Last Sunday we had a great time, taking the Farmers’ Market over to join the Key West Food & Wine Festival. Thank you to all our regular Market-goers for making the trip down the road! And great to meet so many new faces.

This week we’re back on home turf, at the regular time

9am to1pm

If you thought SuperBowl couldn’t also be a healthy and delicious day… think again!

At the market this week, we’ve got juicy heirloom carrots, as well as gorgeous heirloom tomatoes - they sold out so quickly last week!

The Lacinato Kale, Red Kale and Red Chard are back on the list this week, along with regular favorites: Asian Mix, Arugula, Assorted Lettuce (Crisphead, Butterhead, Romaine, Looseleaf), Cauliflower, White Mushrooms, Portabellas and Potatoes.

… Not forgetting our local Keys eggs - we KNOW how much you love those!! No fighting now!!!

… Or the grape and roma tomatoes, red round radishes, scallions, parsley and cilantro.

YUM! See you there!

We love Micheal Pollan! His philosophy around food, outlined in his books ‘The Omnivores Dilema’ and ‘In Defense of Food’, are directly in line with ours and the reasons we opened Help Yourself. In fact I can’t think of any better words to sum it up than his phrase on the front of ‘In Defense of Food’; Eat Food. Not Much. Mostly Plants.

This morning I had some time to myself and I went down to Voltaire Books and picked up his latest book ‘Food Rules’. This is a simple pocket guide he calls ‘An Eaters Manual’ that contains 64 rules on how to eat.

Forget Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Medi Fast or any of the other fad diets out there, if everyone followed these simple guidelines we would have a much healthier and thinner nation. Guaranteed.

Take Rule number 37 for instance:

“The whiter the bread the sooner you’ll be dead”

How true this is! In fact here’s a little whole grain trivia we have posted at the restaurant that helps you understand why this rule is so true:

We love hearing from all of you - our fabulous friends and customers.  And when we start to hear a theme from you all, we absolutely cannot ignore it!!

It seems that while we are are able to inspire you with real food from the restaurant, you seem to be looking for a little extra help and inspiration in your own kitchens, and when buying your own groceries.

So we’re planning classes to help you to help yourselves!

But which class to start with?!

Well, we looked back at the 30 Days to Help Yourself challenge to remind ourselves what had been most useful in helping kick-start Leigh into action … and we came to the conclusion that what everyone needs most is a little:

Kitchen Therapy

Real strategies for

Losing Weight, Increasing Energy & Preventing Disease

With:

Donna Shields, MS, RD, LD

Registered Dietitian, Integrative Nutritionist

&

Charlie Wilson

Whole Foods Chef, (our very own) Owner of Help Yourself Organic Restaurant!

Learn simple steps to make 2010 the

Healthiest Year of Your Life

• Detoxify Your Diet
• Straight Talk about Supplements
• The Whole Foods Pantry without Barcodes
• Intelligent Grocery Shopping
• Cooking Demos, Product Sampling & Lunch
  

Saturday, February 6^th, 11am - 1pm

$100 per person (lunch included)

Unity Church, 1011 Virginia St

Please register and pay in advance at Help Yourself

829 Fleming St (corner of Margaret & Fleming) (305) 296-7766

Space is limited for a personalized experience

3-Day Raw Food Detox

For the ultimate boost in your nutrition, join us this week

Wednesday 20th, Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd January

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner + daily juice and coconut water

Supercharge your body for the New Year!

Eating raw gives you the nutrients your body’s been craving: the enzymes, the vitamins and the minerals. They’re not destroyed by cooking so your body gets a super-boost.

You’ll have more energy and you’ll feel great!

Add a 1-day juice fast on Saturday 23rd for an even greater boost!
for just $25 extra, receive 5 freshly pressed juices and 2 fresh coconut waters

Come and taste the Help Yourself Breakfast Specials, sit out on the deck, listen to the music and enjoy Key West’s only

Organic Farmers’ Market

Check out this week’s list of organic groceries

And join us this Sunday, December 13th from 9am - 1pm

Cherry Tomatoes, Green Chard, Eggplant, Green Bell Peppers, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Green Beans, Black Sapote, Betel Leaf, Cas Guava, Lemongrass, Garlic Chives, Asian Mix, Shungiku Radishes, Mustard Greens, Hall Avocados, Dandelion Greens, Bok Choy, Thai Basil, Assorted Lettuces, Fennel, Parsley, Beets, Broccoli, Green Cabbage, Carrots, Portabella Mushrooms, White Mushrooms, Green Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Tomatoes, Red Potatoes, Star Fruits, Honey, Eggs, Milk, Cheese, Granola, Banana Bread, Salt, Coconuts and more
<–>

This Sunday

 The Farmers’ Market

is back!

 Join us this Sunday, December 6th from 9am - 1pm

for the first market of the season … and every Sunday until May 2010

Come and stock up on all your organic and locally-grown groceries every Sunday. Buy farm-fresh, locally grown, certified organic (or pesticed-free) fruits, vegetables and more.

 This Sunday, come and be inspired by all this delicious produce:

Apples, Arugula, Avocados, Bok Choy, Baby Bok Choy, Black Sapote, Cabbage, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn, Eggplants, Cucumbers, Green Bell Peppers, Green Beans, Green Kale, Honey, Mushrooms, Oranges, Parsnips, Red Potatoes, Russian Red Kale, Green Chard, Italian Dandelion Greens, Lettuce, Onions, Radishes, Turnips, Yellow Squash, Zucchini

Cilantro, Dill, Garlic, Garlic Chives, Ginger, Lemongrass, Parsley

 Organic Goats Cheese: Ricotta, Feta, Plain Log

Unhomogenized Whole Milk

Local Free Range Eggs

Breads & Baked Goods

& Plants

Also come for the music, cooking demos, fresh coconuts … and of course you’ll want to get your Help Yourself Breakfast Special with a delicious Coconut Latte! (… AND Amy will be baking!!!)

See you there!

Stay in touch with weekly Farmers’ Market updates via Facebook and right here on our blog.

We want to thank all of our fabulous customers for your amazing support

Please join us at the restaurant to celebrate at our

BIRTHDAY PARTY

Wednesday 21st Oct, between 6:30pm and 8:30pm

We’re serving up FREE music, snacks and sangria (organic of course!)

We’ll also be announcing the WINNER of the “30 Days to Help Yourself” challenge

See you there!

We’re looking for Superstar Smoothie Makers and Fabulously Passionate Cooks.

Are you passionate about real food?
Excited by serving customers?
Amazing at multi-tasking?
Experienced in Food Service?

Stop by the restaurant with your resume, or call and ask for Charlie.

The Help Yourself Team

We send our kids to school to learn. Sometimes we forget that education is more than just about passing tests.

We love that so many schools around the country are trying to start their own gardens for teaching, as well as for eating. It’s amazing what can be learnt from growing a garden. There’s the science around growing: weather, plants, nutrition; there’s the sociology and history of how we used to live and how others live; there’s geography, the environment and sustainability; and there are also wonderful life skills around planning, organization and problem solving.

In our rushed lives it is often taken for granted that if we want something, we should get it immediately. How often are we frustrated when we don’t get what we want, NOW? Growing food is an amazing opportunity for the kids to learn patience, and find that the reward for their efforts is all the sweeter when they experience the thrill of eating something delicious that they have personally taken the time to create.

At Help Yourself, we also find ourselves super-excited about the opportunity of re-education in real food. We are very excited about the next generation reconnecting with where their food comes from and learning the importance of real food.

Getting the kids excited about their food is a joy to see. And even better that natural, organic, freshly prepared food, tastes delicious!