Whole Foods Market Opens in Danbury On May 17

Back in March 2011, I was thrilled to announce that a Whole Foods Market was coming to Danbury, CT. And for the past two years since then I have anxiously awaited for it to actually happen. Finally, the grand opening is almost here! This Friday, May 17, 2013 the brand new Danbury Whole Foods Market will be opening its doors.

The other day I had the privilege of attending a media preview tour of the store. I was honestly giddy with excitement about being able to get a sneak peak and actually being there I felt like a kid in a candy store. All around me I was surrounded by natural foods that are free of chemicals and artificial ingredients and it was just plain awesome. Since this was my fist time ever stepping foot inside of a Whole Foods, I wanted to share some of the areas that excited me the most.

When you first enter Danbury Whole Foods, you will be face to face with the produce department. Here you will find fruits and vegetables from local Connecticut farms as well as regionally local farms in New York and New Jersey. To the right of the produce is the bulk foods area which I cannot wait to dive into. This section is great if you are trying a new recipe and only need a little bit of an ingredient that you don't normally use. It also has the peanut grinder where you can grind your own peanut butter. I'm not sure what it says about me that something like grinding peanut butter makes me super excited, but I can't wait to give it a go.

Over in the meat and poultry department, I learned about the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating.

"All beef, chicken, pork and turkey in our fresh meat cases must come from producers who have achieved certification to Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating."

Alright so I am a mom of four very picky little boys. So yes, when I saw that part of the grand opening sale was 12oz packages of chicken nuggets and tenders for just $3.49, I had to snap a picture. I foresee me dumping a bunch of these in my shopping cart this weekend. And I know other moms out there would be equally excited for this deal. Just don't elbow me for the last box please.

We took a quick peek into the grocery aisles and as you can see they are jam packed with yummy goodness. If you are shopping at Whole Foods Market, you are obviously conscious of what you are putting into your body and probably an avid label reader. Whole Foods is making that a little easier for us by labeling non-GMO products from their private label line.

Yes, another grinder caught my attention. This time it is the coffee grinder. I love the smell of freshly ground coffee... possibly more than I actually like the taste of coffee. I normally go for flavored coffees, and it is impossible to find any without artificial flavoring in conventional grocery stores. So I am anxious to shop Whole Food's selection of coffees and get to grinding.

Now I am not a huge beer drinker, but I thought that these shelves of every type of beer imaginable, many local, was pretty darn cool. And I may have drooled just a little bit. This is only a fraction of what was there, it actually wrapped around the corner. And you will notice that these are individual bottles of beer so that if you want to try something new, you only have to buy one bottle. I do enjoy trying local beers so I definitely see a sampling in my future.

The specialty area and counter was filled with some delicious looking cheeses. My husband is a big cheese and crackers snacker so we'll have to pick up some fresh cheese from here. I also thought it was cool that the wood that you see in the signs and those hooks on the wall behind the counter are all re-purposed. For Whole Foods Market, it is not only important that they provide customers with the best, natural food but they try to make their entire operation as sustainable as possible.

Those of you familiar with the Danbury area will know that this new Whole Foods Market is where the old Marcus Dairy and Dairy Bar Restaurant used to be. In honor of that, they added a "Burgers & Shakes Bar" where you can grab yourself a delicious, fresh burger after a day of shopping. And the prices are very affordable with a grass-fed beef burger or cheeseburger starting at only $4. I am already trying to make plans for when my sister-in-law and I can go their to shop and eat. And just down a little ways from here is the Coffee Bar. Sigh. I am going to have to add some extra time in at the gym for all the calories I am going to be consuming here.

The grand opening of the Whole Foods Market Danbury start at 9:00 AM on Friday, May 17, 2013. 5% of the day’s sales will be donated to the Danbury Museum and Historical Society. The first 350 customers will get one free pound of chicken and one free pound of shrimp. Now I am told that the turn out is expected to be pretty big, with customers lining up outside as early as 8:00 AM. So if you want to get it on these freebies, get there early. I will most likely be waiting till after the initial craze of the weekend so I can shop leisurely and enjoy a juicy burger and milk shake when I'm done.


To stay on top of special one day sales, be sure to follow @WFMDanbury on Twitter and Whole Foods Market Danbury on Facebook. To check out the current sale flyer, visit http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/danbury.

Bracing for Sandy

For the second year in a row, Connecticut is ending October with a devastating storm. Last year we had a Nor'Easter that dropped 18 inches of snow in a short amount of time and left pretty much the entire state without power for days (even weeks for some). We were without power for 5 days. Now we are bracing for Hurricane / Tropical Storm Sandy, which should hit here later today. The coastal towns of Connecticut have all issued mandatory eveacuations as they anticipate catastrophic storm surges and flooding.

Image courtesy of NBC Connecticut

Here in the inland of Western Connecticut, we may not see much rain but we will be dealing with winds of up to 85 miles per hour. Which of course means downed trees and power lines and potentially days of no power. We have been preparing the best we can over the past two days. I'm not one to run to the store in a panic to buy bread and milk. I already have tons of break and if we should lose power, I don't have a generator to keep all the milk cold. But we filled up our tub and lots of buckets with water for flushing and washing. I've made tons if ice in order to keep things cold for as long as I can. We've got batteries for flashlights and the kids' handheld gaming devices so stave off the boredom as long as we can. And most importantly, my Kindle is charged and loaded with lots of books for me to read.

Now we just sit and wait. Already the wind has really picked up and I know itis only going to get worse by this evening. I'm hoping the power stays until I can at least make dinner. Otherwise it will  be a PB&J night!

If you are in Sandy's path, I hope you stay safe.

Connecticut Wine Festival Two for One Deal!

If you live in (or near) Connecticut and you are a wine lover, then you will want to attend the upcoming CT Wine Festival on July 28 and 29. Attendees will taste the best of Connecticut’s wineries, sample local specialty foods and enjoy live music. There will also be hand crafted items to browse through.

From July 9 through July 15 you can purchase Two Tickets to CT Wine Festival for only $30 from Plum District. That is a $60 value. With this offer you will also get a commemorative festival wine glass and tote bag to bring home.

The CT Wine Festival will take place at The Goshen Fairgrounds on July 28 and 29. Visit Plum District for complete offer details.

This post contains affiliate links.

Connecticut Open House Day: Saturday, June 9, 2012

Tomorrow is going to be a great day to explore all that Connecticut has to offer as it is Connecticut Open House Day! More than 175 Connecticut destinations will be open to residents for a day of fun activities with free or discounted admission. Is there a museum you have been meaning to visit but you just haven't gotten there yet? Well Saturday, June 9 will be the perfect day to do that and discover lots of new destinations throughout the state!

You can check out the Connecticut Open House Day Event on Facebook and the Pinterest Pinboard to see what is going on in your area and throughout the rest of the state. If you have kids, one place you will definitely like to visit if you can is the Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, which is offering free admission from 9:00am - 4:30pm. I know my boys would absolutely love this place!

If you  live in Connecticut, what destinations would you like to visit during the Open House? Are there any that you recommend?


Connect and learn more:
Facebook: facebook.com/VisitConnecticut
Twitter: twitter.com/CTvisit
Pinterest: pinterest.com/visitct
YouTube: youtube.com/ConnecticutTourism

October 2011 Snowstorm Hits Connecticut

As I am sure every one has seen, the Northeast was crippled by a huge snowstorm over the weekend. Over in our part of Connecticut, it started around 12:30 pm on Saturday, October 29 and we quickly realized that the snow was piling up fast. My husband had taken my son to a birthday party just 15 minutes away. When they left the party to return home, it took them an hour to get back. The roads were a mess and since we live on top of a mountain, that made it even more difficult.

We lost power Saturday night just after 8:00 pm. When we woke up Sunday morning, the beautiful blue sky gave no indication of what happened the day before. There was about 18 inches of snow covering the ground. Our road was still not plowed which we later learned was because there were trees down at the entrance blocking it. A man that lived on the main road was nice enough to come out and cut the tree up himself, so people on our street could try to get out and plows could get in. One of our neighbors had a tree land on their house and come crashing in through their kitchen window.

We were fortunate that our house wasn't damaged. But with no alternative heat source, I packed up the kids and headed out to my mother-in-law's while hubby stayed behind to keep an eye on the house. We turned off our street and were greeted with downed trees and power lines one after another.

Here are some pictures from about maybe 3 or 4 hours into the storm. I should have taken pictures of the aftermath, but I was freaking out trying to get clothes and food packed to leave.

My two favorite trees in our yard. A Dogwood on the left and a Japanese Maple on the right. The next morning all the branches were touching the ground from the weight of the snow. A big section snapped off of the Japanese Maple. Hubby shook the snow off to relieve the weight but I don't know if they will recover.

Snow covered trees in our backyard. One did lose a huge branch in the storm, but luckily it fell in the grass and not on the house.

Just a few hours in, about 3 inches of snow covers our back deck.

Our front yard during the storm. At this point the snowflakes were huge. The tree that is slightly leaning to the left had 3 huge branches snap, but they didn't fall off. They are just dangling from the tree, so we'll need to find a way to get them down. I worry about them falling on someone.

As soon as the first snowflake felt, the boys were asking to go out and play in the snow. This was at about 4:00pm on Saturday. This was the little man's first time playing in the snow and he went crazy for it.

It looks so pretty, but to me snow is is pure evil. What started out pretty ended in disaster for so many people. As I sit here and write this on Tuesday morning, the power is still out and Connecticut Light & Power is not giving anyone an estimate of when their power will be back. I would just like to know when thy think it will be back so I know how long I will be away from home. Schools were closed in our town for Monday and Tuesday. I am willing to bet that with 48% of town still without power, that they will be closed on Wednesday as well. Between this storm and Irene, the kids are going to already have extra days added onto the school year. And it isn't even Winter yet.

I am thankful for wonderful family who took us in on short notice. It is not like I come with just one or two kids. There are four of them and we quickly take over any house we are at. And despite it all, they had a wonderful time trick-or-treating with all of their cousins last night. Which is at least one bright spot in this pretty crummy week.

Were you in this storm's path? How did you make out? Did you lose power?

Wordless Wednesday: Overflowing River

This is the Housatonic River in Connecticut the day after Hurricane Irene. It was at its second highest level it has ever been at in the past 100 years. (I am assuming there are no records prior to that). Several areas in town suffered some severe flooding from this river and other smaller streams and brooks. 8.4 inches of rain in 24 hours will do that.

Bracing for Hurricane Irene

We don't usually get much hurricane activity up this way. Maybe some residual rain and win, but nothing too serious. In fact the last one I remember was Hurricane Gloria from way back in the early 80's. I think I was about 5 and we were living in Yonkers, NY with my grandparents. I remember sitting by the window and watching as the hurricane winds were bending birch trees over till their tops practically touched the ground.

Courtesy of NBC Connecticut

Well apparently Hurricane Irene is heading straight for Connecticut this weekend and is due to hit us on Sunday. The path right now shows the eye of the storm passing right through our area. What fun!

During the winters when big snow stores are on the way, I laugh at the people flocking to the stores for bread and water. Yet tomorrow I will be one of those people. It is better to be prepared, right? I have to bring the boys to school for the open house after lunch, but then we will have to hit Stop & Shop for some basics. Goody, out shopping with four kids for the second time this week. Can you tell how much I am looking forward to that?

According to Facebook chatter from local friends, the stores are already wiped out. I anticipate it will be insane there and I may not even get what I need. Though I bet the organic bread is probably the last to go, so maybe I have a chance? We will see.

The worst part is that if there is a lot of damage or power outages this could affect the first day of school on Monday, Which is disappointing for me because I have been counting down till the first day of school ever since the last day of school.

Are you in Irene's path? What are you doing to prepare? Any tips for this hurricane rookie?

CSA 2011 Pickup 4: Flowers Galore!

For my fourth CSA pickup of this year (I am so behind on posting these by the way) we got to pick the usual herbs, plus green beans and lots of flowers. When we first joined our CSA last year I was pleasantly surprised that we got to pick fresh flowers. I wasn't expecting that at all and it is so nice to have a fresh flower bouquet in my kitchen. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of all my loot which included carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet corn, eggplant, lettuce and so much more. But here are some shots from me doing my picking.

I was able to pick a huge bag of green beans, which requires a lot of bending. My back hurt but they were delicious!

The flower fields have rows upon rows of flowers and I am clueless as to the names of most of them.

So pretty! I ended up picking a bunch of the flowers that you seen on the bottom there. I think they are snap dragons.

Then I made my way over to the sunflower fields where we were allowed to cut 5 flowers. The outer rows had pale yellow petals and I wanted the darker yellow ones that were on the inside. So deep into the fields I went. I felt like Children of the Corn.

I took the above 2 pictures at eye level to try and capture just how tall these things were. I won't be going that deep into the fields again.

I love sunflowers!

The bouquet of snap dragons I ended up with.

And the bouquet of sunflowers. You can see the two different colors of petals here.

Join me next week as I post pickup number 5! Then I will be up to date. Lots of goodies to be seen and eaten.

Lots of Goodies from Our CSA

I am a few weeks behind on sharing my CSA pickups. I could have jut let it go, but the veggies are just so darn fresh and pretty that I MUST share them. Every week we seem to get a little more as more crop come to harvest. I am usually amazed with how much I leave with.

CSA Pickup 2

First week being able to pick fresh herbs. They give us some scissors and send us out to snip them ourselves. It smells so good here.

Then I was able to pick a huge bag of sugar snap peas. These are delicious and make for a sweet and healthy snack. I keep them in a bag in my fridge and just reach in and grab some whenever I need a quick bite. I just wish my kids would eat them.

First harvest of garlic scapes. This is the top half of the garlic plant and so funky looking. Have you checked out my Garlic Scape & Basil Recipe yet? Delicious!

The full stash! Romaine lettuce, kale, salad mix, basil, garlic scapes, tomato, strawberries, zucchini, summer squash, cilantro, parsley, radishes, sugar snap peas and broccoli.


CSA Pickup 3

More fresh herbs this week! I decided to get some close ups in the field. I was happy to be able to cut some dill this week. I love to break off some into a fresh salad. Yum!

The first fresh flowers to cut were Dahlia.

They look so beautiful sitting on my counter!

More garlic scapes. I just love taking pictures of these.

Biggest load yet. Salad mix, romaine lettuce, dahlia flowers, broccoli, broccoli rabe, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, garlic scapes, white turnips, beats, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers.


This upcoming weekend will be my 4th pickup. It looks like carrots, sweet corn, garlic, eggplants and cauliflower will be available. Can't wait!

Have you visited a CSA, farmer's market or farm stand recently? What delicious fresh foods did you pick up?

Pure Play Kids Creative Toys Review & Giveaway

As a mom of four, my house is full of all types of toys: educational, electronic, wooden, and on and on. My favorite kind of toys for my boys are ones that spark their imagination and creativity. Ones that that fosters hours of pretend play with each other. It is easy to get wrapped up in battery operated or electronic toys with all of their cool bells and whistles. And I have nothing against those kinds of toys, we have those too. But I do think it is important to balance it out with "unplugged" toys.

Pure Play Kids is a Connecticut based, online toy store that offers a large selection of creative playthings including wooden toys and cloth dolls. The majority of their toys are made here in the United States while the rest are made in Europe.

"Kid-powered is the term we use to describe our products. Let kids provide the motion, sounds, storyline and characters that drive the toys – not vice-versa – and witness a flourishing of imagination, confidence and skills. Always remember as your shop for toys here and elsewhere: a great toy should be 90% kid and 10% toy."

When I learned that Pure Play Kids was founded by Tania & Mike Grant living right here in Connecticut, I was thrilled. I often feel alone in my green quest here in the Nutmeg State so seeing other CT parents who feel the same as me was exciting. In addition to selling fun creative toys made by other manufacturers, they also have a line of their own original toys. Pure Play Kids sent me the Wooden Cash Register from their original line for my boys to play with and try out.

This Wooden Cash Register is made completely of wood and comes with 6 wooden coins and a wooden charge card in a fabric pouch. There are slots on the top to place each coin in and your child can practice matching the numbers and sizes of the coins to the correct slot. There is an abacus on top for them to use for counting and a charge card swiper.

The cash register also opens up so you can store all of your money inside.

If you want to add some more fun with paper money, Pure Play Kids offers a free download from the Pure Play Kids blog with $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills. This is such a great way to introduce the concept of money to your children.

When the cash register first arrived in our home my boys literally fought over who got to play with it. So we initially had to set up intervals and taking turns that first night. The next day we brought it into the playroom and set it up on a table so they could play store with it.

Watching and listening to them play with this was a lot of fun for me. At one point, the 6 year old walked up to one of the 4 year olds and said "I want to buy this Thor mask because it is my kids favorite." So funny! They went back and forth taking turns of who was shopping and who was the clerk. I even broke out some reusable shopping bags after a while so they had something to tote their purchases around it.

After nearly a month of playing with it I can say that my boys love this cash register and are still playing with it a lot. For me I am really happy with the sturdy quality and I love how creative they can get with it.  I know we will enjoy many years of fun with it!

Shop
Pure Play Kids offers $5.95 flat rate shipping within the continental USA. With holiday shopping just round the corner, this is a site you want to add to your list!

Giveaway
One (1) winner will receive a $50 gift certificate for Pure Play Kids

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This giveaway is open to legal US residents 18+ only and will end on Tuesday, August 2 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. Please leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed in this review are my own and based on my personal experience with the product and/or company. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Pure Play Kds provided me with a free product to review