July is here, and you know what that means – grilling season, backyard barbecues, and the upcoming Labor Day holiday! Our family loves this time of year, not only is the weather gorgeous, but grilling season is the best!

We grill everything from steaks and hamburgers to vegetables and fruit to dessert. These Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sliders are a twist on the typical buffalo chicken.  We often cook a few chicken breasts in the Slow Cooker and add barbecue sauce for a super easy dinner. But since my husband and boys all love the buffalo wing flavor, we decided to change it a bit.

Feeding our family the best ingredients possible is our number one goal. And using organic ingredients makes that possible.

We began by grilling the chicken breasts, since there was going to be lots of flavor from the Wild Oats Marketplace Buffalo Wing Sauce, we only added a little salt and pepper while grilling. After they were cooked, which only takes about 10 minutes, then we let them rest. It’s important to let meat rest after cooking so the juices are redistributed.

Then the chicken is shredded with forks, and the Wild Oats Marketplace Buffalo Wing Sauce was added. We used almost the whole bottle on 3 chicken breasts, keeping some to add to the sliders.

For me, the softness of buns can make or break the sandwich. So we used Hawaiian dinner rolls, which were the perfect size for the sliders.

To assemble them, we added Wild Oats Organic Ranch Dressing and a few pepper rings.

You can also use a Slow Cooker to fix these Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sliders. Place the chicken in the Slow Cooker, add the buffalo sauce and cook on low for 4 hours, then shredded the chicken and serve on buns.

Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sliders Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes     Cook Time: 10 minutes   Yield: 12-14 sliders
Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 (2 oz) bottle Wild Oats Marketplace Buffalo Wing Sauce
• Wild Oats Organic Ranch Dressing
• Pepper Rings, optional
• Buns

Instructions

1. Preheat grill to medium heat, cook chicken for about 10 minutes
2. Remove from grill and let rest for about 5 minutes so the juice redistribute through the chicken
3. Shred chicken with forks and place in bowl
4. Add buffalo sauce, reserving some to add to sliders when serving
5. Serve on buns, with Wild Oats Organic Ranch Dressing and pepper rings, if desired

Local farmers’ markets are increasingly becoming community gathering spots, with live music, food trucks and much more. Small farmers have been joined by start-up entrepreneurs who are offering a cornucopia of products ranging from homemade pretzels to pickled green beans.

Food safety regulations for these types of enterprises are largely governed by state law. Many state legislatures have responded to the surge in home-based food businesses by enacting new Cottage Food Laws, which allow people to produce limited amounts of commercial products in their kitchens as long as they have undergone a training and certification process.

County and local health officials generally have responsibility for monitoring the compliance of farmers’ market vendors with all food safety regulations, including the provisions of Cottage Food laws. But these local health officials are often stretched thin. And, as the sun drives summertime temperatures to the top of the thermometer, food displayed in open-air tents can turn bad quickly.

Knowing who produced the food you buy is one step in assuring that you are providing the best for your family. It’s important to takes some extra steps as well. Here are some tips:

• Make sure the vendor is displaying food properly. Samples should be displayed in a manner that prevents cross-contamination. Vendors should use toothpicks or food-grade cups for samples to prevent shoppers from picking up samples with bare hands.
• Vendors handling any type of un-packaged prepared food should be wearing appropriate food-handling gloves, or taking other procedures to keep from touching the products with their hands.
• Vendors sampling potentially hazardous food like meat and seafood are required to keep those samples below 41⁰F or above 135⁰F.  You likely won’t be carrying a food thermometer with you at the market, but use your senses to determine whether the samples are cold or hot enough.
• Even when buying fresh, organic produce at the market, look for a spot to wash it before eating. After all, numerous hands handle the food between the field and your shopping basket.
• Take care of your food after purchase. It’s tempting to put your shopping bag in the car, and then head back to the market to enjoy some music or supper, but food can spoil quickly in a hot car.
• Farm-fresh eggs at farmers’ markets are generally unwashed. This provides extra storage life, but you’ll want to wash them before using.

Nothing tastes better than biting into a fresh peach from a local grower at the farmers market. But a few common sense steps will make sure that the peach doesn’t bite back.

While we’re always thinking of new and exciting natural and organic products here at Wild Oats, we like to hear what our customers are craving.

Which affordable organic products would you like to see Wild Oats make? Let us know on our Twitter or Facebook page and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win a Wild Oats prize pack!

To share on Facebook, simply comment on our Mission Monday post by 8:59pm PT/11:59pm ET tonight to be entered to win!

To share on Twitter, tweet us with #WildOatsMission and #sweeps by 8:59pm PT/11:59pm ET tonight to be entered to win!

Full Sweepstakes rules and details can be found here: bit.ly/1DoNN9U

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Jane Iredale
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One Love Organics Cleansing Sponge
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Zuzu Luxe Liquid Liner
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The 4th of July is my absolute favorite holiday of the year. Parades, picnics, a proudly displayed flag, fireworks, and of course, the time when my wonderful wild blueberries are finally ready for picking.

And there’s no better excuse than a 4th of July picnic celebration to have some real fun with your food. In fact, a pallet of healthy hues (of red, white and blue, of course) will let you show your colors at any Independence Day festivity, even if it’s just a family backyard barbeque.

The easiest way to proudly show your colors is with a patriotic-themed parfait or sundae dish. Simply lay blueberries and strawberries within alternating layers of hard vanilla ice cream, or, homemade whipped cream.

Hack alert: Into a lidded Mason jar – or empty mayo jar — pour one cup of whipping or heavy cream, add a couple tablespoons of powdered (not granular) sugar and a couple drops of vanilla extract. Making sure the lid is on tightly, vigorously shake by hand. It took me around two minutes to make a Cool Whip-type consistency topping. I popped the jar in the freezer for a minute between rounds to rest my arms and chill it up a bit. The result was fast and really delicious!

Another way to make an eye-catching patriotic dessert is to top off a cake or pie with blueberry “stars” and banana and strawberry “stripes.”

If you want to take this the gourmet route, you can use Bing or cooking cherries, raspberries, watermelon, or even cranberries in a crunch. The white presence can always be achieved via a thick whipped cream or hard vanilla ice cream or even marshmallows. The blue tones are somewhat restricted to blueberries — or blackberries, in a crunch. However, some creative blue coloring can be added to whipped cream.

But for a quick patriotic presentation, one that kids will have fun with too, try a “flag sandwich.” On a slice of white, wheat or oat bread, place a thick covering of quality strawberry jam (one without high fructose corn syrup) or cream cheese. Next, arrange your blueberry “stars” in the upper left-hand corner. Then create stripes by using either banana slices if you’re using strawberry jam or strawberries if you’ve opted for a cream cheese base.

(Note: when making the above sandwich, be sure and press your blueberries and strawberries down a bit into the cream cheese or they’ll be rolling off your bread).

Or, for an eye-catching patriotic party platter, try this:

Cover a very large platter — or, better yet, a large round serving tray — with wax paper. Place a single slice of banana at the center point. Place a halo of halved strawberries – of similar size – around the banana slice, lining up the strawberries end-to-end, fat end to thin end. Now, carefully place two rows of blueberries around the circle of strawberries, keeping the thickness of the blueberry circle uniform. The circles of fruit should be lightly touching one and other. Now, it’s on to a circle of banana slices. After that, just keep on going with that concentric pattern. Each circle gets larger — and the colors jump out.

Serve with toothpicks and a drizzle of saucy glaze, such as this one from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind (optional)

In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and add grated orange rind. Allow to cool, but not set up. Spoon over fruit. Chill for two hours.