In an effort to help Winston to be healthier and more eco-friendly I’ve been making food from scratch for him. He’s not a big eater (at 15 pounds he obviously doesn’t need to much) but he does eat one bowl of homemade food and one bowl of Newman’s Own Organic dog food each day.
His food is super easy to make. I grill chicken breast and make white rice. After chopping the chicken breast I add that to the white rice and then add fresh or frozen veggies depending on what I have on hand. I typically use frozen peas and fresh chopped carrots. I mix it all together so that it is 1/3 chicken, 1/3 rice and 1/3 veggies – you can make the batch as large or small as you like. I prefer to make a large batch and then freeze it. I put it into jars that hold enough for a few days. That way I can pull a jar out of the freezer every few days and have fresh food for him. I add a multi vitamin to the bowl as well – just to be sure he’s getting all the nutrients he needs. I originally thought he’d like the taste of the vitamin but since he won’t eat it whole as a treat then I chop it up and put in on his food – next time I’ll just buy a vitamin power as that will be much easier to sprinkle on. He absolutely loves his specially made food and gets so much more excited about it than his hard food.
We recently got a FABULOUS new grill as an early wedding gift from some very dear friends/family. Grilled veggies are not only super delicious but HEALTHY – a meal entirely made up of grilled veggies – YUM! Eric and I could live on this everyday! One thing we hadn’t tried before was grilling sweet potatoes – what have we been doing all these years keeping them off the grill?! They were fantastic! I simply sliced them, then tossed them in olive oil, sea salt and cinnamon. For the skewers you see, we did half with olive oil and random herbs and the other with BBQ sauce. It was a wonderful dinner – I’m looking forward to a lot more grilling over the summer.
I’m really looking forward to checking out the new French Market here in Chicago – it sounds absolutley FABULOUS!
Opening December 3, 2009, Chicago will finally have its first and only year-round, indoor marketplace providing you with permanent, convenient and personal access to local artisans and purveyors.
Open Monday thru Saturday, enjoy Chicago French Market’s fresh selections for dining at our place, cooking at your place or on-the-go.
IN CHICAGO’S WEST LOOP
131 NORTH CLINTON
AT THE OGLIVIE TRANSPORTATION CENTER
Here’s an easy and fun way to help The Organic Center raise funds for our important research and communication work on the organic benefit!
The Organic Center is part of Stonyfield Farm’s October Bid With Your Lid campaign in which three organizations compete for funding. Stonyfield yogurt lids plus on-line voting give you several ways to participate in supporting your favorite cause.
We need your vote!! Please help us increase our percentage of support by following this link and vote for The Organic Center. Also, pass this on to your family, friends and colleagues and help us grow our donation from Stonyfield. Thank you!!!
The Organic Center’s mission is to generate credible, peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society. www.organic-center.org
The Organic Center’s mission is to generate credible, peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society. www.organic-center.org
These reusable produce bags are great and are so much better for the environment than the plastic bags at the store. They can easily be washed and they’ll last for a very long time!
I know they don't look so pretty in my re-used jars but who cares?!
The other night I made jam! I’ve been wanting to do this all summer and now that berries are just about done I had to do it now or wait until next year. I can’t believe how easy it was to make!
I save all of my jars from other food items that I purchase so I had plenty to use. They were already clean so I put them in a pot of boiling hot water to warm them up while I made the jam. I had purchased a box of pectin quite awhile ago so I already had that on hand. The box contained a bunch of different recipe ideas. I made a batch and a half with a mix of raspberries and blueberries. I used a ratio of 2:1 (raspberries to blueberries) so it is mostly raspberry but with a slight undertone of blueberry – I’m happy with the combination. When using blueberries it calls for fresh lemon juice. I used the juice of one lemon yet still needed a little more so I used an orange that I needed to use up as it was on its way to the bin.
Instead of sugar I used Agave Nectar. Agave Nectar looks like honey but is thinner and comes from a plant. It doesn’t spike your blood sugar the way sugar does so I try to use it as much as possible in place of sugar.
So, all you do is mash your berries, add the lemon juice, bring it to a boil add the pectin and pour it into your jars leaving 1/4 inch open at the top. Put the tops on and turn them upside down. I put them back in the hot water for a bit to make sure they were super warm and would seal and then I put them on the counter to cool. After an hour I flipped them and within another hour I pressed the seal on the top and it went down and didn’t pop back up – meaning they were sealed and safe to stay in the pantry.
I’m so excited to have discovered how easy it is to make jam – I’ll be making it a lot more now!
The French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) released a study last week that outlines a number of health benefits to eating organic food.
Organic fruits and veggies contain more iron, magnesium, antioxidants and micronutrients.
Organic animal products are higher in heart-healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids, and cows raised on grass have a higher muscle mass, which means leaner meat.
They didn’t make a call on organic carbohydrates, such as cereals, because there wasn’t enough data. However, they noted that organic barley is higher in calcium, zinc, and copper.
I absolutely love Carnivale. The atmosphere is fun and the Latin American cuisine is delicious. I love it even more now that I discovered how green they are. They are making efforts to reduce their impact on the environment from the food they serve to the cleaning products they use.
They source a lot of their food from farms in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. They’re cooking with cage-free organic eggs and sustainable seafood. Their chicken and pork are from local Gunthorp Farms and in the summer the grow veggies on the restaurant’s roof-top garden! Even their mojitos are made with organic mint from local farmers and they’re filtering their water at the source so it is 99.9% purified for drinking and even cooking! They recycle and they’re working with Gunthorp Farms to recycle non-trans fat fryer oil as an alternative fuel for the farm.
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