Organic...or not?

No sooner did I write this post about when to buy organic foods than I heard the shocking news: Organic food might not be any healthier than conventionally grown foods.

Ok, so I wasn't shocked. This isn't the first time that the label "organic" has been called into question. Its become such a popular term that everyone is looking to slap "organic" or "natural" stickers on their products, often without really meeting the standards the consumer is hoping or expecting.

I have a lot of questions though. For instance, the study suggests that the nutritional content is not higher in organic food than in conventionally grown food. That makes sense to me. But what about benefits that come from not having exposure to pesticides? Was that studied as well?

I've never been converted to the full organic lifestyle, though I do try to make that choice when it is affordable, convenient, and seems important to me. But intuitively, food grown without chemicals seems better to our entire eco-system than food with chemicals.

I'm not the only one with questions - an entire industry has been put on edge by the news. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more studies in the near future.

In the meantime, Organic gardening is all the rage this year, studies or no studies. After Michelle Obama planted an organic garden at the White House with her own hands, there was literally a run on organic seeds and plants at Garden Centers all over the world. Even the Queen of England started a garden at Buckingham palace, for the first time since World War II.

Now, my friends and I planted an organic garden this year as well, even before Michelle put her's into the ground. Who's to say that the Queen wasn't equally influenced by my garden?

Yeah, I guess not.

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Sweeter Than Honey

FEEDING OUR FAMILY:
This is the beginning of a series of posts about Feeding Our Family. For the next few weeks, we will have at least one post each week which focuses on all the different aspects of this topic and how we can help each other in this often daunting task of making sure our families eat healthy, well-rounded, on-time meals. If you have an idea for a post on this topic, please e-mail us at dupagemamas(at)gmail(dot)com. We would love to hear from you! Stay tuned for some really great discussion about how we can better Feed Our Family.

In this quest to be smart and healthy in how I feed my family, I am always on the look out for places that help me on this path. And while I always want to serve the best to my family, I don't always feel like cooking that food in my own kitchen. That is when it is super nice to have someone else who is cooking the healthy, organic food that should fill my boys' tummies.

Honey is an amazing restaurant in downtown Glen Ellyn, in the western suburbs. They call themselves a "modern comfort cafe" and that pretty much says it all. Except I might add "yummy," and "delicious" and "soul-satisfying" to the list of descriptors. It is comfort food in the true sense that it is warm and flavor-ful. But beyond that, it is comfort food because I know that what my family and I are eating is good for us and good for the earth. Their produce is all organic, their meat is free range/grass-fed and often local. Even the wine and beer and coffee are organic. They bake most of their own bread and sweets every morning and make all their own sauces and salad dressings from scratch.

While these things are great and certainly key, I think the thing I like most about Honey is the atmosphere. It is laid back and friendly. It is the type of neighborhood place where people could sit with a cup of free-trade coffee and chat about the local happenings. I don't know if people actually do that, but you could. It is comfortable that way. It brings healthy, organic food down to an approachable level and makes it available for everyone. The prices are pretty reasonable for what you are getting. They cost more than a breakfast at your run-of-the-mill pancake house, but you are getting so much more for your money. When your options include Filet Mignon Benedict and Triple Chocolate French Toast, you know you have found a gem. For lunch and dinner, they have everything from yummy meatloaf and pot pie (see, comfort food!) to sandwiches to just about everything in between. They even have something called "Truffle Mac-N-Cheese" made with white truffle oil. Modern comfort cafe, indeed!

There is a "Little Honey's" menu for the kiddos with organic chicken nuggets or mac-n-cheese or organic PBJ. Even if you don't come for a meal, you gotta come for the dessert. For dessert, try the "cupcake of the day." You can't go wrong with that.

Honey offers delicious food that you know is good for your body. Sitting there eating yummy food in a laid back neighborhood cafe... comfortable!


Honey
499 N. Main St.
Glen Ellyn, IL
630-469-0000
www.honeycafe.net
Mon-Sat 9a-9p
Sun 9a-3p

Originally posted by Farrah at Chicagonista.

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A Healthy Choice

Last summer, in an attempt to eat healthier and be a good steward of the earth, my husband and I joined a Community-Supported Agriculture Farm (CSA). We paid several hundred dollars for our share of the yield of a local farm. So each week, we drive to the pick up spot to get our box of assorted fruit and veges. Even with sharing the box with a friend, it was often more produce than we could use in a week. Especially those weeks when much of the box was beets or fennel or another vegetable that I had no idea how to cook. It did stretch our palette a bit and we did eat much healthier. Overall, it was a great experience and something I am really glad we did. But not something I was jumping at the chance to do again. But with the same goal of eating healthier and feeding my family well, I was confronted again with the question of how best to do that within a budget and a busy schedule. Organic produce in local stores can be hit-or-miss and pretty exprensive. Farmer's markets are great but that assumes I can get there and aren't available past the fall. Hmm... there aren't many other options out there.

Then I heard about Timber Creek Farms- a local organic food delivery service. Truthfully, the first word that caught my attention: DELIVERY!! You mean there is someone out there that will bring a box of high-quality, locally-grown organic produce to my front door? It must cost a TON.

Nope. Not at all. That is the truly amazing part. Here is what was in my first organic box: A head of Romaine lettuce, a whole pineapple, 4 large apples, a bunch of bananas, 6 zucchini, a bag of pea pods, a bag of greenbeens, 6 potatoes, and a whole head of celery.
The cost? $30.85. Delivered. To my door. Yummy fruits and veges that I recognize and can't wait to eat/serve my family. LOVE IT!!!

Timber Creek Farms has so much to offer. You can choose from the dozens of box types they have available: all veges, all fruit, mix of fruit and veges, etc... There are also many, many specialty boxes of varying prices to choose from. There is a box of foods for nursing/pregnant moms, a box of foods perfect for making baby food, the juicing box, the de-tox box, the cancer box, the high-blood pressure box, and the list goes on and on. I loved looking through the catalog and seeing all the cool combinations. But if by some chance you don't see what you want, they also let you make your own custom box.
You have a specified delivery day depending on your area and unfortunately that is set for you. They deliver within a 100mile radius of Yorkville, so that takes them all the way to NW Indiana and down to Bloomington/Normal. You can decide how frequently you want your box. We started with once every 4weeks until we figure out how much produce we will need each week. You can have a standing order or you can switch it up every week.
Beyond the delicious produce, Timber Creek also offers organic milk and meat and eggs. They also have the "Pantry Club" where you can have household staples delivered to your door. Another feature I think is cool is their "Wholesale Club" where you can buy certain things in bulk. If you don't need a crate full of paper towels, they offer a message board where you can connect with people who may want half that crate and will split the cost with you. You pay your part and Timber Creek splits the crate and delivers your share of the paper towels to your door.
Wow.

I could go on and on about the merits of Timber Creek. But here is the best part. They are a family-run business that cares about your family. And together with Dupage Mamas, they are giving away a free delivered box of organic produce!! Just click here to visit their website. Then come back here and leave a comment telling us which box you would like to try or which recipe from their blog sounds the yummiest. Make sure you also leave us a way to reach you if you win. And as usual, spread the word on your blog or Facebook or Twitter and get an extra entry. Or subscribe to our feed and get a third. That's three chances to win some free, yummy fruits and veges delivered to your door. Not much better than that. This giveaway will be open for entries until next Monday the 11th. We will draw a winner at random and announce the lucky person here.

My family has only received one Timber Creek box so far. But we are hooked! And you will be too!

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