For more information on this project, see my introductory post.
Breakfast
Coffee, Blue Bottle Coffee Company (Roaster in Oakland, beans from all over)
English Muffin, Sconehenge Bakery (Berkeley)
Almond Butter, Full Belly Farm (Capay Valley)
Pomegranate Jelly, courtesy of Elise (Sacramento area)
Soy Milk, Silk Soy (national brand)
We have Sconehenge english muffins in our house all the time ... mostly because Jason loves them. I like them because they are made by a local producer, and they are fluffy and taste good. I don't know anything else about the ingredients they use.
Almond butter is another thing I stock because of J. He is addicted to it. As anyone who knows about almond butter will tell you, it ain't cheap. And then organic almond butter is even more expensive. I bought a large jar from Lagier Ranch (organic) yesterday at the farmer's market for a whopping $13! I was really happy to find Full Belly's a couple of months ago at the Marin Farmer's Market (Thursdays) because it is $8, I believe. The price difference is because they are transitioning to organic. No matter - Full Belly is a local farm that I know and love, and I will buy anything from them - organic or not. And who can resist that happy Buddha logo?
I had a surprise this winter when the famous Elise dropped off a care package for me that included apple butter and pomegranate jelly. I didn't open the jelly until a couple weeks ago and it is delicious. Check out the recipe on her site if you want to re-create. Extra bonus points on this one, as Elise was the grower, the harvester and the jelly maker!
My real downfall this meal was with the Silk Soy Milk. To me, Silk / White Wave is like the Coca-cola of the soy milk industry. They are ubiquitous and owned by the ginormous Dean Foods. I did a soy milk tasting about a year ago to find a local source that I like, but nothing won out over Silk's unsweetened soy milk. On the plus side, they're organic.
Lunch
Bento Box, Super Mira (San Francisco)
Strawberry popsicle, FrutStix (Santa Barbara)
I don't know much about what was in the bento box, or where it came from. The bento boxes are made fresh in the store, but nothing gave me information about the ingredients. As a side note, the Japanese stores in town are a good, random place to find organic items. They seem to have quite a few usually.
In looking at the FrutStix box, I think that I need to find a better source of popsicles. Popsicles are a must in this household. The FrutStix popsicles are okay as they don't have many added ingredients and are mostly fruit. But I don't know anything about their ingredients. On the plus side, it seems to be a fairly small company and is local-ish.
Dinner
Rancho Gordo Beans - Ojo de Cabra (Sacramento Delta) prepared with onion (plain ol' non-organic onion) and carrot (Heirloom Organics, Panoche).
Lamb Chops (Golden Gate Meat Company, origin unknown)
Salad with greens from Heirloom Organics, herbs from Eatwell Farm (Winters), cucumbers from Happy Quail (E. Palo Alto), red onion from Balkanian Farm.
Crisps made with stale Acme bread (San Francisco).
Overall, dinner was pretty good. The lamb chops I know are antibiotic-free, but I bought them in a hurry the other day and am not sure of their origin. I can count on one hand the number of times I have bought lamb at Golden Gate Meat Company, and this was one of them. I think it's about the equivalent of purchasing from Whole Foods -- fairly good, but not as good as, say Highland Hills.
