Cully Farmers Market

 

The next best thing to having a garden of your own, is buying fresh produce from the Farmers Market. The Portland area has an abundance of Farmers Market. Buying from the Farmers Market pretty much guarantees that your buying fresh, local, and organically grown produce. Since, I now call Portland home again, I've decided to make it my mission to visit all the neighborhood markets.

My first trip was to Cully Farmers Market located in NE Portland. It's a small but lively market.  I found a stand (Mt.View Fruit Stand) with the SWEETEST cherries and BEST apricots I've ever eaten. Here's a few photos of the beauty I encountered...

shop.prep.cook @ home

It was a shop.prep.cook kinda day at my place. After gathering goods from three grocery stores, I went to work prepping and cooking for the upcoming week.

Here's a couple of salads I whipped up:

Bungalow Chicken Salad

This salad is inspired by the "Waldorf Chicken Salad," but since I created it in my bungalow and changed the ingredients I felt a new name was in order. Chicken, red grapes, celery, green onions, sliced almonds, a light lemon, olive oil mix replaces the original creamy caloric dressing.

Kale & Carrot Salad

This salad is a play off of New Seasons Market Kale & Carrot salad. While there version is really good, I made some adjustments and it's ridiculously good.  A bunch of curly Kale, carrots, sunflower seeds, a unique dressing with: Tamari, rice vinegar, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, fresh ginger, sour cream, and a hint of fresh lemon juice.

Doggone Good: Home-cooked dog food

Our beloved Hugo became a part of our family six years ago. At the time, I had a co-worker who owned several working dogs, Retrievers, I believe. I mention this because the idea of making dog food from scratch at home using healthy, fresh food was introduced to me long ago by her. She would prepare large batches of fresh chicken, brown rice, and veggies. Although I wasn't living an OUTSIDE of the Box lifestyle quite yet the thought of home-cooked dog food intrigued me. I discussed the idea with the vet, but since our guy was just a pup the vet was not in favor of me feeding Hugo a fresh food diet.

Hugo is a purebred, Salt & Pepper Mini Schnauzer. Over the last couple of years his fur around his paws has started to turn brown. After some research I surmised that the brown discoloration is from the dye in the kibble I was feeding him. I used to buy him a decent brand kibble from the pet food store. But, bottom line it was still commercially processed. And, you know how I feel about commercially processed food. Since I've completely transformed myself, my diet and I no longer eat boxed, processed food.  Preparing fresh home-cooked dog food for Hugo is a natural progression.

Last week, I started preparing a fresh food diet for him too. Bye-bye bagged kibble.  This is a work in progress. So I'll be experimenting with what works best. Just as there are many diets for humans there are also tons of theories on what diet is best for dogs. No doubt there is a science behind it all, some say no to grains, some say yes.  I have to find what's best for him.

Here's what currently is in his bowl:

- Boiled whole chicken with no salt or other additives
- Brown rice or oats with no salt or other additives
- Raw vegetables (carrots, green beans, lettuce) I like serving the veggies raw because he gets the crunch -- similar to kibble

I'm also considereing adding fish oil, kelp, or a pet-food supplement to ensure he's getting the vitamins and minerals he needs. I'll check in with the vet to see what he thinks, but this time there is no talking me out of feeding him a fresh food diet. Hugo is officially OUTSIDE of the bag!

 More about home-cooked meals for pets:

Does it Pay to Make Your Own Pet Food?
Homemade Dog Food
Home-Cooked Dog Food Diets

Too much

My dear friend who is mother of an eight year old obese daughter called to tell me that she finally has decided to make some changes to their diets by introducing fresh veggies and fruits. Good for her for taking control of her health and her children's health. If her daughter had cancer or diabetes she would take the necessary steps to care for her. So why should preventing obesity be any different?

My friend went on to tell me that she was stocking up on carrots because the little girl really liked carrots and she wanted her to be able to snack on them endlessly. After all, it's only carrots, right? Hmm...Wrong. Bear with me, y'all.  I feel as if too much of ANYTHING is not good for us. I think by allowing her daughter to eat carrots until she's orange is not the right approach either. Sure, carrots are full of nutrients, vitamins and low calorie, but I think allowing her to have the mindset that it's okay to overeat is still in play here.  The healthy approach is to allow her to have some carrots until she is comfortably full. It's the mental - obsessing over food. Take it from someone who's been there, done that -- too much of anything is no good. Everything in moderation. Yes, even carrots.