World Food Day-October 16

 

My dad grew up on a working cattle farm in rural Arkansas. As a child I helped my Grandma with her enormous garden. I remember picking strawberries and blackberries. Finding the fat squash, watermelons, and pumpkins on the vines. Pulling up carrots and lettuce. Waiting for the corn to grow. Even now, over 20 years since my grandmother passed away, the scent of strawberries will always smell like summer to me.

In my grandparents’ generation, everyone had “vegetable patches” out of necessity. Fresh produce was too expensive or would require an hour or more of travel time to find. You grew as much as you could; ate what you needed; froze or canned enough to make it through winter; and gave the rest to your friends and neighbors. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a kind of currency, a way to show love and friendship.

Recently Oxfam contacted me to help share their campaign for World Food Day, which I was thrilled to help with. This World Hunger Day, October 16th, Oxfam is encouraging people to host a Sunday dinner and discuss where your food is coming from. Today 1 in 7 people worldwide go hungry, despite a global abundance of food. Over 17 million children in the U.S. have food insecurity-they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Oxfam wants us to have a conversation about where your food is grown, who is growing it, is it ethically farmed, and is it environmentally sustainable.

So next Sunday, Oct 16,  invite friends over! Have a potluck at church. Gather friends in your dorm room. Organize a meal for your child’s class. To help you host a dinner, Oxfam has provided Sunday Dinner Materials. There are recipes from chefs: Giada De Laurentiis, Mark Bittman, Eric Yost,and José Andrés. There are World Food Day placemats, as well as recipe cards to give away. There are posters and stickers available for those who are hosting a large group. Oxfam has provided a Sunday Dinner Discussion Guide to help guide your conversation.

A party with food, friends, and free stuff! What’s not to love?

You can  ORDER FREE MATERIALS for your dinner by October 21.

 I know as a dietitian and blogger I am often more inclined to examine the nutrition of the foods I eat, but am far less likely to really discover where it was grown and the conditions it was grown under. I try to eat locally when I can. I love a Farmer’s Market, and will stop on the side of the road for someone with a truck full of produce! But,more often than not, I just buy what is available at the store. So I am thankful to be a teeny tiny part of Oxfam’s World Hunger Day. I hope you to take advantage of the free materials, and use them to start a discussion. Even if you don’t host a meal, I encourage each of you to really look at where your food comes from and support local farms as well as those that are ethical and sustainable.

Do you know where and how your food is made? Will you host a dinner? If you do, I want to see it! You can tweet @Oxfam to share!

Boot Camp by Nature

 

Right before we left for Florida, Tropical Storm Lee dumped a huge amount of rain and wind on poor Birmingham. I was getting ready to actually go to boot camp (in a hurricane. On Labor Day. I’m committed.) when I hear a loud crack and then a crash.

This is what we found in the backyard:

A 100+ yo oak tree just fell over. This picture doesn’t really show the scale of how big this tree was. Thankfully, it fell on other extremely old trees and they protected the house.

 

Since we are not crazy, we did not try to pull it down ourselves. But my dad we did cut it up and haul it out of the middle of the yard.

My boot camp for the week consisted of wheelbarrowing logs:

yes, I made M take pictures of me working for the blog. I have no shame.

Stacking logs

My 65 yo dad, s/p CABG, put us all to shame. I think I split like 4 logs. It took 50 mins and almost killed me. It looks like more fun than it actually is.

Log rolling. AKA: how on earth is this thing so heavy and difficult to roll?

(these might be the most flattering pictures of myself I’ve ever seen, let alone posted.)

It was a busy few days! I got all my exercise courtesy of yard work, which I can’t really recommend. It is the opposite of fun.

Have you done any alternative exercise lately? Live near me and want to come help? I tried to convince Mr. Trainer to hold boot camp in my yard, but he said no. Come on! Giant logs>kettlebells, right?

More Pictures I Took of Myself

 

Does anyone have temporary vacation blindness? As in-at the beach I think I am this wind-blown beauty with beachy waves and a glowy tan who doesn’t need makeup. When in reality I am a freckled nerd with rat’s nest hair who needs enormous sunglasses to cover the crow’s feet.

In my head I look like:

Why yes, that is exactly what my body looks like,also.

The sadder reality

Also pictured:a million new freckles

 

I always make M take self-portraits with me everywhere we go and especially at the beach. I think they are fun and almost candid. The downside is the camera is only 12 inches from your face.

Only the coolest, most awesome people wear glasses.

Anyone else totally embarrass their husbands by making them take a million pictures? Just me? Do you have temporary vacation blindness?

Pensacola, Puppies, and Party People

I love the beach. It is my happy place. Specifically, Pensacola Beach in Florida. I have been going with my family since I was 7. It has changed a lot, especially since Ivan and Opal, but it is still one of my favorite places in the world.
I am going to be posting pictures for days, y’all should just prepare yourselves for the onslaught. I joined the rest of the world and got a DSLR for my Birthday! Don’t worry though, I will never give up crappy phone pictures.
We had fantastic weather. September, barring hurricanes, is the BEST month for the beach. School is back in, so screaming children and douchey frat bros are mostly absent. It isn’t too hot and there is usually a good breeze. And the beaches are empty. We had maybe 3 other groups within 100 yards of us. I completely expect, wherever we go, for it to be absent of other people. Completely rational.
But who cares, here are the two cutest puppies in the world.

Bean. She is out of breath b/c of the huge amount of spazzing she does when M comes home.

Mabel. Fat and sassy. Are you jealous of their awesome star blanket? It really adds something to the décor of my living room, I think.

Look who figured out bokeh on the new camera. Professional photographer right here.

The last day we were there the water was so clear and flat! No waves to speak of.

I have millions of more pictures of ocean, birds, flowers, grass, and me making funny faces which I will be sharing eventually. Y’all know me, I don’t want to raise standards of this blog by posting more than once a week.
Tonight I have to go back to boot camp after a week and a half off. I’m going to die. Though I have been doing crazy boot camp in the back yard, courtesy of the 100+ yo tree that fell. Turns out cutting and moving a tree is really hard.

Short Update

Hello lovelies. I have been a terrible blogger and for that, I apologize. A quick, vague update.

--Good stuff is happening and I may be polling you guys for some market research.

--I got a sweet ass fancy dslr for my bday! (which technically isn't until Wed, but whatever.) So I'm going to actually use it and try to post more...pictures of my dogs. B/c, let's be honest, they are about the only thing I take pictures of. They are much more adorable than me.

--Going to the beach next week for birthday spectacular! So I won't be around as much (not that I'm around much lately!)

--I promise to get back on the posting bandwagon when I get back.