So I'm a week into the Green City Market Localvore Challenge and doing well. I've been able to find really good, in-season fruits and vegetables without spending a small fortune and the meats I stockpiled over the summer in the freezer are coming into good use. I've also been surprisingly creative with my daily menus. For example, yesterday I was hard-pressed for a breakfast idea and didn't want to resort to the standard bacon-and-eggs. more ›

Truth be told, I agree somewhat with what Michael Morowitz wrote about the Green City Market Localvore Challenge. Morowitz wrote: more ›

Leading off with some localvore challenge items while taking inventory of the fridge and pantry for what we need to buy: more ›

Tomorrow is the start of the annual Green City Market Localvore Challenge, where market regulars who partake in the challenge must commit to eating only locally produced food. more ›

After a week of following the Green City Market Localvore Challenge, Chicagoist is feeling pretty good. OK, we admit that yesterday’s brunch at Prairie Grass Café made up of local products (chicken from Country Cottage Farm, braised greens from Kinnikinnick Farms, corn, roasted peppers, mashed potatoes, Wisconsin cheese, grilled pears, grapes, raspberry ice cream) definitely ended things on a high note. But even before we got to try co-chefs/owners Sarah Stegner and George Bumbaris’ flavorful... more ›

Our fourth day of the Green City Market Localvore Challenge went something like this: Chicagoist once again had some wonderful local eggs from Country Cottage Farm with mushrooms and onions for breakfast; for lunch, we took a beef patty from Heartland Meats (Chicagoist likes that since Piedmontese beef is lower in fat, it cooks in about 1/3 less time—hey, it was 3 p.m.; we were hungry!) and mixed it up with some mushrooms and added some chopped basil from our new plant (see photo); and for dinner, we took one of those sprouted wheat tortillas from Tiny Greens Kitchen we bought at Green City Market and topped it with some Wisconsin cheese and tomatoes, put it in the broiler with more of that fresh basil and—voila!—pizza. Throw in an apple or two and it was a great food day. more ›

In case you hadn’t noticed, Chicagoist was a little cranky yesterday morning. After our second full day of the Green City Market Localvore Challenge, with our ‘allowed’ food pretty much gone, we were feeling a bit deprived. Once again, the feeling of only wanting what we can’t have was rearing its ugly head. Plus, we couldn’t shake the fact that if we knew how to really cook (sorry mom!) our localvore lives would be a... more ›

Here’s a question for you: If politicians can use the “I didn’t inhale” line when asked about past drug use and the military can hide behind its “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” slogan, can localvores get away with eating non-local foods if they don’t swallow? OK, mind out of the gutter, please, and Chicagoist isn’t referring to the chew-and-spit diet featured on a Sex in the City episode. Instead, what we were hoping was to get... more ›

Yesterday was full of firsts: we cooked breakfast and lunch at the same time (brown bagging), went to Whole Foods and didn’t have even one tiny free sample, and managed to pass the entire day eating only local food minus “exceptions” (see below). And we're craving chocolate, which isn’t any big news, except that this is only day one of Green City Market’s Localvore Challenge, and we have six more to go. If you’re haven’t... more ›