Five Friday Foodie Favorites: April 10

The Correct Ratio When Substituting Dried Herbs for Fresh
thekitchn.com

The Kitchn is great. (And, Fun Fact! The editor is based out of my hometown: Columbus, Ohio.) The site is full of kitchen design inspiration, tips for cooking and entertaining, recipes and more.

This ratio is good to remember especially as we transition into spring and fresh herbs will be more widely available. Dried herbs pack more punch in smaller packages than fresh herbs. Keep this in mind so that the flavors you are looking for are well balanced and delicious.

Buying Local Foods: It’s Not as Hard as You Think
backtothecuttinboard.com

This blog was recently started by a family friend and fellow Purdue grad. Adriane and her friend Katie are on the road to becomming RD’s, but along the way they share their food and nutrition knowledge on Back To The Cutting Board.

This post is full of resources for sourcing local food be it from a CSA, farmer’s market, or even your own grocery store.

I take the stance that local is more important to me than eating certified organic. There are plenty of great small, local producers who practice honest principles, but cannot afford the certification. Finding local farms from these resources will help you get to know growers in your area and make the best call for you…. And, save a ton of fossil fuels.

How to Make Chicken Poop Into Fertilizer For Your Garden
naturallyloriel.com

Loriel, from Naturally Loriel, is my editor at Scratch Mommy and this is actually a guest post on her personal blog by me. (Shameless Plug…) When we first began considering a backyard garden, it became pretty clear that we should also consider backyard chickens. This post explains why chicken poop is so valuable to a garden and how we compost our chicken’s droppings.

Growing Our Own Food Saves Us Up to $24,000 a Year
Business Insider

Adam and I have never gone as far to track how much money we might be spending at a grocery store if we didn’t have a garden. Please, even just talks about a budget are hard enough.

This South Carolina couple claims if they were to be purchasing the same caliber of produce and eggs at the store that they can grow, they would be spending an additional $24,000 each year.

Impressive? Yes. And, I do agree that the incredibly flavorful berries, tomatoes and carrots, that come out of a well cared for backyard garden are on a different quality and taste level than most produce at the grocery store.

But, what I really enjoyed about this article is how this couple promotes gardening. In addition to the extra cash and fine-dining quality produce, they mentioned that gardening is a great couples activity, source of energy and way to exercise. They also encourage people to not invest a lot of cash up front and use what they have. Their own garden is on their 3/4 acre lot!

Teach Every Child About Food
ted.com

Oh, Jamie Oliver. Isn’t he great? I could listen to him talk all day; Obviously for the accent and because his delivery is so powerful.

I remember when I first heard that staggering fact that this generation is the first generation of children to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. I had just turned 24, was recently married and started a job at a county school district as their Food and Nutrition Director. I was on an optional nutrition conference call.

It took my breath away.

I couldn’t help but think, “So, is this where evolution just… ends? We went up for years and years and now we are going… down?”

Quite honestly, that call changed my life a bit. It steered me toward Bloom, my career in everyday consumption of food versus one time special occasions, and my passion for homegrown and home cooked food.

Give yourself twenty minutes to listen to this sometime this weekend because Jamie’s Ted Talk is great.

While listening I felt every emotion under the sun. It made me laugh and made me want to cry. It made me scared, sad, disgusted, and angry. But, this talk also inspired and assured me that what I am doing, as small as Bloom might be, is right.

It is something so simple: Cooking at home, teaching children (and adults!) how to grow food and how to cook food.

Simple. But, it’s about so much more than food.