Literally living easy...

Sunday Funday!!!! :) so I know I live a pretty simple but busy life at home, but here everyone literally lives easy! It's so calm and nothing is a big deal .. It's a nice change for me!

This weekend actually turned out better than expected. I wasn't sure what I would fill my time with, but I ended up having a lot of fun and plan to have more fun today :)

Yesterday, I got up kind of early bc I didn't sleep great Friday night. There was a power outage in the middle of the night and my fan shut offf!!! So here's the deal with the fan - you NEeD it! There is basically no air conditioning any where and the degrees and humidity is ridiculous. The first few nights I didn't sleep at all. The problem with my house is that the windows don't have screens soooo I can't keep them open at night bc mama tica said I will have cat visitors! No thanks haha :) so my room is basically a hot box, but I'm pretty used to it now.

I ate breakfast with mama tica yesterday. She made some kind of toast - basically grilled cheese and fruit. There is a picture below. Then I spent the day with some other teachers I met. We rented a car and went to jaco beach.

Jaco is nice, but very touristy and it's basically like the cancuun of costa rica, but it's worth seeing. I am glad I went yesterday bc Cort and I are visiting there and I wanted to check it out. After that, we went to this awesome
Restaurant back here in quepos/Manuel antonio. It had the best view ever and it was happy hour so it was two for one! Yay :) the picture of the view is below.

I ate dinner with the family and I have an awesome recipe for you. I actually make these at home as well and they are pretty awesome - so here it is!!

Black bean quesadillas

Ingredients:
1 package of Ezekiel sprouted tortillas
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 ear of corn on the cobb, with the corn off the cobb
1 bell pepper, chopped
Shredded cheese

1. Prep all of your ingredients before starting bc once the cooking begins it goes fast :)

2. Heat the grill or grill pan to medium and place one round tortilla in the pan. Let it heat for about 2 mins and flip it over.

3. Next place black beans, corn, peppers, and cheese on tortilla and top with another whole tortilla, immediately flip the tortilla and lower heat to medium low. Let cook for around 5-6 more minutes until cheese is melted and tortilla is warm.

And viola!!! How easy is that!!

One quesadilla serves two and you should Have enough ingredients to make 2-3 quesadillas. Serve with chips and salsa/guacamole and a salad! Yummy :)

I wish I had a picture, but it's hard for me to get pictures at dinner bc I don't want to be snapping pictures when we are eating family meals / the whole
Family usually sits down for dinner.

The pictures are below - the first one is the main street in jaco, second is the view from the restaurant last night, and the third one is breakfast.

Let's see what today brings, enjoy and keep coming back for updates!

Live well xoxo

TGIF :)

TGIF - I am sure all of you at home that are working are very glad that it is FRIDAY! Woo Hoo for the weekend :) I on the other hand, wish it was still the weekdays b/c I am REALLY enjoying my Spanish classes here! Its actually amazing - I have one on one tutoring every day with a native speaker (teacher) for 4 hours. I am getting SO much better at speaking and its awesome! I cannot believe how much I have progressed in just a  few days.

So I have been here since Tuesday and its been a great experience. I have totally experienced culture shock at times - especially when I first arrived. There are a lot of run down areas and its just TOTALLY different than the US. This is expected, but when you are traveling alone it is a littler harder to deal with. While I love my experience alone, I think traveling alone is FOR THE BIRDS :) especially when you are going to south american countries etc.. There is SO much to see and do and take in - why would you not want to share it w/ someone? Of course, there are people here that you can meet, but my experience this time is that there are a lot of people here w/ groups and very few solo travelers. Also, some people are staying in houses w/ other students, but I am not :( - another negative. BUT I shouldn't say I am not, I am, but here's the deal w/ that - When I arrived there were two young girls (12), their grandmother, and 1 20 something from switzerland. I didn't meet any of them when I first arrived so I had NO idea what to expect. UNTIL, I met the american girls and their grandmom - They are SO nice and thank goodness I met them b/c they showed me around and helped me get to school etc. The swiss boy- well hes another story! He is kind of arrogant and thinks that he is pretty good looking, he is not good looking and has no room to be arrogant, but all in all he is nice :) He is pretty independent and does his own thing. So its safe to say I am kind of on my own at the house. The girls are leaving tomorrow AM and Stephan is away this weekend - he went somewhere else in Costa Rica, but thank goodness for my awesome TICA FAMILY :) and some of the people that I met at school. Most of the people that I met at school are part of groups and I have been trying to tag along with where I can - there are a lot of people from Switzerland and also a few from the US, but not many. So my moto has been this - be independent! Its awesome during the day, but my nights have been a little boring. Its not safe to go out alone at night if you are a girl, so I really have not been out. But if you know me! You know that I like to go to bed early SO it kind of works out :) Moral of the story - If you don't like to be alone, don't travel alone b/c its not fun, but if you do travel alone just be annoying like me and force yourself on people! It works :)

I definately miss everyone at home especially my Corty, but I am so excited for him to get here and for us to experience this country together! It really is an amazing place and the people are very nice and friendly and the scchool is awesome and I have met some really great groups of people! I may never come home b/c its just that good, but I would only move here if I had Cort w/ me too!!!

So - On to the food we go - It has been pretty simple and I have not really been eating much, the food is good, but the meals times are different and heat is INSANE so I really don't have as much of an appetite as I do in the US. The fruit like I said last time is awesome, but the rest of the food, its pretty much one big carbohydrate - which I didn't know before b/c my mama tica has been cooking carb free meals until last night and tonight. They also don't understand the concept of vegggies - they like heavy comfort meals.

With that said, I don't have any new recipes for you w/ this posting, but I did learn something about Papaya. I don't like Papaya, but at school today the woman who  makes our snacks, made me a smoothie  - It wasn't the healthiest smoothie, but it did have some good ingredients - Milk, water, banana, and Papaya. It was very good - very creamy and filling so I didn't drink the whole thing, but it did have some nutritional value - PAPAYA and BANANA!  AND she told me papaya is very good for your stomach. SO if you are traveling or even if you are at home and want to eat something that is good for your stomach, get some Papaya and add it to your smoothies! Yum :)

Entonces, I will be back soon w/ more info about my trip and the food that I encounter and hopefully more pictures. I have been trying to take pictures w/ my phone and blog on my phone, but its so much easier to type on the computer; and since, I only brought my old Dell and I don't want to upload too many pictures onto it. Hope everyone has a great weekend !!!

Live Well xoxo

Pura vida ...

Happy thursday! Its been awhile since I posted, but I arrived safely and I needed a day to get settled in!

I got here a little earlier on Tuesday than I thought bc my plane arrived to San Jose early and I got through customs and security in probably 5 minutes so when I arrived to my flight to quepos they had an earlier flight that I was able to catch. I took a very small six seat plane from San Jose to quepos! It was an awesome ride and it only took 20 mins. Of course when I first got on I was scared, you could see the pilot, but after a few mins it was fine and I actually liked it. Both of my flights over here were awesome. The flight from Newark to San Jose was around 4 and 1/2 hours - and I had an aisle seat and sat with an awesome mom and her son. They were from costa rica, but they moved to the states so they were going back to visit family. Most of the people on the flight were from costa rica! It was awesome to already talk Spanish on the flight over. On the flight to quepos it was me and a family of four that is here for vacation - they were nice as well! So from the beginning this trip started off awesome! :)

A man from the school I am attending picked me up from the airport and took me to the house - ok, so on the way there I think I def experienced culture
Shock! A lot of concrete houses with Gates as the front doors, run down areas, stray dogs and cats, needless to say, I was a litttle nervous, then I arrived at my house! I was even more shocked then. It's a concrete house and the student rooms are upstairs - its clean, but of course in the us things are just different - my mama tica is so nice and Caring and an awesome cook! I spent the first few mins talking with her and then I met some of the other students that are staying in my house and I was lucky enough to catch a cab to school with them! After I met them, I knew my time here would be awesome!

Since then, I have had a chance to meet so many people - both at school and locals! I also went to the beach , went out at night, visited with my family and of course went to yoga! I met an awesome local who has a yoga studio and a spa and even a coffee shop! I talked with her for so long yesterday. It was great!

Your probably sick of reading about what Ive done, and thinking come on shelbie, what about the food!! Well that's just it - I haven't been eating much, but from what I hear and what I have eaten - my mama tica knows how to cook!! There is fruit with every meal and pineapple everywhere and the pineapple is so good!! Each day at school we have two snacks and it's always fruit and coffee and juice! They are pretty light eaters those Ticos :) I have breakfast and dinner with my host mom! The first night she made veggie lasagna which was awesome! For breakfast yesterday she's had cereal and fruit, and for dinner yesterday we had chicken in a creamy sauce with green beans! So they follow our liking of no carbs :) at least it's not as processed! I just got back from breakfast today and I have an amazing recipe for you! It was delicious - I wish I took a picture, but I will next time - mama tica said she would make it again! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients -

1 whole wheat tortilla or sprouted tortilla - Ezekiel is an awesome brad and it's usually in the organic section.
Cream cheese (all natural organic)
1 apple

Method -

Place the tortilla in the skillet and heat on both sides until a little crunchy.

Spread cream cheese on both sides

Place apple slices on one side of the tortilla and cover. Cook for about t mins on low and flip Over and cool for another 5 mins.

Serve with fruit! Serves one :)

It's so super simple and so delicious! Allllllllll of the meal times are pretty much the same as home, but the portion sizes are a little different!

Here are some pictures of my room and where I live I promise I will post more later!!

Xoxo live well!

Jamba juice ...

First stop - Newark Airport!!! I am super early of course - thanks to my awesome husband for driving me in the middle of the night :) I made it in the door, got my boarding pass, and through security in about 20 minutes! I say record timing! So of course when I got to the gate my stomach was growling - on my walk I saw bagels, bread, McDonald's, processed breakfast sandwiches and I kept saying to myself - shelbie keep going there will be something better up
Ahead - and sure enough guess what? There was!!!!

I first came across a little market fresh stand - they had all different types of drinks, juices, and fresh fruit!! - I knew I wanted a smart water and when
I went to get it, I noticed JAMBA JUICE!!! A smoothie place right at my fingertips! I can't believe it! So of course I purchased my everyday breakfast smoothie except I added an ingredient - coconut water!

Here's the deal with coconut water - its gross!! It literally tastes like feet! Some say it's an acquired taste, but I have been trying to like it for over a year now and I still don't!! I was talking to my friend britt a few days ago and she told me she puts it in her juice so I have been wanting to try it in my smoothie, but I haven't really taken the plunge! Coconut water has so many benefits - the major one being hydration!! And hydration is so important when traveling - especially by plane! So - I figured hey why not - go ahead put it in my smoothie this am - and boy is my smoothie awesome! I didn't even taste the coconut water!!! I am totally adding it to my
Smoothies at home ASAP! :)

Here is a little picture of my morning deliciousness - that was super simple!

Have an awesome day everyone! My
Next post will be from
Costa rica!! Woo!!

Xoxo live well! :)

Vamos a viajar!! :)

I should probably start today's post by saying "lo siento-I'm Sorry!" I am so sorry that I did not post in a few days..BUT just because I didn't post doesn't mean there wasn't action!! I have had such a great response to my blog and I am so excited!! I have to say thank you to everyone who has been reading it!!! I <3 that I have so many followers! I got a text from my Auntie RORO today saying "shelb where is your blog, I need my fix!!" My brother is constantly yelling at me b/c I haven't blogged so I promised that I would write one before I go and I have so many people sending me pictures and texts about how they are using my SUPER SIMPLE recipes! WOO - auntie ro ro made beet chips, Amanda (my brother's g/f) make sautéed kale, my friend Becka is going to try the blazin' buffalo salad, and my cousin Amanda is eating heather throughout her pregnancy! I am so excited to be reaching all of you b/c its SO important to stay healthy and eat simple and real - we are what we eat right?

Since I have been traveling and will be traveling, I will continue to post about food and choices while I am away - I just won't have as many recipes...however, I promise I will be telling you about super simple ways to live easy and will continue with the recipes as soon as I return !!

So we all know when we are off schedule its SO hard to eat healthy, Here are some tips that I always follow and they work and help me stay on track even while away:

1. DRINK A LOT OF WATER- What I always try to do is have a glass of lemon water (8-16 OZ) in the morning first thing. It is a great cleansing agent and usually no matter where you are you can get some lemon and water. This is always a great place to start your day before you have any coffee tea or food!

2. EAT FRUITS AND VEGGIES FIRST - No matter where you go there is always a healthy option of some sort. At most hotels that have continental breakfast, some kind of fruit is available - usually bananas which are a GREAT start to the day or oranges or apples. Even if they are not high quality, they are better to eat than the eggs/bread/packaged options that they are serving. For lunch and dinner you can usually find salads and fruit available as well. If you eat majority fruits and veggies you will eat less processed grossness and will enjoy your meals without guilt! Remember, fill your plate w/ the real food first and allow the processed to come second. Chances are you won't even want the processed later b/c you will actually be nourished and satisfied with real food.

3. EAT THE WORST EARLY - if you know you are going to have to eat something that isn't so healthy, try to eat it earlier in the day. You are most likely going to be on the move all day when traveling and it will help move the bad stuff through your system. You don't want to eat a huge greasy unhealthy meal at 9PM and then go to bed at 10PM b/c its going to sit in your system all night and affect the way you sleep.

4. HAVE FUN EATING HEALTHY - Everyone goes on vacation and assumes, I will eat gross b/c I will eat what I want b/c its my vacation, but they don't realize they are not going to feel good, be very lazy, and not get the best out of their vacation, but if you continue to make healthy choices, you will feel better and you will have that much more ENERGY and fun!!! So make healthy eating part of the fun of vacation - it is actually a time when you can focus on eating healthy b/c you aren't so busy w/ your everyday life of work and chores etc...

5. Finally - EAT COLOR - be sure that all of your plates have so many different colors.. Fruits and Veggies should be the staple in your vacation diet! You can eat dessert and eat unhealthy options, but they won't have as much of an impact if you just eat COLORFUL food. Remember to have double the amount of real food as you do processed.

This is so super simple right? Its way easier said than done (I know), but you will feel so much better if you pay attention to your choices.

I will be traveling starting tomorrow and I will be posting all about my travels and my food options - Especially tomorrow since I will essentially be eating at airports ALL day!

Thank you all again for all of your support and keep watching for upcoming posts. I know I haven't posted about my menu/meal planning, but that will also be coming within the next few days!

xoxo Live Well!!

Modge Podge...*

TGIF!!! What a week :) I was running around like a crazy person all week getting ready for my trip - needless to say, I am happy it is Friday and even happier that I will be at the shore in a few hours w/ my familia :) I promise I will get posts in before I leave and I am excited to fill you in on the food situation in Costa Rica while I am there.

Yesterday, I showed you how to make beet chips because I am trying to eat all of my CSA produce for this week before the weekend aka today since we are leaving to go to the shore, its a challenge, but I think we are going to finish everything.

Last night for dinner, we kind of did a little bit of modge-podging (I think I made this word up, and I like it haha) - using what we had in the fridge. This is always a great time to get creative with your meals because you have food to eat, but you aren't sure how to put it all together! We often do this because we always have a lot of left over food at the end of the week and I hate to throw food away so I always try to eat it all!!!

So I was thinking about what to make for dinner and was kind of at a loss - These are the ingredients that were in my refrigerator: 2 veggie wraps, 1 whole wheat hamburger bun, some feta cheese, banana peppers, a few strawberries, 4 ears of corn on the cobb, 2 pieces of cantaloupe, 3 mozz cheese sticks, 1 bunch of Green Kale, 1 Bunch of Romaine Lettuce, Carrots, 1/2 Cucumber, and a few more pieces of fruit. We also had some bananas and in the freezer I had two veggie burgers (homemade-recipe to come). Needless to say, this took some thinking, but here is what I came up with:

We had Veggie Burgers, corn on the cob (2), cantaloupe, and green kale. The rest of the fruit I saved for our smoothie this AM and the veggies I used for Cort's lunch today. The only thing I had left over were two apples, two peaches, and 1 banana - we will use those as snacks on our ride to the beach :)

So I didn't take pictures of our entire dinner from last night, but basically it was SUPER SIMPLE!!  I am going to break it down for you here:

Clean the corn (shuck it and run it under water to get the rest of the silk off)
Wrap the corn in tinfoil - enough so that it is all covered and set aside...

Turn the grill on and place the Corn on the Cobb on the grill, Set a time for 5 minutes. Turn the corn every 5 minutes until you reach about 20 minutes. The corn should be perfect.

At the same time as the corn, put the veggie burgers on the grill. I put them on frozen, they take about 20 minutes and you can keep turning them every 5 minutes as well. We like our veggie burgers a little more well done b/c they stay together better and they are crispier on the outside. I promise I will post this homemade recipe because its literally delicious and it is not packed w/ chemicals like the store bought ones...

If you have a cooking helper, thats what you need for this meal because while someone is cooking everything on the grill, the other person can get all of the other veggies ready! My husband is the grill master in our house :) SO while he was cooking on the grill, I...Set the table, Cut up the Cantaloupe, and made the Kale (here is where the fun comes in :)).

Kale is GREAT raw, but its even better w/ a little more flavor. This comes out AWESOME and even people who don't eat Kale will eat it this way. Its SIMPLY SIMPLE as well :)

So here we go:

Get your Kale first...

Use a Skillet on the stove and drizzle olive oil in the skillet, turn the skillet on and let it heat (I have LeCrueset Cookware so it takes a little longer to heat up. I always start on high and once its hot turn it to medium low b/c it stays hot forever). While it is heating, break your Kale up. I rinse it under water and then using my hands rip the leaves off the stem - like so...

Once all of your kale is in the skillet w/ the olive oil!! STIR STIR STIR..

Next, add a little bit of salt, pepper and garlic (You can either use fresh, minced, or powdered) and finally just STIR! The Kale will become more and more dark/bright green and will shrink in size. It can be done whenever you want it to be.. Some people like it crunchier others more soft - totally your preference. I probably let it cook on Medium-Low for about 5 minutes and then its done!

At the same time the Kale was done, my husband came up w/ the burgers and corn. Since we only have one bun, my husband ate the bun and I used a veggie wrap. We didn't have any deli cheese so we improvised.. My husband used a mozz cheese stick and cut it into threes and put it on top of his burger along w/ some peppers and I used feta cheese and peppers. I cut my burger in strips so it was easier to wrap up! I wish I had a picture of our final meal, b/c it was totally last minute, quick, modge-podge, REAL, HEALTHY, & the best yet...SIMPLE!!! :)

I will be back either later today or this weekend w/ some fun meal planning ideas. I am getting ready to plan the menu for my husband while I am away so I will be posting ideas, grocery list helpers, and a 10 day menu!! Enjoy this day!!

Live Well xoxo

Just Beet It.. :)

Hola!!! I am just practicing for my upcoming trip - which is only 5 days away!! Sorry my blog post is SO late today ... I woke up and took a LONG (7 Mile) run in the AM and then had some errands to run, but no fear, I'm here :) :)

So, I have all of this produce that we got this week from the CSA and I need to eat most of it before I go away this weekend to the shore w/ my parents - Thats so bad right? I have to eat produce :) Its my favorite thing to eat!!! Anyway.. we got beets in our share this week and my husband HATES beets. To be honest, they aren't my favorite veggie either, but I don't want them to go to waste. Last time we got beets in the share I made Beet Chips and they were delicious - what better way to eat beets than as a chip w/ hummus (homemade at that)!!! They are SO simple and easy and they are delicious..

To start you need your beets - We got four small beets from the CSA that you can see below, and they came leave-less so I only have to use the actual beet for the recipe (there are so many cool recipes for the leaves as well, but we will do those another time since I didn't get the leaves this week) - So we start out w/ our four beets like so...

The worst part about beets is that they are RED and when you are working w/ them the RED gets EVERYWHERE!!! Even on your paws :) SO - here is what I do (see below).. I line the counter w/ paper towel and I use a paper towel to hold the beet to minimize the amount of red on my fingers.. it would be cool if I thought of this trick before I ate them for the first time, but instead, I made my AWESOME brother cut the beets and I think he had red hands for a week.. haha good thing he loves me :)

After my counter space is ready - we get to cutting, like so.. 

I don't even wash these b/c I get them farm fresh so I just work right w/ them :) .. When you are cutting be sure to not waste too much of the beet, the idea is to get the top and bottom off and then you have a center circle.. My beets are a little smaller, but you can use any size !! 

Next, you want to peel the beet to rid it of the skin.. like this... Be sure to use the paper towel here to save your hands !! 

I found that it is easier to peel around instead of up and down b/c the beets are smaller (if this makes sense, I am not really sure how to give directions in beet terms :))

Once they are all peeled, you can rinse them off if need be and then.. My favorite part (NOT :))...SIMPLY SLICE! (If only it was simple.. I think if I had the correct tools it would be easier).

So if you have a mandolin slicer - that is your best bet.. you can make your slices all the same size, but I don't (yet) so I just use my good old knives. It helps to use a long skinny knife b/c you can get through the whole beet w/ less strength and its easier to make a thin slice. So there are two things w/ the slicing, be careful you don't cut yourself b/c the beets are slippery and second THIN IS KEY! If they are too thick, they will take longer to cook and they will not be as crispy.. Here are some more awesome pictures.. I had a helper today w/ pictures (amanda, my brothers girlfriend) WOO for her to be here to help take actions shots.. 

 <-- Here I am slicing w/ my long knife...

and here are the final products-->
as you can see a little un-even, but hey, the knife works! :)



Now, the hard part is over! All you have to do is transfer them to a bowl and add some Olive Oil and Salt. It is important to put them in a bowl so that they get evenly coated w/ olive oil and salt...

I don't measure out the olive oil, just drizzle and stir, same w/ the salt. Be sure to buy Organic Olive Oil - Trader Joe's and Wegmans both have great options and whole foods as well!



Next, lets get these babies in the oven so we can EAT them :) Be sure you lay them flat on the cookie sheet (you may need one or two) just be sure they are flat and in a single layer...

Then, place another cookie sheet on top to keep them from curling..

and into the oven they go.. You want to place them on the top or middle rack. Your oven should be set to 350 degrees and you can place them in any position you would like. Once in the oven you want to cook them for 20 minutes (or until the edges are light and browned). I just did it and 20 minutes worked perfectly. After 20 minutes, remove the cookie sheet off the top and remove any chips that are light in color and finished...This is if your chips are all different sizes and widths (basically if you don't have a cool slicer) ..Then rotate the beets that still need to be cooked and put them back in at 5 minute intervals until they are all light in color. Its important to check ever 3-5 minutes and remove the ones that are done so that they don't burn..When you remove the beets you can place them on a wire rack or you can just use parchment paper... 

As you can see all the different shapes and sizes :) - Once they are all finished you are good to go!! This whole process literally takes like a half hour and its the PERFECT afternoon snack! Amanda and I enjoyed them today w/ hummus! Get to it and Just beet it!! 

Live Well xoxo

Simply Local

Happy Hump Day!! This summer, Wednesday has been my favorite day of the week - we are halfway through the week and I get my CSA delivery!! How great is it that we get fresh fruits and veggies halfway through the week - I don't even have to go to the store to get it.. Since I woke up this AM to my awesome delivery - I thought CSA's would be a good topic for today's post (You can see some of my awesome veggies below)..

So I think we should probably start right from the beginning, I am sure some of you haven't heard of CSA's.. CSA stands for Consumer Supported Agriculture.. basically as consumers you/we support the local farmers. There are tons and tons and tons of CSA's in PA and in other states as well. This is a great way to get in season farm fresh produce that is REAL. There are a few things to think about w/ CSA memberships. First, produce is not all that they are (so cool) !! Some CSA's offer meat (beef, poultry, pork), dairy (eggs, milk, yogurt), and a lot of other products that are made on the local farm. Before I go further, I must say - joining a CSA is a difficult plunge to take!!! It took me forever to finally do it, but I will say it is worth it!

Ok, so let's get back down to business. I first found out about CSA's when I started attending local farmer's markets. I would see signs and the farm's at the markets would ask me to join, and I kept thinking I don't really know what a CSA is and I kept confusing it with a Co-Op, which a lot of people do. I had a Co-Op Market very close to me when I attended graduate school, but I found out that a CSA and a Co-Op are very different. I already told you what a CSA is, but a Co-Op is actually a store that supports local food artisans, but you don't have to be a member to go to the Co-Op.. To be part of a CSA you are essentially a member of the farm that you choose.

So now that you know what a CSA is and I told you I am a member you are all going to join one right? :)  I have been trying to get my parents and my in-laws to join since I decided to join and neither of them are making any moves.. I finally got my brother to join, so I guess 1 out of 3 isn't too bad :)

So like I said before, there are a few things to think about before actually becoming a member...

First, Find local CSA's in your area. There is a great resource on the Internet that I use a lot to find not only CSA's but local farmer's markets (we will touch on this later) - www.localharvest.org. This website is awesome b/c it gives you a chance to type in your zip code or city and choose what you are looking for. Once you get a list of the CSA's in your area, you can read about them via the Internet and possibly even visit their farms - this will give you an idea of what one to join.

I actually didn't have to do this b/c I have that awesome resource called Jackie that I told you about in another post - She is amazing b/c when I first started babysitting for her children, she was a member of a local CSA and I got to go and pick up her share once in awhile, I remember being fascinated and so interested in learning more - so of course I would ask her questions ( you all know how good I am at asking questions :).. she told me a lot about it and then just last year she let me know that her and her husband were starting their very own CSA so I already knew I wanted to join, but I talked and talked about joining last year and never actually did until this year.

Once you decide to join, you will have tons of questions...what season will you join for, will you purchase a half or full share... will you get just produce... how much will it cost.. where will you get the food.. how often do you get deliveries.. what will you receive with each delivery..??? I am sure the CSA will provide all of this information via their website, but I will try to help w/ what I know :)

To make a long story short, every CSA is different. Most have all seasons and you can join for any of the seasons at the start of the season or sometimes if you join in the middle you will get a discounted rate....I would recommend starting w/ the summer if you live around me b/c that is such an awesome harvesting season and a lot of fruits and veggies are "in season."

The amount of produce varies as well, but basically a half share usually feeds 2 people and full shares usually feed 4 - this year, my husband and I along with my brother and his girlfriend split a full share and it has been plenty for the 4 of us :)

Since CSA's offer so many different products it is important to decide what you want. Like I said in an earlier post, we are COMBO eaters - we don't eat all vegan or all vegetarian or all raw, we eat a little bit of everything so - we joined for a full-share of produce, a full share of milk (1 gallon a week, split b/t two couples so we get a half gallon a week), and 1 egg share (which is 6 eggs a week). This is all personal preference and little details, but its fun to hear what others do just so you can get an idea of what to expect!

Finally, the deliveries are a huge factor in deciding what CSA to join, because you may have to pick your food up and you want it to be at a convenient location so you can get it every week! Some have pick-up locations and some deliver right to your door - How awesome!! :) I don't think very many deliver right to your door, but the CSA that I am a member of does and it is amazing b/c its SO convenient!! We get deliveries each week of our share products and sometimes we get extras!! They run product specials each week that you can add on to your delivery. For example, last week they were running a special on chicken and ground beef, I purchased the special and they delivered it with my produce that week, but this week I didn't want the special so I didn't get it. This is an awesome feature b/c you may want to get other local products from your farm, but you may not want a share of those products. This allows you full access to all of the farm fresh products - HOW SIMPLE! :)

If you aren't a CSA member and don't think you ever will be, but you want local products - go to a farmer's market! Farmer's markets are SO popular and they have them at all different times and days of the week. There is bound to be one that fits your schedule. A lot of CSA's have stands at local farmers markets - It really is the same thing as being a member, you just have to go get it and you get to choose. Farmer's markets work well for people who don't want to make the commitment to a CSA. In the summer time, if we don't get it w/ our CSA and we don't get it at a farmer's market, we really don't eat it! It helps us to eat real local healthy nutritious food :)

So I am sure this CSA stuff doesn't seem so simple after all does it? BUT it is!!!! All you have to do is find one that you want to join and take the plunge!! The expense is the same as the grocery store and you are getting real food. I mentioned in an earlier post that if it doesn't grow from the ground, you shouldn't eat it. Here is another one of my favorites - If you don't know where it's coming from, you shouldn't eat it! If you get your fruits and veggies from the grocery store and you buy the organic product, you will pay the same amount that you pay from a CSA, the only difference is you actually know its organic !!!!! This is a HUGE PLUS! So, I know a lot of us are on budgets, so I am, but this is not impossible w/ a budget and you can't put a price on your health!!! :) I will be back later this afternoon w/ some fun recipes that I make w/ my CSA share from this week!

If you want more information about CSA's visit the local harvest website and if you want more information about the CSA that I am a member of, you can visit their website. It is called Green Pasture Farms located in Wayne County, PA and they deliver to a lot a NEPA counties! Here is the website..www.greenpasturefarms.com.

Live Well :)

Simply Smooth Smoothies....*

So I am back again already, I am sure you are all getting sick of me, BUT - I am trying to get a lot of good food posts in before I leave for my end of summer journey to Costa Rica. I will be leaving next week and return at the end of August, I will post about my easy living in Costa Rica, but it will be less of my menus/recipes from home. I am hoping they satisfy my fruit/veggie love while I am there hanging w/ the "ticos" :)

Anyway, this is an essential post b/c its a huge part of my everyday diet - SMOOTHIES! They are like the greatest invention ever, especially for kids (and stubborn husbands). They taste good and you can pack in tons and tons of colorful veggies/fruits to get soo many nutrients at the start of the day. They are also good for those of you who don't like to eat breakfast! I know breakfast is a hard meal, but smoothies do the trick AND you can make them ahead of time and freeze them if its easier for you. Usually, I make our smoothies in the AM on the day that we are eating them, but if I know I have a busy week, I will make them on Sunday and freeze them, but make sure you take them out of the freezer the night before so that you can actually drink them in the AM. I freeze them in mason jars or really any type of jar would work!

I know you are probably all thinking - what are in these awesome smoothies.. Well I am going to tell you - I will include a few different recipes and some staples for ALL smoothies...

Staples for ALL smoothies.. 


10-15 Ice Cubes 
1 1/2 Cups of h2o
1 TBSP of Peanut Butter (recipe to come)
1 Banana 
1 Cup of Greens (Spinach and Kale are our favorites, but you really can use ANY greens  and you can't taste them!)


The added fun.. alternate or come up w/ your own combo!! Leave a comment w/ your favorite smoothie recipe :)


Smoothie #1
1 Cup Pineapple
1 Peach
1 Orange


Smoothie #2 
1 Kiwi
2 Cups of Strawberries
1/2 Cup Blueberries


Smoothie #3
1 Apple
1 Cup of Strawberries
1 Cup of Blueberries
1/2 Cup Raspberries
1/2 Cup Blackberrries




All of the smoothies contain the essential ingredients and then a combo of fruits. The fruits help to disguise the taste of the greens and the greens provide you with awesome nutrients that you need everyday! The other great part of the smoothie is - its ALL REAL FOOD :) This is my favorite part!!!! 


When I make the smoothies, I use our Cusinart Blender and it makes enough smoothie for my husband and I. We use these awesome Smoothie Cups that we got from Amazon.com and I recently saw them at Target and Whole Foods as well. They are called "blender bottles." They are plastic and BPA Free and they have a small stainless steel whisk like ball and helps blend your smoothie while you drink. They are the greatest Invention EVER.. They come in all sizes. My husband uses a 24 oz and I use a 12 oz. With the ingredients above (all fresh fruit by the way, but I have used frozen fruit and its just as good, but use less ice - just be sure the frozen fruit is just picked and frozen or organic), we make enough to fill both of our smoothie cups. You can see my smoothie cup below with my smoothie for today!

So this is just one of the essential parts of our Combo diet - More to come before I leave for my trip and even more to come while I am traveling!! Thanks for reading :)

Live well!!!

Blazin' Buffalo Chicken or Vegetarian Salad

So - here we go with my menus/recipes/meals - its hard to explain our eating - we are COMBO eaters, we kind of eat raw, we are sort of vegetarians, sort of vegans, sometimes gluten free, mostly carb free - basically our grocery cart is full of produce. I make most of the other foods from produce and I do it at home - These are foods that you probably buy in boxes or cans. Remember - if it doesn't grow from the ground - you shouldn't eat it! I use this mantra a lot when I go to the grocery store! This is hard for my husband who LOVES oreos - if you know my husband, you know this love :) Unfortunately, I was the bearer of bad news and took the oreos away from him after he would eat an entire package in two nights, but its ok because I have found PLENTY of other, healthy, simple, yummy options.

We should start with how I plan - usually I make weekly Menu's that include breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. This gets very time consuming, but its fun and it makes grocery shopping much more organized. I don't like going to the grocery store w/out my list so its nice to do this before. I break it up a lot of different ways - usually by category, but I will share more planning strategies w/ you later! :)

 I normally do my grocery shopping once a week on the weekends, but recently I have been shopping twice a week. We were wasting so much food w/ once a week shopping b/c the produce would spoil before we could eat it all - which is really sad b/c I hate seeing produce go to waste. Shopping twice a week has solved that problem!!! We are also members of a CSA this year - I LOVE CSA's - Especially this one :) I will mention a lot of my motivation and reasoning throughout my blog posts, but one of the major influences on my healthy eating has the CSA that I am a member of. The family who owns the farm and runs the CSA is a family that I hold close to my corazon :) - I babysat for them for many years and still do. Jackie is so inspiring - she helped me get where I am w/ nutrition.

Anyway, enough of the stories :) I will tell you more and more about my road to nutrition later. Now its time for the fun - tonight, my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner and we have a delicious healthy meal - Blazin' Buffalo Salads. Now you would think this wouldn't fill you up, but it does and its delicious.

The salad is simple, only uses a few ingredients, and not a lot of dishes :) We don't have a dishwasher at our house so simple dish meals are my husbands fav!!!

I will start w/ the ingredients .... The most important part about buying ingredients is NATURAL and LOCAL - In my opinion, Organic is second to Natural and Local - If you know where your food is coming from, its probably organic w/out the money sucking seal :)

Blazin' Buffalo Salad 


The ingredients are per person - except for the chicken, the chicken lbs. serve 4 :)


1-2 lbs of free range, no antibiotics, no hormones Chicken - It is VERY important that you are buying the organic free range REAL chicken - chicken that is not eating its own poop :) Chicken are what they eat just like we are so please don't buy grocery store chicken! If you can get it from a local farm - go for it!!! if not, I love Trader Joe's and of course Whole Foods. We are on a budget so Trader Joe's is a great option.

1-2 Cups of Greens - Any greens work here Spinach, Spring Mix, Arugula, Whatever your little heart desires

1 TBSP of my sunflower seed mixture (Raw sunflower seeds, dried cranberries (from the bulk food section of grocery stores), roasted corn (you can make this yourself or get it from the bulk food section at the grocer))

1 TBSP of feta cheese (you should buy the bulk feta (not the already crumbled) as the process to crumble is not good for the food - this is hard to get used to, but if you could do it - its REAL and healthy)

A handful of chopped red onion 


1-2 TBSP of italian dressing (you can buy salad dressing - Ken's is a great option, picture below) or you can make your own (juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 TSP of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little garlic: minced or powder)

1/4 Cup of Hot Sauce/Wing Sauce - Again, you can make your own or buy it at the local grocer. For tonight, I bought the sauce b/c I have not ventured to make my own yet - it's on my list of things to do. A picture of what I used is listed below. Always be sure to check ingredients for NO High Fructose Corn Syrup and no added Sugar!

A few yellow peppers - I use the ones in the can from Wegmans (My go-to market), there is literally nothing in them but peppers and some vinegar !!

Here you can see the banana peppers, wing sauce, chicken (from GPF, CSA), and the Italian Dressing (good old Ken's)......

So now lets start putting it all together - When I cook dinner I am obsessed w/ cleaning up as I go so, I start w/ the chicken (eww to touching chicken)...

I take it out of the packaging in the sink, rinse it on both sides w/ cold water and place it on a paper towel

Next, I pat the chicken dry and fillet it - usually i cut all three in half to make the pieces a little thinner, then I place the sheets on the a plate. This is where I add the hot sauce - You probably don't need too much of it, but I guesstimate the amount needed, like so...

Then I use the nifty little brush to spread it around on both sides of the chicken..

Moving on, I now cut up the onion and set the table.. Once the table is set I place the sunflower mixture on each plate (1 TBSP per plate) and place the salad greens on the plate as well ( usually 1-2 cups, fill the plate - I usually don't measure.. shhh), add the feta and the onion as well.. so everything is on the plate and ready for the chicken.

Finally, I put the chicken on the grill. The grill is my favorite in the summer - its SO easy and it doesn't cause an issue w/ the hotness in the kitchen. The chicken is placed right on the grill plate and I cook it for 5 minutes on each side - it came out delicious.

Before adding the chicken to the plate I cut it into strips and add it to the salad.. next, the dressing and finally - DONEZO! :) and you have a blazon' buffalo chicken Salad :)

I serve the salad w/ Corn on the Cob (one of our favorites in the summer) and cantaloupe .. another favorite!!!

So - its ssoooo simple, and ssooo easy and ssooo good - even my husband and brother eat it :) Here is the final product.....

One more thing before I go, if you want to make this vegetarian (this is for you Er).. add chickpeas and black beans in place of chicken, still use the sauce and you can roast the two on a cookie sheet in the oven on 425 for about 20 minutes.. Enjoy!

Live well :)

My First Day as a Blogger :)

So, recently I have gotten really into eating :) I have always been into eating, but now I eat clean. While I was in college, I did not eat clean - none of us did right? I ate a lot of carbs, refined sugars, processed meats, everything that was not good for you and I gained A LOT of weight. My friends will say you did not, but my family and husband will say "Oh yes she did." I graduated high school weighing around 100 lbs and graduated college weighing around 140 lbs - you can say I gained weight!!!

After college, I went off to graduate school and was hit in the face by a ton of bricks. I had no idea how to manage REAL life!!! I had to move 6 hours away from home (where I left my HUGE family, boyfriend, and friends) start a very intensive graduate program, and have my own apartment for the first time. Needless to say I was STRESSED out. This is when I took up running!!! My favorite hobby of all time now :) I ran and ran and ran - basically daily around 3-5 miles. It was my stress relief and the only thing that kept me sane! I started to feel awesome and lose weight - how about that? I never thought I could lose weight the healthy way, probably because before college I never had to lose weight and during college all I knew was crash diets! When I moved into my own apartment, I was able to do my own grocery shopping and cook my own meals which is where this ALL started.

Now, I love to organize, plan, organize, plan, cook, run, do yoga, eat, hang out w/ my family and friends and so on and so on, but I learned to manage all of that while I was in graduate school doing 200000 things at one time :) Now it is just fun to be always on the go and organized at that!!!  My husband will tell you that I never sit down and my family will probably say I am crazy b/c I am constantly going going going...and I LOVE IT :) The good thing is.. when I am going, I am actually living pretty simply.

Since I was spending all of this time planning for all aspects of my life, my family and friends have begged me to start a blog-mainly b/c they love my weekly e-mails that I send out w/ meals and grocery lists to help them eat clean - so I finally decided to take the plunge. I am not sure how many people will read by blog, but who cares :) It is something else to put on my to do list!

I will mainly focus on food, meal plans, and eating healthy, but I will touch on the other things that I do! I love decorating, organizing, planning, traveling, making stationary, and I am a teacher :) I hope you enjoy reading my posts and feel free to use any of my insights and ideas for your own! Leave a comment when you read about anything you want!! I will be posting more soon !!!  Live well! :)