Friday, May 31, 2013

Hello to Our New e-Newsletter!

Ever since the early days of Green Earth Organics, we've put together a weekly newsletter and included it in your bin. But now, at long last, we're going to be discontinuing the paper newsletter and the monthly email newsletter in favour of a new weekly email newsletter.

This change was driven by a desire to cut down our carbon footprint and in hopes that we can make the newsletter more helpful by including links and other interactive components.

Our new newsletter will contain all your favourite parts of our paper newsletters – recipes, news about the environment, articles about health and nutrition, etc. – plus links to sale products and the bin contents on the website. We will also continue to make important announcements in our newsletter, so please keep an eye out for new product announcements, holiday closures, specials, and more. We will still be cross-posting all contents to this blog.

If you currently receive our monthly email newsletter, you will be automatically included on the weekly email newsletter list, as will all new members who have started our service since the beginning of April. We will be using MailChimp to send our newsletters. If you are not sure if you are signed up, if we don't have your email address, or if you would like to be subscribed using a different email address, give us a call or email, or sign yourself up at the following links:

Fraser Valley

Sea to Sky

Vancouver

Victoria

Our last paper newsletter will be going out in bins the week of June 3rd through June 7th. The first weekly email newsletter will go out on Friday, June 7th, and every Friday from there.

For our members who need to receive a paper newsletter, please let us know and we will print copies of the email to include in your future bins. If you have any questions or concerns, or if you have suggestions for what should be included in our future newsletters, please give us a call or email us at info@greenearthorganics.com.

Thank you for being a part of the Green Earth Organics community!

Stuffed French Toast with Peach Sauce

INGREDIENTS

8 fresh peaches
1/2 cup sugar
4 pinches nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp sugar
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
8 slices of bread
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel and pit the peaches, then slice into a heavy saucepan, catching all the juices. Stir in the 1/2 cup of sugar, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, and cook over medium heat until bubbly. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until the sauce reaches a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon zest. Spread cream cheese over 4 of the slices of bread, then top each slice with another slice of bread to form a sandwich.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Briefly soak each sandwich in the egg mixture.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in it, then cook two sandwiches at a time in the skillet, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Set each toasted sandwich on a baking sheet. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and cook the remaining sandwiches the same way. Bake the four sandwiches in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Cut each sandwich in half and serve hot with the warm peach sauce.

Zesty Citrus Broccoli

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 head broccoli, cut into small pieces with stalks peeled
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp orange juice

DIRECTIONS


Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and wait until hot but not smoking. Add the orange zest and red pepper flakes and saute for just a minute. Add the broccoli into the mixture and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the broccoli is bright green (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat, transfer to a serving dish, and toss well with the orange juice. Serve hot.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Citrus-Ginger Syrup for Fruit Salad

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp grated lemon or lime rind
1 tsp grated orange rind
3 cups of fresh fruit salad

DIRECTIONS

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. While whisking constantly, simmer for about 5 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and allow to cool briefly. Stir in the lemon/lime and orange rinds. Pour syrup over fruit; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.

Caramelized Nectarines

INGREDIENTS
5 large nectarines
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

Set a strainer over a bowl and cut the nectarines into the strainer, so their juice collects in the bowl.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat, then add butter. When hot but not yet smoking, add the nectarines and saute them for about 2 to 3 minutes, until they sizzle and their juices begin to thicken. Sprinkle the sugar over them and saute until the juices further thicken and the sugar caramelizes slightly, about 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and the nectarine juice collected in the bowl and stir and saute until everything is well blended. Let the nectarines cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the juices are very thick, which will take a minute or two.

Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

The Great Green Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups water
2 ice cubes
1/2 head green leaf lettuce, coarsely chopped
1 large bunch spinach, coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 pear, cored and chopped
1/3 bunch cilantro, stems and leaves
1/2 bunch parsley, stems and leaves
1 banana, peeled
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or about 1 Tbsp of lemon juice)

DIRECTIONS

Add the water, ice cubes, lettuce, and spinach to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed, mix until smooth.

Gradually moving to higher speeds, add the celery, apple, pear, cilantro, and parsley. Add the banana and lemon juice last and blend until smooth.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Happy 1st Birthday, Victoria!

Happy Birthday Green Earth Organics Victoria!

As of two weekends ago, it’s been a year since we’ve been delivering fresh organic food here in Victoria! And what a great first year it’s been… As the owner of Green Earth Victoria, I am very proud to be a part of the development and growth of our Victoria Green Earth Community. Such a diverse group of wonderful people, yet we have a common bond: an appreciation for our health, our community, and our planet. Of course, we also love delicious organic food!

It’s a rewarding experience to have such positive interactions with our members. The feedback we get is amazing! Being a small, locally owned business, we are growing with the valuable input from our members, so please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. If there’s a product that you’d like to see available or if there’s something we can do differently, let us know! We can be reached at 250-704-0660 or victoria@greenearthorganics.com.

Our best method for growth is with your referrals. If you love us, tell people! Remember, as an incentive you’ll get $10 off your next delivery for every new member who mentions your name when creating their account. They also get $10 off their first delivery for mentioning you.

We’re also working to grow our social media presence. Members who have a Facebook account are encouraged to visit us there. Likes and comments welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow us on Twitter @greenearthvic.

Thanks so much to all our loyal members, including those who’ve been with us since the beginning and those who have joined along the way. We look forward to continuing to bring fresh organic food to your home.

Yours in Organic Living,

Aaron Purser
Green Earth Organics Victoria

Clean Water for Everyone!

For the month of May Green Earth Organics is turning blue to join the Clean Water for Everyone Project!

We’re partnering with Shannon Cluff, owner of Sanga Yoga Studio and wife of Green Earth owner Daniel Henry, to help bring clean water to people in need.

100% of the donation will fund clean water projects through CHARITY:WATER, a non-profit organization that brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

Once the project is complete CHARITY:WATER will send photos and GPS coordinates so we’ll be able to see the impact we made!

It’s as simple as following this link and donating. Remember that each dollar counts!

Why water?

Health and Sanitation

Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

Women and Children

In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely contaminated.

For more information about the importance of water projects, check out charitywater.org
.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Vancouver: We’re giving away two pairs of tickets to attend Eat! Vancouver 2013

Green Earth Organics 15th Anniversary is coming up on June 1st and we already started to celebrate!  That's why we’re giving away two pairs of tickets to attend Eat! Vancouver at BC Place Stadium on May 24, 25 & 26, 2013.


For a chance to win just "Like" our Vancouver Facebook page!


The winners will be announced Tuesday May 21st!  Share with your friends and family! Anyone can participate!


Eat! Vancouver is Canada’s largest consumer food festival. Celebrity chefs, popular local restaurants, wineries, food and beverage manufacturers, cookbook authors, retailers, artisans, and many others from the culinary world will come together for a three day public extravaganza at the newly refurbished BC Place Stadium. EAT! Vancouver encompasses unique food experiences, opportunities to learn behind-the-scenes culinary magic from professional chefs, dynamic entertainment through celebrity chef cooking demonstrations and culinary competitions, diverse food, beverage and cooking related exhibits; and of course fantastic shopping opportunities.


http://www.eat-vancouver.com/info_festival.html

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Baba Ghanoush

INGREDIENTS

1 eggplant
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Place eggplant on baking sheet, and make holes in the skin with a fork. Roast it for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, or until soft. Remove from oven, and place into a large bowl of cold water. Remove from water, and peel skin off.

Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic in an electric blender, and puree. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste. Transfer eggplant mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and slowly mix in olive oil.

Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving. Serve with triangles of pita bread, tortilla chips, or fresh veggies.