A former high school teacher, I'm currently a part-time writer/full-time doctoral student at the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities, studying leadership in education from a critical pedagogy perspective along with public policy. On the green side, I'm interested in local food and agriculture (Iowa girl, born and raised), sustainability education, DIY projects, and grassroots activism. I'm slowly turning my South City, St Louis home into an urban farmstead. On the hoping-to-be-greener side, I love reading, yoga, soccer, music, backpacking, knitting, pop culture and trivia, my Tuesday Night Dinner Club, traveling, Guitar Hero, dive bars, and sitting on front porches with my husband and a cold beer. I came to Green Options via a post on Sustainablog,working the St Louis angle to get Jeff to let me in. I have a personal blog chronicling (what else?) life in South St. Louis. Follow me on Twitter!
You may have seen some brown, knobby tubers at your local farmers market recently. No, that’s not ginger, they’re sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, but they’re really nothing like artichokes. They’re actually a member of the sunflower family and have a texture that’s is a cross between a potato and a water chestnut. And, …
Remember not long ago, when Megan Prusynski wrote about better-for-you snacks and treats in her post, “My Top Ten Quick, Healthy, Sustainable Snacks“? And Sharon Troy wrote “Seven Eco-Friendly Options For Less Junky Junk Food“? These two showed you can make whole foods-based snacks (or at least buy organic snacks at Whole Foods). How about …
We’ve recently joined the whole urban homesteading movement and one thing I’ve been focused on is trying to really up the ante on having a low-waste, self-producing kitchen. I’ve concentrated on wasting less and producing more with local and/or homegrown ingredients. Repurposing waste–finding new ways to use things that would end up composted, recycled, or …
Six Free Ways To Turn Kitchen Trash Into Treasure Read More 👉
I whipped up three vegan cheeze sauces to see if they could find a place in my regular repertoire of recipes.
I’ve got a love-hate relationship with Whole Foods. On one hand, I like having organic products of all kinds available for my kitchen. I love their cheese counter (being a cheesemonger is my fantasy dream job!) and the specialty products I can find there that I can’t find anywhere else. On the other hand, it’s …
I’m enjoying a long-overdue family vacation in northern Minnesota, home to real wild rice. Pssst…here’s a secret: most “wild rice” you find in your local grocery store is not, in fact, wild rice. Taste the real stuff, and you’ll know that a certain orange-bagged “rice” is nothing like the nutty goodness of wild rice. To …
Last week I wrote about no/low-cal ways to dress up your water, providing you with variety when you need hydration the most. But what about when the summer heat is so hot, you don’t even feel like a meal? My husband and I play tennis every morning, and a berry smoothie is perfect before or …
Need Cooling? Berry Smoothie Recipes Hit The Spot Read More 👉
It’s getting hot in St Louis. Not just hot, but stiflingly humid. It’s impossible to not sweat. It’s days like this where it’s more important than ever to remain hydrated, but plain water just doesn’t cut it sometimes, and it doesn’t have to. You don’t need to turn to a HFCS-laden soda to find a …
Five Refreshing, No-Calorie Ways To Dress Up Water Read More 👉
Trying to live a meat-free life is difficult when you have a decidedly carnivorous, culinarily-unadventurous husband. Don’t get me wrong, my husband is down for meatless meals, but sometimes his less-than-ambitious palate gets tired of pasta (and I get tired of cooking the same “safe” flavor combinations). Many nights we end up eating out, mainly …
Five Tips for Eating Out For Meat-Free and Meat-Friendly Couples Read More 👉
Eating seasonally is getting easier as the weather warms and the produce picks up. Need a quick, go-to reference for eating seasonally? Find it, after the jump…
An early spring produce cult-fave with the foodies, ramps have been popping up all over the food blogosphere. The wild leek, a member of the allium family, tastes like a cross between garlic and onion and is snatched up at farmers markets by cooks craving fresh veggies after a long winter. I combed food blogs …
In another move towards sustainable practices in the restaurant industry, Chipotle Mexican Grill, the fast-casual chain famous for oversized burritos made with fresh ingredients, recently started buying sustainably-raised pork from Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm in Chipotle’s Charlottesville, VA stores. Chipotle projects that Polyface will be able to supply 100% of the pork needed for the …
Chipotle Partners With Polyface For Sustainable Burritos Read More 👉
Spring is here! If you’re eating seasonally, these five spring veggies and fruits are unmissable.
