Carrots and berries and kale, oh my!

A couple weeks ago, the hubby and I watched a movie about two guys who lost a ton of weight and "got healthy" just by drinking juice from fruits & veggies.  This "juice fast" was all they consumed for 60-days or longer.  They were observed by doctors throughout that time and had blood tests measure important hormone/body chemical levels.  One guy, who started out at almost 430-pounds, dropped his weight by about 200# while simultaneously, getting off a bunch of the meds he was on for various health issues.

The movie was interesting... a bit infomercially (selling the juicer and the book), but it had one point that that really hit home for us...

Raw vegetables are good for you.

That said, neither of us feel we get enough veggies in our diet.  We try, but sometimes we just don't try hard enough.  And we don't eat poorly (I can't tell you the last time we ate at one of the major fast-food places - it has to be close to 10-years), but could we be healthier if we tried to follow the "Strive for 5" lifestyle?

Then we asked the question... should we get a juice extractor and have a veggie-smoothie every day?

I posed this question to my friends on FaceBook.

For the most part, the response was the same... too expensive, too much work.

OKay... sure.
I can see their point.
BUT...

Veggies ARE more expensive than junk food.  If I make this a priority for me, and my health, then I should be able to make it work.  Right?

Too much work?  I don't know.  I didn't have a juicer at that time, so I had no idea what if would be like to process fruits & veggies and then clean up the machine.  Yes, I'm sure it's more work than buying pre-made juice, but it can't be that much less work than cooking up a veggie for dinner.

Long-story-short, I really wanted to try juicing.  When talking with a friend, I found out that she had one that she never used and would be happy to give it to me.  HOORAY!  Now I can "try it before I buy it" (which is awesome, because my research has shown that a decent juicer costs about $200.)

And try it, we did... I went to my local Farmers Market & grocery story and bought Kale, Cucumbers, Apples, Grapes, Carrots, Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Celery, Broccoli, Beets, and Blueberries.  Each day (for the last 4 days) we've taken a mixture of these things and made juice out of them.  We spent a little over $50 on fruits and veggies, I estimate it should last the two of us about a week.

Ya know what??? It's not bad!

Yeah, it looks terrible... swamp green in color.
And yeah, Kale tastes a bit like grass, but it's REALLY good for you (lots of micro-nutrients) and mixed with other stuff, you don't notice it as much as you would if you ate it alone.

Clean-up, too, is easy!  The machine comes apart, you pull out the "pulp" and rinse the components.  That's it.  Leave it on the counter to dry, and you're ready to go the next morning.

So, we're going to keep trying this and see what happens.
Will we feel healthier?  Will we have more energy? Will we lose any weight?
I don't know.

All I know is that I'm taking a step in the right direction to put more nutrient-dense foods in my body... and that's the point, isn't it?

Do you juice?  Got a favorite recipe?  I'd love any feedback you'd like to share.

12-of-12: July 2011

Today's 12-of-12 is being renamed to....

"My Summer Vacation"

It was a day filled with summertime activities.  

It started out with... 

CHERRIES!

This morning I made Cherry-Almond Jam...

Jam:  Before

Jam:  WIP

Jam:  Done!

Next... Cherry Pie!

Pie:  Before

Pie:  After

Mid-day, I took time to relax.

Hangin' in the Hammock

My view from the Hammock

 Finally, it was time to burn some calories... 

Self portrait:  Safety first!

First hill (it's steeper than it looks)

View of the golf course

Almost home - cooling down

If it was a little earlier, I'd grab a piece of pie to celebrate burning 500+ calories over my 16.1 miles of riding, but since I'm trying to lose a little weight, I'll save those calories for another time.

If you'd like to learn more about the 12-of-12 project, visit Chad Darnell's page.  He's the one who started it all - there you'll find other 12-of-12ers from around the world, too.

Hope you're having a great summer.  See ya next month!

Tis the Season... for JAMMING!

I can't tell you how many people has asked for my jam recipes.  Usually it happens after someone has tried some and fallen in love with it.  I must admit, I LOVE all the ooohhs and yummmms I hear when people taste my jam.  It makes me so happy.

There really is nothing special to my recipe for any Jam.  I (basically) follow the Sure-Jell Low-Sugar recipe (contained in the box of Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin), with a few modifications.  All of the "processing" directions I follow pretty closely.  It's the ingredients that are altered.

So.. for example, Strawberry.  My personal favorite.

The recipe says -
6 cups of crushed strawberries
4 cups of sugar

I make my jam with -
9 cups of (mostly) crushed strawberries (I use a potato masher to bust up the berries, leaving some almost whole and others pulp)
~ 3 cups of sugar (I scoop out four "almost" cups... I measured with my most recent batch and my cups are more like 3/4 cups)
I use butter with the fruit - about 1/2 Tbsp.
I don't skim off any foam (tho usually, I don't get much, if any) before ladling the mixture into jars

That's it!  Those are the only differences.  No magic, or ancient family secrets.

However... there are a few things I've learned over the years that help make REALLY YUMMY jam -
- Fresh fruit.  I try (tho it doesn't always happen) to make jam from perfectly ripe fruit.  My strawberries were processed within 24-hours of being picked.  I use "seconds" for nectarine/plum/apricot because I don't care what they look like, I just want tasty fruit.  (I also try to only use locally-grown fruits.  Nothing from the supermarket, just farm-fresh fruits.)
- Let your "rolling boils" roll... give them a little time to build.  Don't rush to add the remaining sugar or hit the 1-minute timer.  I've found that it's really hard to overcook jam.
- Don't worry about EXACT amounts of fruit or sugar.
- I use the "inversion method" to seal the jars.  After filling and screwing on the lid/rings on the jars, turn the jar upside down and let sit for 5-7 minutes.  Once that's done, flip them back to their upright position and let them sit for the next 24-hours.  Listen for the "pop" and cheer when you hear it - your jar is sealed!

Hope this helps.  Feel free to ask if you have any questions about jam-making.  I'm no expert, but I've been doing it for a while and may be able to assist.

Happy Jamming!

Super Saturday

What a great day it's been!

AND, it's not over!  In a little while, I'm gonna plunk myself down in between the pups and watch UP (the latest & greatest Disney-Pixar film that is simply spectacular!).

But first, I thought I'd share my day with you...

It started out slow - as Saturday's should - coffee, a bagel, some surfing the internet & visiting various blogs.  Then I got a little bit motivated and turned the ground venison (from my hubby's 1st deer) into some delicious goulash.  I just finished some that I had for dinner.  YUMMY!

Back to relaxing and some knot tying!  I'm making ornaments/ wreathes to give as Christmas gifts.  I made my first about a week ago and it took me almost half an hour to finish just one.  Today, I made six in about an hour!  Guess I figured out what I I needed to do... here they are - almost done, they need to be "perfected" then tied off for hanging.

These are Chinese Knots called 'Compound Double Coin Knot' - I have to thank Tying it All Together  for their video tutorial.

 

Next, it was time to burn some calories (good thing, because I cooked a LOT today).  The pups and I headed to the park for a walk.  It wasn't anything crazy terrain-wise, but we kept moving at a good pace and put on almost 2 miles.

Then, I had errands to run... got dog food and groceries, then off to the Library Book Sale!  After 2pm it was $5 for a bag of books - as many books as you could fit in it (and carry home).  I LOVE this book sale... here's a sampling of this visit's booty - OH, which one to read first?!?!?

Now I'm back in front of the computer... dogs are fed and sleeping on their beds, waiting patiently for me to finish so we can watch our movie.

I have three little cookies set aside for dessert.  I made these when I got home from the Book Sale.  They're from the Eat Better America site - they're called "Healthified" Brownie Cookies.  They're not health food by any stretch of the imagination, but if you need cookies, they're better than other recipes out there.  AND, I "healthified" them a little more by using 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all-purpose white. 

They taste great!

What a day! I wish every day could be this full of fun and accomplishment.  Well, maybe not, because if they were all like this I couldn't fully appreciate days like today.  Hope you had a great day, too.

Family, Fun & FOOD!

I'm SO glad I took today off from work.  Our 4-day trip to Massachusetts was a whirlwind of fun.  I'm exhausted (in a good way).  I snapped over 200 pictures of our adventures then noticed this morning that I did not get one of our wonderful hosts, Elizabeth & Paul.  A million thank yous to them for opening their home to us and treating us to fantastic food and fun while we were there.

We left home Thursday morning so we could be in be in New Bedford by dinner time.  Here's a shot of our hill as we drove to Auntie Val's house to drop the kids off with her.  The leaves are almost at peak.  Gotta love all the colors.

I'm going to steal one picture from Elizabeth to show our looooonnnnng drive to the southern Massachusetts Coast:

 

9-hours later, we arrive!

What a warm welcome - we enjoyed a big family dinner and even had a minute to read to William before dessert. (those of you who know Matt will know this is a rare photo opp!)

Lily showed off her new Princess Wave as our dinner entertainment.

Even Luke the Pup got into the act!

Friday we had the chance to meet the "extended" family... at the Farm!

Harry leads the tour to the Llama's ...

I met Lorenzo Llama!

... I couldn't help notice his funky feet!

Then the "chicks" got in the picture

They were very productive today... Harry checks out the little one.

Somebody wasn't trying!

Here's Oscar looking proud after he caught himself a chicken.... bad boy.  ;)

After visiting the Farm and dropping the kids off to spend the day with Vo, the girls took off to do some sight-seeing.  You'll have to wait till tomorrow's post to see those shots, but here's a taste of the amazing & YUMMY seafood lunch I had at the Waterfront Grille at New Bedford Harbor.

Photos & commentary on Saturday's goings-on will also have to wait, but since I'm showing pictures of food, I need to include the shot of the Saturday Night Lobster Fest.... check out these babies that came to us at the low-low price of $5 per pound.  This is unheard of in Western NY where prices often hit $20/pound.  Oh, to live by the water.

That's all for now, tune in tomorrow for the Adventures in Fairhaven & New Bedford!  Thanks again to Paul & Elizabeth for their hospitality and friendship.  Your generosity was over-the-top.

Can't wait till our Summer 2010 trip so we can head to the beach!

12-of-12: September 2009

Today is the 12th of September, so it's time for the 12-of-12! Created by Chad Darnell, the 12-of-12 is a photo project where participants post 12 photos from their day on the 12th day of each month.
Since today is a Saturday (with lots of free time for most people) the folks at Podcacher have suggested we make it a Geocaching 12-of-12 and post pictures taken during our caching adventures today. I'm not a "power cacher", but I go out geocaching almost every weekend with my family.

10am - Shopping!
Today was not much different from a typical Saturday... but to start, we all met at the East Aurora Farmers Market.

You can find the most amazing fruits, veggies, and flowers at this market, not to mention the honey, breads, and other fresh hand-made stuffs.















Noon-ish - GEOCACHING!!
Once we stocked up on market goodies, we made our way to Marilla Town Park a few miles away to hunt a couple geocaches. What a beautiful little park! Very well kept and two geocaches to hunt.

Geo-kids - ready to go!

The two-legged Geo-kid made quick work of the first hunt. Not many trade items fit in this cache, so we signed the log, then headed off to the second cache in the park.


I hoped to be able to place the "Viney Crush" travel bug into our 2nd cache of the day since the cache page said the container was a large Tupperware box.



The question was... could we find it?

We DID!

We finished our walk back to our starting point, but before we left this great little park of the day, we took a group photo of our caching crew. Here we are celebrating two successful finds - HOORAY!

Geocaching can really work-up an appetite, so we headed back to Mom & Dad's to have lunch together, then went our separate ways. I still have to log my finds on geocaching.com... but not before the final photos from my September 12-of-12.

5pm - Cherry Jam!!!
Earlier this week I got 10-pounds of sour cherries from a local organic grower. I made one batch of jam, but had enough cherries for two (plus some extra for a pie). So, before they went bad, I made batch #2 tonight.

Before

During
After

It's 8:30pm now and I'm ready to relax after a wonderful, yet busy day. I took a WHOLE lot more than just 12 shots today... choosing which to post was a tough decision. If you're interested in seeing more of the set, visit this link.

Farewell to summer, and hello fall. See ya next month when I'm sure there will be some new colors in the mix!

My summer vacation (so far)

Weird start to the summer... it reminds me of our first year in our house (2004)... some very nice days, but lots of rain. Today was no exception. It started out sunny, then by 11:30 was thundering and lightening and raining cats and dogs. Now - almost 5pm - it's sunny again and the weather man says tomorrow should be very nice - "Sunny, 72".

So far this summer I've been relatively lazy. Not working out very much (altho this past Monday I walked almost 3 miles with the kids) so I've got to step it up a bit. This seems to be a summer trend for me. I don't deal well with the heat. Going to start the 100 push-ups challenge again - took the pre-test today - and start each day off with some upper-body stuff.

One project I'm VERY happy with is the guest bedroom. I started painting it at the end of June and finished on July 4th. Some people go on picnics on Independence Day... I finish painting and move furniture. It looks GREAT! I will upload pictures as soon as I find a bedspread and "finish" the room. I expect that will be this week since Emma wants to plan a sleepover.

Made strawberry jam during June-July, too. WOW, it's amazing. I'm not sure if I've figured out the secret to exceptional jam or it it's because I made it within days of the fruit being picked... or both. Couple pats on the back for me!