If you're ever in Tampa....

I was blessed to spend the weekend in Tampa with my family for my Uncle Joe's wedding to my new Auntie Erica! All the fun and excitement called for some healthy eating so I could keep up with everything going on! I researched online prior to leaving my home kitchen to see what options were available in Tampa- Grass Root Organic Restaurant was a winner! I highly recommend this casual healthy restaurant with a wide variety of vegan, raw and living foods on the menu! Check out the website I put as the link to find out more:) http://www.thegrassrootlife.com/ I have to get back to working on lesson plans so I will love to add more details later!

Dessert

Dessert was Raw Pecan Pie:)

Wow! The Raw Onion Bread Made this- oh, and of course the avocado:)

Mm..m..m! This is my meal at Grass Roots Organic Cafe in Tampa this weekend. The wrap is raw onion bread- sooo incredible, hummus, avocado, and lots of romaine! The bread was chewy and so the amount of lettuce was perfect to balance the textures together! I also had a shot of wheat grass and alkaline water- dessert picture to come next. This meal had me going all day into late night. I was down in Tampa this weekend for my Uncle Joe's wedding! More pics to come!

This Birthday Cake was created by a very dear and true friend, Phoebe, and it is absolutely spectacular. Not only is the cake a fun artistic creation the LOVE put into it was pouring out of it- which I found to be a bit difficult to catch on camera:) Phoebe created this for her daughters one year old birthday party which had a Luau theme- SO FUN AND SWEET! I LOVE that she made the cake at home and the family participated in seeing the process of it! Phoebe is such a beautiful MOTHER and if you know her you will know that she is filled with lovingkindness. Lainey- the birthday girl- is truly blessed with two loving devoted parents.

The party also included tissue paper/pipe cleaner flowers, and a centerpiece that was so great and I am kicking myself for not getting a pic of it- it was paper towel rolls transformed into palm trees using jute and leaves wrapped in burlap- just ADORABLE and made out of recycled materials. Which makes me so happy! She even had a list she made up of all the guests Hawaiian names- mine is Alekoka.  The party was delightful I chowed down on the MANGO SALSA!!!! and the fruit! and the veggie kabobs!  And I some cake- it was absolutely delicious- you could taste the love.

Next time I need to make a cake I will be calling Phoebe for sure:)

We don't just grow sprouts and herbs; all of this is grown on a rooftop garden in the CITY.

Home Garden

A few of the things we grow at home are sprouts- pictured here you will see sweet pea, and a variety of peppers, here I have both sweet (Bell) and cayenne. These cayenne are drying- they are great for using dried or fresh. You may notice that my green pepper looks small compared to some you may see in the grocery store- these are grown without any chemicals- yes they are smaller but believe me we have PLENTY of peppers- super easy to grow and essential for optimum health.

TRUTH

I met my brand new god daughter, Elaina Ruth, This Thursday and Friday! I was also blessed to have spent quality time with my family:) and will be continuing to do so tomorrow at the reunion/downtown fireworks party. This coming week is teaching, the NFL grant tryout/celebration we will be doing at school, and the Walnut Hills Festival I will be participating in.

So you may be wondering where all this is going and how it relates to this blog- well it is to say that I AM BUSY!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are all busy and sometimes even allow this to be an excuse for not living LIFE to the fullest. It takes true CONSCIOUSNESS to live life to the fullest. So much death and corruption is out there in our faces day in and day out. We are oppressed by this money driven American Dream. Have you ever contemplated that? There are moments when I am so OVER it all. I strive to be good at what I am passionate about, I love my career, but I can barely get by with all the bills and taxes and insurance and gas and high price of foods and fees and deadlines- you know what I'm talking about. I soon remind myself that there is ONE thing I can have control over in this world and that is this TEMPLE, this MIND, this BODY, and loving this SPIRIT. When I have those stressful moments HE keeps me strong in faith and thankful for being full of LIFE. He created the fruits and the herbs and the leaves and the trees and the oxygen and so much more and he LIVES in each and every one of us. HE keeps us alive. So why would I want to put death in my body or drink to oblivion. You know at times I wish that it had not taken me so long to appreciLOVE LIFE. (APPRECILOVE not appreciate, LOVE not HATE)

I am very concerned about those that I LOVE and wish to say to them PLEASE make the DECISION to live LIFE Consciously! Take good care of your TEMPLE. And if you have a bad day or a weak moment- do not give up just keep on keepin on and GIVE THANKS for the relationship with NATURE. KNOW have an OVERSTANDING (not understanding, there is a difference)of where your foods come from. Plant a seed- grow some sprouts to start- its easy and ready to eat in 3 days.

SEEK KNOWLEDGE!!! Stretch your mind- OPEN YOUR HEART to let the truth in. Think outside of the box they try to place you in with all their questionnaires are you married? whats your race? how much do you make? Sometimes when I get to some of these questions and demands from people that don't even know me I feel like saying- It's none of your business! I remind myself that I am a child of God/Jah/Yahweh - THESE all mean the same but so many are frightened by the terms because our history has been hidden from them for so long.

Colleges, Universities and Schools are usually positive atmospheres, learning should be encouraged there and I hope it is and I hope the teaching is the TRUTH, THE FACTS. But sometimes it is not positive, it is not the TRUTH- what can we do- we can LEARN that we cannot always depend on another man to teach us the way- we need to SEEK THE TRUTH AND LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY to really know the truth. CONSCIOUS!

Take a good look at the TRUTH, please do not be fooled by someone with a piece of paper, a badge, a microphone, a video camera; have a true knowledge of self and JAH and take yourself out of the equation and take an OVERSTANDING look at the big picture of this LIFE. Seek lovingkindness and HEALTH. PRAYER WILL GET YOU THERE.

So I have gone along with all their rules and gotten my pieces of paper and plastic and keep up with all their requirements- but I WILL ALWAYS KNOW IN MY HEART THAT ONLY HE DESERVES to be PRAISED. MONEY/WEALTH, FAME, ACCEPTANCE FROM SOCIETY will NEVER come BEFORE HIM. GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE!