Green Parent Chicago

The Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown

Top vegan chefs from around the city will compete in the first ever Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown to win the coveted title of "Best Vegan Chef", while raising charitable funds for farmed animal protection.

The contest will be held Saturday July 23 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Funky Buddha Lounge at 728 West Grand Ave. The all ages event is open to the public. There is no admission fee, but there is a $1 suggested donation for each sample. Funds raised will go to benefit Mercy for Animals, a Chicago based animal advocacy organization.

The event is being organized by Upton's Naturals, a locally based producer of all natural foods specializing in vegan/vegetarian meat alternatives. Twenty individual chefs, or teams of chefs (three people maximum per team) will face off for the Best Vegan Chef title.

Each chef, or team, will be expected to create a dish using Upton’s Naturals seitan. The winner will be determined by the people's choice: whichever chef or team sells the most samples, wins. The top three chefs will also win products from Chicago’s favorite vegan-friendly restaurants and businesses.

There is a $25 entry fee per chef or team of chefs, and entry to the competition closes July 7. Each chef or team will be provided with complimentary Upton's Naturals seitan, but must provide the other ingredients and methods to keep their food warm or cold.  For more information or to enter to compete, email [email protected].

-photo credit: Upton's Naturals

Little Locavores: Strawberries: Salsa Style!

Tomorrow I'll be at Green City Market making Strawberry Salsa with the Sprouts. Even if you're busy or too far away to make it, I still want to get you the recipe. It's a quick recipe to brighten up a weeknight dinner.

Seedling's weekly email proclaims that this is the strawberry's peak week. To celebrate this, we're eating strawberries every day: in our cereals, in our yogurt, in our smoothies, and in our salsa. Salsa? Yes, salsa. With a bit of red tomato, it partners well with grilled chicken, fish tacos, and even chips. Get it while you can.


Paired with Fish Tacos

Strawberry Salsa
Makes approximately 1 ½ cups

¾ cup strawberries, cut into small dice
½ tomato, cut into small dice
2 tablespoons diced red onion
¼ Serrano chile, minced
1 tablespoon cilantro or mint, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lime juice

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve with chips or as a sauce for fish or chicken.

-Melissa Graham is a former attorney and chef and owner of Monogramme Events & Catering, a boutique catering company specializing in seasonal and sustainable cuisine. She's also president and founder of Purple Asparagus, a non-profit dedicated to bringing families back to the table by promoting and enjoying all the things associated with good eating. When she’s not in the kitchen or the classroom, you can often find Melissa shopping at the Green City Market where she serves as the membership chair.

 

EarthTalk: Spray Sunscreen Convenience Over Safety

Dear EarthTalk: Isn’t spray sunscreen a health and environmental nightmare when it seems that more of the sunscreen ends up going up my nose than on the kid at the beach next to me? -- Lillian Robertson, Methuen, MA

Spray cans of sunscreen may no longer contain chlorofluorocarbons (also known as CFCs, which were phased out in the 1990s for causing holes in the stratospheric ozone layer), but many contain other chemicals that are no good for our health or the environment. Researchers have found that the chemicals and/or minerals in the vast majority of commercially available sunscreens—even the rub-in creamy or oily varieties—can cause health problems just from ordinary use; inhaling them only magnifies the risks.

And just what are the risks? According to the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG), there are two major types of sunscreens available in the U.S. “Chemical” sunscreens, the more common kind, penetrate the skin and may disrupt the body’s endocrine system, as their active ingredients (e.g., octylmethylcinnamate, oxybenzone, avobenzone, benzophone, mexoryl, PABA or PARSOL 1789) mimic the body’s natural hormones and as such can essentially confuse the body’s systems. Quite a risk to take, considering that the chemical varieties don’t even work for very long once applied.

Meanwhile, “mineral” sunscreens are considered somewhat safer, as their active ingredients are natural elements such as zinc or titanium. But “micronized” or “nano-scale” particles of these minerals can get below the skin surface and cause allergic reactions and other problems for some people. EWG recommends sticking with “mineral” sunscreens whenever possible but, more important, taking other precautions to avoid prolonged sun exposure altogether. “At EWG we use sunscreens, but we look for shade, wear protective clothing, and avoid the noontime sun before we smear on the cream,” the group reports.

As for spray varieties, EWG recommends avoiding them entirely: “These ingredients are not meant to be inhaled into the lungs.” With so little known about the effects of sunscreen chemicals on the body when rubbed into the skin, we may never know how much worse the effects may be when they are inhaled. But suffice it to say: When your neighbor at the beach is spraying down Junior, it’s in your best interest to turn away and cover your nose and mouth.

The root of the problem, according to EWG, is failure on the part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), despite repeated requests from public health and consumer advocates, to implement sunscreen safety standards, some of which were proposed by government scientists more than three decades ago.

EWG only considers a small percentage of the sunscreens on the market—none of which come packaged in spray cans—safe for human use. Some of the top rated varieties come from manufacturers including All Terrain, Aubrey Organics, Badger, Blue Lizard, California Baby, La Roche-Posay, Purple Prairie Botanicals, thinksport, and UV Natural. None of the mainstream drug store variety brands appear on EWG’s recommended list. The full list is available on the sunscreens section of EWG’s Skin Deep website. With summer now upon us, stock up on good sunscreen before it’s too late.

CONTACT: Skin Deep, www.ewg.org/skindeep.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: [email protected]. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

-photo credit: Thinkstock

The June Chicago Kidical Mass Bike Ride & Cupcakes!

We have a great Kidical Mass ride almost every month of the year in Chicago, on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Generally the ride departs from Palmer Square to a location not too far away, usually one that ends at a park or playground.  This month’s ride had a bonus stop scheduled so everyone had two playgrounds to check out.  Our household was a little late getting out the door though, so we headed off to a playground on the west side of Humbolt Park that was to be the final destination, to meet up with the rest of the ride.

Riding around the lagoons in Humbolt Park, towing a bike with our Yuba Mundo

It also happened to be my birthday weekend, so Andrew surprised me with a couple of dozen (!!) delicious cupcakes from Bleeding Heart Bakery to share with everyone at the ride!  I put the cupcakes in this awesome picnic basket that we own,  to transport them to the park.  I must have subconsciously bought this basket years ago in anticipation of owning this bike because they looked so lovely together.

 

After we had arrived and unloaded, the parade of bikes started to arrive!

 

Book Review: The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking

Austinite blogger Kate Payne's new book "The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking" (Harper Design 2011) is a fun and easy read for anyone looking to add a bit more fancy to their frugality and learn some simple DIY skills for "decorating, dining and the gratifying pleasures of self-sufficiency on a budget".

The author tackles topics like simple hand sewing, bread making, canning, eco-friendly house cleaning, cooking, entertaining, gardening and fix-it projects around the home. Whether that home is a spacious bungalow or a tiny high-rise studio, it's important to celebrate that space. As Payne writes:

"it's cool to have a cool house. It's damn gratifying to throw down a loaf of homemade bread with your own home-preserved blueberrry jam. Because feeling in control in your own house does wonders for every instance when you're not under that sweet roof."

This book would make a great gift for a wannabe domestic goddess (or god) looking for advice on how to outfit a first apartment or someone seeking to impress their friends with all their new found knowledge of how to reuse, revamp and recycle thrift, vintage and flea market finds.

Even a more experienced modern "homemaker" looking for fresh ideas and inspiration should certainly find something useful in Payne's no-nonsense, straightforward guide filled with plenty of interesting projects, links and resources.

-Christine

 

 

 

We Have a New Bike! Welcome the Yuba Mundo!

We weren’t really planning on buying another bike, but we have been trying to figure out how we were going to continue to ride everywhere we want as a family.  With Little Ding riding his own bike instead of being towed in the bike trailer, we’ve been enjoying family rides in which we all ride together, but have been frustrated because now we can’t ride as far- he is not able to put in the same miles that we can.  We loved riding to the zoo for example, but that’s too far for him.

We had already considered a variety of  family cargo bikes but we’ve been limited by price as well as by storage. We live on the 2nd floor and do not have garage space.   No bakfiets, Madsens, Christianias, or other sorts of box-style cargo bikes would be suitable for us.  At a couple of the Kidical Mass rides we watched as one parent pulled up on an Xtracycle with her’s child’s toddler bike tucked into one of the side pockets. Brilliant!  But Little Ding’s bike is larger than a toddler bike, and has the two extra fat-tire ‘training’ wheels, and we weren’t sold on the Xtracycle for various reasons.

The Big Dummy wasn’t too bad, but a little pricey and not as upright a bike as Mr. Ding wanted – his wrists are having a harder and harder time with his hybrid.    Overall we wanted something solid that could haul a heavy rider as well as lots of cargo,  allow a disabled rider to ride in the back, tow a kid’s bike, and not be too expensive. Then someone reminded us that J.C. Lind Bike Company here in Chicago was now carrying Yuba Mundos! Ding Ding!

The blue Yuba after Mr. Ding's rainy test ride

 

We stopped by the bike store on Wells street on a rainy Saturday afternoon and checked out some of the bikes in the store and Mr. Ding headed out for an initial test ride.

Mr. Ding takes a Yuba Mundo out for a test ride while the Van Moof bike looks on

 

The Yuba is 6ft 9 inches long – not your standard-length bike.  A steel bike made to haul 440 lbs of cargo plus a rider, it is the strongest in terms of the load it can carry,  of all the longtail cargo bikes.  The rear rack can hold 2 child seats, along with grocery bags on each side.   Here’s one in the store configured with two different kinds of child seats for riders of different ages.

 

Learnapalooza: A Free Summer Learning and Skill Sharing Festival

 
A day long learning festival with free workshops for adults and families will be held Saturday, June 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A limited number of workshops will also be held Sunday in various locations around the city, times to be announced .

The second annual Learnapalooza is sponsored in part by The Wicker Park Art Center and WPB, the Special Service Area for the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. The event will include 100 free workshops across Wicker Park, led by neighbors, business owners, and community residents.

A list of workshop topics being offered this year are:

ballet, stomp, hip hop, improv, international folk dance, digital photography, knitting, jump rope, knitting, public speaking, belly dance, traveling lightly, green for less green, Office 2011 tips and tricks, effective communication, client management for dummies, how to be an artist, inspiration and creativity, guitar maintenance, still life drawing, comic drawing, earring making, self publishing, beer tasting, how to make gnocchi, sausage or sandwiches, economics and land tax, comics making, fair trade, sustainable transportation, neighborhood architecture tour, Bollywood dancing, martial arts, how to get into business school, how to be a lawyer in 45 minutes, bee keeping, social media, community organizing, salsa dancing, music theory, color theory, worm composting, car maintenance, and backgammon.

Learnapalooza is a volunteer-organized event run in partnership with CommuniTeach, a website that makes it easy to learn from your neighbors for free throughout the year. Visit www.learnapaloozachi.com for updated event information, to see the current list of classes and venues or to sign up to teach a workshop.

-Christine