Ideal Bite

I have my own personal chef. Her name is Amy. She always has a variety of tasty, organic, vegetarian meals - free of additives, preservatives, and GMOs - for me to choose from. OK, fine. I'm talking about Amy's Kitchen. I'm nuts about Amy's Black Bean Enchilada and Roasted Vegetable Pizza (surprisingly, I don't even miss the cheese). Well, Amy's is turning 22 this year, and it still doesn't have an official slogan. Wanna help 'em out? You could win $500 in Amy's products. All you have to do is head to Amy's site to submit an entry - a phrase, word, jingle, or rhyme in 15 words or less that encapsulates Amy's Kitchen for you. Now get cracking!

- City Editor Read the full post... 

I got on this kick last week of deciding I needed to eat more veggies (oddly, a diet of cereal and cheese does not equal a well-balanced diet) and thought salads might be just the ticket. So armed with a shopping basket of organic greens, red peppers, carrots, and tomatoes, I headed to the salad dressing aisle for the pièce de résistance. I knew I'd never stick to the salad idea if I didn't have some tasty dressing to keep me motivated. As a Southern gal, I beelined straight for Annie's Naturals Organic Buttermilk Dressing - creamy, tangy, buttermilky goodness.

Wanna get your own? We're giving away three prize packages of Annie's Naturals and Annie's Homegrown (love Annie's mac & cheese) products to the first three Read the full post... 

Try to say that 5 times fast. If you or someone you know writes about eco issues and lives in LA, join EcoStiletto at Environment Furniture (8126 Beverly Blvd., WeHo - Map It) on November 6 from 9 am to noon, where Green Works Natural Cleaning Products presents the first-ever Green Blogger Convention.

First you'll chat up other green bloggers, writers and editors, while you sip organic Cafe de Olla from Border Grill and get complimentary first-come, first-served sustainable beauty treatments from Read the full post... 

Full disclaimer: I'm not vegan. But, this weekend's Chicago Vegan Mania is right up my alley anyway, because it's like one-stop shopping for some of my fave Chicago foods. The lineup includes the Chicago Diner's veghead comfort classics, Soul Vegetarian's barbeque and mac 'n' cheese, and Upton Natural's Seitan Chorizo, and for dessert, Cru Cacao's organic truffles. Yep, it's all vegan, meaning it takes less energy and water to make it. In between bites, you can check out merch like Recycle Me's Eco Chick organic tees and campfire-ready marshmallows from Chicago Soydairy, while nodding along to live music from bands like Girls Rock! Chicago Camp alum Circular Convention.

Best part? Read the full post... 

Last night I got my grub on - something I love to do - at the Farm to Table event at the Broad Street Ballroom in NYC. I love going down to the Wall Street area…it feels like you’re in a totally different city. Anyway, my friend and I got to taste tons of great dishes that were organic and/or sourced from within 100 miles of the city. Our tops picks were:Basil Strawberry Lemonade with LiV Vodka from Long Island

• Country Duck Sausage from the Hudson Valley
  
• Watermelon

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A new restaurant is opening up in the IB SF office 'hood on Monday, and due to its close proximity to our South Beach HQ alone, it's deserving of a mention. Welcome, Ironside, the new outfit from the folks that brought you (us...) wine to be imbibed whilst sitting in a U-shape at District.

Dear Ironside, 

We can't wait to add you to our exhausted (but once great) roster of rotating lunch haunts. Butler and the Chef, South Park Cafe, Mexico Au Park, Brickhouse - smell ya later.

Love, 
IB

Ironside set up shop in the Chronicle Books building, in s space formerly home to the Moore Shipbuilding Co. This new iteration is made of reclaimed materials: barn wood,

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Or in my case, three, if I'm going to eat the cupboard's worth of apples I just picked before 2010...

This past weekend, some friends and I carpooled about an hour west of Chicago to Peceniak's U-Pick Apple Orchard. No bells and whistles here - just a nice family running a pretty farm. But what it lacked in cider donuts and hayrides was a genuine city break, and the opportunity to sit under a shady tree and chat with the farmers about everything from the problem of visitors picking from the non-ripe trees (they don't taste good) to the best pie pick (Golden Pearmains for sure). I searched high and low for Freedom, a Read the full post... 

Crossing a bridge to feed ones self is not something that SFers take too lightly - when we do it, infrequently at best, it is undoubtedly always for a worthy cause. Next week: a worthy cause.

Sausalito's Poggio Italian Restaurant is playing host to the 1st Annual Festa del Pesce from September 15-19. In addition to the resto's standard Italian fare (focused on locally and sustainably-grown, organic foods), Poggio will be serving up sustainably-sourced and locally-caught Pacific seafood dishes in crudo (raw) and cotto (cooked) antipasti form. And for cheap. Expect around a dozen dishes made with Monterey sardines, calamari, anchovies, mackerel, and swordfish, all for about $7-$9 a pop, Read the full post... 

There wasn't much that could have inspired me to go out last Thursday night: It was raining, cold (for a Chicago August), and I had already packed every wearable item in my wardrobe in mad preparation for this weekend's move. Yes, there was only one event worth braving the harsh elements, and the potential for embarrassment regarding my apparent lack of fashion sense: a four-course dinner featuring honey in every single dish at Province, an eco-rrific, LEED-certified resto in the West Loop. The menu started with spicy grilled peach salad, ended with blueberry/honey angel food cake with watermelon sorbet, and contained a steady supply of drinks in between (including a honey cocktail with North Shore Gin #6).

Why a whole meal dedicated to Read the full post... 

When I’ve really got a cold coming on, there’s one clear way I know: I lose my appetite. Yes, that’s true for many peeps, but ordinarily I’m always, always ready to eat (good cheese is my first choice...except maybe cookies...or a grass-fed burger...). And the first sign of getting better? Jonsing for a gooey PB&J.

I was reminded of that this week when picking up a few jars of organic peanut butter at the store (the way I buy the stuff, I swear I’m putting someone’s kids through college).

During my pregnancy, especially that first trimester, it was one of the only foods I’d consume after a bout of nausea. Not a bad choice if you want Read the full post...