December, 2008

We will be closing at 5pm today, New Year’s Eve, and will open at 11am on New Year’s Day.

Happy New Year!

The Farmers Market is tomorrow and with the article in the Locals Guide yesterday it could be a busy one, so come early to make sure you don’t miss out! The restaurant is also open for breakfast with great organic egg wraps, omelets, French toast, granola, oatmeal and of course organic coffee!

The produce we should have tomorrow is:

• Arugula
• Pei Tsai (chinese lettuce)
• Green beans
• Pole Beans
• Garlic chives
• Lemon grass
• Avocados
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Cauliflower
• Butternut Squash
• Tomatoes
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Satsumas
• Eggs
• Mushrooms
• beets
• Cucumbers
• Help Yourself baked goodies such as banana breads and cookies
• Linda’s baked breads
• Fresh young coconuts to drink
• Freshly made bags and purses from coconut shells

We will be closed on Christmas Day and will open again at 11am on Friday 26th.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

From the Crew at Help Yourself!

See you Friday….

Losing weight, eating better and getting in shape are amongst the top 10 most common New Year’s resolutions. A gift certificate is a great way to help someone ‘help themselves’ keep their resolutions!

We have $25.00 certificates available in store.

Don’t forget tomorrow is our weekly farmers market. This week we have:

Loose salad mix (arugula, mizuna, tatsoi, lettuce)
Red and green leaf heads of lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Regular tomatoes
Green beans
Green peppers
Eggplant
Yellow Zucchini
Avocados
Grapefruit
Oranges
Tangerines
Apples
Plus some of our homebaked goodies.

This week we are also featuring:

Fresh coconuts from Mani
All natural sweeteners made from bananas
Home baked breads
Handcrafted bags and purses made from coconuts – these are great Christmas presents

The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch, so come by and try our banana bread french toast with maple walnut sauce or Amy’s delicious breakfast wrap!

We are a nation obsessed with nutrients. In fact we are so caught up in ‘nutrients’ and which nutrient is good for us and which is bad that we have forgotten how to eat. We have followed a path of ‘fad’ diets that separate the nutrients in food and tell you to eat more of this one and eliminate that one. Some diets tell you that carbs are your friend others your enemy. Everyone seems to see fat as the bad guy, but our bodies need fat, in fact all nutrients play a part in our bodies.

Nutritionism (a word popularized by Micheal Pollan) is simply an ideology assuming that it is the scientifically identified ‘nutrients’ in foods that determine their value in the diet rather than the ‘food’ itself. There is not enough scientific data to assume that individual nutrients out of context of their natural food or synthetically manufactured nutrients used to fortify other foods are actually enhancing our health. In fact most of these ‘low fat diets’ or ‘low carb diets’ or ‘fortified’ fake foods are actually the cause of ill health.

Instead of thinking in terms of nutrients; how much fat, how many carbs, how much sugar or how many calories, think about the quality of the food and the ingredients. Eating a whole food, natural diet is far more important than the amount of calories, or fat or carbs a food contains. Nature has provided us with perfect food that contains all the nutrients we need to sustain a healthy lifestyle, so if you eat natural food that’s one less thing to worry about!

I have just been given the list of what produce we will be getting for our market this Sunday which is listed below. We will also print a recipe suggestion this week to help with your choices.

The market begins at 9am and runs until 1pm unless we run out of produce, and is held in front of the restaurant.

The restaurant is open from 9am to 4pm for coffee, breakfast, smoothies and lunch.

This weeks market will include:

Pei Tsai (chinese lettuce)
Tomatoes
Butternut squash
Kabocha squash
Yellow straightneck squash
Green peppers
Sorrel
Avocados
Garlic chives
Green beans
Corn
Tangelos
Eggs
Key West grown herbs
Plus banana breads, energy bars, nuts, grains, chocolate….

This week we will also be featuring organic baked breads from Linda, who also grows the herbs.

See you Sunday!

Banana Bread French Toast
Toasted slices of homemade banana bread with a warm maple walnut syrup and fresh fruit (vegan)
$6.00

Spiced Tomato and Chickpea Soup
$3.50 (vegan)

Warm Thai Salad
Stir-fried zucchini noodles, onions, peppers, mung bean sprouts, cashews and romaine over a bed of spinach with a peanut lime sauce
$10.00

Citrus “C” Smoothie
Florida oranges, grapefruit, banana, vanilla, agave

Spiced Tomato and Chickpea Soup
$3.50

Warm Amish Wrap
Apples, celery, walnuts and arugula with brown rice, cranberry, mayo and your choice of chicken or tempeh
$10.00

Key West Coconut Curry Wrap
Stir-fried Zucchini, onion, green pepper, arugula and quinoa in a coconut curry sauce
$8.00

Banana Bread Dessert
Toasted slices of banana bread with a warm maple walnut sauce and vanilla ice cream
$6.00

Citrus “C” Smoothie
Orange, lemon, grapefruit, banana, vanilla agave
$6.00

All the specials are vegan except the Amish Wrap with chicken.

Zucchini Soup
$3.50 cup (Vegan)

Oriental Sesame Chicken Wrap
Stir-fried chicken, green peppers, sugar snap peas, arugula, oranges, grapefruit, mixed greens, sesame dressing (served warm)
$10.00

Key West Coconut Curry Wrap
Stir-fried zucchini, onion, green pepper, arugula, brown rice, coconut curry sauce (served warm)
$8.00

Citrus “C” Smoothie
Oranges, lemons, grapefruits, banana, vanilla, agave
$6.00
Organic Florida Citrus fruits make this an alkalizing, vitamin C loaded smoothie. For an extra immune boost add some Bee Pollen (1.00)