Earthly Eating

1. Quince (California): This establishment is two years old and is dressed with glass chandeliers and photography throughout the restaurant. The chef only uses seasonal ingredients and also serves handmade pasta, which is the specialty of the restaurant as well. ($16-$28)

2. Region (California): This establishment as the word “Trust” is upon a back wall painted red. Meaning “trust the chef”. The food at this restaurant is organic and they take pride from knowing their ingredients come from nearby farms. The restaurant cooks in an Italian theme and offers amazing dishes to suit the craving for Italy. ($19-$23)

3. Woodfire Grill (Georgia): This establishment is three-years old and uses local foods to make the many dishes they serve. All of these foods are made on there custom-made wood burning oven. ($18-$30)

4. Wink (Texas): This establishment serve reasonable portions of food mostly made up of local produce. The chef’s take pride in watching their diner enjoy what they make for them and through that this restaurant has become a restaurant of choice for many. ($19-$28)

5. 3030 Ocean (Florida): This establishment, by far, has the best and more interactive website and by serving the local foods of Florida it has surpassed many of its area competitors. Based in a hotel and has been established for the past four years. The chef is a son of a farmer and knows the importance of local and organic foods. ($28-$40)
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Layered Meatball Bake
Makes: 6 servings

1 pkg. (6 oz.) stuffing mix for chicken
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) reduced-sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1 pkg. (1 lb.) frozen meatballs
2 cups frozen peas
1 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package for light preparation; set aside.

Combine soup and milk in a 13×9-inch baking dish. Stir in meatballs and peas; sprinkle with cheese. Top with the prepared stuffing

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through.

Happy Eating!

1. Zely & Ritz (North Carolina): This establishment has a chef that knows the value and virtue of fresh food from the ground. The chef and his wife work the restaurant and his wife oversees the wonderful wine list that is available there. ($9- $14)

2. R M Seafood (Nevada): This establishment knows that importance of responsibly caught seafood. This restaurant relocated from Manhattan to Las Vegas to create the restaurant. With a more relaxed restaurant downstairs in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino with the formal dinning room upstairs. ($26- $62)

3. Table 8 (California): This establishment is a civilized respite and is two-years out. It has a small, changing menu which is based on what is found at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market. The chef is very kitchen educated and once worked as an apprentice at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Spago. With an awesome menu of organic and locally grown ingredients the restaurant is set to open another location in New York with the same concept in mind there as well. ($23-30)

4. Mijita (California): This establishment is a 45 seat restaurant and is a showpieces in the city of San Francisco’s Ferry Building. They use pesticide-free beans and other great foods and heirloom ingredients. The restaurant is called Mijita in honor of the chef’s grandmother who called her mi hijita meaning “my little girl”. ($3.50-$7.25)

5. Fig (South Carolina): This establishment is decidedly local more than decidedly organic. The restaurant opened in 2003 and keeps the dishes simple without a lot of flare but still gives appreciation to the ingredients. ($16-$13)
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Meatloaf Mini Muffins
Serves: 6

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 pkg. (6 oz.) stuffing mix
1 cup hot water
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 cup BBQ sauce

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, mix the meat, stuffing mix, water, and garlic powder. Press into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray.

Make a dip in the center of each meatloaf and pour in BBQ sauce and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Top with cheese and continue baking for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and begins to brown.

Happy Eating!

1. Heartland (Minnesota): This establishment offers food that is either grown, fishes or foraged within 200 miles of the restaurant. The owner takes freshwater fish over ocean fish and use black walnut oil instead of olive oil. He also states that we may lose the very things that are wonderful around us if we don’t take care of it now. ($20-$30)

2. Prairie Grass Cafe (Illinois): This establishment is a family focused restaurant that serves everything from pizza to baby back ribs. There are six plasma screens that play prairie scenes in the dinning room, fire place and they offer the setting of a rustic yet contemporary. They utilize local and season dishes that focus on local grown essences. ($5-$29)

3. CityZen (Washington, D.C.): This establishment has a close relationship with their suppliers that offer organic ingredients such as eggs, fresh vegetables and even fresh rabbit. The chef keeps this local and fresh as well as natural and organic at every chance he gets. There is a dinning room area to this restaurant as well as a bar to order organic drinks as well. ($75-$115)

4. Lauro Kitchen (Oregon): This establishment is based in the heart of Oregon’s busiest area, Portland. And the chef tries to win over the food-obsessed area by offering light in a grey town. And the local paper has donned his restaurant, “the happiest place in Portland”. He chooses all local produce and is even a board member of the farmers’ market in the same town as well. ($15-$19)

5. The Kitchen (Colorado): This establishment is all-American in everyway. They offer dishes from locally grown farmers and they offer family-style meals that offer courses such as mint and feta with zucchini salad and are served on a 12-foot table. At the end of every shift the kitchen and other staff sits at the very table and has a family-style meal together. ($19-$27)
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Twice Baked Potatoes
Serves: 8

8 medium potatoes, baked
2 tbs. butter
1 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
4 strips of bacon, cooked and diced
3 green onions, finely chopped

Slice the top if 1/3 of each potato lengthwise. Hollow the skins, leaving 1/4″ of the potato inside. In a bowl, mash together potato interior, butter, sour cream, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, heavy cream, milk, salt and pepper. Stir in bacon and onions. Refill the skins with the mixture and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Happy Eating!

Organic is the best way to go when looking for a great restaurant, but it can be difficult to find restaurants that follow that pattern. Here are 20, from the north to the south that follow that pattern all the way to the T (ea).

1. Tendrils at SageCliffe (Washington): This establishment uses local salmon from the Columbia River and serves the salmon with cattails and wild asparagus. It’s a 55-seat restaurant in a resort that is 150 miles east of Seattle. The restaurant uses wine the resort’s vineyard as well. ($19-$30)

2. Mare (Massachusetts): This establishment offers the freshest in Italian ingredients and used the very best olive oil. The restaurant offers the neatest dinning room as well, with its many windows that offer an awesome view of downtown Boston. ($23-$35)

3. Craigic Street Bistro (Massachusetts): This establishment uses the freshest and organic herbs and the menu changes daily to keep the menu fresh. It’s a 4s-seat restaurant and is located in the basement of an old apartment building. The dinning room is decorated with antique finds and photographs to make the dinning experience feel more like a living room. ($23-$35)

4. Applewood (New York): This establishment gets their food sources, which is about 90 percent, from small farms in the northwest and even some ingredients come from a garden they maintain on a friends farm. It’s located on a tree-lined street in Brooklyn and the owners walk home from working every evening as well. ($18-$24)

5. Mas (Farmhouse) (New York): This establishment is based in Manhattan and is decorated with reclaimed everything from wood to stone to even some of the chairs. The ingredients have a French technique to them and the chef believes in using the whole animals instead of just parts. With this in mind, he is able to feed more people and not many things go to waste. ($28-$36)
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Earthly Eating Recipe

Individual Pumpkin Cheesecake
Serves: 18

18 paper baking cups
18 gingersnap cookies
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs. corn starch
1 tps. Pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup lite corn syrup

Place the paper baking cups in a muffin pan. Place 1 gingersnap in each cup. Beat cream cheese, sugar, corn starch and pumpkin pie spice with an electric mixer until well mixed. Add eggs and blend well. Add pumpkin and syrup and beat for about 1 minute.

Pour filling into cups, dividing evenly. Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until just set. Chill for 1 hour and garnish as desired.

Happy Eating!