Whole Foods Coupon Match-ups (2/7) & Sweet Probiotic Coupons!

Just a few deals I picked up at Whole Foods this week. With all of the travel for work this past month, I haven't done much shopping however I have been clipping and saving coupons! Please keep in mind the prices are based on my local WF in Northern California and may differ in your neighborhood store.

Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Breeze: Normal Price was $1.99 however the Whole Deal (WF in-store coupon book) has a $1 off 2 containers. Mambosprouts also has a printable coupon for $1 off 2 containers. Stack them together and you get two containers of almond milk for $0.99 each! 50% off!

Celestial Seasonings Tea: I found a coupon in a box of tea! Combining the $1 manufacturer coupon with the Whole Deal $1 off coupon and the $3.99 box of tea became $1.99! 50% off!

Nasoya Extra Firm Tofu: I am still surprised when I find a coupon for tofu in the newspaper but sure enough I found a $0.75 off one product in a paper in this last month. Combining this with the $1.25 Whole Deal coupon and my $2.99 organic tofu became $0.99 - a 66% savings! Even if you don't have a manufacturer coupon, the in-store coupon is a great deal by itself.

Fig Foods Co. Soups: These soups are delicious and made with real food. I found a $1 off coupon for three containers on MamboSprouts and combined it with a $1 off three from the Whole Deal. These soups are a bit pricier but I think the ingredients and taste make them worth it so when I find a deal, I stock up! The soups normally retail for $3.49 and after discount were only $2.82 each.

365 Everyday Value Dried Organic Garbanzo Beans: If you really like to save money, buying dried beans is probably already something you do. It saves a lot of money over buying canned, and while I keep a couple cans around for busy nights, I try to buy dried when possible. Using the Whole Deal coupon for $1 off a 1-lb (16oz) bag of dried garbanzos, I paid only $1.79.

Finally, if you are a probiotics fan and haven't checked out the GoodBelly 12-day Challenge, you need to sign up now! You get two coupons when you sign up that are really valuable and another one at the end of the challenge. Trust me on this one!

Cinnaholic: Cinnamon Roll Addiction Defined

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cinnamon Roll from Cinnaholic

There is something about the smell of a fresh baked cinnamon roll that relaxes the soul and brings a smile to the face of this exhausted debate teacher. After teaching every day for seven days straight and listening to numerous debates about space exploration, I needed a dosing of dessert. Consulting Yelp for assistance in my quest, Cinnaholic stood out as a must-hit after reading rave reviews and scoping out the Yelp-mobile special offer.

Located in Berkeley, at the base of the Cal campus, Cinnaholic offers some of the best tasting cinnamon rolls that have graced these lips. Colleagues who have had the opportunity to dine with me this weekend, were also surprised to learn that everything at Cinnaholic is vegan! And there are a lot of ways to customize these fabulous treats.

You can order the basic roll and top it with a variety of icings and toppings to make your own fun combinations. My first roll was topped with a hazelnut icing which complimented the subtle cinnamon notes and doughy goodness, packing a full-flavor punch. I polished that first roll off in a matter of minutes! No, seriously, while my colleague waited for his roll to bake (they really do make them fresh for you) I managed to polish mine off and even contemplated licking the box. Note that if you have the Yelp mobile app and check-in at Cinnaholic, they currently have an offer for a free icing or topping!

The toppings are also quite fabulous. I ordered a specialty roll today which included several of the toppings off the menu. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough roll has icing, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, and a vegan cookie dough on top. The toppings melt into the roll making each sweet doughy bite a flavor explosion of cookie and cinnamon roll. This roll was so rich, I could only finish half of it in one sitting and am saving the rest for late night snacking. The specialty menu also includes some other flavors I can't want to nosh on like Mocha Almond and Rocky Road.

In addition to the basic roll, the design-it-yourself options, and the specialty rolls, Cinnaholic also has Specialty Pie Rolls complete with a brown sugar & oatmeal crumble on top. And if you can't finish off the full size roll, there are Baby Buns (mini versions of the full-size rolls), cookies, and brownies. And if you only want a bit of sugar, you can buy frosting by the shot!

Make sure you grab a frequent punch card, even if you think you will only have one roll. After one bite, you will be back again and again for more!

Can't make it to Berkeley to enjoy the goodness? After scoping out their Web site, I learned that you can also order Cinnaholic products online! However, if you can get out to the East Bay, Cinnaholic is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (closed on Mondays) at 2132 Oxford Street.

Fave Five and a Progresso Soup Giveaway

About a month ago I received an opportunity to try 15 different Progresso soups courtesy of Progresso and MyBlogSpark. Much like any other product I have investigated, I needed to ensure that this baby lived up to my standards by trying all of the different soups out. A couple of versions have been travel staples of mine for years (who doesn't love a giant pop-top can of soup for under 150 calories after a long day of work?), but there were new flavors to explore as well!

Before I give you my five favorites, I wanted to let you know that Progresso is currently giving away a makeover trip for two to New York. Just click here and you can enter to win until March 15. There are also printable coupons that you should definitely check out (I know I have).

While every soup I tried was pretty tasty for canned soups, I will confess to doctoring a couple by adding extra veggies. Bulking up canned soups is an easy way to up the fullness factor and sneak in some extra goodness. Whether it's adding a can of no-salt-added green beans, pouring in some frozen mixed veggies, or tossing in some fresh spinach... I love to sneak in the vegetables.

My five favorites, in no particular order: Traditional Chicken Barley, Light Zesty Southwestern-Style Vegetable, Light Chicken Noodle, Light Italian-Style Vegetable, and Light Chicken and Dumplings. I am a sucker for the light soups... and who can blame me? If you are counting Weight Watcher points, you are looking at a zero point snack for a cup of warm goodness. A whole can is less than 200 calories!

All of the soups were full of flavor, unlike some other light soups I have tried. Depending on the soup, many are MSG free. Some don't have soy and some are vegetarian. I'll give the calories/fat/fiber/protein for my five favorites, but I would encourage readers to check out labels before purchasing soups to consume.

The two vegetable soups both made great sides to grilled cheese sandwiches. The Italian-Style has pasta while the Southwestern-Style has beans. Both had lots of vegetables and flavorful broths. The Chicken Noodle and Chicken Barley were filling with big chunks of chicken and chunky vegetables. I enjoyed the mini dumplings in the Chicken and Dumpling soup, it took me back to my grandmother's Hungarian dumplings. I only with they were bigger and there were more of them. However, I guess that would defeat the purpose of it being a light soup?

MyBlogSpark and Progresso were kind enough to offer one Uncovering Food reader an opportunity to try out a couple of soups for free! One reader will receive a gift box containing two Progresso soups, a super sweet Progresso mug (that holds the whole can of soup... love it!), and a jump rope that measures the number of jumps you do (can't wait for the knee to heal to try this bad boy out). In other words, see that picture above this post? That's the promo picture I was sent of the giveaway!

So how can you be the lucky winner?

1. Post a comment saying one SOUPer thing about yourself. I think it is important that we take pride in ourselves so I want to know why you think you are amazing.

2. Follow Uncovering Food and let me know you are on the list *wink*

3. Share the giveaway with your friends! Link back or cc me in an email if you don't have a blog. You can also tweet about the giveaway for extra chances (no more than once a day!) and make sure you include @UncoveringFood in the tweet!

The contest will end on March 7th at 11:59pm PST. I should be all done with the massive debate tournament I am hosting and life should begin to normalize again. Luckily, I used the Progresso coupon to stock up on some soups so I will not starve this week :o)

Nutritional Stats for my Fave Five (all stats are for the full can... because let's not kids ourselves, one serving is not enough! if you want the stats for a one cup serving, just divide these in half):

Traditional Chicken Barley: 160 calories/2g fat/4g fiber/14g protein

Light Zesty Southwestern-Style Vegetable: 120 calories/1g fat/8g fiber/6g protein

Light Chicken Noodle: 140 calories/3g fat/4g fiber/10g protein

Light Chicken & Dumpling: 160 calories/3g fat/4g fiber/12g protein

Light Italian-Style Vegetable: 120 calories/0g fat/8g fiber/4g protein

me: unavailable

It wasn't intentional that after a long absence, this fabulous beverage was my first feature back. While I would love to blame the light fruity bubbly beverage for my being unavailable, instead I will say it was an inspiring way to come back!

As someone who has been avoiding most soda-type beverages due to their inclusion of artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup, it was refreshing to stumble upon a beverage that lacked these offending ingredients. With other intriguing names including curious, vivacious and uninhibited, I picked up the four pack of ME's unavailable. With only 70 calories for the can, this beverage hit my sweet spot without killing my sweet tooth.

Unavailable is a dragonfruit blackberry flavored beverage whose primary ingredient is sparkling water. I loved the packaging design but also the sales pitch: "The unavailable individual has a strong personality, confident in their position and inner strength. They are a bit intimidating, perceived to be unapproachable, yet they offer a great deal of beauty and insight." Who doesn't want to be included in that description!

The other reason I picked up the package was the amazing deal I found. The 4-pack was on sale and had a $1 coupon attached. While I can't secure you the $1 coupon I found in stores, I did find a 75 cent off coupon on their web site!

Not sure which drink will fit your personality? Check out their Match Me quiz! Oh and don't forget to sign up to get free stuff!

Ingredients for unavailable: Sparkling filtered water; fructose; white grape, clarified dragonfruit, blackberry and lemon juice concentrates; citric acid; fruit and vegetable juice (for color); natural flavors; oligofructose; erythritol.