Christine Waltermyer is a local Wellness Chef, private chef to celebrities, published cookbook author and founder of the Natural Kitchen Cooking School, which offers an online Plant-Based Cooking Program. She also loves shopping at Basil Bandwagon! Visit naturalkitchenschool.com to get your FREE copy of her cookbook, “7 Days of Deliciousness.”
Avocado Sourdough Toast
An Easy, Healthy Breakfast or Snack!
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
1 teaspoon lemon juice (about the juice of ½ lemon)
1 avocado, pitted
Sea salt
3 slices sourdough bread (Try Apple Ridge Farm’s LOCAL bread!)
Optional: black pepper or cayenne
Toppings: Sliced red radish (can be pickled), microgreens (like sunflower sprouts), toasted sunflower seeds, lemon zest, olive oil & flaked sea salt
Method
1. Remove the zest from your lemon. Then juice the lemon, removing the seeds.
2. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the avocado in a bowl. Using a fork or potato masher, mash the avocado. Add a few pinches of sea salt and the lemon juice, then mash it again. Optional: You can add black pepper or cayenne.
3. Toast or grill the bread. Spread with avocado spread. Top with your choice of toppings like pickled radish, micro-greens of your choice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of the flaked sea salt.
4. Enjoy!
Pantry Granola
Kid-Friendly & No Refined Sugar!
Makes about 6 cups
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup barley flour (or other flour of your choice)
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (or ¼ cup brown rice syrup + ¼ cup maple syrup)
⅓ cup avocado oil (or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 cups rolled oats
⅓ cup currants or any other dried fruit of your choice
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the currants. Mix well.
3. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the granola mixture in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir the granola. Bake for 10 more minutes.
4. Once the granola is done baking, remove from the oven. Let the granola cool before breaking it up. Stir the currants into granola. Store granola in a glass mason jar for up to a week or two.
5. Enjoy this granola with your favorite yogurt or milk.
Thank you to Christine Waltermyer and the Natural Kitchen Cooking School for working with us to help promote healthy, nutritious meals and products that are affordable, full of nutrients, and simple to make at home!
Quarantine is the perfect time to try those recipes that you’ve been meaning to get to! Since the kids are home, you can get them to help you too (but we can’t say they’ll help with the cleaning part). Check out this perfect cupcake recipe that is not only fun to make but will help you get Easter-ready for this Sunday.
Lake Champlain makes it easy to make holidays festive and delicious with their holiday chocolate bunnies, eggs, and more!
Ingredients
1 box cupcake mix (you will need more ingredients to make this but they will vary per brand)
1 container vanilla frosting
1 packet of blue food coloring
1 packet of yellow food coloring
Lake Champlain Chocolate eggs (pick your favorite flavor or pick them all!)
Method:
1. Follow the instructions on the box to make cupcakes.
2. Once cupcakes are finished baking, place in refrigerator to cool cupcakes completely before covering with icing to keep the tops from becoming sticky, about 30 minutes.
3. While cupcakes are cooling, mix the yellow and blue coloring packets in the white icing. Use as little or as much coloring as you desire!
4. Once the cupcakes are cooled, it’s time to ice them. Time to let your creativity flow! Use a piping bag, plastic bag, fork and knife, or whichever tools you have in order to make the icing grass. After cupcakes are completely covered in icing, add a Lake Champlain chocolate egg (you may have to add more icing around the eggs to create a “hidden egg” effect).
5. Serve to your cupcake lovers and enjoy!
Before you enjoy your Easter Egg Cupcakes, make sure you take a picture of your masterpiece! Post it on social media and tag your favorite organic market, Basil Bandwagon Natural Market! #basilbandwagon
Christine Waltermyer is a local Wellness Chef, private chef to celebrities, published cookbook author and founder of the Natural Kitchen Cooking School, which offers an online Plant-Based Cooking Program. She also loves shopping at Basil Bandwagon! Visit naturalkitchenschool.com to get your FREE copy of her cookbook, “7 Days of Deliciousness.”
During this quarantine, everyone’s starting to feel a little anxious to get outside and get back to our normal everyday routine. Meals are starting to get dull, home-schooling might be overwhelming at times, and you might feel like the house can’t get any cleaner after scrubbing it down since Quarantine Day 1. So why not switch up your meals with Christine Waltermyer?! Her recipes are absolutely delicious and simple to make at home. Her videos are helpful to follow along with too! Check out some of them below!
Immunity Broth
Makes about 12 cups
Ingredients
2 6-inch pieces of kombu seaweed
8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 – 2 teaspoons dried astragalus root
3 cloves garlic
A few sprigs fresh thyme
1 onion (red or yellow), chopped into 4 pieces
1 burdock root, cut into a few pieces
4 small carrots, chopped in half
3 stalks celery, chopped in half
1 bunch parsley
Fresh ginger (about 3 inches) (optional)
Sea salt (optional)
Water to cover everything
Method
1. In a large soup pot, place all ingredients. Add enough water to cover everything. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower heat to simmer for one hour, covered. Strain the broth through a strainer. Use in soups, cooking rice or as a warm drink on its own!
Creamy Carrot Soup
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 carrots, scrubbed really well and/or peeled
1 bunch scallions
20 ounces chopped butternut squash (or 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut up)
13.66 ounce can coconut milk
Vegetable broth to cover the vegetables, or about 5 cups
1 teaspoon sea salt
Equipment: Immersion blender or regular blender
Method
1. Place the squash in a soup pot. Chop the parsnips, then the carrots and add both of them to the pot. (Remove any bad spots.) Remove the white bottoms from the scallions. Chop them up and add to the pot. Reserve the green part for garnish. Add the coconut milk to the pot. Then add the vegetable broth, making sure it covers the vegetables. Use more or less to just cover them.
2. Place the pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer on low, covered, for 25 minutes or until all vegetables are fork-tender.
3. Chop the green part of the scallions to use for a soup garnish.
4. Add about 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the soup. Blend the cooked soup by using the immersion blender to blend right in the pot. OR, carefully transfer the cooked soup to a blender and carefully blend until smooth.
Mixed Leafy Greens Stir-Fry
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 small head napa cabbage, cut in half length-wise
1 bunch scallions
1 leek
1 baby bok choy
5 leaves green kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
Splash of water
Sea salt
Optional Ingredients: Chopped ginger, minced garlic, coconut aminos, crushed red pepper flakes, etc. for added flavor
Method
1. Wash all of the vegetables. Pull the kale leaves from the stems and rip up the leaves. If you want to use the stems be sure to chop them up finely. In this recipe I saved them for later use in making soup stock.
2. Chop off the end of the baby bok choy, and wash the leaves again under running water. Chop up into bite-sized pieces. For the napa cabbage, remove any outer leaves with bad spots. Remove the core from the bottom. Slice across the width into ½-inch slices, removing any bad spots you see. For the scallions, remove the little roots on the bottoms, then slice on a diagonal, about ½-inch pieces.
3. To cut the leek, slice in half length-wise. Rinse again under running water. Lay the flat cut side down on the cutting board. Slice into ½-inch size pieces.
4. Heat a large skillet or deep pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then the leeks. Add a little pinch of salt to help them soften. Cook for a few minutes, then add the kale. Cover and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add another pinch of salt and a splash of water. Add all remaining ingredients, plus another splash of water if needed. Cover and steam for another few minutes, or just until all of the vegetables are tender but still bright green and not overcooked. Serve as is, or with your favorite dressing or an additional drizzle of olive oil and sea salt.
Thank you to Christine Waltermyer and the Natural Kitchen Cooking School for working with us to help promote healthy, nutritious meals and products that are affordable, full of nutrients, and simple to make at home!
UPDATE 5/5/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Due to supply issues, we are limiting certain items as follows (we are unavailable to special order these items as well):
LIMIT 2 PER CUSTOMER:
Yeast
LIMIT 4 PER CUSTOMER:
Eggs
UPDATE 4/30/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Due to high demand with curbside orders, our phone extensions have changed! Please listen to our NEW phone menu as they have changed for ALL stores.
UPDATE 4/17/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Due to supply issues, we are limiting certain items as follows (we are also unavailable to special order these items as well):
LIMIT 1 PER CUSTOMER:
Hand sanitizers and related products (glycerine, tea tree oil, etc.)
All immune-related and anti-viral supplements
Whole chickens
LIMIT 2 PER CUSTOMER:
All household cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.
Protein staples, and beef products
Chicken, eggs, milk
Yeast
LIMIT 4 PER CUSTOMER:
Cascade toilet paper
UPDATE 4/15/2020: Here is the latest important information:
In order to shop inside all of our stores, state mandated masks must be worn inside.
The coffee/tea stations and nut butter machines are no longer self-service. To use these areas, please ask an associate for help.
Want to change up your routine at home, check out our blog, social media accounts and our Pinterest page for fun ideas! There is something new everyday! Make sure you check out Women’s Voice magazine & the Non-GMO Project’s streaming of the award-winning documentary film Modified, available for FREE until April 22nd! For more information, check out our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram).
UPDATE 4/11/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Please wear a mask if you leave your house. All of our team members are wearing masks and we are encouraging all customers to wear masks when they shop inside with us.
All stores will be closed tomorrow for Easter and we will reopen on Monday.
Our Curbside Pick-Up program will be unavailable from 6pm tonight until Monday morning. If you have a Curbside order in process or ready for pick-up, you must come get it before 8pm on Saturday as we will be CLOSED on Sunday for Easter and you will have to wait to pick-up on Monday. However, all stores will remain open until 8pm tonight if you need to grab a couple of last minute groceries for tomorrow!
Regarding our Curbside Pick-Up program, orders may take more than 24 hours to fulfill. Please check your email for receipt of order and kindly DO NOT place a repeat order to insure we got your first one- it confuses the system too much. Thanks for your patience.
UPDATE 4/9/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Please be patient with us! In order to practice proper social distancing, we are limiting the number of customers in the store at a given time.
Curbside orders may take extra time to be fulfilled – we thank you for your patience and cooperation. Our stores are still open for walk-in business but please practice proper social distancing.
UPDATE 4/7/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Effective today, 4/7/2020, our cafe hours have changed! Cafes will be open from 9am-4pm everyday. If you would like to place an order, you can place the order inside, call or order online through www.shopbasil.com.
Please be aware of certain policies for our Curbside Pick-Up program:
We will process orders as quickly as possible, but please understand that it might take us several hours (or longer) before your order is ready for pick up.
Depending on volume, some orders may not be available for collection until the following day.
Orders placed after 6pm will ONLY be available for collection the following day.
Orders are available for pickup from 9am-7pm daily.
All orders are final. We currently do not have the ability to revise the order after it is submitted.
UPDATE 3/31/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Need a quick and easy dinner for two? We now offer F2M Dinner for 2 for only $19.99! To see what’s on the menu, please call the stores directly:
Flemington: 908-788-5737
Clinton: 908-735-3822
Lambertville: 609-460-4500
UPDATE 3/23/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Regarding our Curbside Pick-Up program, your tips are applied to our round-up program as generous gift to our local organizations. Each of our stores are “rounding-up” at the registers for different local groups (as follows):
Flemington = The Flemington Food Pantry
Clinton = The Open Cupboard Food Pantry
Lambertville = Fisherman’s Mark
Our cafés are still open! To order from the café, you can come in, call ahead, or order online by visiting www.shopbasil.com!
We are asking all customers to follow these guidelines in order to help our staff and community stay as healthy as possible:
Practice social distancing (6 feet) at all times (and when possible)
Shop quickly
Please limit shopping to one family member when possible
Due to supply issues, we are limiting certain items as follows (we are also unavailable to special order these items as well):
LIMIT 1 PER CUSTOMER:
Hand sanitizers and related products (glycerine, tea tree oil, etc.)
All immune-related and anti-viral supplements
Whole chickens
LIMIT 2 PER CUSTOMER:
All household cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.
Protein staples, and beef products
Chicken, eggs, milk
LIMIT 4 PER CUSTOMER:
Cascade toilet paper
We’re working on our checkout terminals so that physical touching of pinpads are limited. What do we mean by this? When paying with a card (debit or credit), all cards are to run as credit. This means that for debit transactions, customers must press ENTER when prompted for a pin (but DO NOT enter your pin).
Until further notice, CASH BACK IS SUSPENDED.
UPDATE 3/20/2020: Here is the latest important information:
Starting Saturday 3/21/2020, the first hour (8am-9am) of all stores will be open solely to seniors (62+), pregnant mothers and immunocompromised individuals. If you do not fit under any of these, please wait to shop until after 9am!
In an effort to protect our most vulnerable Community Members, we are now offering curbside pick-up. Please call us directly at the following numbers to place a phone order:
Flemington: 908-788-5737
Clinton: 908-735-3822
Lambertville: 609-460-4500
Unfortunately, we do not have our catalogue online currently available. However, you can place a cafe order for pick-up at shopbasil.com. We are working on getting the rest of our catalogue online.
Our curbside pick-up is a work in progress and we greatly appreciate your support and patience with us as we work through the “kinks” of this program! We are trying to process orders within a timely manner.
We are not selling self-serve kombucha until further notice.
We are also “rounding up” at the registers for local food pantries in the area. The following stores that we are “rounding up” are for the following food pantries:
Flemington = Flemington Food Pantry
Clinton = Open Cupboard Food Pantry
Lambertville = Fisherman’s Mark
UPDATE3/19/2020: In support of a healthy community, we are updating some store policies:
Please be expedient with your purchases and exit the building. While you are shopping in the building, we appreciate the practice of social distancing (maintaining a distance of about 6 feet from others) when possible.
To limit the time it takes to wait for your cafe orders, you can place your order, pay for it, and select a pick-up time online! To do so, please visit www.shopbasil.com. Please make sure that you select the correct store before ordering!
If you’re feeling “under the weather,” please be mindful of others and stay home.
We have temporarily suspended our refund and return policies. To ensure the health and safety of our employees and customers, ALL sales are final.
In order to reduce the spread of germs, we are asking that all customers and staff to not bring in any reusable containers, drinkware, or bags. However, if you are using a reusable bag, we would like to ask you to bag your own items.
Due to supply issues, we are limiting certain items as follows (we are also limiting special orders of these items as well):
LIMIT 1 PER CUSTOMER:
Hand sanitizers and related products (glycerine, tea tree oil, etc.)
All immune-related and anti-viral supplements
LIMIT 2 PER CUSTOMER:
All household cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.
Whole chickens, protein staples, and beef products
Chicken, eggs, milk
If you’re staying home and would like to invest in a future purchase with us (once we all nip this thing in the behind), please consider ordering a gift card! You can purchase a gift card atshopbasil.com!
We appreciate your cooperations and your local support!
UPDATE 3/17/2020: This is an evolving situation that we will continue to closely monitor on a daily basis. When updates arise, we will notify our staff and customers as soon as possible. We want to thank our staff and customers for the endless love and support that we have received over the past couple of days. We appreciate your understanding of our various supply issues and our constant updates. Here are the updates as of today:
We have sent out a company wide update informing all team members of CDC recommendations for preventing the spread of germs. In that same communication we are putting a strong emphasis on team members adhering to the Basil Bandwagon Handbook sick policy, which reiterates many of the CDC’s recommendations.
As always, our team members will continue to frequently wash their hands and will be wearing gloves at checkout lanes. Cashiers will also have cleaning supplies at the registers to frequently wipe down checkout lanes, pin pads and other frequently touched surfaces. Our teams will also be wiping down frequently touched surfaces throughout the store, including doorknobs and handles.
All seating areas have been removed.
All cafés will continue to have take-away service.
We will not be offering any food samples and all vendor demos have been cancelled in an effort to reduce the spread of germs and reduce person-to-person contact. We have also removed all testers (grocery, wellness, and beauty areas) from the shelves and will replace with new ones in the future.
All kombucha stations are no longer self-serve. We ask that all customers do not refill your personal growlers at this time. Please ask an associate to fill a growler or cup. We will be providing free growlers soon- until then, please use to-go cups only.
Our staff is working hard to keep the store fully stocked as possible. We are working with our distributors to maintain inventory, although we may experience temporary out of stock issues with some essentials. This is an unprecedented event and volume of sales.
Due to supply issues, we are limiting certain items as follows (we are also limiting special orders of these items as well):
LIMIT 2 PER CUSTOMER:
Hand sanitizers and related products (glycerine, tea tree oil, etc.)
All immune-related and anti-viral supplements
LIMIT 3 PER CUSTOMER:
All household cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.
LIMIT 4 PER CUSTOMER:
All meat and protein staples, eggs, milk
UPDATE 3/7/2020: Hey there Basil Bandwagon shoppers! We know coronavirus is the talk of the town lately and while we don’t want to make light of it, we want to remind everyone that there’s no reason to panic! Even in China where most cases have occurred, there is only 1 case for every 85,000 residents that live there. And the other good news is that in 80% or more of those cases, symptoms are like a bad cold.
How is Basil Bandwagon Natural Market Doing Their Part to Limit the Spread of Germs?
Cashiers have wipes at the registers to frequently wipe anything that may be touched by our shoppers (keypad, register belts, etc.). As always, our employees will continue to frequently wash their hands with hot water and soap, and we will continue to make sure that café tables and other frequently touched areas of the store will be washed and disinfected to help avoid the spread of germs.
Tips for Staying Healthy in General:
Wash Your Hands – Frequent hand washing with just soap and warm water is important for protecting against all infectious diseases and use hand sanitizers and disinfectants when soap and water are not available. Hand sanitizer is becoming harder to find as distributors cannot keep up with such high demands. Click here for some DIY recipes you can make at home!
Disinfect Surfaces – Coronaviruses can persist on surfaces for up to 9 days! Make sure you disinfect surfaces in your home, especially if you think someone might be infected.
Strengthen Immunity – Unfortunately those folks who are older and/or are immune compromised have a much higher rate of death from all viruses, and so doing what you can to strengthen your immune system is vital.
Strategies to Boost your Immune System
Exercise, stress relief, a balanced diet and certain supplements are all effective ways to boost your immune system:
Exercise – Regular exercise mobilizes T cells, a type of white blood cells which guard the body against infection. However, continuous rigorous workouts can actually weaken the immune system, so moderation is a key.
Sleep – A solid 7-8 hours is needed to avoid reducing the activities of T cells in your body.
Less Stress – Stress can release the hormone cortisol, which negatively affects T cell reproduction. Try yoga, meditation or deep breathing each day to reduce your stress levels. If you would like some recommendations, ask some of our staff members – there are lots of local businesses who would love to work with you!
Moderate Alcohol Intake – while moderate consumption of alcohol can positively affect overall health, excess intake (more than 2 drinks/day) can negatively affect the immune system.
Stop Smoking – Smoking impairs the immune system, and you have a significantly higher chance of being seriously affected by virus infections.
Healthier Diet – Vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts are loaded with nutrients essential to immune health. A diet rich in colorful food typically will be higher in valuable vitamins. These foods all can help you strengthen your immune system: citrus, red bell peppers, broccoli, garlic, ginger, spinach, yogurt, almonds, turmeric, green tea, kiwi, poultry, and sunflower seeds to name a few!
Herbs, Vitamins and Supplements – While the hope is you can get many needed nutrients from your diet, supplementing can help improve your immune system. Here are just a few things you may want to include in your daily regime:
Vitamins A, B6, C, D & E all help strengthen your immune system, and especially Vitamin C, which you can get from citrus fruits, spinach and strawberries. And although it’s cold here now, consider getting outside during sunny days to help your body produce more Vitamin D. Even just 15 minutes in the sunlight will help!
Mushrooms and mushroom supplements – rich in essential nutrients and very good for your immune system.
Herbs, Vitamins, & Supplements
Household Cleaners
Healthier Diet
We all hope that the spread of Covid-19 is curtailed as soon as possible and if so, great, but if not, we look forward to helping you as you reduce stress, improve your diet and strengthen the ever important immunity system. All of which is good regardless of what season we are in!
Flu season is no joke! Check out these simple DIY Hand Sanitizer Recipes below to help keep those germs away.
All recipes yield 2 oz of hand sanitizer, however, recipes can be altered to make more or less if desired. If final product is too thick, add more alcohol/vodka; if it is too thin, add more aloe vera/vegetable glycerin.
Shake final product well before each use and apply generously. The final product should last several months.
The CDC recommends hand sanitizers contain at least 60% alcohol.
Pranarom Hand Purifier
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons neutral grain alcohol or high-proof vodka (Everclear)
2 teaspoons aloe vera gel or vegetable glycerin
24-36 drops Pranarom Good Samaritan or Immunity Boost Wellness Formula essential oils
2 oz glass spray bottle
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a 2 oz glass spray bottle. Shake well. To use, spray into palms, then massage into hands until fully absorbed. Use as often as desired.
Aura Cacia Cleansing Hand Gel Spray
Ingredients:
8 drops of Aura Cacia Cinnamon Leaf essential oil
8 drops of Aura Cacia Bergamot essential oil
8 drops of Aura Cacia Tea Tree essential oil
1/3 cup aloe vera gel or vegetable glycerin
2/3 cup neutral grain alcohol or high-proof vodka (Everclear)
2 oz glass spray bottle
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a 2 oz glass spray bottle. Shake well. To use, spray into palms, then massage into hands until fully absorbed. Use as often as desired.
Wyndmere Hand Defense
Ingredients:
8 drops of Wyndmere Defend Naturally essential oil
1/3 cup aloe vera gel or vegetable glycerin
2/3 cup neutral grain alcohol or high-proof vodka (Everclear)
2 oz glass spray bottle
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a 2 oz glass spray bottle. Shake well. To use, spray into palms, then massage into hands until fully absorbed. Use as often as desired.
Aura Cacia Stress-No-More Hand Spray
Ingredients:
5 drops Aura Cacia Lavender essential oil
15 drops of Aura Cacia Tea Tree essential oil
1.5 oz neutral grain alcohol or high-proof vodka (Everclear)
1/2 oz aloe vera gel or vegetable glycerin
1/8 teaspoon Jason Vitamin E Oil
2 oz glass spray bottle
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a 2 oz glass spray bottle. Shake well. To use, spray into palms, then massage into hands until fully absorbed. Use as often as desired.
Christine Waltermyer is a local Wellness Chef, private chef to celebrities, published cookbook author and founder of the Natural Kitchen Cooking School, which offers an online Plant-Based Cooking Program. She also loves shopping at Basil Bandwagon! Visit naturalkitchenschool.com to get your FREE copy of her cookbook, “7 Days of Deliciousness.”
1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic. A pinch of the salt helps the onions to soften.
2. Cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened. Add the sliced mushrooms, curry powder, remaining sea salt and turmeric.
3. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then cover for a few more minutes.
4. Uncover and add carrots and the coconut yogurt. Stir and cover, cooking for another minute.
5. Add the cabbage, Pumfu and broccoli. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender but still bright green. Serve hot, over cooked quinoa or rice. Enjoy!
Thank you to Christine Waltermyer and the Natural Kitchen Cooking School for working with us to help promote healthy, nutritious meals and products that are affordable, full of nutrients, and simple to make at home!
