I am now one week into this challenge and eating healthy is getting much easier. I find I am not craving the "bad stuff" nearly like I was the first few days. Over the weekend I incorporated a few new foods into my diet. I got some organic yogurt, which tastes amazing when I cut up fresh strawberries and mix them together. This weekend, I picked up some fresh green beans, asparagus, broccoli and zucchini, in addition to more avocado (my favorite), chives, carrots, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and spinach. I've found that fresh green beans make a great snack when eaten raw. They are quite sweet and because they are crisp they make a great replacement for the potato chips I used to eat with a sandwich at lunch. I had a tuna sandwich on whole grain bread with cut up celery and onion mixed in with the tuna. Then add raw carrots and green beans on the side... Delicious.
Saturday we visited an organic produce farm/orchard where they let you taste samples of everything before you purchase it. The tangerines are so sweet and juicy that they taste like candy. The apples are amazing and my friends daughter even loved their lemons. I would never just bite into a lemon, but I did buy some since I enjoy drinking my water with a slice of lemon in it. They also have local honey, organic peanut butter, almond butter and several jams and preserves that are all made fresh, without preservatives. My husband loves their jams and blackberry and boysenberry syrups.
I thought I would share a few of the pictures we took Saturday while we were in Oak Glen, California. Although it has only a little to do with eating right, it was such a joy I thought I would share several of the pictures. This area is about a half an hour from our home. We've been here several times, but never when it snowed. Here in Southern California we really don't get much snow. This day was an awesome surprise. Our weather was in the 70's two days prior to this snow. Needless to say, this snow won't last very long, but it is so much fun for the short time it is here!
We had friends visiting from Orange County and this was only their second time to Oak Glen, so it was a perfect day to visit and play in the snow, without the hassles of travel, tire chains or crowds :) Oh, and the fruit and veggies at Mom's Orchards were amazing too!!!
Oak Glen is a quaint little town in the mountains just above Yucaipa California. It is made up of mostly apple orchards where you can "Pick Your Own" during season, and also make your own cider at a few of the orchards. It's kind of like visiting wine county, only it's apple cider country :) There are a few cute gift shops (most open year round), a couple of small restaurants (most with good food & most of the food in the area is made from scratch). There is also a small petting zoo, which is actually pretty big. For a $3 fee you can both feed the different animals and stroll down a long meandering paths. They have just about every kind of farm animal... from peacocks, turkeys, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, to several others I can't think of right now. Many are caged, but their is an area where you can go in with the animals (if you like that sort of thing).
We got hot apple cider from Los Rios Rancho Apple Farm and it was perfect as we played out in the cold.
I, Diana, am on the left and one of my best friends, Karey is on the right... We have been friends for about 19 years and this is the first time we've ever been in the snow together... Total winter wonderland, would make a great postcard!!!
If you are ever in the area, I definitely recommend a visit. Don't forget to go to Mom's Country Orchards and try all of the organic fruits. Obviously the fruits available depend on what is in season, but they always have something great and they are super friendly too :)
Until next time...
Healthy eating!
Diana
I thought I would share a few of the pictures we took Saturday while we were in Oak Glen, California. Although it has only a little to do with eating right, it was such a joy I thought I would share several of the pictures. This area is about a half an hour from our home. We've been here several times, but never when it snowed. Here in Southern California we really don't get much snow. This day was an awesome surprise. Our weather was in the 70's two days prior to this snow. Needless to say, this snow won't last very long, but it is so much fun for the short time it is here!
We had friends visiting from Orange County and this was only their second time to Oak Glen, so it was a perfect day to visit and play in the snow, without the hassles of travel, tire chains or crowds :) Oh, and the fruit and veggies at Mom's Orchards were amazing too!!!
Oak Glen is a quaint little town in the mountains just above Yucaipa California. It is made up of mostly apple orchards where you can "Pick Your Own" during season, and also make your own cider at a few of the orchards. It's kind of like visiting wine county, only it's apple cider country :) There are a few cute gift shops (most open year round), a couple of small restaurants (most with good food & most of the food in the area is made from scratch). There is also a small petting zoo, which is actually pretty big. For a $3 fee you can both feed the different animals and stroll down a long meandering paths. They have just about every kind of farm animal... from peacocks, turkeys, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, to several others I can't think of right now. Many are caged, but their is an area where you can go in with the animals (if you like that sort of thing).
We got hot apple cider from Los Rios Rancho Apple Farm and it was perfect as we played out in the cold.
My husband and my friends daughter first had snowball fights and then built a snow man...
Until next time...
Healthy eating!
Diana
