Category Archives: Food

Farm Fresh 2 U

Posted on March 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

 

Sourcing farm fresh fruits and vegetables comes easy to bay area folks. As a NYC native, I can really appreciate how accessible it is to buy produce directly from local farms here in San Francisco.

 There are the farmers markets, which are my absolute favorite. Not only can you buy great produce, but you have a chance to speak to the farm owners and workers them selves about the products they sell and about the process. Not to mention getting tips on how to cook it. The next best option is the community-supported agriculture (CSA). CSA’s are also known as “subscription farming”. Technically you buy a “subscription” from a farm (just as you would a magazine), and in exchange you receive a “share: of fresh local produce and/or eggs and meat. CSA’s are great in that by paying for your “share” in advance, you are helping farmers to cover some of their upfront costs. CSA’s will generally deliver to your door or provide a local pick up spot. The last way to purchase produce directly from small farms is through grocery stores (usually smaller ones) that carry produce from specific farms. Some groceries such as Bi-rite, will indicate next to the produce which farm the produce came from.

Each method has pros and cons. You will need to do research to find which method works best for you.  The one thing that remains the name from all of them is that buying produce from small farms is much better for you then buying produce that has not been locally sourced. Some of the benefits are:

  • More nutrients in the produce
  • Produce will last longer
  • Produced is usually grown without pesticides even though it may not be marked as “organic”. The “organic” seal is very expensive for small farmers to obtain so although their produce may actually be grown the same way as “organic” produce is, it does not have the “organic” title
  • More money spent in local economy
  • Produce is generally less $$ then in the stores
  • Good for the community
  • Can talk with the local farmers and best ways to cook and preserve the produce
  • You will try produce you never knew existed! Who knew that there were limequats, stinging nettles, and so many varieties of squash.

 

One more great reason to eat produce from local farms is that it ensures that you are only eating what is in season. Eating with the seasons is great, as you end up getting a wide range of nutrients from varying your produce intake.

 Here is a list of local farmers markets in the area:

Alemany Farmers’ Market (Mission/Bernal Heights) Saturdays: 6 a.m –3 p.m. 100 Alemany Blvd. 415-647-2043

Bayview Hunters Point Farmers’ Market (SOMA/Potrero Hill) Wednesdays: 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Bayview Opera House/Ruth Williams Memorial Theatre 4705 Third St. 415-824-0386

Castro Farmers’ Market (Castro) April 7-October 27, 2010 Wednesdays: 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Noe St. at Market St. 4705 Third St.

Crocker Galleria Farmers’ Market (Union Square/Financial District) Thursdays: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Crocker Galleria 50 Post St. 415-393-1505

Divisadero Farmers’ Market (Alamo Square) Sundays: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Grove St. at Divisadero

Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market (Embarcadero) Year-round Tuesdays: 10 a.m-2 p.m. Thursdays: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Ferry Building 1 Ferry Plaza 415-291-3276

Fillmore Farmers’ Market (Fillmore) Saturdays: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. O’Farrell at Fillmore, and Fillmore Center Plaza

Heart of the City Farmers’ Market (Civic Center) Year-round Wednesdays: 7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sundays: 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Market St. (between Seventh and Eighth streets) 415-558-9455

Inner Sunset Farmers’ Market (Inner Sunset) Year-round Sundays: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. In the parking lot between 8th and 9th Avenues, south of Irving St.

Kaiser Permanente Farmers’ Market (Richmond) Wednesdays: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 2425 Geary Blvd. Parking is available at the Kaiser Hospital Garage at 2190 O’Farrell St. 800-949-3276

Mission Community Market / Mercado Comunitario De La Mission (Mission) Thursdays: 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Bartlett St. at 22nd St.

Noe Valley Farmers’ Market (Noe Valley) Year-round Saturdays: 8 a.m -1 p.m., live music at 10 a.m. 3861 24th St. between Vicksburg and Sanchez streets 415-248-1332

Stonestown Farmers’ Market (Sunset) Year-round Sundays 9 a.m.–1 p.m. West side parking lot near Macy’s off Buckingham Way 415-564-8848

UCSF Farmers’ Market (Sunset) January 13-December 8, 2010 Wednesdays, 10 a.m-3 p.m. 505 Parnassus Ave.

Upper Haight Farmers’ Market (Upper Haight) April 28-October 27 , 2010 Wednesdays, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Waller St. at Stanyan St.

Fort Mason Farmers Market Sundays 9:30-1 38 Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) 561-4323

 Some CSA’s to look into

www.greenheartsfamilyfarm.com – I currently use this one and have love it!

www.mariquita.com/

www.eatwiththeseasons.com/

www.eatwell.com

 

I will be posting some great recipes made from food from my CSA boxes in weeks to come!

Rachel

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V-Day In Healdsburg

Posted on February 13, 2012 | 1 Comment
Ridge

Healdsburg is easily one of my favorite places to visit. I don’t know what it is about it, but every time I’m there, it makes me so happy.

This time around, G and I, along with two other couples, planned a V-Day getaway. We stayed in that Healdsburg Hotel on the square which we were very happy with (maybe because of the great brunch on the house :-) )

Friday night we ate at Spoon Bar in the H2 hotel. Spoon Bar is awesome. Its very casual and laid back, yet they have amazing food. I opted for the Chicory Salad and the grass fed burger with a size of dehydrated pepper chips.

Of course, I did not eat the bun since it’s not gluten free. Although its times like this, I wish I could eat it!

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning we headed over to J Bubly winery for a 6 course wine and food pairing. I couldn’t believe how accommodating they were about my GF and DF allergies. They custom-made me each dish, to make sure they were “Rachel friendly”.

After J, we went to the following wineries: Ridge, Dry Creel, Garage and Bella. Bella also had a wine and food pairing special for Valentines day.Let’s just say I wasn’t feeling too hot by the time I got home :-) . My poor husband had to take care of me.

For dinner that night we dined at Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg hotel. Dry Creek Kitchen is a Michelin star restaurant owned by chef Charlie Palmer. Again, the food was amazing. I had a salad to start, and G and I shared the chicken and steak for our entrees. For dessert, the waiter bought me out this:

A selection of dairy free sorbet including chocolate, cucumber and carrot flavors.

 

 

 

 

 

As if we didn’t have enough good eats, we ended our food fest with brunch at Bovolo on Sunday.

cute little puppy I found on the street

And that’s my weekend recap!

Happy V-day!

Rachel

 

 

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Juice to You SF

Posted on February 5, 2012 | 1 Comment

Any one who knows me, knows all to well about my love affair with juicing.

I used to make juices religiously with either my Breville juicer, or my newer shiner Omega 8006. That is until I heard of the Norwalk Press. The Norwalk press, unlike other more conventional juicers, is a slow process and preserves much more of the nutrients due to less oxidation. In addition, the juices can be stored for up to 3-4 days and still retain all the good stuff. Most people are not aware, but most juices you buy from deli’s or even juice bars, are made with centrifugal juicers. During the process of making juice in a centrifugal juicer, the juice loses nutrients through exposure to air, electricity, heat and light. These juices are meant to be consumed immediately. This makes it difficult to make juices ahead of time for juice fasts and what not.

New York City had a plethora of options for Norwalk pressed juices such as: The Juice Press, Liquiteria, Organic Avenue, etc. Unfortunately, San Francisco just has not caught on yet.

This past week I was hoping to do a 3 day juice fast. I called up four different juice bars/ juice cleanse delivery services in San Francisco, and all of them reported that they used centrifugal juicers. Finally I got in touch with Juice to You, who does in fact use a juice press! Yay.

I ordered the advanced juice cleanse  (mostly greens) on Tuesday for a Wed-Fri cleanse. A nice guy named Ben came by Wednesday morning to drop them off. Here is what came:

 

The juices were as amazing as I remember from my NYC spots. They were cold and fresh. In addition to the juices came 2 elixirs and an almond milk. Yum!

Truth be told, I didn’t actually stick to the cleanse. I had a hard week at work and needed some fuel to help me out. None the less, I got my greens for the month and I’m feeling good. I can’t wait to order again for when I can actually stick to it.

If your thinking about doing a juice cleanse, I would totally recommend Juice To You.

 

Rachel

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Samovar Tea Lounge

Posted on February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

Samovar Tea Lounge has quickly become one of my favorite spots to eat in San Francisco for a relaxing lunch, a casual dinner, or even just to do some work while drinking tea. They have 3 locations- one downtown on Howard Street, one close by to the Castro, and one on Paige Street near Hayes Valley. Lucky for me, on any given day, I am usually within 10 blocks of a Samovar. Needless to say, I have tried almost everything I am not allergic to on the menu (which by the way is marked with GF or V so I know exactly what is safe to eat!).

The first time I went to Samovar I was told I had to order the Paleo Tea Service, which if you are familiar with the Paleo Diet (aka caveman diet)  you would know has protein (in this case a choice of smoked duck or smoked wild salmon), vegetables (carrots, beats, and kale) and no grains. It also comes with a choice of fresh brewed teas. The second time I went I tried the Japanese Tea Service (lentil soup, brown rice, smoked salmon, seaweed salad and green tea), which is still my favorite thing on the menu.

 Today when I went, I tried something new…the tea soup. Sounds weird I know. The soup consists of a choice of duck, tofu or salmon, with rice veggies, wakame and shiitake mushrooms and a broth made of tea. It was yummmmmm…

From what I am told, the best thing on the menu is the rose infused greek yogurt. Fine..you got me…I  have tried a baby bite at the risk of having stomach issues and it was totally worth it!

In summary..Samovar is totally my cup of tea :-)

Good night!

Rachel

 

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Stacey’s Scrumptious Delights- San Francisco Organic/Vegan Food Delivery Service

Posted on January 26, 2012 | Leave a comment


Back in December I traveled to Palm Springs, CA, for my annual juice fasting retreat at the We Care Spa. The one thing I love about We Care, is the people I meet. We Care attracts people from all over the world, with all different cultures, but all with same common goal of wanting to be healthy and feel good.

This time around I met some pretty fabulous people including Stacey. Lucky for me, Stacey is from Oakland, a mere 20 minute drive from San Francisco. One night, while getting “drunk” off some juice, Stacey and I began talking about food. Go figure..what else is there to do while your fasting! Stacey told me about her love for cooking and her dream to have her own business one day. Upon hearing this news, the first thought that came to my head was “I would totally be a customer if Stacey was selling her home cooked food!”.

You see, Stacey like me, values organic ingredients and makes most of her food Vegan, which for me translates to dairy free. I immediately asked Stacey if she would consider allowing me to buy some of her home made food and if so, could she make things gluten free. All of a sudden, a big smile spread across her face and she said “of course”. I went back to my room that night hungrier then ever and couldn’t wait to get back to San Francisco to start my meal delivery service. As Stacey and I continued plotting the next day, another Bay Area local and her husband overheard the conversation and wanted in on Stacry’s new venture. Within 2 weeks of Stacey’s decision to move forward with her organic, vegan, food delivery service, another 3 people had already signed up through word of mouth.

Clearly there is a need for this kind of service. I was surprised when I made the move from NYC to SF, to find that there are many more options for vegan, organic and raw food in NYC then there are in San Francisco. Since moving here, I have only found a few places that offer healthy vegan food and juices that you can take on the go (cafe gratitude, the plant, and power source juice bar). While those are all great options, they are not within walking distance from me, and the times I’ve attempted a quick stop over to pick stuff up, I have not found parking. In contrast, New York has places like Carvan of areas, Gingersnap Cafe, The juice press, Organic Avenue, Liquiteria, Angelica Kitchen, and the list goes on and on.

This has only been my second week of receiving Stacey’s food. She is using me as one of her “guinea pigs” (which I’m happy to be!) to work out any kinks in operation. The first two weeks have been a total success. Stacey has received amazing feedback from all her little “pigs” around the Bay Area. Even my husband, who has no dietary restrictions, gobbled down her food and requested seconds both weeks. Below is the sample menu from last week and some pictures.

Curried Red Lentil Soup with sweet potatoes and Swiss chard. 8 oz. – $5 16 oz. – $8

Potato leek soup 8oz. – $5

Southwest Salad with black/pinto beans, red peppers, jicama, green onion, cucumber & cilantro. Served with the We Care Green Goddess dressing. $10 per serving

Sautéed Spinach, onion & sun dried tomato tart with almond flour crust. 1/2 tart (4 pieces) – $10 Full tart (8 pieces) – $18

Moroccan chick pea & butternut squash tagine with brown rice. $10 per serving

Raw Moroccan carrot salad with honey, garlic, spices. (this salad is so flavorful and delicious!) $6 per serving

Hummus/carrots – $6

Pineapple ginger elixir -$5 Home made hemp/almond milk – 16oz. – $3

Coconut raw balls – $1 Oatmeal cookies – $1

Another great thing about Stacey’s food delivery service is that all food is packaged in BPA free materials, meaning that she uses mostly all glass and paper for packaging.

view from my apartment while eating Stacey's food

If you are interested in signing up for Stacey’s Scrumptious Delights, leave a comment below with your email address, and you will be added to her mailing list with weekly menu options!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Rachel Lauren

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Resturant Review: Lunch at Crave on Polk Street

Posted on January 25, 2012 | 2 Comments

Hey all!

Hope your Tuesday is treating you well. I work as a school based therapist, which also means that I get out at 2:30 when schools out, which also means I get to go out to good lunches! Its not as good as it sounds as I usually have a ton of work to do when I get home. Regardless, by 2:30 I am certainly in need for my lunch!

Lucky for me, I  live close by to a fairly busy street, Polk Street. There are plenty of places to grab a good lunch, but my favorite happens to be Crave (Polk between Broadway and Vallejo). Crave is an awesome little cafe with outdoor seating, as well as free WiFi. They have a pretty good menu with all the basics: salads, sandwiches, and soups. The best thing about them, is they are super nice and accommodating. Being that I have tons of food allergies (gluten, dairy etc), they are very nice about swamping out items. For example, in the beet salad pictured above, I swapped out cheese for hummus at no charge. I also added Turkey for some protein for an addition $2.50, and as you can see from the picture, it was a really good amount.

Pictured above is the “got the beet” salad with pickled onions, beets and spiced walnuts. I also love the chopped salad (with no croutons) and the Greek salad. I’ve also heard their Roast Chicken Sandwich and the Morocco your World sandwich are amazing.

If your in the area definitely check out Crave!

Rachel

 

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Crunch Class Review- Killer X

Posted on January 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

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After breakfast, my hubby and I headed over to try a class at crunch gym on Polk st.- Killer X Training (one hour long class). The class is designed to be boot camp style and was taught by an ex football player; Ben B. Ben had clearly taken some of his old football drills and incorporated them into Killer X. We started with some cardio moves including fast feet to get our heart rate up. Next, he split the class of 40 people (craziness) into 2 groups and then each side into 6 shorter lines. We were given moves (squat jumps, plank walks etc) to do in a face off style with the person across from us. We then moved on to using weights for arm exercises in a 4 move circuit, which of course included a cardio set. Last but not least was good ol’ abs.

The class was a little packed for my liking but overall was a great workout. G wore his heart rate monitor (more on that later!) and burnt a crazy 755 calories in 55 minutes! Although crunch is not the fanciest of gyms, I do think they offer the best classes out of any gyms I’ve joined, and definitely the youngest crowd. I’m looking forward to trying more classes. I have the all access pass so watch out!

After the “Killer” workout, we headed over to the Alemany farmers market where we treated our selves to tacos and sopes at the el hoarache local Mexican cart. Spicy and amazing! The rest of the farmers market however was a huge disappointment.

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Restaurant Review : Garibaldi’s

Posted on January 22, 2012 | 1 Comment

Me again! Last night the boy and I went out with two of our favorite friends in the city, Jordan and Mike. Like us, they recently moved out west from NYC. I met Jordan through a series of weird coincidences ( if you consider wearing the same wedding dress, using the same videographer, moving to SF, and having a good family friend in common important coincidences). Anyway, Jordan, like me, is a big foodie and is big on eating organic and local as much as possible. Considering she has 2 years on me living in SF, I usually leave the reservations up to her.

This time around she chose a neighborhood joint she has been to before- Garibaldi’s. Upon first glance at the menu online, I knew I would love this place. Moreover, there were plenty of GF and dairy free options for moi. Always a plus!

Dinner turned out to be nothing short of amazing! Jordan and I both ordered the delicious slow roasted carrots with lemon and honey and shared the roasted pumpkin hummus to start. The boys on the other hand went for something a little heavier- Risotto Croquettes. Yumm. For dinner I ordered the Garibaldi salad topped with beets. I was still full from my 6 PM snack so opted for something light. The one dish worth noting were the short ribs Michael ordered. I helped myself to a bite and pretty much stared at his plate the remainder of the meal. Of course our night would not be complete with out dessert! Lucky for me they had a dairy free apple sorbet. Jordan and Michael went to town on a chocolate gelato with caramel mouse. 20120121-162935.jpg 20120121-162945.jpg 20120121-162957.jpg

Garibaldi… I’ll see you again soon!

Rachel

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Saturday Morning Breakfast- taking out the pancake pan

Posted on January 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

Happy Saturday! My day started with a bit of a disaster- spilled my coffee all over our new mattress and sheets. It’s being soaked up right now by a homemade baking soda vinegar solution, so we shall see! I decided to make breakfast for me and my hubby to make up for the coffee disaster. I finally reached into our cabinets and pulled out this interesting looking pancake pan we got for our wedding.

I looked around to see what we had and decided on a oatmeal based recipe . The recipe was as follows:

Gluten Free Oat pancakes

-1 cup GF oatmeal

- 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white

-1/2 tsp bourbon vanilla from Trader Joes

-2 droppers of stevia -1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/8 tsp baking soda

-enough almond milk to thin it out a bit

Blend in a blender or with a food processor until the mixture is smooth.

I also used banana as the surprise filling!

I poured the mixture into the pan one at a time. Be careful not to fill to high or they become hard to flip. Plus you want to leave room for the filling. After about 3 minutes mine were reading to flip ( I used these sticks that came with the pan). Before I flipped them I put a thick slice of banana and cinnamon in each. After I flipped them they only took another 2 minutes max to be finished. They turned out to be amazing! They sort of resembled a munchkin doughnut. They were thick and slightly gooey. We covered them with agave and some almond butter.

Off to workout at crunch!

Rachel

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