Our Guide to the Green City Market

This summer we have finally taken advantage of our close proximity and become regulars at our farmer’s market, The Green City Market.  It took a few visits, but we now have our favorite stands that we frequent every week, which provides us with consistently high quality foods at fair prices.

Meat

We sampled meats from ground beef to lamb to bacon, as well as eggs, from all the farmers providing grass-fed/pastured animals.  Our favorite turned out to be Meadowhaven Farms.  They have a great selection, good prices and are pretty nice too.  They also offer the crossfit meat box, which we have been loving!

Veggies

I am easily overwhelmed, especially at the farmer’s market.  It is always busy and there are so many different things to look at and consider – and there is the smell of baked goods driving me to distraction.  Anyway, when I don’t know what veggies to buy, or haven’t properly menu planned – I dive into the Green Acres stand and load up on greens.  They have a huge variety of leafy greens; all types of kale, chard, collards, lambs quarters, bok choy…everything!



Majestic Farm pick your pint tomatoes



Green Acres leafy greens



I’ve also been loving the make your own pint cherry tomatoes from Majestic Nursery – the dark orange ones are my favorite.

Fruit

The Flamin’ Fury Peaches people get me every time.  They sit there in their bright shiny stand right at the entrance to the market, forcing there samples on me – their super ripe and sweet samples – and I inevitably end up buying something.  I’ve tried their peaches and various berries, all pretty good. 

Dairy

We generally do not eat dairy.  It was actually finding this grass-fed butter from Nordic Creamery that led us to introduce it back into our diet in the first place, and all has been well.  Have not noticed any adverse side effects from either their butter or on a very rare occasion, goat cheese.  I mainly like to use the butter for frying eggs – and the occasional goat cheese crumbled in a salad, hmmm – now I’m hungry.

And of course, I always find it near impossible to leave the market without buying some fresh cut flowers...so many to choose from!



Tuberose, my favorite - smells like heaven



Farmer's Market Haul

During the winter months I really miss saturday morning trips to our farmer's market, the Green City Market.  Living in Chicago, the first couple weeks of market season are pretty lean, spinach and rhubarb - maybe some asparagus.  All good stuff, just limited.  This weekend I could tell the tide is starting to turn, there seemed to be more variety, very exciting!

This is the first year I plan to take full advantage of all the meat available at the farmers market!  Pastured pork, I want pastured pork!  There are a lot of meat vendors, so I am taking them down one by one. 

This is our haul from Saturday:

Meats from Meadow Haven Farm

• 2 lbs grass fed ground beef
• 1 lb pastured ground pork
• 1 lb bacon
• 1 dozen pastured eggs

Also picked up some pastured butter (Yes!  We are trying out butter), baby turnips, kale, spinach and asparagus...

And this is the delicious breakfast we ate after our market trip



Asparagus & Spinach Scramble with Bacon



I can't believe we're gonna eat butter!

Self-experimentation. 

For some reason the paleo lifestyle seems to lead to a lot of self-experimentation.  We’ve done it with coffee in the past, and next up is butter!  For us, paleo has always meant removing all dairy.  Butter wasn't available to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, so obviously it is something we should not eat.  But the more I read about grass-fed butter, the more I want to try adding it into our diet.  We have been happily living without butter for quite awhile now, using coconut oil or bacon fat for cooking.  But as I learn about the nutritional profile, and remind myself that this is not about reenactment but eating for how our bodies are built - butter is looking like a better option all the time.

Butter - it's got some good stuff.

When I am talking about butter, I am talking about grass-fed butter - a source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), Vitamin A, Vitamin E and beta-carotene.  Yes, please.  It also has a better balance of Omega 3/6's than conventional dairy products.  The main butter drawback is the casein content, which seems to be the thing that could lead to inflammation, if we are sensitive to it. 

I found "summer butter" at our farmer's market this weekend.  It is made by the Nordic Creamery and only made from April thru October while the cows are on pasture.

So, bring on the self-experimentation.  We're going to find out just how butter makes us feel.  And if it feels good - we can continue to enjoy the taste and nutritional benefits of grass fed butter!  Although you will not find me packing sticks of butter to enjoy as an airplane snack food, I prefer to cook with my butter, not gnaw on it.