Oxbow Farm

Hey, everybody! I haven’t posted in a few months and I’m a terrible person…. School, theatre, and dance have taken up all of my time for blogging. Now that it’s summer, I’m going to try and post every Sunday!

Last Wednesday, my Girl Scout Troop took a tour of Oxbow Farm in Carnation in order to complete our “Sow What?” journey (a pre-requisite for the Girl Scout Gold Award). Oxbow Farm is a CSA farm that sells organic produce. In addition to being a CSA, they also provide produce to local restaurants, such as Zaw Pizza and Café Flora. We learned a lot about how a small farm is run on our tour. After our visit, our leaders asked us some questions about our visit. Below are our answers.

What was your favorite vegetable to try at the farm? Do you think it tasted better than its store-bought version? Why or why not?

Our favorite vegetables at the farm were peas and carrots. We thought that they tasted fresher and crisper than the peas and carrots that you find at the store.

 

Carrots

 

Do you wish that your family would join a CSA or start shopping at farmers’ markets? Why or why not?

We would be more likely to go to a farmers’ market than join a CSA. By going to the farmers’ market, you can buy local, organic produce and support farmers. However, a CSA is a bit of a hassle when you have a busy schedule, because it’s hard to find time to pick up the boxes of produce from the drop-off locations. Also, there are some weeks when you don’t have very much time to cook, so some of your produce from the box would go to waste.

What was your favorite thing that you learned about how a small, organic farm like Oxbow is run?

We enjoyed learning about Oxbow’s methods of organic pest control, such as the bug vacuum and decoy plants. The bug vacuum is used at night when the bugs come out, and it sucks up all the bugs to keep them off of the plant. Also, decoy plants were planted at the ends of the rows. The decoy plants were more desirable to the bugs than the actual vegetables (like lettuce and radishes), so the bugs would stay away from the vegetables that Oxbow wanted to sell.

A chart with information about harvests and deliveries

Name one thing that the farmers do to the plants or soil in order to improve growing conditions. Did you know this before? Why was this interesting to you?

At Oxbow, they use a cover crop in order to improve conditions. Cover crops are crops that are easy to grow, don’t require much water, and are very low maintenance. When the cover crop is done growing, they till the plant into the soil, which puts lots of nutrients into the soil during the winter when the plant decays. We didn’t know about this particular method until we went to Oxbow, and we found it interesting because it’s one of many ways that you can improve crops without using chemical fertilizers.

What did you learn about the farmers that work at Oxbow?
We thought it was really interesting that most of the farmers at Oxbow were women. 70% of Oxbow employees are women. It proves that as long as you have the determination to work hard and improve the food system, you can run a farm no matter who you are! 

Arwin, the amazing female farmer who led our tour

Would you want to work on a farm like Oxbow? Why or why not?

Some of us would be interested in summer internships, but most of the troop members think that they would get bored when working on a farm. Being a farmer is a lifestyle, and a lot of our girls don’t necessarily have the passion for farming. That’s totally fine. However, we all enjoyed visiting the farm.

Why do you think buying local, organic produce is important?
Buying local, organic produce is important because it supports local farmers and the local economy. The produce is fresher, and it’s healthier because it’s free of chemicals. Also, local and organic produce is better for the environment. This is because it doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles to get to your plate, and no harmful chemicals are used.

Did visiting Oxbow inspire you to change the way you shop for produce? Why or why not?

Some of our girls would like to buy more local food in order to help the environment. Plus, we’d like to eat fresher food, like the produce at Oxbow.

Did your visit to Oxbow Farm inspire you to tell your friends about CSAs, local produce, and organic farming? Why or why not?

Not really. I personally try to inspire my friends to eat local and organic produce, but that’s because I have a passion for healthy food and improving the food system. The other girls in our troop don’t have that passion, which is fine. However, they are willing to make changes for themselves and become aware about food, which is a great step to take.

Overall, we really enjoyed our trip to Oxbow and all took something away from the visit. My family joined Full Circle Farm (a farm that delivers organic produce to your door – however, it is not a CSA) because Oxbow inspired us to join a CSA/something like a CSA. If you’re interested in visiting Oxbow Farm, go to www.oxbow.org for more information.

Please follow this blog, subscribe to me on YouTube, follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page, and share this with your friends! I will be posting every Sunday from now on. I’ve also decided that publishing a cookbook is unrealistic while dealing with high school, so you’ll see a lot more recipes from me because I don’t have to save them for the cookbook anymore. Thanks, and stay healthy!

HSH Reboot - Week 1

                 Hey! There's only one more week left of my Health Starts Here reboot. Part of me is really excited to be done, but I'm also not ready to let go of the HSH rules. Here's a list of my successes and challenges.

Successes:

• Sticking to the rules. While I had cravings for chocolate on the first day, I surprisingly haven't really wanted to eat non-HSH food nor have I given into eating anything that is against the rules.         
• Utilizing Whole Foods' recipes. So far I've made 3 tasty recipes from the HSH webpage: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3378), Quinoa with Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/quinoa-balsamic-roasted-mushrooms), and Apple-Cinnamon Oat Squares (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/apple-cinnamon-oat-squares). They were all pretty tasty (although I recommend eating the Apple-Cinnamon Oat Squares cold because they'll fall apart otherwise), too!

Challenges:

• School. and rehearsal When I took the 28-Day Challenge, it was summer and I didn't have to deal with packing a lunch or dinner. This time around, I have to pack a lunch AND a dinner to take to school; I pack a dinner because I need to eat before my rehearsals for Aladdin. These meals have to fit within the HSH guidelines. My mom and I find things to pack, but it's hard to pack something that has a lot of vegetables in it when you're in a hurry. Whenever I get home from rehearsal, I try to eat a bowl of frozen peas (which are DELICIOUS, by the way) to catch up on the servings of vegetables that I missed. However, I've been eating lots of fruit and whole grains.

                  My goals for this last week of the HSH Reboot are to meal plan, eat more vegetables, cook more of the HSH recipes, and create an HSH recipe that I can post here. Meal planning will help me pack interesting, vegetable-y foods for my lunch and dinner, and eating more vegetables will go along with this. I also plan to make some Peanut Butter Brownie Balls (http://www.fitfoodiefinds.com/2012/10/peanut-butter-brownie-balls.html). It isn't a recipe from Whole Foods, but it follows the rules and looks really delicious!

                 Please follow me on Twitter, follow this blog, subscribe to me on YouTube and like the new Facebook page! All of those links are in the sidebar. Stay healthy!

                 

Health Starts Here Reboot and an Announcement

                Happy New Year! It's the first blog post of 2013. Hopefully, the year will get off to a great start and become one of the best years yet. To start off the New Year, I'm doing something really special - maybe even crazy. I'm going to go back to Health Starts Here! Instead of doing it for 28 days, I'm going to do it for 14 and call it a "reboot". Health Starts Here didn't stick with me as much as I wish it could have, and I want to straighten out my eating habits again. They weren't bad in comparison to other eating habits (like my brother, who only eats six or seven things), but they were below my expectations of myself and I'd like to get back on track.

                For those of you who don't know, Health Starts Here is a program through Whole Foods that promotes healthy eating. You take a 28-day challenge in which you eat completely Health Starts Here (or your version of Health Starts Here, depending on what you think you can accomplish). The Health Starts Here guidelines are as follows: no dairy, no eggs, only whole-grains, no refined sugars (honey is okay, but white sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, artificial sweeteners and more are not okay), lean meats in small portions (you can choose a vegan route, but I haven't done that before), no oil, and to eat LOTS of fruits and vegetables. If this sounds a little ridiculous to you, that's normal. I explained all about Health Starts Here when I took the challenge in July. Read that post (http://foodforteensbyteens.blogspot.com/2012/06/hey-everybody-sorry-that-i-havent.html), or you can learn more at the Health Starts Here website (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/health-starts-here).

                During these two weeks of Health Starts Here, I will face some challenges, but I have experience on my side. One of the challenges I'll face is school. When I did the 28-Day Challenge, school was out and I wasn't in any musicals yet (by the way, I'm a theatre kid). This time, I have to deal with packing a Health Starts Here lunch for school every day and eating a Health Starts Here dinner before my rehearsals for Aladdin. During the 28-Day Challenge, I had to figure out how to cope with HSH (Health Starts Here) food while camping and at a friend's birthday party. This time, I'll have to figure out how to order something at a restaurant that follows the HSH guidelines; I'm going ice skating and out to dinner with my Girl Scout troop this weekend. My HSH Reboot starts tomorrow. Wish me luck!

               My Christmas was awesome. Among other presents, I got lots of clothes, new shoes, UGG slippers, a griddle, new knives and a new cutting board! On Christmas Day, I made Italian paninis with pesto, spinach, mozzarella and tomatoes on ciabatta bread for my family, and I used my new griddle. We've also used the griddle to sear tofu, make hash-browns, and cook pancakes. Hopefully, the griddle will be yet another tool that I can use to help me get through the HSH Reboot.

The panini I made on Christmas with my new griddle!

               Now for that huge announcement! Teens Can Cook, Too now has a Facebook page! I don't have too many likes yet since the page is only a few days old. Please hit "like" to show your support for me! It only takes a second to do so, but it really supports my mission in improving the food system and raising awareness amongst teens about food. Every "like" means so much to m. You can like Teens Can Cook, Too on Facebook by clicking this link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teens-Can-Cook-Too/113579778813832

              Please follow this blog, follow me on Twitter, like the new Facebook page, subscribe to me on YouTube and email me! It only takes a few seconds to show your support for Teens Can Cook, Too. All of my information is in the sidebar (in the online resources section). I posted a new poll asking whether you'd like to join me in the HSH Reboot. If enough people are interested in doing it with me, I will respond in my later posts! Also, I posted a video about local food last week. If you missed it, you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_3voNWV3Sc. Stay healthy and Happy New Year!
                

Twelve Days of Cooking: Day 12 (Belated)

              Hey! It was supposed to be the last day of the Twelve Days of Cooking on Christmas Eve, but the holidays were very busy so I didn't have time until today!

              Here is a new video where I interview three friends and my history teacher, Susanne (we call our teachers by their first names at my school)! I made this video to show you what kids know about local food and what we can do to learn more. I didn't pick these four because they were especially knowledgeable or didn't know much or whatever (except Susanne, who knows a ton about local food). I just picked them because they're my friends and they were willing to be on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_3voNWV3Sc

             Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, like the new video, follow me on Twitter, follow this blog and email me! All my information is in the sidebar. I'm sorry I haven't been as good about posting every day lately, but now I'm going back to posting every Thursday. Tomorrow there
won't be a post because I'll be seeing the PNB Nutcracker with a friend! However, next Thursday I'll definitely post something. Stay healthy and happy New Year!

Twelve Days of Cooking: Day 11

             Hey! Today is the 11th day of the Twelve Days of Cooking! I don't have much to share about cooking, but I have lots to share about the holidays in general.

             Today my family did a lot of preparing for Christmas. We're hosting a Christmas Eve gathering for the extended family tomorrow, so we had to get lots done! My mom made ginger snaps and peppermint fudge, and tomorrow we're going to make German Christmas cookies and regular sugar cookies (hopefully). I wrapped a bajillion presents, and we're super close to being done with all of our wrapping! We did the very last of our holiday shopping today, too. Plus, we hung our stockings today!

             I'm hoping to post pictures of all of our holiday cookies and fudge tomorrow, but we'll see if I have time. While cookies aren't the healthiest thing in the world, it's Christmas so it doesn't really matter that much. We have permission to splurge!

            I found two really funny holiday videos that I thought I'd share. The first one is a Miranda Sings video. I LOVE Miranda Sings, although lots of people don't really understand it. Miranda Sings is a character portrayed by a comedian and singer named Colleen Ballinger. Miranda is a stuck up person who can't sing to save her life, can't pronounce anything correctly, wears way too much red lipstick and moves her eyebrows too often. I personally find her videos hilarious, but she's not everyone's cup of tea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCt19sdyJ-E

          The second video is one that my mom found on a friend's blog. It is a terribly painful (but hilarious) cover of "O Holy Night". It starts to get really bad around 1:16. I'm listening to it now as I type and I'm practically crying because it's so bad! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk4woNRD7NQ

          Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Twitter, follow this blog and email me! All my information is in the sidebar. Stay healthy, happy holidays, and have a great Christmas Eve!

Twelve Days of Cooking: Days 7-10

               Hey! I'm so sorry that I haven't posted since Tuesday - on Wednesday I went to a concert, on Thursday I had a ton of homework, and on Friday I got sick. I'm still sick, but I'm feeling good enough to be productive and make a blog post.


               A couple days ago, I tested out my new recipe for root vegetables. My idea was to make a "stack" of sorts. The first layer would be mashed butternut squash, then roasted root vegetable of your choice, then mashed sweet potatoes or potatoes, and then roasted golden beets. However, my experiment kind of failed. I definitely won't be saving this recipe.

              The first thing that made this recipe a failure was the butternut squash. I roasted the beets and other vegetable at the same time as the squash, which meant that the squash had to go on the bottom rack of the oven. Because of this, it didn't get soft enough. I concluded that next time I'd have to make a butternut squash puree, but I didn't have time to roast it more and puree it so I just put the mostly-roasted squash in the fridge. Secondly, the root vegetable of my choice was... interesting. I found this root called a scarlet root at Whole Foods (picture below). It looked pretty and was grown in Washington so I bought it. When I tasted it raw, it tasted exactly like a radish, which worried me. After it was roasted it tasted pretty good, but still had a little bit of that radish-y bite to it. Once I put the veggie stack together, it was just weird. If you see a scarlet root anywhere, don't roast it! It's like a radish and I think it's meant for snacking on raw instead of being paired with beets and squash.



                What I learned from this experience are three valuable lessons. One: don't buy something at the store unless you know what it is. If something intrigues you, ask an employee to tell you about it before you purchase it! Two: If you have a bunch of homework but want to cook something, homework should come first. I had two quizzes to study for and an essay to finish writing when I made this, and I took up a lot of time making this that I could've used to prepare for my quizzes. Three: Always test a recipe before making it for a party, dinner with friends, etc. I was going to make this dish for Christmas Eve dinner for my extended family. If I hadn't tested it before, I would've made something weird that no one would've liked. I'm so glad I tested it.


                Christmas Eve is so soon and I'm so excited! I have to come up with another recipe very soon to make. My mom is making a spiral ham and a vegetarian entree for me and my cousin. I've never liked ham and my cousin won't eat red meat, so we're serving a vegetarian entree, but everyone else will probably want to eat it with their ham, too. I'm pretty sure it's a polenta dish but my mom may have changed her mind.

                Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow this blog, follow me on Twitter and email me! All my information is in the sidebar. I'm hopefully going to post a new video either tomorrow or on Christmas Eve, so check YouTube! Stay healthy and happy holidays!

Twelve Days of Cooking: Day 6

                    Hey! Today is day 6 of the Twelve Days of Cooking. Today's post will be fairly brief because I have a lot of homework and three hours of rehearsal. I barely have time to fit in today's blog post.
               
                    I went to the Food Network website and found the section for healthy holiday recipes. After browsing for a bit, I found a recipe that you can make using a couple local ingredients. This recipe is for Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Pecorino Cheese. None of the other ingredients seem like they could be local, but they actually can be. There are lots of family-owned companies that sell cheese and other dairy products. If you look at the labels of the Pecorino Cheese you buy, I'm sure you can figure out if the company is local or not. Whole Foods, PCC and other natural markets will have a better selection of local cheeses than an ordinary supermarket. No matter which store(s) you have access to, check the labels! Finally, the pasta could potentially be a locally produced item. There are plenty of local companies that produce all things relating to grains. An example of this is Bob's Red Mill, which is located in Oregon (not within a 100 mile radius of where I live, but it's still very close). While Bob's Red Mill doesn't carry pasta yet (if they do I'm not aware), they sell a wide variety of whole grains, flours, flour mixes and more. Even if you can't find any locally grown ingredients for this dish, this recipe is a great because of its health benefits. It's not perfect, but it's much healthier than most holiday foods will be. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/whole-wheat-spaghetti-with-swiss-chard-and-pecorino-cheese-recipe/index.html

                    Over the holidays, I'm going to be staying in the Seattle area and doing fun holiday things. My family is hosting a Christmas Eve gathering for my extended family. I'm also going to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of the Nutcracker and go ice skating with a couple friends. My winter break agenda will hopefully get more exciting as break approaches. I really want to go see a few movies, like Les Miserables and Life of Pi. I'll hopefully get to do some Christmas shopping in the few days before Christmas and wrap lots of presents!

                    Please follow this blog, subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Twitter, email me and comment your thoughts about local food or your holiday plans below! I'd really appreciate it if you share my posts with your family and friends. I want to make an impact on the food system and how teens view food, and you could help me do that by exposing my blog to more people. Stay healthy and happy holidays!

Twelve Days of Cooking: Day 5

               Hey! Today is Day 5 of the Twelve Days of Cooking, and I'm going to share a holiday recipe. For the next couple of days, my posts aren't going to be about the things I've been cooking because I have a really busy week ahead of me. Hopefully the posts will still be worthwhile and fun to read!

               I went to the PCC Natural Markets (a natural/organic grocery store in the Puget Sound area) website and found some good holiday recipes. The one that looked the most appealing to me was a Butternut Squash-Apple Soup. This is an awesome holiday recipe; apples and butternut squash are in season in Washington State during December, it's comfort food and will pair well with just about any traditional holiday recipe you serve along with it. http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/pcc/recipes/butternut-squash-and-apple-soup



(From the PCC website)
 

               I encourage you to go to the websites of Food Network, Whole Foods, PCC, famous chefs, the Cooking Channel and more to find holiday recipes. Every time you find one, think about which ingredients in it could be grown locally and which ones can't.  Like I've said over and over, it's so important - especially in the wintertime - to buy local food and support local farmers/companies! I found a food mile calculator that you can use to figure out just how far your produce travelled. While this calculator only accounts for countries and not individual states and provinces, it gives you a good idea of how far away a lot of the food we eat really is. Bananas, pineapples and tomatoes are among the foods we eat all year round that often (or always) are shipped into the US from Mexico, Central America or South America! http://www.organiclinker.com/food-miles.cfm

              Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow this blog, follow me on Twitter and email me! All my information is in the sidebar. To be a follower of this blog, you need to have any account affiliated with Google: a Google account, a YouTube account, a Google+ account, etc. Being a follower doesn't take anything except clicking a button - Blogger will send you updates via the Blogger interface, but it won't bombard you with emails or do anything to annoy you. By following me, all you're doing is showing that you like my blog and support what I do. Stay healthy and happy holidays!