Meatless Monday: Nest of Wilted Greens with Sunnyside-Up Eggs

Ingredients

2 pounds chard, kale, dandelion, collards, mustard, spinach, or a combination
3 to 5 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced fine
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 cage-free eggs

Directions

1. Wash greens in several changes of water. If the stems are big, remove and dice them. If the leaves are big, roll them up and slice them into ribbons.
2. Heat half the oil in a large pan over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and chopped stems and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add leaves to the pan, stir well, and cook covered over medium heat until they’re wilted, about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for tenderness and season with salt and pepper.
4. While greens are cooking, heat remaining oil in a large cast-iron frying pan. Break eggs into the pan, turn down the heat and cook until firm. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange eggs on top of the nest of wilted greens and serve hot.

Source: motherearthnews.com

Keep Cool! Tips for Saving Energy This Summer

It’s easy to keep your house cool without air conditioning. Employing a few basic environmentally friendly principals will help keep you cool and will help you save money.



Hot Air Out, Cool Air In
The most basic thing you can do to keep your house cooler without air conditioning is to keep as much sunlight out as possible and let cooler air in at night. During the day, keep windows, drapes, blinds or shades closed, especially on the southern and western sides of your home. If you have a porch, you can put up large plastic or bamboo shades to cut down on sunlight.


Windows
Use white or light colored window dressings to reflect light. You can also apply reflective slicks to windows to further cut down on light. At night, leave cabinets open as well, as they will store heat.


Be a Fan of the Fan
Moving air is cooler air. At night, place fans in windows to bring more cool air in. Ceiling fans can also make a big difference. In terms of cooling, even a one-mile-per-hour breeze will make you feel three to four degrees cooler. In terms of energy savings, if you run a ceiling fan full-blast for 12 hours, you will only spend about $10 a month in electricity. Ceiling fans have two settings, one to pull air up (for winter use), and the other to push air down. Make sure your ceiling fan is blowing down.


Turn Your Fan into an Air Conditioner
Another easy way to cool your home without air conditioning is to place a bowl of ice or a frozen milk jug in front of one or more fans.


What’s hot in your home?
It’s one thing to keep hot air and sunlight out; it’s another to identify the appliances in your home that generate heat. If you aren’t at home during the day, it is easier to simply shut off as many electric appliances as possible. If you spend more of your day at home, try to use heat-generating appliances only during the coolest part of the day.
Keeping your electronics on a power strip provides a quick way to “power-down” before leaving for the day.

Light Bulbs
Change incandescent bulbs for cooler fluorescent bulbs. Turn off lights when not in use.


Humidity
Humidity makes a room hotter. Do laundry early or late in the day. Take showers or baths during the cooler times of day. If your bathroom, laundry room or kitchen has vents, use them. Invest in a dehumidifier if you live in a humid climate.


Insulate Your Attic
A well-insulated attic, especially when an attic ventilating fan is used, is one of the best ways to keep heat out of your home.


Landscaping
As you plan out landscaping for your home, be mindful of having deciduous trees, trellises and shrubbery on the southern and western portions of your home. Don’t place heat-absorbing rocks, cement or asphalt too close to the house.
With a small amount of planning, you are on your way to a cooler and more enjoyable summer.


Source: Chaya on hometalk.com

Meatless Monday: Coney Island Chili Dog

Ingredients

1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (3/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
8 oz. soy or Quorn crumbles
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
4 meatless hot dogs
4 whole-wheat hot dog buns

Directions

1.Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, or until softened. Add soy crumbles, and cook 7 minutes more, or until browned. Stir in tomato sauce, chili powder, mustard, sugar, and cumin. Simmer 5 minutes, or until thickened.
2.Cook meatless hot dogs according to package directions.
3.Serve warm chili over hot dogs in buns.

Tip: Top with more chopped onion and/or chopped fresh jalepeno.

Popcorn, Beer and a Movie!

Looking for something fun and free to do this Saturday? We've got you covered! HHM will have a free showing in the South End Community Room of "You Can Heal Your Life" starting at 1pm. Healthy snacks and drinks will be provided, including popcorn! When the movie is over, stick around for some meaningful conversation or head downstairs and join the beer tasting which will already be underway!

The beer tasting also begins at

1pm and will run until 4pm. This time, we will feature Avery Brewing Company's new line of canned beers! Same great ales, but now in a can, which protects the beer from light and oxygen damage. Canned beer is cool once again! We will be sampling Avery's Joe's Pilsner, White Rascal and Ellie's Brown Ale. We will also have various other food and beverage samples on hand. What a great way to spend the afternoon, with plenty of sunshine left in the day!

Meatless Monday: Mexicali Chop with Crunchy Tortilla Strips

Ingredients

Tortilla Strips
1 1/2 tsp. canola oil
3 6-inch corn tortillas
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. maple crystals or sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, sliced (8 cups)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (2 cups)
1 avocado, diced (1 cup)
3 celery stalks, sliced (1 cup)
1 cucumber, seeded and diced (1 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen, thawed corn kernels
3/4 cup cooked pinto beans
1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers, rinsed, drained, and sliced
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

Directions

1. To make Tortilla Strips: Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush oil on tortillas. Cut in half, then cut into 1/8-inch-wide strips. Spread on baking sheet. Combine chili powder, maple crystals, and salt in bowl. Sprinkle chili powder mixture over strips. Bake 15 minutes, or until crisp. Cool.
2. To make Dressing: heat oil, garlic, cumin, coriander, sugar, and salt in saucepan 2 to 3 minutes over low heat, or until garlic begins to sizzle.
3. Blend remaining Dressing ingredients with garlic oil in blender until smooth.
4. Toss together all Salad ingredients with Tortilla Strips and 1/4 cup Dressing.

Source: vegetariantimes.com

South End is Now Serving Paninis!

We are very excited to announce that as of today, our South End location deli is serving pressed to order paninis featuring all natural and local ingredients! Below, you will find our new offerings. They are already flying out the door! Stop in, try one and let us know what you think!

Vegetarian

Caprese: Local Breadsmith Italian Bread, Olive Oil, Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Leaves...$5.29
Sun-Dried Tomato: Local Breadsmith Ciabatta Roll, Sun-dried Tomato Pesto, Spinach, Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Leaves...$5.79
Grilled Veggie: Local Breadsmith Ciabatta Roll, Basil Pesto, Grilled Eggplant, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Roasted Red Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Leaves...$6.29

Non-Vegetarian

BLT Grilled Cheese: Local Breadsmith Italian Bread, Cheddar Cheese, Tomato, Spinach and All Natural Bacon...$5.29
Pesto Turkey: Local Breadsmith Italian Bread, Basil Pesto, All Natural Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Leaves...$5.79
Steak or Chicken: Local Breadsmith Ciabatta Roll, All Natural Steak or Chicken, Cheddar Cheese, Choice of Pepper (Red, Green and/or Yellow) and Red Onion...$6.29

5 Tips for Line Drying Your Clothes

This blog post comes to us courtesy of Colleen Vanderlinden at Planet Green.

We haven't used our dryer in years. Literally, years. During the winter, we hang our clothes to dry on lines that run the length of our basement. During the spring, summer, and fall, our clothes are dried and freshened by Ma Nature.

We've loved the energy savings, the fact that we are lessening our impact on the environment, and the clean way our clothing smells -- no overpowering fabric softener smell here! But I have to admit that I, especially, love hanging clothes outdoors on the lines, feeling the warm sun and gentle breeze as I smooth and clip towels, t-shirts, and jeans onto the lines.

Your clothes will dry on the line. That's nature. But there are a few little tricks to line drying that will make the process run even more smoothly.

Tips for Line Drying Your Clothes

1. Use vinegar in your rinse cycle to avoid stiff clothing.
I often hear people complain that when they line dry their clothing (especially jeans and towels), it ends up stiff and scratchy. Using just a half to three-quarters of a cup of vinegar per load, added just before your rinse cycle starts, will keep your clothing soft. Don't worry about any vinegar odor -- it disappears as the clothing dries.

2. Hang your shirts by the hemline, rather than the shoulders.
This prevents weird bunching at the shoulders, which is a pain to get out after the shirt is dry. Use two clothespins at the hem instead, and you won't have to worry about bunchy shoulders.

3. Don't fold clothing over the line.
Use clothespins, and clip all of your clothes to the line. Folding results in longer drying times and fold lines in weird places once your clothes have dried.

4. Don't crowd your lines.
If you're like me, you just want to get the laundry done as quickly as possible, and you might, maybe, sometimes do larger loads than you have room to hang. Resist the temptation, and give your clothing room on the lines. Crowding results in wrinkles and longer drying times, as well as weighing down the line (which could make your clothes drag on the ground.)

5. Freshen between washings.
If you have an item that you've worn, but isn't exactly dirty, go ahead and hang it out on the line to let it air out. For even more freshening power, make an all natural linen spray, spritz the item, and let it dry. Double energy savings!
Line drying is easy, effective, and (dare I say it?) enjoyable. I hope these tips help make laundry day a little simpler.

¡Fiesta Organica! Join the Party!

South End will host ¡Fiesta Organica! this Saturday from 12 pm - 4 pm. This promises to be a fun event with Radio Latina broadcasting live from the parking lot. We will have quite a few things going on, most notably we will be holding a drawing for two tickets to the Concacaf Gold Cup futbol (Soccer) game, Mexico vs. Cuba! We will also have gift basket drawings, live Latin guitar music. Local company Victor's Salsa Fresca will be hand with samples, as well as, L&A Juice Co., Alberts Organics with Grateful Harvest Lime Shots, Manna Organics Bread, Lundberg Rice Cakes, Lifeway Frozen Kefir, Talenti Gelato e Sorbetto, Saddie's Caribbean Fish Cakes and various other samples throughout the store! Dr. Brandon Lee of Family Healing Chiropractic will be in the house and we will have EPFX Biofeedback information and discounts! And perhaps most exciting (at least for those who like to eat as much as we do), we will have fresh organic Chicken Fajitas with Tortillas, Beans, Rice, Guacamole and Pico de Gallo and Carne Asada also with Tortillas, Beans, Rice, Guacamole and Pico de Gallo prepared on location. Both plates for only $4.99 each! Thirsty? We will have Corona's with lime for only $1.50 each!

And for our Spanish speaking friends:

South End acogerá Orgánica ¡Fiesta! este sábado desde las 12 pm - 4 pm. Este promete ser un evento divertido con Radio Latina de radiodifusión en directo desde el estacionamiento. Vamos a tener unas cuantas cosas en marcha, sobre todo vamos a celebrar un sorteo de dos entradas para la Copa Oro de CONCACAF Fútbol (fútbol) juego México vs Cuba! También tendremos la cesta del regalo dibujos, música en vivo la guitarra latina. La compañía local de Victor Salsa Fresca será la mano con las muestras, así como, L & A Co. Jugo, orgánicos Alberts con Agradecido cosecha cal tiros, Maná orgánicos Pan, Lundberg pasteles de arroz, Lifeway congelados kéfir, Talenti Gelato e Sorbetto, Pasteles Caribe Saddie de pescado y varias otras muestras en toda la tienda! El Dr. Brandon Lee, de la familia curación quiropráctica estará en la casa y vamos a tener información EPFX Biofeedback y descuentos! Y quizás lo más interesante (al menos para aquellos que les gusta comer todo lo que hacemos), tendremos frescos orgánicos fajitas de pollo con frijoles, arroz, guacamole y pico de gallo y Carne Asada también con frijoles, arroz, guacamole y pico de Gallo preparados en el lugar. Ambos platos por sólo $ 4.99 cada uno! ¿Tienes sed? Tendremos Corona con limón por sólo $ 1.50 cada uno!

In honor of this fiesta, enjoy this awesome video of Carrie, a Chilean dog, dancing the Meringue!

DIY: Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients

6 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers (about 2 pounds)

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Several fresh dill sprigs per jar

Add fresh jalepeno for an extra kick 

Directions

1. Place sliced cucumbers in the jar.

2. Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan; stir well. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Pour over cucumber mixture; let cool. Screw on top and chill for at least four days, turning once a day to evenly distribute spices. Pickles may be stored in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Note: We have local Pickling Cucumbers on sale right now for only $1.99 lb. and we carry Pickling Spice in our bulk spice section.