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आकर्षक व्यक्तित्व – कुछ टिप्स क्लिक करिए और सुनिए 2 मिनट 13 सैकिंड का  audio आकर्षक व्यक्तित्व – कुछ टिप्स How to become more beautiful. Motivational  thoughts. अकसर हम  अपने व्यक्तित्व  को आकर्षक बनाना चाहते हैं पर tips नही पता कि   how to make our Personality attractive… अगर आप भी जानना चाहतें हैं तो जरुर […]

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So this #summeroffitness is off to a good start — and I’m tired! My goals this summer? Get healthy. Lose weight. Get in shape. Within those goals are smaller goals to help me focus on success, so I don’t get discouraged. Here are a few: 1. Work up to swimming a mile, 3 times a … Keep reading →

I threw this together the other night when I needed something pretty quick and had to use what I had on hand. It was a perfect easy supper.

It’s inspired by Rachael Ray’s Calabacitas Casserole, which is yummy but more involved, with no beans. I once had it at my sister-in-law’s house, and was immediately sold.

My casserole is based on three main ingredients: black beans, salsa, and pre-cooked polenta. Anything else is icing on the cake.

Quick Black Bean and Polenta Casserole

Measurements are approximated. What you want is enough salsa to give the beans plenty of flavor.

2-3 cups canned or pre-cooked black beans, drained (I used up leftovers I had cooked the day before)

1/2 to 1 jar chunky salsa (I used Herdez salsa, which was great, but would’ve been better semi-drained. I think semi-drained Ro-tel would also be excellent, and maybe even Mexican-style stewed tomatoes)

1 tube prepared polenta, sliced into 1/3 inch rounds (you could also cook your own, then chill and slice)

Olive oil

Optional add-ins: diced scallions, cilantro, chopped veggies, spinach, cheese

Preheat oven to 375 F. I made a smaller version of this (since it was just for me) and cooked it in the toaster oven.

Place the beans in an oiled casserole dish (maybe 8 x 8), and add enough salsa to suit your taste. You want a little less salsa than beans, but enough salsa to add lots of flavor. Lay the polenta rounds on top and brush them with a little olive oil.

Bake for 35 minutes or so at 375 F, then add, if you feel like it, a handful of spinach and chopped scallions, and turn up the heat to 400 F. When the spinach is wilted, the polenta is getting crispy, and the beans are bubbling, it’s done.

The polenta adds structure and has such a great creamy/ crispy texture that I really didn’t miss having cheese. This one will definitely go on my repeat list. I think I’ll add more spinach next time and maybe cilantro. Hmmm…what about sweet potato?

For more of my recipes and recipe trials, click here.

You have less than a day left to join the giveaway for a gorgeous Dawn Hanna print. Details here. All you have to do is comment about which print is your favorite—-you won’t be added to a mailing list. Just enjoy!

1. National Framework for Sustainable Schools

The government would like all schools to be sustainable by 2020, and has produced guidance within an eight-doorway framework. SSS adheres to two of these doorways in particular; food and drink, and purchasing and waste. Schools can be sustainable through being model suppliers of healthy, sustainable food and drink; showing strong commitments to the environment; and maximising their use of local suppliers. SSS achieves this through increasing children’s awareness of where food comes from, food chains, and the processes used in growing, harvesting and food preparation.

SSS connects to the purchasing and waste doorway by carefully sourcing goods and services of high environmental and ethical standards that have been obtained from local sources where practicable. All of SSS’s materials for each book and accompanying pack compliment these principles.

2. Healthy Schools

In ten years the National Healthy Schools programme has become one of the country’s most widely embraced initiatives in schools. Schools need to satisfy criteria in the four core themes within the programme: Healthy eating, physical activity, PSHE, and emotional health and well-being.

SSS promotes inclusion through bringing together cross-curricular learning through an interactive approach. Children initially engage in a written and visual text, and have close links to ICT through the website extras. Connecting the imaginative seed-based characters with further learning opportunities brings an extra ‘real and meaningful’ experience to learning, and allows for children’s individual learning styles.
Activities such as growing seeds, or making recipes supports all areas of Healthy Schools and promotes positive emotional health and wellbeing so children can understand and express their feelings, build their confidence and emotional resilience, and therefore their capacity to learn.

3. Every Child Matters Agenda

Every Child Matters: Change for Children is a comprehensive approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19. The five outcomes for children and young people are: Be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve through learning, make a positive contribution to society, and achieve economic well-being.

SSS encourages children to work together in more integrated and effective ways through growing, harvesting and cookery based activities that link with the central imaginative narratives of the stories. Children are learning and reflecting on their environment through a variety of creative and exciting cross-curricular links, and our fulfilling of outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda.

4. Growing Schools Initiative

Growing schools promotes learning outside the classroom and has been founded in response to the government’s needs for children to have the chance to learn in new, more relevant and exciting ways. By having direct experiences of growing within the natural environment, this has been shown to be particularly effective in benefiting those who find classroom learning difficult.

SSS connects directly with this principle through developing children’s understanding of where food comes from and the role of farmers and growers, the interdependence of the urban and rural environments, and how and why we should care for the natural world.

5. Learning outside the classroom

Learning

Its been so looong, but lost of things have been happening, good things. But now things are back to normal, almost normal. This is my latest illustration for They Draw & Cook, for the cooking 4 kids contest. Hope you enjoy it and you should really try this one, its delicious.

Ha pasado mucho tiempo, pero muchas cosas han estado pasando, cosas buenas. Pero ahora las cosas están un poquito mas normales. Esta es mi última ilustración para They Draw & Cook para el concurso de cocinando para niños. Ojalá les guste y deberían intentar esta, es deliciosa.

On Monday night, I came across a recipe for bran muffins that I had been staring at for the past few years. As I sat there, blinking at the sample picture of these gorgeous, plump muffins, I wondered, “Why didn’t I ever make these?” Perhaps it’s because my mother has an aversion to muffins (she thinks they’re the butch version of cupcakes) or because my brothers tend to dislike anything with the word “bran” in them, I’ve successfully avoided them for the past couple of years. I had never tasted a bran muffin before in my life.

So I decided to bake them. I ran out, purchased this toaster oven bake set that fit perfectly into my new Breville oven and returned home, excited to flour up the kitchen island. I substituted several ingredients in the recipe. In lieu of vegetable oil, I used applesauce (which was undetectable in the finished product); swapped buttermilk for almond milk plus 1 T of lemon; and used 1/3 c of raw sugar and 1/3 c of stevia in place of the 2/3 c of brown sugar.

Even without the oil and buttermilk, the muffins were moist, delicious and nutty. The cranberries added a nice tangy splash to the subtly sweet, woodsy texture and the muffins formed perfectly in the toaster oven. When the muffins were cooled, I cut one into fourths, and fed a piece to my brother.

“It’s oil free,” I explained. He opened his mouth hesitantly, with an “I’m-preparing-for-the-worst” look on his face. However, he soon  brightened up and exclaimed in surprise, “It’s good!”

He ate a whole one later that night.

Smeared with nut butter or just plain butter, these muffins make a healthful breakfast-on-the-go or dessert.

Healthful Bran Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
• 1 cup almond milk + 1 T lemon juice
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup stevia; 1/3 cup raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Mix together wheat bran and almond milk + 1 T lemon juice; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to milk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into milk mixture, until just blended. Fold in dried cranberries and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!