Hey Chicagoans! We’re sure you’ve noticed how easy it is to incorporate local farmer’s market produce into your summer time recipes but cooking in winter, jeez what to make? Then, along comes the Green City Market Cookbook. Inspired by the beloved Lincoln … Continue reading
The holiday season brings about so many chances to celebrate…and with celebration comes lots of food, glorious food. But there are benefactors who want to help you celebrate AND minimize the impact on your health. Recently, we were contacted by Madhava … Continue reading
Does anyone feel a small scream in their throat when they see Christmas decorations coming out the day after Halloween? Yep, it’s the kickoff to the whirlwind holiday season, that season of cookies and brownies and parties. And soon enough, our thighs are looking like those gigantic turkey legs that people get at county fairs. When you’re busy, how do you maintain a healthy lifestyle?
Well your own personal in-house chef works…if you’re Beyonce. If you aren’t channeling your inner rich chick, however, there are some options to keep you eating well. Thankfully, the trend of meal deliveries has flown into our lives and we are gobbling up the idea! This past week, we got to try Factor 75. So what factors would make you choose them as opposed to another meal delivery service?
Eating healthy could not be easier. https://www.factor75.com/
1) Options! You don’t have to sit on Santa’s lap to get what you wish for with Factor 75. Everybody loves options, especially those with more restrictive dietary needs. When we checked in to pick our food, it was easy to balance our different desires. We chose 2 vegetarian meals, 2 gluten free meals and one snack. Factor 75 hooks up almost any eater with paleo friendly, dairy free, vegetarian and gluten free possibilities. Factor 75 has also partnered for Aritzone and sources local ingredients so you can not only eat clean, but with a clean conscience.
2) Ease! Who doesn’t need a break from shopping cart collisions and entertaining long lost cray relatives? Your Factor 75 meals are cooked up by a chef, delivered by a nice FedEx person right to your door, and all you do is heat those puppies up and eat. Can we also mention no washing dishes either?! *High Five*
3) Holiday looove! Remember that dude you only dated through New Years? Factor 75 is low commitment. Try 5 meals and if you aren’t feeling it, you cancel. If you like it, continue that relationship til’ Easter!
What did we eat, tho?
Kate’s Foods
The spicy paleo meatballs, made from grass-fed beef, had a hint of cinnamon that made them stand out from a boring ol’ chunk of meat. They came with a side of brussel sprouts, cooked with celery root and mushrooms in a brown butter sauce. The meal was hearty, quick to heat up and kept me full until a late dinner.
The chicken sausage with apple and pumpkin hash and a frittata was my second dish. The chicken sausage and hash were tasty but the frittata was just ok. I think it’s because I don’t like reheated egg that much (personal problem!).
Monica’s Foods
Sometimes I wake up late and don’t have time make my own breakfast (hitting the alarm clock for that “5 more minutes”). That’s where Factor 75 comes in handy with super goji berries mixed in steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon spice. I’m not used to steel cut oats so I added a lil’ more sweetness with brown sugar. Of course, you need a bit need protein to survive the workday so a hard boiled egg is included as well.
After work is over and I finish yoga class and my health coaching program homework, I have no time to cook but (yay) my Factor 75 dinner menu is sitting in my fridge. The vegetarian dinner option I selected was Southwest Quinoa bowl with mixed beans (black, white, pinto & kidney), red onions, cilantro and mashed sweet potatoes were hidden on bottom with sides of cheddar cheese and a chipotle aioli.
Shared goodies (Holidays are about sharing, yeah?):
The superfood bites were healthy and tasty super stars with chia, flax, cacao nibs, coconut, oats, honey, and applesauce. Hey buddy, these were way better than a crappy fruit cake!
Are you ready to take a break from the cooking grind? Try Factor 75 here, and when you purchase 4 meals, get a free meal on us (see, we like to give!) when you sign up using the code “CHIORGANICGIRLS” as well as a free healthy Ebook with tons of tips. Let us know what you think too! We would love to try a few more recommended meals (maybe the autumn stuffed acorn squash or butternut squash lasagna…hint, hint) to save us some time after standing in those Black Friday lines.
Happy munching!
As we become more and more aware of the limited resources our earth has, the idea of being green has continued to take a front seat in our minds. But what can we do to become more conscious consumers? How about attend a whole festival dedicated to green lifestyles?
I recently attended the Green Festival at Navy Pier and discovered new tasty treats from eco-friendly companies. With over 20,000 people attending each of the 3 festival days, the Green Festival had a ton to offer. My friend and I only explored the food section which represents about one quarter of the vendors present. So here is the best of the best of the yummy samples we tried. Save your appetite for this event next year!
Explore Asia authentic gluten free noodles, Vitamix, Food for Life Black Beans tortillas, Daiya vegan cream cheese, NessAlla kombucha, Ginny Bakes cookies, 2 Degrees snack bars, and Beanfields chips
Goodies and Coupons
Superfoods are all the rage right now but why shouldn’t they be? They are super after all, super at making your body feel spectacular. In a world of fast food, we’re all in need of healthy heros like Sambazon!
The brand Sambazon focuses on fair trade, non GMOs and sustainability of the cute lil acai superberry. We recently tasted two of their acai breakfast (or any time of day, for that matter) options and simply swooned over their hunger pang crushing powers.
The first sample was the chocolate, almond and coconut milk protein smoothie. Lactose issue folks and vegans can rejoice over this tasty drink containing 8 grams of vegan protein to get the day started. We are a big fan of coconut milk as it adds a rich touch that makes the drink feel decadent.
The second option, Acai Berry Superfood Smoothie Packs, breaks down to the bare essence of the superfood, fair trade organic acai berry pulp, in a convenient frozen ready to blend serving. We love to make green smoothies to get a pop of spinach or kale in the morning and incorporated the pack into our easy and quick green recipe with coconut water, spinach and blueberries.
Your not too sweet not too sour SUPER green smoothie has been created!
Like the Sambazon Protein Smoothie but wanna make your own version?
Voila! 3 breakfast options to break from your egg and granola routine. Ready to get in touch with your inner champion? You can find Sambazon at oh so many retailers like Marianos, Jewel-Osco, Whole Foods, Walgreens and even (*gasp*) Walmart! They are everywhere :).
What do a deep dish pizza and a magician have in common? They both have good taste! Ok, that was a stretch but did you know magicians could have more than just doves up their sleeves?
Recently, Now We’re Cookin’ invited members of Chicago Food Bloggers (including lucky saucy us) to learn to make the Chicago style pizza at their Evanston cook space. To our surprise, instead of pulling rabbits out of hats, our chef, a professional magician, pulled a fantastic pizza out of the oven.
Chef Brian Kirshenbaum keeps his pizza dough straightforward (yeast, warm water, all purpose flour, cornmeal and oil) but sneaks in one secret ingredient (since a magician can’t reveal all his tricks). He demonstrated the proper way to press down the dough into a deep pan with the slight of a hand.
Next, he created the sauce by squeezing the juice from fresh whole peeled plum tomatoes and sprinkling in fairy dust…or spices (oregano, black pepper, salt, and garlic) as we non magicians call them. Then guests partnered up and got to work pressing their own pizza dough and prepping their chunky sauce.
Finally, the show came to it’s climatic point as fresh deli sliced mozzarella was pressed on the bottom. Guests picked up to 3 vegetables/meats to fill their own pizza. We shuffled through the ingredients and chose spinach, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and few thinly sliced fennel. Veg head Monica loaded up on the plants and a dash of spice instead of sticking with just the traditional thick chunk of gooey cheese (Mon is not fan of xxxtra cheese but will eat deep dish to support her city).
Finally, we spread the chunky tomato sauce over the top of the pizza and sprinkled Parmesan cheese and viola; a magic Chicago pizza appeared :). Notice the delicate saucy finish. As we marveled at the fresh flavor of the pizza, Chef BK astounded us with magic acts to titillate our other senses.
We had a blast learning from Chef and Illusionist Brian Kirshenbaum at Now We’re Cookin’. And now Mon loves Chicago’s own deep dish pizza!
We been aching to keep up with all the new cool products that we been sampling and this one has been on daily rotation for the Chi Girls. Normally, we don’t mix our sweet and spicy with the exception of a Mayan Mocha now and then but when Henry’s Humdingers reached out to us, we were intrigued. Not only were the products unique, raw honeys infused with varietals of hot peppers, but they aim to help the source of honey, our bee pals! Now, if you’ve been following the news lately, you may have noticed that we have a bee crisis on our hands, which isn’t just bad for bee dudes but also for us and our food sources. Henry Miller, founder of the company, donates part of all his profits to The Foundation for the Preservation for Honey Bees to combat the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder which is hurting our friends.
So what does Henry’s Humdingers have to offer? 4 different crazy raw honey flavas for yo tongue!
What to do with all these combos? Well Henry has some suggestions that range from sweet and sassy wing sauces to english muffin spreads. So far, we’ve been addicted to the Phoebe’s Fireball in our morning coffee with some sweet coconut milk stirred in. We’ve also used the Naughty Nana in rice wine vinegar to pickle veggies for Tofu Bahn Mi sandwiches.
Oh and who can forget the old standby of eating spoons of peanut butter as a snack. Our afternoons have been filled with PB honey spiced dreams.
We highly recommend Henry’s if you have a willing palate! We let some of our friends try it in tea as well and their mouths were pleasantly piqued. You can find Henry’s for purchase at J’s Vitamins in Chicago, online or at locations listed here.
Our fave is really Phoebe’s Fireball but we don’t wanna hurt the other honeys’ feelings so keep it quiet.
Want to show off your cooking skills while eating twenty different dishes all at once? Sounds like a crazy reality show right? A few weeks ago, Monica and a friend attended the launch party of Chaos Cooking</strong in one kitchen with only ten burners and one sink to share with over 50 fellow Chicagoans.
So you must be wondering how do over 50 people cook in one kitchen? Well think BYOU! Bring yo’ own utensils, peeps. I had to bring my own ingredients and supplies so I threw knives, bowls, cutting boards and such in a box and headed out. There were several pots in the kitchen for people to use, however, making the event a potluck style social with the twist of cooking on the spot with strangers.
People arrived at the spacious Test Kitchen located in Noble Square and were greeted by the bubbly hostess and event organizer, Victoria DeMatteo. As more people arrived, others immediately felt a sense urgency and started to prep their food. Cravzy provided VIPs (those who bought tickets early like me) one ingredient such as tofu, golden beets, asparagus, fish filets, chicken thighs and more. I selected Manila mangoes to prepare mango salsa.
Fellow Chicagoans of all different ages and backgrounds came together and had a great time cooking in chaos. Some dishes were from online recipes such as simple yet yummy mango sticky rice while others created their own dish and even brought electric grill for toasty bread with goat cheese spread and fresh asparagus. A few even stepped out of the box with unique ideas like beer soaked rice.
So if you have a creative and non-claustrophobic cooking spirit, check out the Chaos Cooking events, held once a month with friends and fellow Chicagoans. Sign up at Cooking Chaos website for future events or even host an event at your apartment. The next event is Spanish wines and tapas at our fave bistro, Blue Star Bistro & Wine Bar. Click here to RSVP for this event on June 12th.
What new dish would you make if you had to cook in chaos?
How many times have you spent hours in the grocery store looking for a treat and trying to avoid gluten, GMOs, corn syrup, MSG, yellow number everything (the list goes on and on)? Dang, you know it’s hard out there for a snacker!
Well we are on a quest to fulfill your inner healthy snack urges!
Recently, we were given the opportunity to entertain our taste buds with some samples from Christi Communications. (We weren’t paid in cash but instead in gluten free goodies!).
Our favorite bites were Real McCoy’s Rice Chips and Rice Puffs. We both eyed the Baked Vermont White Cheddar Rice Puffs first and gave each other an intense stare down as the bag rested in the middle of the table. When we finally compromised to share them, we loved the airy crispy puffs with a dusting of light cheddar flavor. For more spice, try the Jalapeno Cheddar or Hatch Chile Rice Puffs.
The Salt and Pepper crisps we tried were heartier and held up well when dipped in salsa and guac. Monica liked Real McCoy’s so much she went and snagged her own bag of Worchester & Chives Rice Crisps.
Real McCoy’s other offerings include Sweet & Spicy Rice Chips or try the Wheatberry (not gluten-free) Chips.
Real McCoy’s is available at many natural grocery stores and continue to expand (even at Burlington Coat Factory or Home Goods) and is even sold on Amazon. And yes, they are GMO, gluten and guilt free :).
Like their Facebook page here for more updates. Want to more gluten free goodies? Check out the Gluten & Allergen Free Expo in Schaumburg, IL next weekend!
Snacks ahoy!!
Sigh…there is nothing better than a weekend brunch. That’s only 1 reason (although a compelling one) why we gleefully accepted an invite from Chicago Food Bloggers to network at Public House, a spot we’ve been clamoring to check out. We rushed out, delayed as always, to River North to meet blogger pals and try the new morning grub.
Public House did not disappoint. The space had rich wood undertones and felt roomy. Our group was treated to a buffet style breakfast where we could snag whatever breakfast treats we liked. It was slightly meat and sweets heavy, but the manager gladly accommodated a request for a savory veggie option, a modified meatless breakfast sammich with arugula, scrambled eggs, tomatoes and shaved red onions on a toasted sourdough boulet.
The presentation of the sweet breakfast options made us drool. The healthier option, a parfait pint (we got pint sized version of the pint) was layered with fresh berries, greek yogurt and crunchy granola. The doughnut french toast also featured berries but we found it a little too deep fried for our tastes. Our top contender, however, was a warm gooey sticky bun with the perfect balance of a soft bun, drizzled vanilla icing and nuts. Our waitress was kind enough to sneak us another one after the buffet had been ravaged.
We were happy to stuff our mouths full of sticky bun and listen contently while our energetic table mates debated about the next hot foodie trends.
Thanks to Public House for hosting us! Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes our next on our Public House hit list :).
Chi Organic Girls 