I love that the Tuscaloosa River Market is open year-round. Alabama has a fantastic growing season and there is always fresh produce available. And while I do love fresh produce in season, the main reason I am thankful for year-round market is because of this.

Meat and eggs.

I get most of my meat from Richard at Black Angus Beef. I know his farm in Eutaw has plenty of happy cows and that is the kind of farmer I want to source my meat for us. Until we can get a side of beef for our freezer from Richard, I am happily parading myself to the River Market.

ALL of my bone broth comes from his bones. Since I made 2 batches a couple of weeks ago, I needed to stock up. In fact, I needed to stock up on everything. Ground beef, stew meat, tips, roasts, etc. If you are local to Tuscaloosa, go by and see him. He’s quiet but can answer any question for you.

I usually get my eggs from Miss Emily. You have to get there early to get her eggs! She also has local honey. Since I’m working valiantly to combat my decades-long battle with allergies, VERY local honey is a key staple. This is local as in “just down the road a piece”.

No market day is complete without a hot chai from Tea Town Alabama. This is one of my absolute favorite businesses. Top 5. I got to work with Becca for a year with the Druid City Garden Project. DCGP provided the garden for our school and we (teachers) work with DCGP teaching garden lessons and keeping a rotation of fresh produce.

Since I knew Becca, I was crazy surprised to realize she owns Tea Town Alabama with her husband Jonathan. These 2 people are seriously as good as gold. I wish I could get by their store front more often.

For dinner, I threw together a ground beef stir fry. This one is heavy on ginger and broccoli. Since I had a few 2lb packs of ground beef, I went ahead and made a big pan of this so I could freeze a few meals for lunch. Impromptu meal prep!

Running around the local park today. It was not too cold and it was busy!

Happy Saturday!