Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray!

This little bottle is fantastic, less oil used = less calories consumed and less waste!
Thank you Wegmans!!!!

Friday, May 4th the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle published a wonderful article in their ROCFlavors section, Market time, on just this. You can also read the article Farmers market season is about to start, Farmers are ready to sell their seasonal foods

Included in the article was a list of markets by county. There is a link online at RocDocs.  This is a great resource, thank you!

My family had the PLEASURE of hiking in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park this Spring. 

Kris, Mason, Anna, and I hiked
Andrews Bald Trail – North Carolina, United States and
Clingmans Dome at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Andrews Bald – Overview

Andrews Bald is the highest bald in the Great Smoky Mountains which straddle the Tennessee/North Carolina border in the Southern Appalachians. Located less than a mile and a half from the highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Clingmans Dome, this mountain on a clear day has gorgeous views of the southern Appalachians. All access to this peak are via the Forney Ridge Trail from the east and west sides of the mountain. The shortest approach to the mountain is via the Clingmans Dome parking lot which gives you a round-trip 3.6 miles.

Andrews Bald is a very unique summit as are all the Smoky Mountain summits, but its claim as a “southern bald” makes it extra special. These “balds” provide for a very interesting and diverse environment in terms of both ecosystems and climate. The true summit of Andrews Bald actually still stands within one of the great fraser fir stands of the Smokies. The bald part of the mountain is only about a hundred yards east of the actual summit. The Forney Ridge Trail is beautiful because of the gorgeous pine stands. The bald is a very distinctive and diverse place as some very rare plants and animals grow around this area. Andrews Bald is known for its Flaming Azalea which bloom in the spring time all over the summit. The rest of the bald is mostly a grassland with a few rhododendron bushes and some fraser fir dotting the lower parts of the bald.

Scientists to this day are still not positive as to the reason for all of the balds in the Southern Appalachians, but they have a few theories. Some scientists believe that these summits were once the grazing grounds of “ice-aged” animals such as the wooly-mammoth and mastadon. It is known that 1800s farmers took their livestock up to the balds to feed in the summer time because of the cooler climate and wealth of vegetation. This grazing helped to keep the balds free from obstruction, which provides for great views. In recent years though, many of the balds in the Smokies are beginning to become grown over, a process which is not quite understood by ecologists because of the fact that they’ve been around for so long. Andrews Bald is one of those balds which are starting to grow up. This does not create any obstruction at this point though as there are plenty of amazing views all around the bald.

About Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park receives more than 9 million visitors a year, making it the most visited national park in the country. The Grand Canyon, the second most visited national park, receives roughly 4.4 million visitors per year!

June, July, August and October are the most popular months for visitors. The park sees more than a million visitors during each of these months.

Although the Smokies may seem overcrowded with these kinds of numbers, it’s still easy to escape civilization. The park boasts more than 800 miles of trails, including roughly 71 miles of the Appalachian Trail which runs along the crest of the Smokies. Yes, there are a few trails with extreme crowds during the summer, but these are usually the shorter trails near Gatlinburg, Cades Cove or along Newfound Gap Road. Go to the more remote sections of the park, or take a longer trail, and you’re likely to find virtual solitude. Hikers will find that trails in the Smokies offer a great amount of diversity. For one, elevation in the park ranges from 840 feet at the mouth of Abrams Creek on the western edge of the park, to 6643 feet at the summit of Clingmans Dome. There are also more than 2100 miles of streams in the park, making for numerous fishing opportunities, picnic spots, or even a swimming hole during a hot summer afternoon.

For Other key facts about Great Smoky Mountains National Park click here!

The Top Ten Health Benefits of Hiking

For adults, regular aerobic exercise such as hiking leads to:

• Improved cardio-respiratory fitness (heart, lungs, blood vessels)
• Improved muscular fitness
• Lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
• Lower risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes
• Lower risk of high cholesterol and triglycerides
• Lower risk of colon and breast cancer, and possibly lung and endometrial cancer
• Increased bone density or a slower loss of density
• Reduced depression and better quality sleep
• Lower risk of early death (If you are active for 7 hours a week, your risk of dying early is 40% lower than someone active for less than 30 minutes a week.)
• Weight control; hiking burns up 370 calories an hour (154-lb person)

Kids get many of the same benefits, including:

• Improved cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness
• Better bone health
• Less chance of becoming overweight
• Less chance of developing risk factors for heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes
• Possibly reduced risk of depression and feeling less stress, more ready to learn in school
• Sleeping better at night

If you are not already a “hiker” you should check out – www.GoodHiker.com

GoodHiker.com is here to help you and the kids in your life get outdoors and have fun hiking — while staying safe and comfortable and minimizing your impact on the environment.

The Certified Good Hiker Kit teaches kids how to be Good Hikers — how to stay safe and tread lightly on the environment.

WHEC-TV New 10 NBC is airing a special edition of ROC City Tonight with Lia Lando on Childhood Obesity: The Heavy Truth.

Tune in tonight, Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7pm.

Mason and Anna helped me show families how to get moving…

You can help, help your kids be active.The important factor in exercising with your children is to keep it FUN! We want kids to look forward to this extra activity, not view it as a chore! Try to grab the “extra” minutes in your day to add in a little activity as well – get creative! Sometimes a little extra silliness, friendly competition, a new toy/equipment, and Mom or Dad’s inexperience can help.

There are a lot of fun things to do as a family and be ACTIVE at the same time!
ice skating
skiing (downhill, cross country)
sledding
snow-shoeing
snowball fight
swimming
hiking – great trails in this area, many towns have little booklets with trail maps
Geo-caching
biking
go to the playground
walking, jogging, running
races, relay (can be funny ones wheelbarrow, three-legged…)
dance, shadow dance, limbo, hip-hop housework
yoga, Pilates
tag
hula hoop
jump rope
laser tag, paintball
rollerskating/rollerblading
follow the leader
pogo stick
stilts
walk like a – bear, crab, snake, inchworm,penguin, steamroller, robot, bird
hopscotch
twister, honeybee hop
canoe/kayak
backyard golf, golf, mini golf, driving range
raking leaves
jumping in the leaves
basketball/PIG/HORSE
trampoline
obstacle course, dice games – can you do this many ____?
rock climbing
bowling, basement bowling
musical chairs
wave jumping
boogie boarding
Frisbee
catch – baseball, football, kickball, bubbles
games – soccer, baseball, football, volleyball, soccer, hockey, broom-ball, bocce, bean bag toss, ladder golf, Kan jam, kick the can, dodge-ball, mother may i, Mr fox, red light green light, Simon says, monkey in the middle
water-balloon fight
balloon pop
Nintendo Wii
Xbox Kinect
Have your kids teach you the games they play in school during PE – great resource!

I burned off a few calories this afternoon snow-blowing and shoveling the HEAVY snow off the driveway- whew!

Now let the fun begin…

It is time for a little sledding & skiing!  Here is an article from Kids Out and About Rochester, NY about the Sledding Hills in Greater Rochester!  Take a look.  Which hills are your favorites? Did you sled at any of these parks as a child? Are you taking your kids to the very same hills to make more family memories? My family has LOTS of stories from our days at Mendon Ponds Park  and my kids love sledding at Webster Park.

You can also go snow tubing at Glacier Ridge Snow Tubing in Spencerport or Polar Wave Snow Tubing in Batavia.

Don’t forget about skiing and snowboarding!  Here is a great list to look at if you are not sure where to go – Great places to ski in central and western New York State.  You will find me at Bristol Mountain!

What a fun way to burn calories!

Get out there  and play in the snow!!

May your 2012 be Healthy and Fun!!

I have baked and cooked with pumpkin puree in the past, but always from a can, never fresh, until recently.

Last week I purchased a pie pumpkin from the Rochester Public Market.  I brought it home and cleaned it, cut it in half, scooped out the guts and seeds.

I baked it in the oven for about 60 minutes.  I let it cool and then scooped out the flesh, then pureed it in my Cuisinart food processor.

That was EASY!

Pumpkins are vegetables that belong to the squash family. Pumpkins have many health benefits.

• low in calories – 83 calories per cup

• no saturated fat or cholesterol, only 1 g fat per cup

• good source of anti-oxidants: beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin

• good source of vitamins: vitamin-A, vitamin-C and vitamin-E.

• good source of minerals: calcium, copper, phosphorus, and potassium

• rich in dietary fiber -  7 g of fiber per cup

Pumpkins are a great food to add to your meal planning if you are working on weight management.  Along with the above health benefits pumpkins make a great fat substitute in baking.

Baking with Fresh Pumpkin

How To Prepare Fresh Pumpkins for Baking

Pumpkin Recipes

Although this is a great book, one of Anna’s favorites, I am not referring to this book with a happy ending.  The pink, pink, pink, that I am talking about is in honor of breast cancer. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This year, 2011, NBCAM is celebrating 25 years of awareness, education, and empowerment.

Unfortunately, EVERYONE knows someone affected by this illness.  This illness has touched my family twice in the last 9 years.this illness.  This illness has touched my family twice in the last 9 years.

Ann Agosti, my grandmother, fought her battle with breast cancer. Gram, age 78, died on January 6, 2003. Anna, my daughter, was born in August 2003.  Anna never had the chance to meet Gram, or “Grand Nana” as she’d be named later, but they will always share a name.

I love you Gram!

Wendy Sue Vosper, my Aunt (by marriage), fought her battle with this illness. Wendy, at age 46 died on October 9, 2011. Wendy truly lived life. She was and still is remarkable and I am blessed to have known her.   For those who did not know her, I will let you read Kris’ Eulogy.

You can do something about breast cancer! You need to understand what breast cancer is. You also need to realize that screening and early detection is vital!

There are so many organizations out there trying to help fight breast cancer, even the National Football League. The NFL and American Cancer Society together make “A crucial catch – annual screening saves lives.” Here are a few other organizations:

Susan G Komen
Fight Like A Girl
Stand Up 2 Cancer
Pink Ribbon
National Breast Cancer Foundation

One common theme here:

As far as Breast Cancer goes, early detection is A BIG DEAL!

If you are not familiar with the Let’s Move! initiative…

Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let’s Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years. Giving parents helpful information and fostering environments that support healthy choices. Providing healthier foods in our schools. Ensuring that every family has access to healthy, affordable food. And, helping kids become more physically active.

So what is Let’s Move, RocKids!

The Democrat and Chronicle Media Group, with the support of several community partners, has developed Let’s Move, RocKids!, a social gaming initiative that encourages kids ages 4-12 to eat healthier and be active to help prevent childhood obesity. The local project was inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative with the same objective.

Check it out. This is so cool!