open less and less, yet another victim of budget cuts. This heroic effort of Save Mart, to save our pools, is an act I’m holding onto like a security blanket; the idea that there is a company out there looking after our lovely little community, ensuring that there will be more summers like the ones my children have been lucky enough to take for granted all their lives, seems to me like hope for all of us. The community pools have always been the place everyone is welcome, where childhood can take flight, where the joy is in the pruney toes and the nubby towels – the water somehow freeing both young and old from their shells, their fears. To know that for one more summer at least, thanks to Save Mart and our community working together, these treasures of ours are safe – it’s like when my son finds out the day’s lunch menu is a corn dog and says, meaning it with all his heart: “This is the best day ever!”   That’s exactly how I felt when I heard the news about Save Mart saving the pools: this is the best day ever.     To help the cause give us a "Like" on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mysavemart?sk=app_188683041232257">Facebook</a> and we'll donate $5, or visit <a href="http://www.savemart.com/saveourpools">savemart.com/saveourpools,</a> and make a donation yourself. Please share this article with your friends! 2013-05-19 15:44:26Lucky in Lovehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=225This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to write something about keeping the romance alive in your marriage, or maybe about how I wish I could be cute and crafty like all those folks on Pinterest and amaze my family with heart shaped soaps or a waffle made to look like a real live Cupid. But when I sat down to write, this letter to my husband came out instead.     I almost didn’t meet you.   I came so close to settling for someone else, even though that someone else spent most of his time making me feel like I was the gum on the bottom of his shoe and the rest of it flirting with airline stewardesses and drinking cranberry and vodkas while I waited for him to deplane.   Oh, what was I thinking?   Then there was the day I was running out of the house and my father confronted me with my sadness, with my poor choice in company. It took a few months, but eventually the pain of being together was worse than the thought of leaving and so I drove away and managed to stay gone.   A year later, in my away place, we met.   You know it was the back of your head that I saw first and - I know you don’t believe me - but it was at that moment I fell in love with you. It took a few dates before your kindness, your humor, your confidence convinced me this absolutely couldn’t be love.   Love couldn't possibly feel this good. This, happy?   But it can. It still does.   You make it easy to be with you. To love you.   Every single thing that’s happened to me in the last decade, is better because of you. You teach me with your tone of voice, your respect, your tenderness, your drive to do what’s right, what’s fair, no matter who is watching.   You are the best person I have ever known. And together, we have made my other two favorite persons.   You are not a hearts and flowers kind of man, but I spend every day in your presence feeling cherished, feeling lucky, feeling loved.   But for the grace of you, go I.   Happy Valentines’ Day, Sweetheart. 2013-05-19 22:53:25Help Save Mart Save Our Poolshttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=224In Sacramento, taking the family to the neighborhood pool in the summer isn’t something people put a lot of thought and planning into, they just do it. They do it because it’s refreshing, because it’s fun, because they’ve done it their whole lives. Energetic kids and triple digit temperatures, it’s a natural fit. But due to budget cuts, the City of Sacramento is faced with having to close many community pools, and pretty soon everyone will be thinking about it.   The challenge: The City does not have the money to keep the pools open so it’s up to the people and businesses of the community to step up and raise or donate the funds. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/us/07pools.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all">story even made the New York Times</a>.   The response: Save Mart is committed to working with the City to help keep the pools open.  Save Mart is working directly with City officials to lead an effort to raise money to cover the operational costs of keeping the pools open. This was an easy decision, as it is our policy to support the communities where we are located and one of our core values is helping parents raise healthy kids. The community pools in Sacramento are a big part of the community, and an even bigger part of the lives of many families.   Are you interested in keeping the pools open? Here’s how you can help:   <ul> <li>Visit your nearest Save Mart or FoodMaxx store in Sacramento and donate at checkout. Save Mart will match ANY donations from individuals, groups or companies for up to $500,000 total. </li> <li>Visit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mysavemart?sk=app_188683041232257">Save Mart on Facebook</a> and click the “Like” button on our Save Our Pools tab. We’ll donate $5 for every “Like” between February 28 to March 13. Do you already “Like” Save Mart on Facebook? No worries, we’ve created a special button specifically for the pools here (link). </li> <li>Text POOLS to 80888 to make a $10 donation.(Available to AT&T and T-Mobile customers now; Sprint and Verizon customers in March)</li> <li>Show your support by purchasing Save Our Pools sponsored items identified throughout the store.</li> <li>Visit <a href="http://www.savemart.com/saveourpools">www.savemart.com/saveourpools</a> to donate, and for more info on business donation opportunities. </li> </ul>   We want to thank all of you in advance for supporting this cause. No kid should have to grow up missing those experiences of his first swimming lesson, the first cannonball into an ice cold pool, or even the first time hearing a lifeguard yell a well-intentioned “No running!” Every kid needs to have those nostalgic memories of the smell of sunscreen, of Mom taking her through the mushroom fountain, and the nap afterward. Every family deserves those experiences.   Please share this post with your friends on Facebook, and help Save Mart Save Our Pools this summer.2013-05-19 20:25:05Dinner Topicshttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=223You may have seen <ins datetime="2012-02-08T10:07" cite="mailto:Erica%20Rau"></ins>Save Mart tossing out the phrase Dinner Topics on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mysavemart">Facebook</a>, or #DinnerTopics if you follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/SaveMart">Twitter</a>. We’re happy to see that they have sparked some conversation among our fans and followers, which was our intention. But the idea behind Dinner Topics is much bigger than just thought-provoking questions, it’s a celebration of the beloved family dinner.   Everyone is busy these days, even the kids. There are families with two working parents<del datetime="2012-02-08T16:48" cite="mailto:Logan%20Mayville"></del>, soccer practice, and there are always social engagements we just can’t seem to get out of almost every day of the week. It’s getting tougher to get the family together regularly, but after doing a little research, you would be surprised how “worth it” regular family dinners are, check out some of the finer points below.   <ul> <li>It’s healthier to eat dinner at home. This seems obvious but there are a lot of factors that go into this statement. First, parents are able to control portion sizes, which is a huge element in fighting obesity. Additionally, since parents are able to control what their kids are eating, it’s a perfect opportunity to introduce new foods. Talk to your kids about the new item on your menu; take time to convince them if they are skeptical. This is a great chance to get you<ins datetime="2012-02-08T10:10" cite="mailto:Erica%20Rau">r</ins> kids to love vegetables. </li> <li>It’s more economical to eat dinner at home. On average, a meal out is $8 per plate, while a meal at home is only $4.50! That can really add up fast. </li> <li>It’s great for child development to eat dinner at home. When children are very young, the dinner table is one of the only places where they can participate in adult conversation. They will learn news words, sentence structure and many other speaking nuances they can only pick up from using adult language. </li> <li>It keeps teens out of trouble to eat dinner at home. Without sounding too much like a PSA, it’s proven that teens that attend family dinners five times a week are much less likely to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. </li> </ul>   There are<ins datetime="2012-02-08T16:48" cite="mailto:Logan%20Mayville"></ins><del datetime="2012-02-08T16:48" cite="mailto:Logan%20Mayville"></del> actually thousands of reasons to have regular family dinners, so in the spirit of our Dinner Topics posts, what’s your reason for gathering your family for dinner?2013-05-19 11:38:21Finn at fivehttp://www.savemart.com/blog/index.php?id=214This is my five-year old son, Finn. He is breaking my heart right now because I know I’m not doing right by him.   I’m not "getting" him.   He needs more something right now and I don’t know what – or who – it is. More boundaries? More time-outs? More time-ins? Or simply more time?   He is crotchety and tearful; one moment he is testing, pushing me with his words teetering on the boundaries of rudeness and knowing it – the next he is in a puddle of tears in my arms because a friend bumped into him unknowingly at a rough and tumble birthday party, Finn normally being the most tumble-y of all.   “He is my bestest friend and I can’t believe he hurt me!” he yells out to me, outraged tears rolling down his cheeks faster than his small hands can wipe them away.   It doesn’t matter that the child in question is not his best friend or that it was not a planned slight. Just like it doesn’t matter that the banana I cut up for his waffle this morning looked to me, perfectly fine. It doesn’t matter that when the Broncos won the wildcard game, I picked him up out of sheer joy and spun him around the room.   “Mom! You didn’t ask me first!” he protested loudly while I twirled, wriggling out of my arms and onto the floor, scowling at me.   This is my love, my sweet boy and at this moment, he and I are both reeling on a new growth curve. Something is happening, a shift, a phase that will most certainly pass and we will soon get back to comfortable ground where we both know he is fine. We will go back to knowing that a game of UNO will make things right again, that a bath will calm him, that making homemade pizza together will be just the thing to get our groove back. We will find our way to smoothness again. We will figure our what exact adjustments need to be made to help continue his journey into becoming the lovely, kind young man he is - with luck - destined to become.   But right now, today, it is a gravelly road. These days are like the first ones, the ones when you don’t know what your new baby needs and you try everything – binky, blanket, rocking, walking – just to find the exact right combination, the stumbled upon secret that will comfort him, that will mother him just the way he needs to be mothered so that he can comfort himself, so he can feel safe enough to become OK. To one day become his best him.   I imagine this road of every now and then discomfort, of new, surprising winding parental off-roading, doesn’t end at five. Or fifteen. It's the curvy road of parenthood where just when you think you know your direction, your handling, your speed - your GPS is turned upside down and sidewise and all you have is your love and devotion to get you both through.2013-05-19 16:46:13