MICKY
Organic Kiwi
Many people cut a kiwi in half and scoop out the flesh, but did you know you can eat the skin as well? Did I just blow your mind? You can now consider this delicious, on-the-go fruit your new go-to for quick and easy meal and snack packing. No utensils required! The added bonus is you’ll also maximize your nutrient load by eating the skin since that’s where the fiber and vitamin C are concentrated.
KAIT
HiBar Maintain Shampoo and Conditioner Bars
HiBar Shampoo and Conditioner Bars are a lovely way to reduce plastic in your life AND give your hair a treat! The Maintain bars are a perfect balance between cleansing and moisturizing hair, and they smell amazing. I only need to wash my hair once per week when using these bars (saves a lot of water when you have a lot of hair!) and the conditioner makes it soft and smooth. HiBar is based in St. Paul, Minnesota and they have stopped nearly 4 MILLION plastic bottles from ever existing! I Hi-ly recommend HiBar!
STEFFRY
Chocolate Shoppe Exhausted Parent Ice Cream
LOCAL AND DELISH!!!! I can’t even put in to words how much I love this ice cream! It’s THE BEST ice cream EVER. Perfect for a quiet moment or an after dinner snack. Let’s just leave it at Bourbon Spiked Espresso....... YUM!!!!
El Rey Tostaditas Lemon Nacho Tortilla Chips
LOCAL!!! And DELICIOUS!!!! The amount of seasoning is perfect and they hold up under all the nacho fixings you can put on them!
Mrs Meyer’s Basil Hand Soap
This is such a clean ingredient product and it smells so good. The smell is not overpowering and leaves your hands feeling clean and not dried out.
FRANTSESKA
GoMacro Protein Paradise Cashew Caramel Macrobar
It’s local (Viola, Wisconsin!), tastes amazing and has 11 grams of protein! It pairs well with my morning coffee. It’s a great bar to have on hand when you’re on the go.
LAURA
Carr Valley Glacier Wildfire Blue Cheese
This locally made cheese has a soft, crumbly texture and dots of (not too hot) red pepper are sprinkled throughout the beautiful blue veining. It’s super affordable and makes a great addition to salads and sandwiches or can be served on cheese boards with roasted tomatoes, peppers, olives and salami. Each piece is lovingly hand-wrapped by your devoted cheese department staff. Available at Willy West only.
MATT
Auricchio Moliterno Cheese
Moliterno is a sheep/goat milk cheese from the town of (you guessed it) Moliterno in southern Italy. Its surface is rubbed with olive oil as the cheese ages, and its flavor is similar to good Spanish Manchego, but with a nice tangy bite. Highly recommended! North and West only.
Hidden Springs Creamery Wischago Cheese
The Wischago is a loving homage by Hidden Springs Creamery to Manchego, Spain’s most popular cheese. This cheese is wonderfully firm and flavorful and is pretty swell grated over savory dishes or straight dipped in olive oil. As a very low-moisture cheese, it’s also a traveler’s best friend.
Organic Ataulfo Mangos
These are killer mangos. When they’re in season, I go on a strict all-Ataulfo diet. They have to be perfectly ripe, borderline wrinkly, with the give of a ripe avocado. Eating them with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some salt may overload your pleasure centers. And they’re packed with vitamins A and C, so your doctor, friends, and health-tracker robots will thank you too.
ALMA
Wyman’s Wild Blueberries
The perfect frozen blueberry: strong flavor and itty bitty so more blueberries per pound. Also purported to have a higher antioxidant concentration than the standard blueberry, due to its smaller size and lower water content. But even if they don’t have 2x the antioxidants, they have 2x the flavor.
Mountain Valley Spring Water
Bottled in the Ouachita Mountains at the source, this spring water has a wonderful mineral content and is stored in hand-blown glass. Plus, I have to admit, when I’m missing the Arkansas Mountains this makes me feel closer to home.
KRISTI
Honey Mama’s Lavender & Rose Cocoa Truffle Bar
I feel like a queen bee when I treat myself to one of these beautiful chocolate bars. They are made in Portland, Oregon with seven simple ingredients: raw honey, cocoa powder, coconut meat, unrefined coconut oil, salt, lavender oil, and dried red rose petals. If you’re like me and need to work on prioritizing your pleasures, you should start here. They make a great gift as well (just remember to keep refrigerated)!
THAYER
Fever Tree Ginger Ale
Great ginger flavor and the right amount of fizz! I love the 150 ml can size as I can easily slip it in a lunch bag and it’s the perfect portion.
NICK
Rushing Waters Wild Alaskan Salmon Burgers
These burger patties are made from wild-caught salmon and produced locally in Palmyra, Wisconsin. They are great for a quick week-night dinner option, or even better for an elevated breakfast as the main component in a salmon benedict! A tip: put these straight on the grill or skillet frozen, and they will remain intact when they are finished cooking!
Bell & Evans Whole Chicken
These air-chilled, hormone-free birds are every bit as flavorful and tender as any farmers’ market chicken you will find. Buying a whole chicken is also the most economical way to feed a large group, or have leftovers for the week! I like to remove the backbone and roast in the oven or indirectly on the grill to expedite the cooking process.
Willow Creek George’s Kielbasa
I like grilled brats as much as the next Wisconsinite, but if I had to choose between a brat or this kielbasa on a bun, I choose the kielbasa every time. It is slightly more seasoned than a traditional brat, with lots of garlic and pepper to cut through any toppings you may wish to add. I recommend not par-boiling these before grilling, they will cook fast and crisp up better when placed on the grill raw.
KRISTINA
Solely: One Whole Organic Banana with Cacao
This product line has been featured by other staff members as well. It is a great way to get your fruits in an easy to carry way. However, I have come to LOVE this specific offering. It tastes like a dessert and really gives me energy during that afternoon slump. I purchase it by the full pack and keep it on my desk daily.
Vitruvian Pea Shoots
I love this product because I was getting tired of normal lettuce based on texture and it was going bad quickly in my fridge. I tried these pea shoots and it changed the texture of a salad and spiced up the taste. They are similar in texture to microgreens. In addition, it lasted probably twice as long as traditional lettuce in the fridge. It is a great way to change up and/or add to your salad routine.
KJERSTIN
Willy Street Co-op Ranchero Salad
Piquant and super fresh-tasting salad! Full to bursting with delicious ingredients. I can’t seem to eat it slowly enough to savor.
AMY
Quorn Meatless Patties
What is a “Quorn,” you ask? it is a fermented fungus called Mycoprotein, which is not as bad as it sounds. Its a more sustainable protein source than chicken and it’s just a delicious and chicken-y in your mouth. Try an easy Quorn Parmesan: Just put one on top of your pasta and red sauce and broil it for a minute with some mozzarella on top. Fanc-easy! OR, google celebrity Drew Barrymore (E.T., Firestarter) for many more Quorn recipe ideas!
KATHERINE
Milwaukee’s Best Petite Dill Pickles
IDK about you but my mouth starts watering when I start thinking about pickles. These are the perfect little salty crunchers to add to your plate, or just eat as a snack right out of the jar.
Jolly Llama Ice Cream Cones
I ALWAYS have these in my freezer. They’re gluten-free. They’re vegan. They’re amazing. It’s the ice cream cone you’ve always dreamed of and never thought you could have again in your GF DF days. The future is now.
CAITLYN
Willy Street Co-op Juice Bar’s Cold Brew
Our Juice Bars have some potent cold brew if you are looking for that extra spring in your step.They use locally roasted Just Coffee beans too.
SHANNON
Plant Boss Meatless Crumbles
When I first saw these shelf-stable crumbles, they conjured up traumatic memories of dusty old burger mixes from the dark days of meatless options. However, I was totally impressed with the texture and flavor absorption. These crumbles rival any plant-based protein you can find in the freezer section and they’re totally organic. They’re also from Frontier, so you know the flavored versions are using the best spices available!
MOURNING DOVE
Organic Mini Sweet Peppers
Vitamin C-infused snackin’. Great on their own or for dipping. I like to pop off the tops and fill them with a mixture of smashed avocado, garlic, and chopped dates.
NATE
Tillamook Ice Cream (all flavors)
I first had this ice cream while visiting my brother in Oregon where he lives an hour away from the creamery. The flavor profiles are all top notch and the texture is one of the smoothest and creamiest I’ve ever encountered. I believe they add extra cream to get this consistency. Treat yourself; you deserve it.
AMANDA
Madame Chu Ginger Garlic Sauce
This is a must-have staple in our fridge. I use it all the time. It is perfect to add to vegetables and/or meat. The flavor is great! Madame Chu balanced the flavors of garlic and ginger in this locally made sauce. You can tell that she puts her heart and soul into these sauces. Try all three!
TIM
Gaia Holy Basil Leaf
Stress. Inflammation. Their downstream effects are the root of many health issues both physical and mental. Holy Basil, also known as Tulsi, is my general-purpose pick for the human condition due its gentle, well-tolerated support of a healthy stress response. An herbal deep breath, Tulsi will always remain in my personal top five for emotional well-being.One of Gaia’s cleanly CO2 extracted, 363mg liquid soft-gel capsule provides an equivalent to 2,650mg of the dry herb.
ABIGAIL
Wisco Pop Organic Cherry Soda
It’s the vanilla beans and cinnamon for me! This soda is so darn yummy, so much so that Wisco Pop describes it as “complex and pretty much tastes like cherry pie cooling on a breezy windowsill.” Wow. Organic and local to boot. Give it a try!
Grillo’s Dill Pickle Spears
I was so stoked to see that Willy North now carries my favorite pickles—Grillo’s!! I already had four jars of various pickles in my fridge, but I could’t walk past without grabbing these. These are an awesome, traditional, Italian deli-style dill pickle. So crispy, crunchy, and fresh! They are made from a 100-year-old recipe, which is pretty cool. I recommend opening a new container over the sink as the pickle juice likes to spill out a little. I also recommend you use these pickles in a fried pickle recipe.
Rishi Loose Leaf Tea Filters
Of course I love using these with my favorite Rishi teas (cinnamon plum and blueberry rooibos if you were wondering) BUT they are also useful for creating my own bath infusions! I like to put some fresh herbs from my garden, dried herbs, or even green tea in these tea bags, tie up with some twine, and pop it in the bathtub with my epsom salts. It’s a great way to take your bath up a notch. Biodegradable too!
ETHAN
Willy Street Co-op Vegan Smokey Black Bean and Sweet Potato Salad
Great mix of tangy and light spiciness, this salad is an excellent side for tacos or any grill-ready food.