Ingredients are Key!

If you love to cook, enjoy trying new and exciting recipes, and appreciate the joy it brings to others, you know that the quality of your ingredients can make or break your meal. The same is true at your favorite restaurants. You can pretty quickly determine a good restaurant from a so-so or poor restaurant by considering a few simple questions. 1. Where do they source the meat and veggies? Are they locally grown. 2. Does the chef know the farmers and how the food is raised? 3. How are items described on the menu? Do they make mention of Grass-fed, Organically raised, or anything about the origin of the food? Answers to these simple questions will tell you a lot about the care that goes into procuring meat and produce for the meal you're about to eat. So, back in your own kitchen - how do you know about the ingredients you use? Are you a regular at the local farmer's market? Do you enjoy picking through the produce to find the very best from the most knowledgeable, regenerative farm? If so, you know the difference. Much of what passes for food in big chain grocery stores is grown hastily with lots of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, not to mention that some of it is genetically modified. Produce is often harvested before it's ripe and treated with Ethylene and Nitrogen to speed the ripening process. Raising food quickly beyond nature's constraints does not allow food to mature naturally. Combined with soil depletion, you get food with far fewer nutrients and flavor. Fruits and vegetables look beautiful in the store, but they're often bland and boring. If the bugs won't touch them, maybe we should consider alternatives too.

This is where farmer's markets and home gardens excel. A small little container garden, or a few raised beds can allow a home chef to produce some of the tastiest fruits and vegetables imaginable. Many young people have never had a garden ripened tomato. There really is no comparison. You won't find a tastier complement to a grass-fed burger than a garden ripened heirloom beefsteak variety tomato. They aren't always pretty. In fact, they are sometimes a bit on the ugly side, but they are a must have for a home gardener / cook. A few of the top choices for homegrown tomatoes and a summer full of delicious recipes and grilling include: Brandywine, Black Krim, Cherokee, Black Beauty, and Mr. Stripey. These are just a few tomato varieties, but there are a wide range to experiment with in your home garden. The great part of raising your own produce is that you know exactly what goes into the process and what stays out of the process. If you're looking for a good heirloom seed provider, check out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in the Ozarks of Missouri.

Well Wishes, Team USWM