Food « Yummy Wakame

Feb1

No longer shopping at WholeFoods

Or buying Organic Valley or Stonyfield Farms products. I’m sort of shocked. I guess I had a feeling they were too big and therefore all dodgy all along but still hoped there was some integrity at the core.

Huffington Post: The Organic Elite Surrenders To Monsanto: What Now?

It’s time I mainly supported local farms and local produce anyway.

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Apr10

Feathering the Nestbed

I have such a bad case of Spring fever. I can’t wait to get my fingers all muddy and grubby planting and harvesting a gorgeous heirloom garden. Here are some extra special rare herbs, fruit and veggie items I found on Etsy in case your mouth is watering for the same… (more…)

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Apr5

Window Farming

NPR: “Window farming,” as it is called, is catching on in New York City and beyond. Window farmers use recycled 1.5 liter water bottles, clay pellets, plastic tubing and inexpensive fish tank air pumps to create their indoor gardens. There are now 4,000 registered users at windowfarms.org. Farmers are tending to their greens everywhere from the U.S. to Italy, Israel and Hong Kong….

The window farms web site provides instructions on how to put together a system that grows three plants. The materials will cost about $30 — and not all of them are traditional gardening supplies: water bottles, an aquarium air pump, air valve needles (like the kind you use to pump up a basketball), and a hanging system designed for displaying art.

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Feb17

For The Love of Tea!

“Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane.”
~Honoré de Balzac

My love affair with Atlas started just a few posts ago and has blossomed into a chronic habit. I was more than happy to sit by my favourite window seat and people watch the Pearl Street pavement from The Cup, a coffee shop just a few doors down from Atlas. So Joseph, knowing I have a thing for good teas, had to nudge me a few times to give Atlas a try. Once he gave up nudging I realised I might forget, so I found myself here, trying out the frothy rooibos chai and sharing a giant table with a few friendly guys keen to expand the party.

I don’t know if its the huge poster of Craigslist > Atlas Missed Connections posted up on the wall or not but this place has an unmissable sniffable air of being a singles meetup spot for young, often trendy 20- and 30-somethings who I am guessing must be web designers, graphic designers, writers and other types of freelancers who can waffle hours of the day away looking busy. Freelancing is a good life for sure, and even with the unreliable income, no health plan and occasional cash flow crises, I wouldn’t trade what I do now for any amount of money or luxuries. I have a credit card for such emergencies!

Today as soon as I came in I started distractedly unpacking my laptop to secure a spot, and one of the owners, the one I got to know on my first day here, came round to my shared table and dropped off a tall frothy glass of Rooibos chai with a warm smile. Without realising what it meant, I don’t think, he was welcoming me to my home from home. Atlas is now officially my favourite work spot in Colorado. Once they are open till 11 I will be in heaven!

Here’s some snaps of my favourite bits to give you a feel for the place:

The wall of missed connections (more…)

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Dec10

On The Dinner Menu Tonight…

Lately I have been living off salvaged refrigerated food scraps, fresh fruit, snacks and home-made treats. My life is a lot like a nutty professors, bent on discovery with little patience for creating elaborate meals for one. This habit must and will be broken soon, and I actually created my first sit down meal in over 2 months last night, but tonight, I have lots of work to do.

My great friend Danny — who’d heard I’d got my hands on some locally squeezed, insanely creamy fresh unpasteurised non-homogenised cows milk — stopped by to deliver a little bottle of brandy, to create a special drink. So tonight for supper, I’m having left-over home-made oatmeal cookie crumbles and Brandied Hot Chocolate!

brandied hot chocolate with left over oatmeal cookie crumbles
Photo courtesy new camera from Angela! (Dont worry Ang – that’s my own craptacular Photoshop effect, not the camera)

Here’s the recipe:

Mix together 2TBS raw cocoa (unsweetened), a generous dollop of honey/agave/sugar in a cup. Slowly stir in hot milk until completely delicious. Stir in a tip of vanilla essence. Stir in a big swig of brandy. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Dip oatmeal cookies at your leisure. Work hard through the night, happily.

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Dec10

Back to the Land

My father-in-law Rich pointed me to this FANTASTIC word of art. He said this sort of thing always makes him think of me, and that made me really happy. Click the picture to enter this wonderful world…

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Jun18

Portion Size, Then and Now

While increased sizes haven’t been the sole contributor to our obesity epidemic, large quantities of cheap food have distorted our perceptions of what a typical meal is supposed to look like. These portion comparisons, adapted from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Portion Distortion Quiz, give a visual representation of what sizes used to be compared to what they are today.

See the Then and Now pics on Divine Caroline…

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Dec26

Sustainable Harvest International

Sustainable Harvest International – Replanting rainforests and supporting families with the tools and materials they need to improve their standard of living while protecting the environment.

The outstanding features that make SHI different to most charities is their commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability. Every project that’s co-ordinated addresses all three, with a huge focus on implementing sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty while restoring ecological stability to areas of land that have been plundered or deforested.

SHI is one of the most efficiently run charities I’ve seen in a long time. A quick checkup on the Charity Navigator shows how the vast majority of donations is spent on the programs, and the founder earns one of the most moderate salaries I’ve seen in the charity sector. Its impressive to see how much they have achieved with a very modest yearly revenue.

Reforest Two Acres – $30
Provide families with the training and tools they need to reforest two acres of tropical forest in Central America.

Plant a Whole Acre of Chocolate – $40
Give a family seeds, nursery materials and training to plant an acre of organic multi-story cacao in their community. Cacao (what is used to make chocolate) is a valuable cash-crop that can be grown in plots that mimic the natural forest. These multi-story crops provide families with a diversity of produce, mitigate global warming and create wildlife habitat.

Plant Three Family Gardens – $45
Malnutrition is a very real threat for countless families living in Central America. This Gift of Hope provides three families with training and seeds to grow organic vegetable gardens that will give children nutritious food to eat and families can boost income by selling excess produce at the local market.

Donating is only one of the ways you can help. You can also volunteer in Central America with Sustainable Harvest International where you get to travel, experience different cultures and fight poverty and deforestation in Central America. Upcoming trips go to Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama!