Women in Business at Mill Street Market

Each of the women at the Mill Street Market, 3937 Broadway, at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Street followed different paths to become businesses owners.
Yet, as they mark October as National Women's Small Business Month, all four encourage other women to take the plunge into owning a business.
“Don't be afraid to do it,” said Jolene Engelman, owner of Country Hearth Primitives.
Engelman took her own advice five years ago after a career at Nationwide Insurance.
When her job was outsourced after 27 years, she and her husband, Dave, opened a 500-square foot store selling antiques and country and primitive furniture and accessories.
They started out small, she said, because they were “afraid to take the plunge.”They kept outgrowing their spaces, and this summer they moved, for the fourth time, into a 3,800-square foot space in Mill Street Market.
In July, Chris Carney opened Leafy Greens Local Food and Market, a natural foods store on the southwest side of the building. Engelman and Carney joined Tonya Moore of Red Letter Journals scrapbooking superstore and Mandy Thompson of Hair Gallery and Day Spa, in building owned by Karen Dover.
“I think we're all pretty proud of the fact that we're all four women business owners in a business that's owned by a woman,” Engelman said. For Carney, opening Leafy Greens was a longtime dream. “I told my husband if somebody opened a health food store in Grove City before I did, I would divorce him,” she quipped. “So we're still happily married.”
To mark Women's Small Business Month, the U.S. Small Business Administration is hosting a series of weekly Web chats throughout October. The series will address issues such as putting together a business plan and finding capital.
The women of Mill Street Market have advice for potential business owners based on their own experiences. All four women cited support from their families as a key ingredient to their success. But finding a work-family balance can be difficult, they said. And the stagnant economy has been a challenge for all but Carney, who finds that rainy weather has the greatest effect on foot traffic in her store.
Thompson counts “staying strong through a rough economy” as one of her biggest accomplishments.
“Obviously, we're a luxury,” she said. When people slash spending, highlights and manicures may not make the cut. The same goes for scrapbooking and antiquing.
“When the gas prices go up, we know the business is going to take a hit,” Engelman said. Moore also worries about the Internet's effect on small businesses like hers. “Think about the people that have rent and utilities and overhead,” she said, “and try to support your local businesses.”
Moore was a part-time employee at Red Letter Journals until she took over the business two years ago from Dover.
“I know this sounds stupid,” she said, “but when I paid my first sales tax, I felt like, 'Wow.' ”Learning to be assertive was a challenge at first, Moore said. She benefited from the advice of two mentors: Dover and Brenda Abram, who ran the store when Dover owned it and continues to work there under Moore.
She encourages other women starting out to find a mentor and to take advantages of programs that help women with business plans and other aspects.
Starting Leafy Greens came with a steep learning curve for Carney, who's had to learn what to stock – and how much people will buy.“I ordered 5 million bags of frozen edamame,” she said. “And nobody wants recycle toilet paper. Trust me.” Carney's idea for Leafy Greens began in an Appalachian childhood spent searching the woods for herbs, weeds and mushrooms with her great grandmother. She calls herself “a nurse by trade, an herbalist by upbringing.”
As the mother of five boys and a daughter, Carney often would hear other parents talk about going to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods Market, and she saw a need for a whole and natural foods store in Grove City.
Moore, meanwhile, caters to the local schools with her personalized merchandise, and she counts the classes her store offers to those in the MRDD (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) population as one of her accomplishments.
“For me, it's about being a part of the community, even though I don't live here,” said Moore, a former special education teacher who commutes each day from Pickerington.
Engelman is proud that her business keeps growing. “When we started, it was just us,” she said. Now, the store has about 20 vendors, most of whom are local women. Thompson has learned that having employees who share her goals and work as a team makes a big difference. “Try to keep drama to a minimum,” she advises other potential business owners.
The four women of Mill Street Market have talked about coming together to mark Women's Small Business Month in some way. In the meantime, they encourage more people to check out the Town Center in general and their unique ventures in particular. Thompson found that her business benefited from this summer's Browsing Broadway events. Engelman would love to see busloads of tourists spend the day eating and shopping in the Town Center.
“I wouldn't want to live anywhere else,” Carney said.
Grove City is good for business, especially for women, said Grove City Town Center Executive Director Andy Furr. Furr said more than 20 businesses are owned by women in the Town Center area of Grove City making women business owners a powerful influence in the area.
For further information about the Town Center, contact Furr at 614-539-8762.

Pie Pumpkins are for More Than Pies!

I'm a Freak for Fall. Plain and simple. Other than leaves, what is the iconic symbol of Fall? You are absolutely correct: Pumpkins. Unfortunately, they are overlooked as a Fall meal staple, because of the seasonal type-casting for pies and Jack o' Lanterns.

So, in this entry, I offer these 2 wonderfully easy recipes of respect for the lone orange lovelies-Pumpkins. You can find most of the ingredients at Leafy Greens!

Vegetarian Cheese-Stuffing Pie Pumpkin

Warm, cheesy garlic bread stuffed and roasted in a sweet pie pumkin. Need I say more? Enjoy this mouth-watering pumpkin dinner on a chilly fall night!

Ingredients

• 1 pie-pumpkin (Found at Leafy Greens $1.99)
• 8 oz cheddar cheese (or, a combination of your favorites) grated
 • one 12-14 inch baguette, or hard bread of choice
• 1 Tbsp butter (Found at Leafy Greens)
• 1 Tbsp Taste by Design Garlic Oil (Found at Leafy Greens)
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 3 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup fresh sage, chopped (half, if using dried herb)
• 1/8 cup rosemary, chopped (half, if using dried herb)
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups vegetable stock (as vegetarian option), preferably homemade
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cut off the top of the pumpkin and remove the seeds and strings.
 Heat butter and olive oil on low.
Add shallot, garlic, and sage, and cook until sage goes brown and crispy.
Add rosemary and cook, stirring, for another minute or two.
Cut the baguette into to 1 1/2 in. pieces.

Place a layer of bread, cheese and shallot-herb mixture in the bottom. Then, layer with more bread, more cheese, and more shallots and herbs, repeating until everything is used up and the pumpkin is full.
Squish it down to compress the bread and cheese as much as possible.
Then pour stock over it until the bread and cheese is well-saturated. Replace the pumpkin lid.
Bake at 350 F for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
You want the pumpkin flesh soft, but not mushy, and you want to take it out of the oven before the structure collapses.
Scoop out the pumpkin flesh from the sides to serve.
Serve with a green salad on the side. Makes 4 servings.

 I couldn't resist sharing this down-home comfort-food recipe. LOVE!

NOT a Vegetarian Stuffed Pie Pumpkin

Ingredients: 

• 1-Pie Pumpkin (Found at Leafy Greens $1.99)
• 1 lb. Natural Osage Beef ground beef (Leafy Greens freezer)
• 1/2 lb. Darby Creek Pork sausage (Leafy Greens freezer)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
 • 1 Hemmergarn Farms Free-range egg, slightly beaten (Leafy Greens refrigerator)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs*
• 1 tsp Keystone Beef Stock (Found at Leafy Greens)
• 1 tsp each of parsley, sage rosemary and thyme (singing optional)
• 3 Tbsp Taste By Design Basil Oil (Found at Leafy Greens)

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Clean your pumpkin, washing the outside and scooping out the seeds. Salt the interior of pumpkin.
Keep the top; you’ll use it as a cover during cooking.
Brown the ground meat with the onion and celery; drain and cool slightly.
Mix in the egg, water, beef stock, herbs and oil Salt & pepper to taste.  
Stuff the pumpkin with the meat mixture and replace the top.
Place on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until you can easily pierce the pumpkin with a fork.
Slice and serve

For a finishing touch, drizzle some Shagbark Hickory Syrup (Found at Leafy Greens) over it. Delish!

*For gluten free options, you can crumb: 1/2 cup Mary’s Gone Crackers gluten free crackers of choice Or 1/2 cup Eban Bakery gluten free bread of choice (Both found at Leafy Greens)

Bon Appétit!

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Honey, Our Allergy Hero!

The evil King Ragweed.

Allergies are miserable, and Ragweed is King Antecedent of them all. His seasonal rule begins every year on, or around August 15th and ends late September or early October. Don’t discount His Heinous' power! His pollen can travel over a hundred miles and stays afloat in the air well into October and early November. You may not see Ragwood lurking around, but the minions “Leaf Mold” and “Mold Spore” do his  evil bidding and perform their dastardly damage through the end of November!

Knight Honey. (*wish*)

Luckily, we can call on Nature’s Knight of the Realm, Honey! 

Relief from our allergies can come from local honey. 

How, pray tell, does this work? 

I’m glad you asked!

Honey acts like an immunization. Your hay fever allergies are caused by pollen in your local area. Bees collect pollen from local plants, and small amounts of it are transferred to their honey. As you ingest local honey, you receive local pollen in small amounts. This, in turn, works like a series of allergy shots; slowly building up your tolerance to the allergen, and decreasing your allergy symptoms.

Raw honey vs. Pasteurized is the question! Many farmers gently warm harvested honey in order to get it easily into jars. Temperatures below 115F do not affect honey’s natural enzymes and beneficial attributes.  We can destroy the very things we need from honey by adding it to hot drinks! The most effective way to take honey is by ingesting 2-3 teaspoons daily for a few months before and through pollen season.

So, Knight Honey destroyed the evil King Ragweed and his evil minions “Leaf Mold” and “Mold Spore.”  And, everyone lived happily ever after…

Note: Raw honey should not be feed to children under the age of one. Honey normally cannot support bacteria, but one bacterium that can survive and is usually benign, C. botulinum, can be dangerous to infants. By the age of one, the immune system of most infants is developed enough to resist the bacteria.

Top 10 Things that say "Fall"

1. Crispy-cool air scented with wild colored leaves.
2. Zipped up hoodies and no more flip-flops.
3. Pumpkins and Cornstalks decorating Kroger.
4. Hot Pumpkin Spice coffee. Cream and Sugar, please.
5. Honeycrisp Apples. Anytime. Anywhere.
6. Scarlet and Gray. Everywhere.
7. Hearing the Grove City Marching Band practice off in the distance.
8. Piles of leaves along the curb, begging me to drive through them!
9. Warm socks.
10. October 26, 2012. Fall back, say good-bye to daylight savings time and enjoy an extra hour of sleep!

Grove City Arts in the Alley

I'm a BandGeek. I gave birth to BandGeeks.

I am the one who believes a football game is only there to allow the marching band to play.

I. Love. The. Band.

Which brings me to Arts in the Alley this weekend in the Town Center of Grove City, Ohio: THE PARADE!

Grove City High School Marching Band will be marching along with all the floats from community businesses and organizations. Did I mention the Grove City Marching Band? ;)

In honor of the Parade, Leafy Greens will be serving up hot coffee: "A Go-Buck(s) A Cup!" 

8:00am-10:00am

Saturday AND Sunday will be super-fun at the store!

Vendors will be here, sampling their delicious products.

We'll have gift baskets and door prizes!

The bluegrass band, Wood, Strings and Friends will play in the 

parking lot of Mill Street Market on Saturday, after the parade and 

again on Sunday, around 12:30pm

Enjoy Food, Fun and Music with us!

Weight Loss Top Ten Things to Do!

I love "Top 10" lists. They're short, sweet and to the point. Here's my Top 10 things to do in order to get the biggest bang your butt...I mean bust...NO, I mean buck!

1. Drink water. (divide body weight in half, drink that many ounces daily.)

I'm working on this by drinking high quality water that offers more nutrition than regular tap, spring or other store bought waters. I really like Function: Water. It recharges your cells, hydrates your body and keeps your muscles and nervous system working properly with electrolyte-infused vapor-distilled water.

2. Eat small, frequent meals to balance blood sugar and energy levels.

Much to my chagrin, potato chips (organic or otherwise) are NOT considered small meals. I am a crunchy-salty snacker, so that tidbit of bad news took the wind out of my sails. Then, I found Food Should Taste Good Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. They are gluten-free chips that feature a variety of grains like quinoa, blue corn, brown rice and oats as well as flax, sunflower and seseame seeds. Yummy!

 3. Eat a rainbow every day. The colors of the foods we eat are vital. The darker the veggie, the more nutrients it has, is the general rule.

For me, this is where raw juicing comes into play. I juice a cornucopia of veggies and fruits for a delicious pick-me-up of nutrient dense goodness. I was inspired by the documentary, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." If you haven't seen it, you can watch it here.

4. Aid your digestive system by eating living foods with naturally-occurring enzymes, like yogurt, apples, papayas and pineapples.

I carry NOW Food's 8-Billion Acidophilus and Bifidus. It is on my list to try, because I've had several people come into the store and encourage me to take them on a regular basis. I will definitely put it on my list!

5. Eat high-fiber foods, such as grains, beans, seeds, nuts and berries.

There are times when I have to grab it and growl when it comes to eating! That's why I'm thankful for quick, healthy "grab-its" like KIND Plus Bar. I eat the Cranberry Almond plus Antioxidants bar. So good!

6. Eat a variety of organic fruits and vegetables daily. All colors.

At Leafy Greens, we sell LOCAL natural and organic fruits and veggies. My goal is to offer as much produce and as many products from Ohio as possible.

7. Eat a variety of healthy fats, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, flax, olive and grapeseed oils.

Avocado-how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! But, for sake of time, I'll share only one: Cut an avocado in half and remove the pit. Score the fruit criss-cross in small squares. Sprinkle with sea salt and scoop the bite size squares out with a spoon and enjoy! (Hands-down, my favorite way to eat avocado!)

8. Eat high quality protein foods, such as grains, beans, seeds, nuts, organic eggs, organic dairy and soy cheeses, fish from deep, cold water (salmon, halibut, tuna).

If you're anything like me, you are more busy than not. One easy way of getting protein from beans and keeping MAJOR cooking to a minimum is to make them ahead of time. On Sunday, make a big pot of beans. Use them throughout the week for your dinner recipes. You can find some great recipes here.

9. Drink teas that aid in digestion, such as peppermint, red clover, burdock, milk thistle or green tea.

I am a HUGE proponent for herbal teas and remedies. Leafy Greens has a wide variety of bulk herbs and teas to choose from. We sell it by the ounce, so you don't have to buy a large quantity, only to find out you can't stand it! There is another tea that is known for it's excellent digestive qualities. In fact it's touted as breaking down fat more efficiently and aiding in weight loss. It  is Pu-Erh Tea. Leafy Greens carries several brands and flavors.

10. Breathe deeply every day and find a form of exercise that you enjoy and do it on a regular basis.

If you can do only one thing; deep breathe! It's the quickest, easiest and most effective way to reduce stress. And, you immediately feel better! Try it!

Join me at Leafy Greens and Be Well in 2012!!