Local Is Better

We had an awesome dinner tonight. We stocked up at the farmer's market yesterday, so we were set.

We made steak fajitas with Jordandal Farm's grass-fed steak, Driftless Organics' onions, as well as sweet corn, peppers and chard from the market. Washed it down with a glass of Organic Valley milk and all was good.

I love local food and can't wait until our tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cucumbers are ready.

If you are interested in eating more local food, join me in the Eat Local Challenge at Willy St. Co-op.

We had a great time at the Kickapoo Country Fair over the weekend! Great food, great people and a beautiful setting. We got to sample tons of Organic Valley products, which is always fun. I love their milk! I got to sample some Maple Syrup (yeah!) and got a yummy iced maple latte from Kickapoo Coffee. YUM!

I missed Michael Perry since we went on Saturday, but heard he was amazing. Did anyone else go? Tell me about it!

Kickapoo Country Fair

Are you in Wisconsin or another part of the equally beautiful Midwest? Looking for something to do this weekend? Go check out the Kickapoo Country Fair! The Kickapoo Country Fair is held on the grounds of Organic Valley in LaFarge, Wisconsin, in the heart of the Driftless Area. The fair is a sustainable foodie's dream. There are workshops, a bike tour, music--including Miles Nielsen, authors--including one of my very favorites, Michael Perry, kids activities, food sampling, farm tours and more.

The Best Pancakes!

Do you have fresh blueberries or raspberries and you are wondering what to do with them? Besides eating them plain, making smoothies, jams, pies, etc.? :)

Do yourself a favor and make these awesome raspberry pancakes. They are amazing! The raspberries taste fresh and sweet. The pancakes? They are light and get crispy around the edges--just the way I like them! Thanks to Driftless Appetite for the recipe!

If you are a coffee fanatic, do yourself a favor and pick up some Kickapoo Coffee. Amazing. It's organic, fair trade and local, for me anyway.

I highly recommend the Driftless Dark.

And how cool are the containers?

Margarita Chicken

I've been distracted by the glorious warm weather as of late! Apologies to anyone that might be reading.

Not sure if this is a real recipe, but I thought it sounded good, so I'm going to make margarita chicken. I'm just going to marinate the chicken in margarita mix, lime juice, cilantro and some pepper. Planning on making a pineapple salsa and black bean avocado salad to go with it. Top it off with a New Glarus Beer or a margarita. If it tastes as good as it sounds....yummy!

Granola, yum

One of my favorite things to snack on is granola, specifically Trader Joe's Just the Clusters Vanilla Almond Granola. Have you had it? It's goood!

That said, it isn't the healthiest thing ever, and while not overly expensive, not free, so I figured I could do better.

I found this recipe and decided to give it a try.


On top of greek yogurt


the rest of the batch in my reused Newman's Own spaghetti sauce jar!

Looks pretty good, huh?

Vanilla Scented Granola
* vegetable oil cooking spray
* 4 cups old fashioned oats
* 1 cup sliced almonds
* 1/2 cup golden brown sugar, packed
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup honey
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 4 teaspoons vanilla extract


Position rack to middle of oven and preheat to 300*.

Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Mix next 5 ingredients in large bowl.

combine oil, honey and sugar in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat.

Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

Using hands, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed.

Spread granola on prepared baking sheet.

Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionaly, about 30 minutes (but check after 20).

Transfer sheet to rack; cool granola completely.

(Can be made two weeks ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.) Makes about 8 cups.

Notes: I halved the recipe, since I wanted to try it before fully committing. Next time, I would use less honey, less oil and more vanilla.