My husband and I love to cook. We rarely eat out at restaurants, and instead enjoy being in the kitchen together making our own meals. Because of this we’ve always bought a lot of fresh ingredients, primarily produce. Lately, though, after hearing time and again how much produce is sprayed with pesticides and how expensive buying organic market vegetables can be, we have looked into going the DIY (do-it-yourself) route. It’s healthy for both our family and the environment – conserving water and reducing pollution from toxic chemicals.

Even though we only have a small patio, we still have managed to start planting a few delicious items including peppers, cilantro, and hopefully tomatoes and pumpkins soon. A small plot of land in your backyard is a big plus, but we’ve found that planters on a cement slab work just as good! Just follow the eco-friendly gardening tips after the jump and you’ll be on your way to a great fall harvest.

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Recently, Appleton Coated invited three design firms to the Calphalon Cooking Center in Chicago for a creative cuisine challenge (like the alliteration?). Faust Design, Grip Design, and Rule29 Creative joined the team from Appleton to participate in the great event. The results? Well, you’ll have to watch the video for that… but we can disclose that everyone’s meals were fantastic and the entire night was quite a bit of fun. Check out the recap video!

Rule29 loves a great meal with friends. You can sit, talk, laugh, and enjoy time breaking bread and having a memorable experience with friends or your special someone. Our next 29 Questions interview is with one of my favorite chefs and provider of fantastic foodie moments – Executive Chef of Niche Restaurant Jeremy Lycan. Jeremy and the crew at Niche are as much a part of the ambiance as the food itself. If you want an awesome culinary encounter, grab your significant other or favorite peeps and head to Geneva to experience Niche. Please read and enjoy…and if you want to know more about Niche, visit their site, or follow their Twitter, Flickr, Facebook or read Chef Jeremy’s blog.

1: When did you first know you wanted to be a chef?
I knew within the first week of working in a restaurant that a I wanted to be a chef. The first couple of days, I watched in awe as the chefs handled the controlled chaos mixed with the symphony of plates rattling, pans shaking on the stove and sizzling meat coming out of the ovens. Soon there after I was allowed to join in the chaos on a salad making station. I found that in the middle of a busy dinner rush with this high level of focus, the world outside of that kitchen could have collapsed without us blinking an eye. Time just slipped by. I knew then that I wanted to be a chef.

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Here at Rule29 we like to cook and one of the perks of our new office is a full fledged kitchen. There’s nothing like whipping up a good healthy meal or snack throughout the day. A full tummy is a happy tummy. We do our best to keep the kitchen stocked.

A favorite snack around the office is fresh baked cookies. They make the office smell wonderful and are a truly delicious snack. A great cookie recipe that will make any dieter give up their celery is the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Can I get a triple “YUM!”?)

While homemade cookies are the way to go, it does tend to take up more of your precious and hard-to-come-by time. A much faster way is to purchase cookie dough. Then you can make cookies whenever you want! Or if you are sans an oven just wander downtown Geneva to Moveable Feast to pick up some Fudgey Brownies (a favorite of Oprah)

For more cooking fun check out the pics from last weeks Iron Chef Competition between Rule29, Grip Design, Faust Design, and Appleton. Video soon to come.

Got any tasty snacks you like to enjoy? Share the love! Let us know your favorites.