The Green Mama
The Common Cup
Kiddos and Books

I had the pleasure of meeting Manda, the Green Mama herself, a few weeks ago at the Rogers Park branch of the Chicago Public Library system. The Green Mama offers “education and consulting services [that] helps individuals and businesses keep children safe, live green within a budget, and enjoy a more eco-conscious lifestyle.” Besides consulting with individual families, day care centers, and businesses on all things green, Manda also publishes a blog and writes and researches on green issues. Manda is currently running a series at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on Tuesday mornings. It’s called Green Mama Cafe, and the series covers topics like cloth diapering, baby wearing, breastfeeding, green parenting, and green cooking, among others. If you’re near Lincoln Park on a Tuesday morning between now and May 5th, make sure you stop by and hear what Manda has to say. You won’t be sorry!

The Common Cup is an independently owned coffee shop in the lovely neighborhood of Rogers Park. And, as if serving really yummy coffee and having incredibly nice baristas working there wasn’t enough, the owners of the common cup are also dedicated to both building and giving back to the community. One really neat way the Common Cup gives back to the Rogers Park neighborhood is by donating the contents of each month’s tip jar to a “local, non-profit organization that serves the citizens of Rogers Park.” Jude and I (and Josh, if he’s not working) have been going to the Common Cup on Saturday mornings to take part in the most ass-kicking story time I have ever been to. Speaking of which…

Kiddos and Books is a blog run by Nadine, the incredible woman who organizes story time (or, “Stories with Nadine”) at the Common Cup on Saturday mornings. Nadine might just be the most joyful woman I’ve ever met. She’s expressive and… oh… oozing with happiness whenever we see her. She knows (nearly) all the children by name, sings hello and goodbye to each and every one of them, and really makes reading exciting. Saturday mornings are really the highlight of my weekends these days. If you’re in Rogers Park and haven’t been to Stories with Nadine, I suggest you make it a priority to get there next Saturday. If you’re not local, check out Kiddos and Books for some great reading suggestions and book reviews.

Orangette
Cook, Sister!
Closet Cooking

Yes, I realize that I’m highlighting three foodie blogs again, but hey! I love food!

Orangette is written by a woman named Molly. She only updates her blog about once a week, but her posts are all about quality. Molly has a fantastic writing style, takes amazing photos, and cooks fantastic dishes. I recently tried her recipe for Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes, and oh my word, they were to die for. Take a few minutes and check out her site. You won’t be disappointed. Promise.

Cook, Sister! is authored by Jeanne, a South African woman who currently lives in London. Jeanne’s blog, like Molly’s, is incredibly well-written and features amazing photos and recipes. Last week I made Jeanne’s Ratatouille Bake with Feta and impressed my husband, son, and friend Scott with my mad cooking skillz. This is one recipe everyone (yes, everyone!) should try. Yum!

Kevin in Toronto pens Closet Cooking. Like the authors featured today, Kevin is not only an incredible cook, but he’s also a fantastic photographer. His photos make me want to reach my hand through my monitor and grab whatever it is he has recently made (even the meaty stuff!). I haven’t tried and of Kevin’s recipes yet, but look forward to trying my hand at some of his dishes in the near future.

So, there you go. Three wonderful foodie blogs for you to check out. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Veggie Meal Plans
Limes & Lycopene
Have Cake, Will Travel!

I know it’s a short list this week, but these three blogs are brimming with delicious recipes and fantastic advice on nutrition and healthy eating, so I didn’t want to overload you, my faithful reader(s).

Veggie Meal Plans is written by a woman named Cassie Young. She also does all of the photography on her site. I have never seen such beautiful looking dishes as the ones Cassie has created. Her website is stunning as well; I love it’s layout, it’s color scheme, and the way it functions. This week I’ll be trying out Cassie’s recipes for Falafels with Pitas, Veggies and Tahini Dressing (though I’m going to use garbanzo beans instead of lima beans), Penne with Zucchini and Sun-dried Tomato and Pumpkin Seed Pesto, and Breakfast/Snack Bars. I’ve been spending a bunch of my free time perusing Cassie’s archives. She has a ton of great recipes listed. You should go (right now!) and check them out… you won’t be disappointed!

Limes & Lycopene is blog that focuses on nutrition and health. It’s written by Kathryn Elliott who is a nutritionist and an herbalist. Kathryn does an excellent job of making her readers think about what they eat and why. She also does a great job of inspiring them to challenge and better themselves. During the month of August, Kathryn posted one task per day to round out her series entitled 31 Ways to a Better Diet. Since I just stumbled on Kathryn’s blog over this past week, I was unable to partake in the challenge during it’s official time line; however, there’s nothing stopping me from doing it now! Tomorrow will be Day 1 of the challenge for me. I’ll be blogging my progress each day, so stay tuned for that. You can see a list of all 31 tasks here.

Finally, Have Cake, Will Travel! is a vegan food blog. I can’t count how many yummy looking desserts I’ve seen listed on HCWT!; there are simply too many for my public school educated mind to compute. One thing I love about HCWT! is its recipes page. I love digging around on blogs to see what I can find, but sometimes having a nice list right there in front of you is helpful, too.

I hope you enjoy these sites as much as I do! Cheers!

VegPeople
Halftime Lessons
Jimmy John’s
Baby Legs
Willow Toys

VegPeople is a vegetarian/vegan online community. I haven’t poked around their forum much yet, but I love their recipe index. This week, Josh and I are going to try the baked zucchini, eggplant, and tomato casserole recipe that’s listed on their site. (Watch for this week’s What’s For Dinner post early tomorrow morning!)

Halftime Lessons is a blog I stumbled upon a few days ago. It’s written by a man named Jay, and I really like his writing style. He’s funny and intelligent and witty. You should check him out. Yes! You!

Jimmy John’s is the best fucking sub shop ever. EVER. They use really fresh ingredients and assemble the “subs so fast you’ll freak.” Josh and I thought we had died and gone to heaven when we discovered a Jimmy John’s only 0.4 miles from our house. In the past three weeks, we’ve eaten there far too many times for me to admit.

I discovered Baby Legs a few months before Jude was born and bought a pair for him before the cold weather hit. Baby Legs are essentially leg warmers for babies (though the official Baby Legs site shows them being worn by babies and adults alike). You know how there’s that inevitable gap between where baby’s pants end and his socks begin when he/she is riding in a carrier (or in a car seat)? Well, Baby Legs cover that gap, keeping baby’s legs nice and warm. Baby Legs also help keep the chill out during cold-weather diaper changes and protect the crawling baby’s knees from hard floors. I hope Jude will tolerate wearing them again this winter. They’re really some of the cutest baby accessories I’ve seen.

Lastly, Willow Toys offers a wide variety of Waldorf-inspired toys for children. They are a home-based business and offer free shipping on all the items they sell. I LOVE Willow Toys’ wooden kitchen sets, and hope that Josh and I can swing getting Jude the Willow Kitchen set for his birthday in May (shhh! Mum’s the word!).

No time to ready my witty and enlightening commentary? Here’s a list of the sites I’m talking about today:

Green City Market
Growing Home
Bleeding Heart Bakery
Oz Park
Oyin Homemade

Every Saturday morning, Josh, Jude, and I get up early and head down to the Green City Market. This place is really great. Not only can you find fresh fruit and vegetables here, but you can also get fresh flowers and herbs, free-range and organic eggs, and raw milk and cheese. Oh! And don’t forget the scones!

We always go to Growing Home’s stand first when we get to the market. We try to buy as much as we can from their stand because both Josh and I really like what it is their farm aims to do. From their website:

“Growing Home provides job training for homeless and low-income individuals in Chicago through a social enterprise business based on organic agriculture.”

I know I’ve mentioned it a few times over the past week or so, but the Bleeding Heart Bakery is simply the awesomest bakery ever. I have yet to visit the actual bakery site, but as I’ve mentioned three or four times before, Jude and I visit their stand at the Green City Market on a weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) basis.

Oz Park plays host to our playground of choice here in the Windy City. Jude LOVES climbing up the slides and running around barefoot on the rubber ground at Oz Park (the soft ground makes for a few less bruises, and trust me, we need that).

Finally, Oyin Handmade. I heard about this company on the Mothering forums I frequent. I haven’t tried any of their products yet, but my birthday is November 6th, so who knows! I’m really interested to try Oyin’s Grand ‘Poo Bar, their Funk Butter, and their Head-to-toe Honey Wash.

Be By Baby is an attachment parenting shop. They offer some really neat monthly groups (for free!) and some really awesome weekly classes (for a fee).

A Fresh Squeeze (Chicago Edition) is a website that compiles information for green and simple living in the city. A lot of the articles and information on a Fresh Squeeze are Chicago-specific, but they also have a hearty handful of green ideas for people living all over.

“Newleaf Natural Grocery is dedicated to providing an affordable alternative to overpriced organic produce by offering weekly organic produce boxes at the lowest cost available.” This grocery store looks really great, and according to googlemaps, it’s only 5.7 miles from where we will be living! If I need to work while we’re in Chicago, I would love to get a job at New Leaf.

We’ll be shopping at Urbanimal for the fur-kids. This place offers a ton of high-quality animal food. We’re going to switch the boys over to Solid Gold cat food since we can get it at Urbanimal.

iGo Car Sharing might be the coolest idea since sliced bread. I’m sure I’ve said it before, but being able to get rid of our car is one of the things I’m most looking forward to with this move to Chicago. That being said, I think it’s inevitable that we’re going to need a car every now and again. With iGo Car Sharing, you can rent a low-emission car for a few hours (or a few days-you pick!), and you don’t even have to pay for gas! You don’t need to join any club or anything, and their rates are really reasonable.

Finally, the Noble Tree coffee house. Josh and I went to the Noble Tree when we visited Lincoln Park in April. This place is really neat, and it brews really good coffee. I’m really looking forward to making this place one of our regular haunts.