Tips For Eating Sustainably | Eating Out of the Local Box

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Eating Sustainably

By Mason on May 12, 2012 in Advice from our Bloggers, Tips for Eating Sustainably

Agriculture uses 3 times as much potable water as all other forms of human consumption, COMBINED. A full 80% of the water we use in the US is for agriculture. Organic agriculture uses 30%-50% less water than conventional ag. Agriculture also consumes more oil than any other activity except for driving. 400 gallons of oil per year per citizen is consumed for our food. Only 20% of that is from seed to harvest. The rest is in transportation.

You really can make a huge difference for Sustainability just by what you eat. Here are 10 great ways to eat for Sustainability:

1. REAL
• Eat real food, mostly plants, with a small amount of meat as an accent rather than the main ingredient (Michael Pollan)
• Cheap processed food doesn’t reflect its true cost. Plan ahead to avoid them

2. VALUE
• Re-define the way food is valued and fit into the household economy
• Spend money on wholesome foods, not supplements

3. FLEXIBILTY
• Cook from ingredients rather than recipes (See recipe section of Greenling.com)
• Read blogs and the internet for ideas to use what you have and what’s in season

4. EDUCATION
• Ask questions about where your food comes from, everywhere you eat
• Know the farmer who produced it or have a surrogate (like Greenling) to know the farmer for you

5. SEASONALITY
• Learn to stop thinking of out-of-season items as everyday necessities or staples
• Learn seasons ahead of time so you can plan for their bounty

6. PRESERVE
• Learn to preserve and save leftovers to be incorporated into other dishes/meals to eliminate waste
• Can or freeze fruits and vegetables in season. Make your own stock and sauces

7. VARIETY
• The more diverse your diet is, the healthier and happier you will be
• Try new things rather than relying on a few standard ingredients

8. FLAVOR
• Appreciate food for flavor and slow down to enjoy it
• Stop judging produce by its shape, size, and color (some delicious local produce wouldn’t win a beauty contest)

9. INNOVATE
• Learn to cook, appreciate, and enjoy lesser-known foods that are in season
• Don’t be afraid to make stuff up! If it tastes good, you just discovered a new recipe.

10. TOGETHER
• Cook and eat with friends and family. We all know that food can sometimes be a great pleasure…why shouldn’t it always?
• Join discussion groups and list-serves to collaborate on ideas

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10 Cool Things To Do With Dill

By Angela on April 30, 2012 in 10 Cool Things to Do With...

So you’ve opened up your Local Box and you’re left in awestruck wonderment at the glory you see before you. Scrumptious squash, tempting turnips, delicious dill! Wait. Dill? What in the world am I going to cook my family with dill, you wonder. Well, besides containing the magical ability to turn cucumbers into pickles, dill is actually a fairly versatile herb. Here are some delicious ways to feed your family dill!

1. Try Hungarian style summer squash and dill to quell hungry tummies and expand your culinary palette!

2. Go Greek for a night and make your own tzatziki sauce! Dill is a main ingredient in this delicious sauce that goes great on a pita sandwich.

3. Dill is an easy, but delicious way to spice up chicken. Lemon dill chicken skewers!? Who could resist?

4. Tyler Florence understands the wonderful potential of dill and seafood! Try out his pan seared salmon with sour cream and dill and you’ll understand too!

5. Potatoes are a staple of American cooking, cook up some roasted dill potatoes if your family seems reluctant to try dill! Potatoes will surely change their minds.

6. Even with summer approaching, we all crave soup sometimes! A chilled cucumber and dill soup is perfect for lunch in any season.

7. If you don’t feel like using fresh dill, hang it upside down by the stem in a warm, dry area of your house and let it dry out. The dill will be ready to store after a couple days when the leaves crumble in your hand. Make sure to store it in an airtight container!

8. Are you looking for a side dish to complete a meal? Rice is a great place to start, add some dill and make garlic dill rice to spice up any meal!

9. Dill is a fantastic way to add some adventure to bread! Dill and cheddar beer bread is an excellent compliment to a hearty soup.

10. And finally, no list of dill would be complete without pickles. I can’t share with you my grandma’s secret recipe, but here’s a great guide complete with photos for the pickle novice!

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Oh, Oregano!

By Angela on April 9, 2012 in Advice from our Bloggers, Tips for Eating Sustainably

Eating and living with sustainability in mind isn’t always easy, but it’s especially not easy when you live in an apartment and the grocery store isn’t within walking distance. I have often lamented over the sad state of my not-so green thumb; how eco-friendly I could be if I grew my own food, herbs, anything!

But all this beautiful weather (minus those tornadoes!) has me inspired! Why can’t I have a green thumb! Surely there is a plant for beginners! Something small and simple, but beautiful and useful. Something I can grow and harvest myself. What could it be…

Oregano!

As a woman of Italian-American decent, I know the delicious merits of oregano. It’s a delectable staple of my cultural cuisine, but it’s also a simple to grow herb for apartment dwellers and also for kids who are interested in gardening.

To get started, pick a soil free of chemicals, something you want food growing from, and cute little pot. Fill the pot with soil and a little sand, leaving one inch of space between the top of the soil and the rim of the pot.

Place your seeds atop the soil and mist with a bit of water, then cover with a bit if plastic wrap and leave in a sunny window. Here’s the best part. Leave it and wait. Spend the next few days relaxing.

After about ten days, the seed should begin to sprout, when this happens remove the plastic wrap and gaze in wonder; you’re now a proud plant parent.

Save your plant baby the trauma of immediately going outdoors and gradually move it from a shaded area of your patio or balcony, into a sunny area. When the oregano is ready, it’ll need all that sunlight.

Water only when the soil seems to be damp (which may be often in this Texas heat) and be careful of cold nights and in no time you’ll be able to trim fresh oregano for your favorite Italian dishes.

You can harvest your oregano at any point in the growing season, but oregano’s flavor is best when the flowers are beginning to form. It’s best to harvest your cilantro from the outside leaves first and then go inward and downward, but be sure there are leaves still attached to the base, so your oregano can continue to grow.

And simple gardeners we all shall be! What next? Rosemary, basil?

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Small Steps Big Change

By Mason on April 1, 2012 in Advice from our Bloggers, Tips for Eating Sustainably

‘Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something’
You don’t have to completely change your life in one weekend to help change the world. But you have to do something. Then you have to do something else. You just have to.

Former President Clinton just received the Harry S Truman Public Service Award. In his talk, he reiterated that ‘by tackling problems through small, grassroots community efforts, Americans could achieve results of global significance.’ There are lots of statistics out there that are huge. They can be overwhelming. They often make me depressed. And there’s so many facets of Sustainability!

But, my fine furry friends, that’s what makes it so easy. Here’s one idea – start with the easiest thing to change and green up. Do it. Do it right now. Then tomorrow change the easiest thing (hopefully it’s slightly harder than the previous day). Repeat and rinse. Are you really recycling? Or do you just have the recycling bin out in your garage? Do you use reusable grocery bags when shopping, or do they just decorate your front closet (go toblueavocado.com to get the coolest bags)? It can be hard to create habits. If you stop doing something eco-friendly, that’s ok. Just start again when you can. You’re not a bad person. I think you’re taking one small step just by reading this newsletter. And celebrate when you do something for the environment or something for your health. Even if you don’t succeed, celebrate that you tried. And, occasionally, celebrate for no reason at all. It’s fun to celebrate.

Here’s pretty cool article with tons of tips on going green. I don’t necessarily agree with everything they say, but it’s a big list of small things to do and they break it down into easy chunks in common categories -
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/energy-environment-2007/tips_environmental_main_a1.asp

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Steaz to the Rescue!

By Mason on March 18, 2012 in Advice from our Bloggers, Product Updates

I just noticed something that I found to be very cool! I get so frustrated when in convenience stores and you are forced to choose between HFCS drinks and aspartame drinks if you want a little caffeine. If I have a long drive or just didn’t get enough sleep, I usually try to get a little caffeine. I don’t drink coffee and any drink with coffee in it needs to be incredibly watered down and with lots of sugar and milk. I am usually just fine with a Tea for lunch or the likes to get me through a day when I’m tired. “Energy Drinks” are normally way too loaded with caffeine and sugar for me. I bounce off the walls. All I need is a little pick-up. And we won’t go into the controversies over Taurine and other ingredients.

So, I’m wandering my office…feeling tired, wondering if there’s anything that can help. Usually an apple or something can give me that little boost, but today I knew I needed something more. I’m looking at our shelves and pick up a diet Steaz. Now, for reference, it’s about 10:30am when I do this and if I have too much sugar in the morning it usually leads to a big crash in the afternoon no matter what I eat for lunch. So, I can’t have anything with a lot of sugar. And by the afternoon I can’t have caffeine or energy stuff if I want to go to bed at night. So I normally don’t pay much attention to even organic energy drinks. But I look at the diet Steaz ingredients and it still has some sugar, just not much. Perfect! I don’t have the guilt associated with consuming artificial sweeteners and I avoid the afternoon crash from too much morning sugar. Seems almost genius to me. And it tastes good. I don’t really want a super sweet drink. I want a little sweetness and a little caffeine. Diet Steaz to the rescue!