 Gratitude Gourmet cares deeply about the planet and creating a business that gives back to nature. That’s why we’re thrilled to share that we will Award 100 Climate and Peace Prizes to Businesses and Individuals for promoting plant based eating and health which will benefit the Planet and Climate Change. We’re partnering with One Tree Planted to plant a Tree for every one of the 100 Gratitude Gourmet Climate and Peace Prize Winners, so 100 Trees!
Trees clean our air and water, create habitats for biodiversity, contribute to our health and wellbeing, and create jobs for social impact. We’re honored to have reforestation through One Tree Planted as an integral part of our business model. Need a suggestion to start eating plant-based? Consider participating in Meatless Monday and/or review our Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Posts for ideas. Submit Your Nomination Here by April 1. Award Winners will be announced on Earth Day.  Image: World Wetlands Day World Wetlands Day is celebrated on February 2 every year. Its a celebration of the vital role wetlands provide for people and our planet. Unlike any other ecosystem, wetlands can improve natural water quality, protect against floods, control shoreline erosion, and of course, provide opportunities for recreation.
Vital to their brand identity, Mary’s Gone Crackers (the leading gluten free, non-GMO, organic and plant-based cracker brand) has supported California wetlands for over 17 years as a part of their long-term corporate sustainability efforts. All of the brand's rice, a key ingredient in the Original, Super Seed and REAL Thin crackers, is sourced exclusively from the California Rice Commission, which has effectively transformed hundreds of thousands of acres of rice fields into seasonal wetland habitats for waterbirds to inhabit. Furthermore, these rice fields support millions of birds that migrate up and down the Pacific Flyway, a migratory corridor extending from the Arctic down to Patagonia. When managed properly, these fields can provide key habitat for a wide variety of species all year long. Thank you Mary's Gone Crackers for your great support of the California Wetlands! :)  Image: Sonoma Gourmet Veggie Shakshuka Sonoma Gourmet is the brand known for its high-quality, organic pasta and pizza sauces and all-natural oils allowing you to indulge in easily-accessible comfort food while still sticking to a Whole30 or Paleo diet. The brand offers a variety of products listed below along with some suggested recipes that will help you keep your health on track in 2021. Products include:
 Image Credit: VACCEB The Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay (VACCEB) Mobile Meal Program (MMP) provides free culturally relevant grocery meal bags to low-income folks and their families across Alameda County. This program was created in response to the “shelter in place” order due to COVID-19, which has substantially impacted disadvantaged communities. The communities they serve that are in need of food security all commonly share the following characteristics: homebound seniors, low-income, medically vulnerable, immigrants and refugees, and English limited. In addition, the program serves a diverse range of populations, this includes: Southeast Asians, Chinese, Latinos and Habesha (Ethiopians/Eritreans) communities. The MMP is designed to help alleviate hunger among our most vulnerable populations by providing culturally relevant grocery meal bags that meet the Older American Act and the daily dietary standards and requirements. By doing so, they have cemented partnerships with local ethnic markets to source food items for diverse constituencies in order to maintain cultural integrity while also supporting small businesses. With food insecurity so prevalent amongst struggling communities impacted by COVID-19, the demand for reliable food resources has also rapidly increased. To illustrate, the organization went from serving 1,000 meals/month pre-pandemic to now distributing 37,500 meals/month to 2,400+ unduplicated individuals across the East Bay. The MMP showcases the extraordinary needs for food resources during this challenging time and the barriers to food security that will remain even post-pandemic. Wonderful work VACCEB!
 Image Credit: Delysia Chocolatier Are you looking for a lovely chocolate gift for friends and family?
Delysia Chocolatier’s Winter Collection Chocolate Truffles is a 9pc box with 3 flavors of each truffle: 3 Mint chocolate truffles, 3 Eggnog chocolate truffles, and 3 Gingerbread chocolate truffles. The smell, texture and taste of the Gingerbread truffle has the familiar spices to a chocolaty ganache and then wrapped in a rich dark chocolate. A dash of rum adds a surprisingly pleasant kick to the eggnog, nutmeg and white chocolate ganache of the Eggnog truffle. Locally sourced mint is infused into pure dark chocolate of the Mint truffle. Enjoy!  Credit: My SuperFoods Are you looking for nutrient-dense snacks, using the cleanest ingredients and adding superfoods such as chia seed, coconut oil and superfruits (like acai and baobab) to every recipe? How about snacks which are certified organic, whole grain and baked in a peanut and treenut-free facilities?
Check out MySuperFoods delicious and healthy snacks for kids and adults!  Image Credit: Cafe Gratitude With the holidays around the corner, Cafe Gratitude’s newly-released Love is Served cookbook is filled with inspired plant-based recipes. Chef Seizan Dreux Ellis oversees the development and execution of the plant-based menu at all Café Gratitude restaurants in Southern California, with a mission in bringing his health-based, flavor driven cuisine to a wider audience.
Indulge in some of these dish highlights: ‘I Am Holy’ Baked Gluten-Free Donuts, ‘I Am Community’ Rosemary, Butternut Squash, and Radicchio, ‘I Am Elated’ Mole Abuelita Enchiladas, ‘I Am Bountiful’ Pasta with Smoky Tempeh Bolognese and Brazil Nut Parmesan, ‘I Am Lovely’ Gluten-Free Peach and Berry Cobbler, and much more! Enjoy Love is Served this holiday and live Café Gratitude’s ethos of joy and love deriving from food, health, and good company.  Witch’s Cosmo Credit: WitchCraft Cocktails Are you looking for unique cocktail recipes for Halloween? Check out WitchCraft Cocktails by Julia Halina Hadas. Two Fun Cocktail Recipes from the book are below: Witch’s Cauldron and Witch’s Cosmo. Happy Halloween! 🍸
Witch’s Cauldron What’s a witch without their mixing cauldron? Based on the infamous Scorpion Bowl, the deep red hue of this fall fruit punch will draw eyes to your magic work. Together, apple, pomegranate, and blood orange offer energies of divination, love, wealth, and fertility. It’s a perfect witch’s blessing to serve at a party! Garnish with a flamed orange wheel. Energies: Divination, Luck, Love, Blessings, Spirituality SERVES 1 1 1⁄2 tablespoons apple brandy 1 1⁄2 tablespoons dark rum 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 tablespoon Grenadine 1⁄2 tablespoon pomegranate liqueur 1 jigger (11⁄2 ounces) blood orange juice 1 tablespoon apple juice DIRECTIONS: Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Close your eyes and breathe deeply as you shake, focusing your intention energy into empowering the ingredients. Strain into a martini glass. Imagine the magical essence of the seasonal pomegranate, blood orange, and apple fusing together as you bless the concoction for all who drink it! Witch’s Cosmo Famous for its pink hue, the Cosmopolitan is an exemplary cocktail of balance. With protective cranberry, cleansing rosemary and lime, and elevating orange, this simply delicious enchantment is all a witch needs to balance out after a long day! Substitute the lime garnish for more rosemary if preferred. Energies: Protection, Cleansing, Balance SERVES 1 1 jigger (11⁄2 ounces) vodka 11⁄2 tablespoons cranberry juice 1 tablespoon lime juice 1⁄2 tablespoon orange liqueur 1⁄2 tablespoon Rosemary-Saffron Syrup 1 small lime peel, for garnish DIRECTIONS: Place all ingredients except lime peel in a cocktail shaker and add ice. Shake firmly, shaking away the stress of the day and any worries. Once the shaker is chilled, double strain the cocktail into a martini glass. Express lime peel over the top of the cocktail, twist, and drop in. Excerpted from WitchCraft Cocktails by Julia Halina Hadas. Copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Interior photographs by Harper Point Photography. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.  Image Credit: Angelini The historical start of Angelini Collection can be found in the heart of the famous mountainous Veneto region in northern Italy. The 400 - family owner cooperative partner has been producing top quality Italian wines of the DOCG and DOC areas by combining innovation and tradition in every step of the winemaking process for over 60 years. Of all the varietals that are grown here, Pinot Grigio is the most famous white wine due to its fresh, appealing flavor profile.
In 2019, the Team discovered the supreme quality of the Glera grape grown here and began importing DOC Prosecco from Treviso. The quality of Moscato and Brachetto grapes coming out of Piemonte from long-time wine partners was impressive. The voyage continues today with new Moscato DOCG and Brachetto DOCG being launched in every market for 2020.  Image: Nature’s Path We’re a big fan of Nature's Path, one of the largest cereal and breakfast food brands that was built upon the promise to leave the earth better than it was found. We’ve recently tried some of their new cereals and granolas including Golden Turmeric Superfood Granola and love them!
Nature's Path was founded by serial entrepreneurs who opened Canada’s first vegetarian restaurant in 1967, and then a natural food store and another vegetarian restaurant, before starting Nature’s Path in 1985. Their latest sustainability goal is for all of their packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Nature's Path is Supporting Climate Change in the following ways:
 We can all use more kindness in the world. How about our morning cereal? KIND has just launched its first ever cereal inspired by their Kind Bars and is now available exclusively at Walmart.
Each box is packed full of all the goodness you would expect from KINDbars, including a punch of protein. It comes in four flavors along with super grain flakes and it is all gluten free with a very filling 5-6 grams of protein per serving.
 Image Credit Simon and Schuster Focus on whole foods from plant sources, and reap the health benefits of a plant-based diet, even on campus! The Plant Based College Cookbook provides a flexible take on the plant-based diet. These 175 recipes are totally customizable, so you can personalize them to fit your needs, and they help you begin focusing your attention on fruits, vegetables, and other healthy sources of protein
 Image Credit: Mary's Gone Crackers Recent world events have reminded us that in order to care for ourselves, we must first care for the environment. Mary’s Gone Crackers, a line of gluten free, non-GMO, organic and plant-based snacks, is celebrating a 17 year partnership with the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation as a part of their corporate sustainability efforts.
All of the brand's rice, a key ingredient in the Original, Super Seed and REAL Thin crackers, is sourced exclusively from the California Rice Commission, which has effectively transformed hundreds of thousands of acres of rice fields into seasonal wetland habitats for waterbirds to inhabit. Furthermore, these rice fields support millions of birds that migrate up and down the Pacific Flyway, a migratory corridor extending from the Arctic down to Patagonia. When managed properly, these fields can provide key habitat for a wide variety of species all year long. Great Company Leadership!  Credit: The Clambake Rose Check out this recipe from The Clambake Rosé — an amazing craft wine label created by a female millennial. The Clambake Limited Edition Rosé boasts some of the very best old-vine Carignan from Mendocino. The wines are made at a certified sustainable custom crush winery in Healdsburg, California. The Clambake Rosé is delightful! Cheers!
Clambake Rose Sorbet 4 cups of Clambake Rose Wine 1 1.2 cup pomegranate juice 1 cup sugar (or stevia) 1 cup frozen black cherries 1. Put the 4 cups of rose in a saucepan bring to boil and reduce to 2 cups. Cool. 2. Make a simple syrup using 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of pomegranate juice. Put both ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the frozen cherries an let seep until cool. 3. Combine the reduced rose, the simple syrup with cherries, the remaining 1/2 cup pomegranate juice into a blender and puree. 4. Chill well in refrigerator. 5. Using your ice cream maker, follow instructions to make the sorbet. 6. Freeze at least 4 to 6 hours.  Image Credit: Otamot Below are some great 10-minute meals by some of Otamot's favorite foodie bloggers, that will help you serve healthy, guilt-free kid-favorites like pizza and tomato soup. These recipes all deliver the nutrients and fiber of 9+ organic veggies without any of the prep work using Otamot’s highly versatile Essential Sauce, Organic Carrot Bolognese Sauce + Spicy Organic Sauce. The wonderful thing about Otamot Essential Sauce is that it’s naturally rich and thick, so you can make a host of quick, tasty soups filled with vegetables, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants by adjusting the dilution, ingredients and toppings. Tomato Soup o For the most basic tomato soup, simply pour Otamot sauce into a saucepan and gently heat! o To make a thinner soup, mix the sauce with salted water or stock at ¾ cups of liquid to 1 cup of sauce. o To cook a more brothy (and budget conscious!) soup, double up and mix 1 ½ cups of liquid to 1 cup of sauce. Some days you just crave a smooth, creamy soup. To make an extra-rich cream of tomato soup, mix 1 cup of plant milk to 1 cup of sauce, then blend with a hand blender until smooth. You can add croutons for a touch of crunch or a spoonful of pesto for an earthy note. For a seasonal minestrone, dice and cook your favorite vegetables in water or vegetable stock. When they’re tender add 1 cup of sauce for every 1 ½ cups of liquid in the pot. Season, and you’re done. Garnish the top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, plant-based cheese and serve with your favorite crusty bread.  Image Credit: Otamot Otamot English Muffin Pizzas
Serves 4-6 Ingredients 8 English muffins, split in half 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 jar Otamot Essential Sauce 1 lb fresh plant based cheese, thinly sliced 2 tbsp basil, thinly sliced Optional Toppings Sweet onion Button mushrooms Black olives Roasted garlic Artichokes Preparation: 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Lay the English muffin halves out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Lightly brush each half with olive oil. 3. Spoon 1½ tbsp of Otamot Essential Sauce on each half and spread out to the edges. 4. Put one slice of plant based cheese on each of the muffins. 5. Add any additional toppings. Have fun and get creative with whatever you like on your pizza  In the new book Plants for the People (Thames & Hudson, May 5, 2020), master herbalist and nutritionist Erin Lovell Verinder explores 40 medicinal plants and imparts knowledge to readers on how to use them, weaving ancient wisdom with a modern approach to plant medicine.
With a profile of each plant—from yarrow, turmeric, and wormwood to Californian poppy, passionflower, and dandelion—and advice on harvesting, this beginner's guide to using plants to restore high vitality and a general sense of wellbeing offers easy-to-follow recipes for teas, tinctures, syrups, balms, and baths. Throughout, golden tips address common ailments such as bloating, bad skin, lack of energy, winter coughs and colds, jangling nerves, and many other present-day complaints. This a beautiful and education hard cover book for yourself or as a gift.  Image Credit: Sugar Bowl Bakery Sugar Bowl Bakery's crisp, light and sweet Apple Fritters are perfect with your morning coffee.
Sugar Bowl Bakery is a wonderful example of The American Dream. Family-owned and operated, it was founded by five ambitious brothers in 1984 when they pooled their savings to buy a neighborhood coffee shop. The Ly brothers had been fortunate enough to escape Vietnam and immigrate to the US in 1979. With a tenacious drive to succeed, the Ly brothers made pastries from scratch and sold them to the local community. Using only the finest ingredients, Sugar Bowl Bakery quickly became known as the local stop everyone went to for their baked goods and now their baked goods are sold throughout the nation. Enjoy!  Image Credit: Sipsby Earlier this year we featured Staci, Founder Sipsby, who makes discovering team fun, personalized and affordable. We enjoyed the new Organic teas she sent!
As a nice surprise, we received another personalized box with Organic Peppermint Rooibos, Hot Chocolate, Chai, and Green Tea. Thank you for your very thoughtful package, Staci, as this made our day! We are enjoying the Tea on this Fall Day. Cheers!  Image Credit: TwentyFifty Check out this brand new company based in San Diego - TwentyFifty. Named after the year 2050 - the year the population is projected to reach 10 billion and when it’s estimated that the amount of plastic waste in the ocean will exceed the amount of fish - the brand has one mission: to stop, or at least significantly reduce, plastic pollution. They are doing this with cutlery. The first compostable alternative to single-use plastic you can compost in your own backyard compost pile!
TwentyFifty differs from other ‘compostable’ brands whose utensils require industrial-scale plants to compost them. Others use cornstarch as a base for their products which requires the product to be broken down into extremely small pieces and then composted with a very high heat in order to biodegrade. Even then, a sticky, resin-like material is left that is both not good for the soil and also a cause of methane gas. If you were to discard them in a backyard compost it would take two years (or more) for them to fully decompose. A TwentyFifty fork, spoon or knife is composted in 30 days or less and according to founder, Zack Kong, actually provides a significant amount of nutrients for your plants. This is a great product! Awesome work TwentyFifty Founders!  Image: Fox Chapel Publishing 50 Simple Indoor Miniature Gardens by Catherine Delvaux contains 50 projects for creating and maintaining a wide variety of charming and low-maintenance mini indoor gardens. This book is the inspiration you need to make your small living space greener. Whether you prefer succulents, cacti, greenery, flowering plants, vegetables, or orchids, the chosen plants within these pages are all easy to find at your local garden centers. Transform unique items, from canning jars to fish bowls, into decorative plant containers, grow inspired with the beautiful photography and helpful tips, and awaken the creative gardener in you!
|
Copyright Gratitude Gourmet (tm)
|
Photo used under Creative Commons from *clairity*
