More Than Your Average Watercress Sandwich

With a splash of citrus color coating the walls and a fresh and invigorating feel, Watercress A Café offers patrons a sunny disposition, seasonal ingredients and locally grown, fresh, organic food.

Walking into the restaurant, one feels energized, yet at ease at the same time. A family sits in the corner, the children devouring their organic buttermilk pancakes, while old friends sit and chat on the patio over a cup of coffee and the “Housemade Banananut Bread.” Often, you will see the owner, a polite and gracious man, hand delivering food to the customers. Feel free to say hello and ask him any questions you have regarding where his produce comes from or simply just to find out which pastry he recommends to complete your meal.

Located on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, just East of Woodman, Watercress A Café is a fabulous choice for a late morning breakfast and/or refreshing lunch.

My recommendation: the Grilled Vegetable and Swiss Scramble (sans swiss for you lactose intolerants out there) with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Visit their website at http://www.watercresscafe.com/index.html

Grill Your Way To Green (Part II)

How to throw a Green BBQ (cont.)

The day before…

Although not labeling your garbage cans make for a fun game of “What goes where?” provide a “Trash” can, “Compost” bin and “Recycling” bin for guests. Check out the LA bureau of sanitation (http://san.lacity.org/solid_resources/recycling/what_is_recyclable.htm) for what can and cannot be recycled and (http://locallosangeles.blogspot.com/2008/12/los-angeles-trash-part-1-green.html) for what scraps of food are OK to go in the green bin for composting.

The day of...

• Wait until the day of the event to cut up any fruits and/or veggies so that they don’t turn brown or soggy because of oxidation.
• If you are serving chicken, be sure to marinate it before guests arrive so the marinade absorbs.
• If you are planning on using recyclable plastic cups, put out some tape and a sharpie pen. That way guests can write their names on the tape and paste it to their cup so they won’t forget which is theirs.
• Provide guests with clean pool towels as well as sunscreen so they don’t get burned (Soleo Organics and Burt’s Bees make great, chemical free sunscreens)!
• Provide some green entertainment: cards, backgammon, Frisbee & pool volleyball are all great fun and are sure to keep guests busy at all times!

Before guests leave...

Make sure nothing goes to waste: The table has been cleared, the bins have been sorted (recycling, compost and trash are all where they should be), but what to do with all of the leftovers? Send guests home with unused Tupperware full of any uneaten food. In doing so, you are ensuring that nothing will go to waste sitting in your fridge over the next week and, if you’re like me, you’re not tempted to eat any of those left-over gluten free chocolate brownies calling your name from inside the cabinet, mmm!

Now grill up and chow down!

Grill Your Way To Green!

How to throw a Green BBQ

Preparing for the big day...

First thing first. Figure out how many people you would like to attend your soiree. The more people you invite, the more expensive things may get so invite accordingly. Opt for online invitations rather than paper ones, which cost more, waste paper and require delivery. I recommend using Evite.com or Sendomatic.com.

Take inventory. Check to see what dishware you have in your cabinets, what frozen foods you may have in your freezer (e.g. turkey dogs, veggie burgers, etc.), if you have any unopened bags of chips in your cabinet, etc., whatever the item is, mark it off your checklist. The point of being Green is to consume less, waste less and save more. It is better to use “non-Green” products you already have, than to waste them and buy new.

Decide on a menu. Choose food you would normally serve at a dinner/BBQ/etc. and just add a hint of Green to each course.

Snacking Options (a.k.a. “Noshes”): Tortilla chips (traditional) with homemade organic mango & peach salsa (GREEN). Cut up organic veggies from your local farmers market (GREEN) with hummus (traditional)…you get the idea.

The meal: Keep it simple. I recommend staying away from red meat as it is one of the most harmful meats you can choose. The production of meat uses an incredibly large amount of water (something us Californians are in terrible need of), requires huge amounts of pesticides on the plants (e.g. corn) grown to feed the animals and releases a ton of methane into the atmosphere thus raising the level of greenhouse gases and warming up the atmosphere. Kabobs are always a great option as you have the choice of serving chicken, fish and/or veggies skewers. To be even Greener, serve veggies skewers only and serve a Quinoa dish on the side for protein. Whole Foods has a great recipe for a Cranberry Quinoa salad – it’s full of protein, flavor and is a great option for any vegetarians in the crowd (Cranberry Quinoa Salad: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=544).

Dessert, the best part: No matter what you serve you must serve a fruit salad. Ask several guests to each bring several different kinds of fruit. Later, chop up all of the fruit and serve as fruit salad along with some homemade whipped cream and gluten-free chocolate brownies and voila! You have one incredibly satisfying, fruity dessert! Trader Joes Gluten Free Brownie Baking Mix is incredible – I have received tons of compliments on them and some people even say that they are better than the real deal.

Drinks: Although you may have to do a bit of searching, there are some great organic wines and beers out there. I recommend Benziger Sauvignon Blanc (which utilizes a sustainable grape growing program) and/or Grand Teton Brewing Co. Au Naturale Blonde Ale (USDA Certified Organic beer). Organic hard alcohol is a bit more expensive than non-organic hard alcohol, however, if you check out certain alcohol specialty stores, such as BevMo! you may be able to find great deals (one to try: Rain Organics vodka, which is USDA Certified). For some fabulous organic cocktail recipes check out The Daily Green (http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/recipes/organic-cocktails?click=main_sr).

Pot Luck: Ask friends to go Green and bring food too! Part of the Green BBQ experience is to educate others on being Green and what better way than to have them pitch in! Ask that guests let you know what they are bringing in advance, so that you don’t buy more food than is necessary. Offer to help with whatever questions they may have regarding where and/or what to buy organic, why it is important to buy locally grown foods, etc. You may even want to consider sending out some links with any information regarding local grocers, organic products, free-range meat products, etc. Have guests check out http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/ for a Farmers’ Market closest to them.

Dishes & Silverware: Although you can eat like a cavewo(man) if you so choose, most guests will probably request some sort of plate. If you are planning on inviting more people than you have real dishes for, make sure that any plastic cups you purchase are recyclable, plates are compostable and utensils are made out of corn starch, so they are able to breakdown. BARE by Solo offers compostable cups and plates as well as recyclable cups (http://www.barebysolo.com/products.html) while World Centric offers utensils made out of non-GMO corn starch (http://worldcentric.org/biocompostables/utensils).

Shopping:

• Call ahead. After a long day of working and running errands it would be awful to find out that the one store you drove to doesn’t have what you’re looking for. Not only is it a waste of your time, but it’s a waste of already overpriced gas, which is in short supply.
• Buy in bulk. Costco offers organic veggies in large amounts, which means less packaging and less waste!
• Make an effort to hit as many places as you can in one trip – the fewer trips you make to and from the grocers, etc. the more gas and money you will save!
• Make sure to go to the Farmers Market no more than 2 days before the event so your veggies & fruits are fresh.

Rush Hour

When you think of L.A. many things come to mind, one in particular: traffic. Los Angeles has practically become synonymous with traffic. We’ve all been there: it’s 3pm, you’ve got places to go and people to see, but what is this?? You’re going a whole 7 mph down the 405?! Ugh! Traffic is such a pain. According to a study discussed by Daily News, Los Angeles, L.A. has the most congested streets and freeways in the nation. Not to mention, the negative impact it has on our earth/city is outrageous. To cope with the traffic and the deterioration of our air quality I have listed some information and suggestions below:

1) Instead of burning CDs invest in an iPod®/MP3 player/etc. and put all of your songs on there. If you don’t have an iPod connector, look into purchasing a Cassette adapter. In addition, you can prevent waste and help out our troops by donating your old CDs (and DVDs) to http://www.tunes4thetroops.org/ a website dedicated to providing some much needed entertainment to our soldiers!

2) You’ve heard it before, but I will say it again: CARPOOL! Say you have 500 people in your company and every person decided to carpool with at least one other person to and from work: that would be 250 less cars on the road! Another benefit: you’ll save gas money too! Less driving = less cash. Cha Ching!

3) Ride your bike to work or school: you can get a tan, tone up and save the environment all at one time!

4) Aim to drive 10 miles less per week. Whether that means walking down the street to your local grocery store instead of hopping in your car for a 2 minute drive, or eating in one night instead of driving out to the city for an overpriced meal at Katsuyah – just do it. In doing so, you’ll personally prevent 500 pounds of carbon dioxide from polluting the atmosphere (check out the “Green List” application on your iPhone®).

5) Get your car into the doctor STAT! For every 100,000 people that get a tune up this year, 60 tons of CO2 will be eliminated.

6) Finally, help reduce the greenhouse impact of your driving by joining Greenfleet. For a fee, they will plant enough trees to absorb the annual greenhouse emissions from the average car. For more information or to join, visit the Greenfleet website.

As you can see, it’s the small changes to everyday living that will have a HUGE impact on our environment.

Now, buckle up and drive safely :)

My Little Fashionista

Let’s be honest: living in L.A., it is hard not to shop. Fashion has not only become a pastime to many L.A. residents, but an essential part of everyday life. From Melrose to Rodeo and Robertson to 3rd Street, L.A. has it all, including my “Little Fashionista,” Rebecca Gutentag. An L.A. native, this up-and-coming designer has got it all: femme edge, a keen eye for detail and the ability to take scraps of this and that and turn them into fabulous new vintage pieces.

In these crazy economic times, it’s all about using what you have to get what you want. Rebecca has taken up the hobby of rummaging through her mother’s old – yet fabulous! – 80s outfits and reworking them into some of the most hip and modern fashion pieces around (see picture above). By re-using what she already has, she’s not only able to bring life back into what was once labeled “passé,” but she is also cutting back on her consumption (goodbye waste; helloooo reusable treasures)!

For all of you budding fashionistas out there, Rebecca recommends using leather scraps from local upholsterers, broken jewelry chains, old pins found at your local vintage store and a bit of needle and thread to create your own unique (and sustainable) jewelry!

Some of Rebecca’s favorite vintage stores include:

Resurrection LA, located at 8006 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046 (323) 651-5516 ( http://www.resurrectionvintage.com/index.php?index )

Jet Rag, located at 825 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038 (323) 939-0528

Nasty Gal ( http://www.shopnastygal.com/ )

To see more of what this little fashionista has to offer check out: http://alittlefashionista.tumblr.com/

Things will be great when you're Downtown

I have lived in L.A. my entire life (born and raised in the Valley, in fact), however, I can probably count the number of times I have been to Downtown Los Angeles on both hands. Afraid to venture out of my comfort zone, I stuck to my own daily activities: shopping on Ventura Blvd., drinks in Studio City, movies at the Sherman Oaks Galleria and lunch at little cafes along Ventura (favorites include: Il Trem in Studio City and Aroma Bakery & Café in Encino).

Feeling a bit suffocated by my immediate surroundings I jumped at the chance to take a “Walking Tour” of Downtown L.A. led by members of the Los Angeles Conservancy. A whole whopping $10, the tour gives you a look back at what used to be known as “The Wall Street of the West,” as well as a glimpse into the glitz and glamour of the Roaring 20s.

One of my favorite spots along the tour was the Alexandria Hotel. Currently a low-cost residential hotel, it used to be Los Angeles’ most elegant hotel frequented by Hollywood legends including Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Rudolph Valentino and Clark Gable. In a word: glamorous.

Tours are about two and a half hours long and begin around 10 a.m. Whether you are interested in exploring Downtowns’ Gallery Row, or experiencing original Los Angeles architecture at its finest, there is a tour for you.

Visit www.laconservancy.org/tours or call 213-623-2489 to reserve a spot for you and your friends, then carpool Downtown and take a walk through one of the most fascinating cities in all of L.A.

Pluots & Strawberries & Raspberries OH MY!

I feel like Dorothy walking down the yellow brick road, but instead of being surrounded by Munchkins I’m surrounded by creamy ripe avocados, sweet dried fruit, gorgeous bouquets of flowers, stalks of fresh basil, raw almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts…the list goes on!

Located right off Bundy and San Vicente, on S. Gretna Greenway the Brentwood Farmers Market takes place every Sunday from 9:00am-1:00pm.

What’s more there are little “boutiques” set up for your perusal. Looking for some handmade jewelry? You’re covered! Looking for photos from a local photographer? They’ve got that too. Thinking of adopting a pup? They’re there waiting for your love, affection and even a home! Pretty much whatever you need, the Brentwood Farmers Market has it!

Make sure to bring your appetite as there are many options for snacking (handmade pastry anyone?), lunching (a Chicken Gyro perhaps) and even sampling (a tasting of that delicious looking apricot – yes please!)

So, slip on your ruby red slippers, click your heels together three times and get yourself to the Brentwood Farmers Market.

Don’t forget to bring your reusable totes!