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Health and Wellness

A Healthier You!

We think food is fun, and great food is available to all of us. It's easy to make smart choices from every food group. If you remember that old food pyramid...well, it's been updated recently, and the emphasis is on adapting it to your own life, your own preferences...actually, custom-tailor it and make it work for you.

It's simple: there are five food groups and oils. Good health suggests you eat a variety of foods from each group each day. Here's a brief overview of how to do it.

Grains: make half your grain choices whole grains. These include food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or other cereal grains. Whole grains are whole wheat flour, oatmeal and brown rice.

Veggies: variety is key. Any vegetable, any way: raw, cooked, fresh, frozen, canned or dried/dehydrated or in 100% vegetable juice.

Fruits: same as veggies in any form.

Milk: calcium is critical. All milk products and many foods made from milk, such as cheese and yoghurt.

Meats and beans: lean protein. These inlcude beef, pork, poultry, fish, dry beans or peas, eggs, nuts and seeds.

Oils: these are liquid at room temp. Canola, corn or olive oil. Nuts, olives, avocados and some fish, like salmon, are usually rich in oils.

Pharmacy Refills Made Simple

Convenient: Use Your Phone

We make it simple to refill a prescription at our pharmacies. All you need to do is call the pharmacy phone number printed on your prescription label and follow some simple prompts. These will lead you to enter the prescription number on the keypad of your phone.

Our efficient automated system will confirm your prescription number, and give you a date and time when the medicine will be filled and ready for pick up: usually within a few hours. If a doctor's order is needed on a prescription that has expired, you can indicate to have us contact your physician. You will also be asked to confirm if you will be picking up your prescription, if you have any other prescriptions to refill, and a phone number where you can be reached if we have questions. This system can accept refills 24 hours a day.

If it's easier, you can also bypass this automated system and speak directly to our qualified Pharmacy staff, who will take down the information you need to get your prescription. This personalized service is available while the Pharmacy you are calling is open for business.

In any event, we treat your prescriptions with the utmost concern for your privacy and safety. You can be assured that our Pharmacists will provide you with information on your prescriptions, too, and welcome your questions about your medications. You can also do a self-check for blood pressure readings while you visit, and seasonally, we offer flu shots for a nominal fee.

Our Pharmacies are located in Mt. Vernon, Burlington, Meridian, Sunset, Southside Bellingham, Wenatchee, Selah, Moses Lake and East Wenatchee.

Great Food In Hand: Now How Do You Prepare It?

Check Out These Websites

You can put together a terrific meal when you stop by any of our stores and pick up entrees that are ready to heat and serve. Our creative chefs are full of inspiration and ahead of the curve on the latest foodie trends. But sometimes you want to jump into the adventure of preparing your own meal from scratch. You have all these fresh, wonderful, intriguing ingredients: now what?

Check out some of the top sites for recipes on the internet. You can hunt down specific recipes, discover new favorites, or even select an ingredient and see what the site suggests for preparation. Long on zucchini? Puzzled about porcini? Grousing about (more) ground beef? Answers await you!

Here are some of the most popular food sites that are sources for thousands and thousands of recipes.

Smart Choices From The Food Groups

It's not difficult to make the small changes that add up to smart choices in today's food groups. Here are some quick tips to incorporate into your daily meals that can make a big difference.

Grains: Make Half Whole

Start off with oatmeal or whole grain cereal, and follow up throughout theday with whole grains in stews, casseroles or stir fries. These whole grains would include barley, bulgar wheat and brown rice. Make your sandwiches on whole wheat or oatmeal bread, and try snacking on popcorn or whole grain crackers.

Veggies: Variety is Key

The darker green, the better. You can add frozen chopped spinach or turnip greens into a pot of soup. Trade out the potato chips alongside your sandwich for crunchy fresh broccoli or red and green pepper strips. Always have a baked potato? Sweet potatoes are loaded with nutrients and can be jazzed up with plain yoghurt and spices.

Fruits: Nature's Desserts

With so much variety in the fruit department, there's always something to tempt a jaded palate. Fresh fruits in season are always best, and cost less, too. Snacks at work can include an apple or banana for a quick energy boost. Teach your kids to go to the fruit drawer first for satisfying flavor.

Milk: We Need Calcium

You can sub out low-fat or fat-free milk for water when you're preparing canned soups or hot cereals. Yoghurt comes in so many varieties and flavors, and is versatile enough for a veggie dip or a substitute for sour cream. Learn to love the lean cheeses (parmesan, gruyere) and flavor your latte with low-fat milk.

Meat and Beans: Creative Protein

You think dinner, you think beef as a default star of the meal, but there are so many excellent protein options. Go beyond pork, poultry and fish to focus on beans, eggs, nuts or even seeds, all proteins that offer variety. Remember that broiling, grilling, roasting or poaching are all better choices than frying, and shed the visible fat and skin from your meats and poultry for heatlhy eating.

Oils: Liquid Fat

That doesn't sound too appetizing, but we need some oil in our diet. Easy to get in a healthy way by using vegetable instead of butter for cooking and baking, subbing out salad oil instead of salad dressing, and adding a little avocado to sandwiches or salads.

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