Simple foods: Nutritious and delicious…

beetroot isolated on white backgroundI’m not one to make elaborate meals, especially during the warmer months. Also, I’ve found that I much prefer the natural tastes of the variety of produce that I choose to eat.

Earlier today, I made a simple meal of lentils, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, onion and garlic. To that I added some freshly ground herbs and spices. Simple but delicious. I took a picture, so will be sure to include a photo (along with the exact measurements) sometime this week.

I’m still juicing, I (usually)drink freshly prepared “produce juice” every day. Today, I made juice using beetroot, cilantro, habanero pepper, and cucumber. In hindsight, I should have added carrots or apples. This is the first time I juiced beet root without one of those two items and I received a nasty headache. More on why it’s important to combine beet root (which is a powerful liver cleanser/blood cleanser) with something like apples or carrots in another post.

Adventures in Beekeeping; Time to upgrade

Around 6:00 a.m. this morning, I was hanging out with my honeybees.

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Close up of some of the honeybees crawling outside the hive. There probably were a few hundred.

I noticed with two hives that the honeybees were congregating at the base of the hive.

 

Since the mornings are cooler, I assumed they might be running out of bee space. I quickly went inside the house, put on my bee suit and went back to inspect the hives.

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A shot from my Warre hives observation window.

Opening the hives I discovered that the bees definitely need more space. I added a hive box to one of the hives and will add the rest tomorrow morning.

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Mint fresh from the garden

Additionally, tomorrow morning, I’ll be replanting some of my mint near the hive. Why? Mosquitoes don’t like it at all and I love how mint smells.

Juicing Adventures: A bit spicy

Yesterday I made the recipe I’m including below. It was sweet, spicy and hot. I loved it a lot. I shared some of it with a co-worker, he enjoyed it also. I had a little left over and so I’m sipping my juice as I type this post.

Apple zing
Author: Opal
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 12 Apples
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 handful of spinach
  • 2″ ginger
  • 1 habanero pepper
Instructions
  1. Add ingredients to juicer
  2. Add freshly prepared juice to a pitcher
  3. Serve and enjoy!

 

Washable shoes

Speedo Zip Walker Water ShoeWhen taking a shower at the gym, I wear slip on shoes aka flip flops.

My problem with that is that they aren’t washable. I want something that I can wash every time I use them. I started searching online for an appropriate shoe that could be washed after every use. Based on the reviews I’ve read, I do believe I’ve hit on a winner. It’s the Speedo Women’s ZipWalker Water Shoe! They should arrive today. I can’t test them out today, since I promised my daughter that we would have movie and dinner after I came home from work. However, I do plan to go to the gym tomorrow and will test them out in the sauna and the shower. I’ll be curious to see how they hold up over time. I’ll be sure to post my results after a few weeks of use.

Jump Rope: Feeling the Burn

The past few weeks, I’ve been incorporating jump rope exercises into my fitness routine. You really don’t need to go to the gym or use fancy equipment to stay in shape. You can use your own body to do that.

The above video gives you some great options of what you can do with a jump rope. I’ve found jump rope to be one of the best cardio workouts. It might look “Easy” but it’s definitely a lot more challenging than it looks. I jump rope for fifteen minutes daily. This morning, my calves are really feeling the burn and that’s great. It shows what I’m doing is working. Start at your own pace and keep moving.

Happy Father’s Day

My father is visiting my brother and his family in Florida, so I’m not hanging out with him today. I did talk to him this morning and wished him a Happy Father’s Day. My daughter and I will postpone our celebration for him upon his return next weekend.

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