Gearing Up for RENEWAL in 2015 with Homemade SHRUBS & SCRUBS!!!
To Make: Combine all ingredients except apple cider vinegar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once a simmer is reached, lower heat and continue to simmer for an additional 10 mins. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour mixture into a quart-sized glass jar and add 1 C of cider vinegar. Shake and let sit at room temperature for 2 days. To use, simply strain the mixture and enjoy!
On the shelves at Whole Foods!
Ky and I took a little trip to Boston this week to pick up our cacao from the airport (pictured on the bottom right, check out more of our photos on Instagram under #nysmbusinesstrip hehe). On our way to the airport we got a call from the Hingham Whole Foods letting us know that our products are now on the shelves! We were very excited and since we were in the neighborhood decided to stop by and check it out. Pictured on the bottom left is our "Be Cozy" hot chocolate mix sitting on the shelves. Our Saucey, Ballsy and chocolate bars are also there as well! This is a milestone for us as it's our first Whole Foods. This is the first of many! If you live near the Hingham whole foods please go and check us out!! We waited a long time to get on those shelves so we are super psyched. Another very exciting thing that happened this week was Gabrielle Bernstein and her bachelorette party stopped by our Vineyard Haven store! We were so excited to meet her and her friends, check out the picture below!
New chocolate bar in the works!
There has been a lot of creative action in the kitchen this
week. So many new developments. Julianna is working on some new delicious raw
treats for the store, check out her bark pictured on the left. It is SO
amazing. I have been playing with new chocolate bar flavors as well, I have a
ginger pomegranate bar sweetened with maple syrup that a lot of people have
said is their favorite bar so far! Stay tuned for that one. Yesterday I played
around with a coconut almond flavor sweetened with coconut nectar. I am playing
with new sweeteners in an attempt to move away from agave because of all the
controversy. Although we trust our source and of course only use raw agave, we
want to provide more options for you all in case you’ve made the choice to shy
away from agave. I’m loving the maple syrup and coconut nectar, they are super
sweet and delicious. Today I’m going to play with a SPICY flavor so I’m really
excited to see how that turns out. But if you guys have any suggestions on what
you’d like to see in a new flavor please let us know and share below!! And of
course, come by the factory to taste test :)
Smell the roses much? Why not now?
Can anyone else believe that it is Mid July? It’s so cliché but isn’t it crazy how quickly time flies? A summer on Martha’s Vineyard feels like the blink of an eye. It feels like time moves much faster when we let stress get the best of us and when we get so caught up in our day-to-day work that we forget to make time to stop and appreciate the moment. The past few summers I’ve spent here I have “forgotten” to do just that. Really, I just wasn’t making the choice to slow down amidst the chaos. Summers would have me bogged down and overwhelmed. These days I still have a long to do list but if I go about my to do list with a more relaxed, “vacation” mentality, time seems to slow down and I have more fun in the process. Our perception creates our reality. Ky and I receive comments all the time now such as “you guys must be running around like crazy.” Yes, there is a lot of “running” around or as I like to call it “bopping” around because bopping around is more fun than running around. Running around seems chaotic and stressful. We’re making a stand this year to fully enjoy ourselves and soak up the beauty that Martha’s Vineyard summers provide. It feels good to make time to stop and smell the roses and just breathe throughout the day. Here’s to a fun summer, we’ve got so much left to go!
Are you willing to experiment?
By Bennett
You know what I think is really cool? When you throw all of your beliefs about food out the window and start over. It’s a pretty refreshing feeling. To lift all of the sometimes limiting beliefs I have about what I like, what I don’t like, what makes me feel good and what makes me feel bad, and start over. I know for me, my body is affected differently from season to season by what I consume. This time of year I can tolerate gluten much easier and I am not as affected by alcohol either. It’s always refreshing when things change like that because I begin to question my food again and go back into the experimental zone. It’s a reassuring reminder to me that everything is connected and that we are all connected to the seasonal, ever-changing cycle of nature. This past week I have been paying close attention to my sometimes restricted and conditioned thoughts. I notice how it makes my body feel tense and try to let the thought go and relax in my body again. I’ve been carrying this same practice into my thoughts around food. I’m letting myself experiment more and changing thought patterns about what I tend to think is “good” or “bad” for me. Because in my opinion, nothing is really “bad” unless you really think that it is. If you are eating with guilt, you will ingest that emotion. I find that the more relaxed I am around food and the choices I make, the easier it is for me to digest and metabolize my meal or snack. It can be a little unsettling at first but do you find yourself in this same experimental place from time to time? Share your thoughts below!
Incredible offerings at our retail locations!
Okay so most of you have come to know us from our delicious chocolate bars. But since opening our second retail location this year, we’ve really expanded what we have to offer you all. Like, really expanded. We recently hired a baker named Julianna and we absolutely love her and all that she has created! She is an incredibly inspired and passionate baker who spent weeks researching delicious new recipes to provide for you all. Everyday we walk in the store she has created not just one but many new wonderful creations! Things like snickerdoodles, banana bread muffins, chocolate coconut scones, coffee cake, strawberry orange bread, chocolate dandy biscotti, chocolate avocado pie and cranberry walnut biscotti…just to name a few. We are so blessed to have Julianna, Elise, Blair, Evan and Elizabeth all helping us with production this year. Stop by Vineyard Haven to see one of their bright shining faces or stop by our Edgartown store and meet Sarah or Jenny who hold down the fort over there. We now have extended hours, 7:00am-7pm in Vineyard Haven and 7:30-10pm in Edgartown. Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone and we hope see you all soon!
Cacao as a mineral supplement?
Ahoy fellow humans! In pondering over today’s newsletter topic, I thought to myself, “Have I ever dedicated an entire blog to just cacao??” No I have not. And if I have please send me the link and remind me. Why not learn even more about the food and inspiration behind starting Not Your Sugar Mamas? In my eyes, cacao is the king of all superfoods. It is such a complex and beautiful food. I remember the first time I ate raw cacao, my whole world changed. I felt jazzed in a way that only raw cacao can make you feel. I couldn’t believe that I had been consuming chocolate that was processed my whole life. To process cacao is just plain offensive if you ask me. Taking away the beauty and the nutritious offerings that it has to offer is just blasphemy! My favorite cacao advocate is a man named David Wolfe. His enthusiasm and knowledge of cacao is contagious, so I thought I would share with you a video from David talking about cacao. The man really knows how to do the food justice in a way that no one else can. So please enjoy the following video and share your thoughts/experiences of eating raw cacao below! Have the best week ever.
Click here to watch the video and learn more about cacao and it's amazing-ness!
Bennett
