Spring Beach Trip to Duck North Carolina, Beach Birds and Restaurants

Early April I slipped away to enjoy a week at the Beach with a dear friend. It was a perfect time of year before the Summer rush. I left my new greenhouse behind at a crucial time. I had my seedlings coming up in the greenhouse but it was pretty calm in the garden so it ended up a good decision.

The weather was generally warm enough in Duck, North Carolina to get outside every day. We booked a house ocean view with a hot tub. We even sat on the beach a few days but most of our time was spent hiking or reclining on the decks. I even found some time to rotate between two books and we attempted to read aloud one of my favorite books, The Devil in the White City, but it ended up being so very time consuming. We turned on the TV only once, the very last evening, because we were packing and trying to down leftovers.

The sunrises were glorious and our hikes were peaceful. We checked out a nearby trail, the Pine Island Audubon Nature Trail and made it up to Corolla several times to walk the supposed "wild horse areas". A lot of poo views but no ponies in sight. We headed out one day over to Manteo to visit The Elizabethan Gardens. 

As always, there were plenty of things to see and do. We had the best food ever and my fav coffee shop with enormous biscuits, Treehouse Cafe, had just opened for the season. A word to the wise, wait until April 1 to go to Duck as many restaurants do not fire up until then! Missing out on all that good food would be so sad. Our favorite found restaurant was NC Coast Bar and Grill. We discovered their wonderful beignets so had to hit it twice, once for a dinner sunset. An interesting phenomenon is that the sun rises only over the beach and the sun sets only over the sound side (the outer banks is a barrier island strip having 2 open sides). If your beach house is situated on the ocean side you have to go over to the sound side to see a sun set so restaurants on that side are busy during that period of the day.

Curiously we didn't see any Ducks in Duck but enjoyed many Cormorants and my favorite seabird the Pelican. We had numerous flyovers of Pelicans and even saw a few Dolphins. There were not many bird sightings in the forests we hiked but my Merlin bird sound identification app on my phone picked up many different calls. I was surprised to see quite a few butterflies during this time of year.

It's never long enough but my greenhouse and messy gardens were calling me home.

Plan a trip somewhere this year, have some fun!

~Rebecca

 

Fresh Produce for the Community in Staunton Virginia at Jones Garden

Get your fresh veggies on this Summer in Staunton Virginia at Jones Garden. An inspirational Community Garden that sells reasonably priced produce grown onsite. You can even volunteer in the garden and be credited produce for your efforts. It's a great way to dig in the dirt if you don't have a plot of your own or meet like minded civic oriented friends that want to make available delicious fresh organic food to all income levels. 

The lush garden is the brainchild of Naomi Jones who often can be found in the garden. Her artistic sister, Sarah, designed the colorful and well thought out space. Many other members of the Jones family helped bring the city plot to life by building large walls and planter boxes. This is only the second season of food production for the garden and one would think such an accomplishment would have taken many more years to develop. The work that has gone into this effort is quite amazing to see.

Produce sales are open to anyone in the community and are held weekly beginning May - October, Friday 3 pm - 6 pm and Saturday 9 am - 1 pm. Greens, tomatoes, beans, onions, herbs, and many other crops are grown in this relatively small area. Freshly grown onsite so the selection will change as the season progresses. Small plot / healthy high production!

Educational seminars are also scheduled from time to time, visit their Instagram page for all announcements. 

The elderly can sign up for garden food delivery while aiding Jones Garden in their composting efforts. Collect compostable food scraps and exchange them for veggies! 

Runners are encouraged to help support the garden by running in the Nourishing Strides 5K on Saturday May 28. Pre-registration required no later than May 1.

The garden location was selected to target the surrounding senior population which is high in this previously neglected area of the City. Staunton is so fortunate to have this beautiful green space available to its citizens! This garden is a gift to the community and it takes a special person to give it all they have. I applaud Naomi and her worker bees. 

Support the garden in some way, RUN - GARDEN - SHOP! 

It's all good. 

~Rebecca

 

  

Reducing RA and Sjogrens symptoms with diet changes, swapping out inflammatory foods, Autoimmune Drugs

One of the hardest things you'll ever do is change your diet especially if it's FOREVER. Grocery stores have unlimited choices of deliciousness. It's so simple to rip a bag open of fluffy goodness, carve into a gallon of ice cream or pop a ready made dinner into the microwave. Add on the ease of driving up to a window and ordering a quick lunch and you basically are eating everything you shouldn't. May be you eat a few healthy things during the day, but top it off with sugar, caffeine, and salt to get a burst of happiness. I've whittled down to an afternoon cup of coffee and dessert to get my daily fix. I feel like I've come a long way but still am searching for that trigger that keeps my body inflamed!

A pot of health at the end of the rainbow.

Living with rheumatoid arthritis for 20 years has become second nature. It's not something I've been fortunate to kill off but I have controlled it by taking various drugs. Not taking drugs is not an option for the level of disease activity that I have. I also suffer from another auto-immune disease, Sjogrens, which actually is worse than RA. An absolutely annoying disease that requires you have water and eye drops on hand 24 x 7. My optometrist asked me If I had to use eye drops once or twice a DAY! I really didn't think she was serious, in a DAY, the question should have been once or twice every 30 minutes! I absolutely panic if I don't have both of these objects on hand. A royal pain in the A**. Superstar tennis player Venus Williams has Sjogrens. You may have noticed how she has trimmed down and is back on the court. Her vegan diet has reduced all symptoms! Amazing! Proof in the pudding that diet most certainly can play a role.

A little taste of my gardens on Forsythia Hill.

When I first developed my autoimmune diseases, diet was mentioned but not as accepted of a treatment like it is today. If you can not figure out your diet trigger I highly recommend you not wait too long to get on some sort of drug. I applaud anyone that is lucky enough to be able to control this disease without drugs and initially I tried the grape diet (read my first blog on this topic) and all sorts of recommended herbal concoctions. Never finding anything that could stop the pain like drugs. You can say it's just a way for the drug manufacturers to make money and a host of other conspiracy theories but the truth of the matter is that without drugs I have zero quality of life, I can not move, garden, hike, lift, or do anything that brings me joy (other than eat). I take drugs to have a quality of life. Long term your joints will become permanently twisted due to the inflammation. To protect joints drugs stop the inflammation but my goal has always been to get off the drugs. It's my own fault for not taking diet change seriously. I've toyed with it for years. For me, diet change is one of the hardest things but in retrospect, what I've changed so far as not been as horrible as what I imagined.

Raspberries, lower in sugar and easy to grow!

If you have a busy schedule, it's not going to be easy to just go cold turkey. Pick something you can easy swap out and DO IT TODAY! I started with dairy. I'm not 100% on the dairy removal front but my biggest consumption was milk and yogurt. I don't miss either. Yogurt was really hard but I ended up substituting just a little of my neighbors beehive honey on my oatmeal instead of the yogurt. Done, gone, don't miss it. Flavored yogurts are your enemy - Dairy + Sugar = Highly inflammatory. Honey is a sugar so tread lightly and support a local hive!

~ Rebecca



   

Keeping Chickens Entertained

Big Red and Iris enjoying a drink together

Chickens are constantly on a treasure hunt trying to find the best snack or perch. How do you keep chickens entertained and happy. I can't imagine caging up chickens without access to GRASS. Predators are always a concern but chickens are curious by nature and will thrive if allowed some roam time digging and running.

The following tips will keep chickens occupied. 

Kids playhouse on top of Subaru heading for chickens.

Haul in something for them to climb on. We found a kids playhouse on freecycle and strapped it to the top of our Subaru. They love perching on it after a rain to preen their feathers high off the wet ground. From time to time I bring in some shovels of dirt and toss in the floor of the house - all sorts of near invisible little snacks for them to dine on inside dirt!

Janie our biggest chicken and the leader.

Daily snacks. Each morning I juice oranges and share one half with seven chickens. Too much citrus can give them runny poo so don't overdo it. Also, it's been said crushed seeds and rind are not good for them, fortunately, when you juice, the seeds come out and they only want the interior fiber so all is good. I spear it so it doesn't turn upside down. Little ants and critters crawl in the cup, a chicken delight.

Forage for goodies on your property. Bring 'em some garden worms, cutworms, lettuce, dandelion leaves, raspberries, mulberries, blueberries, or strawberries (if they ignore berries, it's because they are too hard, so squish them and they will come running). They don't always have access to fresh greens in their run so I go and collect a little of this and that for them.

Leave some tall grass around the fence perimeter.

Tall grass & old roof panel, perfect for movable SHADE

One of our best predator defenses is the tall grass that has grown into the base of our fence. It is near impenetrable. We've spotted black Ratsnakes taking care of a mouse in the tall perimeter grass. Chickens love to jump up and eat the grass seed that has been allowed to mature. They also love to scratch and claw in the tall grass. We don't weed eat around our fence and trying to get the fence out is near impossible. We've never had anything more than a mouse tunnel its way in.

Make sure you have a soft dirt area in the shade where they can take dust baths. They like loose soil, leaves, or even wood chips. This is a chickens FAVORITE daily activity! Something as simple as digging a hole and mixing in wood chips or leaves will create a bath area that will be fought over!

Movable expansion pen, predator proof we hope.

Enclose a grassy area with a movable pen safe for them to patrol and hang out without fear of predators. My husband lets the chickens out of their coop at 7 am when he goes to work. I wanted them to safely have access to grass before I wake up several hours later. Coyote prowl until 9 am and Hawks are always out and about. I no longer sleep with one eye open from 7 - 9 am.

Old shutters provide light but tons of SHADE & dust bathing.

Section off fence areas and open them as the day progresses. My chickens are enclosed in their "safe zone" most of the day and when I am not home. Around 3 pm they are let out into the broader fenced area until they go up to roost. They love getting out where they can run and flap their wings, flying all about and enjoying breezes. Chickens tend to rest in the shade midday under the coop from 11 - 3 so there is no need for them to have free roam access as a predator could get them.

Provide them with shade zones. We hinged together two old shutters to create a place where they can dust bathe and hide out during the hot summers and even when it snows.

Pool noodles are not just for pools!

Perches, perches and more perches. I was looking for a low perch for my young chickens and decided a soft log might be the ticket. I stuck a bamboo rod through the center of a pool noodle. They LOVE it.
  
Your chickens will be safer, happier and you too will enjoy watching them have fun!

-Rebecca

Monticello Heritage Harvest Festival a Winner

Thomas Jefferson's Garden

Saturday I wallowed in Gardener Heaven at the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. This festival is a must, must, must, must attend if you are a gardening junkie like me.  There is exhibit after exhibit related to gardening, homesteading, farming, nature, plants, natural eating, and DIY. 

This year I made it out of my house at 8:15 am to get first dibs at the Old Timey Seed Swap.  It's amazing to see the generosity of gardeners.  There was a vast assortment of containers full of copious amounts of SEED fresh from the gardener.  Some seed swappers had made the trek from other states!  This is a big event for those that especially grow vegetables.  It seemed a little less crowded this year so I had plenty of time to look through all the colorful offerings.
 
After about an hour of this I began roaming the festival, searching out food samples and checking out the few chickens and Jersey cows that were in attendance this year.  I'm not a big fan of bringing animals to festivals but all were in the shade and well cared for.  It provides a chance for city kids to see farm animals and shockingly, some have never petted a farm animal!

The festival seems to grow each year, and I discovered several interesting booths.  The Xerces Society had a lot of timely information about our vanishing bees.  Typically we think of raising bees in handmade hives but this group is focused on native species and the lack thereof.  They currently are in search of 2 native bee species and sightings should be reported.


 In the midst of booth hopping I came across the top freebie at the festival - hot liquid CHOCOLATE.  I am ashamed to say that I snuck back six more times to get a shot glass of liquid lava.  At first I tried to disguise myself... putting on a hat, taking off a hat, putting on glasses, taking off glasses... in the end deciding to just duck down and stick my arm through the hordes of people that had also caught onto this delicious delight.  I dreamed about it that night, bathing in hot liquid chocolate.

During the day a large array of seminars are held.  There were so many things to taste, booths to see, plants to view, and music to hear, I barely made it to two seminars.  I found the "You CAN bake bread" seminar interesting hosted by Deborah Niemann.  One recipe of yeast, flour, water, and salt - does it all.   I also enjoyed the well attended Chicken Whispering discussion by expert Patricia Foreman.   I loved the part of her discussion about involving your chicken in dinner parties and TV viewing... chickens are more "pet like" than most people realize.

Lastly, I sat at the local chicken groups booth for an hour, CLUCK.  Talking to chicken owners and those planning on having a flock one day.  The numbers are certainly growing and I always advise those interested in getting a flock to look for chickens in need.  As the popularity for a certain pet expands, so does the discarding of those pets (Dalmatian explosion from the re-release of the movie 101 Dalmatians is just one example).  My six hens are "rescue" hens and I would not do it any other way.


Yellow Hibiscus with Monticello in the background.

It was a glorious day, one spent relaxing, observing, and learning up on the top of the world among fellow gardeners... sucking down chocolate... BLISS.

-Rebecca



  

What's a Girl To Do

Weekend Deal

On Saturday 11 am - 2 pm at Whole Foods
FREE - 8 oz. Cup of Whole Trade Allegro Coffee at for trying Organic Valley Creamer (Dairy or Soy).  NOTE:  This is my favorite creamer, it actually tastes GOOD!

Virginia Creeper on Forsythia Hill

SUNDAY

2 PM - October 23rd - Ivy Creek Natural Area - FREE - Native Trees of Virginia walk and talk with Ellen Powell of the Virginia Department of Forestry about our native trees.

6 - 9 PM - October 23rd - The Haven - DONATION - Food Day Potluck with speaker Tanya Cobb who will share success stories from her book concerning locally grown grassroots food sources.  Proceeds to help the homeless.   "Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement is Changing the Way We Eat."

MONDAY

11 AM - October 24 - The Miller Center - FREE - Forum: From Nixon to Obama.   BOB WOODWARD is regarded as one of America’s preeminent investigative reporters and non-fiction authors. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post. A book signing will follow his Forum.

-Rebecca

What's a Girl To Do

TODAY's PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION

I decided to finally breakdown and buy a food processor.  Originally I purchased one that had "middle of the road" online recommendations.  It didn't make my Hummus fine enough so I returned it.  I researched products online and ended up with a Ninja.  Someone even stopped  me as I was buying it to tell me how much they loved their Ninja!  It pulverizes my Hummus in a snap and makes creamy Smoothies.  Included is a hard plastic pitcher and chopper container.  It's chops just about anything in record speed.  I made some homemade Tomato Sauce and ran it through to make it even finer and it worked great.  I had to grind and grind my Hummus with the first processor that I purchased and it never got as fine whipped as with the Ninja.  I found mine at Target on sale but they can be purchased online as well.

Shenandoah National Park

SATURDAY

9:30 AM - October 8th - $15.00 - Strenuous Trek - Hike up Montalto with Peter Hatch of Monticello.  Long 2.5 hour hike takes you to pristine views of C'ville, Albemarle County, and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Pre-pay online.

SUNDAY

2:00 PM - October 9th- FREE - Movie Screening - Forks over Knives. Save your life by changing your diet.  Take charge of your health.  The reasons why and motivation to get you started.  Downtown Central Library, Charlottesville.

TUESDAY

7:00 PM - October 11th - FREE - Photographic Presentation - TechnoTrees and Natural Trees.  Ivy Creek Nature Center, Charlottesville.

Meet Yer Eats Farm Tour

Jessica had 50 chickens in Africa!

Yesterday we managed to make it to six farms on the annual  Meet Yer Eats Tour.  Cindy and I had a special friend with us from Africa.  It was fun to watch Jessica interact with animals she had not seen before. 

We headed out down 250 E to Ted's Last Stand.  We enjoyed the diversity of Ted's farm; the lovely flowers, Beehive, monster Rooster, and crazy sweet Donkeys.  A lovely setting with a pond, Ted's was a great place to start the tour.

We hated to leave Ted's but next we traveled to Grubby Girl Meeting House Farm.  I always buy a few shrubs from Amanda.  I love her house and beautiful gardens and could easily live in such a secluded and peaceful place.  Her soaps smell divine and each are a lovely farm theme design.

Off to Poindexter Farm where I brushed up on my chicken knowledge.  An educational farm experience with loads of kids helping with the daily egg collection.  Perfectly beautiful far reaching open countryside made you take a deep breath and appreciate life!  A great farmer with some hands on for the kids.

A pure red Zinnia

Forrest Green Farm was out next stop.  Specializing in herbs and produce, the most intensively landscaped farm on our stop - beautiful.  An educational lecture about herbs was in process that sounded really interesting.  We were in a dash to see other farms so didn't stay but I would be really had loved to hear more about the nutritional usage of herbs.   Grabbing some tastes of hot teas and homemade dips (yum) we were on our way. 

We buzzed back West on I-64 to get to a farm on 20 S.  On the way and after lengthy conversation about how long it took to get to Carters Mountain Apple Orchard, we zipped up the hill to grab lunch - homemade Apple Pie.  I was happy to finally see this popular local attraction and the pie hit the spot.  It was a little misty but this only added to the view.  The fog rolled out long enough to get a wonderful peek at the surrounding mountains and valley.  I can understand why they have Sunset on Carters every Thursday in the summer!

One of the many Goats at Caromont Farm

We were on our way to Bellair Farm.  We were Mesmerized by the lovely 900 acre farm spread and huge CSA garden plot.  On entry we wound around rolling hills of farm acreage which led to the beautiful home on the hill, veering off to the barn, by now it was pouring rain.  We dashed into the barn where I purchased some lovely organic eggplant and garlic.  Because of the rain and because the farm is so expansive, we were driven around the farm by one of the farmers.  The best tour of the day, viewing the stunning countryside and organic crops, meeting the chickens, and watching the young pigs run in the mud and fields.  They were loving the RAIN.

Our last stop was Caromont Farm where they raise Goats to make delicious cheese.  Oh boy was that cheese GOOD.  We were given a tour of the cheese making process and peeked into the cheese making room.

What a great way to spend a day.

-Rebecca

Grocery Rap

If you have tried to park in our new Charlottesville Whole Foods, you will get a big laugh out of this video from fog and smog.

A MUST SEE.  I love the ending -- still laughing.  Have a great weekend.

Picked up some San-J Gluten Free Soy Sauce at Whole Foods, used a manufacturers and a Whole Foods coupon - ended saving $1.10!  Check out their printable coupons before you head out.

-Rebecca

Food Kills

Diet related disease is the biggest killer in the United States.

A few weeks ago it was announced in our local paper, The Daily Progress, that during the Charlottesville City School Board meeting they received a petition of 700 signatures calling for a "restriction of sugar in our schools".  One in three local students in the 4th grade and over are overweight or obese!  I encourage you to click the link and sign the petition by the School Health Advisory Board.  One speaker at the meeting stated that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.  My personal experience is that of ALL the items that I removed from my diet while on the plant based diet (Engine 2 Diet) SUGAR was the worst to kick!  This diet removes dairy, meat, sugar, packaged foods, and oils.

The School Board discussed if the overhaul should focus on restricting food options or simply educating students.  The Administrative Coordinator for Nutrition Services agrees with the latter, saying "if you take away choice from a student you're going to get a rebellion and they're going to get it regardless of whether it's here at school or outside the street". 

When did schools veer away from feeling responsible for feeding NUTRITION to our children?  No one said to take away choices, just to remove the unhealthy ones!  Yes, children can bring to school a bag of nutritionally deficient food but that doesn't mean that the school system intentionally serves calories, sugar, and fat just because it's the diet kids adopt after they leave the property.  What ever happened to serving by example?  Maybe if they tasted healthy options at school it would carry over into the home.

I don't have kids in the school system so I was pretty clueless as to what products were available on school property.  At one time Coke machines were allowed and I don't know if you can still purchase soda in the Charlottesville City School System.  Juices are all sugar and are available in all schools.  Per the Charlottesville City High School menu options, every day you can get Pizza or a Deli Sandwich and also available are hot Nachos and Cheese, Cheesy Bread sticks, assorted bagged snacks, cookies, Ice Cream, and bottled beverages.  When I see Chicken Nuggets offered, even just one day a week, I shudder.  I remember when I was a student living in Roanoke, Virginia, I would reach for the thing within a bun nearly every time with a side of fries.  The Pizza tasted like cardboard, and the Macaroni like chalky paste.  It wasn't that I didn't want to eat healthy, it was just that they didn't know how to cook healthy!

The Charlottesville City Elementary School menus have Low fat Chocolate Milk as a choice (ALL SUGAR) and no non-dairy options.  Hey, what kid would not select the Chocolate Milk!  It should not be a choice, period.  I see that one day a week you can get Chicken Nuggets (ground up fat coated with fat).  Other days you can get something on a bun or pizza.  Sides include baked beans, potato wedges and a few healthy choices such as green beans, salad, and fruit.  All those things are good but paired with cheeses, buns, chicken mash, and chocolate milk, I'm not impressed.

Even worse appears to be the Albemarle County School System menus.  French fries and Burgers every day for high schoolers, Corn Dogs, Chicken Nuggets, Cheese Burgers, Nachos, and more Pizza for Elementary schoolers.  Another term for this is FAST FOOD.

There is much room for improvement in the Charlottesville School System cafeteria offerings.  A fantastic show that details healthy eating in the school system and the problems encountered when challenging the "status quo" is Jamie Olivers Food Revolution.  His school menu revamp program began 7 years ago in Huntington, West Virginia and he is now in Los Angeles.  It is truly an eye opening program and the crap that is allowed in our schools "based on the USDA food pyramid" and other "esteemed documents" is mind boggling.  NOTE: The new food pyramid is much improved.

The first items Jamie targets are juices and flavored milks, then he swaps out buns for wraps and hey, you can have hand chopped baked potato wedges, just not prefabbed coated and fried or a baked potato.  Bean Tortillas instead of meat on a bun are another favorite swap he makes.  He is a chef first which makes his meals much better than what is currently being offered in ANY school and students LOVE his food!

Schools should listen to him and adopt his protocols to provide healthy options to our students while away from home.  It's been way too long that parents have not been directly involved with what their kids are being fed.  Remove the blinders, toss the expert literature in the can and begin again.

Corporate America controls our food supply.  Buy local food when you can!

-Rebecca

Can the Fat

My "power salad" and food log journal.

Fifteen days ago I halfway began a modified diet of The Engine 2 Diet.  I say halfway because I've had several interruptions, a wedding and a few slip ups.  Due to a suspected wheat intolerance, I have modified the diet to also remove wheat and am trying to remove "my best friend" corn.  Many studies have shown that a diet low in saturated fats helps reduce inflammation that can aggravate or cause disease.  My hope is to slowly add back "suspected offenders" separately to see if one or the other causes problems.

The Engine 2 Diet authored by Rip Esselstyn is a plant based diet, different from a vegan diet in that no prepared "boxed" vegan concoctions are allowed or any oils.  Last week, I attended a free seminar by Rip Esselstyn, promoting his healthy eating book, hosted by Whole Foods Grocery.  It was very informative and eyeopening.  Yesterday, a group of 65 motivated people attended the first weekly meeting for those that have signed up for the 28-day challenge to follow the Engine 2 Diet. 

There are 2 ways to start the diet, hog wild or step by step.  It is recommended for most to go step by step.  It's very hard to eliminate EVERYTHING from your diet, rearrange your entire pantry, and stick with it all in one day. 

Rip at book signing after his seminar (wearing KALE shirt).

The book is very entertaining and informative, and was brought about after firefighter Rip challenged his firehouse to eat a plant based for 28 days and remarkable results soon followed.  Tasty meals were prepared (recipes are in the book and on the website) in order to get the guys to stick with it.  My favorite recipe is a dessert of course, and is in the book - a date, nut, and fruit dish.

Exercise is part of his diet and seminar!

Rip is now retired from firefighting but remarked he is saving lives now in another way.  He is a triathlete entering into over 1,000 competitions and was a #2 ranked swimmer at one time.  He has been eating a plant based diet since 1987, due to his fathers influence.  His father is a doctor that studied Heart Disease more than any other doctor on the planet and concluded it is totally preventable with plant based eating.

Some statistics that were presented during Rips seminar:

1) #1 source of calories for kids is POP and FRUIT JUICE.
2) The standard American Diet is 12% plants and of that, 6% is FRENCH FRIES.
3) #1 killer is Heart Disease (which is totally preventable by changing what you eat).
4) #2 killer is Cancer (The China Study directly relates this to western diets of saturated fats).
5) There are 54,000 mammals on earth and humans are the only mammal that drink another mammals milk.
6) Dairy products are basically congealed or liquid meat.  Calcium comes from the earth not a cow.
7) Green leafy vegetables are the best protein calorie for calorie.
8) All oils have the most concentrated calories of any food.  120 from oil, more than white sugar or flour.
9) Oils are "empty" calories containing no nutrition, vitamins, or minerals.
10)  Plants have all the fat you need.
11) Chicken has just as much animal protein as Red Meat which clogs your arteries.
12) Fish is a muscle and has animal cholesterol, animal protein, and waters are sadly polluted.
13) 95% of Diabetes is Type 2 which is PREVENTABLE.

What I have discovered in beginning this journey is that entire rows in the grocery store can be forgotten forever.  If you eat plant based you go down the produce isle, canned isle, and health food section.  Gone are the soda, cracker, chip, dairy, meat, and frozen food isles.  I am shocked at the rows and rows of packaged foods that contain all sorts of additives.  I found a jar of "natural" peanut butter that had the most unnatural list of junk.  If it's processed it's out - no white bread or white rice.
 
HOW TO BEGIN:

When SUGAR is the first ingredient this is a bad thing!

Open your kitchen cabinet and start label reading.  It is even hard to find a can of beans without salt, pork, or sugar (not to mention other horrors) as ingredients.  If you don't understand the word, something like methodestrose sucrantanse, then it can't be good!  The most shocking item I ever purchased and actually felt kinda sick while eating it, was a frozen Valentine decorated Ice Cream Cake.  There must have been 200 ingredients listed!

To get started with the Engine 2 Diet,
swap out one category of food for something more healthy - like Milk - many choices exist - Soy, Almond (my favorite), Coconut, and Rice. You may not be drinking a big old full glass of any of the substitutes but I cook exclusively using Almond milk and use on cereal with complete success.   Another option would be to STOP eating fried everything, just STOP.  Each week you can make a change for your health!

I would love to hear your favorite substitute or if you are participating in the E 2 Diet.  Please leave a comment!

-Rebecca

Grand Gardens

This past weekend, we attended Through the Garden Gate, a gardening tour series organized by the Piedmont Master Gardeners.  The gardens of Cathy and Chirs Kramer were open to the public and the tour was hosted by the Monticello Gardening Club.

Climbing Hydrangea, one of my favorites.

It was an overcast day with periods of light misty rain but that did not dampen the experience, it only enhanced the vibrant colors in abundance around every corner.  If there was a weed in sight, I certainly didn't give notice to it as the plant diversity held my attention and kept my mind occupied. 

Sometimes you visit a place that you would never want to leave, an oasis, this is one of those special places.  A garden retreat nestled in meticulously tidy woods with pastoral and mountain views. 

Poppy pods nearly ready to bloom.

I can't begin to name the thousands of plant species that surrounded and overwhelmed my senses but a few that were memorable were Climbing Hydrangea, Clematis and Ivy, native Columbine, Spiderwort, Roses, Peony, Ajuga, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Kousa Dogwood, Japanese Maple, Foxglove, Poppies, Sedums, Coral Bells, Phlox, and Succulents.

This is a garden that I would love to visit with each passing season, to capture the early spring bulbs, summer bold colors, and glorious fall tree foliage.  This was one of the top private gardens I have visited.

We must have spent several hours roaming the grounds but eventually we departed heading for lunch on the downtown mall at the The Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar.  We were pleasantly surprised to discover the best salad in Charlottesville.  The Bazaar Salad was visually appealing and delicious.  Colorful specialty greens were surrounded by small sliced tomatoes and cucumbers topped with yellow raisins, feta cheese, julienned carrots, pears, and candied walnuts (made in house), and finally drizzled with a delicate Ginger Dressing.  Served with a side of perfectly toasted Pita Triangles.  It all melded together so well and each bite was delectable.  We also discovered their really cute outside back porch that looks out toward Monticello (you do have to stand against the wall and squint but it is there).

-Rebecca

Life Pledge #1

The Proud Rooster in all his glory.

Today I formally pledge to purchase only Pasture Raised Chicken Eggs for the rest of my life.  I take this pledge seriously and have given it consideration over the last year.  A life pledge commitment can not be frivolous nor can it be spur of the moment.  It sounds like a relatively simple proposition given the current economic situation and the popularity of caring for your own chicken flock.  My only provision out is if some disaster happens and there is nothing else to eat to get protein or if I am put into a position where economically I have to buy the .79 a dozen carton.  Let's face it, some people have no other alternative or just go without - which is also a viable option.  Personally, I think it might be cheaper to just raise your own flock (and more fun for sure).
 

Ok, more lovely Roosters.

There are several "fancy" types of eggs sold now in groceries and most you pay a premium.  The true humane "stamp" on that carton of eggs is the "pasture raised" stamp.  There are a host of other marketing ploys that make you think your premium carton has been produced by chickens treated humanely.  Such terms as "cage free" and "free range".  Be wary - "cage free" can mean they chickens are still crammed together inside a massive chicken house, never seeing the light of day and that the industry definition of "free range" has no actual "time outside" measure.  The "all natural" stamp is a good thing as is the "organic" both indicators that no slaughter house by-products are fed to the chickens (which is just plain nasty).  "Organic" being the premium and farther encompassing term.

All and all, the stamp that I'm seeking is "Pasture Raised".  I take real issue with millions of chickens living their entire lives in a cage in a dark, dusty, feces laden hen house smashed into an area the size of a piece of paper.  I hope you do to.  It's unhealthy for the chickens and ultimately the product you are digesting.  Apparently improvements have been made in some of the factory farm hen houses to reduce Salmonella bacteria but I am just now reading that our FDA has not even re-inspected ANY of the IOWA farms that were involved in the 2010 outbreak where nearly 2,000 became ill.  Doesn't that make you just want to go buy a pack of factory farm eggs?

Finally, a hen - lovely.

Currently I am spoiled to death by getting free eggs from my lovely neighbors that have a hen house.  Their chickens are pets.  I visited the other day and hear this noise in the leaves.  I thought it was their kids playing but it was the chickens foraging in the leaves under the majestic Oaks having the best time being just what they were born to be... FREE BIRDS.

Do you have a life pledge or would you like to make, please share - leave a comment!

-Rebecca