 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!
 Image Credit: Hatherleigh Press "Every day is a good day when you run."
Summer is here and it's a great time to be active outdoors including that simple activity of running. Available at the end of July, The Joy of Running is a collection of over 200 fun and inspirational quotations on the thrill and sport of running. Everyone's heard of the "runners high." There's an innate feeling of well-being that comes with this activity as well as a great sense of freedom. The Joy of Running is the perfect gift for runners of every level.  George and Kim Haymaker Photo Re:THINK Re:THINK Ice Cream was founded less than a year ago by George Haymaker, and its in 200+ stores in the Bay Area this month, including Whole Foods, Raley's, Lucky, and more.
George was inspired to rethink ice cream on his road to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction (another interesting story). He was overdoing it with sweets, especially ice cream, and it was having a negative impact on his health. Re:THINK is his way of helping people make healthier choices. Re:THINK contains approximately two times the protein, half the calories, and a third of the sugar of regular ice cream--all without sacrificing the flavor, texture or quality of a premium ice cream. Flavors include Cardamom Pistachio, Chocolate Majesty, Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed and Turmeric Ginger.  Chef Kelsey Larson and Mom :) with Toffee Peanuts Chocolate Bark Bernardus Lodge & Spa Carmel Valley @ Pebble Beach Food and Wine 2019 - Image Credit Gratitude Gourmet Gratitude Gourmet once again has been impressed with the Chefs, Food, Wine and of course The View at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine. During this year's 2019 event, we attended the Grand Tasting and Grenache Tasting. We enjoyed the lovely notes of the Bonterra Biodynamic Wine, Toffee Peanuts Chocolate Bark by Chef Kelsey Larson and Mom :) Bernardus Lodge & Spa Carmel Valley, Pineapple Upside Down Cake: Lemongrass Fish Sauce Caramel & Macadamia Nut Poltroon by Chef Michelle Lee The C Restaurant & Bar Monterey CA, Potato Gnocchi Lemon Burrata English Peas & Chibe Blossoms - Raspberry Pavlova Orange Blossom Ganache Raspberry Chambered Jam by Dominique Ansel 189 Los Angeles, Passion Fruit Mousse by elmo Faria Uma Casa San Francisco, Puffed Pasta Nachos Senise Peppers And Burrata Fonduta by Chef Joe Sasto Los Angeles, and Garnacha/Grenache Spain and France Pebble Beach Food and Wine Tasting With Master Sommeliers. Our Slideshow is below to see these amazing Chefs and Sommeliers in Action! Cheers!  Bria, 11, South Dakota, Founder Faces of the Endangered Image: Gloria Barron Prize The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes celebrates inspiring, public-spirited young people from diverse backgrounds all across North America. Established in 2001 by author T.A. Barron, the Barron Prize annually honors 25 outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive impact on people, animals or the environment. Fifteen top winners each receive $10,000 to support their service work or higher education.
Visit https://barronprize.org to find out more and submit an application by April 15. Here are some of the great things that recent Barron Prize winners and honorees have done to help the Earth and wildlife: Bria Neff, age 11, of South Dakota founded Faces of the Endangered to protect endangered species through the sale of her artwork. She has sold more than 250 paintings of endangered animals and donated over $33,000 to animal conservation groups. Claire Wayner and Mercedes Thompson, age 17, of Maryland co-founded Baltimore Beyond Plastic to reduce trash and plastic pollution in their city on the Chesapeake Bay. Their non-profit of more than 500 students convinced the Baltimore City Council to pass a citywide ban on Styrofoam food containers. Claire Vlases, age 15, of Montana created the Solar Makes Sense initiative and raised the $118,000 needed to install solar panels on her middle school. She has sparked a movement in her school district and community, inspiring a new commitment to green building. Genevieve Leroux, age 12, of Quebec created Milkweed for Monarchs to help protect migratory monarch butterflies. She raises and plants native milkweed – monarchs’ sole food source during their caterpillar phase – and has logged more than 500 hours conducting research on the butterflies. Marcus Deans, age 16, of Ontario invented the NOGOS water filter for use in developing countries. His filter costs just two dollars to manufacture and is made from three readily-available materials: sugar, sand, and seashells. Robbie Bond, age 10, of Hawaii created Kids Speak for Parks, a non-profit that is building an army of activists, including fourth-grade students (who can visit our national parks free of charge), who will speak up to protect our national parks and monuments. Shelby O’Neil, age 17, of California founded her non-profit Jr Ocean Guardians to educate young children about ways they can protect our oceans and planet. She also created the #NoStrawNovember movement and is working on legislation to eliminate plastic straws in California. Shreya Ramachandran, age 14, of California founded the non-profit Grey Water Project to promote the safe reuse of grey water, along with water conservation, as a way to address drought. Her outreach includes curriculum for elementary students and a partnership with the United Nations’ Global Wastewater Initiative. Olivia Colombo, age 17, of Massachusetts invented a renewable energy technology that captures kinetic and thermal energy from highways and converts it to electrical energy. She has received a provisional patent for her invention, as well as awards from groups such as MIT THINK. Ryan, Hickman, age 8, of California created Ryan’s Recycling Company to keep cans, plastic bottles, and glass from polluting our environment. He is most passionate about protecting ocean animals from harm caused by trash. He has personally kept 76,000 pounds of pollution out of the ocean and our landfills. Gitanjali Rao, age 12 of Colorado invented an easy-to-use and inexpensive device to detect lead contamination in water, which can cause neurological damage in children and adults. After the 2014 Flint, Michigan water crisis, she was determined to make lead detection easier. Joey Gouthiere, Jr., age 12, of Louisiana, founded Geaux Green, an environmental campaign that encourages everyone to take care of the Earth. He has convinced hundreds of people to join his cause and take his pledge to “pick up litter, recycle, plant trees and flowers, conserve water and electricity, and make the Earth a better place to live.” Since its inception, the Barron Prize has honored nearly 450 young heroes and has won the support of Girl Scouts of the USA, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, and the National Youth Leadership Council, among other organizations. The annual application deadline for the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes is April 15th. For more information, visit www.barronprize.org.  Image Credit: Penguin Random House Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Dr Qing Li is the definitive guide to the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or the art and science of how trees can promote health and happiness.
Have you felt relaxed and happier around trees? We love them and were even on a Board of a Canopy, a Tree Planting Organization, and planted many trees. Its actually a very beautiful experience planting trees and seeing them flourish and soils, plants and animals that thrive around them. We are also very grateful to have had the experience of walking through old growth forests around the world and hope you have that experience as well. Run your hands over its bark. Take in its citrusy scent. As a society we suffer from nature deficit disorder, but studies have shown that spending mindful, intentional time around trees–what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing–can promote health and happiness. In this beautiful book–featuring more than 100 color photographs from forests around the world, including the forest therapy trails that criss-cross Japan–Dr. Qing Li, the world’s foremost expert in forest medicine, shows how forest bathing can reduce your stress levels and blood pressure, strengthen your immune and cardiovascular systems, boost your energy, mood, creativity, and concentration, and even help you lose weight and live longer. Once you’ve discovered the healing power of trees, you can lose yourself in the beauty of your surroundings, leave everyday stress behind, and reach a place of greater calm and wellness. You can buy the book here. |
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