Tag Archives: All Season

Jamaican Black Bean Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

After about 10 years of avoiding meat, I found myself craving it, wanting it, needing it. There were major lifestyle changes happening at the same time as I was starting my first Personal Chef business and developing a new, almost daily dedication to the hot & steamy Bikram Yoga. Not long after, I met my future husband who was a semi-but-mostly-vegetarian just to add to the irony of my new fond love of meat. After we traveled to Argentina and indulged in a whole lot of grass-fed beef and pastured pork & chicken we came back fully dedicated to the omnivore life, but neither of us were quite happy with the environmental impact of our meat consumption in this country. Over the years we have reduced the amount of meat we eat, just as many more people throughout the world are becoming more conscious and mindful of their meat consumption whether or not they are full-time vegans or vegetarians.

If you have considered these possibilities, let me be the first to welcome you to the delightful Flexitarian lifestyle. Oh yes, we all need a fancy dietary name, right?

Meatless Mondays
Take the pledge and declare your vegetarianism for just one easy day per week.

Mark Bittman’’s Strategy
The author of Food Matters follows a philosophy of being vegan every day until 6pm. After that, anything goes for him. This is perfect for anyone who eats out frequently or prefers to cook roasts and more hearty meals for dinner.

By my hands alone
There is an interesting movement that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook subscribes to. They only eat the meat they kill themselves. Honestly, I am not quite ready for such action myself, but I do follow the philosophy of only eating meat that has been produced locally, from a source I trust. The cost of these beautiful pasture raised meats means that many of my meals are actually vegetarian. I just cannot afford to eat that much grass-fed beef or pasture raised pork & chicken.

Our way…
As I stated above, my husband and I eat a relatively vegetarian diet and occasionally, as a few extra dollars are available, we indulge in grass-fed beef, pastured pork or chicken. We raise our own chickens for their eggs and get plenty of meatless protein otherwise, but we love the treat of eating locally raised meat.

If we buy a chicken, we buy it whole (as it is cheapest per pound) and we are sure to make the bones into a hearty broth after it is roasted, poached, or cooked however we like. Ideally, during my pregnant/nursing/raising toddler lifestyle I would prefer to have a chicken, beef or pork at least once per week, but that is not always possible and that is okay, too. We eat a ton of beans, whole-grains, nuts and seeds, our own chicken eggs, yogurt and cheese. We also treat ourselves to restaurants with local meat options, too. Otherwise, we choose to eat vegetarian when we are out.

What are your meatless strategies? Are you ready to get on board with reducing your meat consumption? Please comment below and share the strategies that work best for you!

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well,

Chef Lilly

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Trying to decide what produce to eat these days goes beyond choosing a particular type of fruit or vegetable. There seems to be endless controversy about whether you should go local, conventional, organic or what?! In my home, we keep to a basic set of guidelines about what we choose to buy on a regular basis.

1.  Seasonal 

Starting in season means local or organic are actually more affordable and abundant. Organic tomatoes out of season are not going to melt in your mouth the same way they will if sun-ripened on the vine. And it will cost more for that disappointing quality, too. Most groceries meet consumer demand by providing zucchini, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers and more all year long. Determining what actually is in season can be a challenge. Many groceries have the seasonal items on display in large quantity at a discount, which helps. If you are stumped, Lilly’s Table is designed to keep you cooking and eating seasonal produce through recipes and weekly meal plans.

2. Local

Just as the seasons effect when produce is available, location can open up a new world of possibilities. Support your local economy and get to know your farmer. The easiest way to buy local is through a CSA (community supported agriculture) Farm Box where you buy into a share in exchange for locally produced, beautiful vegetables & more on a weekly basis. Another option is to purchase food from your Farmers Market every week. I do both as the CSA is a magical surprise of goodness every week, while Farmers Markets allows me choice and an opportunity to chat with my farmers.

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This is a great next choice when you are not able to get close to your farmer. Keep in mind, organic produce traveling from South America or elsewhere has a huge environmental impact. Also, other countries are not met with the same stringent organic labeling standards as American farmers. Getting produce from another part of the world in a different season means it is traveling quite a distance, making the carbon foot-print larger than buying conventional. When selecting produce with the organic label, do your best to find out where it was originally grown.

4. Conventional

There are times when buying in-season conventional produce makes sense especially if it means eating vegetables instead of eating processed food products. I personally would choose to eat conventional produce over organic food products. Fresh fruits & vegetables, whether or not pesticides are used, are better than not eating them at all. An easy aide for deciding when to buy conventional or organic is the Dirty Dozen. Print out cards or download it to take with you when you are at the store and stumped about which is best. This guide let’s you know the produce that is safest to eat conventionally with the Clean 15 list as well as the Dirty Dozen to avoid.

Extra tip: Check your PLU code stickers on all of your fruits & veggies. If it starts with a 9, it is organic. An 8 is a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism), although this labeling is not required so it is rare to see it. Any other number, often just 4-digits, are conventional. I have seen fruit with a big sign declaring it was organic only to notice the PLU stickers on each fruit was conventional. I am sure it was just an employee stocking error, but it is nice to know what you are getting.

We each have an opportunity, several times per day, to vote with our dollars about the types of food we would like to be available. The choice is yours, but when you demand the highest quality produce, while supporting your local economy you are letting the food industry know what you would like to see more of. Together we can all make a beautiful impact on our food system.

Getting in and out of a grocery store, even with a toddler, is something only a savvy shopping list can help you do. In my Personal Chef days, I brought a clip board with the recipes below and on top a categorized list of all the ingredients that were needed including a list of pantry ingredients that were waiting for me at home. I created this several days a week for my clients and while it may have seemed involved, I could easily get in and out of a store in under 30-minutes with a huge cart full of delights.

When I created Lilly’s Table meal planning service, the idea of having a shopping list categorized and ready to go was essential. Getting in and out of a store quickly is half the battle of getting a health-packed delicious dinner on the table. However, there are a few other methods beyond a categorized list that will guarantee a successful, speedy shopping trip.

Once your shopping list is created, get ready to head to the store. Here are a few tips to get you in and out of the store quickly.

1. Shop after you eat, not while hungry This may seem obvious, but even I forget sometimes and find myself grabbing a snack bag of something just to get through the aisles without deviating too far from my list. Nothing is worse than hunger making decisions for me. I am certain I save money every time I shop when my belly is not growling and yelling at me to buy every other tasty treat on the shelves.

2. Stay hydrated Sometimes thirst masks itself as hunger and leaves you in the same scenario as above. Since I live in a dry climate a water bottle is often close at hand. Plan to bring one with you next time and see if it helps.

3. Stick to the list I occasionally allow myself a sale item or other deviation, but allowing the list to guide me keeps me within budget, within time constraints, and it keeps my daughter happy too since we rarely sit in one place for very long.

4. Shop the perimeter of the store The center aisles contain mostly non-food and processed convenience foods. Since I am usually shopping for ingredients, I can easily get around the store without going through the center. This is especially useful if shopping with children. It seems most stores place bright, colorful tempting items at my child’s eye level. Not even going in these aisles will speed you through the store nicely.

5. Read the labels. Once you have a brand or generic label you trust, going back for the same bread, eggs or box of crackers is easy. Taking a quick glance at the ingredient list is mostly what I do to determine if it is a food product or an ingredient worth trying when going after new items. It is amazing how something as simple as coconut milk can contain unnecessary ingredients from time to time. So any time you are trying something new, read the label first.

6. Buy in Season Fresh produce will taste better and be in abundance when in season. Buying an apple in the fall when it is at its peak is always a better idea than buying in May or June when even stored apples are on their way out. The quality is also better and I notice that my family eat more fruit or vegetables when they taste at their best. If possible, sign up for a CSA (community supported agriculture), go to your Farmers Market and of course signing up for Lilly’s Table will help you shop in season, too.

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well,

Chef Lilly

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