Local Saturday

I just finished In Defense of Food.  Just another book on what we eat and all that jazz.  You know I like that stuff.  Katy read a book by the same author called Food Rules.  We spent Friday night eating M&M's and chatting about the virtues of healthy eating.  I know, right?

One of the suggestions in the book is to get closer to your food chain by; growing a garden (done!), shopping locally, and visiting a farmer's market.  We decided to put our money where our mouth is by putting down the M&Ms and hitting up our local Saturday morning hot spots... because lord knows I'm not going to be around to hit up the Saturday night hot spots. 

We started out at Homer's for coffee.  Just like Starbucks, with an added boost of charm.  And flavored coffee.  I flipping love flavored coffee!

Mmmm... Pumpkin Spice!

Next up: the Overland Park Farmer's Market.  I always get really overwhelmed at the farmer's market and end up with a random array of produce.  I need to go in with a plan!

I love the farmer's market.  There is so much to look at.  And I'm a sucker for pretty produce.  One farmer was selling purple peppers.  Purple!  Who has ever heard of such a thing. 

Per the usual, I left with way too many veggies and no idea what to do with them.  But I can't pass up a good deal!  For the whopping grand total of $9 I took home 5 tomatoes, 7 peppers (yes, 7), and 3 gigantor zucchini.  It would have been $8, but one of the farmers gave me incorrect change and I was too big of a pansy to say anything.  Such is life.

An apple a day.

After we filled our bags, we walked around downtown OP.  I love it down here.  Such cute shops!  We stopped for a photo-op when we saw a store named Crescent Springs.  Turns out its a magic store... one where the owner doesn't appreciate gals taking pictures and laughing at the window displays.  Too bad we weren't in the market for a new set of tarot cards.




Tools for enlightenment.


Next up: fresh baked bread from Great Harvest Bread.  Katy and I tried out all kinds of baked goods.  While she had good intentions and bought a loaf of whole wheat, I decided on an apple pie pocket.  What?  It was baked fresh, so it was definitely good for me. 

And that there was our morning of supporting the local businesses in our neighborhood.  I tried to talk Katy into further supporting the locals by stopping for Mexican food, but she assured me that 10:30 was way too early for chips & salsa and margaritas.  We'll save that for Saturday night I guess. 

Katy is reading In Defense of Food at the moment and has promised to write a book review guest post!  Get excited!!!

Big Saucy Balls

Okay, we're ending this writer's strike right meow. I actually cooked tonight! Hooray for not being lazy!!!

I was SO pleased to find organic ground beef at Costco this weekend. It was like $4 a pound... pricey. But we don't really eat a lot of ground beef at our house so I didn't mind spending a little bit more.

I'm not usually a Sandra Lee fan, but when she made meatballs using string cheese, I knew I had to try them. I have a thing for string cheese. Back in college, I went skiing with my friend Meggy. I brought a big bag of string cheese along for snacks. One night after a long day of skiing her dad made us a big spaghetti dinner and on top were tiny round slices of melty cheese. About half-way through dinner we realized he'd chopped up the string cheese and put it on top of the spaghetti. We thought it was really funny, but it turns out Sandra Lee does it too.

The recipe is super easy. You just mix up the meat mixture, flatten them out to tiny patties, and add a smidge of string cheese:

Then roll up your balls:

Sandra has a special recipe for sauce, but I have my own special recipe. Its called Prego. I added a can of organic diced tomatoes and voila! Its half & half spaghetti sauce:

After the meatballs baked they were all brown and done with yummy gooey cheese oozing out:

The finished product:

And now for the taste test:

How is it Drew???

It's good!!!

Yep, these meatballs got the Drew seal of approval. They were so easy and tasty I will definitely be making them again. And, since the recipe made 12 meatballs, we'll also be eating these all week long. Yea for leftovers!

Milk Nazi

Or... Cheap Organics.

Or... I Love Costco.

Okay, so I committed to switching to organic dairy and eggs as a small step towards a healthier and more environmentally friendly way of eating. I've heard several times before that if you are going to go organic with just one thing that it should be milk. I'm not sure why... I'm far too busy saving the world to worry about details. So, I bought my first round of organic milk this week at Costco.



What I hadn't heard was how f-ing expensive organic milk is. Even at Costco! When we first joined my beloved food warehouse club I was ecstatic to find milk sold for $2.00 a gallon. That's cheap! I love that! So imagine how hard it was for me to pass up the cheap-o gallon for the organic version: half the size, twice the price. Yikes.

But let's not focus on the negatives. Let's check out all the benefits of choosing organic milk. They're printed right on the side of the carton:


Now, don't we feel better about ourselves? The milk is sold in packs of 3 1/2 gallons for $8.99. It stung a bit, and now I have concerns that I'm going to turn into the milk nazi around our house. I already cut down on the amount I put in my coffee and this morning I was making pancakes and the recipe called for a cup of milk... I found myself wondering if I could get by with subbing in a half cup of water for half of the milk. I have visions of Drew coming home (he's in the Virgin Islands... it is 85 degrees there... I'm not complaining... I'm just filling you in) and pouring a bowl of cereal in the morning with me standing over him shouting, "Do you really need all that milk?!?" I'll be passing out milk rations... it could get ugly. Stay tuned for that.

In other news... I love Costco. Love them. Check out the rest of my loot:

Often I'll buy organic items there because they are less expensive than the non-organic versions at the grocery store. For example, this one pound tub of organic spinach is $3.99. That's about how much the regular spinach is at the grocery store for a smaller portion. Super. Super food that is.


I also buy organic canned tomatoes: 8 cans for $7.99. Occasionally I can find regular canned tomatoes on sale at the grocery store for less than a dollar, but not often. Another fabulous deal!

I LOVE Pacific Natural Foods. I started buying their soups and chicken stock before I was at all interested in organics because... wait for it... they're cheap. This 6 pack of soup cartons cost $10.99 which comes out to be about $1.83 per carton. The chicken stock is even less. The cartons are resealable so you can pour a bowl and stick the rest in the fridge. So convenient. We eat a lot of grilled cheese and tomato soup... I'm gourmet like that.

More fun with the self-timer! This MaraNatha almond butter is not organic, but I love it. Love it. Obsessed. So much so that I felt the need to hug it on the blog.

This dog is not organic either... but we keep him around because he's so handsome.

Hey Costco! Send me a 3-pack of organic milk and I'll continue to plug your store. Thanks!