Follow Me To The Market!

More Than Food on Display

There is more to the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market than a bounty of locally sourced fruit, vegetables, seafood, and baked goods.  Visit the market and take in what local artisans have to offer.

ARTISAN:  A person skilled in an applied art; a craftsperson. A person or company that makes a high-quality or distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods. From Dictionary.com

I think there is one word missing from that definition…Creativity.  I am amazed at the level of creativity displayed by the local artisans.  If you are looking for unique items to decorate your home, condo, beach house, or apartment or searching for unique gifts for someone special or even yourself, stop by the market and check it out.  You won’t be disappointed!

You can make so many people happy when you buy local.

JJG

Follow Me To The Market

I can still remember the first time I had Baba Ganoush, a Lebanese appetizer made with
eggplant. It was at the Almontaser Restaurant on Court Street in the Cobble Hill section of
Brooklyn in the late 1970’s. The Amontaser has long been closed but the fond memories of
some of the best Mediterranean food I have ever had linger on.
The base recipe for Baba Ganoush consists of roasted eggplant, tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice,
and salt. From there it is easy to get creative. Our go to recipe comes from a very old Sunday
New York Times magazine and is a family favorite. Thanks go to George Watkins for the
beautiful eggplant, Knievil Farms for the Shishito peppers and Rosetta Bakes for the Naan.

Mediterranean Eggplant Dip
2 pounds eggplant
2 cloves of garlic pressed
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup chopped tomatoes
10 red and/or green mini peppers diced
5 green onions sliced
¼ chopped parsley
1 tablespoon seasoned salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spear the eggplants with knife or fork so that they don’t explode in the oven. Bake until
a knife goes into them with no resistance.
3. Slice the eggplants in half and remove the flesh from the skin and puree in a food
processor.
4. When the puree has cooled, add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for about an
hour to let the flavors meld.
5. Serve the dip with toasted wedges of pita bread or naan.
6. Enjoy!

Buy Local and Eat Fresh!
JJG

Follow Me To The Market

I could never resist a farmers’ market. I enjoy checking out what the local vendors have brought
to market, taking some time to meet them and then planning a menu. Right here in our own
backyard, Baldwin County has a real gem in the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen’s
Market in Foley.
 

It’s Summertime and the living is supposed to be easy. So, something easy that doesn’t require a lot of prep time is high on the list. Four vendors helped create the dinner menu tonight: SHRIMP on the GO, Forland Family Farm, Sweet Bee Farm, and Mood Rock Baking.

On the Menu:
Sesame Seared Tuna (SHRIMP on the GO and Sweet Bee Farm)
Sweet Corn (Forland Family Farm)
Curried Brown Rice
Grilled Peaches (Forland Family Farm)
Lemon French Macarons (Gluten-Free) (Mood Rock Baking)

The tuna, sweet corn and peaches can all go on the outdoor grill.

Sesame Seared Tuna
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Up to four Tuna steaks
½ cup sesame seeds
1. In a bowl, stir together the soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. Divide into two equal parts. Stir the rice vinegar into one part and set aside as a dipping sauce.
2. Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate. Coat the tuna steaks with the remaining soy sauce mixture, then press down into the sesame seeds to coat.
3. Spray grill grates with a cooking spray such as PAM and bring the grill to high heat. Place the tuna steaks on the grill and sear for about 30 - 60 seconds on each side. Serve with the dipping sauce and if you like, wasabi paste.

Buy Local and Eat Fresh!
JJG

Instead of joining the hoards of parents who are helping make their children connoisseurs of fast food, why not get your children started early on becoming fruit and veggie experts instead. According to the author of Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser, Americans spent around $6 billion on fast food in the 70s, and today that figure has climbed to well over $100 billion. We’re now spending more money on fast food then we do on higher education or a new car. In fact, he reports that we’re “eating ourselves to death” as we’ve spent more money on junk food than books, magazines, newspapers, videos and music combined.

As parents, you can prevent the cycle that’s leading to the nation’s obesity crisis by teaching your child healthy eating habits. According to the study Influences on the Development of Children's Eating Behaviours: From Infancy to Adolescence, our eating behaviors are formed during the early years; that is when we learn, “what, when, and how much” to eat. 

To help your child develop a love for fruits and veggies you may need to lean on a little bit of creative thinking. Let’s face it, not all kids see the joy in selecting a juicy, soft peach over a crispy, warm French fry.

Here are a few effective ways to get your child to be fruit and veggie connoisseurs.

Visit A Local Farmers Market

Visiting a farmers market gives children a chance to meet local growers and see the kinds of fruits and veggies they’re growing. Help them learn how to identify the different fruits and veggies and share recipes. Also, give them a wallet or a purse and let them shop for which new, unique types of produce they want to try.

Get Them In The Kitchen

After they’ve shopped for their healthy choices, set up time in the kitchen where you can work on recipes or preparations that include what they’ve chosen. For example, if they chose peaches, teach them how to make peach cobbler. Or, have them husk corn on the cob for dinner. They become more invested in the end product when they help buy and prepare it. And teaching children to cook may help them become healthier eaters.

Experiment With Recipes

Once you’ve introduced your child to cooking, take it to the next level and work together to find fun and flavorful recipes that include fruits or vegetables. Teach them how to make chocolate chip zucchini bread, blueberry muffins, a yummy stir fry, fun colorful shish kabobs, fruit smoothies or a creative fruit dip.

Make Food Fun

Sure you may not be keen on letting your child play with their food, but allowing them time to make artwork with colorful fruits and vegetables just might get them more interested in eating them.

Have Some Online Fun
Every parent knows children love time on a tablet or a computer playing games and exploring. Take time to show them the educational side of the internet by visiting sites that teach about certain subjects such as healthy eating. Fruits & Veggies More Matters is a great website designed by Produce for Better Health Foundation to encourage the consumption of healthy fruits and veggies.

Don’t Give Up

As easy as it is to just want to throw in the towel when your child turns their nose up, research shows that if you stick with it eight to 10 times by insisting they try one or two bites, eventually they’ll accept that food.

Instead of “eating yourself to death” like Schlosser suggests we’re doing, work with your children to help them “eat themselves healthy.” Form a foundation early for understanding the health benefits of eating a nutritious diet. Explain how it staves off disease, how it improves their mood, how it keeps their weight in check, and even how it helps them learn better. And remember, if you teach them to be healthy eaters, they’ll also be modeling healthy eating for their children. It’s a legacy we can all afford to pass along.

Author: Kristin Louis

Photo Credit: Pexels

Our planet provides us with soil, water, and other natural resources we need to grow food and create useful products for health and beauty. In the pursuit of healthy eating, don’t forget to keep the earth healthy too. 

The best way to keep Earth healthy is to buy from your local farmer’s market. Food and products there have fewer or no harmful chemicals because they were grown locally. Food traveling a long way to get to your table has chemicals added to it to keep it fresh. It also has to be packaged to protect it along the way. All the extra packaging ends up in landfills emitting chemicals that pollute the soil and eventually water as it slowly decomposes. Traveling long distances increases foods’ chances of being contaminated along the way. 

Vendors at local markets can answer any questions you have about how a food was grown and how animals and seafood were raised. This is true of handcrafted and homemade products too. Craftsmen and women can tell you what materials and ingredients are in their products. 

The Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen's Market celebrates Earth Day every Tuesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. by offering a variety of items that will keep the earth healthy. 

-Liz tetley-

Want to get a head start on your “summer body”?                                                                                             

Spring into action now by visiting Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen's Market where you can start building that summer body from the inside.

Fresh food contains more and better nutrients that help your body combat common health woes like seasonal allergies and digestive issues. Since the veggies and seafood come from local sources, nothing needs to be added to keep the food fresh. The fresher the food, the better it tastes. Your taste buds will be happy. Your cells will be happy to get the best nutrients to use for their jobs. You’ll be happy with the results of looking and feeling better.

Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen's Market is stocked with a variety of veggies, fruits, seafood, and treats Stop by the market Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

-Liz Tetley

You can get everything you need for a healthy heart at the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fisherman’s Market. The American Heart Association recommends shopping local farmers markets for seasonal fruits and veggies, eating foods in all colors, and being physically active. At Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fisherman’s Market, you can find leafy green vegetables, fresh fruits, and seafood, along with other healthy foods. Don’t forget to add some dark chocolate to your basket. You don’t even have to wait for Valentine’s Day to indulge because dark chocolate has health benefits.

Just as filling your plate with healthy, locally grown, fresh produce will boost your heart health, so will the actual shopping for those foods. You’ll enjoy fresh air, a little physical activity, and interact with awesome vendors and other shoppers. Preparing your foods will add even more activity. You’ll feel better than ever and want another trip to the Coastal Alabama Farmers’ and Fisherman’s Market.

Find serving recommendations here: https://healthyforgood.heart.org/eat-smart/infographics/what-is-a-healthy-diet-recommended-serving-infographic

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
A colorful heart
Makes a healthier you.

-Liz Tetley-

Many people find it easier to start a new diet plan as part of the fresh start a new year offers. Stocking your kitchen with locally grown produce will set you on the road to a healthier year.
At the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen’s Market, you will find this month:Cabbage, Napa cabbage, turnip greens, collards, mustards, kale, lettuce, broccoli, spinach, bok choy, carrots, radishes, rutabagas, and other green, leafy vegetables and those with edible roots. Fruits include beets, strawberries, and satsumas.
Fill your basket, then your kitchen (here is a link for vegetable storage tips http://www.popsugar.com/…/How-Keep-Fruits-Vegetables-Fresh-…), then your belly with delicious and healthy foods. 
-Liz Tetley-

What Exactly Are Microgreens?

Statement about Microgreens from Heather Pritchard:  Part of what a farmers’ market can do for farms or other businesses is product introduction. With direct access to the public, vendors can “test” an item and quickly learn what the public likes, which also helps diversify market products.  Microgreens have only recently been introduced to consumers at Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market and the response is amazing. Knowing how super nutritious they are coupled with the many flavors and uses, it is no wonder they are popular. Furthermore, it is an example of alternate ways of growing in the home or small spaces.  With all of the stress and uncertainty in folks’ lives, I believe that purchasing and feeding yourself something like this is a reward that most can afford and enjoy.

What are Microgreens?

Microgreens are tiny edible plants with an intense flavor, usually vegetable garden plants, that are grown in quantity and harvested while they are still juvenile plants, generally around 10 days.  (www.growingmicrogreens.com) Popular microgreens are red cabbage, cilantro, radish, sunflower, kale, broccoli, amaranth, Bok choy, arugula, and basil. (from a Wikipedia article)

Are they healthy?

As reported by WebMD.com, in a research study conducted by the University of Maryland – College Park, microgreens were found to be anywhere between four to 40 times more concentrated in nutrients than a fully grown plant. 

How are microgreens grown?

The advantage of microgreens is that they can be grown in small spaces, even in container gardens.  Microgreens can be grown in soil or hydroponically.  By harvesting microgreens after only ten to fourteen days after sprouting, microgreens can be intensely planted in a small space.  A 10 x 10 feet space can easily supply a fine-dining restaurant, for instance, of all the microgreens needed.  (Wikipedia)

Disadvantages?

Microgreens tend to have a short shelf life.  Commercial microgreens are most often stored in plastic clamshell containers for viewing and for a quick sale.  Farmers’ markets are the ideal venue for microgreen farmers to sell their product as the microgreens can be purchased by a consumer looking for something fresh and nutritious that will be consumed quickly rather than stored for later use.  www.growingmicrogreens.com

How to Use?

Microgreens can be used almost anyway that a person’s imagination can create.  Salads, toppings for meat or vegetables, pasta, smoothies, stir fry, and steaming.  Many fine dining restaurant chefs use microgreens because of the intense flavor as well as making a great food presentation on the plate.

Are microgreens available at the Market?

Currently, at least two vendors sell microgreens at Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market with others exploring the possibility. In addition, Forland Family Market often has microgreens in their weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box.

Recipe of the Week:  Chicken Alfredo Farmers’ Market Style

My oldest granddaughter loves Chicken Alfredo and she says it is her favorite Italian food.  Of course, Chicken Alfredo is as authentic an Italian dish as Chicken Chow Mein in Chinese … neither are an authentic anything.  However, I offer this recipe as a means of using microgreens and spoiling my grandchild.

Ingredients:

Chicken tenders (I use Publix Green Wise) about three per person

Butter (Forland Family Market)

Olive Oil

Half and Half (most recipes you can find call for heavy cream but ½ & ½ cuts fat and calories)

Farmers’ Cheese (Forland Family Market) shredded, about ¼ cup per person

½ tablespoon of drained capers per person

Parsley (from a plant I purchased at the Market)

White wine

Fettuccine

Sea salt

White pepper

Basil microgreens (available at the Market)

Directions:

1. Over medium heat, warm a pan.  Add olive oil and chicken.  Sprinkle salt lightly.  Brown and cook thoroughly.  Just before the chicken gets brown, add a splash of white wine to the pan and continue cooking until the wine is reduced by ¾’s. 
2. In a separate pot, cook fettuccine.
3. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
4. Deglaze pan with half and half milk making sure you get all the debris (i.e. flavor) from the bottom of the pan but do not burn the milk. 
5. Add shredded Farmers’ Cheese and stir as it melts
6. Remove from heat.  Add capers and parsley.  Stir.
7. Add chicken back to the sauce and coat thoroughly.
8. In a pasta bowl, add cooked fettuccine and sauce with chicken.  Top with a sprinkling of microgreens.

For my granddaughter, she gets a soft drink (grandparents have a license to spoil) and a green salad with ingredients from the Market.  For me, I have a glass of white wine and a green salad.

Enjoy and I’ll see you at the Market.

18/21 Rule and Other Advice I’ve Read That Actually Makes Sense

Health advice is abundant.  While it reflects a worthwhile trend to having access to more information about health, some articles I’ve read are not very helpful.  Ubiquitously, advice in articles frequently say for better health, “Lose weight” and it is given as casually as “Floss Teeth.”  To get ready for bed you should brush and floss your teeth and lose twenty pounds.  Hmm, I’m exaggerating, of course, but such casual advice is not helpful and unnecessary.  In the same type of advice, articles frequently relate how many calories in a meal and how many grams of protein and how many grams of carbohydrates.  I don’t know about you, but my life cannot be centered around perfection and following healthy advice all the time. 

However, there are some suggestions that I’ve found are helpful and actually make sense for our less than perfectly ordered lives:

18/21 Rule

To explain this rule, here is a personal example.  My granddaughter is a cheerleader for her high school that’s located in Mobile.  During the fall months, my wife and I make Friday afternoon trips to Mobile to sit through the first half of a game before coming home.  I’m sure you immediately envisioned what the Bayway and other sections of the Interstate Highway are like at that time of day on Fridays that we are traveling so we have to allow plenty of time.  Sitting down to a perfectly constructed meal with nothing but fresh, healthy ingredients is not possible.  Somewhere I read about, what the author called, the 18/21 rule and it made sense to me.  Seven days a week, three meals per day, that’s twenty-one meals per week.  The advice was to eat eighteen healthy meals.  Twenty-one meals per week.  Can I eat at least 18 healthy meals?  Yeah, I can do that and that gives me three cheat meals.  So, on Friday nights during the fall months, we stop at Five Guys, order a Little Hamburger with the veggies only – lettuce, tomato, and pickle – with mustard (no sugar-laden condiments like ketchup and no fat-laden mayonnaise or cheese) and a bottle of water.  It’s one of my cheat meals, not bad, but not good either.  Of course, I don’t go crazy with my three cheat meals, though I would like to.  What does this have to do with the Market?  Very little.  But, read on.

Eat more Seafood

We can live by this advice, easily.  At Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market we have two options of vendors from whom we can buy seafood, most of which is packaged in a manner that can be eaten that night or put in the freezer to eat later.  Shrimp, fish, crab cakes, shrimp cakes, good healthy eating.  Recently, we were going to be out of town visiting relatives and returning late Sunday night.  I bought a pound of shelled, deveined shrimp and stuck in the freezer.  When we returned late Sunday night, I took the shrimp out of the freezer and put it in a large bowl.  Sprinkled seafood seasoning on it and added a beer and some water.  I then unloaded the car, unpacked, started a load of clothes in the washing machine, poured a glass of wine, and checked email and the news online for the day.  Made a green salad using Craine Creek Farms lettuce as well as vegetables from the Market and then steamed the shrimp.  Poured another glass of wine and I’m eating more seafood.  Using the stock phrase of one of my wife’s favorite television chefs, “How easy is that?”

Eat Fresh Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

This one is so easy for frequent shoppers at the Market that it’s superfluous to mention or expound upon. 

Limit sweets and only indulge with sweets that have a redeeming value

This piece of health advice that I read took me by surprise, but it makes sense.  We’ve seen the “limit sweets” advice a lot, but the author of this article took the advice a step further.  I’ve never been one to enjoy sweet tastes, so I never felt I was sacrificing, but when I read this admonition, it made a lot of sense to me.  Redeeming value to sweets means such things as a fresh fruit pie, pecan pie, dark chocolate, as I said, it makes sense.  In addition to a year-round supply of fruit, another advantage we have visiting a farmers’ market regularly is the vendors who bring their homemade goods to the Market to sell:  salsas, jelly, jam, bread, brownies, and pies.  Fortunately, we have vendors who sell these delights at the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market.  With fresh fruit, I feel I can justify the indulgence as having a redeeming value and possessing some nutrition, but that’s only rationalizing as I know I’m not getting a lot healthy benefits but the pies are so good … and the pies have a redeeming value of being made with fresh fruit.  Even this non-sweet lover can appreciate that.

Those are four healthy pieces of advice that I know I can follow, with the help of the gentle people of Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market and the advice actually make sense to me.

Recipe of the Week:  Marinara Sauce

If you’ve followed the blog for any length of time, you probably have picked up on the idea that I like Italian food.  Guilty.  In reference to the theme of today’s blog about health advice that makes sense, one health advice that makes no sense but became popular in recent years was to eschew pasta.  In what universe is pasta bad for you?  I’m eating pasta and wishing every time I go to the Market that a vendor would be there selling freshly made pasta.

Ingredients:

Italian sausage, defrosted (George Family Farms)

Shiitake mushrooms, when available (Terry Underwood)

1 cup sweet yellow onion, diced (available from several vendors)

1 cup bell pepper, diced (available from several vendors)

1 cup celery, diced (Forland Family Market)

1 cup of carrots, diced (Forland Family Market)

1 clove of garlic, minced (Forland Family Market)

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (Note:  I prefer Muir Glen)

Oregano (from a plant purchased at the Market)

Basil (from a plant purchased at the Market)

White wine

     Sea salt

     Olive Oil

     Pasta of choice (My personal choice for this recipe is fettucine, but any will do.)

     Cheese of choice

Directions:

1. Break up the sausage into small pieces and brown in a large pot. (see note below)
2. After the meat is browned remove it from the pot leaving juices.
3. Add onion, garlic, celery, and carrots.  Sprinkle lightly with Sea Salt.  Stirring often cook vegetables until wilted.  (Note: Sausage from George Family Farms tends to be lean.  You may have to add a little olive oil.)
4. Add mushrooms and bell pepper.  Cook until wilted.
5. Add tomatoes and herbs as well as a splash of white wine.
6. Adjust heat to medium low and cook for two hours.  Do not let the sauce boil.
7. Cover and let sit for 1 hour.
8. Cook pasta to directions.
9. While pasta is cooking, warm the sauce slowly.
10. Serve the sauce over the pasta.  Add some fresh basil to the top as well as shredded cheese.  I like Farmer’s Cheese from Forland Family Market.

[Note regarding meat in marina sauce:  In graduate school I got to know a guy who is first generation American whose parents immigrated to the United States from Italy and became naturalized citizens.  I asked him about marinara sauce and he said that to truly understand marinara sauce, you have to think peasant food.  It’s using what’s available and stretching it to feed a large extended family.  He said that a true marinara sauce will have several meats, but a little of each – a little piece sausage, a little piece chicken, or a beef bone the neighborhood butcher gave you that has a few pieces of meat still clinging and can be cooked off.  That’s the lagniappe for this week.]

Serve with a fresh salad made with Craine Creek Farm lettuce and a glass of red wine.

Enjoy!  See you at the Market

Bob Zeanah

Author of No Anchor

Available online from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Books a Million

Author of Work to Do

Available online from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Books a Million

14410 Oak Street

Magnolia Springs AL  36555

251-752-5174 mobile device

bobzeanah@gmail.com

www.bobzeanah.com