Food Focus-Newsletter
359 N. Main Street
Milford, MI 48381
phone: 248-685-3354
fax: 248-685-3359
March Lunch Specials
We will be offering our butternut squash soup as the second soup this month.
Irish Delight (aka Reuben) - Our wonderful Reuben (corn beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and Milford Dressing on Roasted Red Pepper Bread with dill pickle spear & bagel chips. $6.75
March 17th Special
On Saint Patrick’s Day we will be offering Irish Stew with corn beef, cabbage and carrots with a pastry top. $4.25
Friday Lent Special
On Saint Patrick’s Day we will be offering Irish Stew with corn beef, cabbage and carrots with a pastry top. $4.25
March Drink Specials
Since this month is known for warm and cold weather we decided to offer you lots of choices there are lattes, frappes, hot chai and more. BUT we were brought to task that we never had a special for the children so this month we have the Lime Sparkler made with sugar free syrup – we thing everyone should be special for St. Patrick’s Day!!
Irish Blessing Frappe has a little Caramel, Irish Cream, Espresso and a little vanilla all blended with ice topped with whipped cream and green sauce. This is as good as my favorite Extreme Toffee!!
small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50
Irish Crème Soda - Irish Crème, vanilla, soda and half & half. Sounds funky, but we allI had one and it is great!!
small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50
Irish Chai - Irish Crème, green Chai & steamed milk. Surprisingly it is a delightful change to original chai!!
small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50
Top o’ the Morning - Irish Cream, White Chocolate, espresso & steamed milk topped with whipped cream milk topped with whipped cream and green sauce. Creamy smooth with a hint of Irish Cream. Ummmm.
small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50
Shamrock Shimmer Chocolate - a special blend of mint, espresso & steamed milk, topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. Is there anything better than chocolate and peppermint???
small $3.25
med $3.75
lrg $4.50
Lime Sparkler - Sugar free lime syrup, sparkling water over ice.
Breakfast Specials
Gingerbread Pancakes with Irish Coffee Syrup & Ginger Sugar. $6.00
KIOSK at the YMCA
The Kiosk at Carls Family YMCA has a name “Saint George’s “Y” Not Express. We had lots of names submitted, but we liked the play on words. Winner of naming the café, which meant lunch for two, is Karen Flowerday.
We are moving forward to make this a permanent feature at the Y. We have added some new products at both the “Y” and at the Café. Venga Water – This water has real fruit juices, select teas, vitamins, is non-carbonated, no artificial ingredients, HFCS or preservatives. We have Rehydrate which is a powerful electrolyte replenishment and performance drink. Fruit juice from oranges, passion fruit & mango with vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12 & E, antioxidants and aloe vera for regeneration. Energize has yerba mate, guarana, caffeine, niacin and panax ginseng to crank your metabolism, it also has red apple, sea buckthorn and dragonfruit juice whifch provide vitamins A, C, E, & B. Calorie Burn using a blend of liwi, lime, green tea with EGCG & a splash of orange juice, garcinia cambogia rind, Citrimax, & caffeine,it is formulated to increase your metabolism and burn fat. Daily Dose has essential vitamins A, B3, B6, B12, B5, & E blended with pink guava, passion fruit, pear juice, low-fat skim milk, and rooibos tea.
Worst Supermarket Foods In America
In a great article in Men’s Health, March, 2009 talking about how food marketers are selling what appears to fabulous treats that recklessly compromise our health and blow up your waistline. The article states “you already know that double-cheese-and-pepperoni calzones are a health hazard-but a lot of the worst products are double agents. They pose as healthy choices, labeled with such comforting words as “fortified”, “lite”, “all0natural”, and even “multigrain.” “The language on food packaging can be so deceptive that you often have no way of telling the fakers from the real things.” “Since the days when Fonzie ruled the drive=ins, the average salty-snack portion has increased by 93 calories, and soft-drink portions have increased by 49 calories. So if you were to indulge in a bag of chips and a soda once a day, you’d be eating 142 more calories every day than Fonzie did."
“We’ve sabotaged our food with time bombs. A generation ago, it was hard for food manufacturers to create bake goods that would last on store shelves. Most baked goods require oils and oil leaks at room temperature. Since World War II, manufacturers have been baking with trans fat. Trans fat is cheap and effective: It makes potato chips crispier, cookies tastier, and biscuits flakier. Our fruits and vegetables aren’t as healthy as they once were. Researchers in a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition tested 43 different garden crops and found that 6 out of 13 nutrients showed major declines between 1950 and 1999 this is probably due to newer crop varieties that grow faster and can be picked earlier. As a result, the plants aren’t able to take in or make nutrients at the same rate."
There’s more, which we will save for next month – but here are some eat this not that from the article along with their food additive glossary which I found really interesting.
There are some great pictures of products with Eat This Not That signs over the products. Here are a couple of examples:
EAT Breyers All Natural Butter Pecan Ice Cream (1/2 cup)150 calories 10 grams fat 14 g sugar. Breyers All Natural uses less sugar and uses milk for heavy cream. NOT Haagen-Dazs Butter Pecan Ice Cream (1/2 cup) 310 calories, 23 g fat & 18g sugar. Consistently makes the most high-fat, high-calorie ice creams in America. Make this swap twice a week and you’ll save nearly 5 pounds this year.
EAT Triscuit Original Crackers (6 crackers, 28 g) 120 calories, 4.5 g fat, 180 mg sodium, 3g fiber. You get a half a gram of fiber in each cracker. NOT Wheat Thins Reduced Fat Crackers (16 crackers, 28g), 130 calories, 3.5g fat, 260 mg sodium, 1 g fiber. Refined flours and HFCS combine to make a “wheat” cracker with four times as much sugar as fiber.
Worst Supermarket Foods in America – Jimmy Dean Pancakes & Sausage Links Breakfast Bowls (244g), 710 calories, 31 g fat (11g saturated), 890 g sodium Calorie Equivalent to 6 bowls of Froot Loops.
Great article “Supermarket Survival Guide” written by the authors of Eat This, Not That! David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding. I personally love the illustrations – thank you Eddie Guy!
Politics
Okay explain this one to me – The two year contract with a lobbying firm is set to expire by the end of this month so the Oakland County Board of Commissioners General Government Committee is considering a new, longer (three year) contract for lobbying services with Public Affairs Associates, Inc. at the cost of $5,000 per month ($60,000 a year). So the Oakland County Commissioners need lobbyists when the country not to mention the state is having significant revenue declines. On the Board of Commissioners web site it states their job is to govern Oakland County. The Board consists of 25 members, one from each of 25 equally populated districts. Each district is made up of about 48,000 residents, who elect a commissioner every two years; Milford’s is Chris Long & Highland’s is Bill Bullard, Jr who is also the Chair of the Committee. The commission’s duties include:
- Establishing and revising County policies
- Establishing the property tax millage rate
- Adopting the annual county budget; and
- Establishing the Authority, Duties and Responsibilities of County Departments.
You need lobbyists for what part of this job??
March Happenings
Sat. March 7th - Comedy Night at the White Lake Inn 248-889-1422 Proceeds benefit the HBA Scholarship Program.
March 11 - Breakfast with the Superintendent 8:00am Milford High School Pools & Fitness Multi Purpose Room, RSVP 248-685--7129
March 14 - Dusty Rhodes at Highland Station House 7:30 pm.
March 14 - Community Sharing – Go for the Green at Bakers of Milford 5:30 pm
March 16 - Highland Equestrian Conservancy – The Vision 2 – Highland House Station 6:30 pm
The Highland Equestrian Conservancy in cooperation with the Highland and Milford DDA’s, Highland Business Association, Oakland Equestrian Coalition, Highland and White Lake’ Township’s Parks & recreation and Friends of Highland Recreation Area will be presenting non-motorized Trail Network to connect our Parks, Greenways & Eco-Tourism to improve business while positively impacting our lives and connecting our community. See a vision for Huron Valley’s future. . .6:30pm Hors d’oeuvre Reception 7:00pm A Horse-Friendly and Visionary Welcome HEC Chairman, Bob Hoffman, HEC Promotions Director, Sharon Greene & Oakland County Executive, L. Brooks Patterson 7:15pm Updates 8:30pm Questions, Answers & Discussion $2.00 donation RSVP 248-887-3970 Limited Seating
March 28-29 - Huron Valley Taste & Expo at Milford High School 7:30 pm
Other Michigan Events
March 9-15 - Clare’s Irish Festival http://irish.claremichigan.com
March 13-15 - Midland will be hosting 2009 Speedskating Nationals and American Cup Finals http://www.midlandspeedskatingclub.com
March 1-April 30 - The largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibit in the nation at Frederik Meijer’s Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids Mi. with more than 6,000 tropical butterflies flying free in the 15,000 square foot Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory. Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.
Winter Hours
We have obtained a long term commitment from Prepaid Legal Services for lunch meetings on Monday’s so we will be closing at 11:00am on Monday’s throughout April.
Tuesday, & Wednesday we will be open from 7:00am - 3:00pm
Thursday & Friday we will be open from 7:00am - 4:00pm
Saturday we will be open from 8:00am - 3:00pm
Sunday we will be open from 9:00am - 2:00pm
We are currently hosting meetings for a non-profit organization, health seminars and a for profit home party company. We are happy to work with any organization to rent the café after hours. We are also looking for commitments from organizations or businesses for office space and/or larger meeting space as we have the opportunity to add to our existing location. If you have an organization that would like morning or lunch meetings let us know your requirements, we will need to make a decision by the end of February.
Produce Quality Barometer
Our suppliers are saying the following –
Apples, Beets, Parsnips & Red Potatoes are currently coming from farms that are located in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana & Wisconsin.
Due to unusual late-winter weather in Texas some grapefruit are displaying a lighter pink or pale color, despite the color the fruit has the same taste and texture.
Pork prices are staying relatively the same except for Hams because of Easter.
Fishing quotas are 37% less than expected on Pollack, Cod, Orange Roughy, Grouper & Mahi Prices are expected to rise. Black Tiger Shrimp is at the end of inventories and next harvest is not until June/July. Pricing will be going up
Local fishing of Walleye is expected to be reduced by 20^ lake wide. Yellow Lake Perch quotas may increase 2-3%. Quotas are determined by the end of March for these fish.
Beans will cost more due to tough winter in Florida
Cantaloupes are increasing in price due to higher demand.
Green Leaf, Iceberg & Romaine are coming from warm humid conditions in Yuma, so weights lighter, color more pale and leaves more damaged and are being trimmed.
Strawberries will begin to come from California instead of Florida in the next few weeks and hopes are they will be better.
Zucchini & Yellow Squash are outstanding and are expected to continue due to current weather conditions.
Butter is coming up .03/# guess Easter baking must be coming soon. Cheese block pricing is dropping by a cent or two and egg pricing is staying the same flour pricing is down a little at this time.
Vegetarian Product Notice
Our supplier changed the type of Garden Veggie Burger they were carrying and because the name stayed the same we thought just the packaging had changed. WRONG – it became a soy burger. We have done research and have found our old friend the Garden Veggie Burger we have made a special order and in a couple of weeks we should have plenty on stick again. We apologize for being caught unaware.
We are currently trying a new product called Heart Thrive, these are Vegan Energy Bars made with whole grainsa, rich in calcium and no trans fats. They have up to 40% fiber with no Wheat, No cholesterol & No GMO. Their primary ingredients are Oats, dried fruit, brown rice syrup, natural fruit juice, brown rice flour, soy protein concentrate, chicory root extract & rice bran. There are two in a package. Come check them out, we have been hearing good things so far.
359 N. Main Street
Milford, MI 48381
Phone: 248-685-3354
Fax: 248-889-3359
E-mail: sandwiches_and_more@hotmail.com
Thank you ever so much for your support!