Locavore Lunch at The Village Café on October 24th to Raise Awareness for Climate Action

Hey!! Looking for something really great to do this Saturday? Want some really delicious food to eat? Want to be involved with a fantastic group of folks and raise awareness regarding the poor quality of our air and climate and what we can do to improve it?

Well.. then.... THE VILLAGE CAFE is the place to be, this Saturday, October the 24th from noon to 3pm. The good folks over there are serving up some special items just for this event.

If you have questions or want to know more about this endeavor, just contact THE VILLAGE CAFE! (979) 703-8514

Thanks Kellie for the info!

And now here’s the rest of the scoop:

Locavore Lunch at The Village Café on October 24th to Raise Awareness for Climate Action

On October 24th, the Village Café is joining over 2,000 communities and venues across the world in an event to raise awareness for Climate Action. A special lunch menu will be served from 12:00 to 3:00 which will consist entirely of food grown in the Brazos Valley. Limiting the miles that food travels from farm to table is a great way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time supporting local farmers and consuming fresher and healthier food. Additionally, most of the dishes served will be vegetarian or vegan, which is another good way to reduce the environmental impacts of the food we consume.




This global event is sponsored by a group called 350.org, which was founded by author and environmentalist Bill McKibben. 350.org is the first large-scale grassroots global campaign against climate change. Its supporters include leading scientists, the governments of 92 countries, and a huge variety of environmental, health, development and religious NGOs. All agree that current atmospheric levels of CO2—390 parts per million—are causing damage to the planet and to its most vulnerable people, and that government action at the Copenhagen climate conference is required to bring the earth’s carbon level swiftly down to 350 ppm.


As part of this event, there will be a photo booth set up at the Village Café so that people can have pictures taken of themselves to put on a collage that we’ll be making to represent all the members of our community to support action on climate change. Even if you don’t want to eat lunch, just come by and have your picture taken or sign your name to the collage. You can be a part of sending a strong message to our representatives that residents in the Brazos Valley do care about climate change and want strong action taken now!

The Village Café is located in Downtown Bryan on 26th Street, across from Mr. G’s Pizza.

We hope to see you there!

Until Next Time......

GOOD HEALTH ALL!!

Who Says “Nobody Likes Mushy Watermelon?”

My dear, sweet Hubby Bear hates it when watermelon season comes to an end. Each year, as the curtain is drawn on watermelons; he brings home just one more in hopes that he can have one last brilliantly red, ripe, firm melon that cracks open as soon as the knife pierces the rhine. And each year is the same..... we end up with a mushy, old and tasteless melon that goes in the trash.





Ok, so we have a ton of deer that always dine on our pasture every evening and early morning. All sizes, from baby deer to teens to Momma and Dad. “The Deer Family,” is what we call them. So, I thought... “Hey.. instead of throwing out this mushy melon, I am going to cut it up into “deer-manageable” pieces and toss it around the pasture!” I just knew they would love the change to something sweet and yummy. (At least "sweet and yummy" to them..)

The melon was cut and loaded into a box. Bear and I distributed it across the pasture one evening. I just knew “The Deer Family” would come running and jumping outta the woods yelling, “Hey guys! Look! It’s watermelon for supper tonight!” Well, to my disappointment, nothing happened. Not that evening, not the next morning, the day or that next evening. Mushy watermelon was still there.

Gosh, I would have thought if “The Deer Family” did not like watermelon, at least the raccoons or squirrels or ‘dillos or some little critter would enjoy it!!! Hubby Bear said...”Nobody likes mushy watermelon, including the critters!”

Well, yesterday afternoon I decided to walk out to the melon to see if there had been any “nibbles,” at least. And much to my surprise and astonishment...... there ARE some little critters enjoying that mushy watermelon..... The BEES!!! Who wudda thought? There were thousands (well, maybe not thousands.. but a heck of a lot!) of bees all over each piece of the bright red melon. I got just close enough to get a quick picture.





So, now we know..... “Bees, love mushy watermelon!!”


Until Next Time......


GOOD HEALTH TO ALL!!

Pilates 100

Last week, I challenged you to try some new and wonderful flavors and goodies suitable for Vegans in the Vegan 100 blog.

This week, I offer a challenge to you in the way of a great core work out called Pilates 100’s. This position takes all the strength and muscles in your whole body to perform. It is AWESOME!!!

What is Pilates? It is an innovative system of mind-body exercise that evolved from the principles of Joseph Pilates. It dramatically transforms the way your body looks, feels, and performs. Pilates builds strength without excess bulk. It creates a sleek, toned body with slender thighs and flat abs.

Pilates 100’s is one of the fundamental exercises of Pilates. This is a real challenge not only for your strength; but also, for your balance.

As with all work out programs, if you have not worked out in a long time, live a sedentary lifestyle, if you are deconditioned or have any health issues, please check with your physician before doing any exercises.

Remember to breath, don’t hold your breath! Suck in that gut and squeeze that butt.

Lie on your back with legs straight out. Start with your legs raised up to about a 45 degree angle. Now raise your neck and shoulders. Make sure your head stays in a neutral position. Keep your eyes focused straight ahead. Hold your arms to the side and straight out in front with hands open and palms facing down. Begin pumping your arms up and down beside your legs. Pump 100 times. That's right... don't cheat, now. Rest for 30 seconds and perform 3 to 4 more sets of these with 30 second rest periods. You can also do modified positions as shown in the picture to the left.

More advanced option: Raise your torso up so that you look like a “V.” Keep your neck in a neutral position and eyes focused straight ahead.

Accompany the Pilates 100 with the All Important Core 4 to 6 times a week, and you’ll “enjoy” one “kick your butt” core work out!!

Until Next Time....

GOOD HEALTH TO ALL!!

A Stolen Moment

I love the early mornings, especially after having a restful night’s sleep. This morning, as I waited for my decaf coffee to brew, I sat in a chair in the outside courtyard. Watching my Beagle “children,” Jack n Jilly as they sniffed every inch of the yard, the fence, the side of the house, each other and me, I thought about how much I enjoy this time of year.

The dry air had the crispness of the fall season and the chill of the northern breeze made me glad I had put on Hubby Bear’s jumbo size, thick, plush terry cloth robe. As I sat there snuggled up, I could hear the roosters greeting the early morning. A flock of geese, maybe?, chattered as they flew overhead and the dawn sky was awakening to the glorious red, orange and yellow colors of the Saturday morning sun. I knew I was going to enjoy this most beautiful day!

Hope you enjoy your Saturday, too!

Until Next Time.......

GOOD HEALTH TO ALL!!

The Vegan 100

Hey all you Vegans, even you Vegetarians and meat eaters.... have you thought about all these interesting and flavorful options to try and add (or not) to your nutritional plan?

Be careful, however..... for S U G A R & its many aliases lurks about in some of this stuff!!

You can see my results. Take a look at the list and see what you might be interested in trying.

Directions:

1. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

2. Italicize any items that you would try

3. Make a comment beside the ones you would NOT try

4. Optional extra: Post a comment on this post linking to your results.

THE VEGAN 100

1. Molasses sugar!
2. Cactus/Nopales
3. Scrambled Tofu don't do soy, period
4. Grilled Portobella Caps
5. Fresh Ground Horseradish
6. Sweet Potato Biscuits
7. Arepa don't do bread
8. Vegan Coleslaw
9. Ginger Carrot Soup
10. Fiddlehead Ferns
11. Roasted Elephant Garlic
12. Umeboshi
13. Almond Butter Toast don't do bread
14. Aloe Vera
15. Bagel don't do bread
16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash
17. White truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes don't do booze
19. Freshly ground wasabi
20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider
23. Organic California Mango
24. Quinoa
25. Papaya Smoothie
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet or Habañero pepper
27. Goji Berry Tea don't like teas
28. Fennel
29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread don't do "processed" foods
31. Starfruit
32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread don't do bread
33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices don't do booze
34. Sauerkraut don't like this
35. Acai Smoothie prefer blueberry
36. Blue Foot Mushrooms
37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes
38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo don't do any soy, period
39. Falafel
40. Spelt Crust Pizza don't do pizza
41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms don't do salt
42. Jicama Slaw
43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings don't do soy, period
44. Hemp Milk maybe
45. Rose Champagne don't do booze
46. Fuyu
47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup
48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich don't do soy, period
49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne fresh-pressed juice
50. Grilled Seitan don't do gluten
51. Prickly pear
52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk
53. Concord Grapes off the vine
54. Ramps
55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut
56. Organic Arugula
57. Vidalia Onion
58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics
59. Honeycrisp Apple
60. Poi
61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores
62. Grape seed Oil don't do oils unless flax or coconut
63. Farm fresh-picked Peach
64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus don't do bread
65. Chestnut Snack Packs
66. Fresh Guava
67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
68. Raw Mallomar
69. Fried plantains probably not... its the oil thing
70. Mache
71. Golden Beets
72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles don't do "pickled" food
73. Liquid Smoke NO
74. Meyer Lemon
75. Veggie Paella
76. Vegan Lasagna don't do noodles
77. Kombucha don't like teas that much
78. Homemade Soy Milk don't do soy, period
79. Lapsang souchong don't like teas that much
80. Lychee Bellini don't do booze
81. Tempeh Bacon don't do soy, period
82. Sprouted Grain Bread don't do bread
83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh don't do soy, period
84. Vanilla Bean
85. Watercress
86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself
87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie
88. Flowers
89. Corn Chowder
90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate
91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi
92. White Flesh Grapefruit
93. Harissa
94. Coconut Oil
95. Jackfruit
96. Homemade Risotto
97. Spirulina don't do supplments
98. Seedless 'Pixie' Tangerine
99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought possible sugar used
100. Fresh Plucked English Peas

WOW! I've got a lot of possible goodies to try!!

How bout you?

Until Next Time.....

GOOD HEALTH TO ALL!!!

The Scariest Room

YIKES!!!! Do you know where the scariest room is.... at your place of employment? Do you know this room can make you “do things” you might not do otherwise? Do you know this room can break down your guard & destroy your will power?

You know what room I am talking about.. Don’t you?

THE BREAK ROOM!!

Last week in What’s Lurking in Your Kitchen....., I discussed how important it is to control your environment. As well as the dangers of having “crap” foods in your kitchen and what can happen when you have that moment of weakness that we all have from time to time.

This week, we look at the Office Break Room. This environment is 100 times more dangerous then your kitchen when it comes to temptations of the taste buds, mainly because you have no control over what is lurking in that room. You know.. All those store bought processed foods like, donuts, cookies, chips, crackers, candy, soda pop, diet or otherwise, and ice cream.

Oh, yea, you might see some “healthy nutritional” yogurt in the frig that is “Fat free” (meaning more sugar is added) or “Sugar free” (meaning artificial sweeteners are used.) You also may see a variety of “health and fitness” breakfast bars or snack bars. I invite you to take a moment and look at the INGREDIENTS of these so called healthy snacks. Don’t look at the ingredient breakdown... check out that VERY long list of ingredients that reads like a chemistry experiment. You will find all kinds of “hidden sugars,” artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colors, soy products, corn syrup, ..... Oh my gosh.. I could go on forever.

So, if you can’t control the break room environment... you can't control yourself, your thoughts, your actions, your reactions, your ability to be distracted, and your cratering will power.

The first thing I tell my clients when we discuss the office break room is to arm yourself with healthy snacks from home AND ..try NOT to go into the break room. Bring your own water or tea to drink in a cooler to keep in your office. Here are a few ideas for snacks that you can bring from home: (and watch out, I can guarantee your office mates will want you to share!)

*a bag of roasted raw almonds, raisins, unsweetened coconut and unsweetened (NOT semi-sweet) chocolate chips
*any fruit
*a variety of raw nuts
*Humble Hummus with carrot and celery sticks, sliced thick cukes or no salt blue corn chips
*1/2 sandwich of natural nut butters and sliced banana with raisins

*no fat, no salt popcorn (Paul Newman makes a really good one.. Plain Jane)


And here is what saves my life in my weak moments... LARA BARS!!! OMG, these are fabulous, wonderful... life savers.... and tastes so good! And you know what else? She adds NO preservatives, additives, sugar, artificial sweeteners, oils, fats, wheat, flour color or sodium... except in her peanut butter and jelly bar. LARA Bars are nothing but all natural ingredients, dates, raisins, nuts, fruit, coconut, lemon and lime juice. And they are only about 200 calories per bar.





Ok.... so now you know how to control your environment by arming yourself against the temptations within the break room and keeping yourself out of the scariest room in your place of employment!

I challenge each one of you.... for one week, bring your own healthy stuff from home, stay out of the break room and just see how much weight you could lose!

Until Next Time.......

GOOD HEALTH TO ALL!!

Oatmeal Raisin Coconut Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookie

A cookie that has everything!!

If you are looking for a great Vegan cookie that is baked with these DEE-licious ingredients:

*Oatmeal
*Unsweetened Coconut
*Unsweetened chocolate chips
*Walnuts
*Raisins
*Agave nectar
*Bananas

And NOT these VERY fattening & unhealthy ingredients:

*Sodium

*White sugar

*Brown sugar

*Honey

*Artificial sweeteners

*White flour

*Wheat flour

*Eggs

*Dairy

*Butter

*Oils

THIS IS THE COOKIE!!!!

Of course, you don't have to put all of this in one cookie. You can mix and match your delights. But start with the basic cookie dough and from there, let your creativity EXPLODE!!!

As Always, I DO organic as much as possible!

Ok, so this is what you need:

OATMEAL RAISIN COCONUT WALNUT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

1 cup Oatmeal

3 cups Oat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 T. cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 c Agave nectar

2 VERY ripe bananas

1 cup apple juice

raisins

chopped UNSALTED raw walnuts

unsweetened coconut

unsweetened chocolate chips

Oven at 375 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a food processor, add the bananas, juice and agave and mix till smooth and creamy. Pour this into another bowl.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to this banana mixture. Fold and mix thoroughly.

Fold in the raisins, chopped walnuts, unsweetened coconut, & unsweetened chocolate chips

Drop my spoonfuls onto a nonstick baking sheet. These are a "cake-like" cookies. If you want a thin, cripsy cookie, just flatten out each spoonful.

Bake about 10 minutes or so. Makes about 2 to 2.5 dozen.

Enjoy!!!

Until Next Time......

GOOD HEALTH TO ALL!!