Excalibur is here!!!!

My food dehydrator came tonight! :)

IT IS HUGE!!!!! I mean HUGE!!!!

As we speak, I am drying basil, oregano, chives, lemon balm, and thyme!
What do you recommend I do next?
Do you have a favorite recipe?

Juicing, Juicing and more juicing!

At the Certified Farmers Market Saturday, I bought 8 pounds of
organic oranges and juiced them all today! YUMMIE!!!!!

I also got notice that my dehydrator is coming soon!!! I cant wait!

Care to try a Green Smoothie?

This is not the same recipe I used. (I got mine from The Green Smoothies Diet)

Here is a basic recipe from Uncooking 101 Experiment. Add new things. Make it exciting!

Let me know how you like it!

(pic from http://uncooking101.com/site/raw-food-recipe/basic-green-smoothie/)

Making my 1st Green Smoothie!

Our local Certified Farmers Market moved INDOORS for the summer!
I had to go check it out and say HI to a few friends-



So my goal was to find Swiss Chard- you know, that brightly colored stalk with big green leaves?
And Kale. For my Green Smoothies.

I found it! I felt pretty excited I knew it by sight!

I had a hard time not bringing one of everything home.

Found a new food- Lemon Cucumber! (The roundish prickly green/yellow colored things)

Washing up and going to make a Green Smoothie...



Now to taste it.....Verdict: Surprisingly good! It went down smooth, and had a kick to it. It tingles the tongue for awhile and I really enjoyed it. I did notice it helped suppress my appetite all day. (Quite a feat for me)

*Update: I had a second glass today (just refrigerated the blender container) at breakfast and could not finish my egg sandwich. Humm..... will keep posting noticeable results. LOL

My book came!

It arrived!

I have been feverishly reading chapters and also information on her website.
Robyn Openshaw is her name and she presents some facts that seem very logical.

Read the tid-bits under Nutrition Manifesto. I'm interested in the alkaline water...don't get it still, but will keep learning about it till I do.

I did read something very interesting about ADHD related to some unhealthy eating habits, and all during my pregnancy all I wanted was McDonald's french fries. *Sigh

I also saved my money and purchased a food dehydrator. If I'm going to do this- I might as well learn and do as much as possible. Besides, using my oven, even on the lowest heat setting, during the summer time here is ridiculous!

Anyone have a food dehydrator and can recommend some things to do with it?
I have already found two great recipes to do with it!
Here is one (Zesty Cheesy Kale Chips), here is another (Nori Nachos).

Going GREEN and SPROUTING

Sprouts?
Like a seed sprouting? Eating the sprout?
It does what for my body?.....
I am drifting (oh-so-slowly) into a foreign new land of 'healthyness'.
What I mean by that is I envision myself finally learning to take care of myself first, and get my weight under control.
My life is at the half-way point, not to sound morbid or depressing, but I'm openly aware that I might not live past 80, and that is okay. I just want to go out gracefully, not disease-ridden.
What scares me is how my body feels now. It's not good.

I need to make a change, and so does my family.

Green. Live foods. Organic. These are things I am learning about as I garden more with my students and meet fascinating people who teach us along the way.

So, I tried my first 'sprouts' a couple of weeks ago and got a mini lesson on how wonderful they are for the body. They were good, and I thought, "I can grow sprouts!"
So I started some a day ago and was so proud. My husband poked at the bag on the counter (they need darkness to begin) and I explained very matter-of-factly that they were sprouts. Well, I threw them in the trash this afternoon as I saw fuzzies on the seeds. (bummer)
I researched on the computer and realized I didn't rinse and drain daily, as I was supposed to. Duh!
So I will make another trip to the local health food store and purchase more raw sunflower seeds. I learned a lot from this site: sprouting

I also have a Blendtec blender that does everything! I mean everything! We got it at Costco and LOVE IT! I make much healthier versions of everything with the awesome cookbook that came with it.

So Im also 'following 'Green Smoothie Girl' for her recipes on 'green' smoothies. I haven't tried one yet, but I aspire too- I have the kale growing in my backyard to pick...(still waiting to pick it) I bought one of her books to read this summer. I can envision myself now laying on my new lounge chair, catching some rays carefully by the poolside. (maybe sipping on a green smoothie?)

Drop me a message if you have tried any of this! :)
PS- the pic is seeds soaking for an overnighter, and a protein powder....I'm beginning my journey!

This should be an interesting summer!

Dreaming of vacationing in Santa Barbara?

Well, dream no more!

Enter this contest to win a vacation to beautiful Santa Barbara for a family of four!

Click here!

Win a trip for 4 to Catalina Island!

Read about it here! :)

We did it!!!!

Since my last post Jan 29th, we have successfully received 10 'adoptions' for our cages in the school garden!
We were asking for sponsors for the 'cages' we needed to build over the raised beds to help keep the squirrels out of our garden...and we did it!

These awesome people/businesses adopted a cage!

*Stewart and Christine Cross (Wonderful Rotary friends!)
*Jim and Barb Wynne (Thanks Mom and Dad! Love you!)
*Pamela Kershaw and Suzanne Radinski (My best friends!)
*F5 Networks
*Gillespie Air Conditioning and Heating
*JN Landscape Construction
*Slow Food Desert Cities (adopted the last 4 cages!)

**And to my sister Erin Marie Provost who came up with the idea in the first place for 'Adopting the Cages'! You are so wonderful!

A HUGE and profound Thank You for allowing our students to learn about healthy food and how to overcome obstacles! You all are wonderful! Thank you! Thank you! xoxo



See 3 bins done, 1 with frame and 1 with no frame yet.
Thanks to my wonderful hubby Jeff who built all the cages! (and so quickly!)

Can you help "Adopt A Cage"?

Well,

I think I have a great idea. Actually to be honest, it was my sisters idea, but I'm running with it!

We have been outsmarted by our squirrels at school, and they have eaten through three plantings since September. It is very frustrating when you spend so much time and effort into teaching students how to be healthy and how easy it is to grow your own food, when you can't eat anything from the garden because the squirrels have chewed all the plants down to nubs. Sigh.....

So here comes the great idea! "Adopt A Cage" Program!

You donate to a very worthy cause, our school garden, and in return we:

• purchase all the materials needed for each cage
• built the cages and provide all the labor
• eat healthy, organic foods from the garden we grew ourselves
• supply you with free advertising for the year in our yearbook (you/your business)
• send you a tax write-off paper
• put a plaque with your name/business on it and hang it on the cage

All that for $200.00. (tax deductible)

My husband and I have funded the first 'cage' and have installed it. However we cannot afford to fund the other 9 bins in our garden. :( This is where you can come in and save the day!

You can click on the link in the title and go straight to my school web page, or you can simply write/email me for more information.

Right now, I have a whole backyard full of little plantlings waiting to be planted by the kids, but I won't take them to school until our raised beds are secure from those pesky squirrels. (we aren't allowed to shoot them, in case you were wondering) :(

Please help us! We are more than willing to accept any amount as well. We will send you a tax-write off paper as well. :)








Picking up donated plants
at Bonnie Plants













Our bounty!













Raised beds
Start of building cages











Almost done with cage
Still needs wire doors on side
It is looking beautiful!

More great times from Yosemite

Unwinding among the pines

Feeling like I've been treading treacherous waters for a long time.










I've had too much on my plate....for too long.


Each breath of crisp air released an ounce of stress.







I found myself speechless and watching my breath rise up








Listening to crunching needles under my feet, and ducks squawking at each other







This site stopped me in my tracks. My first thought was the backyard in Pittsburgh, as a child, with all the incredible colors of leaves the trees would have!









All cares have melted away at this point








Have you ever noticed?








How many types....








...of leaves can be....








...found together?








....And I'm still breathing in and out...








Life is great.








We needed this

Lone Pine to Home...

This is just my favorite thing to see....rivers/creeks running alongside the road. This would be my dream, to live right next to a river or creek...and be able to dip my toes in at anytime I wanted!

We took the 395 down from Bishop right into San Bernadino and over to the 10.



I spotted this cute little creek going up the pass, and asked Jeff to pull over so we could 'dip our toes in'...
SO T and I got in and it felt so good!





Then boredom sinks in....
.....and then FINALLY we made it home.....to 109 degree heat. Oh how I missed that heat! (NOT)
We had a WONDERFUL time and have so many other places we want to see....one of these days we'll have another grand adventure like this one!
Thanks for coming along and feel free to drop me a note here or on FaceBook... :)