Whole grain bread--healthy, satisfying, complete nutrition in a single slice of bread. As far as food choices go, there is little that tops that. Alvarado Street Bakery have been making breads with "as many organically grown ingredients as possible" for over 20 years. They have mastered the art in many forms from a plentiful selection of specialty breads, bagels, pizza bread, rolls and buns, tortillas, and granola and are now delivering it to your door from their website.

For the diabetic in your life, you can choose their Diabetic Lifestyles Bread. Their recipe was submitted to the Glycemic Research Institute in Washington, D.C. and the Institute said that it was "clinically proven to be Low Glycemic with a Low Glycemic Load when fed to diabetics." For those struggling with this in their family, this is an easy "grab and go" product also available in stores to make your life easier. It didn't taste any differently than other whole grain breads and that was a big plus to me. Sometimes it is tough for little ones to always have something different than those around you.

Their specialty is sprouted wheat and is found in most of their products. Sprouted wheat is exactly what it sounds like--sprouted wheat berries or the whole grain of wheat. This is how they use it: "We take whole, organic wheat berries and soak them in filtered water until they "sprout", until they actually begin to grow. When the excess water has been drained, we grind the "living sprouts" into dough. What comes out of our grinder is not a dry powder, but a wet and mushy dough that becomes the basis for all of our recipes. The sprouting process naturally converts starchy grains into easily digested maltose and other complex sugars. There is enzyme activity created during germination that begins to "pre-digest" the grains, thereby making the grains and their nutrients and vitamins more readily assimilated by the body." It also tastes fantastic. Their breads are moist and meaty. I never feel guilty eating a slice of bread from Alvarado because I know there is so much goodness in it.

A personal favorite of ours is the Sprouted Wheat Raisin Bread. With cinnamon, organic raisins, and allspice, this is delightful as a breakfast bread and is even better as French toast. They also have a cinnamon raisin bagel. At only $2.29 to $2.49, their five varieties of bagels are actually less expensive than their white flour counterparts. Their breads are all listed on their website for only $2.29 as well. These are excellent prices for such high quality nutritious breads.

Alvarado Street Bakery is a company striving to do business in a healthy responsibly way that is good for the land and good for our bodies. Their choice to use as many organic products as possible reveals their desire to buy from farms that use the earth as good stewards ought. It also reveals their desire to feed their customers the very best product they can. Wholesome and nutritious, Alvarado Street Bakery is highly recommended for a healthy balanced diet.

Product review by Kate Kessler, Product Reviews Manager, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February, 2010