Monday, March 30, 2009

The Importance of Farmers' Markets

Every last sunday of the month there is a farmers' market in Bordeaux St. Thomas. We spent the greater part of the day there yesterday and had a blast!Cherry tomatoes are my favorite!
Beautiful organic mineral and protein rich collards! And our good friend Ras Omaha.
"Ital" food, completely whole food vegan and delicious!!

Drinking fresh coconut water, I also had some water from a young coconut!
At this point we are on a tour of part of the farm. An Edwards variety mango tree on the farm. Not quite ready
Breadfruit tree and staple here in the Caribbean. Yum yum!!! "Figs" are small, sweet bananas.
As you can see shopping at, or even volunteering at your local farmers market can reap BIG benefits!! It is the BEST way, outside of gardening yourself, to get organic, fresh, seasonal produce and get outside in the sun and meet up with friends. Some of the produce available included collard greens, arugula (an aromatic salad green), fresh parsley, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and thyme (yay herbs!!!), young coconuts, eggplant, red and green leaf lettuce, pumpkin and grapefruit.
Plus there were plenty of vegan food vendors and people selling local drinks like sorrel tea and peanut punch (more on these later!). As well as some local crafts people selling clothes, tams, jewelery, art and household items. So we had an all around great day.
We took a tour of part of the farm and learned all about mango trees, grafting and gray water irrigation. So awesome!!! We tasted a couple of acerola cherries right off the tree which are very high (higher than citrus fruits) in vitamin C.
In Radience,
Herbal Eranah

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Much <3 to All Vegan Newbies!!

I just got an email from my cousin and she has decided to revisit the world of veg and needed some pointers;
here is my response.

"Hey girl! Good to hear from you! To keep things simple stick with whole foods (not the super market) The main rule is stay away from processed starches and sugars (white flour, white sugar etc)

Dairy can be very allergenic for many people (my bi yearly flus and strep throat went away went I went dairy free)

Make batches of rice or other whole grains(quinoa and buckwheat are my favorites)to keep in the fridge and serve up with soups, veggies etc.

Make big batches of bean soups (please don't use cans!!!) these are good to reheat the next day.

Steaming veggies is very healthy, quick and easy, just pour some olive oil and salt and pepper after they are cooked and your good to go!

Go RAW!! Salads are always quick and easy, it seems like a lot of work to chop up all those veggies but you don't have to wait to cook, make your own dressings sometimes to experiment and save $$$.

Have a fruit bowl for quick snacks.

Do smoothies, look into superfoods to supplement with like chlorella, spirulina, maca etc...
Nutritional yeast= magic ingredient for vegan soy/cashew cheese+ high in B vitamins.

Don't over do it on vegan junk foods and replace sugar with 100% maple syrup, dates or honey (some don't consider vegan but I use it.)

Have fun! Learn new recipes every once in a while but just keep it simple, I make a meal with salad, steamed broccoli, potatoes and grain or soup in under an hour. I am so glad to hear you are venturing into herbivore territory ^-^!!

Also be gentle with yourself, take time to rest, meditate, pray....envision your goals on this path, see yourself beaming with health and breathe. Sometimes it is hard for me still, to pass by the convenience of "Standard American Diet" as they say. But eventually it gets easier, your tastebuds will change and you will notice a difference and if you don't you can always try something else :D love you, never hesitate to ask me anything and let me know how it goes....teehee between you, me and E, we should take over Thanksgiving!!! Ha ha!! free the turkeys!!!"
I thought this was pretty good advice for off the top of my head!!! :D But I am glad she asked because, that is exactly why I started this blog, for people who want to keep veg as simple and healthy! HTH!!

With love and Blessings and lots of yummies!!

Herbal Eranah
Question of the day....What is your #1 tip for a veg newbie???