Like microcredit, where small loans empower women to start or expand home-based businesses, our annual Prosperity Campaign empowers Whole Foods Market® team members to harness their creative energy to help reach their store’s fundraising goals. Whether it’s through creating larger-than-life in-store displays, hosting community fundraising events or creating email campaigns, our stores and facilities truly go above and beyond to raise awareness and funds for Whole Planet Foundation.

Here’s a quick look at some of the amazing fundraising happening in our stores!

• The Chattanooga store built an amazing display (show on the right) to promote the Supplier Alliance for Microcredit.

• The Roseville store in Northern California has a display that depicts the life of one of our recipients before she received support from Whole Planet Foundation, through the lending process, to what her life is like now that she is a microloan recipient.  Store Team Leader Marty Jenkins said, “We wanted to create something that was going to be a conversation starter. I couldn’t be more proud of my team and their efforts to support this amazing program.”

• Our Oklahoma City store partnered with a local TV station to showcase some of our borrower-inspired recipes, including South African Pickled Mango.

• In Dallas, the Lakewood store Team Members raised money through pint glass sales at their in-store bar.

• The stores in the Denver metro area came together to host their first annual Bowl for a Cause fundraiser. The teams competed on the lanes and raised 0.

• The Montclair store in New Jersey organized an art auction with all art pieces donated from team members around the region. They raised ,400 for Whole Planet Foundation and also invited our microlending partner, Grameen America, to be a part of the event and to speak on the foundation’s behalf.  Check out this video to see Grameen America’s US projects in action.

• Our Los Angeles area stores hosted the first ever Beer Festival to Benefit Whole Planet Foundation at Golden Road Brewing. The 250 people in attendance sampled beer, took a tour of the facilities and learned about home brewing. The event was a smashing success and raised ,337. Golden Road owner Meg Gills is the youngest female craft brewer owner in the world, and her support through this event will give thousands of women across the world the opportunity to realize their own dreams of starting a business.

• In Scotland, Team Giffnock is riding a bicycle to Ghana, virtually. That’s 4,600 virtual miles and they’re raising money all along the way. Check out this video they made to explain the challenge.

• Our store’s support facilities are also really engaged in fundraising.  In fact, the highest grossing Whole Planet Foundation event to date happened at our Rocky Mountain regional office, where they raised ,428 through a silent auction of goods donated by local and national supplier partners.

As you can tell, we’re so proud of the work of all of our supporters. A huge thanks to the Whole Foods Market team members, customers and supplier partners that help us help a million more people to change their own lives! It’s really easy to donate at the registers in our stores or you can donate online. You can even start your own campaign on our website or through our partnership with Rally.

Now, let’s keep going and make it to .1 million!

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If you’d like to begin cooking with wine but don’t know where to start, here are a few pointers to help you get started:

• For cooking, be sure to use a wine that you would personally drink. Simply meaning, bottled “cooking wines” aren’t necessarily the best to choose. A reasonably priced, good quality wine from last night’s dinner will do nicely. We always have good recommendations on our wine page, too.
• Begin with well-known wines such as chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc for white, and Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon or Chianti for red.
• As a very general rule, use white wine to complement chicken, turkey and seafood and light, simple sauces such as lemon butter, herb and light-colored cream sauces. Use red wine for sauces served with beef, duck, lamb and bison, as well as many wild game meats.
• As you get more comfortable, experiment with an assortment of wines, perhaps a Riesling, Rose or Zinfandel for dessert or a Beaujolais or Merlot to deglaze your pan for the sauce to accompany the beef or lamb dish.
• Bear in mind that some wine, especially the heavier, “oak-aged” varieties may leave an unwelcomed, bitter after-taste.

While there has been a common belief that cooking dissipates the alcohol content in your dish, the USDA put this to the test. They measured the alcohol content of several foods before and after cooking, showing that alcohol content diminished the longer it was cooked, but some alcohol does remain.

Now, let’s get cooking. Here are some ways to add wine to your recipes:

• Replace some of the water, vinegar, broth or fruit juice with wine in a recipe.
• Use a splash (just a tablespoon or two) of red wine in brown gravy.
• Add to marinades.
• Use a splash to flavor soups, stews and grain dishes.
• Poach fresh or dried fruit in wine. Add spices and nuts for variety and flavor.
• Mix with oil and spices for basting meats, hearty vegetables, tofu or tempeh in the oven or on the grill.
• Braise or poach meats and vegetables in wine.

Try some of our recipes that call for red wine:

• Peppered Steak and Mushrooms with Red Wine Pan Sauce
• Lamb Chops with Red-Wine Glazed Spring Vegetables
• Citrus Cranberry Red Wine Sauce (For a more seasonal dish, substitute cherries for cranberries)
• Duck Chili
• French Lentils in Puff Pastry
• Garlic Mushrooms in Wine Sauce
• Greens, Mushrooms and White Bean Ragout
• Chocolate Cake with Red Wine and Berries
• Poached Pears with Fig Syrup and Blue Cheese

And here’s a selection of our recipes featuring white wine:

• Bay Scallops and Linguine
• Spicy Wine Mustard
• Linguine with White Clam Sauce
• Baked White Fish and Fingerling Potatoes
• Peaches Poached with Basil
• Chardonnay-Poached Sea Scallops
• Mushroom Poached Chicken

Want to dive deeper into your wine selections? Our Wine Primer helps you figure it out. Remember, the main goal is to have fun and enjoy your food. Do you cook with wine? Got an idea or favorite recipe? Let me know.

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What’s do we mean by style? Style = basic ingredients + seasonings. Here are a few style ideas to get your juices flowing:

Traditional
Carrots, celery, tomato sauce, garlic and onion + broth, wine, bay leaf and parsley

Cuban
Olives, raisins, peppers, onion, garlic and tomatoes + oregano, cumin and bay leaf

Cider-Ginger
Parsnips, carrots, garlic and onion + apple cider, ginger and broth

Coffee-Rubbed
Carrots and onions + brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, coffee and beer

Roasted Brisket with Parsley, Mint and Thyme and Brisket with Root Vegetables are two more recipes worth celebrating.

Remember, when you serve our brisket, you’re serving great-tasting beef from cattle raised with no animal by-products in their feed, no added growth hormones and no antibiotics, ever. Plus, all the beef we sell is Global Animal Partnership 5-Step™ Animal Welfare rated. That rating is your way of knowing how the animals were raised for the meat you are buying.

If you celebrate Passover, will brisket be part of your holiday menu? If so, how do you prepare it?

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You’ll find plenty of must-have kosher-for-Passover selections in our grocery aisles. Here’s a sample of what’s in-store for you:

• Organic whole wheat matzo, matzo meal, matzo farfel and cake meal. Thanks to Aviv, a 120-year-old traditional matzo producer in Israel, you’ll have lotsa organic matzo options.
• Organic grape juice. As an essential part of the Passover Seder, Avvio’s organic grape juice is made just for Whole Foods Market® from a special harvest of organic grapes.
• Macaroons. Delicately sweet and crisp, Glick’s macaroons are offered in chocolate, chocolate chip and coconut varieties.
• Gluten-free, organic matzo. Our partner Yehuda is watching out for everyone’s needs at your holiday table.

Here are some more products that can help make your meal this holiday:

• Whole wheat or spelt matzo
• Organic kosher apple sauce with no sugar added
• Organic kosher chicken broth
• Z’roah (lamb shank bones) – offered free of charge

Select stores will also carry poultry options from Kosher Valley, including fresh and frozen whole young turkeys and chickens, as well as freshly ground chicken and turkey options, all certified by the Orthodox Union and the K’hal Adath Jeshurun. As with all of our meats, these birds are raised on a vegetarian diet without antibiotics or added hormones. (Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in raising poultry.)

In addition, all of our chicken suppliers are rated according to Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating standards. Kosher-for-Passover chickens and turkeys from various brands are available at all of our stores.

This is just a sampling of the Passover foods available in many of our stores. Contact your local Whole Foods Market to learn more about their specific selection of kosher offerings and how they can help you with your special meal.

What will be on your table Passover week?

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Thanks to a naturally occurring stimulant in cocoa beans called theobromine, Tessie could get very sick – even die – if she ingests large amounts of chocolate. What’s a “large amount”? It depends on your dog’s weight and the type of chocolate. Generally, the “darker” the chocolate, the more theobromine. According to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), as little as 2 to 3 ounces of baking chocolate or 16 to 24 ounces of milk chocolate can be fatal to a 20-pound dog such as Tessie. If your dog ingests any amount of chocolate, however, call your vet immediately. Effects can range from vomiting and diarrhea to excessive thirst and urination to hyperactivity to seizures and, in severe cases, death. Oh, and while white chocolate is “safer” in this regard, its high fat and sugar content can still make your dog very ill.

These are horrible consequences for eating something that seems so harmless to humans, but it doesn’t mean our four-legged friends have to be deprived of sweet treats – even ones that mimic chocolate. In fact, I’m making an Easter basket just for Tessie this year, filled with treats from Whole Foods Market – and some that I’m whipping up on my own using my favorite chocolate “cheat” – carob.

Located in our baking aisle, carob looks, smells and even tastes like chocolate but contains only trace amounts of theobromine. In addition, carob contains very little fat, no caffeine and 60 percent fewer calories than chocolate, making it a great substitute for people, too. Much like cocoa beans, carob beans are often dried and roasted, then turned into powder, chips or syrup.

There are plenty of recipes online for making dog treats with carob, so try experimenting with some that look good to you. As always, consult your vet before introducing any new ingredient to your pet, and be sure to “treat” in moderation.

Here’s a super simple, Tessie-approved recipe that I culled from a few of my favorites:

Carob-Oat Cookies

• 1/2 cup brown rice or oat flour (wheat flour can give some dogs an upset tummy)
• 1/2 cup carob powder
• 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup carob chips
• water to mix

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, adding water slowly until the dough sticks together (enough to form solid scoops).
3. Scoop out tablespoon-size balls of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
5. Cool and refrigerate for up to a week.
(Makes 30-40 cookies.)

Don’t have time for homemade dog cookies? Melt some carob chips to dip your dog’s favorite biscuits into instead. Cool the chocolate-dipped biscuits on wax or parchment paper before serving. Tessie is partial to Whole Paws Dog Biscuits in Lamb & Rice flavor (because who doesn’t love a sweet-savory combo?). These crunchy, bone-shaped biscuits are made with no artificial colors or artificial preservatives. For a wheat-free treats, try Newman’s Own Peanut Butter biscuits, made with organic barley flour.

Tip: Since carob chips don’t contain as much fat as chocolate, they don’t melt as easily. To help them melt, add a spoonful of virgin coconut oil, which also has multiple health benefits for your dog.

If you want something less time-consuming, pick up a bag of Good Buddy Pumpkin and Apple oven-baked cookies (available at select Whole Foods Markets). Made with all-natural ingredients, such as pumpkin, apple and rolled oats, these crunchy bites are naturally sweet – and sound good enough to eat yourself.

I hope Tessie enjoys her Easter basket as much as I’ll enjoy mine!

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Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• Your choice of coloring ingredients (below)
• Hard-boiled eggs (here’s our recipe for the perfect hard-cooked eggs)
  

Coloring ingredients

Yellow
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Blue/Purple
2 cups blueberries, crushed

Pink/Red
2 cups roughly chopped raw beets

Method

Put water and your choice of coloring ingredient into a small pot and bring to
a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, discarding any solids, then stir in vinegar. Set aside to let cool until warm or room temperature. To color eggs, submerge in dye, turning often for even coating, until desired color. For more colors, dye eggs first in one color, then wipe dry and dye in a second color.

Experiment with other colorful ingredients such as red cabbage, blackberries, coffee, tea, ground paprika or grape juice, too, if you like.

Remember: Every whole egg we sell is cage-free!

Have you ever dyed eggs naturally? If so, which fruits, vegetables or spices did you use?

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In 1989, when Jim Rimer discovered that the commercial cleaning products he was selling contained known carcinogens and other questionable ingredients, he quit his job as a sales rep and started making something safer in his own garage.

Biokleen’s original plant- and mineral-based cleaners were formulated to be powerful enough for industrial use, but they quickly caught on for home use, too.

Based in Vancouver, Washington, the company is still family owned and operated. Jim’s daughter, Cindy Rimer, and her husband, Barry Firth (pictured with children, Megan and Ashton), are now at the helm.

Over the years, innovative products like Biokleen’s Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator have demonstrated that gentler, natural ingredients can deliver serious cleaning power. From pet stains to diaper pails, Bac-Out utilizes a blend of live enzyme-producing cultures and plant extracts to remove and digest stains and odors.

All Biokleen products are formulated and manufactured in-house, and 100% of the company’s water and energy usage is offset through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Renewable Energy and Water Restoration Program. Biokleen has also earned numerous recycling and environmental stewardship awards, including the prestigious Governor’s Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Practices.

“We are committed to manufacturing transparency,” Cindy says. “With every new product, we ask ourselves, ‘Does it work? Is it safe? Is it natural?’ Those things are what we want for our own families.”

Biokleen has always worked to minimize packaging waste, and the recent trend toward 2x and 4x concentrated cleaners is nothing new to the Rimer family. “This is something we started doing over 20 years ago to reduce waste and create more value for the consumer.”

Everyone seems to have a story about the time Biokleen’s Bac-Out saved them from stains and odors. What’s yours?

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Available frozen or thawed. Availability and limits may vary by region, so you can contact your store for details. While supplies last. Most of our stores do not provide rain checks for sales like this.

As part of our Quality Standards for Aquaculture, we know exactly where our responsibly farmed seafood comes from. The shrimp featured in today’s sale are fully traceable to their farm in Ecuador. That’s important to know because we keep track of where they swam and what they were fed . . . and more importantly, what they weren’t fed! Learn more in this in this post about these shrimp and our aquaculture standards.

Speaking of feeding, here are a few recipes to treat you and yours to some delicious shrimp from today’s sale:

You can find more recipes and info about our responsibly farmed shrimp here.

What are your favorite ways to cook shrimp? You’ll be able to enjoy plenty of responsibly farmed goodness when you pick up some raw, shell-on sweet white shrimp for .99 per pound in our US and Canada stores today!

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Gestation crates or sow stalls confine sows throughout their pregnancy (almost 4 months). The crates typically measure 7 feet by 2 feet, which only allows enough room for the pregnant sow to get up and lie down — she can never turn around. So why are gestation crates used at all? Back in the 1960’s and 70’s, demand for cheaper meat essentially forced most farmers to raise hogs in barns so that they could produce more pork without having to increase their farm size. By keeping sows in individual stalls, farmers can monitor how much each sow is eating, determine if a sow is getting sick, prevent sows from fighting each other and provide more individualized care. (Farrowing crates are used when sows deliver piglets; sows are kept in farrowing crates for about 2 to 3 weeks until the piglets are weaned).

Over the last 20 years or so, animal welfare scientists have proven that not only do sows in crates and stalls show abnormal repetitive behaviors such as bar chewing — repeated chewing on the metal bar directly in front of the sow indicating boredom and frustration — but they can go into a state of learned helplessness or apathy. Additionally, they are prone to leg problems due to inactivity.

But not all pig farmers raise their sows this way! At Whole Foods Market, our pork suppliers are audited every 15 months to the Global Animal Partnership 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating Program. Third party inspectors verify that no crates or stalls (gestation or farrowing) are used to manage or raise pigs as well as verify over 110 other animal welfare standards. Rather than use crates or stalls, our farmers keep sows in groups during their pregnancy so they have the freedom to move around and choose where they want to lie down. You can read more about step-rated pork in this blog post.

We can’t wait for more companies to join us and phase out gestation and farrowing crates. Tell us what you think!

Photo courtesy of Anne Malleau

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If you’re just starting the challenge this week and are looking for some tips — be sure to read our posts for week 1, week 2  and week 3.

Another great place to find some support and inspiration along the way during your adventures in healthy eating is on our Healthy Eating Facebook page. Check it out and share some of your own tips.

More resources can be found in our 28 Challenge menu plans with weekly plans that focus on plant-based, nutrient-dense whole foods and healthy fats. Click here to get the menu for week 4. In addition to the menu plans, we’ve also assembled cooking tips and videos — and put together a four-week newsletter series designed to support you as you travel the path to better health.

If you’re looking for even more inspiration, our Health Starts Here® recipes are a must see. It’s easy to make healthy eating a habit when you have all these delicious dishes to try. The Advanced Recipe Search is an indispensable feature and I use it often to find fabulous new ways to prepare my favorite foods. Click “Health Starts Here” in the “Limit to Recipes Featured In” field and then search away.

Craving something sweet? Select “Desserts” as your course along with “Health Starts Here.” From Chocolate Pudding to Lemon Treats, you’ve got a variety of sweet options that have no added oils, no refined sugars, and support you in your 28 Challenge.

Wondering what to do with that kale you bought? Type “kale” into the blank search field, click the “Health Starts Here” option and search. Whether you like it chopped, blended or sautéed, suddenly you’ve got over 20 different kale recipes to choose from. Kale Waldorf Salad and Creamy Sesame Greens  are two you definitely don’t want to miss.

So tell us, are you doing the 28 challenge? If so, what’s been your biggest challenge this month? What’s been your best inspiration?

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