Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Fresh Herbs For Our Favorite Italian Dish


www.getgennaros.com
Spaghetti has been an all time favorite dish. Young and old alike love this Italian dish. It is oftentimes prepared during special occasions such as birthdays and christening. It is not only delicious it is also good for our health. However, to those who want to lose weight, this dish should be avoided. According to carlorieking(dot)com, a regular spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce contains 970 calories. But to those who do not care much about their weight, eating spaghetti will definitely appease your hunger. 


Each and every family has their own spaghetti recipe. Each spaghetti recipe has its own twist. Each recipe is delicious in its own way. But for me, my brothers cooking is the best. Unfortunately I never learned how to prepare this. All I know is that whenever my brother cooks this dish, he makes sure that all the ingredients are fresh especially the herbs and spices. It helps that we have several herb window boxes and a green wall full of herbs to provide fresh herbs for his cooking. The herbs harvested from the window boxes and green walls are all free from inorganic substances since we are only using worm castings and other worm fertilizers. Even our neighbors buy fresh herbs from us because aside from they are free from organic fertilizers, they are also healthy and free from chemical smell.


I never learned how to cook spaghetti or any other dishes at all. My brother taught me plenty of times how to cook his very own recipe but I never learned. It is unfortunate that I have to wait for him for several months before I could taste his very own spaghetti recipe again. The only thing that I could do while I wait for his next vacation is make sure that the herbs he uses for his recipe are healthy all the time. I also started planting tomatoes and other vegetables in case he has a new recipe in mind.



Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The Health Wonders Of Nasturtiums And Pansy


http://www.hooksandlattice.com/herbwindowbox.html
http://www.hooksandlattice.com

Plants have been the favorite ornament and gift since the time of Adam and Eve. Our forefathers would use these plants to adorn their body as well as their homes. They do not only promote clean air. They are also use to reduce carbon dioxide which is bad for our health. They  have a cooling effect to our environment as well. They are a great stress reliever and they inspire creativity. Most importantly, they promote healing and happiness which explains why we give plants when someone we love is sick.

www.almanac.com

Plants are not only use as an ornament. Flowering plants such as pansy and nasturtiums are also use as food and medicine. The Nasturtiums for example, is a great source of Vitamin C. The leaves are known as a natural antibiotic which helps cure sore throat, bladder problems, colds, flu and even bronchitis. Its leaves and flowers are also use to cure scurvy, a disease cause by the deficiency of Vitamin C and blood disorder. Pansies on the other hand, are known to treat epilepsy. Just like nasturtiums, it is also also use to treat bladder and respiratory problems. In addition, pansy is use to prevent high blood pressure. It also prevents heart attacks if consumed regularly. 


growingwithsuttons.diy.com

These great benefits of beautiful plants explain why my mom, encourages us not only to eat nasturtiums and pansy but also to plant them. Her garden is full of these colorful and edible plants. She also has several seed starting kits which she loves to give away as a gift. The seed starting kits of these wonder plants are quite easy to grow. Even my nieces and nephews have started their own garden from these seed starting kits. I have also started my green wall because of these seed starting kits.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

My First Living Wall


http://www.hooksandlattice.com/diy-living-walls.html

Gardening has been a passion and a hobby for many. It is also a great stress reliever. However, I have never truly appreciated gardening until recently. It is known among my family and friends that I have not kept a single plant alive before. It was quite frustrating for I really wanted to have my own garden just like my siblings. For sometime I stopped trying and instead pretended to grow "plants" in the form of faux plants or artificial plants. The artificial plants look real enough but they know better. Anyhow, the artificial plants were a perfect substitute for the real ones. They are maintenance free as they do not need watering and most importantly they do not wither. All they need is dusting and they are all fine.

http://www.hooksandlattice.com/diy-living-walls.html

However, there is nothing more gratifying than growing your own garden. Watching them grow day by day is somewhat fulfilling. Most of the fruits and vegetables served on our table came from the garden in our yard. Unlike me, my parents and siblings have no trouble growing any plant. I am grateful that they never stopped encouraging me to grow my own garden. They provided me with Herb Kits & Seed Starting Kits which were hard to grow at first. I lost count of the number of Herb Kits & Seed Starting Kits which all withered in my hands. This was before I found the DIY living wall kit.

http://www.hooksandlattice.com/diy-living-walls.html

The Herb Kits & Seed Starting Kits and living wall kit have greatly helped me start my own garden. The DIY living wall kit has ten planting cells, a watering tank and a moisture mat which made it easy for me to grow my own garden. For sometime, I had some doubts that those herbs I planted would not last a month. However, as I watched them thrive on my wall everyday, I have been hopeful that all these plants will be fine. I was right. Now, my mom, has been using those herbs I planted from the living wall kit to cook our favorite dishes. It seems that I have done something right, finally.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Garden Salad For Your Palate



Staying physically fit and healthy is perhaps easy to some people. It takes a lot of discipline and hard work to achieve such a great and healthy body. According to health buffs, all we need is to exercise regularly. Exercise does wonders to our body. Regular exercise helps in our blood circulation. It also makes us strong and most especially, it give us a beautiful and well toned body. But healthy living is not all about exercise alone. We also need to eat the right kind of food. 



Maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes a herculean effort. I have no problems going to the gym. But controlling what I eat is quite a huge problem for me. I love to eat. But my definition of food does not include vegetables. My mom and I always have a fight when I was little because I do not to eat vegetables. It is either I don't eat my favorite dishes which do not include vegetables or I don't eat at all. I may sound like a brat but I am not the only person who does not like vegetables. I thought I can get away from these scary vegetables forever. But I know I greatly need these as a preventive measure against stroke and heart attack. 

http://www.hooksandlattice.com/edible-flowers-pansy.html

Thankfully, my mom was easy on me. She prepared a great garden salad for starters. The garden salad is quite a beauty because of the edible flowers in it. But the only flower I can recognize is the pansy. It explains why mom has a collection of Edible Flower Kit - Pansy in her kitchen. It also explains why she had a huge garden of pansy in the backyard. It is either the pansy and the other edible flowers or the tasty salad dressing but I love the garden salad. For starters, it is one of the best tasting salad I ever tasted. Mom, was pleased that finally, I ate her garden salad without a fight. She even gave me two Edible Flower Kit - Pansy so I could have my own pansy garden at home. This is a good start for a healthy lifestyle and I wish I could keep it up.