Weekend Update: August 21&22

Wow! What a GREAT GREEN Weeekend!
It all started with an Open House at the Florida School of Holistic Living. I passed the building almost twice, but found it. 

The Florida School of Holistic Living

The building was unassuming, but very quaint. Upon arriving I signed in a surveyed the room.
 There were some seeds and herbs laid out on a table, all free (donations were accepted). I snagged some great seeds to start. 

the table of seeds and herbs

There were also treats from Rhapsodic Cooperative Bakery and Homegrown Food Co-op. A first for me this weekend was trying a tea called Kombucha. This tea is a fermented tea, that has detoxification properties, probiotics and B vitamins. I had a strawberry version of this drink. It is hard to explain, like a tart "hard" tea. If you get a chance, it's definitely worth a try.

Kombucha lady

I found out soon that there would be a mini-workshop on tinctures. i felt it was worth staying to learn more. I'm happy I did. I learned about making a tincture and the ability to save some the herbs in liquid form from your garden or that you purchase.The Instructor, Donia, was a herbology student at the school. I hope to write more about tinctures soon!

Donia, the instructor

Sunday we headed out to the Orlando Farmer's Market at Lake Eola. I love farmers markets because you get local, and this was no exception. Our first Local was a local I had tried previously at the Festival of Chocolate. I love love love her brownies, this lady is Classy Cakes and Candies. We then moved on to Happy Bee Honey Farm honey. This lady had every imaginable form of local, raw honey. We tasted several types and chose a Palmetto Honey. (We must have tried at least 4 or 5 before that one though.)

The Bee lady

SO many types of honey

My oldest daughter (Indigo) tastes a honey stick

 

 

 

 

 

The next visit was with a baker of organic and natural baked goods. Pleasant Fields Bakery. He had huge squares of pound cake to sample. YUMMY! It was so good, we decided on lemon pound cake and a loaf of bread. We then moved on to try Tia Chips plantain chips. These were so thin and crispy, easily gone in a few bites. Our last visit was to Che Bella Cheese, where I got a great pecorino. Che Bella was great. We had many samples and the staff was great about educating on cheeses.

Che Bella cheese

say cheese!

the cheese

Overall I had a GREAT GREEN weekend! It was full of education, local foods and family time. I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

The reason I love local

I grew up in Mansfield, OH. Central Ohio. The Heart of it all. Yeah, all of that. I remember my earliest memories involve food. Not just any food, what they call slow, home-cooked local food. The weekly visits included the major supermarket chains, BUT ALWAYS included the ritual of going to the bakery, local meat market/butcher and the fruit stand. For quite some time I didn't even know you could buy these items any other way.
These rituals mark the way I eat today and the things I choose to eat today. I can remember being told "knee high by July" (a reference to the height of the corn growing in the fields) and how to pick and snap green beans. Picking chestnuts off my grandmas tree int he winter. Apple harvests and hot warm cider in the fall. Anticipating blackberries, peaches and cherries in the summer.
I knew once I grew up and had a family I would dream of baking fruit pies and a dinners of amish free range chicken, fluffy "smashed" potatoes, verdant green beans, fried fresh corn and a couple of sliced 'maters (tomatoes). This is how I was raised. You could tell the seasons by what you were eating, and what you were eating was by the season. There was beauty in this simplicity and prose could be wrote by the definition of its harvest.
Somehow in the ability to have MORE we have gotten away from fresh LOCAL harvests. Minding the seasons seems an absurdity and almost a old-fashioned notion. There is a way to change this. You can seek out Farmers Markets in your area. Try research online or in a library to find out local producers in addition to your "big box stores". I have included a few helpful websites below.
The Peak Season Map at Epicurious.com
Local Harvest
Slow Food USA

What we're snacking on:
It's not your papa's popcorn! 
Newman's Own Organics; Pop's Corn *Butter flavor*

This is the best popcorn I have had in quite some time! I tried this after not being able to get my new microwave to pop a decent bag of pop deliciousness.
When I popped it I didn't find the problem I had found previously...kernels unpopped. <shakes fist> That had been the bain of my existence since we moved. most of our bags became burnt casualties before the bag was fully popped. This was beautifully buttered, organic corn, naturally buttered and all in a non chlorinated bag. It also comes in light butter, no butter/no salt (great for my vegan friends)
This has became so popular the whole box has been a family casualty since Sunday. Gratefully Pop makes more! :)

 

Blue is Green

Blue is green? Most certainly when your talking about blueberries!
My daughters have been having a new way to start their day, a little cup of organic blueberries, dusted with some natural cane sugar. My oldest likes whip cream on top. (Are you drooling yet?)
I just recently saw a program with a lady talking about ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity). Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals which are unstable molecules linked to the development of a number of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease and other age-related conditions such as Alzheimer's. According to the USDA database of the antioxidant activity of selected foods (ORAC values), blueberries rank among the highest on a per serving basis.
A cup of blueberries are low in calories also with only 80 calories. YAY!!! So, Grab a cup of blueberries and make it a great green day!

Ziploc Evolve

 Photo from Ziploc website

Things are starting to evolve (yes pun intended) in the storage bag world. My newest find at the store: Ziploc® Evolve bags. They use 25% less plastic and are made using wind power. Check out their website: Ziploc Evolve Bags 

These bags look no different and serve your storage purposes in great green way!