Think Local: Maui Sacred Sage

HOFA certified premium organic Jerusalem White Sage, 100% grown with aloha on the slopes of Maui's Haleakala Volcano. Available in loose sage leaf and beautiful sage wands that are wrapped with organic banana leaf.

Fresh and Local: Sharwil Avocados

Don't' miss out on the creamy Sharwil Avocados, now at the peak of their season. These noteworthy avocados have small seeds and greenish-yellow flesh with a rich, nutty flavor.

Sharwil is the most popular commercial cultivar here and is the only Hawaii avocado authorized for shipment to Alaska and the US mainland.

Fresh and Local: Maui Grown Tomaotes

Maui Grown tomatoes are grown in Kapakalua, Maui. These are delicious local tomatoes available in FEBRUARY.

Salsa Fresca
3 large tomatoes, diced small
1 small red onion, diced small
1 jalapeno, diced (you can remove the seeds if you don't want it too hot)
juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine everything in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate a couple of hours or even overnight before serving.

Green Living: Maui Pure Island Products

Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono, The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness.

This company was started by one Maui woman's concern for her family's health and safety and for the preservation of our beautiful island's natural beauty. Maui Pure Island all purpose cleaners have only 5 simple, but effective, ingredients. The essential oils of Lemon/Ginger and Maui Lavender will leave all of your cleaned surfaces fragrant and inviting.

Fresh juice

Customers and staff are raving about our fresh juices, available in the little cooler int he deli department. Staff pick is Green Lemon Ginger, which features freshly juiced kale, celery, lemon and ginger.

Tropical juices like pineapple/strawberry, pineapple/lime, panini, and panini/lime are also a big hit.

Think Local: Maui Natural Bee Honey

Raw artisan honey from Kiawe forests of South Maui. This thick and creamy honey is unheated, unfiltered, unprocessed and 100% pure.

Bee Aware: Honey is nectar & pollen processed by honeybees to below 18% moisture content. Adding moisture (like a wet spoon from tea) will cause it to lose it's antiseptic quality.

Kitchen Inspiration

"When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. It's also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be."

Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, 2009

Fresh & Organic: Cherimoya

Cherimoya has green skin and when ripe, gives slightly to pressure, similar to the avocado. Also known as custard apple, the cherimoya is fleshy and soft, sweet, white in color flesh, with a sherbet-like texture. Some say the flavor is a blend of banana, pineapple, papaya, peach, and strawberry. Others describe it as tasting like commercial bubblegum. When ripe, the skin is green and gives slightly to pressure, similar to the avocado.

Fresh and Local: Al & Joanie's Wheatgrass Shack

Buy organic Maui grown wheatgrass from Al & Joanie's Wheatgrass Shack and juice it fresh! Organic wheatgrass grown outdoors in in rich loamy soil, Upcountry Maui. The roots extend down more than 15 inches and feed sugars to the soil microbes that in turn bring nutrients to the plant. As a result of the deep root growth, Al & Joanie's wheatgrass is high in nutrients and has a great taste.

Wild Salmon with Wasabi

This one is gluten free & so easy, it makes you look really good!

2 Fresh Mana Wild Salmon fillets
Course Grind Sea/Mineral Salt
Sushi Sonic Wasabi Powder
Water


Preheat broiler to 500 degrees. Mix your wasabi paste to desired burn factor and let sit. Take your beautiful fresh Mana Wild Salmon fillets (with skin side down), and set them on a parchment covered baking sheet. Generously sprinkle a crust of sea/mineral salt on top of salmon fillets. Broil for 10-15 minutes or until crust as browned. Remove from oven. Remove bottom skin of Salmon fillets while plating. Add “dollup” ( I think that’s a word?) of wasabi paste to plate. Serve with a local greens salad & you’ve got a whole gluten free meal!

Green Living: Nature Babycare

A Swedish company founded by Marlene Sandberg, a Swedish mother and a champion of environmental causes. They offer diapers and baby wipes that are 100% chlorine free, based on biodegradable materials with a biodegradable back sheet and high loft and are 100% GMO free.

You can read more about the company here

Natural Living: Funky Sustainable hats

LiViTY hats are constructed from sustainable Raffia-Straw with Hemp/O.G. Cotton Binding.

LiViTY products reflect their core values of sustainability and unity. All of the apparel and accessories are designed using organic, renewable and recycled materials and are produced in equitable trade. Livity’s 2010 collection is an expression of their commitment to conscious living and creativity.

Green Living: Threads for Thought

Mana Foods carries a cool variety of sustainable clothes, including Organic Yoga Pants from Threads for Thought. They are made from Organic Cotton/Spandex super soft sueded face fabric.
Threads for Thought uses sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton and polyester recycled from plastic water bottles to create clothing that is comfortable, beautiful, and socially conscious; then they donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

Supporting Maui's Community: Aloha Volleyball

Mana Foods is proud to sponsor Aloha Volleyball middle school tournaments and travel team. Mana Foods is working together with Aloha Natural Brokers, the local representatives of Cliff bars, Nature's Path, Blue Sky and Boulder Chips to secure donations for the team. These products will be used to raise money for the travel expenses of the Aloha Volleyball team.

Photo: Gabby Cordoba of Montessori School digs the ball as Colton Cowell of Haleakala Waldorf looks on during Aloha Volleyball’s top-8 tournament of its winter beach volleyball series for middle school students Saturday at Kanaha Beach Park.

SCOTTIE ZUCCO photo

Healthy Heart

Love yourself, love your heart! In addition to incorporating the 10 healthy heart tips below, you can find nutritional support in the Vitamin Room. Staff picks are Healthy Heart Tonic from Herb Pharm, Ultimate Omega-CoQ10 from Nordic Naturals and Blood Pressure Take Care by New Chapter.

Healthy Heart Tonic from Herb Pharm contains Extracts of Hawthorn berry, leaf & flower, Cactus flower & stem, Motherwort leaf & flower and Ginger rhizome in a base of certified organic grain alcohol & distilled water.

Ultimate Omega-CoQ10 from Nordic Naturals contains concentrated omega-3 fish oil and 60 mg of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to create a powerful formula that supports the heart and circulatory system. Ultimate Omega +CoQ10 offers the proven cardiovascular benefits of EPA and DHA from fish oil in combination with the antioxidant and energy-producing actions of CoQ10.

Blood Pressure Take Care by New Chapter contains Grapeseed extract FutureNatantTM Proprietary blend (L. bulgaricus; S. thermophilus; B. infantis; cells’ metabolic substances), Hawthorn (flower and leaf ), Motherwort (aerial parts) extract and
Grape Skin extract. These ingredients target multiple pathways to safely maintain blood pressure already within normal levels.


1. Lose the tire: Carrying too much weight around the middle raises blood pressure.
2. Get busy with your sweetie! Sexual activity can actually lower your blood pressure and your risk for developing heart disease.
3. Color, craft and puzzle: Keep your hands busy and your mind will unwind.
4. Dancing raises your heart rate, burns calories while having a fun workout.
5. Mega-Omegas!
Studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of dying from heart disease by a third or more.
6. Laughter really is the best medicine: Whatever tickles your funny bone, helps relieve the stress and promotes the healthy function of blood vessels.
7. Drink to your health: Moderate consumption of alcohol can raise your HDL (good cholesterol) levels, reduce blood clot formation, and help prevent artery damage.
8. Eat rich, dark chocolate, it can help stave off heart disease because of the flavonoids it contains. The higher the cacao content, the higher in antioxidants.
9. Reduce fat to no more than 30% of your daily calories and it will help cut your risk for heart disease.
10: Take time for tea: Different studies (some focusing on black tea, others on green tea) show that drinking tea can improve arterial health.

Green Living; handy bags & totes

Fun, quirky bags of all sizes made by Blue Q from 95% recycled post consumer material. Available in coin purse, pencil case, shopping and tote bags.

1% of the sale of Blue Q bags support the conservation work of The Nature Conservancy* - a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Since their founding in 1951 they have protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide - and operate more than 100 marine conservation projects in over 30 countries.

*Blue Q guarantees a minimum contribution of $50,000 through April 19, 2011.

Think Local: Hawaiian Heritage Candies

Coconut Mac Nut Candy made right here on Maui by Hawaiian Heritage Candies in Wailuku. A staff favorite, "The coconut candy is really crunchy crispy and the candied macadamia nuts are super fresh." Made with 6 simple ingredients: Maui coconuts, Macadamia Nuts, Maui Cane Sugar, Honey, water and organic vanilla.

Wall of Chocolate news

You may know Justin's from their high quality nut butters (the little travel packets are my favorite). They have taken organic peanut butter and wrapped in in milk and dark chocolate cups.

Vosges has a few new flavors, including Cherry Rooibos and Blood Orange Caramel. The Cherry Rooibos bar is light and fruity made with 45% Cacao Deep milk chocolate, African Rooibos tea and Michigan cherries. The Blood Orange bar is is deep bittersweet with hibiscus flowers, blood orange caramel, Campari and 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate.

MOO- kids chocolate is made with Organic Milk Chocolate in such flavors as Milk Chocolate with corn flakes and Milk Chocolate with Graham Crackers.

Bubble Chocolate is now available in 38% Cacao Milk Chocolate and 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate. These bars, touted as "Bubbles Wrapped in Chocolate" remind me of premium all natural versions of Areo bars.

Thinking about Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day is coming up on Monday, February 14th. Mana Foods has wonderful goodies for all your Valentine's needs.

Beautiful cards, such as the one by Papaya Art pictured here, fresh tropical flowers & leis, special heart shaped chocolates from Lake Champlain, all the gourmet foods to make a decadent feast, yummy smelling lotions and other unique gifts.