First of Our Kind

Come Enjoy Fall in our Beautiful Beer Garden

Real food		Local, Community		Reduce, Reuse, then Recycle
No matter the case, real, unprocessed food is better for you than food that’s been chemically modified. At our store, you won’t need to be convinced of what you’re buying. You’ll be buying real ingredients.  Learn more		in.gredients is a collaborative effort between business, community, and consumers with the goal of eliminating food-related waste while supporting local businesses and farmers.  Learn more		There’s no waste in nature. Waste is a human invention. As good stewards of our environment, our top priority is to reduce the amount of waste we produce and reuse what we have.  Learn More

Vote For Our Next Community Partner!

We’re thrilled to announce the four finalists for our next non-profit Community Partner to whom we’ll donate 5 cents for every container you reuse at in.gredients, plus 1% of our sales every first Friday of the month.  It’s just one more way we try to support this beautiful community of ours.

The in.gredients Team voted for these four finalists (from a total of 13 partner applications!), and now it’s up to you to decide who will be our next partner.  

Vote online (below) or in-store (which counts for more of the vote) until Oct 26th.   Thanks for your participation and good luck to the finalists!

			The Women’s Community Center of Central Texas promotes the well being of Texas women and girls and aims to build positive connections among people and organizations that do the same. WCC envisions a central Texas community where women, girls, and those who care about them from all walks of life come together to support each other.
			The mission of People’s Community Clinic is to improve the health of medically uninsured and underserved Central Texans by providing high quality, affordable healthcare with dignity and respect.
			GEN’s mission is to support and guide girls to make wise choices as they navigate the unique pressures of girlhood.
			SFC’s mission is to cultivate a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. SFC envisions a food-secure community where all children and adults grow, share, and prepare healthy, local food.

Goat People Do: An in.side look at Pure Luck Dairy

By: Grayson Vreeland

When I arrived at Pure Luck dairy in Dripping Springs, the place was alive with activity. Amelia and Ben welcomed me into their cheery home, where their two small children were having a dance party. The house is right at the farm, only steps away from the hundred or so goats they keep, as well as the chèvre processing facility. When Amelia and I ventured out to meet the goats, they were all in a field where, according to Amelia, they knew they weren’t meant to be. She laughed, “all these rotten ladies – oh, so bad!” as she ushered them to the barn, where they began chowing down on hay.

Amelia grew up right across the street, and she always had goats. “This was my mom’s deal. We grew up with goats, and she decided to start a dairy.” They had goats long before they started a commercial dairy twenty years ago, and when I asked her why, she said, “It was just a homestead. So my mom always had goats, which goat people do… You know, I just love goats. Goat people do. They’re very smart, they’re fun, they’re kind of like dogs in that each one has their own personality and their tricks.”

The does are milked twice a day, and it only takes ten minutes to milk a dozen of them, six at a time. The rest of their time is spent eating hay selected specially to meet their needs, walking about, occasionally getting into trouble, and generally counteracting goat stereotypes. According to Amelia, “Goats by nature – you can look at them and see that they’re clean. There’s a lot of smells around here for different reasons, but generally they want to be clean, they don’t want to get wet, they don’t want to lay on dirty things, they don’t want to eat dirty things. That’s their nature, and when you hear someone hear that they’ll eat anything – no, unless they’re underfed.”

Amelia is “mom” to these goats. She says a lot of people ask why she doesn’t let the mother goats raise their babies, who she separates to another part of the farm. “I’m actually ‘mom’ – I brought your bottle to you, I brought your dinner to you, when you needed help, I helped you… They’ll ask for help. And I’ve noticed – these are like, two year olds here. When they get older, they do move away. They’re still friendly and they still like me, but they don’t come up like this,” she says, referring to a goat who approached her, soliciting pets and attention.

Later we visited the kids that were born a few months ago, who were very excited to see Amelia and me. A number of them jumped up on me like friendly dogs – one even sucked my thumb. The kids they keep are all female. Amelia pointed out to me, “Out in the barn, those are mothers and daughters and nieces and grandmothers. So with a herd that’s that highly related with females, it’s hard to use a buck from our farm.” Males go to other farms, and she says, “The most important thing for us is that they go somewhere that they’re cared for and they have a value.”

 

Like a mom, Amelia never really stops caring for the kids who grow up on her farm; she continues to care for them even after they retire from milking. “Basically if you get old here, you’re not going to leave, because they – as I said about creatures of habit – they’re born here, and they’ve had every meal here, they know all of these smells, and for them to leave – I know that’s a hardship. It’s not the same kind of hardship for a doe in her young prime, where she can go to her new farm and beat somebody up and just get in there. But if you send an older animal, and just like our old people, they move slower, they have less resistance.”

But aside from the goats, of course, there is the chèvre. Amelia showed me the very small cheese plant where they make the cheese and explained the process to me.

A: So this is the cheese plant where we make the cheese. We don’t walk in there dirty, so there’s only a few of us that make cheese. What this is – do you guys sell the bulk curds there [at in.gredients]?

G: We have the bulk chèvre, and some of the molded chèvre, and the June’s Joy.

A: And that’s what I meant, the bulk chèvre. So this is bulk chèvre. And this is day three, and it’s been salted, and it’s draining, and tomorrow it will go into the tubs.

G: Oh, so it’s almost done.

A: Yes, it’s almost done.

G: So what happened to it before now?

A: So let’s say, this is the milk right here, and here is the bulk tank, and it’s got cold milk in it. So we milk morning and evening, and the milk goes into the tank. So each room really has a separate function, and this room is for holding milk. So Monday morning we’ll hook the pump up and set up the piping, it’ll go through the wall into the vat pasteurizer, which is that big, round vat over there – and then the milk is pasteurized, and it’s pasteurized based on the type of equipment that you have.

G: Is that like being heated?

A: Yep, so it’s heated to a certain temperature and held for a period of time, and then it’s cooled off and brought down to cheese-­‐making temperatures, and then the cultures are added. And it’s lactic acid bacteria, and what they do is, they consume the lactose and produce lactic acid, and that’s what tartens cheese. So basically, you have kind of like a yogurt product at that point, and it is scooped out in thin layers into baskets, or in this case into a bag that’s a mesh bag, and it drains, and once it’s mostly drained about twenty-­‐four hours later, the salt is added. The salting stuff is actually really important, it encourages the rest of the drainage, and it also stops that bacteria from growing too much more, because of the harshness of the salt. It also gives the cheese flavor. And that’s what happened today – the baskets were emptied and the cheeses were salted and also draining, and the same thing is happening here, so that’s the four days of chèvre, so it’s a fresh cheese that’s made pretty quickly.

Amelia didn’t leave me wondering about the results of this process. She sent me home with June’s Joy, mixed herb chèvre, basket chèvre, as well as a dried chèvre in olive oil and herbs that she scooped into a mason jar for me from a jar on her own kitchen table. All of it is tart, creamy and extremely satisfying. The combination of sweet and sour in the June’s Joy nearly brings me to tears.

I have admired Pure Luck for their chèvre for some time now, but now I also admire them for how they live their lives and love their goats.

Help us Stand with Standing Rock!

in.gredients will be accepting donations of supplies to send to the Standing Rock camp to support the protestors in their defense of water and their ancestral lands.  The requested supplies are listed below, so please bring in anything from canned food to sleeping bags to the donation box in-store.  If you prefer to make a monetary donation, please do so through the official Standing Rock website, here (http://standingrock.org/).

You may also send supplies to:

Red Warrior Camp
BIE 00N02 Agency Ave
Fort Yates, ND 58538
United States

The Dakota Access Pipeline project is threatening the future of water for millions of Americans, violating treaties with Standing Rock Sioux, and desecrating sacred burial grounds.  The pipeline project is the work of Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer Partners and seeks to bring crude oil from North Dakota to the U.S. Gulf Coast.  As many as four thousand protestors are currently camped out by the construction site, and the Sioux are also fighting a legal battle to stop the pipeline, which, as Sioux Chairman Archambault explained to the New York Times, “was fast-tracked from Day 1 using the Nationwide Permit No. 12 process, which grants exemption from environmental reviews required by the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by treating the pipeline as a series of small construction sites.”  Pipelines like this one have a 57% chance of experiencing a major leak, according to former Scientific American editor Trudy Bell, and the protestors contend that such a leak could contaminate the Missouri River, the major water source for the tribe and millions of others.  The Dakota Access Pipeline would cross through North and South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, where it would link to a 774-mile pipeline to Nederland, Texas.

Protestors have been maced and threatened with attack dogs by private security hired by Energy Transfer Partners, and the governor of North Dakota has declared a state of emergency and activated National Guard troops.  The protestors in North Dakota – many of whom comprise the largest gathering of indigenous nations in 100 years – need support and supplies if they are going to continue their vital work to protect their heritage and also the future of the water supply for all Americans.  Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein has said that the pipeline “would violate U.S. treaties by endangering the drinking water and sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.”

Read the Supply Wishlist here to see how you can help!

For more in-depth information on the situation at Standing Rock, please see the following articles:

The Dakota Access Pipeline: What would Sitting Bull do?

Dakota Access Pipeline Protests: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Slow Cooker Lengua (Beef Tongue)

Don’t let the cut of meat scare you it is a very tender tasty meat. You will be pleasantly surprised. Find the meat at any Mexican market, ask the butcher. Serve this in tacos with chopped onion, tomato, cilantro, and wedges of lime.

Ingredients

• 1 beef tongue
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic, or more to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• water to cover
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Place beef tongue, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in the crock of a slow cooker; generously season with salt. Pour in enough water to cover beef mixture.
2. Cook on Low for 8 hours.
3. Transfer beef tongue to a work surface and cool slightly. Peel outer layer of skin from beef tongue and remove rough end. Chop the meat into bite-size pieces.
4. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir beef tongue meat until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Pro Tip

• Try using a liner in your slow cooker for easier cleanup.

Recipe by: Liz on allrecipes.com

Rainy Day Tortilla Soup and Dorm Room Specials 8/16/2016

We've got loads of items on sale this week designed to help you stock your dorm room to start the semester off right, including Lick "Milk and Cookies" ice cream pints! Or, swing by this week and stock up on all the ingredients you'll need to make the "Rainy Day Tortilla Soup" recipe below!

This Week's Specials Preserve Screw Top Storage Bowls 19oz $2.99 (Save $0.50) Seventh Generation Dish Soap 25oz $4.89 (Save $0.60) Healing Hemp Salve 1.5oz $7.99 (Save $1) Healing Hemp Lotion 16oz $15.99 (Save $2) Santa Barbara Martini Olives 5oz $3.39 (Save $1) Nacho Mom's Ultimate Vegan Queso $4.99 (Save $1) Good Health Avocado Oil Potato Chips $2.99 (Save $1) 4th Tap Renewal 6 packs $8.99 each Lick the Heat! August Sale Lick Ice Cream Pints $1 OFF All Month Long ¡Fríos Mío! Cold Brew Sale Third Coast Cold Brew Coffee $1 OFF All Month Long Special Events Back to School Books at Recycled Reads Sat, Aug 20th, 12-6PM Join us this Saturday at Austin's Nationally recognized zero waste book store, Recycled Reads, for a wonderful back-to-school event. Our Store Manager will be talking about healthy, zero waste snacks, plus you can make your own lunch bags made from upcycled t-shirts! Bring extra school supplies to benefit our Community Partner, Workers Defense Project. Quinn's 30th Birthday Parade on Manor! Sun, Aug 21st, 6-8PM It's one of our very own's birthday this Sunday and he wanted to invite you, the community, to join him in ringing it in! Quinn turns the big 3-0 this year and will be taking to the streets for a (short) parade down Manor Road (on the sidewalk) to the song "Quinn the Eskimo." Bring an instrument of any sort (voices included) and help him start off this new decade in style! Drinks at in.gredients to kick things off. Staci Gray live at in.gredients Sat, Aug 27th, 10AM Join us on August 27th for our first 4th Saturday performance by local Austin children's musician, Staci Gray! Staci performs monthly shows at some of Austin's coolest kiddy hangouts, like The Thinkery, BookPeople, Strange Brew and now in.gredients! Staci also performs at pre-schools and elementary schools all over Texas and Oklahoma. Her original music gets children to sing, dance and be just plain silly! Her 3rd CD, THREE, came out to rave reviews fall of 2015! Rescheduled! Civis 101 Happy Hour: Transportation & City Planning Tuesday, Aug 30th, 6-8PM We all hate traffic. So then why haven’t we figured out how to fix it yet? That’s what we’ll be discussing at this free happy hour event – how to get Austin moving again, and how to do it in a fair and equitable way. We hope you’ll join us for the last Civics 101 of the summer with Austin EcoNetwork! Recipe of the Week Rainy Day Tortilla Soup in.gredients SERVINGS: 8 1 4-pound chicken 1 onion, quartered 1 carrot, peeled, chopped 5 garlic cloves, smashed 2 dried chipotle chiles 1 jalapeño (with seeds), halved lengthwise 7 cilantro sprigs 3 tablespoons (or more) fresh lime juice Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Vegetable oil (for frying) 5 corn tortillas, cut in 1/2'-thick strips 2 ears of husked corn, or 2 cups frozen, thawed corn kernels Chopped fresh cilantro, halved cherry tomatoes, avocado wedges, queso fresco or mild feta in.structions Bring chicken, onion, carrot, garlic, chipotles, jalapeño, and 16 cups water to a boil in a large pot; skim foam from surface. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, skimming the surface frequently, until chicken is cooked through, about 1 hour. Transfer chicken to a plate. Strain broth into another large pot. Return chiles to broth, if a spicier broth is desired; discard remaining solids. Shred chicken meat; discard skin and bones. Transfer chicken meat to a medium bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, set pot with strained broth over medium heat and add cilantro sprigs. Bring broth to a simmer; cook until reduced to 8 cups, about 1 hour. Discard sprigs and chiles, if using. Stir in 3 Tbsp. lime juice. Season with salt, pepper, and more lime juice, if desired. Add chicken to broth. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Attach deep-fry thermometer to the side of a large cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet. Pour oil into skillet to a depth of 1". Heat over medium heat until thermometer registers 350°–360°. Working in batches, fry tortilla strips, turning occasionally, until crisp and golden brown, 2–3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Season with salt. Cook corn over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning occasionally, until charred in spots. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Cut kernels from cobs in strips. Discard cobs. (Alternatively, cook kernels in a large skillet over high heat until charred in spots.) Rewarm broth with chicken. Divide soup among bowls. Top generously with corn, tortilla strips, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, and crumbled queso fresco. Recipe by Mas Tacos Por Favor in Nashville TN Photograph by Marcus Nilsson

Social Media Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Pinterest Send us an email Happy Hours M 12PM-10PM Tue-Fri 12PM-6PM $1 OFF Pints $2 OFF Pitchers Community Partner UPCOMING EVENTS SPECIAL EVENTS Fri 9/2: Sept First Friday Block Party 6-9pm MUSIC: Fri 8/26: Silverfox live on the porch 7-9pm Sat 9/3: Deer Fellow live on the porch 6-8pm Sat 9/10: Jardin Telling live on the porch 6-8pm Sat 9/24: The Love Sprockets live on the porch 6-8pm Promotions Wine of the Week 10% OFF Duchmann Family Winery Trebbiano One of the most widely planted varietals in the world, Trebbiano is found in over one third of the white wine DOCs in Italy and is a primary ingredient in the production of fine Cognac. Trebbiano has found a new home in the High Plains of Texas, and this rising star is one of the most exciting wines in our lineup. Exotic fruit aromatics and wonderful acid structure are hallmarks of Duchman Trebbiano. Bomber of the Week 10% OFF Jester King Brewery Provenance The second batch of Provenance takes the vibrant flavors and aromas of lemons and limes and presents them in the unique way that only wild fermentation with native yeast and bacteria can. Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and 100% bottle-conditioned. ABV 5.7% Coffee of the Month Third Coast Coffee Frios Mio Cold Brew on Tap! You're not dreaming – our cold brew coffee on tap is on sale all month long! This stuff is the real deal and the only true antidote to the dog days of summer. Copyright © 2016 in.gredients All rights reserved. Store Hours: Monday – Saturday 9 AM – 10 PM Sunday 10 AM – 10 PM Happy Hour(s): Monday 12 PM – 10 PM Tuesday – Friday 12 PM – 6 PM Contact Us: 2610 Manor Road, Austin TX 78722 512-275-6357

Our mission is to minimize waste and promote healthy, sustainable lifestyles by selling local food with pure ingredients.

Our Unacceptable in.gredients List

We try to make the experience of shopping at in.gredients as fun and stress-free as possible. We take pride in our thorough sourcing process where we screen the ingredients in each of our products to guarantee that our customers only receive the best, healthiest products made in an ethical way with guilt-free ingredients.

• acesulfame-K (acesulfame potassium)
• acetylated esters of mono- and diglycerides
• ammonium chloride
• artificial colors
• artificial flavors
• aspartame
• azodicarbonamide
• benzoates in food
• benzoyl peroxide
• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
• BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
• bleached flour
• bromated flour
• brominated vegetable oil (BVO)
• calcium bromate
• calcium disodium EDTA
• calcium peroxide
• calcium propionate
• calcium saccharin
• calcium sorbate
• calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate
• caprocaprylobehenin
• carmine
• certified colors (Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Red 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6)
• cyclamates
• cysteine (l-cysteine), as an additive for bread products
• DATEM (Diacetyl tartaric and fatty acid esters of mono and diglycerides)
• dimethylpolysiloxane
• dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS)
• disodium calcium EDTA
• disodium dihydrogen EDTA
• disodium guanylate
• disodium inosinate
• EDTA
• ethyl vanillin
• ethylene oxide
• ethoxyquin
• FD & C colors
• foie gras
• GMOs (genetically modified organisms)
• GMP (disodium guanylate)
• hexa-, hepta- and octa-esters of sucrose
• high fructose corn syrup
• hydrogenated fats
• IMP (disodium inosinate)
• irradiated foods
• lactylated esters of mono- and diglycerides
• lead soldered cans
• methyl silicon
• methylparaben
• microparticularized whey protein derived fat substitute
• monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• natamycin
• nitrates/nitrites
• partially hydrogenated oil
• polydextrose
• potassium benzoate
• potassium bisulfite
• potassium bromate
• potassium metabisulfite
• potassium sorbate
• propionates
• propyl gallate
• propylparaben
• saccharin
• sodium aluminum phosphate
• sodium aluminum sulfate
• sodium benzoate
• sodium bisulfite
• sodium diacetate
• sodium glutamate
• sodium nitrate/nitrite
• sodium propionate
• sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate
• sodium sulfite
• solvent extracted oils, as standalone single-ingredient oils (except grapeseed oil)
• sorbic acid
• sucralose
• sucroglycerides
• sucrose polyester
• TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone)
• tetrasodium EDTA
• vanillin

in.gredients 4th Anniversary Party on Aug. 6th

Join us in celebrating four years of zero waste, local food, and community at our free family-friendly 4th Anniversary Party on Saturday, August 6 from 6-9PM.

There will be live music by The Stovetop Rangers and Devin James Fry,KTonic Kombucha snowcones, live screen printing by Fine Southern Gentlemen, face painting by Sparklefingers Body Art, a photo booth, giant jenga with Workers Defense Project and more. In collaboration withJuiceLand and Johnson’s Backyard Garden, Hops and Grain will be brewing their signature small-batch Watermelon Brown Ale, Common Denominator. Austin-based companies Zhi Tea, Cat Spring Tea, Kosmic Kombucha, Third Coast Coffee Roasting Company, Boulanger Fermentations, Delysia Chocolatier, Fortitude Provisions and Joe’s Organics will join the party with samples and stories about their history with in.gredients and their work to support the store’s mission.

A portion of the proceeds from our 4th Anniversary Party will be donated to our incredible non-profit Community Partner, Workers Defense Project, an Austin-based organization that advocates for marginalized workers.

Join in.gredients in celebrating four years of slinging local groceries and pouring local pints with the incredible community that has grown around its mission. RSVP here.

9th Annual Bug Eating Festival July 13th!

Little Herds Celebrates Eating Insects and a Sustainable Future of Food at the 9th Annual Bug Eating Festival Part II on Wednesday, July 13th

For the second year in a row, in.gredients is hosting the Bug (Eating) Festival – a celebration of entomophagy and the future of food organized by Little Herds, an Austin non-profit working to promote the use of insects for food and feed as an environmentally sound and economically viable source of nutrition.

A large crowd of local bug-enthusiasts gathered at in.gredients for Part I of the 9^th Annual Bug (Eating) Festival on Saturday, June 4 to sample insect-infused treats, listen to live music by Josh Buckley and learn more about the role of bugs in our food system. 

“It went great; we probably had 200 people there,” Little Herds President Robert Nathan Allen said. “We had booths for PEAS, Delysia Chocolatier, Slow Food Austin, Aketta, and Crickers Crackers. There was a kids’ activities table and a bunch of different treats like cricket rice krispie treats and cricket oatmeal cookies. Chef Rick Lopez from La Condesa did a cooking demonstration of how to make chapulines salsa.”

Due to the severe weather conditions during Part I of the 9th Annual Bug Eating Festival, Little Herds is holding a second Bug Eating Festival this year on Wednesday, July 13 from 5-9PM at in.gredients. The 9th Annual Bug Eating Festival Part II is an opportunity for insect-novices to taste bugs for the first time and for entomophagy enthusiasts like RNA to gather and share what they love about insects as a food of the future.

RNA’s initial interest in insect eating was sparked by a video on entomophagy that was sent to him as a joke, “I took it way too seriously,” he said. A year later RNA had gathered together a group of friends who were interested in eating bugs and raising awareness of the environmental and nutritional benefits of insects as an alternative protein source. Within six months, by December 2013, Little Herds had become a 501c3 non-profit committed to edible insect education.

“We should be thinking about our food before it hits our plate,” RNA said. “Little Herds’ mission is to educate our community about the benefits of eating insects – it addresses the broader questions of how we fix our broken food system. We are interested in insects as food and as livestock feed, and we are focused on our local community and global community. Austin was the perfect birthplace for Little Herds; there are a lot of cultural influences on our food scene. Austin already has a big paleo community, a big gluten-free community – there are a lot of people who want to keep it weird when it comes to what we eat here.”

Raising insects requires significantly less resources – water, space and feed – than the production of other forms of livestock. When RNA learned of the environmental sustainability and nutrient content of edible insects, he began experimenting with cricket flour. He brought one of his first batches of cricket cookies to the 5^th Annual Bug Eating Festival.

“The festival was founded by Marjory Wildcraft. She started nine years ago with some friends and families who wanted to try bugs for the first time. They had such a blast they did it again, and more people showed up the next year, and it grew,” RNA said. “I got involved with this idea at the 5^th Annual Bug Eating Festival; I brought some cricket flour cookies I baked and just fell in love with the idea. Since then I’ve helped organize the festival. Originally it was a way to get people together to try bugs, and now it’s grown as a way to see insects as a resource and to celebrate all the good work that’s happening in Austin around food and sustainability.”

Little Herds has gathered together a group of local bakers and chefs – Chef Rick Lopez from La Condesa, Aketta Cricket Flour, Crickers and Delysia Chocolatier – to bring insect-enriched treats to Part II of the 9^th Annual Bug Eating Festival on Wednesday, July 13 for curious eaters to try. Taste the future of food and sustainable protein in the form of gourmet cricket cookies and chocolates, spiced mealworms and cricket salsa.

“One of the great things about edible insects is that if you don’t want to see them, you don’t have to – you can grind them up into flours,” RNA said. “It’s not a one-to-one replacement of regular flour, but you can sub in a portion of the flour in recipes, and you’ll still get that additional protein, iron and calcium that weren’t there before. Crickets have really good omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; they have fiber. It’s just mind-blowing how healthy they are, and we’ve just been missing out on it.”

Since Little Herd’s inception in June 2013, they have focused on educating children about entomophagy and getting kids excited to eat bugs. “We have educator kits designed to be taught at schools around Austin that can be catered to any age group,” RNA said. “If we get 1% of kids in Austin to eat insects, we can show how much water is saved and how much greenhouse gas is saved from just a small number people.” Part II of the 9^th Annual Bug (Eating) Festival will feature even more activities for kids to learn about the benefits of bugs and how to eat them.

“Parents know it’s nutritious and environmentally beneficial, and kids don’t have built-in taboos,” RNA said. “Trends change throughout history. We’re trying to change the mentality that insects are gross food.”

Little Herds is part of a larger movement to repopularize eating insects as a sustainable protein alternative. Although entomophagy is practiced throughout the world in countries like Mexico, the idea is relatively new in the United States.

“It’s a cultural taboo that’s built up over time for a variety of reasons. As our ancestors moved up north from the equator and bugs got smaller, people stopped eating insects. Due to agriculture, bugs weren’t needed as a food supply,” RNA said. “There are a lot of places where eating insects is traditional, but for younger generations it’s starting to be seen as something your grandmother did. If we make eating insects part of our modern food culture it won’t have that effect. In Mexico, eating insects is still celebrated as a traditional food. There are restaurants throughout the country that serve traditional Oaxacan chapulines.”

Little Herds has three “core principles” it recommends to anyone interested in trying insects for the first time: be safe, be kind (to other eaters, insects and the planet) and be curious.

“It’s fun to surprise people but we want to make sure people are safe; if you have a shellfish allergy you may be allergic to insects,” RNA said. “If someone doesn’t want to try, that’s okay. Everyone has a food they don’t like, and they don’t need someone bullying them about it.”

Little Herds works to promote ethical insect farming that does not disturb local ecosystems. Insects can be safely and humanely harvested through freezing, “lowering their temperature like they would hibernate in the wild.”

“Be kind to the animals; insects are living creatures and sentient beings,” RNA said. “We are not saying go in your backyard and try bugs; you don’t know where those are from. If you harvest bugs from the wild they may have parasites or your neighbor may spray pesticides. Part of being safe is knowing where your food comes from – you should want to know where your food is grown and the way it’s processed. You want to know that it’s safe for animals.”

This summer, Little Herds launched a crowdfunding campaign through Barnraiser to expand their programs in Austin and abroad. Rewards for donating include a jar of Cricket Bolognese Pasta Sauce, a grow-your-own mealworms kit (that comes equipped with a mealworm cookbook and farm) and a cricket-chocolate making class with Delysia Chocolatier – make sure to donate and claim your reward before their crowdfunding deadline of midnight Friday, July 15.

“The first day we received an anonymous matching donation for up to $4000 if we reached our first goal by the following Saturday. The community rallied, and we hit our goal by Friday,” RNA said. “We have some really great stretch goals that are going to be impactful for the local Austin community.”

Little Herds is still working to meet their third fundraising goal of reaching $25,000, which will allow them to host the second ever “Eating Insects” conference in the U.S. next year in Austin. RNA attended “Eating Insects Detroit,” the first conference in the U.S. devoted to insects for food and feed, and came back inspired to do the same in Austin.

“The conference gave me a huge injection of energy and ideas,” RNA said. “Over 150 international business founders joined the conference along with insect farmers and experts leading research looking at the psychology and marketing of eating insects. There were film screenings, a pop-up insect dinner and a food truck-serving insects. The conference was a snapshot of what people are doing all around the world, and how this can apply to Austin. We were just blown away by how this conference went for its first year; bringing it to Austin next year just makes so much sense. We can make it coincide with the 10^th Annual Bug Eating Festival.”

Similar to Part I of the 9^th Annual Bug (Eating) Festival, Part II will have an Ento Raffle benefitting Little Herds Barnraiser campaign with insect cookbooks, edible insect t-shirts and tote bags, and baking ingredients like cricket flour and Delysia chocolate. The event is open to the public and entrance costs a suggested donation of $10 to Little Herds (kids are free!) – purchase tickets in advance online or at the door.

First time trying insects? Little Herds encourages people to check out their website for resources on how to eat insects safely.

Summer Recipes by Love and Lemons

A Plant-Based Diet

We agree with food writer Michael Pollan when he said, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” While most folks think of summer as the time for grilling meat, we’re pretty jazzed on the abundance of warm-weather veggies currently coming out of our farmers’ fields. To highlight these seasonal offerings, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite recipes from Austin-based food blogger, Jeanine Donofrio of Love and Lemons.

Vegan Cobb Salad with Coconut “Bacon”

in.gredients

• 1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped
• ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, spiralized or peeled into ribbons
• 1 ear of corn, grilled, kernels sliced off cobb
• 1 avocado, pitted and diced
• 12 to 14 ounces extra-firm tofu, patted dry and cubed
• ½ cup coconut “bacon” (recipe below)

Coconut “bacon”

• 1½ cups unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1½ tablespoons tamari
• scant 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

Cashew “buttermilk” dressing: (this makes extra)

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 3 to 4 hours, preferably overnight, drained and rinsed
• ½ to ¾ cups fresh water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt

in.structions

1. In a blender, combine the cashews, ½ cup water, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. Blend until creamy, adding more water if necessary. Taste and season with additional salt as needed. Chill until ready to use.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the coconut flakes along with the tamari, maple syrup and smoked paprika on the pan and toss gently to coat. Spread in a thin layer on the pan and bake until dark golden brown and slightly crispy, about 10 minutes.
3. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the tofu cubes on the pan and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and generous pinches of salt. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
4. In a serving bowl, assemble the salad with the romaine, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, corn, avocado and tofu. Top with the coconut “bacon” and serve with the dressing on the side. Store any extra dressing in a sealed container in the fridge.

Veggie Tacos with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

in.gredients

• 1 small Japanese eggplant, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup chopped summer squash (yellow, pattypan, or zucchini)
• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
• drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 corn or flour tortillas
• 1 cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ avocado, diced
• handful of cilantro
• 1 serrano pepper, sliced (optional)
• crumbled cotija cheese (optional)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Avocado Tomatillo Sauce:

• ⅓ cup store-bought or homemade tomatillo salsa
• ¼ cup pepitas
• ½ avocado
• handful of spinach
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• squeezes of lime, to taste
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

in.structions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the chopped eggplant, squash, red pepper and tomatoes onto the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and pinches of salt and pepper and roast until golden brown around the edges 25-30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make your sauce. In a food processor, blend together the tomatillo salsa, pepitas, avocado, spinach, olive oil, lime juice and pinches of salt and pepper, to taste. Chill until ready to use.
3. Assemble the tacos with the black beans, roasted vegetables, diced avocado, cilantro, serrano, cotija (if using), and a generous scoop of the avocado tomatillo sauce. Serve with extra sauce on the side.
4. Store extra sauce in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

Portobello Pups

in.gredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• salt & pepper
• 2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced into 4 long slices each

Fixings:

• ½ cup red onion
• ½ cup chopped tomatoes
• squeeze of lime
• 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced
• salt & pepper
• yellow mustard
• 4-5 hot dog buns
• optional: ketchup on the side
• optional: 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced

in.structions

1. In a small bowl, mix together the chopped red onion and sliced tomatoes. Add a squeeze of lime, salt and pepper. Stir and set aside.
2. Preheat your grill or grill pan. In another small bowl, mix the marinade ingredients together (olive oil, balsamic, mustard, salt & pepper), and brush onto the portobello slices until they’re coated.
3. (Note: If you’re making the macaroni salad, make it now and grill your mushrooms last).
4. Grill mushroom strips on each side until grill marks form and mushrooms are tender and juicy (about 3-4 minutes per side). Place 2 mushroom slices into each hot dog bun. Top liberally with onion & tomatoes, some serrano slices, and a swirl of mustard.

Grilled Peach Crumble

in.gredients

• ½ cup walnuts
• 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• tiny pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons cold butter (I use vegan earth balance)
• a few teaspoons flour*, if necessary for the crumble
• 4-6 peaches
• ice cream (I used coconut, use what you like)

in.structions

1. Make the crumble by crushing the walnuts together with the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. I did this in a plastic bag using a wooden kitchen mallet, a rolling pin would also work. Add the butter and, using your hands, crumble it into the mix until just combined. If it’s too moist and not crumbly, add a bit of flour.
2. Slice your peaches and grill for a few minutes on each side.
3. Serve the peaches with some of the crumble and a scoop if ice cream.

‘I’m in’ with Stephanie Ciancio from San Fransisco’s Nesting So Hard

Stephanie Ciancio lives in San Fransisco but insists on taking a trip to in.gredients every time she visits her best friend in Austin. Stephanie’s commitment to living a zero waste lifestyle and changing how she shops has led her to start Nesting So Hard, a service that helps people reorganize their kitchens and commit to zero waste habits.

in: How did you hear about in.gredients?

SC: I think maybe Pinterest or Facebook, it was something that friends of mine shared. My best friend Suzanne lives in Austin, when I came here I asked her, “Please take me to this place!” That was a couple years ago, and when I’m back in town I’m like, “Let’s go to in.gredients again!”

in: So you always come to in.gredients when you’re in Austin?

SC: Yeah!

in: What do you like about in.gredients?

SC: I love that it’s a cute little shop that helps people buy exactly what they need and not what they don’t – which is the food that you eat and not necessarily a bunch of extra packaging.

in: Do you try to live a zero-waste lifestyle?

SC: I’m a little obsessive about it. My husband is very understanding. I won’t actually throw away clear plastic. I collect it and take it to the one place it can be recycled; so I try not to get it in the first place. We live in San Francisco, and we compost. And I miss composting when I travel. I had to go on a restricted diet for my digestive health, and I started cooking a lot. And that’s when I got into shopping for bulk foods like quinoa and millet. I get a farm subscription for the produce. It’s a fun thing to play at, to get to the zero waste lifestyle. I like to approach it like a game, like how do we get more of what we want and less of what we don’t want rather than demonizing anything. I grew up shopping at Publix, but it’s so much more fun to shop at a pretty place that approaches food from a different angle and has farm relationships and local sourcing.

in: What is your advice for people looking to live a zero waste lifestyle?

SC: That’s a great question because that’s what I’ve just started doing as a service. I help people makeover their kitchens. And the starting point is, what do you like to cook? What do you like to eat – can you cook that? What ingredients do you use a lot of? And how can you streamline getting ahold of those ingredients, whether it’s a CSA delivery or having a system of containers that you always have. It’s so great to know that we can eat most of our meals at home and that most of what we need can be purchased in bulk. I had a commitment to my health that had me cook and eat in a different way. I no longer went to the grocery store when I remembered, it was part of my lifestyle to procure the food that I prepare and eat. You can create a system where you have containers in your car trunk. Or you can create a system where you have a bag of containers ready to go and you create a shopping list, and when you realize there are a lot of things on your list you grab the bag and you go. For me it was a progression. I still buy things I wasn’t planning on buying. But if you look back 5 or 10 years ago, no one every brought their bags, and now it’s like “Oh I forgot my bags this time.” So there’s been a shift already.

in: What’s the name of your business?

SC: Nesting So Hard. I do one-day kitchen makeovers, and I focus on using Mason jars and getting people really acquainted and familiarized and falling in love with their local bulk grocer.

Read more about Nesting So Hard on Stephanie’s blog. 

Photo by Suzanne Pressman, Pressman Studio