Hello Co-op friends and fans!
Dang, it’s hot. Thank goodness the pool is open! And, the Co-op has ways of keeping you refreshed, too. Stop in for all the cold beverages! Seltzer, sodas, teas, waters, kombucha, cold brews, coconut water, juices, mocktails, beer, wine, and more! Want to do something with the delicious summer fruit bounty? Make delicious refreshing Agua Frescas at home! This blog has a nice easy recipe for you to start with and then you can use your imagination to branch out from there!
aguas frescas: pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe drinks, Enjoy ! (mexicoinmykitchen.com)
Ice pops are also a great way to cool off and you can make them at home, too. You can buy cool popsicle making kits but all you really need is an ice cube tray! Fruit juice or even your own homemade agua fresca can make wonderful popsicles. Add fresh fruit for extra beauty and fun. If needed you can even add a little simple syrup to sweeten it up!
Keep Cool with Homemade Real Fruit Popsicles (soeasybeinggreen-blog.com)
Co-op at New Deal Café is gearing up to keep Greenbelt cool
We’re just days away from opening up the doors at the New Deal Café for our phased-in “soft opening” and a few of our early offerings will definitely take the temp down a few notches for ya! Fruit smoothies anyone? Yep, we’re going to have an awesome plant-based smoothie bar for you! We’ll be blending frozen fruit, oat or soy milk, or apple or orange juice all together for a healthy and delicious treat.
We even have some planned with shots of espresso to really get you zoomin’! Our coffee drinks can also be served iced or prepare to enjoy our smooth steeped overnight cold brew!
We’ll open first with coffee, smoothies, baked goods, and bagels with limited daytime hours. We’ll expand these offerings over the coming couple of weeks, and then add dinner to the mix! Thanks for your patience as we open as quickly as possible, while also ensuring that we create a great experience when you come back to the New Deal Café!
I’m sticking to my plan to surprise you with our opening! One of these days, very soon, we’ll just OPEN UP and a few lucky passers-by will get to be the first ones to help us iron out the kinks, and then brag to the rest of you about it! We can’t wait to serve you in our new adventure at New Deal Café!
Fast meals in a hurry
One way to stay cool is to spend less time in the kitchen with the stove or oven turned on. We can help in a few different ways: we’ve got a whole case dedicated to “quick to fix” items, and items in our Deli "grab and go" case can make fast meals, too. These are items that take 10 minutes or less to heat and eat such as fresh pasta, our own deli made shredded chicken, and wonderful meals from Café Spice. You can find Macro Vegetarian meals, Dodah’s Kitchen Lasagna, and pre-made items from Heba’s Mediterranean food. Check the end of aisle 2/3 and the end of the frozen aisles for these items! Our meat department also has lots of sausages that make a fast entrée to add to fresh pasta or eat with a hunk of our in-house baked baguettes.
Want to avoid the kitchen completely?
OK, check out our meal nights:
Meatless Monday on July 26, is Asian inspired with Macro Vegetarian Sesame Noodles and Shanghai Dumplings with steamed broccoli for $7.99!
Ultimate Chicken Dinner Wednesday has two size options- Chicken Dinner for 2: 4-piece roasted chicken, 2 small sides-YOUR CHOICE, 2 rolls for $4.99. FAMILY Chicken: 8-piece chicken, 4 rolls & 2 large sides: mac 'n cheese & a choice of potato salad or coleslaw-$6.99!
Friday is one of your favorites of the week (and soon to be featured every night at New Deal Café!), Salmon fillet baked in Himalayan pink sea salt and garlic butter, with brown rice & steamed broccoli for $7.99.
All meals are available for pick-up at the deli from 4-7 p.m. You are welcome to pre-order by calling (301) 474-0522 by 1 p.m. on the day of the meal.
See you around the Co-op, friends and neighbors!
Dan Gillotte
Greenbelt Co-op GM and E-mail Guy