We’re so excited to let you know that, due to popular demand, the advance screenings of the groundbreaking new feature film Forks Over Knives will continue in the New Year. This film puts to the test the premise that food is medicine and presents compelling evidence suggesting that diseases like heart disease and diabetes can be prevented – and in many cases reversed – through a whole food, plant-based diet.
Here’s the trailer:
The movie features Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., M.D., author of Reversing Heart Disease and member of the Whole Foods Market medical advisory board and T. Colin Campbell, PhD, author of The China Study. Healthy Eating partner Rip Esselstyn, author of the Engine 2 Diet, makes an appearance as well, and asserts why real men eat plants. This film is a powerful introduction to Whole Foods Market’s Health Starts Here education programs and supports our Engine 2 message of eating plantstrong™.
I love finding unique and tasty products that allow us to bring authentic regional food traditions exclusively to our Whole Foods Market customers. My latest discovery is Divina Pickles, a delightful array of zesty pickled seasonal vegetables and watermelon rinds that hail from the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and the lush Arkansas River Valley. These are perfect for your New Year’s Eve celebrations!
We’ve partnered with a local Southern producer, Bryant Preserving, who procures the produce fresh from the fields to make these delicious pickles. Bryant Preserving, a third-generation family-owned company based in Alma, Arkansas, produces and packs Divina Pickles exclusively for Whole Foods Market using original family recipes that reflect the long-standing tradition of American pickled vegetables. The Bryant family has been preserving fresh seasonal produce since 1947. Much of the produce used for the pickled vegetables is grown close by and are made simply without any preservatives or additives.
Got a few more hurrahs in store for 2010 before welcoming the New Year? These top tips from The Whole Deal value guide will have you entertaining the idea of using high-quality ingredients without high costs when you entertain. Have a happy and affordable New Year celebration!
1. PLAN AND CALCULATE
Plan meals and make shopping lists (on paper, online or on your iphone), being mindful of how much to buy and serve for how many people. Use the servings calculator on our Holidays 2010 site.
2. CHOOSE CROWD-FRIENDLY RECIPES
Make hearty, satisfying, affordable recipes. Big-pot meals with self-serve condiments are ideal: chili, curry, red beans and rice, stew, etc. Your helper is wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes.
‘Tis the season for bubbly! For many of us, though, this is one of the most daunting areas of the wine section. To help make your choice easier, we’ve assembled some basic information and ideas. Additionally, our store team members will gladly help you make a selection perfectly suited to your tastes.
Champagne or Sparkling Wine?
Just as some wines and cheeses are only produced in a specific geographic area, only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France can be officially labeled “Champagne.” Other European countries use other names for the sparkling wine they produce: Cava in Spain, Prosecco, Asti or Spumante in Italy and Sekt in Germany. Bubblies from California, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the several wine-producing countries of South America are generally referred to as sparkling wine or sparklers.
2) Plan a Neighborhood Progressive: Connect with neighbors and map out a menu where you’ll walk from house to house and enjoy a different course at each home. Take flashlights and be careful on the walk!
3) Organize a “Best of 2010” Dinner Party: Think back on your cooking over the past year. What were some of your new favorite recipes, ingredients and cooking techniques? Collaborate with friends and cooking partners on putting together a dinner menu that incorporates the best of your cooking. Check out our top-rated recipes from 2010 for ideas.
4) Set up a DIY Sparkling Drinks Bar: Stock up on sparkling wine (stop by the wine department and ask for a recommendation), sparkling cider and sparkling water too. Set up a bar where guests can tailor their own sparkling drink cocktails. Cut slices of citrus and set out a bowl of sugar for sugaring rims of glasses: Just rub a slice of cut orange, lemon or lime around the rim of the glass, then invert the rim into the sugar and twist the glass to coat the rim. Set out pitchers of juices, the more colorful, the better! Think pomegranate, cherry, pink grapefruit and blood orange. Set up a chalkboard or cover a table with brown paper for guests to write down their favorite combinations.
5) Propose an Old-Fashioned Family Games Night: Invite kids and their parents, and ask everyone to bring a board game. Enlist your kids’ help in planning a dinner and snacks that folks of all ages will enjoy. Set up several card tables and rotate groups of people among games. Come up with fun prizes. Take a break to eat dinner, and make some noise when the ball drops!
6) Throw a “My Best Recipe” Potluck Dinner: Invite your foodie friends for a dinner party. Ask guests to prepare their “best” recipe and to bring the recipe on a card to share with the group. The host provides the main course. Non-cooks provide drinks. Vote on the best recipe at the end of the evening.
7) Get Cozy Fireside: Hunker down by the fire, could be indoors or outdoors, with mugs of hot chocolate. Share your best moments from 2010 and what you’re looking forward to in 2011.
8) Celebrate with a New Year’s Brunch: If staying up until midnight isn’t your cup of tea, make a breakfast casserole the night before, then head to bed at a reasonable hour and get a good night’s sleep. In the morning throw together a fruit salad, make a batch of muffins and raise your coffee cup to toast the New Year.
This New Year’s Day, why not take a gamble on some really good good-luck foods? I’m talking about foods that for centuries have been eaten around the world by traditional people in hopes of bringing good luck — including money, prosperity and, of course, plenty to eat. Back in the old days, food meant survival! I find it especially interesting that many of these “good luck” foods are exactly those that we now know provide a wealth of good nutrition. You may be surprised to learn that when it comes to eating for luck, an intriguing variety of different foods have been held in high esteem around the world. Here’s a rundown.
Cooked Greens: All over the world, cooked greens are eaten on New Year’s Day. This is because green leaves are reminiscent of folded money and so became a symbol of economic good fortune. The more you eat on New Year’s, the greater your wealth in the coming year. How very true from a nutritional point of view — and that’s no superstition! Greens are a super food – packed with a wealth of good nutrition from vitamins to minerals to powerful antioxidants. You can try this Hearty Greens Soup or this non-dairy Creamed Kale.
Seems that everyone loves lists this time of year — reflecting on what we’ve learned with an eye on a brighter future. From old favorites to new takes, our readers chose to try a wide variety this past year. Here are the brightest stars in our top-rated recipes from 2010. Just move your cursor over the picture to see the name of the recipe and how it rated. Dig in!
As the holiday season comes to a close, we want to give thanks for all of the great feedback on our Tips for Greener Holidays series of blog posts. If everyone was taking the steps our readers are, we’d make a huge dent in that stat about North Americans producing 25% more waste during this time of year. It’s so wonderful to know, judging by your comments, that our customers are so environmentally conscious!
Here are a few simple things you can do to green up your clean up:
Compost your real tree and reuse your artificial tree.
Recycle (or store for reuse) your holiday cards and gift-wrap.
Use rechargeable batteries instead of regular ones. I know that they can be problematic at times – if you don’t charge them right before using them, they can slowly lose their charge and not work when you need them. Plan ahead!
For regular batteries, please recycle them instead of letting them end up in the landfill. You can find info on how and where to recycle at earth911.com.
Did you get a new computer or other electronic equipment? Donate your old stuff! Here in Central Texas, Goodwill has a great program where they take all electronic equipment and try to reuse it…and if they can’t, they recycle it. Who does this in your city? Computers With Causeslooks like a really good resource.
How many of you got new phones? If you’re ready to recycle your old phone, PDA, cell phone batteries, chargers, or other accessories – the Environmental Protection Agency website has a special section all about recycling these items. Don’t forget to double check that your personal data is cleared from the phone before you recycle it!
Did you get a gift card? After you use it, don’t throw it away. Bring it to any Whole Foods Market and we will recycle it for you! (Learn about our recycled gift cards).
Okay, I know you all have green ideas too. What other suggestions do you have to help us all clean up the after-holiday mess?
Merry Christmas! When my daughter was younger, we watched an animated Christmas movie called Annabelle’s Wish where a calf on a farm wishes to become a reindeer and fly with Santa. She also befriends the farmer’s grandson who suffers from muteness. Together, they learn about friendship and that with faith and a willingness to overcome great odds, anybody can achieve their dreams. I remember the film fondly but my daughter, now almost 13, won’t watch it with me this year. Spoiler alert: it takes many years, but eventually Annabelle’s wish comes true.
While it may sound a bit sappy, personally I wish for peaceful coexistence in our world. I learned from Annabelle that it can take years for wishes to come true, and life can be rich and meaningful in the meantime.
Hope you planned ahead and are not dashing through the snow trying to hang the stockings with care at the last minute on this Christmas Eve! Our stores are full of Christmas spirit and fun places to catch the holiday bug if it hasn’t bitten you yet.
Need some help with your holiday meal? Check out our recipes and tips pages!
For those last minute “oh I forgot the…!” quick dashes to the market, find out what your store’s holiday hours are by checking your store’s webpage, twitter feed or facebook page.
Wishing you and yours a peaceful Christmas filled with hope.
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4) Set up a DIY Sparkling Drinks Bar: Stock up on sparkling wine (stop by the wine department and ask for a recommendation), sparkling cider and sparkling water too. Set up a bar where guests can tailor their own sparkling drink cocktails. Cut slices of citrus and set out a bowl of sugar for sugaring rims of glasses: Just rub a slice of cut orange, lemon or lime around the rim of the glass, then invert the rim into the sugar and twist the glass to coat the rim. Set out pitchers of juices, the more colorful, the better! Think pomegranate, cherry, pink grapefruit and blood orange. Set up a chalkboard or cover a table with brown paper for guests to write down their favorite combinations.
