Bulk Barn to the seven-year-old me meant tubs and tubs of candy everywhere I looked. Remembering the sensation of opening up one of the plastic lids and scooping the glistening gummies into plastic bags with the heavy metal scoops is so nostalgic. Even the smell of the store brings me back to those days when I thought Bulk Barn was a candy store. Now, I walk in eager to get my hands on things that the seven-year-old me never knew existed. Bulk Barn may have evolved with the tastes of the increasingly health-conscious consumers or maybe they have always stocked these superfoods and I just never bothered to notice. Regardless of what you are there to buy, remember to bring lots of reusable containers like glass jars and yogurt containers so we can all spare the planet a few plastic bags. When you walk into the store, have the cashier weigh them for you; they will mark the weight on your container and you can fill them up instead of using the dangerously thin plastic bags and twist ties.
Goji Berries
These berries are mildly sweet with a slight creaminess to them; these flavours come together wonderfully for a Gojiccino as the brilliant inventor Jen Low realised. In addition to making hot beverages with them, you can add them to smoothies, yogurt, porridge, and salads. One tip I have is to soak them until they are plump and rehydrated first or they might get impossibly stuck in your teeth!
Tart Cherries
These dried cherries are so adorably round and full of personality. They can add variety to your dried fruit selection if you are bored of raisins and dried cranberries. After my year of experimental brewing of water kefir, I discovered that these cherries add the perfect punch of flavour to the fizzy drink. Because these cherries are so sweet and tart, they make the water kefir taste more like soda than figs or goji berries do.
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast in bulk means that you can stop buying cheese from the deli section. Bring a bucket with you because Bulk Barn has a bottomless pit of nooch for you to scoop from. Buying it in bulk is a great way to save money and on packaging. Those tiny little containers of nooch never last me very long so, personally, this is a huge game-changer. You are going to be able to make everything taste like cheese without making any cows sad. Sprinkle it over toast, avocados, quinoa, salad, popcorn . . . anything and everything really. If you have the time, try making vegan nacho cheese; it tastes so much better than the fast food version and you will feel much better about eating it with a spoon.
There are many variations of the vegan nacho cheese recipe on the internet but the version I made is simply 2 parts boiled potatoes, 1 part boiled carrots, 1 part water, and as much nooch as you want (the more you add the cheesier it will be so I suggest you just dump it in there). Finish with olive oil and salt. Blend it all together until it looks like nacho cheese. Trust me, it will. I have not even been missing real cheese and this is coming from a cheese lover.
Pearl Couscous
One of my dearest friends is very particular about many things and told me how important it is to her that she eats giant couscous and not regular couscous. She is absolutely right. The big ones are so much more fun to eat; a bowl of this will make your food look like a ball pit especially when accompanied with colourful vegetables. You will be able to take “playing with your food” to the next level. Bonus: it is ridiculously easy to prepare. All you have to do it pour boiling water over it and let it sit!
Soup Base
Sometimes it is just not worth it to make a vegetable broth from scratch. Examples include: if you climbed a mountain, just got home from a late night out, and are exhausted from a long day no matter what you were doing. Keep some of this broth powder on hand and add a bit to noodles, soup, quinoa, and stews for a quick fix. Luckily for us, Bulk Barn includes the ingredients of the products they sell so find one with ingredients you can confidently ingest.
Tomato Flakes
Like a cross between sun-dried tomatoes and dried chili, these tomato flakes can add a dash of flavour, colour, and texture to your food. Keep some of this on hand to liven up avocado toast or pasta. A little bit of this will go a long way so if you are heading off to buy some, a small container will do!
