In the mood for a probiotic jumpstart to your day? How about a quick snack or a major dose of reggae? Look no further; this week's OnMilwaukee.com Recommends has you covered.
Pita Bites (black olive-and-feta favored) – The most appealing aspect of these crunchy pita crackers is how distinct the feta cheese taste is, which is amazing considering how far down on the ingredients list it falls. These snacks have zero saturated fat, zero trans fat and are cholesterol free, but you're probably not supposed to eat the entire five-ounce bag in one sitting if you want to truly consider them to be a healthy snack. I'll work on that. In the mean time, buy a bag of these delicious crackers for yourself at Outpost. – Molly Snyder
Gregory Isaacs – The Ruler: 1972-1990 & Sugar Minott – Hard Time Pressure (17 North Parade) – These triple-disc sets are part of VP's Reggae Anthology series and they're a pretty damned good start to the program. Each set captures the long and influential careers of two late Jamaican singing greats on two CDs and adds a concert DVD to spice things up. Folks can quibble about what should and shouldn't be included in these kinds of greatest hits packages, but the running order son both of these are pretty The Isaacs DVD, especially, captures its subject in his prime, kicking it in London in 1984 with Roots Radics, before what would turn out to be a long difficult road ahead for the Cool Ruler. The quality of the hour-long performance more than makes up for the fact that it was transferred from VHS. The Minott DVD is of higher quality but shorter. It, too, features a stalwart backing band; Soul Syndicate in this case. Add in attractive packaging and informational liner notes and you've got great retrospectives or intros to two of the great voices of reggae – Bobby Tanzilo
Rockin' Wellness – Looking for a great way to start the day? Rockin' Wellness is a super food shake containing cacao, goji, maca, hulled hemp seed, chia, flaxseed, lecithin, green tea,
yerba mate, vegan probiotics and more. Conceived by a music tour manager fighting cancer and a musician with adult muscular dystrophy, this blend of super foods was created to help "aid in weight maintenance and provide a healthy probiotic blend focusing on pure plant-based nutrition." Rockin' Wellness leaves it up to the customer to tailor the use of the powder for their personal needs. I personally like it for the "zoom" from the maca, green tea and yerba mate. Some days I rock it hardcore by blending two scoops with ice and water. Other mornings I'm more inspired and cook up a rockin' pancake made with oat bran, an egg, spices and coconut oil. My yummy Wellness smoothie uses light coconut milk, a frozen banana and the Rockin' Wellness powder blended for a creamy treat. – Lindsay Garric
Playlist shopping – The lesser-known, music version of closet shopping, playlist shopping is my go-to willpower tool when I feel like buying new tunes. Just from scrolling through my iTunes (or, if I'm feeling archaic, sifting through my CDs) I've discovered whole albums I completely forgot I had. Between the memories each song brings back and my surprise that I still remember so many of the lyrics, I completely lose the urge to go spend my hard-earned cash on whatever new music sensation I convinced myself I had to have. Go ahead and try it out – you can always use the money you save to buy me a thank-you present. – Renee Lorenz
Barthel Fruit Farm - It's that time of the year. Pumpkins, apples and more. Luckily, we have plenty of pick your own options in the greater Milwaukee era. I do, though, really like Barhel Fruit Farm, 12246 N. Farmdale Rd. in Mequon. It's an easy drive from Downtown, and once there it provides a good balance of commercial and non commercial. If you like the inflatable toys, hay rides and petting zoos this isn't your place to pick apples. But, if you love the open air, friendly people and good prices then get to Barthel's this weekend. A huge bag of pick your own apples is only $17. The golden delicious are perfect, and there were even a few honey crisp still in the orchard and many already bagged for you in little store area. More here. - Jeff Sherman
Weiman Glass Cooktop Cleaner – Keeping my glass stove top has been a battle since I first moved in, six years ago. Warm water and a little soap isn't strong enough and I didn't want to chance using Forumla 409 or some other abrasive household cleaner. About two years ago, I started using Weiman's cook top gel ... but it's a little on the expensive side and not practical for everyday use. That's when I found Weiman's Daily Cleaning Spray and my stove top has never looked better. A quick spritz after every use and and a weekly scrub leave my glass stove top looking like new all the time. – Andrew Wagner
