Farmers Market July 24th

Greetings from the second week of the Cedar Park Farmers Market at Lakeline Mall! We got there a bit later than usual and there was a nice breeze for a change!












This week from the market - our grocery list is:

Free range chicken, Wheat pecan bread, homemade chips, plum pie, oatmeal cookies, cucumbers for picklin, tomatoes, avocado salsa, organic cupcakes, ground pork, jalapeno cheddar spread, black bean hummus, sweet corn, tuna steaks, gulf shrimp, and homemade liver brownies for the puppies birthday!

Our new love this week was from Hill Country Cupcakes! These amazing chefs make over 80 flavors of cupcakes - which is impressive in itself. With flavors like Banana Split, Sticky Bun, Honey and Chia and Rocky Road - its no wonder they were down to 6 flavors by the time we got to them. I believe we had the Vanilla Vanilla and the Lemon Drop. They had fluffy icing and lots of it on each one and the cake was moist and tasty! We will stopping by again for sure for some tasty treats!!

We got Tuna Steaks for the first time this week - I made a soy honey glaze and grilled them for 5 min on each side. A wonderus meal along with the shrimp and grilled dragon carrots!

We made a special stop at the Dog Treat booth as we celebrated both our dogs 4th birthday! They are 3 weeks apart so we had a joint party for the 1st time. At the booth, we picked up 2 liver cheese spinach brownies and a cheese flower treat! The vendor even offered us a bandanna for our pups since it was their birthday! Love these vendors! The girls of course devoured all the treats that night and loved every bite!

I bought 2 lbs of cucumbers in hopes of trying to pickle them. Ive got all my canning supplies - I just need to make the time! I will do a separate post when I attempt this crazy scheme!

Overall another wonderful week at our market. Looking forward to taking more photos each week! Thanks for reading!

The Story of Cosmetics (2010)

Squeeky Clean! - Cal Ben Soap!

I'd like to show you some natural products we have been using in our home for the past 6 months!
Our favorite find is Cal Ben Natural Soap! They have everything you need to stay squeaky clean with using a non toxic, natural and earth wise product!

My skin is easily irritated by laundry soap - I cant even sleep on sheets that have been washed in Gain or I break out in a rash. Any laundry soap that is heavily perfumed might smell nice but the residue staying in your clothes and against your skin all day/all night. Toxic chemicals found in everyday household products that, when absorbed through the skin (as practically all chemicals are), lead directly to liver toxicity , nervous system disorders, and cancer.

If you want more specific information - all you have to do it hit up Google and search for "toxic chemicals in detergents" - you will get 100 pages that show research on how everyday chemicals from dryer sheets, deodorants, perfumes, soaps, lotions and detergents, to name a few are bad for your system.

BUT THE GOOD NEWS - there are lots of natural soaps and cleaners out there that work just as good - or better - that what you are using now!

Ive listed the main items we order from Cal Ben:

The shampoo is probably my favorite item - and whats funny is that my husband has been using it for 6 months and I just dared to try it a month ago. This might come as a shocking surprise to all of you but I am not a natural fuchsia/red head - shocking!!! So I always use color safe shampoo that is suppose to block chlorine in tap water. About 4 weeks ago - my hair was feeling so "gummy" that I felt like I couldn't get it clean. Hard water doesnt help! I told my husband I was going to shave my head again like I did in college b/c I couldn't take it. So I tried the Cal Ben Shampoo and couldn't believe how good my hair felt! I now have used almost his whole supply and had to order a gallon jug this week! Try it!

We do a lot of laundry at my house and I have been very pleased with the results of the Cal Ben Sea Foam soap - gets everything clean without perfumey smells!

We bought the glass cleaner as well and it makes a friggin gallon so we will have clean windows for about 2 years from this one purchase!

I also got turned on to the Almond Rose Lotion - it has a sweet smell and is a great moisturiser! I really love it and its pink!!

I hope you found this interesting and I encourage you to check out the Cal Ben Soap website - there is a great starter pack for only $20 that gives you samples of all I listed above as well as 5 mini bars of soap! Try it out and let me know what you think!! Thanks Y'all!

http://www.calbenpuresoap.com/index.html

The Best Roasted Free Range Chicken Recipe

This has become a staple in our weekly dinners. Its just so easy and the food is amazing. I know there are a lot of Roasted Chicken Recipes out there but here is how I do it! Feel free to improvise!

Step 1 - Preheat over to 400
Step 2 - Rinse and pat dry the chicken
Step 3 - place in pan and rub 3 Tablespoons of butter all over bird.
Step 4 - Mince up local herbs - rosemary, parsley, sage and basil and sprinkle on bird.
Step 5 - Cover bird in salt and pepper.

Cook 20 mins and then remove from oven.

Add Farm veggies that have been cleaned and chopped - onions, potatoes, carrots, peppers, squash - whatever great local veggies you want to roast. Add 1 cup of water. Drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil over veggies - salt and pepper veggies.

Put back into over for 60 min. and DING - a beautiful chicken is ready to eat!

Oh so easy and wonderfully tasty!! Enjoy and let me know if you try it out!

Side Dish Bonanza - Wilted Spinach Recipe

Hi All! Here is a side dish that is fool proof and oh so good!

Wilted Spinach

Step 1 - Wash spinach and pat dry
Step 2 - Toss handfuls of spinach into frying pan - remember it cooks down to a 4th of what it is fresh - I give 2 hand fulls per person.
Step 3 - Put on med/high heat - drizzle w/ Olive Oil - add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4 - Squeeze half a lemon over spinach
Step 4 - Toss and Cover until spinach is wilted

Use tongs to move to plate! So Easy and So Good! Its a new way to get your greens if your tired of salad every night! ENJOY!

Farmers Market July 17 2010 - Lakeline!

This was the first weekend that our wonderful Farmers Market moved within blocks to us at Lakeline Mall! It was easy to get to - looked larger with more room to move - and parking was everywhere! And unlike our last shopping area - Lakeline Mall seems to be embracing the large crowd - I was offered 2 coupons while there for stores in the Mall. That's awesome!

Our Grocery list this week: Dragon Carrots, Squash, Bell Peppers, Creamy Cilantro Salsa, a homemade Sticky Bun, Greek Olive Hummus, Green Bean - Penne - Blue Cheese Salad, Red and Yellow Tomatoes, Butter, Goats Milk and Cheese, Grass fed Beef, Sourdough Bread, Mango/Strawberry Sweet Bread, and homemade Chips.

We found a new love this week! We stopped by the Kelli Jo Salsa tent for the 1st time this week. I had been on their website last week and thought the "Standard" Salsa that had bits of avocado in it was something we should try this time. It was!! Then they broke out the Creamy Cilantro Salsa that is made with Serrano Peppers. It was super spicy and creamy so we had to get the big tub! I can envision this great find on any Mexican meal as well as eggs and of course our tasty homemade chips we picked up! There are many salsa vendors there but you GOTTA get your hands on this stuff! A bonus: when you pay for your salsa - the fella pulls your change from his wallet thats stuffed 4 inches thick with bills - who needs a cash box - this is the fancy way to give change. :)

We also made a pairing of our Olive Hummus from Aunt Nita and our Goats Milk Cheese! The hummus is of course amazing per usual and the cheese is very fresh and a bit crumbly. Aunt Nita also made this very different pasta salad - it contains: Penne pasta, green beans, white onion, blue cheese, pecans, mayo, peanut oil, cider vinegar, and salt! This is some tangy stuff! Mike really loves it and he doesn't usually like blue cheese. Oh so good!! We always have a hard time deciding what to get at this tent b/c its all so fresh. If we weren't on a budget we would get 5 tubs a week!

Our meat purchases were lite this week as we still have a chicken and yak in the freezer. 6J Ranch doubled their booth size and it looked great! They recognized us from our blog which was an unexpected delight! We have only bought our meat from their farm for the past 2 months so its nice to have a connection.

Overall - a great trip to the market - I love the new location and many friends say its close enough now from Central and North Austin to make the trip! Its also still very exciting to keep finding new foods week to week even after going for months. I cant wait to watch the market change as the seasons change and I'm hoping by only eating whats in season, it will bring me that much more connected with the earth. This is really getting fun!

Subway whole grain bread....isnt. BUMMER!

Well this is just a bummer! Like many people trying to eat more healthy - I often skip the McDonald's and head to my local SUBWAY for my Veggie on Wheat.(I cant eat the meat due to nitrates that are found in any deli meat because its a huge trigger for my migraines.) The past few days I have seen news stories about how much HFC - high fructose corn syrup - is in Subways breads and how the 9 grain bread is truly just white bread with white flour. All the things we are trying not to eat. Crap! If you are interested in reading more - check out the link below. So whatda think? Are you going to feel different about eating at Subway after this revelation?

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While there are nine grains in that bread, eight of them are scarce, as they appear on the ingredient listing under the “contains 2% or less” notice. The most plentiful ingredient in this sub bread is white flour, the kind you should avoid.

More plentiful than any one of the whole grains is high fructose corn syrup, a manufactured sweetener that has been linked closely with the obesity epidemic.

“Essentially this is a white-wheat hybrid with trace amounts of other whole grains like oats, barley, and rye,” says Zinczenko of the Subway bread.

Read more: Subway Bread has More High Fructose Corn Syrup Than Whole Grains http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/06/subway-bread-has-more-high-fructose-corn-syrup-than-whole-grains/#ixzz0tlCq8w00



**In a follow up - it looks like there is a campaign under way to make Subway remove their HFC from their bread by the Biggest Losers trainer - Jillian Micheals! I think that is great that they are receiving public pressure to make changed in their food!

Check it out here:

“I told em if they take it out of their bread I’ll do a commercial for free,” said Jillian Michaels in response to learning that Subway breads contain high fructose corn syrup.

Read more: Jillian Michaels Urges Subway to Remove High Fructose Corn Syrup from Breads http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/03/jillian-michaels-urges-subway-to-remove-high-fructose-corn-syrup-from-breads/#ixzz0tlG051Q2

Famers Markets in Kansas City

Many of my readers are based back in my hometown of Kansas City and I wanted to give you all a list of where you can hit up a Farmers Market close to you! The good news is that KC seems to have all its neighborhoods covered! Becareful in the big City River Market as many vendors there get their veggies from the same place the grocery stores do. Just ask if its grown local if your not sure! If you go to any of these markets, I would love to post photos and hear about your experiences there!

According to AboutKC.com - these are you top 10 Farmers Markets in Kansas City:

1. City Market

The regions largest Farmers' Market is located within Kansas City's River Market neighborhood, which brings over one hundred and forty vendors that sell fresh fruits and vegetables, plants and herbs, plus a great array of fresh baked goods, cut flowers and crafts made by local artists.

Time: Saturday 6:30 am - 3:30 pm, and Sunday 9am - 4pm.

2. Downtown Overland Park Farmers Market

This huge farmers market runs from April through October in Downtown Overland Park. Located at the Clock Tower Plaza, just 2 blocks West of Metcalf between 79th and 80th Streets--features fresh produce, herbs, arts and crafts from farmers and growers around the metro and surrounding areas. Saturday starting at 6:30 am and Wednesday starting at 7:30am.

3. Parkville Farmers' Market

The Parkville Farmers' Market is located just South of the railroad tracks at English Landing Park in Historic downtown Parkville. This historic market features local farmers that primarily sell fresh produce, plants, and honey. Open from April to October Wednesday, 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 6:00 a.m.-sellout.

Guide Tip: Get there early--those Parkvillians are known for getting up and buying up all the produce before day break!

4. Bad Seed Farmers' Market

The Bad Seed's urban farmer's market is held on Friday's from 4-9pm (May 9th-November 19th, 2010) at their Crossroad's location, 1909 McGee. The theme of the Bad Seed goes beyond buying fresh and local and promotes local sustainibility.

From the Bad Seed website: 'The BADSEED Market is dedicated to providing the “conscious consumer” with nutritious and delicious foods grown sustainably (and with LOVE) in the immediate community. The Friday Night Farmers’ Market offers a plethora of local-organic delights including colorful fruits and veggies, baked goods, gourmet mushrooms, goat cheese, eggs and free-range meats.'

5. KC Organics and Naturals Organic Market

Kansas City's first exclusively 100% organic market is in its 18th year. Organic farmers offer organically grown produce, edible flowers, herbs, grains, breads and pies. They also have "fair trade" coffee, eco-products, crafts, music, and chef demonstrations which are not to be missed. The KC Organics and Naturals Market is located at Minor Park, just East of Holmes on Red Bridge Road (111th Street) on Saturday's from 8am-12:30pm beginning May 1st, 2010. The market also opened a second location on Wednesday's from 10am to 2pm at Park Place (117th and Nall, Leawood) starting May 12th, 2010. Call (816) 444-FOOD for more information.

6. Brookside Farmers' Market

The Brookside Farmers' Market is a hidden gem--unless you live in BKS, you might not know much about it. Located at the Border Star Montessori School (63rd & Wornall) has locally-grown organic, freshly picked vegetables, fruits, herbs, as well as hormone/antibiotic-free, humanely-raised meats and free-range eggs. Don't miss the artisan breads, baked goods, and freshly prepared foods. Saturdays, 8:00-1:00. Opens April 17, 2010. Check their website for market events.

7. Liberty Farmers' Market

Opening Wednesdays in May at Crowley's Furniture, at the Intersection of Highways 152 and 291. Also on Saturdays at the Liberty Square, downtown Liberty--from 7 am to 12 pm. Includes farmers and growers from Clay, Platte, Jackson, Clinton and Ray counties.

8. Zona Rosa

The Zona Rosa Farmers Market is open every Tuesday, June 2nd through September 29th from 4 to 8 p.m. Located in the shady breezeway between Hot Topic and Victoria's Secret, off of 86th Street. With pleanty of fresh fruits, vegetables, breads, jams, honey and crafts--plus you can go shopping afterwards...

9. Olathe Farmers' Market

The Olathe Farmers' Market (Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop 1200 Kansas City Road Olathe) is open Saturdays, April 25th through October 10th, at 7am and Wednesdays June-September, 3pm-sellout. Features fresh produce, flowers, herbs, baked goods from farmers and growers located within 125 miles of the City.

10. Independence Farmers' Market

The Independence Farmers' Market is held Saturdays (May through October) 7 am until 1 pm, and Wednesdays, (June 8th through October 8th), 7 am until 1 pm. Located at Truman Road between Main & Liberty, the market also features a huge Craft market across the street at the Chamber of Commerce parking lot. Call (816) 254-4338 for further information.

Farmers Market BLT

Here is an example of a tasty sandwich made with everything from the Farmers Market.
First you start with local bread - in this case olive sourdough that is sliced thick.
Then we baked our rosemary maple local bacon in an oven for 14 min at 400 degrees.
Next, slice up some farm fresh tomatoes and a sprig of local romaine lettuce.
A touch of mayo and smash together for a super fresh BLT!

News 8 Austin covers Farmer Market Move

News 8 Austin did a quick lil segment on the Farmer Market Move to Lakeline Mall. Check it out:

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/272258/cedar-park-farmers-market-moves-to-north-austin?ap=1&MP4

Whats in my store bought cow, chicken and pork?

Most grocery store meats are filled with animals that have been injected with medications and hormones - this article has a good breakdown of why you would be concerned about ingesting it on a regular basis. It is widely believed that the reason lil girls at age 8 are starting puberty instead of 13 is due to the large amount of hormones they eat in everyday foods.

The FDA continues to allow use of a dangerous livestock drug banned in 160 countries, including across Europe, China and Taiwan, even though the agency itself admits that the chemical is highly toxic to humans.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029169_livestock_chemicals.html

Learning about GMO's - genetically-modified organisms

Not only is there no mandatory labeling of products sold in the U.S. that contain GMO ingredients, but the FDA and USDA now want to prohibit the labeling of products that do not contain GMO ingredients. In other words, the FDA and USDA are trying to outlaw truth in labeling and are openly working deceive the public.


http://www.naturalnews.com/029168_GMO_foods_labeling.html

Farmers Market July 10 2010

This week from the farmers market: Ginger snaps, Macaroons, Free range chicken, Regular & chocolate Goats milk, Honey, Eggs, Bread pudding, Jalapeno cheese spread, Squash, Peaches, Pork Tamales, Concord Jelly, Homemade handsoap, Grass fed beef, Ground Yak & Beignets! We had a lot of left over veggies so didn't get too many this week. It was fun to take my parents this week - they got to see how we shop everyweek and got some treats for themselves!

Recipe for Grilled Peaches

Howdy all! Wanted to pass along this tasty idea for farm fresh peaches! Step 1 - using a potato peeler - peel off the fuzzy peel and cut peaches in half - remove the pit.
Step 2 - Toss in bowl with olive oil - just enough to lightly glaze each peach. Lightly salt & pepper.
Step 3 - Place on hot grill - turn after 5 minutes. Let each piece cook until it has softened.
Serve by themselves as a side dish - or wrap with Prosciutto - or serve over Vanilla ice cream!
A great way to use those peaches that are so tasty in the summer!
YUM!!

This is our groceries from the Farmers Market for the week of July 4-10th.
We have Cantaloupe, squash, coconut macaroons, a BIG chicken, grass fed beef, 8 Yak burgers, mozzarella ball, sunflower bread, local honey, sweet corn, yellow & red tomatoes, black bean hummus, corn salsa, basil pesto, zucchini bread & banana bread, cucumbers, 5 hot peppers, & dragon carrots!

My husband used to work in the fruits and veggies dept at Kroger grocery store in highschool so I always trust him to pick out ripe fruit and he made a beeline to the cantaloupe this week. Our whole kitchen smells of its sweetness right now and I cant wait to report back once we slice it up this week!

There is always a nice selection of squash at the market and this week we found a new vendor that specialized in growing squash and hot peppers. We got a 1lb butternut squash and a selection of hot and sweet peppers from her. We will post likely pair it the Yak or Chicken this week.

The coconut macaroon from Swedish Hill bakery has become a staple in our diet - there aren't a lot of desserts at the market so this is a sweet treat for us. We also tried their sunflower wheat bread this week. Its very tasty but I do find the local bread to be a bit tougher than store bought bread.

We asked for the biggest chicken that 6J Ranch http://www.6jranch.com had b/c I'm going to try to feed 4 people with it. He is a big one and cost around $16. I will be posting pics of his tasty demise later in the week as well as the recipe for the easiest and tastiest roast chicken around! We also got our regular 1lb of grass fed beef from these folks. Its good to keep on hand.

One of our most unusual find at our market is Texas Yaks! http://www.facebook.com/TexasYaks
They only take a one Yak to slaughter every few weeks so its a treat when we see their booth. We bought 2 packs of burgers - 8 in total b/c they are thin and its best to have 2 patties on a burger. I cant wait to grill these out for my parents this week! I think they taste like steak and you will see their nutritional value is through the roof - less fat and calories than skinless chicken!

Our buying of a fresh mozzarella ball has become a regular thing - since we have so much basil in our home garden and buy so many tomatoes every week - we need this to use in capresi salads. There are a few different cheese makers at the market but this guy is the best - some others tasted stringy.

Honey is big deal in our house b/c my husband puts it on everything! We tried a few different kind and we have a favorite honey dealer. She has agreed to special order some Youpon Honey for my hubby next week so he is pretty excited about that. He no doubt was a bee or a bear in former life.

I tried in vain to find a good deal on sweet corn this week but only 1 vendor had it. I really want to start over buying corn every week so I begin canning it and freezing it for the winter. We only got 6 ears this week but hoping to make a really good roasted corn side dish with some of the hot peppers we got as well as two jalapenos in my garden then need to be picked and used!

Ahh - the tomatoes at any farmers market is a true delight. Many many vendors have them for around $3 a basket. We always get some larger ones as well as our new find - the lil sunshine tomatoes. This tiny orbs of goldeness as the sweetest I have ever tried! Im sure kids would eat these like grapes! I highly recommend trying these if you haven't.

Aunt Nita's is a great vendor of a woman who makes lots of tasty food and then sells them at the market. This week we got her black bean hummus that is very limey and wonderful as well as her corn salsa that is the perfect mix of spices! She also specialises in pesto - we have 2 basil pesto's that I will no doubt make into a wonderful dish this week with pasta and tomatoes! I wish there we more vendors like her with premade food!

As we were walking out this week - there was a kinda sad stand - very little produce - no doubt their first try at selling home grown veggies but they had a lil cake stand set up with all kinds of homemade tea breads. My husband is a sucker for Zucchini Bread and I for Banana Bread so we got a few and they are very very tasty! Im hoping they come back next week b/c they were great for breakfast!

Grabbed a few cucumbers from my regular tomato guy this week - I was really looking for a good deal b/c I just bought some canning supplies and some pickling spices and would really like to try my hand in pickle making! These will most likely just be used for Tabouli.

And finally - there was a shortage of carrots this week which I usually get every week for roasting along with my chicken so we went with Dragon Carrots again this week - they are red but are orange when peeled - they have a slightly spicy taste to them! Yum!

Well, that's kind of a breakdown of what we bought this week - I look forward to posting pics and recipes as the week goes on so I can help show you how to make all your meals from your local farmers market! Thanks for reading and I would love any comments!

Farmers Market July 3 2010

Today was a great day at the market! Our friend John came along to check it out too! Hurricane Alex is still hanging out the background but we stayed rain free while shopping. Apparently I put the cart together wrong b/c its wheels fell off within about 5 min of getting there - thank god I had my strong husband to carry the bags around! We stocked up this week since my parents will be here mid week. It was great to see all our favorite farmers and they seemed jazzed about the move to Lakeline Mall parking lot in 2 weeks - we are super excited as this is moving within blocks of us now! More details to come! Happy Saturday everyone!!

TGIF Friends! I write to you today as Hurricane Alex keeps pouring more rain on us - looks like it will be a soggy 4th of July weekend this year! It has been the wettest summer I can remember in my 10 years in Austin which is great for us b/c we are trying to regrow our backyard grass at our new house and the rain has def. helped!

I am excited about going to the Farmer's Market in the morning - this time I have a new cart to take with us - just got it and need to put the wheels on it tonight! Also, my parents will be visiting next week so we will really have to stock up. I cant wait to make them tasty meals fresh from the market. We are gonna need a bigger chicken for sure and hopefully some Yak meat so they can try that too!

Wishing you all a great 4th weekend and wanted to leave you with this quote I read today.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead.

Whats on my food iphone app

http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/

Please check out this site and download the free app for your iphone - it shows exactly what pesticides are on what food and how to make sure your aren't ingesting poisons!

Farmers Market Delights Over the Past Weeks

Hi All! Thought I would post our pics from the past few weeks from the Farmers Market. We go to the one in Cedar Park at 1431 and 183 but there are over 10 Farmers Markets in the Austin area so hopefully one close to you! I will post with more details from week to week but wanted to show you what has inspired us so!

Gotta Start Somewhere!

Hello friends! The idea of starting this blog came about since my husband Mike and I have started to make some changes in our lifestyles. We read everyday about the preservatives, pesticides, and illness causing chemicals in our food, water and air and were beginning to feel overwhelmed by what we're ingesting everyday. We decided that it was time we started taking small steps in cleaning up the garbage running through our bodies and began making a concerted effort to start eating local, organic, and pure foods. This of course led us to start going to the farmers market, which is not only great for getting "real food" but its also very fulfilling to reconnect with our community. I love to take the time to talk to the farmers and their family's about their farms, there livestock and to trade vegetable growing tips! We have been going every week for 7 weeks now and have come to know who grows our veggies, who milks the goats, and who makes tasty snacks for our week. We have virtually stopped going to the grocery store any more except for the basics. I have been posting photos of our culinary adventures on Facebook and have many request of friend to know more. They want to know what we make with our spread of local foods every week and my hope is that this blog will help shine a light on how you can feed your family everyday with local pure foods without any added preservatives and chemicals. I will be posting recipes and photos to hopefully inspire you to drive to your local farmers market and start adding fresh foods into your daily life! I also wanted to point out for the record, we are not vegetarian, vegan or health nuts. And yes, you can find me any given Sat with a Route 44 Cherry lime-aid in hand. We are just two people trying to make small changes that will have big health benefits and we are hoping to show you how on this blog. I have a million more things to say but will save it for another day. You gotta start somewhere! Thanks so much for visiting my blog - any comments are really appreciated and I would love any idea's you have to share to help us reach our Chem Free Lifestyle! Thanks ya'll!