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Mar 21
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Do It Yourself Food: Brown Bag Talks Container Gardening

By BBBlog

When you live in a city like DC where space is limited, you might think your only option for fresh produce grown organically is the local farmer’s market.  While we’re all grateful for farmer’s markets and the local, organic produce we can buy from them, there’s something to be said for growing your food yourself: a sense of accomplishment, a connection to nature that you might not otherwise feel in the city, or simply knowing EXACTLY what went into what you’re eating.  So, what do you do if you’re living the city life with country-life longings?  Give container gardening a try!

The first thing you need to do to start growing on your own is to figure out what kind of light your space will be getting.  Most fruits, veggies and herbs require a good bit of sunlight to produce, but not all of them. If you’re trying to grow heat-loving veggies like tomatoes or peppers, a southern or south-western exposure (with 8 or more hours of sun everyday for the best results) is best, but if you’re stuck in the shade, you can still grow leafy greens like lettuces, cabbages, chard, or even broccoli.  Once you figure out your exposure and how many hours of sunlight you’ll be getting every day, you can better research what fruits, veggies and herbs might be compatible with your space and start deciding what kinds of containers will best fit your space and your plants.

There are all sorts of containers available now that will help you save space and get the most out of the space you have.  Maybe you have a balcony and you want to grow tomatoes and basil, but you’d still like to fit a café table and chairs, or even just a chair, out there to relax.  Or maybe you have a little slice of soil, but you can’t give it to a garden because you have a dog that needs to go out or a child that needs a play space.  Container gardens may be the answer.  Line the edges of your space with long, narrow boxes, or buy (or build) a tiered planter that is made to fit in a corner.  You can even buy planters these days that allow tomatoes to be grown upside down. Do some research on the internet if you’re looking to save cash and natural resources.  There are some really innovative ideas out there for reusing every day containers to grow plants.  If you’re feeling at a loss and aren’t sure where to start, go to a local nursery or garden shop and ask for their advice.  The configuration and maximization of your space is only as small as your imagination.

Once you’ve got your containers all squared away, you need to fill them, so let’s get down to the dirt.  When you’re growing plants in containers, any old dirt won’t do.  Even if you have a garden with great soil that’s been supporting hardy vegetables for years, it probably won’t work in your container.  The thing to remember about soil for containers is aeration and drainage.  While the soil in your garden may work well there, chances are that when it’s packed into a container, it will be too dense to support proper aeration and drainage.  Instead, you’re going to need to hit your local garden supply store and purchase container soil, which ironically, is mostly soilless because it is made of artificial media, such as peat, vermiculite, coir (ground coconut hulls) and bark in different recipes (depending on the manufacturer and the types of plants being grown).  You can mix some of these elements with your garden soil, if you like, and create your own container media, but you may also be getting insects, weed seeds and disease organisms.  The easiest answer for city dwellers is probably just to buy it.  If you’re looking to go organic, you can easily find organic container media.

Once you’ve figured out your light situation, secured containers, and gotten your hands dirty, your plants are ready to go.  Make sure you know their water and fertilizer requirements, and you can sit back and watch them grow.  Soon enough, you’ll be enjoying your own fresh veggies from your own backyard (or patio or balcony).  When you get there, take a few pics and post them to our Facebook page or tweet them to us at @EatBrownBag!  At Brown Bag, we love to see people taking an interest in their food and where it comes from.  You’re not just getting delicious fruits and veggies when you grow them yourself; you’re doing the earth a favor.

Mar 07
Love0

Eating What’s Now: Brown Bag’s Spring Edition

By BBBlog

It may not feel like it yet, but we’re getting closer and closer to fresh veggies from the garden, leisurely strolls through our favorite farmers’ markets and flip flops. We’ve talked before about eating seasonally, and how it’s not just good for you and your taste buds but for the environment, too.  With that in mind, let’s look at what’s coming up in spring.

In Maryland, Virginia and DC, we’ve got a pretty good selection of fresh veggies coming before too long.  We’ll have to wait a while for tomatoes and watermelons, but before you know it, we’ll be crunching fresh lettuce, saying goodbye to dried spices, and generally waking our taste buds from their long winter’s nap.  Here are a few of our favorite spring veggies:

Arugula:  Best in spring and fall because it loves cooler weather, this herb adds a little zing to your salad.

Asparagus: Grill it, roast it, throw it in a soup or on your salad, this veggie is best in spring when it’s young and tender.

Cilantro:  Get your salsa ready and head outside!  Your tacos, guacamole, and other Mexican favorites just perked up (not to mention lots of your favorite Indian and Asian dishes)!

New Potatoes:  These are younger versions of your favorite potatoes, so they don’t need as much time to mature—welcome spring!

Peas:  Plant ‘em early, eat ‘em in late April.

Radishes:  Radishes are so easy to grow!  Plant the seeds and almost every one will take—voila! Fresh and crunchy for your salad!

Greens:  Packed with vitamins and good stuff, greens love cooler weather and will light up your spring with flavor!

Spinach:  One of our favorite ways to eat a salad is with spinach!  Those tender, young leaves are the best, and if you get it in the ground early, you’ll be eating by the end of April.

The spring favorites that we’ll see first will be grown in the more southern parts of our MD/VA/DC area, and the ones grown further north will fill in shortly after.  While we’re all grateful for modern transportation and the fact that we can have fresh fruits and veggies grown in warmer areas flown to us in our darker and colder days, there’s nothing like a tomato, ripened on the vine, picked at its peak and on your table the next day because it was grown just up the road from you.  It tastes better, it packs more of the good stuff you want when it’s picked at its peak, and it feels better knowing that you’ve shopped (and eaten) with your planet in mind.

We do our best at Brown Bag to get our ingredients from local sources, to support our local growers, and to do our part in preserving the environment.  We can’t wait for that first tomato, that red, ripe watermelon, our first spring salad, and that corn, freshly shucked.  Spring and summer are coming.  What are you looking forward to?

Want to pick your own fruits and veggies but don’t have your own garden?  Give this site a try: http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm#states.

Feb 28
Love0

Brown Bag Helps You Make Healthy Choices at the Bar (Salad, That Is)

By BBBlog

You want to have a low-cal, healthy lunch and/or dinner.  Salad seems like the easiest way to that goal, right?  Maybe, but it depends on what you’re piling on that salad.  We’re pretty sure that, like everyone else, your salad’s starting off with a big bowl of healthy greens—romaine, spinach, Iceberg lettuce, etc., but where do you go next?  Croutons or chickpeas?  Crispy wonton slices or slivered almonds?  Those choices that come right after “Spring Mix or arugula?” are the ones that will make or break your salad’s healthy back.

Before we start talking about how many calories you’re adding on in bacon bits, let’s figure out how many calories you should be eating everyday (in general).  Check out what the USDA recommends at ChooseMyPlate.gov, to get a basic idea.  Armed with that information, let’s hit the salad bar.

The first thing you should do at any salad bar is heap your plate/bowl with some leafy greens. If you have a choice between Iceberg lettuce and romaine or spinach, go with the romaine or spinach–they pack more of a vitamin/mineral/nutrient punch.  This is the base of your salad, and if you’re really looking to cut some calories with your meal choice, then this is your chance.  The more you fill your bowl with good green stuff, the less room you’ll have for toppings that might throw you over a calorie/fat cliff.  Once you’ve stuffed that plate with lettuce, approach the toppings (with caution).

This is where the problems come in, right?  You’re thinking, “It’s a salad, it’s low-cal, how bad can a few toppings be?”  Depends on what you choose.  We all know that dressings can be extremely loaded with calories and fat, so try putting some fruit in your salad.  If you’ve never tried fruit in your salad before, take a deep breath and dive in!  Fruit can really perk a salad up and add a new dimension to your old favorite combos.  Oftentimes, adding fruit to a salad lessens the amount of dressing you will need.  So, take a scoop of strawberries, mandarin oranges, or raspberries and indulge!  Some toppings that go great with fruit are nuts, feta or bleu cheese, and balsamic vinegar.

And here’s another trick to help you out.  If you add feta or blue cheese to your salad, you can generally add less than you would if you were adding cheddar cheese.  We know cheddar is a salad staple, but it can take more cheddar (and calories) to get the same amount of flavor you might get from feta or bleu cheese—they’re just stronger cheeses and a little goes a long way.  Save some calories and choose one of these two; if you have to have your cheddar, use shredded and really spread it out—you’ll use less if you sprinkle evenly, rather than piling it all in one spot.

Miquel de Servantes said, “Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.”  This is your salad bar battle cry.  If you have an idea of what your salad will look like before you even approach the salad bar, you’ll be better prepared to keep your cravings in line. Want to beef up your vitamins but not your calories?  Stick to the veggie side of the bar.  We know those crunchy extras are usually right next to the dressings and just begging you to toss them on top, but if you start at the veggies and fill your plate there, by the end of the line, you’ll have lots of flavor and no room on your plate for fat-filled extras.  If you simply must have your croutons/chow mein noodles, etc., then try crushing them and sprinkling them over your salad.  You’ll still get the flavor but you won’t use as many.

Don’t forget your protein either; your salad needs some staying power or you’ll just end up snacking in the afternoon or evening to make it until your next meal.  Consider lean proteins like grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp, hard-boiled eggs or roasted turkey.  If you’re a vegetarian, try lentils, black beans, garbanzo beans, tofu, nuts or avocado (watch your portion sizes on the avocado—they’re great for you but have more calories than some of your other choices).

Here’s a handy little tool that you can check out or add to your phone: http://www.CalorieCount.about.com.  If you want to know how many calories you’re eating, just put the info into this counter and it will add it all up for you.  Brown Bag has nutrition information listed on our website menu, so you know exactly what you’re eating before you get started (on salads/sandwiches, etc. that we’ve designed, just click on the individual item and the information will come up), and all other restaurants will be posting this information soon.  Until then (or at home), tools like this one can keep you on the straight and narrow at the salad bar, and help you keep your healthy lunch/dinner goal in sight.  Good luck!

Feb 21
Love0

Super Foods to the Rescue!

By BBBlog

We’ve talked before about super foods on our BBBlog and we’re going to do it again.  Hopefully, cold and flu season are winding down (fingers crossed!) but we know some of you linger on and it’s no fun.  So, how about eating some good food AND feeling better?  Good idea, right?  That’s what we thought; so here is a list of super (and delicious!) foods that give your immune system a boost and help you fight off colds.

 

Fish

Oily fish, like salmon, tuna and mackerel, have loads of omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega-3s are known to reduce inflammation, which over time, can weaken the immune system and make you more susceptible to colds and flu.  In a placebo-controlled 2011 study published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity,  med students took omega-3 supplements for 3 months and found, not just decreases in inflammation, but in anxiety as well.  Anxiety is also known to weaken the functionality of the immune system.  So, get fishing (or at least take some supplements).

 

Oysters

Here’s one I bet you didn’t think of.  People attribute all sorts of powers to oysters but the truth of the matter is that they are rich in zinc, popular super hero against the common cold.  A study published in a Canadian medical journal in 2012 asserts that zinc lozenges appear to shorten the duration of cold symptoms in adults. The drawback to zinc supplements? They have a track record of stomach upset and headaches, so it may be better to go straight to the source, and the source doesn’t get better than oysters.  They have more zinc per serving than any other food, but they also carry the risk of bacteria if eaten raw.  Your best bet is to cook them up and eat your way to your recommended daily allowance.

 

Garlic

Smells bad, works good.  Consider this your garlic mantra and start eating.  Garlic has allicin, a sulfuric compound that packs an antioxident whollop when it decomposes.  A 2001 study in Advances in Therapy  found that people who took garlic supplements for 12 weeks during the months of November through February had less colds than those who took a placebo, AND of the participants who did get sick, the people who took their garlic like good little boys and girls got better faster.  To get the most antioxidants out of your garlic, chomp it raw.  Chances are you won’t be able to eat enough Italian food to do the job, so if you can’t stomach a mouthful of raw garlic, do yourself a favor and buy some aged-garlic extract capsules.

 

Skinless Turkey Breast

Time for a club sandwich?  We all know that we need lean protein to build muscle, but we also need it to muscle up our immune system.  Lean proteins help us build antibodies and fight infection in our bodies.  You can get your lean protein from turkey, chicken and pork, and from non-meat sources like beans, nuts and dairy.

 

Oats

Any way you can get them—bar or bowl—eat up. Oats contain a type of fiber called beta-glucan, which is known for its cholesterol-lowering properties and its immune-boosting powers.  Studies in animals have shown that beta-glucan can reduce the risk of upper respiratory infections and can alter white blood cell activity in humans.  Oatmeal never sounded so good, huh?

 

Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

Babies love them and so should you, but you have even more reason to.  Orange fruits and veggies are high in beta-carotene.  When we eat things with beta-carotene in them, our bodies convert this organic compound into Vitamin A which is a must for a healthy immune system.  Vitamin A helps to keep the mucous membranes that line our nose and throat (think of these as your first line of defense against germs) healthy and functioning properly. Orange is the “It Color” for fighting colds and flu.

 

More “Supes” to help you fight the good fight against colds and flu:  anise seeds (make a tea!), citrus fruits, fennel (again, tea is a good way to get this), yogurt and kefir, tea, red peppers, milk, mushrooms, leafy greens, blueberries, dark chocolate, Brazil nuts, and sunflower seeds.  Feeling like something’s sneaking up on you but you can’t miss work?  Come see us at Brown Bag for breakfast and/or lunch to load up on your favorite super foods.  We have many of these lovelies on our menu everyday to help you stay healthy, feel better, and eat right—and you’ll enjoy every bite.  “Eat your vegetables (and fruits and lean proteins)” never tasted so good!