Community Support!

Just passing along this information for tomorrow -- received an email about it last week and it completely slipped my mind to share with my readers :) This is direct from Community Food Advocates website. 

"Community Food Advocates has been selected by Whole Foods Market Green Hills as the benefiticiary of it's 5% Day. Four times a year, Whole Foods of Green Hills donates 5% of the day's net sales to a local charity and on April 9th, Community Food Advocates will be the featured non-profit organization.

Community Food Advocates will staff an information table inside the store from 10 am until 7 pm and will display information about programs and upcoming events. CFA supporters and local food celebrities like Farmer Jason, Chef Laura Wilson, Amy Delvin from Delvin Farms, Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Co and many more will be on hand to greet shoppers and talk about the food system."

I hope to see you all out there! I'm definitely down for supporting such a great cause!

What are some ways that you're helping out your community?

New Farmer's Market!

It seems like maybe last week or the week/end before -- a very public announcement was made that Delvin Farms was asked to leave the West Nashville Farmer's Market (click for their FB announcement). It was over some produce 'politics' if you will, which I know sounds funny, but it's true. Regardless of what side of the fence you fall on the subject, it's a shame that it went down the way that it did. Several companies -- including Juice Nashville and Hummus Chick (my favs) -- decided to follow suit and drop out of the WNFM to show their support. Seemingly overnight they were able to secure a new location for a market and West End Farmer's Market was born. It's every Saturday at the parking lot of Vine Street Christian Church.

Not the greatest picture, but shows how many booths there were for
the first week. I'm sure this market is only going to continue to flourish!

We were able to get our weekly juice from juice.Nashville -- and our fix
of hummus from the Hummus Chick!

The kiddo and I indulged in some Cuppycakes! They
were absolutely fantastic. The Banana one was by far
the most amazing cupcake I've ever eaten!

Twin Forks Farm was a new one for me too -- didn't have a need this week,
but will definitely get some bread and granola in the weeks to come!

Peaceful Pastures was another new face -- meats, fresh
eggs and so much more!

Nutrisha was a great find for me! They do personal
chef stuff and even deliver box lunches to the home
or office. Check out their website!

And lastly, Delvin Farms. They had their first CSA box available for pickup
and they were selling tons of great fresh produce and plants. 

There were quite a few other vendors at the market this weekend but I didn't want to bog you down a complete rundown today. I will post more next weekend when we enjoy the weather and people again :)

Spring Colors.

@alkalinesisters -- so beautiful! 

Hope this adds some inspiration to your spring time meal rainbows this weekend!

Green Inspiration.

So this month I plan on giving you a bunch of green smoothie inspiration instead of the normal juicing routine. I'm really, really going to try to stay faithful to the one a day challenge and then maybe see how long it goes after that?! Pretty safe to say you can figure out the ingredient lists from the pictures :) Enjoy!

@asimplyrawlife -- I never think of putting actual nut butter in mine. I always
just used the powdered stuff. Must try this week!

@divaeatslife -- this was from the last smoothie challenge. Presentation
and inspiration is beautiful!

@healthylifelounge

@judsonmoss -- juices a lot too!

@nourishup

@simplegreensmoothies -- they're leading the 30-Day Challenge :)

@sproutedlife -- love the chalkboard backdrop!

@xo_xominichulinda

What are some of your favorite combinations this week?

Day 3 + Local Finds!

So I totally flaked and forgot to tell you guys about a new local find I came across yesterday. I saw them on Instagram the other day and looked them up on Facebook -- Spark of Life Healing Foods. They're located over off Charlotte Pike and their hours are up on their FB/website. Everyday their menu changes and you can pick stuff up at their store front or even find some of it at the local Whole Foods or Turnip Truck locations. Every week they do a "Spark Box" which varies but it has entrees, sides, snacks and desserts in it.  Their primarily focus is Gluten Free and Vegan foods -- either raw or lightly cooked. I scooped up some Raw Pad Thai, Mock Tuna Salad and some Raw Almond Truffles. I haven't gotten thru all of it yet, but it's been yummy so far!

Had a great day of shopping with my MIL and the kiddo in Franklin. Popped into Costco and scored some new goodies! I was shocked (and delighted) that they had 2 vegan cookbooks and I found the titles to be quite entertaining. They literally walk you thru the steps for those of us that are brand spankin' new to the venture. It's amazing how much the vegan/vegetarian/raw movement has caught on and swept the nation recently. Growing up, these terms were foreign to me. Even until just recently I'd heard of people being vegetarian, but never vegan/raw. I feel like the more I dig, the more I uncover this amazing movement and how many people are involved all around me. I am so fortunate to live in Nashville where there is so much opportunity for great food options and movements! I also got suckered into buying some Dried Young Coconut pieces. They had a little sample booth. Well played Costco. I couldn't possibly resist these yummy, slightly chewy, sweet chunks of coconut :) I see these as a perfect fit for my sweet tooth and lack of dietary fiber! Just wish the sugar content wasn't so high!

Today was Day 3 of the Green Smoothie Challenge and I was too busy to do it for breakfast or lunch, so I squeezed it in as my dinner -- 4 bananas, coconut milk, banana greek yogurt, chocolate PB2, hemp and wheatgrass powder and some hemp hearts on top. I need to get some actually greens sometime this week so I can throw some kale or spinach in. I guess the only thing 'green' about these the last few days has been the hemp and wheatgrass :) Some is better than none I guess!

How's everyone else doing with the challenge?

Day 2 + Local Eats.

So Day 2 of the challenge didn't kick off as good as yesterday. I usually always use fresh bananas and some sort of coconut/almond/cows milk as my base. I had Greek yogurt in the fridge too and totally flaked on using it to make my smoothie creamier. I also threw in some flax and hemp powder, some PB2 (which is amazing) and a Vega protein smoothie packet. I think it was the Vanilla Almond one and to be honest, it kind of turned my stomach a little. I'm not sure if it was the intense flavor or what, but it didn't settle well. I've used Vega in the past and have been super happy with it. Hopefully tomorrow's will be a bit better :)

Sometime last week, the owner of Eat Well Market asked her customers on FaceBook what genre of food we'd like to see her make soon. I personally voted for Thai as it's one of my favorites, but I feel it's also not the healthiest thing I could be eating. I LOVE that most all her stuff is gluten free and she always seems to have vegan/vegetarian options available. I was stoked that she decided to make Thai today and scurried over for lunch. I hoovered up some Green Curry with potatoes, onion, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and a whole lot of spice served with Jasmine Rice. Hands down some of the best curry I've had in the area. I tried to go back and get take out for dinner around 6ish and she was already sold out for the night! I think we ran her ragged Nashville, but man, was it good or what?!

What's some of your favorite Thai meals?

Whale Love.

So today is the first day of the 30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge and I've started off strong. I did however completely have a brain fart and forgot to take a picture! I also pulled the best April Fool's joke, unfortunately it was on myself. I woke up this morning panicked that I was running late to my step class at the downtown Y. I haven't been in over a month, but I was positive that the class was at 9:30. So I threw together a smoothie, grabbed an extra banana and flew out the door. Dropped the kiddo off at the daycare and ran (literally) up to class. Got my step out and noticed a TON of new faces. This should've been my first clue. Then the instructor turned the music on and I thought I was in a night club -- this should've been my second clue. About 22 minutes into class, I turned to the girl behind me and said, "Is this Basic Step?" at which she smiled and said that it was Intermediate+ Step. I thought I was going to die. I was quite the trooper though and stuck out the whole 45 minutes -- and then we all had a good laugh that I had managed to survive the class. I then stayed for the 15 minute Ab Teaser and then the 30 minute Basic Step class afterwards to make myself feel better and trust me, I nailed everything :) It didn't seem so hard after what I'd been thru during the first class!

I was thrilled when I got home and a little package was awaiting me from Christy Robinson Designs! I came across her jewelry on Vegan Cuts website and after pursuing thru her stuff, finally decided that I had to have this little whale necklace. It's made from recycled aluminum so it's super light weight and you can pretty much customize any of her designs. Within reason of course. My husband joked that I should've gotten it to say "Not Research" but I didn't want to ruin the simplicity of the whale. She has a TON of great designs ranging from a kale bunch to a rabbit to a little chick that says "Not a Nugget". Most of her stuff is centered around being vegan/vegetarian/cruelty free, but all in all, there's something for everyone! Make sure you check out her FB page and all her new Mother's Day designs :)

I capped the day off with a great little salad (don't worry I had seconds) and a whole avocado. I bought a couple of these huge guys over at Harris Teeter yesterday and they were already ripe -- super yummy with some hot sauce poured on top! Thinking I might do a dessert green smoothie later. We'll see!

What good habits have you decided to start this month?