KC Farmer’s Markets Summer 2011

Mondays

Tuesdays

• Zona Rosa: 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM  5/17-8/30 Breezeway between Victoria's Secret and Hot Topic

Wednesdays

• Gladstone: 2-6 PM 5/18-9/21 525 NE 70th Street, just east of N Oak. The market sits on the south side of 70th Street between First Bank of Missouri and the Gladstone clock tower.
• Waldo ORGANIC: 3pm to 7pm. Outside Habitat for Humanity Kansas City ReStore 303 W. 79th street in KCMO www.wholesomewaldowednesdays.org
• Parkville: 2-5pm Temporary Location (8880 Clark Ave; North side of Parkville City Hall) www.parkvillefarmersmarket.com/

Thursdays

• Briarcliff Village: 3-7pm 4151 North Mulberry Drive, Kansas City, MO 64116

 Fridays

• North Kansas City: 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every Friday and pick up fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods and more!!!  Caboose Park is located on the SE corner of Armour Road and Howell Street.
• Downtown Kansas City (BadSeed):  4:00 - 9 PM 5/6-11/18. 1909 McGee Street, KCMO, 64108 www.badseedkc.com/farm/the-farmers-market/

Saturdays

• Downtown KC (City Market):  6am- 3pm www.thecitymarket.org/farmersmarket.html 
• Parkville: 7am - 12pm or until sell out (April 30 - Oct 29) Temporary Location (8880 Clark Ave; North side of Parkville City Hall) www.parkvillefarmersmarket.com/#!

Sundays

• Downtown KC (City Market):  8am- 3pm www.thecitymarket.org/farmersmarket.html

Fajita Bowl Recipe

These recipes came about after spending lots of time and money at Chipotle over the past few months. It's not a copy cat recipe because it doesn't taste the same but I love our version. Most of these recipes are made up of multiple different ones all put together for the best flavors. This meal can also be rolled up into a tortilla but we prefer it in a bowl. The leftovers are awesome!

Sweet Corn Salsa

1/2 red onion, petite diced

1 can sweet corn (or 2 cup frozen)

2 T lime juice

3 shakes garlic pepper sauce

2 t sugar (or agave syrup)

1 med tomato, seeded and diced

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

-Mix all together and flavors meld together even better after an hour but can be eaten immediately.

Fajita Peppers & Onions 

(*can also add cooked shredded chicken/strips of meat for non-vegan option)

1/2 cup oil

2 T liquid smoke

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1/4 t black pepper

1/2 t salt

3/4 t paprika

       Heat in hot pan and then cook the following in pan until tender:

1 sliced medium onion

3/4 cup peppers, thinly sliced (prefer red)

*Add 1.5 cups cooked shredded chicken at end or can cook thinly sliced flank steak with onions/peppers.

Seasoned Black Beans

1 can black beans, rinsed well

1/4 t oregano

1/4 t lime juice

-Mix all together and heat up slowly.

Lime Rice

Add the following to prepared rice:

2 T lime juice

1/2 t salt

2 T vegan butter

Guacamole

1 diced avocado

1/2 tsp salt

1 T lime juice

4 shakes chili powder

2 large spoonfuls finely diced onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

-Mush the above ingredients with a meat tenderizer mallet and then add 2 large spoonfuls of diced seeded tomatoes and mix with a spoon. Be sure to taste test and add more lime/salt/chili powder as needed.

We put the following layers in a bowl:

Lime Rice

Seasoned Black Beans

Fajita Peppers/Onions (meat) Mixture

Corn Salsa

and top it with Vegan sour cream and/or Guacamole.

Unknown Dairy Intolerance & Craving Carbohydrates

Who would have guessed….it was milk all along. Those that know me well…know that I love my dairy. I could go through 2 gallons of skim milk a week by myself.  In cereal, in cooking, by the huge glassful….milk was consumed in quantity. And why not? It was “healthy”…we needed our calcium; cheese was always a good snack and was good in topping….almost anything. I never experienced any symptoms that would indicate intolerance of dairy. No stomach cramps, bloating, gas. I never would have guessed anything of the sort. And then I participated in a month long vegan challenge with my fiancé. I wanted to show him that his “year-round” allergy symptoms were probably a dairy intolerance.

A few weeks in and he had to admit that his “allergies” were much better. He didn’t have the daily nasal drip that ended up causing a stuffy nose and sore throat. And then I had to admit that I felt different as well. For the 2nd time in my life, I no longer had hour to hour food cravings. These were no ordinary food cravings. These were a lifetime of going to the fridge or pantry every hour to find something to snack on (usually a carb.) They were so normal to me that I did not think that it was odd or a symptom of anything else really. The only other time that I didn’t snack constantly when I was taking medicine that affected my serotonin levels. I realized the same lack of snacking then and eventually deduced that my body is craving serotonin when I’m carb craving and that the medicine stopped that. I didn’t think to ask why my body wanted more serotonin…just that it was. I was able to lose weight back then….while taking the medicine…because I wasn’t constantly feeling the need to snack. Weight eventually came back on.

And now back to dairy. What about not eating dairy caused me to stop feeling the need to snack? Dairy is supposed to be helpful for those that need extra serotonin because of the amount of tryptophan in it.

The day after our challenge we went to a birthday cookout and had brats, cake and ice cream. The next 2 days were full of me constantly circling to the fridge to see what I could snack on as well as a multi day headache. It was really a light bulb moment.  There had to be some connection between dairy and my constant food craving. I used to annoy my mother as a child when I would ask about dinner shortly after lunch was consumed. I was always thinking about my next food option…even as a child.

I started researching online and finally came across numerous articles and pieces of information that indicated that a mild form of lactose intolerance can cause low serotonin for some people because the undigested lactose interferes with the metabolism of tryptophan. It then listed the top 5 symptoms for low serotonin: carb craving, depression, and increased sensitivity to pain, troubled sleep patterns and blood vessel dilation that leads to migraines.  I have had all 5 symptoms most of my adult life. Wow.

There it was.  A reason….a culprit…an answer.

Not one I expected...not one I wanted...but now a piece of knowledge that will guide my future eating, dieting and health. We are now trying to eat mostly dairy free. We will splurge occasionally for holidays and special occasions and know we will feel a little crappy for a few days but we will mostly eat dairy free from now on. Quite a new adventure that I wasn't expecting.

Vegan Challenge Day 3

I need to start taking pictures of my food but I've never been good and stopping a moment to take one. Especially if I cooked it myself. I don't like my dishes, etc and I never feel I have a picture quality area to take it in. I know....I just need to get over myself.

Last night I wanted to make spaghetti with a red tomato sauce. I have previously, in time saver mode, just heated up a can of Italian spiced diced tomatoes with some olive oil and topped my pasta with that but I wanted something a little more substantial and flavorful. After perusing the chowhound forum discussions on pasta sauces...I found two hints to try. Add balsamic vinegar for some extra oompf of flavor and add some sugar or honey to take some of the acidity out of the tomatoes. I added both the vinegar and some honey to my 3 cans of diced tomatoes along with some sauteed onion and garlic. That is the best sauce I have EVER made...it beat my standard sauce with ground beef that has been my go to recipe since I was 16. I was surprised how flavorful it was. It will definitely be a go-to recipe whether or not I'm doing a vegan challenge. It reheated great the next day as well.

I was hungry later in the evening. I think we need to add a side salad or some dairy free bread to make it more filling in the future.

Our local Noodles & Co was doing a fundraiser for the tornado victims in Joplin on Wednesday night so we headed there for our first restaurant vegan meal.

I did a lot of research online to look for options since my favorite go-to meal there was off limits :( The pesto in my Pesto Cavatappi has Parmesan cheese in it. Their website was very informative and I chose to try the Japanese Pan noodles minus the icky cilantro. It was extremely flavorful and just on the edge of being too spicy for this spice wuss. Looking at the nutrition information later...it does have quite a bit of sodium in it unfortunately.

I don't believe I'm getting enough protein daily. Tracking my food in BodyMedia's tracker is showing that I'm only getting about 45 grams of protein a day when I should be probably taking in double that. I need to try to add in some nuts and other things to increase my protein without vastly increasing calories. Oh..by the way.. both Josh and I are losing about a pound a day so far! Bonus!!

Vegan 21 Day Challenge

I am the ultimate midwest gal. I love me some steak and cheese and BBQ. So why on earth am I committing to eating vegan for 21 days?!!

Because I love a challenge and I think it will help Josh & I get on a better general eating pattern. Our first thought process after giving up red meat for a month was to give up dairy for a month. Josh has year-round "seasonal" allergies. I think there is more to it than just pollen and mold so I thought we could see how we felt if we gave up dairy for a month. Many people have stopped suffering from "seasonal" allergies by giving up dairy because their allergy was not based on pollen....it was actually a mild dairy intolerance. I think this will be the case with Josh.... I was just going along for support and the other 'diet' implications.

Once we agreed to this, I started researching dairy-free recipes and such and entered a contest on a blog to win a book. 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health Well.. I won it and started reading. It basically is a 21 day vegan kickstart. The science behind it is strong and it sounded interesting and I am planning a fall wedding and would really like to lose 40lbs before that. SO....why not start the summer off with a big change. It didn't seem that much harder to go vegan from dairy free. So now instead of a month of dairy-free...we are going 21 days dairy, meat, egg, animal product-free.

It's going to be a long month of label reading. It's amazing....dairy is in EVERYTHING.

We were going to start on June 1st but I am not one to waste food and we had a few non-vegan things left to eat through before we started so June 5 was our start date.

I will try to keep this blog updated with things that we tried and the challenges that we face going from omni to vegan in the midwest.

Lemon Chicken (updated)

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1-2 T coconut or olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
3 cloves garlic; minced (cut and let to sit for at least 10 minutes)
1/4 cup white wine/sherry
juice of 2 lemons (can use bottled juice but better flavor with rind added)
rind of 2 lemons
1 t rosemary (crushed)
2 t thyme (crushed)
2 T butter
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t sugar
1 t cornstarch

Sprinkle cut chicken pieces with salt (or salt substitute) & pepper and then saute in hot pan with 1-2 T coconut oil (or olive oil) until golden brown. Take chicken out of pan and put into a large casserole dish with cover until sauce is ready.

Empty pan of drippings and melt butter in pan. Add onion and garlic and saute until golden and soft. Add white wine/sherry, butter, lemon juice, rind, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and sugar. Bring to a low boil and simmer for two minutes. During this time put cornstarch in small glass bowl and combine with 2 T cold water until mixed. Add to sauce and allow to simmer and thicken for another minute. Add sauce to chicken in casserole and toss to cover chicken completely in the sauce. Can eat immediately or keep warm in 300 degree oven.

Awesome served over mashed potatoes. Probably be good with pasta as well.
This recipe makes 3 large servings (4 small servings)

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Needs some tweaking but I want to remember the basics

2 cups pre-cooked quinoa (chilled)
1/2 cup corn kernals
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced (broiled until skin burnt, then cooled in closed tupperware and then skin removed)
1/2 cup pinto beans (need to try different bean-didnt really like)
1/4 cup diced onion (one large onion slice, diced)
   
Mix with following blended dressing
  2 T lime juice
  2 T EVOO
  2 T red vinegar
  2 garlic cloves, pressed
  1/4 tsp cumin
  pinch chilli powder
  pinch cayenne pepper

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
• 3 T flour
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• 1/4 cup white wine/sherry
• juice of 2 lemons
• rind of 2 lemons
• 1 t rosemary
• 2 t thyme
• 2 T butter
• 1 t salt
• 1 t black pepper
• 1 t sugar

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt & pepper and then cover with flour. Shake off excess flour and then saute in hot pan with 2 T olive oil until golden brown. Take chicken out of pan and put into a large casserole dish until sauce is ready.

Add 1 T olive oil to pan and lower temp to med/low. Add onion and garlic and saute until golden and soft. Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup white wine/sherry. Add butter, lemon juice, rind, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes and then add to chicken in casserole. Toss to cover chicken in sauce. Can eat immediately or keep warm in 300 degree oven.