Healthy Living - Food Education, Part I

Recently I re-discovered the pleasures of cooking. I especially enjoy cooking with fruits & veggies! I love to surprise my hubby with an exotic dish you’d otherwise order @ a fancy restaurant, or perhaps indulge in while on vacation in a dreamy location (braised pork with coconut milk & pineapple, anyone?!). I search & pull recipes of the Internet, try old family secrets & have bought cookbooks of international cuisines I love. Thai & Mexican to be exact. Believe me, there’s so much more to Mexican food than Taco’s!

When a recipe called for Asparagus the other day, I went to the nearest supermarket & bought some. The label of the package read “Produce From Peru”. Hmmmmmmm. Peru is about 2,600 miles away from Florida - by plane. It made me think about what keeps veggies so “fresh & green”, especially if they have to travel so far. Asparagus is a traditional spring vegetable & I just bought some in Florida in July… My family’s health is very important to me so I embarked on a journey to learn more about where our food comes from & what’s in it! First stop, we will finally watch a movie I heard a long time ago: “Food Inc.“, Academy Award Nominee “Best Documentary Feature”. I’ll be sure to report back on our impressions & next steps.

Are you concerned about our food? What are you doing to ensure you are eating a healthy, nutritious diet? Let me hear your thoughts!

Cheers,

I promise I’ll help!

For the last five years, my children have been begging and pleading for a dog.  After side stepping the issue through purchasing many other pets like fish, sea monkeys and hamsters (most of you know how badly that ended), the parental armor broke down.  We researched finding the best breeds for our family, because three out of four of us have severe allergies.  [...]

Google your life!

A strange thing lead me to write today’s post. Ever felt like you were distracted & are completely detached from your goal(s)? Maybe life, family, work or other problems have a tight grip on you right now & your vision got diluted or worse - you forgot about them! However, this little light continues to flicker in you as long as you live. Sometimes your inner voice gets louder, sometimes it’s off. You know yourself like no one else & know this light inside you is a BIG part of who you are. But you just don’t have the time to tend to your own needs. Then something “bigger” than you reminds you in awkward ways of this little light. Maybe a person with a similar interest enters your life, or your kid (of all people!) shares their dreams with you – dreams you once had, too! You are reminded of something you wanted to do, or try to achieve in life. If we were alert enough to recognize in that moment what is going on, allow our eyes to see, let it re-enter our lives - what would happen?

I hope you are following your dreams, doing what you think you were meant to do. But if you lost sight of your goals or dreams - why not sit down today & make plans how to get back on track? Resources are at our fingertips & readily available 24/7 it seems with the Internet and Social Media. Larry Page & Sergey Brin challenge you to write them if you can’t google it! Go for it!

I dedicate this post to a new found friend who entered my life a few clicks ago on Facebook & reminded me of my goals!

Cheers,

Growing Your Own

I consider myself very lucky to have a husband who has a love for gardening.  The yard is manicured and the flower beds are beautiful.  What he enjoys the most is his herb garden: rosemary, thyme, basil and chives just to name a few.  It’s always nice to know that fresh herbs are available at [...]

Tweet-le Dee and Tweet-le Dum (not about Johnny Depp’s performance in Alice in Wonderland)

In an attempt at social media irony, I have decided to Blog about Tweeting.  I really know very little (nothing) about Twitter.  One of the advantages to blogging is you do not need to know anything about the subject.  Maybe you don’t even need to know anything about any subject.
I surmise the term twitter comes from [...]

National Frist Humanitarian Awards / HCA Tampa SSC Frist Volunteer Winner

I’ve been meaning to write about HCA’s annual Frist Humanitarian Awards. This program has been in place @ HCA, Inc. since 1971 & has since celebrated every year outstanding employee’s humanitarian and/or volunteering efforts. Employees, volunteers and medical staff of HCA can be nominated for their outstanding spirits! The award includes a $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice & $5,000 in cash for the employee and volunteer. The medical staff honoree receives a $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

I work out of the Tampa Shared Services Center & have talked with their Volunteer Frist Award winner Robin C., a Payroll Specialist, about her award. I learned that Robin has been volunteering with Suncoast Hospice since 2003. While speaking with her, you can sense her strong compassion for helping her community to make this world a better place. Its a lifestyle for her, not a hobby. Robin currently cares for two Hospice patients and is also deeply involved with our next generation of leaders, our kids. She volunteers @ local schools & The Children’s Home - I imagine she is putting big smiles on a lot of kids faces! Robin loves to draw & her website which features cartoons & books is geared to empower kids, teach love & self respect among other topics.

In the future I expect to write follow-up posts on Green Initiatives across our facilities within HCA’s West Florida Division & hope to feature more Frist Award Winners for you!

Cheers,