Every year in late April my spring garden starts producing. After weeks of chilly nights, heavy rain and gusty coastal winds, most of my fragile seedlings and plant starts have grown into sturdier adolescents. Some of the earlier plantings are even starting to bear as young greens and pea shoots (sautéed with green garlic) are showing up on the home menu and sweet pea blossoms on my desk at work. Springtime gardens are both a wonder and a worry — capable of great things and susceptible to many dangers.
Casa Parker- vegetable and fruit garden
The April rains in my part of the world were intense this year. El Niño springs are always unpredictable and this one is no exception as growing areas in and outside the U.S. get hit with varying degrees of heavy weather. Roger (AKA Rock Daddy), our office weather tracker who reports every Monday, said we will see the last of the major spring storms for California this week but I’m not so sure — neither are the producers who grow on the coast and central valley who nervously track the spring weather systems. For our state’s tree fruit producers the fear of early bloom damage is behind us, only to be replaced by a myriad of wet weather related problems like mildew or wind damage. For row crop producers who are putting successive plantings in every week, the fear of heavy rain and wind damage on young plants will remain with them throughout the spring. Read the rest of this entry »
In honor of Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May), we’re sharing recipes inspired by Mexico’s savory cuisine. Need a reminder on the significance of this date? It’s the day Mexicans commemorate their 1862 defeat of the French army in the Battle of Puebla. In the U.S., Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture, history and, of course, food!
Whether you’re planning to celebrate the holiday or not, it’s a great occasion to try out some new recipes and start thinking about summertime foods. Be sure to stop by our stores for great ideas, and check out some of our favorites for a fun and casual Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Get the festivities started with some salsa, guacamole and salads:
Get ahead with Shrimp Tacos with Fresh Pineapple Salsa: marinate the shrimp overnight and make the salsa ahead of time, then quickly assemble the tacos when you’re ready to eat.
It used to be that when I thought of bulk foods, I thought of one of those giant membership warehouses where I could buy a case of pretzels or a gross of cheese balls, but Whole Foods Market has changed that way of thinking for me. Now when I think of bulk foods, I think of buying only what I need of healthy foods like quinoa, brown rice, corn meal or raw nuts.
If you’re cooking for one, chances are you don’t need a pound of pecans for that salad you’re making. That’s where the bulk foods department comes in handy. I can just fill a bag with the exact amount of pecans I need to top my salad. Likewise, if I decide I’m going to make some cookies that call for cream of tartar, I can just get a teaspoon in the bulk spice area and not have to buy a full jar, which I may very well never use again.
This year I celebrate my first mother’s day. And what a wonderful, wild ride this motherhood-thing is. What I’ve learned over the last nine months since my son’s birth is that all the ways I was certain I would do things “when I’m a mom” have gone out the window. Until you actually experience it—the good, the bad and the teething—there is no way to understand what it truly takes to be a mom.
Now, I’m sure that as baby grows up I’ll establish rules so we’ll have some order in the house and to guide him towards being a thoughtful human being. But for now, as long as he doesn’t eat the dog’s food, bite the cat or chew on daddy’s stereo, we’re good. Shoot, depending on the day I might even be lax about those rules. (Just joking, animal lovers.)
Joking aside, there are a few “rules” that I’ve become more passionate about since having a child:
Pick organic, when possible. I’ve been a stickler for this since I was pregnant and it’s especially important to me now that we’re introducing solid foods to the little guy. Point blank, I want to limit my family’s exposure to persistent and toxic pesticides, GMOs and synthetic growth hormones (rBST). The best way to do this is by choosing organic.
Eat meat from animals raised without antibiotics. As a nursing mom, what I eat, my baby eats. So, I’m keenly aware of the concerns that the increased use of antibiotics in our food supply produces antibiotic-resistance bacteria, which puts human health at risk.
Care about our body care. Concerned about his delicate skin, I only select baby care products that meet the Whole Foods Market Premium Body Care standards. But, after thinking about it a little, my husband and I deserve the same care. Luckily, we can get it affordably with the recently reformulated 365 Everyday Value® body care line.
Look for the Whole Trade Guarantee. I am willing to pay a little more for a Whole Trade product because I know it means mamas (and daddies) will work in decent conditions and earn a living wage to support their families.
Obviously, these rules are really for my husband and me to follow and hopefully our little fellow will learn by our example.
And speaking of the hubby, I’m not sure what mine has up his sleeve for my first mother’s day but I’m sure it involves good food. Lucky for me, I married a man who likes to cook. Lucky for him, I like to eat! Besides enjoying a home cooked meal, the only other things that would make my mother’s day perfect is a little extra sleep (yeah right, like that will happen) and to spend some unhurried, unscheduled time with my family – enjoying all the wonderful and wonderfully unexpected things about being a mom to a great little guy, teething and all.
As you can see, my rules and my idea of the perfect mother’s day are pretty simple. Moms out there, what’s in your mom’s rules repertoire and do you have any advice for a newbie?
In managing their herd of Jersey cows at Meadow Creek Dairy in southwest Virginia, the Feete family is intent on providing them with the best care possible, which in turn helps them produce the highest quality cheese from raw cows’ milk with no added coloring or preservatives. The deep yellow coloring of these cheeses reflects the grass-based diet of the Jersey cows and the high beta-carotene content of the milk.
Getting dinner on the table every night doesn’t have to be a drag. That’s especially true when you follow the weeklong meal plans in The Whole Deal value guide. Here are our simple suggestions for feeding one or two incredibly well, affordably.
Go Korean style with poached (or fried) eggs over individual bowls of rice topped with garlicky cooked shrimp, wilted spinach, carrot strips and bean sprouts. Dress with sesame, soy and hot sauces.
Choose organic or kosher when you roast a chicken along with loads of spring vegetables. Pack servings of each in our 365 Everyday Value® Reusable Storage Containers for Monday lunch. At 68¢ each they’re a Sure Deal! Freeze whatever’s left for another recipe, another day.
It’s often easy to forget that the burger, steak or drumstick on your plate was once an animal. How was that animal raised? How was it treated? Where did it come from? What did it eat? What about hormones and antibiotics? Was its growth artificially accelerated to get to market sooner and reduce feed cost? Here are a few things to think about as you try to answer those questions.
I love Julia Child. She cracks me up! Here’s what she had to say about garlic: “Garlic, which used to be considered exotic, if not ‘suspiciously’ foreign, probably subversive, and certainly very ‘lower class’ is now the darling of food lovers and all of our chefs….”
I wonder: Did Julia know about the terrific health benefits of her darling garlic? Did she know what a great super-food it really is? Long ago, garlic was revered for its healing abilities. It was used as a remedy for the digestive tract, skin, respiratory system and lots more. Mentioned in both the Bible and the Talmud, garlic was cultivated in the Middle East over 5,000 years ago and has been studied and reviewed countless times since then. Its use in China was first mentioned in A.D. 510, and Louis Pasteur studied it in 1858.
Garlic’s active constituent is a sulfur compound called allicin, which becomes potent by crushing or chewing the fresh garlic cloves. (Yeah, right, let’s all have a garlic-chewing party!) Allicin then produces other sulfur compounds, which have numerous health benefits, one being cardiovascular support. And it’s got antioxidant benefits as well. Eating garlic on a regular basis may protect the GI tract and, rumor has it, reduce the risk of being stalked by a vampire.
In part 3 of this three-part series on our Premium Body Care® standard at Whole Foods Market®, we’re looking at how these standards raise the bar for the natural body care industry as a whole. Prairie Rose Hyde is co-founder and formulator of Alaffia, a sustainable skin care company based on handcrafted, fair trade shea butter. Alaffia is a shining example of both Premium Body Care® standards and the commitment to Whole Trade™ at Whole Foods Market.
Congratulations to Anya from Boulder, our randomly selected winner of the Putumayo CDs!
Putumayo World Music’s latest release is Latin Party, just in time to help make your Cinco de Mayo celebration a real toe tapper. (Read on for a chance to win some Putumayo CDs.)
Ethnomusicologist Jacob Edgar, who helps Putumayo in finding music and artists for their new releases, provides this overview of Cinco de Mayo and the Latin Party CD.
Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May) has become a significant holiday in America as a celebration of Mexican culture, history and food. Mexicans commemorate the 1862 defeat of the French army in the Battle of Puebla, which was the last time a country in the Americas was invaded by a European army. And, much as St. Patrick’s Day has developed into an opportunity for people of all ethnic backgrounds to celebrate Irish traditions, Cinco de Mayo gives people a chance to recognize important Mexican-American historical figures, such as César Chávez, and to participate in special events that focus on Mexico’s savory cuisine and lively music.
While Putumayo’s new CD release, Latin Party, features only one song of Mexican origin, it celebrates the festive spirit of Cinco de Mayo with spicy Latin boogaloo, Colombian cumbia, Cuban son and more. The liner notes also include two recipes, one by a noted Mexico City chef, Patricia Quintana, and one by Daisy Martinez, host of the Food Network’s Viva Daisy!
Want a taste? Try this track: Big Apple Boogaloo by Brooklyn Funk Essentials.
Note: you can simply listen online using the player below, or you can “right click” to download the mp3 file.
Want more? Pick up Latin Party, now available in our stores.
Want to win? By May 5th, enter a comment letting us know what music you’ll be playing for your Cinco de Mayo festivities, and we’ll choose a random winner to receive a five CD set from Putumayo’s Latin collection.
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It used to be that when I thought of bulk foods, I thought of one of those giant membership warehouses where I could buy a case of pretzels or a gross of cheese balls, but Whole Foods Market has changed that way of thinking for me. Now when I think of bulk foods, I think of buying only what I need of healthy foods like quinoa, brown rice, corn meal or raw nuts.
