Healthy Eating – BerryGoodEats

Just fifteen miles south of Gettysburg College on Route 15, there is a small gem; the Catoctin Mountain Orchard. At this orchard one can find anything from a selection of gourds and pumpkins, to apples and preserves, to fresh-baked pies. I love to go to this market for specialty items like honey, cheese and seasonal produce. Not to mention, walking the orchards in the fall air is a wonderful bonus, and incentive to my friends, for a weekend trip down.

At this wonderful market one will be astounded by both the variety, and small-town freshness, while not spending an exorbitant amount of money. Just last weekend, after a great baby-back rib-filled lunch at Chubby’s Barbecue, my friends and I ventured over to the market for some fall fun. There, we picked out gourds and mini pumpkins (3 for $2), apples, cider, and what turned out to be much more.

Hint- come here for your Christmas shopping. Not only are all of the products fresh and beautiful, but they are home and hand-made! Some of the items are a little expensive, but other’s are a great deal. Ok, here’s the official run-down of what I saw…

Foods like:

Apples, plums, cheese (yes, home-made cheese!) and cider. Not to mention fresh-baked goods and jams, honey, honey butters and their own array of hot sauces!

Items:

Photos taken by locals, home-made wicker baskets, home-made candles, pumpkins and other seasonal decorations.

While there I had a $30 budget to buy my sister’s birthday gift, some fall decorations, and a treat for myself and my friends. This might seem a hard task on so little money, but all of the options the market offered made it fun to choose! Between 3 gourds, two full-sized pumpkins, honey, hot sauce, a candle, a photograph, jam, apples, cider and a jar of nuts I just made my budget. What I’ve eaten so far has been delicious, and I can’t wait to brag about where I got my home-made candle!

During allergy season one should pay attention to some holistic options. Eating local honey is both soothing and delicious, and also has powers against allergies. When you eat local honey, you ingest the pollen that bees cultivate which helps your body to build-up an immunity, making allergies a lot less serious. Therefore, go to this great market and get some delicious honey! What a yummy way to take medicine… take that Mary Poppins!

Go soon before all the good pumpkins are gone!

-Berrygoodeats

Using pilates, yoga, or just general health can help guide your eating habits and create a way of life that is much more prosperous. For example, today my mother and I were invited to an early morning private pilates session with our long-time friend and neighbor. We spent the morning getting private attention from our engaging and knowledgeable trainer, learning new ways to stretch our bodies and strengthen our “centers.” Pilates is a wonderful workout and practice for anyone- be it man or woman, young or old. I myself am not a big fan of tramping to the gym and doing one monotonous, strenuous workout after another. I hate running and can’t stand lifting. But using dance, yoga and pilates has taught me to focus and strengthen my body; I have gained more than just physical strength, I have been granted a newer and more focused sense of self and my body… not to mention found some long lost confidence!

Needless to say, after a two-hour session on the mat we were all ravenous. After working out, your body will crave carbs, proteins and fiber. So, I thought it was a good idea to scour the fridge for some left-behind meats and veggies. Sure enough, I found some chicken cutlets and one lone steak, along with a pepper and zucchini left over from the fajitas I made earlier this week. I also had some cheese, crackers and olives that I needed to clean out before the week’s end, and decided they would cover our “carbs” unit for the day. Being that we were in a bit of a rush to eat again after the intensity of the morning, I whipped together some teriyaki sauce to let the meat (chopped up chicken and sirloin steak) marinate in for about 30 minutes. While the meat was marinating, I prepared my Summer Salad, and then enjoyed some cheese and crackers with my guests.

They key to today’s meal was using everything I had in my fridge and combining old recipes with new ingredients to make a unique dish that suited my day’s needs.

Try this recipe for yourself and let me know what you think!

Teriyaki Kebabs

Ingredients:

1 red pepper

1 zucchini

1/2 onion

3 chicken cutlets

8-10 oz sirloin steak

Preparation:

Soak about a half a dozen grilling skewers in water for 5-10 minutes to keep them from catching fire on the grill (mind you, this is only if they are wooden like the ones I use). While the skewers are soaking, roughly chop up chicken and steak and place in the above-mentioned marinade for 20-40 minutes. Then, while the meat is marinating, coarsely chop up the onion and red pepper and stick the pieces onto skewers. Now, cut the zucchini in half, lengthwise and then chop into 1 inch chunks. Put the zucchini on their own skewers seeing as they may cook for a longer time than the onion and pepper. After the meat is finished marinating, place the steak and chicken on separate skewers.

Grilling:

Turn the grill on medium high heat. Place the skewers onto grill and then brush more marinade over each. Close grill cover and let cook for about 5 minutes. Then, intermittently check on the skewers and turn, each time adding more marinade. The pepper and onion will most likely cook faster than the meat and zucchini so watch them more carefully. After about 10-15 minutes it should all be finished (just be sure to turn and watch each skewer closely as they may all finish at different times). Remove the veggies and meat from the sticks and serve immediately on a serving tray!

Enjoy!