Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op

The ten o'clock news on abc last night had a segment on"environmentally sustainable" restaurants.  The Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op just announced the initial group of restaurants.  This co-ops mission is to group together to make sustainable options more feasible for local restaurants. 

This is the list of restaurants currently in the co-op:

Avec
Big Jones
Blackbird
Bleeding Heart Bakery
Blind Faith Cafe
Dining Room at Kendall College
Frontera Grill
Keefer's Restuarant
Poag Mahone's
Roti Mediterranean Grill
Simone's Bar
Sopraffina Marketcaffe (5)
Topolobampo
Trattoria No. 10
Uncommon Ground (2)

Amazingly one of the restaurants on the list, Sopraffina is in the lobby of my office building and Roti is just one block away.  Both of these lunch places are super tasty, but I could never get out without spending at least $10.  Knowing they support environmentally sustainable practices, I will be more willing to drop a little extra mullah! 

I'm really excited about this news and think I need to visit the Frontera Grill and sample some Rick Bayless cuisine.

Cedar Valley Sustainable Meat Share

After seeing Food Inc, I knew I wanted to purchase meat that didn't come from the large CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations).  I looked on the Internet and found several meat CSA's that deliver locally.  I ended up choosing Cedar Valley Sustainable because they raise chicken, pigs and cows, so we'll get a nice variety. 

I picked up our first package from Cedar Valley last week, which was perfect timing because I was just finishing reading Omnivore's Dilemma, which really left me wanting to support local sustainable farmers.  This is what we got in our first month's share. 

1 dozen eggs

2 lbs ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 lb Italian sausage

1 package bacon

1 large chuck roast

2 half chickens

1 whole chicken

I was really excited to try this meat because I had heard that farm raised/ free range/grass fed meat tasted better.  First off this weekend I made some meatballs.  I used the pound of ground pork and mixed it with 3/4 of a pound of ground turkey.  These turned out great, but meatballs always taste great to me. 

For dinner Saturday night we had one of the half chickens marinaded in BBQ sauce on the grill.  I think we might have cooked these on too high heat, so they ended up a little oddly cooked.  I'm hoping the next chicken we make comes out better because this was a little disappointing.

Yesterday morning, I broke into the bacon and eggs.  I like my eggs cooked hard and these were tasty but no super fresh farm taste.  The bacon was different looking out of the package, but it was super tasty (although I think all bacon is super tasty). 

TJ liked his breakfast too. 

So while I have yet to try all of the different sustainable farm meat, I have to say I don't think the taste is much different than what we are used to.  Well the chicken was different, but definitely not better.  I think we are so used to the commercially raised meat anything that taste different will take some getting used to.  So for now we can be happy that we are supporting local farmers.  Perhaps our taste buds will change to enjoy these meats more. 

Review: Omnivore's Dilemma

I have been reading the Omnivore's Dilemma for the past couple weeks, and I think everyone should read this book.  I'm going to be giving several of these books out for Christmas or maybe forth of July because this book is seriously eye opening and everyone should know this stuff. 

Michael Pollan takes the reader through the American food industry examining the inputs to four separate meals:

1) McDonald's fast food

2) Organic dinner made from purchases at Whole Foods

3) Dinner made from locally & sustainably produce food

4) Dinner made from foods personally grown, foraged or hunted

Most of us 'aware' consumers know that the food that goes into McDonald's empire is not ethically raised by any sense of the imagination.  Unfortunately I don't think the masses understand the extent to how unethical the production of this "Food" is. 

The entire perfection of nature is turned inside out to make things "cheaper" and quicker for right now.  The true cost of production is not taken into account.  Following the meat for a McDonald's hamburger was one of the most upsetting things in this book.  Cows are forced to eat corn which makes them sick and in need of constant antibiotics because corn is cheap(thanks to government subsidies).   

Surprisingly, when Michael starts tracking back the organic food people purchase at Whole Foods, the reader sees that consumers aren't getting what they expect.  While no(or very little) pesticides are used in producing their food, the practices are not sustainable at all when production is at such a massive level.  Whole Foods does not buy from the local farmer, but from the massive farms in California, Chile and Argentina (for example). 

The way Michael explains why massive organic farming isn't sustainable is by sharing his experience spending a week at a very sustainable farm Polyface.   Joel Salatin, one of the farmers of Polyface, shows Micheal's the ins and outs of his farm.  He explains how the cows and the chickens and the pigs all work together over the same land to create a perfect equilibrium. 

While the cows eat the grass, their manure fertilizes the fields which produces grubs that feeds the chickens who spread out the manure to better fertilize the fields.  It is all a big circle and becomes hard to see which piece is feeding the next.  Over a generation of farming Joel, his father and his son have developed movables chicken coops and cow pastures to optimize the symbiotic relationship. 

While reading this book, I became so upset with myself.  I understood how terrible the mainstream meat production was, but I still wanted this food.  My brain doesn't want to support this, but my stomach is still hungry for convenience.  I love to eat out, but I know 99.9% of the restaurants are buying antibiotic pumped meat and pesticide covered produce. 

I am working on changing my families habits so we can support local farmers.  After watching Food Inc, I felt it was important to vote with my dollars.  This book made me understand where I really want to put those dollars.  I don't feel like I have given this book justice, so please just read this book.  Michael is so good at explaining everything. 

Please support your local farmers.  There are more and more of them and with more demand, this 'opt out' option will get bigger and bigger.  Check out eatwild.com to find local farmers and CSAs. 

Have you read this book?  If so, what did you think?

Coconut Butter Three Ways

I bought this coconut butter at Newleaf, the organic grocery store I pick up my produce box from every Saturday.  I had seen this all over the blogs and thought I would give it a try. 

This week I have tried the coconut butter three different ways.  First I made it on a twist of one of my normal breakfasts. 

Toasted whole wheat English muffin with dark chocolate dreams and coconut butter drizzled on top.  The dark chocolate peanut butter and coconut flavors meshed great.  I think the coconut butter made this muffin richer than usual.  I also think I needed the added fat because I had been feeling hungry just a few hours after this muffin pre coconut butter. 

Next I tried some coconut butter on my first ever batch of overnight oats.  I have seen overnight oats everywhere in the blog world and knew I needed to give them a try. 

Overnight mix:

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup yogurt

1/3 cup skim milk

Toppings:

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

1/4 cup walnuts

drizzle of coconut butter

This was a bust for me.  I think I need to try the oats again and either leave out the strawberries or leave out the coconut butter.  Not a great combo.  Also I'm not sure about adding the coconut butter to cold dished because it hardens completely which is kind of odd for texture. 

Lastly, I made some multi grain pancakes.  I bought this pancake mix from Costco and it is really fantastic.  It is 100% whole wheat with different seeds in it.  The pancakes are super filling.

The only downside is a batch is too big for me and too big for my family.  I keep it in the fridge but end up having to eat pancakes for a few days in a row when I make these.  Check out the nutrition facts.

I had three pancakes and for variety I dressed each one differently.  From left to right I have dark chocolate dreams, then naturally nutty butter toffee peanut butter, then coconut butter with unsweetened coconut flakes.  All pancakes had banana on top. 

I was a little intimidated by the coconut butter after the overnight oats fiasco.  But they were fantastic like this.  The butter melted into the pancake and it was delicious! 

Have you tried coconut butter?  What is your favorite way to have it?

Recipe: Potato Pancakes

When I had 4 large organic potatoes growing sprouts I knew I needed to come up with some way to use them.  I really don't cook with potatoes very much so my friend google, helped me figure out what to do. 

I found Emeril's Potato Pancake recipe and after reading several reviews thought it was worth a shot.  I'm not a big measurer, so I didn't follow the recipe exactly.   

Ingredients:

- 4 large potatoes (pealed)

- 1/2 large onion

- 1 egg

- handful of parsley (I grabbed a few leaves from the garden)

- 1 tbsp of flour

- 1 tbsp of italian breadcrumbs

- salt and pepper 

Step 1 - grate potatoes and onion

Step 2 - squeeze excess liquid out of potato and onion mixture.  I just got my hands dirty and grabbed gobs of the mixture and squeezed.  There might have been a cleaner/classier way to do it, but this worked.  Below is a picture of the excess liquid. 

Step 3 - Mix in egg, flour, bread crumbs, parsely, salt and pepper.  Mash up together - again I just used my hands. 

Step 4 - heat oil in frying pan.  I used probably a half a cup (not the healthies recipe - but worth it!)  Add scopps of batter and mash down into a pattie.  Fry for about 5 minutes per side. 

Step 6 - Enjoy!  These are fantastic with apple sauce on the side.

This recipe is not very nutritious and is kind of loaded with fat, so I decided to pair this with some healthy grilled chicken and veggies.  The plain skewers are for my veggie hating husband. 

Tasty dinner!  I ended up having 2 skewers and a side salad and maybe a second potato pancake :)

Raspberries and Slip n' Slides

Check out my post from yesterday to hear briefly about my half marathon.  I will be putting out a detailed race report in the next couple of days. 

Last year when I was starting my garden, I knew I wanted to grow some fruit.  I planted strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.  Unfortunately raspberries don't produce any fruit their first year, strawberries only put off a kind of pitiful crop in their first year (at least for me) and the blackberry plant died. 

But raspberries come back STRONG in the second year.  I planted one small plant and this year I have probably 20 or 30 shoots.  The shoots I don't believe put out fruit this year, but the branches from the original plant are already giving me berries.

There are many many berries already formed from last years wimpy branches.  I think I am going to be hit with a surplus when these puppies ripen.  Have you ever frozen raspberries?  Is there anything special I need to do - I was thinking to just throw them in a freezer bag and freeze. 

I am excited to see how many berries I get next year.  Wikipedia warns about raspberries taking over gardens with their shoots.  My garden is so big and kind of hard to keep up with, so I am happy for the raspberries which don't take much work to take over a good piece of it. 

More fun in the garden, we have more lettuce than we know what to do with!  Any advice on how to package this up to give it away? 

My broccoli plants grew a bunch more shoots after the main head was cut.  Score!

Not really related to the garden except that we set this up right next to the garden and it keeps my son very happy while I am gardening, the toy story slip n' slide.  Possibly the best $7.99 I have ever spent.  He hasn't quite gotten the slide part down yet. 

 

I'm not going to lie, I went down this a few times.  So much fun. 

What childhood toys have you played with recently?

Garden Thieves

There are thieves in my garden!  Stealing my strawberries. 

I know they are delicious, but birdies beaks off!  The birds are getting several strawberries, but they 100% stay away from the one planted in the pot on my deck.  I think my son and/or dog have scared them away.  Plus there are so many in the garden, they don't need to venture close to the house.  I have been thinking about getting a second pot for the deck. 

Even with the thieving birds, I am getting lots and lots of strawberries.  It is honestly shocking to me.  Last year I really only got one or two berries every few days.  This crop was pulled in one day!  Two days later I pulled another handful out.  

My husband thinks it is great.  He thinks we can freeze them, so he can use them in his tea and we wont have to buy frozen strawberries.  I don't think he realizes how wonderful fresh strawberries are and that most will end up like this:

And devoured within 30 minutes of being picked! 

Gardening is so much fun!  This is my second year and we are getting so much wonderful produce.  If you have never gardened before don't be intimidated.  The worst that could happen is the plants die, but you could end up with tons of tasty fruits or veggies!

Do you have any suggestions on how to keep birds away from berries?

Green Monster! Really Green!

Green Monsters are all over the blog world, but I made my first one based off of Bobbi's recipe sometime last summer.   I used to make "Green Monsters" after hard workouts.  I put "Green Monster" in quotes because these always came out purple for me.  I'm not one to measure, so I think I put in too many blueberries and not enough green (Kale, spinach or whatever).  They were delicious and not quite as scary being purple so I just kept at it. 

Lately I have been overrun with produce.  I had some spinach that was going bad and decided to make a truly Green Monster.  You could never taste the spinach or kale in my purple monsters, so I thought a green one might not be bad either. 

Ingredients:

- bowl ful of spinach

- 1/3 cup frozen blueberries

- 3 large frozen strawberries

- 1/2 frozen banana

- milk

I think I might have over blended this because it came out very frothy!  TJ would not have anything to do with it, but I enjoyed mine alot.  I think I might start adding this to my daily routine.  It is pretty low calorie, but super nutrient dense, plus it will help me use up some of my aging produce!

Do you have any tasty variations of the Green Monster?

Update:
Check out Eating Journey for a great giveaway!

Too Much Produce!

On Sunday or Monday depending on how busy I am over the weekend I like to put together a rough plan for the week.  I hate wasting produce or really any food, so I try to take an inventory of what we have and what will go bad.  Then I figure out what we should eat for the week.  To keep things interesting I have been searching for new recipe's. 

Produce is the biggest thing when I'm planning out our meals because it goes bad the quickest.  Lately we have had too much produce - gasp!  I know how can you have too much produce?  Well we get our weekly produce box, plus the garden is putting out a lot of veggies.  Right now we are swamped with broccoli and lettuce.  Soon we will have our hands full with peas and tomatoes.  This is fantastic and I am in no way complaining! 

I picked up our produce box on Saturday morning with my handy Envitote!  I bought this bag from NHerShoe's open sky shop.  This bag is really great.  When it is empty it folds up nice and small, but it has sturdy sides so it can handle heavy cargo.

This week from our Newleaf produce box we got:

- 4 Bananas

- 3 pairs

- 3 apples

- 4 oranges

- 1 lbs strawberries

- 4 beets

- 1 lg onion

- 3 yellow squash

- 1 bunch of kale

- 1 head of lettuce

From Newleaf, I also picked up some coconut butter that I have seen around the blogs.  I almost bought this a couple weeks ago, but the price tag made me hold off.  I decide to splurge this week.  I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.  Hint - do not put this in the fridge. 

Since we have been overwhelmed with produce lately, I downgraded our Newleaf order to just a fruit box.  I will probably miss the variety, but I can always fill in what we are missing. 

So after reviewing everything this is our plan for the week:

Sunday: Grilled chicken kabobs with onions & squash, potato pancakes and a large salad

Monday: Salmon in flaky pastry with broccoli and large salad

Tuesday: Frozen pizza and large salad (operation freezer defrost still in effect)

Wednesday: Tacos or taco salad w/ avocados, broccoli, and sweet potatoes

Thursday: Grilled pork chops, apple sauce, roasted potatoes and salad

Friday: Leftovers and salad

Saturday: Pasta with red sauce, garlic bread, broccoli and salad (1/2 marathon carbo load)

Sunday: Out!

Do you plan out your meals? 

P.S. Thanks for all of your comments last week.  I really like hearing everyone's thoughts!

Food Inc

I had been wanting to see Food, Inc ever since it came out.  I had heard so many things about it, including that it would make me turn vegetarian.  Finally a friend of mine with Netflix brought it over.  Oh my goodness, this movie is great! 

The movie talks about food production in the United States.  It explains how big business over the past several years has taken over.  I honestly want to watch the movie again with a note pad because there was so much interesting information. 

It is really scary how so few coporations can have such a huge influence on our country's food production.  Farmers are forced to bend to the wills of big businesses (Tyson & Perdue) otherwise they risk having their contracts canceled. 

The scenes showing chicken houses and cows 'pastures' were horrifying.  Chickens never see the daylight - ever!  And cows are ankle deep in manure. 

It also talks about how cows are fed corn because corn is cheap!  Thank you government supported agriculture.   Corn is not only cheap, but it fattens the cows up so that they can be slaughtered in 1/4 the time of grass fed cows.  This isn't safe for the cows because genetically they should be eating grass.  The corn can actually kill the cow if not for being fed a constant stream of antibiotics.  Yuck! 

My main take away from the movie was that we as consumers need to vote with our purchases.  As more and more consumers demand organic produce and ethically raised meat, farmers will come to meet that demand.  As long as we buy McDonalds and cheap meat at the supermarket, big business will continue to rule. 

Over the past few months I have become more and more interested in locally grown and raised food.  I have been buying a weekly organic produce box and after seeing Food, Inc I decided to buy a share in a local farm and recieve a monthly package of meat and eggs.   I will recieve my first package of meat in a couple of weeks and I'm really looking forward to it! 

I am not prefect and I think it is easy to think that since we can't eat 100% organic, then we shouldn't try.  But I really think that if we all can make small changes, the local farmers will be able to grow.  As more and more people make sustainable choices, the farmers economies of scale will grow and the cost of organic will come down. 

Have you seen Food, Inc?  Did it cause you to make any changes in your food purchases? 

Superfood: Broccoli

Broccoli is one of the original superfoods loaded with nutrients and many healthy benefits including: increasing immunity, increasing cardiovascular health, reducing risk of cataracts, building bones and reducing birth defects.  Broccoli is high in vitamin C, K and A and full of dietary fiber.  

 

Broccoli is also rather easy to grow at home.  I attempted to grow it from seed last year and was unsuccessful.  It is possible that I pulled up all the seedlings thinking they were weeds.  This year I bought a package with eight beginner broccoli plants and they have grown super quickly. 

I cut two heads of broccoli this weekend and roasted them for our Memorial Day cookout.  I was worried they would be over ripe (not sure if this is possible), but they were actually kind of young, very similar to the expensive broccolini.  They were super tasty and I am looking forward to eating the rest of them.

 

After I but the head off, I noticed there were a few other florets coming out of the same plants.  I am hoping I will get multiple heads per plant, but I have a feeling the others will be kind of small. 

 

Along with broccoli, I pulled out a bunch of baby lettuce, a few raddished and a few strawberries. 

I was reading that some broccoli plants are perrenials meaning they come back every year.  I am hoping that mine come back. 

What are your favorite things to grow?

P.S. Check out the WiFi Scale give away by DC Rainmaker

Recipe: Walnut & Date Bars

I bought my son a Walnut and Date Kind bar a few weeks ago and it was delicious, but it was 2 bucks for a 150 calorie bar!  The bar seems to be mostly made up of walnuts and dates, but there were some other random ingredients - I wish I kept the package. 

I decided to try and replicate the bar at home, and they came out really well!

Really tough ingredient list:

- 2/3 cups walnuts

- 12 large dates (about 1 cup)

Step 1: Toast walnuts

Step 2: Pit dates

Step 3: Chop walnuts.  I used the food processor and I chopped them pretty finely.  You could probably keep them in bigger pieces depending on your preference.

Step 4: Chop dates.  I put these in the food processor as well.  I had to pulse these because they jammed up the processor a little.  This turns into almost a paste.

Step 5: Combine date and walnut mixture and kneed together.  Beware - make sure the walnuts have cooled. 

Once combined this is what it should look like:

Step 6: Form into bars and wrap. 

These were delicious.  It made 2 bars and probably another half that I ate strait from the bowl.  I kept the bars in the fridge because they didn't have any preservatives.  The longer they stayed in the fridge the worse they tasted.  But by worse I mean not as super delicious, but still very tasty. 

These are definintely a winner and will probably become a staple snack in our house.  

Check out Jill's So Called Health Life for a kind bar giveaway!

What are your favorite bar flavors?