Beyond National Peanut Butter Day—Field Day’s got yours January 26, 2012

Another National Peanut Butter Day has passed. Sure, one special day is nice, but peanut butter lovers know that peanut butter isn’t just a one-day event—it’s a universe unto its own. EVERYthing tastes better when peanut butter’s on the scene. What’s your favorite peanut butter delight? Is it cookies? Candy (including fudge)? Peanut butter and crackers? How does Puppy Chow, the Snack, grab you? (Our recipe box holds one more fave where PB is the star of the show—friend Leona’s streusel coffeecake. To die for!)

The jar with the red lid holds Field Day's crunchy peanut butter, the jar below it contains smooth PB. That bowl next to the jars is roasted almond butter.

Crazy how things work out. On National Peanut Butter Day, UPS rolled up to the curb and delivered a box full of goodies Field Day wanted me to try: cereals (you’ll hear more about them another time), and their crunchy and smooth peanut butters. Their timing was spot on!

It’s true that daughter Heather and I have to stay away from PB. Roasted almond butter from our organic food co-op is PB’s delicious understudy at our house. It’s a great alternative for folks who have an allergy or intolerance to that Great American Food.

Even with my intolerance to PB, I had to try this comfort food. In no time, I’d screwed off the lid, removed the safety seal—and oh, the aroma released into the kitchen! I grabbed a spoon to stir the oils back into the peanut butter, then took a bite. I remember you, I thought, but you were never this good. THIS is what peanut butter should taste like! Each bite is chock full of peanuts. And why not? Field Day puts nothing into their PB that gets in the way of great taste. Just two ingredients—organic peanuts and sea salt. No sugars, no distractions.

I’ve sung the praises of other Field Day products—their buttery round crackers, and their pastas. As far as I know, PB is a new arena for them And I couldn’t be happier for all the folks looking for healthy, safe foods to feed their families. Field Day’s on a roll now—let’s hope they plan to add even more choices to their already-impressive catalog of foods.

As for me, I’m loyal to a brand whose food is both delicious and healthy; affordable; and wears the USDA organic seal. Field Day goes beyond—their products also wear the Non-GMO Project Verified label. AND their PB jars are BPA-free jars. I don’t know too many companies that build in all those “safe food” features!

If I’m ever able to eat PB again (not on the sly, like a couple days ago), know that Field Day’s PB is the one I’ll buy. Good eats!

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Why Black Rice should be a regular on your dinner plate January 23, 2012

Know what’s great about grocery bulk departments? You get to try a food you stumble upon to know if you like it. Take it for a spin, kick the tires. Last week when daughter Heather spotted Forbidden Rice, a newbie in our organic food co-op‘s bulk section, she bagged enough for a dinner or two, and memorized the cooking directions taped to the front of the bulk container. It’s what was for din that night.

We don’t love everything new that we try. Millet’s a good example. Just don’t care for it—even though it’s got one fine nutritional profile. Quinoa, another nutrish dish, did make the cut. It’s welcome on our dinner plates, just about any day of the week.

Back in the day, I used to think that Uncle Ben’s rice was the gateway to nutrition. Uhh, no. All rice is not created equal. Take white rice. Tastes good, but, up against brown rice, it doesn’t stack up.

Then there’s Forbidden, er, black rice. It leaves  Uncle Ben’s,  basmati, and brown rice back at the paddock. Know what black rice is? It’s a super-superfood! Tastes pretty good, too. One-quarter cup of uncooked black rice begets

• Minerals, substantial

• Iron and amino acids, goodly sums

• B vitamins, fair amount

• Vitamins A and C. zeroes out

• Fat grams, 1.5

• Carb grams, 34

• Fiber grams, 2

• Calories, about 160 per serving

Sure impresses me—how about you? We’re all paying more attention to foods with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties these days. Black rice’s got ‘em, protects against the Big 4 diseases Americans worry about most—heart, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s. If you want to age more slowly—well, black rice is there for ya, baby!

Black rice has a long history in Asian cultures. Only emperors were allowed to eat it—hence it’s “forbidden” moniker—and commoners would find themselves in a world of trouble if they managed to get hold of, and eat, it. Today, black rice is available to everyone who wants to eat healthy foods.

Baked chicken seasoned to near-perfection!

The beautifully cooked chicken Heather baked last week actually tasted better than it looks. She gets quite a few meals out of a bird that size. In fact, some of the leftovers went into the black rice salad. So did red onion and avocado and one of our fave salad dressings. Healthy doesn’t always taste yummy. Sure did that night!

Our first-ever black rice salad. See the white chunks? Baked chicken!

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Heavenly breakfast food: Homemade buttermilk sausage biscuits with blueberry “gravy” January 13, 2012

Breakfasts at our house are, typically, organic fruit followed by proteins like organic bacon and eggs. Daughter Heather and at least her sister Robin, and maybe her brother, love biscuits and gravy. Back in the day when we did fast food, they’d get their fill of them.

Sort of in honor of those breakfasts, Heather changed up our routine-but-delicious breakfast yesterday with homemade biscuits (no gravy, but stay with me) made with Beeler maple extract flavored sausage. Man, were those biscuits awesomely good! We’ll have the rest of them tomorrow.

From start to finish, it took about 45 minutes:

• Sausage–She thoroughly cooked the sausage, drained it, and let it cool.

• Biscuits–Next, she made biscuits from a fairly standard buttermilk biscuit recipe. She used butter only and organic flour.

• Buttermilk–Because we’re not buttermilk drinkers, Heather makes her own when recipes call for it. Easy-schmeasy: Add 1 T of vinegar or lemon juice to measuring cup, then fill the cup with regular milk. She used So Delicious coconut milk, which works beautifully well. The concoction sat for 5 or 10 minutes, while “it did its thing.”

• All together now, 1, 2, 3–The cooled sausage went into the dough after she added the buttermilk.

• Finishing touches–Before baking, she brushed each biscuit with melted butter, then sprinkled kosher salt and cracked pepper on top.

Bake time!

Homemade buttermilk biscuits with Beeler sausage baked inside

Remember, Heather loves her gravy…on just about everything but especially on biscuits. In the interest of eating healthier, she didn’t press for gravy, but wait! How’s this for a substitute? We’d just bought a container of fresh organic blueberries at our food co-op.  The second after Heather mentioned adding blueberries to the dough next time around, I said, “Why wait? Let’s put ‘em on the outside!”

• Blueberry topping–My original thought was to macerate the berries. Bad plan! Their skins don’t lend themselves to that approach. So, Heather grabbed the saucepan, instead, and, in about 10 minutes, we were spooning “blueberry gravy” over warm biscuits.  She placed one-third to one-half of the blueberries into a saucepan, along with 1 tsp. of sugar and 2 T of water. On medium-low to medium heat, she cooked the berries for about 10 minutes. To make sure the fruit didn’t scorch, she hovered nearby, stirring the mixture occasionally
  

  Fabulous blueberry gravy on homemade buttermilk biscuits filled with sausage! Y-U-M!

  .

• Dough-prep tip–Heather learned from a cooking aficionado that placing dough fairly close but not touching helps the biscuits rise and not spread out. So as not to handle the dough multiple times—which makes biscuits tough—she rolls the dough into a rectangle, places it directly onto a cookie sheet, and pats it into shape, then cuts them into squares.  Minimal handling makes the biscuits tender and flaky.

Heather doesn’t often pat herself on the back when she prepares knock-your-socks-off dishes. When I asked her what she thought of these biscuits, she said, “It’ll sound arrogant.”

“Go ahead,” I pushed. “I want to know what you think.”

“I think they’re awesome!”

She’s 100% right!

Jeff Kontur’s Vegetarian Manwich Recipe January 7, 2012

Jeff Kontur guest posts today, and shares his new food creation. When he’s not in the kitchen, Jeff is a freelance copywriter and business builder. Among his many hobbies and interests, he loves photography and experimenting in the kitchen. Jeff lives in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, three kids, three dogs, two cats, tree rats and three chinchillas. His latest book, Fat-Free Marketing is available completely free from his website www.FatFreeMarketingGroup.com.

Over the years, I’ve had many bouts of being vegetarian, pescatarian, and just about every other kind of “tarian” you can think of. Never for moralistic reasons. Mostly, it has been out of health consciousness.

This recipe is a project that came about shortly after I adopted a new rule for all my grocery shopping: anything with only one ingredient (i.e., eggs, milk, beef, carrots, etc.) was automatically fair game. For foods with more than one ingredient, I would read the ingredients label and determine how much artificial crap was in there. Buying decisions were based on the desire to consume as little crap as possible.

As a kid, I grew up with Manwich. It’s one of those meals I remember fondly from my childhood. Of course, just like anyone, I ate a lot of junk in my childhood. Being more health conscious now, I wanted to find ways to still enjoy the foods I used to love but do it in a healthier way. So I set about trying to duplicate the taste and texture of Manwich.

I started by picking up a can of Manwich sauce from my local grocery store shelf and reading the ingredients. Luckily, Manwich actually isn’t too heavy on the garbage and all the flavor comes from significant ingredients. Just as luckily, all of the ingredients are readily available. Of course, I made a couple of minor substitutions (like using agave syrup) in order to keep the proper texture.

Speaking of texture, the tougher part of this project was finding a substitute for ground beef. Of course, I could have just used ground beef, but if I was going to make up my own recipe, where’s the fun in that? Under my criteria, I also don’t think that the typical “meat substitutes” qualify as healthy. They have just as many chemicals and fillers as anything you’d find in the cookie aisle.

After a bit of thought, I realized that beans are high in both fiber and protein. Firmer varieties might make an excellent meat substitute. Ultimately, I decided to combine several different varieties for several reasons: to vary the texture, to balance the nutrition, and add more depth to the overall flavor. Not all beans are the same, so mixing them gave great benefits in achieving all three goals.

Note that you may substitute other types of beans for any of those I have listed here, but try to keep at least three to four varieties. You want at least half the beans you use to be firm. I used Garbanzo and Pinto beans for my firm ones. You could also use Great Northerns, black-eyed peas, split peas, or even lentils. Avoid very soft beans such as butter beans. Even my choice of black beans was questionable, but I wanted some of the unique nutritional value they offered.

So here’s the final ingredient list:

• 29 oz. can tomato sauce

• 2 T white vinegar

• 2 T sugar

• 2 T organic agave syrup

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp BBQ seasoning

• 1/4 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped

• 1/4 red pepper, finely chopped

• 1/4 green pepper, finely chopped

• 1/2 tsp garlic

• 1/2 12-14oz can each:

garbanzo beans, dark red kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans

Saute onion, garlic and both peppers in the bottom of a medium-large saucepan. (All of this can be done in one pan.) Add all remaining ingredients except beans. Stir well and simmer.

Rinse and drain all the beans. Mince them finely with a hand chopper. (The black beans and kidney beans are relatively soft so an electric chopper would be too aggressive.) Add the beans to the saucepan, mix well and simmer over medium heat until hot.

Dive right in! Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Serve with a slice of smoked gouda on a lightly toasted Jewish challah roll. (You can usually find these only on Fridays, when they are made for the Jewish sabbath.) Garnish with kumquats and pair with a glass of Merlot. Yum!

Thanks for the great recipe, Jeff. I hope you’ll come back to share others you create.

Interested in writing a guest post? Contact me at rotunda56303@hotmail.com.

Make these Christmas goodies in 30 minutes December 22, 2011

My mother-in-law Eadie gifted her three children and their families with a box of foods every Christmas. It was one of the presents I cherished because she put so much of herself into each box.  I loved discovering what kind of fresh veggie she’d canned from her garden for us, what kind of meat, pasta she’d hand-picked based on each family’s likes. And this: homemade goodies to delight the heart of any carboholic, from fudge to chocolate-covered peanut butter cookies.

Back then, Heather could eat peanut butter. Can’t now, not since she developed an allergy to it. So what happens when peanut butter becomes a forbidden food? One searches for an almost-as-good-as alternative! And that’s just what we did—and, happily, found nut butters at our organic food co-op.  Our fave? Roasted almond butter. It’s what saved this goodie from extinction for Heather.

The countdown

The days, hours, and minutes to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are racing  by. On the food front, have you taken a last-minute inventory of the goodies you plan to serve? Maybe you came up short and desperately need another goodie to have on hand…just in case. Is that you? Then this cookie is for you. It’s quick—a batch can be ready in roughly 30 minutes—and so easy, takes just 5 ingredients. Here’s what to do:

• 1 box of Field Day Organic Golden Round Crackers

• 1/4 to 1/2 c. roasted almond butter (or your fave)

• Milk chocolate chips

• 2 to 3 tsp. sunflower oil (organic)

• Colored sugars or sprinkles

Step 1 …

Melt the chocolate chips in a double-boiler. If you don’t have one, make your own: place a saucepan filled one-quarter full of water on a front burner of your stove, set a bowl (not plastic!) on top. Turn heat on to medium low, and stir chocolate, occasionally. NO-NOs: Do not let bottom of bowl touch the water at any time, and do not let the water boil.

Step 2 …

Add sunflower oil when the chips begin to melt.

Meanwhile:

Step 3 …

Place waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Lay pairs of crackers in a single layer on the waxed paper.

Step 4 …

Spread a dollop of almond butter (enough to fill the tip of a knife) in the center of one of the crackers, and carefully top it with the other cracker.

Step 5 …

When the chips have melted, place the cracker, flat side, into the pool of chocolate. It takes a couple seconds to coat that side, now, gently flip the cracker sandwich with a fork to coat the second side.

Step 6 …

Using a fork, remove the cracker sandwich out of the bowl of chocolate, gently tap the side of the pan to free any excess chocolate. While the cookie is on the fork, slide it along the edge of the bowl for a “clean” bottom edge. Place onto the waxed paper.

Step 7 [Optional]…

For a festive look, sprinkle colored sugar on the cookies before they dry.

If you’re in a hurry, place the sheet of cookies into the fridge. Otherwise, let them “air-dry.”

Quick, easy, de-lish Christmas goodies

When the chocolate hardens, the cookies are ready to serve. Arrange them  on a pretty plate and place it where hungry guests can easily find them. (Be sure you grab at least one for yourself.) While you’re shopping for the ingredients, why not buy seconds of everything? These little goodies just may fly off the plate, quickly. Won’t you look like the hostess-with-the-mostest if you’ve anticipated that happening!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

Why broccoli should be your new best friend December 12, 2011

Why? In part because of this. “…Researchers have found that broccoli is 95% lethal against colon cancer cells,” writes Dr. Victor Marchione of Doctors Health Press.

Broccoli, the anti-cancer veggie---let's be friends!

“Colon cancer usually takes hold in the large intestine or the rectum…if diagnosed early, it can often be completely cured.”

With many cancers—breast and colon are two—diet may be key. But what kind of a diet? One packed with foods from conventional grocery stores?

Nope. They ooze with toxins and GMOs. Organically-grown and raised foods are the best choice of all.

Dr. Marchione goes on to tell about scientists who studied a broccoli extract’s effects on human cancer cells. They found that “broccoli specifically excelled in its performance against colon cancer cells. In fact, the tasty vegetable showed 95% lethality when attacking the cancer cells!”

I’d sure never call broccoli tasty. In fact, I’m not fond of its taste at all—honestly, are you?—but  it and other veggies are a big part of our diet now because veggies trump processed foods as healthy good eats.

As a young mom, I fed my kids this cruciferous vegetable; it even made regular appearances at our table. Like most moms feeding her kids a new food, I faced this challenge: how to get them to eat it, or at least try it. My solution was the fallback one—to slather gooey cheese, which they loved, on top. Before I knew it, the cheese was gone—er, and much of the broccoli.

That was then. Now, it’s bare broccoli for this kid. I’ve learned to appreciate the taste—notice I didn’t say “love.”

There is something to love about broccoli, though: Its heaps of Vitamin C; its minerals, calcium, potassium, selenium, sulphur, and its dietary fiber. And sulforaphane, a phytochemical that kicks good enzymes into production in the gut. The compound protects against inflammation and free radicals.

In these days where toxic soil produces toxic foods, it seems our health mission is pretty straightforward: Ditch the junk, and not just the snacks (unless they’re organic). This organic food consumer urges you to quit the conventional grocery stores where 80% of the foods contain GMOs. Instead, head to organic food stores, farmers markets, CSAs. (If none of these options are available to you, try Green Polka Dot Box or Azure Standard.) Will you pay more for organic meats, fruits, veggies, dairy, and other foods? Likely, yes. But…what does cancer treatment cost?

10 more Christmas gift ideas December 8, 2011

You already know that the Christmas shopping clock is ticking. Are you stymied for unique gifts to give loved ones and friends? In last week’s list of ideas, delicious gifts I suggested included a gift box of organic grassfed beef from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats; fruit baskets from The Fruit Guys; and several do-it-yourself baskets, from coffee to grapefruit.

If I were on your gift list, I’d love to receive any one of these thoughtful gifts:

• For fresh-veggie lovers: Buy a membership for them in a nearby Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. CSA farmers are dedicated food producers who do the farming for their shareholders. Thus, it’s the perfect gift for the person on your list who appreciates fresh organic foods but doesn’t have the time, space, or inclination to keep a garden him or herself. It works this way: Shareholders meet at a pickup point each week of the growing season where their box of fresh veggies and/or fruit awaits. Membership fees are paid pre-growing season (like now, as a gift) to insure that the farmer has enough working capital for the planting season ahead. Sound appealing? Then head over to the national directory to find a CSA near the person for whom you’re buying the share. CSAs operate differently, so check to see what types of shares they offer. (Note: Expect to pay several hundred dollars, or more. But remember—this is very healthy food well worth the price.)

• For chocolate-lovers—The chocolate to die for! Chocolove offers a gift box, and three of the 12 bars are milk chocolate, toffee and almonds, and chilies and pepper. Each wrapper is a gift in itself.

• Chocolate-lovers, Part 2—Browse around for tempting, mouth-watering Christmas gift choices like these: salted fudge, dark chocolate after-dinner mints, milk chocolate foil balls. Forty-five percent of Divine Chocolates is owned by its cocoa farmers who are all paid a fair trade price for their cocoa beans.

• Wine-lovers-–Picture this: A basket holding a bottle of organically-grown wine, a couple of wine glasses, a brick of organic cheese, a box of Field Day organic cracker rounds, and/or a bar or two of Chocolove or Divine Chocolates. I LOVE this gift idea. If you do, too, you know it’s the perfect choice!

• Herb-lovers-–Give a gift subscription to The Herb Companion magazine. A one year, six-issue subscription costs $19.95. Order online and save five bucks. Your herb-lover will love you for this gift. I’d almost guarantee it.

• Herb-lovers, Part 2—Give a potted rosemary plant. Oh, the wonderful flavors rosemary gives to savory dishes!

Book-lovers—

• The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball. An amazing true life story of a big city gal who falls in love with a country fella. Together, they start Essex Farm in upstate New York, a CSA-type farm.

• The Compassionate Carnivore, by Catherine Friend. The author and her significant other raise farm animals on their Minnesota farm.

•  Bringing It to the Table, by Wendell Berry.

• For the teachers or Scout leaders on your list, give a gift cards to an organic food store.

And, before you head to one of these websites to shop, take a couple minutes to learn why organic foods are important for your good health. You know about the USDA Organic Seal, but did you know there are no standards for foods labeled “natural?” The label means nothing.

Coffee, tea—health benefits…and warm memories December 3, 2011

My European-born dad had a way with coffee. He took the ordinary out of the act of sipping the deeply satisfying brew. Thus, coffee has always been my warm beverage of choice. Dad may have downed cups of tea for the short time he lived in London, but I’m bettin’ coffee reigned supreme

Until we moved to Minnesota, you’d never find a box of herbal tea in our kitchen pantry. Since then, teas of all kinds have found a place in our lives—though they’ll never replace our coffee-lovin’ ways.

A pantry shelf of herbal teas. The one at upper left is the brand of Tulsi Tea we like.

Among the teas we keep on hand are green, oolong, and tulsi. Every tea, it seems, has an attitude, er, that is, a unique taste and function. Green tea is one that doesn’t excite my tastebuds, yet it boasts a cornucopia of health bennies, such as protection against cancers of many types, and it aids weight loss. Taste and health benefits are two criteria I prize in an herbal tea.  Though green tea doesn’t quite pass my taste requirements, who can pass up the stellar protections it offers?

Enter tulsi tea, a tea that has it all: taste, and a proud resume of outstanding health benefits. I’m astounded by this list, and maybe you will be, too. Presenting—many of tulsi’s benefits:

• it calms and relieves stress, and lowers blood pressure (good for the heart)
• it helps several of the body’s systems, such as the respiratory and digestive systems, and metabolism
• it boosts the immune system
• it helps vision
• it protects against free radicals
• it lowers blood sugar (good for diabetics).

And it’s one of the adaptogenic herbs, meaning it helps the body to adapt to new stresses. Scientific research supports these claims, backing up what the people of India have known for 5,000 years.

Herbal tea-drinking isn’t for everyone. Those who are after the quick fix, for example. I was one of ‘em. When my first cup of herbal tea failed to halt my miserable cold, I felt gypped and ready to donate the rest of the box to a true tea-lover. Ahhh, but herbs aren’t quick fixes, I learned. Takes time, patience, and drinking more than one cup.

A couple of unrecorded (till now) side benefits

No tea manufacturer will tell you about these side benefits to drinking tea, or the price might shoot up! They’re probably unaware that some of their customers conjure up idyllic scenes in their minds when anticipating tea time. Like this relaxing (and improbable) scene I’ve painted in my mind’s eye: I’m wrapped in an afghan on a wintry night, comfortably settled into an overstuffed chair near a slightly roaring fire, where I’m reading one of the books I’ve been meaning to get to. Music plays softly as a backdrop. A cup of tea is within arm’s reach. Squares of good chocolate, also within reach, fill a cut-glass dish. Can you picture it?

And this. Whether tea or coffee, warm beverages stir warm memories. When I was in young kidhood, my dad and I frequently headed to his office at the college where he chaired the Modern Languages Department. There, he’d brew a pot of coffee (never tea) and serve me an almost microscopic amount in a tiny, flower-covered china cup with its matching saucer. No music, no afghans, no fireplace, no bowl of chocolates; just dad and me, making a memory I still treasure, as we sipped the lovely beverage he loved and that I learned to love. At no extra charge, coffee or tea offer timeless, priceless moments.

If you’d like to know more about tulsi tea, maybe you’d enjoy Dr. Narendra Singh’s book,  Tulsi — The Mother Medicine of Nature. Have a cup nearby for maximum reading enjoyment.

Start a tradition—give organic food to loved ones this Christmas November 28, 2011

The gift I most looked forward to receiving every Christmas from Eadie, my mother-in-law, was the gaily-wrapped box of food she gave to each of her kids and their families. She chose foods unique to each family’s likes,  but all of us got some of her delicious homemade goodies—candies, cookies, chocolate-covered pretzels, Ritz crackers transformed into cracker sandwiches with peanut butter filling and covered in chocolate; and jars of veggies she’d preserved from her garden’s considerable bounty. She knew the way to my heart, and how much I appreciated that annual tradition. Sadly, she’s gone now. When I think of her at this time of year, I picture her at her kitchen table, cutting holiday wrapping to size and covering the outside of  each box while she pondered what all she’d include that year.

If you like the idea of giving food for gifts, why not start a tradition of your own? Give the gift of good health by going organic! Health is one of our greatest treasures; you’ve probably heard that pearl of wisdom at least once before. It’s uppermost on dedicated organic foodies’ minds as we shop at organic food stores, join CSAs, or make regular appearances at farmers’ markets. Healthy living, as any fitness guru will tell you, begins with ditching highly-processed foods that almost always contain GMOs, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and/or MSG.

Let the idea list begin!

• For the meat-lovers on your list: Organic grassfed beef and snack foods from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats. It’s the real deal, this meat. You’ll love their website, and how easy it is to place an order. Or, if you prefer talking to a live person, call them at their toll-free number, (877) 764-4606.

• For the fruit-lovers: Succulent fresh fruit. Order a basket from The Fruit Guys.

Do-it-yourself—customize a basket for

• breakfast food lovers: Fill a basket with organic bacon, or bacon from a sustainably-operated farm; a dozen eggs from a local organic farm, a package of Bob’s Red Mill pancake mix, and/or a loaf of organic artisan bread, and a couple of fresh organic grapefruit. Be sure to add a colorful bow to the basket handle.

• coffee lovers:  Buy a pound or two of coffee beans, and either grind them yourself on-site, or include an inexpensive coffee grinder for the recipient to do the grinding. Find a couple of cute coffee mugs, and arrange everything in a basket. Add a bow for a festive look.

• tea lovers: green tea, oolong tea, rooibos tea, tulsi tea are among the healthiest teas on the planet. Fill a basket with three or four choices (favorite brands we use are Choice, Yogi, Traditional Medicinals), a package of Newman’s Own cookies, and/or a jar of locally-produced honey. Don’t forget the bow!

• grapefruit lovers: Add a dozen or so fresh grapefruit, obscenely rich in Vitamin C, to a pretty basket, and a set of grapefruit spoons. You know the drill—don’t forget the bow!
  

  Clover and basswood honey from local bees

Next time, I’ll share more ideas.

Be sure to stick with organic foods. The “natural” label holds no meaning. Unlike foods wearing the USDA organic seal, natural foods are not subject to standards to insure that you’re getting clean, nutritious foods.

Have you made your What-I’m-thankful-for-list? November 23, 2011

Many of the e-newsletters landing in my inbox recently have asked the question, “What are you thankful for” this Thanksgiving? The writer then shares his or her list, and I nod agreement with many of  the choices they’ve shared.  My own list looks like this, though it’s in no way complete:

• my faith

• my family

• our cozy little home

• our country

• our neighbors and friends

• my clients and business associates

• all the sworn protectors of our communities and our country

• our organic food co-op and the staff who make it hum

• organic beef, chicken, eggs, bacon, Romaine lettuce, zucchinis, sweet potatoes, broccoli, grapefruit, apples, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, avocados, celery, garlic, onions

• farmers and ranchers who grow organic food

• herbs

• gardens of flowers, veggies, and herbs

• a beautifully-manicured lawn

• all flowers, but especially lilacs, lilies-of-the-valley, peonies, daisies, irises, roses

• beekeepers, bees and their honey

• my health

• loved ones winning health battles

• magazines and the people who publish them

• books and the people who write and publish them

• old movies of the 30s, 40s, 50s

• old radio shows of the 40s and 50s

• antiques

• taking pictures

• Monet’s art

• you, dear reader

…and so much more

Now it’s your turn! What’s on your “thankful for” list?

Enjoy a wonderful and very Happy Thanksgiving!

A young Heather gifted me with this darling turkey she'd made at school.