Hope everyone had a great weekend, can’t wait to tell you all about mine! So as some of you know we have just bought a house in Boonton, NJ. This is a really cute area of town, a lot of local shops, and local farms that I’m already starting to support! It’s been a bit chaotic trying to get everything ready with the house and work but all I can say is that yoga/meditation room is complete… what else do I need? Oh and the kitchen was brand new renovated before we even bought #winning! lol.
So I got to experience quite a few fun things this weekend: The Denville Farmers Market, The Local Honey at Gooserock Farms, and the local tea shop called Sinolfilia Tea. Let’s start with how amazing a dinner I made with all the purchases from the farmers market…. Because it is still the winter season and it was only about 30 degrees here this last Sunday not a lot of vendors are out just yet, but more will be coming starting May 6th for those of you in the area. However, there was a local ravioli guy who had over 20 different kinds ranging from beet & goat cheese raviolis to lobster raviolis… whatever your preference, they had one for you! Because we weren’t aware that they would be one of the most amazing freshest pastas ever we only bought 1 kind. We chose the Artichoke and Goat Cheese raviolis. Another stand called Silver Birch specializes in different soups and sauces and meatballs! Of course we needed something to go with our raviolis so we got a basil pesto with chicken buffalo meatballs, of course all cage free & no hormones in any of their products. (See photos below)
Gooserock farms is a small little self-service local honey and egg shop. They are a small family owned company and have free range chickens and multiple bee hives. Not only do they just use the honey from the bees but they create soap bars, hand creams, lip balms, and facial creams using the beeswax and propolis from their bees. I could not believe how adorable their little shop was and how delicious it is! From them I got a Cider Spice soap bar, which is a bit like an apple cider but not overly sweet and obnoxious. They had several other kinds I would like to try like Honey & Oats, Lemon, and a Lavender… for me the only one that smelled a little too sweet was the mango. I have used it 2x this weekend on even my face and everyone keeps telling me my skin is glowing… It does not leave a sticky feeling in the shower, or a dryness, in fact it left my skin quite moist and less oily. I also bought their Cinnamon Honey spread… which is to die for!!!! I am in love, it can be put on anything, perhaps a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven, or in your tea if you like that sorta combo. The best part is the combination of local honey and cinnamon is an amazing natural way to remedy allergies as the season approaches along with sinus and throat infections…. feel free to combine it with a squeeze of lemon juice and 1 tsp for any of these illnesses. I also bought a blueberry wildflower honey, I only taste tested this quickly, but it was delicious and not artificial at all! I will be using it more this week to create some tasty sweets in the kitchen, will let you know how it goes. The last thing I bought, because I cannot resist… was a dozen fresh eggs….. what is amazing is that they are all different colors because different colored chickens lay different colored eggs. This to me is a sure sign that there is nothing artificial about this place…. you can even see the farm area that they raise everything in right from the side of the honey shop. It is so key to buy local products and things you know are grown 100% free from all the chemicals and crap we buy at the stores. This is not to say that everything at a grocery store is bad for you…. deff not!!! You just need to know what to look for but any time you get a chance to try your local neighbors gardening and farming please do so! It is an amazing way to support the community and keep fresh products coming. I wish I lived in a state or area where you could grow anything you wanted at any time and weather wasn’t an issue, but unfortunately NJ has a horrific winter and makes it hard to find anything that’s not imported during this season…. On a plus note, Spring is coming and more farmers markets will begin to open. =)
Lastly, the 3rd place I visited this weekend was a local tea shop called Sinofilia. The couple who owns this shop were absolutely adorable and sweet. The wife comes from China and every tea in the shop is 100% organic, no artificial colors or flavors whatsoever. They are some of the best quality teas you can get without massive amounts of sugar. She had multiple flavors including licorice, green tea, rosehips, and herbs I’ve never even heard of. To top it off she explained to me she practices something called Tea Ceremonies which is an ancient Chinese practice in which you learn about the Gods, the herbs and it is a mutual respect Buddhist like practice; “If you respect the herbs, they respect you”. She further went on to explain that even the poorest people of China are drinking better quality tea than the U.S. because they never use anything artificial just pure leaves and herbs and hot water and they only drink very small glasses of tea because of the way it is filtered. I will deff be doing a tea ceremony with her in which I can taste test all the different kinds and choose what is best for my body. Will let you know how it goes. Here are just a few photos of the store itself and the little tiny horse cup I bought because it reminded me of my dad and my cousin Madeline who have both taught me how to ride.
I hope for those of you reading that are local will check out these 3 places when you get the chance. They are well worth it. For those of you not so local, comment below and let me know what your favorite local shops are. =)
Namaste my yogis!
Namaste Doing Yoga 