Bob learned of this beautiful Pennsylvania State Park from Pittsburgh Public Television on a show called "Pittsburgh from the Air". McConnell's Mill State Park was only 100 miles from home. Good Friday, 2013.
In the park was a mill, covered bridge and beautiful rock formations. The road entering and leaving the park drove under and between many of the rocks.
The caves and crevices were a great place to explore!
Hope everyone had a nice Easter!
I am a registered dietitian and manager of the "Healthy Cafe" at WVU Healthcare, Health Sciences Center Cafeteria. My career goal is to entice customers to make healthy food choices. By using whole foods to make recipes from scratch, the Healthy Cafe features many fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low to moderate calorie and sodium foods and limits added sugars.
The recipes featured on this page are foods made at home, where I follow the same principles. I call this "31 Days of Healthy Eating" to recognize the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics National Nutrition Month.
Flank Steak Stuffed with Wild Rice, Green Beans and Chocolate Covered Strawberries with No Added Sugar Ice Cream.
Saturday Morning Omelet on a Whole Wheat Pita with a glass of skim milk!
Beef Tenderloin, sliced thin, with Quinoa, Asparagus, Purple Grapes & Skim Milk. Quinoa is a whole grain, quick and easy to make!
Salmon baked in a sprinkle of sesame oil, with vegetables and a whole grain roll. I always drink a glass of skim milk with my meals!
This is a crock pot meal I made when Chris was still at home :) Beef Roast (buy any with the syllable "loin" in the word....mine is sirloin tip roast). I add carrots, potatoes, onions and celery! A great meal to put in the crock in the morning that cooks while I'm at work!
I buy smaller "Frying" Chickens and roast them. . . they take about 1 1/2 -2 hours to bake to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. I season with Mrs. Dash, slice the meat thinly with an electric slicer and add fresh vegetables!
These are my homemade meatballs served with whole wheat pasta. My recipe for 17 meatballs: 1 # 92 % ground beef, 1/4 cup wheat germ, 1/3 cup Skim Milk, 1 Egg, 2 Tbsp. Onions, 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder, 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning, 1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve 3 per person.
I
call this "Friday Fish" I frequently make on Friday after I return home
with groceries! It's very quick and easy to make. I crush a few chips
or leftover tortillas in a small food processor then shake the thawed
tilapia into a ziploc bag with the crumbs. Takes 15-20 minutes in the
toast oven to cook, while I put groceries away! So tasty on a fresh
vegetable salad!
Fresh Blueberrry smoothie made with equal parts yogurt, skim milk, and blueberries!
Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil "Pizza", made in a tart pan using Benecol margarine in the pastry crust. A great meal to make for 2.
Chili and Baked Apple. My chili is made with 92% Ground Beef, No added salt tomatoes, and beans canned without the salt. The baked apple was super easy!
This is another great meal to make when the kids are still home. I brown a couple Italian "Turkey" Sausages (crumbled) with onions and peppers. Add 1 can no added salt tomatoes and cooked whole wheat pasta. Sprinkle a little fresh Parmesan cheese on top. Yum! It's a little high in sodium, so watch what you eat the rest of the day!
Tuna Steak, baked with fresh onions and mustard, served with whole wheat couscous and peas, purple grapes and no added salt tomatoes. The couscous is a whole grain and cooks instantly.
I "breaded" my chicken tenderloins with wheat germ and crushed almonds prior to baking in the toaster oven. Very tasty!
Omelets are easy anytime of the day. I add lots of fresh vegetables, and serve with whole grain bread and fruit. The pink grapefruit has lots of lycopene!
Bob works Sundays, so for my Sunday lunch I added a little canned low sodium albacore tuna, leftover grain (couscous or quinoa) onto my dark green salad with toasted almonds and more veggies. To my salad, I add "white" balsamic vinegar and olive oil!
On St. Patrick's Day I baked fresh potato wedges, carrots, celery, onions and cabbage wedges in the crock pot with 1 beef fillet. I always add a little Mrs. Dash to my veggies. It cooks on high in the crock pot in less than 2 hours. (I never know when Bob will be home for dinner as he eats between "assignments".) My Irish Soda Bread was made in a smaller round corning wear dish using 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all-purpose flour.
To mix it up a little, I use chicken thighs every now and then instead of chicken breasts. This "Chicken Cacciatore" is served over whole wheat spaghetti, with a fruit, vegetable and skim milk!
Chippie Tilapia ( I crushed the small bits of BBQ Chips left in a bag) tossed the fish in a ziploc bag with the crumbs and baked. Served with mixed vegetables, slaw, whole grain toast and skim milk.
I baked quiche in a small tart pans. My crust is made with Benecol margarine. Served with Fresh Blueberry Crumble.
Before I bake the salmon fillet, I sprinkle it with sesame oil. Served with edamame (green soy beans that taste like limas) and brown rice. I also add sesame oil to the water I cook the rice in!
Mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat. I gave the rest of the can of crabmeat to my Mom! Served with Brussel Sprouts and fresh green beans.
Filling the plate with 1/2 fruits and/or vegetables is easy when you have colorful fresh fruits on hand. This is a Saturday night with Netflix. We bake our pizza in 7 inch pizza pans and still have some leftover.
For a snowy Sunday, I made a platter of red peppers, purple grapes, mozzarella and Italian sausage slices. The wheat bread was actually shaped like a snowflake. It didn't really look like one, but it was scrumptious! Those are fresh green beans on the side.
More vegetable quiche, this one made in a 7 inch pizza pan. Served with fresh sliced tomatoes and kiwi with grapes.
Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa. Served with Brown Rice, Mixed Vegetables and Fresh Fruit. There are lots of nice frozen vegetable mixes in the grocery stores. I look for ones with no added salt.
My meatloaf is baked in a mini loaf pan. The twice baked potato is topped with broccoli slaw. That's no added salt ketchup, which is very tasty!
Vegetable lasagna, made in a mini loaf pan with whole wheat pasta, ricotta cheese and no added salt tomatoes.
Rainbow Trout baked with crushed almonds. Served with potato wedges, peas and broccoli.
My favorite after work snack: Hot Air Popcorn. I pop 1/4 cup popcorn (not the microwave kind) and eat the whole bowl! Served with Calcium Enriched Orange Juice. Popcorn is a whole grain!
I called this a "Spring Platter". When the relatives came to visit to help me with the family tree, I made pickled beets and eggs (I cooked fresh beets), boiled some Yukon Gold potatoes, baked some salmon.........and made a platter to eat buffet style. Those are fresh blueberry muffins made with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour.
My work menus can be viewed at:
www.hsc.wvu.edu/cafeterias
Click on the HSC Healthy Cafe, then on each menu item to view the nutrition label.
Rt. 11 runs north-south through the western part of Virginia parallel to I-81. It's the road to take when you're not in a hurry. Today, a ride along any section takes you back to an earlier, more innocent time when a long car trip meant driving through small towns. February 2013
The embellishment at the top of the page is a seed pod found on the ground in Middletown Virginia. I found a flat one, flattened it more in a book, then added a little varnish. It's pretty tough so I don't think I'll end up with crumbs in the scrapbook!
The mixed media art of the lady and hearts was painted onto the side of the old diner. . . look at the texture here too!
Have a great weekend! I was out of town 3 days this week and 1 day last week with the WV Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This weekend I'm going to try to get organized.
The Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge was one of many stops we made along Rt. 11 on our trip back home through the Shenandoah Valley. Built in 1884, the bridge was burned in 1976, then rebuilt. The website describes the covered bridges in Virginia "for lovers of special places".
I sponged a little green ink on the canvas letters and embellishments from Little Yellow Bicycle. With a white pen I "stitched, doodled and dotted" using the template from the Crafters Workshop.
It's a beautiful sunny weekend in Morgantown. We turned our clocks ahead one hour. Today I'm going to wash my car! The official start of Spring is in less than 2 weeks.
This picture was taken during our February vacation when we drove through Middleton Virginia along Rt. 11. We saw a sign for a fort and didn't find it. But we did find this beautiful orchard and a very peaceful scene. The trees were dormant, the sky a brilliant blue and there was a stillness in the air. We donned our winter wraps and took it all in..........
While I didn't hear or see birds that day, I thought it appropriate to put the darling little Recollections birds on the "Spring Fever" layout to go along with the theme.
We're still enjoying our winter birds here in West Virginia today! There really is beauty in every season though the sun has it's healing effects!
The inspiration for this layout came from 2
sources. Natalie Kalbach's layout "Old", in Somerset Memories,
compared "when I get old" to a 1945 vintage truck. Then my DH, Bob,
turned around on a drive to Fairchance Pa. a couple weeks ago to
photograph these colorful "Rusted Relics" as he titled them.
So, in honor of my milestone birthday, I described the machines and
me: "Wrinkled; Rusted; Unruly; Chained to a job; Strong; Determined;
Gets through rough spots; Finishes the job." All appropriate adjectives!
The alphas are customizable foam stickers: the top layer peels off and I sprinkled 2 colors of glitter to get the look. Here's how:
Have a good evening!
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