Category: Healthy (Page 18 of 24)

      Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

      July 20, 2011 /

      A few years ago when we lived in Nashville, we were a bit disappointed with their farmer’s market. It was not as nice or easy to get to as the one I remembered from my days living in Ohio before that. But then my wife and I went to an Earth Day festival three or four years ago and there were booths for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) from local farms. We talked to a few farmers and were extremely intrigued. Of course, we’d heard of CSAs before but the thought of not having a say in what we picked up for each share turned us off–temporarily. That all changed when a farmer that day told us how it’s a matter of eating what is in season and fresh. We were sold. So we did our CSA for two seasons and absolutely loved it.

      Then we moved to Madison, Wisconsin in April of 2010. Madison, of course, is home to the greatest farmer’s market known to man, the Dane County Farmer’s Market. I’m not exaggerating here, it’s awesome. It goes all the way around the Capitol on Saturday mornings and has farmers who grow produce as well as meats, and there are cheeses, baked goods and all kinds of other amazing local foods. So last year we just enjoyed what the market had to offer.

      But this year, we had the CSA jones again. A friend told us about Driftless Organics, and after visiting their website once and reading about the farm and their CSA…well, let’s just say I wrote the check and mailed it that day.

      There is a small bit of difference in the Driftless CSA than the Nashville one–they grow a very diverse and interesting set of crops at this farm, and encourage you to try things you haven’t tried before. We’ve had pea vines, green garlic, baby fennel and kohlrabi. We’ve also had some of the best green beans we’ve ever tasted, and some incredibly sweet beets. We are, of course, looking forward to summer favorites like peppers, tomatoes and sweet corn.

      The photo above is of a meal we made a few weeks ago that included some fresh yellow squash from our CSA; and some roasted beets with sauteed beet greens. And once I find the time and creative energy to develop some more interesting recipes using our share, I will post them here. Meanwhile, if you haven’t yet tried a CSA–let me tell you, you’re missing out. There is no better feeling than the feeling of supporting a local farmer, eating what’s fresh (and I do mean fresh), and enjoying produce that is 100% organic.

      Green Living, Healthy, Ingredients, On the Grille, Your Kitchen

      Low carb breakfast special

      July 15, 2011 /

      I’m trying to lose a bit of weight, so for the moment I’m cutting back on carbs. But as I looked at a South Beach Diet cookbook this morning, I decided that I was just going to whip up my own recipe. So I made an egg sandwich using fried ham as the “bread,” and used mashed avocado and hot sauce as condiments. It was awesome. Here is how I did it and how you can, too….

      Fry up two slices of ham until crisp, but not burnt. In another skillet, scramble two eggs and add salt and pepper. Cook until just set. Meanwhile, mash half an avocado with some salt. Lay ham on a plate next to each other, place a slice of swiss (or any cheese you have on hand) on one slice of ham, and spread avocado on the other. Then slide the scrambled eggs onto the slice with the cheese. Shake some hot sauce, on, assemble the sandwich and eat. As my wife said, it might be low-carb but it’s not low-fat. That’s okay though, I was only looking to cut carbs in my breakfast, and I succeeded.

      Healthy, Ingredients, On the Grille, Recipes, Your Kitchen

      Tomatoes: a pet peeve

      July 11, 2011 /

      Chef JimI’m going to write more about food pet peeves tomorrow, but I thought since it’s the middle of July, that a stand-alone post about tomatoes is in order.

      Now, I feel blessed to live in Madison, where we have one of the best farmer’s markets in the nation (and I’m not exaggerating…look up the Dane County Farmer’s Market). Anyway, I also belong to an awesome CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with a local farm, Driftless Organics. But we get our box from the farm every other week and this past weekend was an “off” week. No problem, I can always head to the market on Saturday. But since my wife was out of town and I had our 3-year old in tow, the fact that an art fair moved the market off the “square” to a much more congested area of downtown, I decided to just get what I needed from the grocery store.

      Which leads me to my gripe today–tomatoes.

      Is it too much to ask that a “vine ripe” tomato in the grocery store, is, you know, vine ripe? Instead they are mealy and disgusting, something I expect in January, not in July. I am guessing that these tomatoes are grown in a hothouse, and/or are plucked before they should be plucked. But come on. Even the “cluster” tomatoes, the ones that are sold with the vines, are crappy from the grocery store.

      There is no substitute for a farm-fresh tomato in the summer, or one you grow yourself (we didn’t do that this year but I’m regretting that decision already). But there is also zero excuse for a store–even a chain grocery store–to sell a crappy, mealy tomato in the heat of summer. It’s also a crime for a restaurant to serve mealy tomatoes this time of year, but raise your hand if you’ve had a mealy restaurant tomato recently. I know I see a lot of hands from where I sit because it’s true!

      Anyway, I hope our CSA share has some tomatoes, and even if it does, I’m buying more from the market this weekend. It’s time for tomato sandwiches, one of the best parts of summer, and there is no room on my bread for crappy-ass tomatoes!

      Healthy, Ingredients, Uncategorized, Your Kitchen

      Mikey’s Tips for Summer Foods

      July 8, 2011 /

      I’m a firm believer in eating lighter and/or eating less during the summer months. Naturally, we are more active during the summer anyway, but it’s harder to be active when you’ve tacked on 10 to 20 or more pounds over the winter months. Eating lighter in the summer makes sense because, well, it’s too freaking hot to be gluttonous. I’m not saying I don’t chow on burgers, fries and shakes occasionally, I just do it less in the hotter weather, or eat less of what’s on my plate. But here are a few more tips for you….

      1. Eat cold food. Salads, pasta salads, or sandwiches are not always girly. In fact, I think I need to do a few posts on sandwiches that are dude-friendly. But as I showed before, pasta salad can also be dude-friendly.

      2. Eat my freaking gazpacho. Seriously, you have to try this. I think I’m going to whip some up this weekend.

      3. Drink fruit smoothies. These are refreshing and and great in the summer with melon and berries in season. And hey, I won’t stop you from adding alcohol if you feel like it.

      4. Stay hydrated. This is good for two reasons–you won’t keel over from dehydration, and you’ll eat less.

      5. Heck, eat ice-cream for dinner. Unless you’re trying to set an example for your kids, why not? Plus, there are all of those awesome soft serve stands open in the summer.

      6. Cut back on carbs. Grill some meat, grill some vegetables, and cut back on the bread and rice and potatoes. You will feel lighter, trust me.

      Healthy, Ingredients, On the Grille, Your Kitchen

      Product review: Emerald Breakfast on the Go!

      June 16, 2011 /

      I didn’t quite get the robot analogy that came with a package from the PR firm who sent samples of the new Emerald Nuts Breakfast on the Go! Nut & Granola mixes. Their message was that robots can turn out ordinary granola bars, but these Emerald “deconstructed” granola packets “humanize your morning.” Um, okay. But we’re not here to poke holes in the PR campaign. No, we are here to test out the food and let you know how it is. And in this case, the food is really good. They sent a sample of all three flavors, so let’s go over each one, shall we?

      Berry Nut Blend–this one has granola clusters, glazed walnuts, yogurt raisins, peanuts, and of course–dried berries. It’s a nice, sweet blend without being overtly sweet, and the glazed walnuts take it up a notch.

      Breakfast Nut Blend–very similar to the Berry Nut Blend, but with dried apples instead of dried berries. It also has the awesome glazed walnuts, but I will say that I like the dried berries better than the hard-to-chew dried apples.

      S’mores Nut Blend–A bit different than the other two, this one features cocoa roasted almonds and has bits of dark chocolate, tiny graham cracker cookies, and also dried marshmallows to created the s’mores effect. Nuts and berries are good, but let’s face it, chocolate anything is better. This was easily my favorite of the three.

      The only drawback to these bagged snacks is that they are a tad more difficult to eat than a granola bar, at least if you are driving or doing something else at the time. But it sure is a nice alternative. That was probably the message all along, but robots? I still don’t get it. Anyway, give these a try and let me know how you liked them.

      Healthy, Product Reviews, Your Kitchen

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