Sunday's Trip to the Farmer's Market

I was up before 9am on Sunday morning.  Dogs are great for waking you up early, even on weekends.  I made a gusto brekkie of scrambled eggs wrapped in several organic romaine leaves with 50% reduced fat sharp white cheddar cheese.  We left for Tampa shortly after for a well overdue trip to the farmer's market.

Sweetwater Organic Community Farm opens to the public on Sunday's at noon.  They have a pretty amazing CSA program I wish I could participate in.  At the market you'll find vendors, vegan eats, fresh produce to purchase, live music and farm tours.  Bring the kids and leashed dogs for an earthy afternoon on the farm.

The place was packed with people bustling around.  I think it's fun to browse and talk to each of the vendors to see what they're offering.  The organic produce included some veggies from the farm, but mostly the kind of produce you'd find at a local health food store.  I ended up buying a bag of fresh organic basil, a few of the most beautiful zucchinis ever, an organic butternut squash and cherry tomatoes.

To be honest, I just like being on the farm. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy...

I'm looking forward to heading back to the farm this Sunday, but also want to finally check out St. Pete's Saturday Morning Market.  It's supposed to be spectacular!

Au revoir!

Kicking off Tappy Holidays 2010

This holiday season I'm armed with healthy tools to keep me accountable, active and eating veggies.  T'appy Holidays with T-Tapp Trainer Lani Muelrath is a T-Tapper's dream.  Lani created a spreadsheet that gives a weekly outline with some healthy habits including daily exercise, body brushing, eating 7 servings of veggies and having a "gusto" breakfast.  For each activity that you complete you get a certain amount of points.  At the end of the week you tally up your points and see where you fall: Goddess, Diva, Muse or Flirt.  We all want to be Goddesses!!!

This is a wonderful way to keep up with your healthy habits and stay on track with a fitness plan during the busiest time of year!  Tappy Holidays started on Sunday, November 7th.  I technically started on Monday because I was feeling under the weather this weekend and needed to get a newsletter done for work.

Monday, November 8th
So far so good!  Yesterday I got in 6 servings of veggies and my body brushing.  Skipped a gusto brekkie and had a cup of hot coffee (it's cold in Florida!) with cream and raw sugar, plus an organic golden delicious apple once I got to the office.  I was starving by lunch and devoured 2.5 cups of raw salad (romaine, spinach, onion, carrots, cilantro) and 1 cup of homemade pumpkin soup.  That's 5 servings of veggies at lunch alone!  For dinner I made a fresh organic beef chili packed with veggies (zucchini, green pepper, onion, garlic, and kidney beans).  Almost 7 servings, but one short due to skipping brekkie... the most important meal of the day!

No exercise though...very busy day and I didn't make the time for it.  No excuses.


Tuesday, November 9th
I made sure to get in my veggies... 1.5 cups of chopped zucchini, onion and baby bellas accompanied my 2 scrambled eggs with BVI Seasoning and Garlic Pepper.  That's 3 servings of veggies!  For lunch I ate another bowl of my pumpkin soup, which accounted for another 2 servings.  And dinner was more of my beef chili.  I did sneak in a few all-natural gummy bears.

Workout: Basic Workout Plus + floor work (OIP/HF, 15 Crunches, AL, PT, DD) for a 30 minute "free choice" routine.  And got my body brushing in too!


Will keep you posted on my T'appy Holidays progress each week in a wrap-up blog.  For now I'm off to get in more veggies...  staying stocked up on produce is KEY!

Au revoir!

Oranges All Over Dunedin

When leaving my Dad's office tonight I saw these bright, juicy oranges painted on the wall.  I had to snap a picture.

As we walked around Dunedin I noticed there were more oranges painted on the buildings around town.  Is this a new (and very talented) graffiti artist? Or something that the city meant to do on purpose?

Hmmm.... curious!  So I just had to Google it.  And wouldn't you know it, Dunedin has an Orange Festival.  Who knew?  Dunedin hosted the First Annual Dunedin Orange Festival in July 2010.  This new orange initiative is a way for the city of Dunedin to brand themselves as orange lovers.  I adore oranges... yum!

One medium orange contains
1.23 grams of protein,
62 calories and
3.1 grams of dietary fiber.

Au revoir!
 

P.S. Orange was my first word as a baby.

Finding Seasonal Produce: Autumn

Bonjour!

Autumn is here and I'm starting to see more seasonal produce.  One exciting thing about seasons changing is cooking with local (if possible) seasonal ingredients.  Your food will have more flavor and your taste-buds will thank you!

Last summer I wrote a blog post about Finding Seasonal Produce. Veggies and fruits are key component to healthy eating. Consuming produce fresh from harvest is the best way to get the highest level of vitamins and minerals.

Remember that most mainstream produce is shipped from very far away.  How far does your produce travel? Find out at TheFoodIllusion.wordpress.com.


Autumn Produce for Florida

Apples
Artichoke
Arugula
Beets
Belgian Endive
Broccoli and Broccoli raabe
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celeriac/Celery Root
Celery
Chard
Chicories
Chiles
Cranberries
Curly Endive (Frisée)
Edamame (soy beans)
Eggplant (early fall)
Escarole
Fennel
Figs
Garlic
Grapes (early fall)
Green beans
Green Onions/Scallions
Herbs (hearty sorts are available fresh in fall – look for bundles of rosemary, parsley, thyme, and sage)
Horseradish
Jerusalem Artichokes/Sunchokes
Kale
Kohlrabi (late fall)
Leeks
Lemongrass
Lettuce (in warmer climates)
Limes
Mushrooms (wild)
Okra (early fall)
Onions
Oranges
Parsnips
Pears
Peppers (early fall)
Persimmons
Pomegranates
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Quinces
Radicchio
Radishes (all types)
Rutabagas
Shallots
Shelling beans
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes/Yams
Tomatillos
Turnips
Winter Squash (all types)
Zucchini


Some of my favorites are on that list: apples, beets, broccoli, eggplant, garlic, herbs, leafy greens, Florida oranges, sweet potatoes, squash and zucchini. Yum!

And a few new ones that I'd love to try: arugula, chicories, parsnips, persimmons, quinces and tomatillos.


Helpful Resources for Finding Local Food

• About.com's Search by Region
• FieldtoPlate.com's Seasonal Lookup Guide
• FoodandWine.com's Fresh Fall Produce

Enjoy the season!

Finding Seasonal Produce: Summer

I've really been wanting to eat the freshest, local and organic produce possible. Purchasing fruit and veggies from regular grocers is just not cutting it -- the produce either goes bad right away, is already rotten or not rip enough to eat. Many food sellers have the same produce year round and I know not all produce is growing and ready to eat 365 days out of the year. Which means most of that produce is shipped here from other states and countries for our convenience.

I did a little research on produce in season right now. About.com has an amazing database of this stuff! You can even search by region to find what's in season.


Florida: Seasonal Produce

Florida is famous for its citrus, and rightly so. But plenty else grows in the Sunshine state, including plenty of tropical fruits. The tropical climate stretches the growing season year-round and makes Florida the source of winter produce for much of the Eastern U.S. Depending on your place in the state and this year's growing conditions, growing seasons and crop availability will vary. You can also look up produce by general/national seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) or region.

Look for these summer fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets and in produce departments for the best flavor (and greatest value) in season. Specific crops and harvest dates will depend on your region’s climate.

Apples (late summer)
Apricots (early summer)
Avocados
Basil
Beets
Blackberries
Blueberries
Boysenberries
Cantaloupes
Carrots
Chard
Cherries
Chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), fresh
Chiles, fresh
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Fennel (in cooler climates)
Figs
Garlic
Gooseberries
Grapes
Green beans
Green onions
Herbs
Huckleberries
Lemongrass
Lettuce (in cooler climates)
Limes
Mangoes
Marionberries
Melons
Nectarines
Okra
Onions
Peaches
Peas
Peppers
Plums & pluots
Potatoes
Radicchio (in cooler climates)
Radishes
Raspberries
Rhubarb (early summer)
Rosemary
Scallions
Shallots
Shelling beans
Spinach (in cooler climates)
Spring Onions (available in early summer in some areas)
Strawberries
Summer squash
Sweet Onions
Tomatillos
Tomatoes
Watermelons
Zucchini
Zucchini Blossoms

Mmmm... I ♥ produce!