Picture Day #3 - Hanging Around Munich

Hello everyone,

I will only do a short interlude before I launch the pictures I have to share. After my last post, I took a look at my financial situation and realized I didn't have enough to go to Salzburg. Instead I decided to take a look at the famous, or possibly infamous, Englischer Gartens here in Munich. The "English Gardens" have been compared to Central Park in New York City and other similar parks in large cities. It was beautiful and I walked about five miles total while I was there. The English Gardens extend almost into Marienplatz, and I got to see some really neat architecture that's kind of on the "other side" that I hadn't seen yet. Because going into Salzburg is surprisingly cheap (I just didn't have enough at the time) I will be going there, probably sometime within the next two weeks or so.

We have had absolutely delightful weather here until yesterday and today, mid-60's and brilliantly sunny. I walked probably a little less than 20 miles within this past week, and it made me feel fantastic. My host mother's parents are here for the next few days and only speak Hungarian and German. Since my host parents were gone last night, I had to work out my schedule with the grandparents... completely in German! I was really thrilled that I was able to communicate, not only effectively, but also able to comprehend and work with them. They are super nice people and I hope that they visit again. We (the grandparents, the little boy, and myself) went for a walk the other day and actually made our way through a cemetery which was beautiful. An interesting thing about this cemetery was that when the plants/flowers have died on the grave-site, the plastic pots and dead plants are put into designated areas with signs that say anyone can help themselves. Kind of neat, but odd at the same time because I did grab some plastic plant pots for my poor pumpkin plants (I love alliteration, don't you?) which are starting to desperately outgrow their little pots.

Athens, Greece is literally around the corner, my trip beginning on the 4th of April. I'm beginning to prepare myself by writing down public transportation routes and I also learned today that they do use the Euro, so I'm happy about that. I will most likely create a post before I leave, and then dedicate a post to my trip.

And, once again, I did not take a picture of my recent recipe: Tomato, Mozzarella, and Pesto Mini-Pizza. I have included my previous dish, plus a new lunch/snack recipe below.

Enjoy the pictures!

Here is a map of the southern part of the English Gardens. Not real easy to read actually, and I'm not talking about the German.

This is the Chinesischer Turm, which I thought translated to "Chinese Turm" and I figured "Turm" was just what they called this structure. After looking it up, "Turm" means "tower" in English. I took a train, then a bus right to this tower here, then began to walk around. By the way, there was a full band playing on the first floor of the tower around lunch time.

The entire park is beautiful, but what really makes it is the surprising ability to combine culture with nature. There were people feeding the ducks, and believe me they will eat anything.

This plaque designated the gardens to the first King Ludwig of Bavaria.

On my way back around (I wanted to see the northern part of the gardens as well) I saw the most people I've ever seen in a park at one time for lunch. When I got there, it was about 10:30am or so, but when I cam back around it was sometime between one and two. Bands playing, horses, food, beer... so much to take in. (Note: there was actually an organic food stand in the northern part of the gardens where I bought a pretzel! Now I can feel authentic too!)

I saw this monument as I was trying to find the Japanese Tea House (not open until April so no pictures yet). So of course I had to see why it was there...

... and it turns out it is another dedication to Ludwig I.

This is the view from the top. Marienplatz is just over the trees where the buildings all are.

This waterfall is so nice, it's even on the map of the gardens!

This is what I refer to as: "the square section of the gardens," but it's actually called Hofgarten. It was really neat; the bushes were all in box shape with various plants and things in the middle of each, and as you can see there are quite a few people who like to walk around here. Even as it was beginning to rain!

The architecture is really beautiful. This is part of the Hofgarten and it is the Bavarian Staatskanzlei or "State Chancellery."

This is St. Cajetan's Church on Residenzstrasse at the very end of the English Gardens.

There are two lions, one on each side of the entry way to the Residenz, which is the former palace for Bavarian Kings. The Residenz is open to the public as a museum, but unfortunately I didn't have any money... kind of the reason I stayed in Munich in the first place! I'll have to go back. But anyway, I overheard a tour guide state that the reason why the part of the shield is gold as though it hasn't had the time to age is because the legend is if you rub the nose, it brings you luck. Well, me being the closet anthropologist that I am, immediately watched as people walked by the statues. It was very subtle, but as people walked by, they would simply touch the nose and keep going. Almost as if instinctual. Very interesting.

We went to feed the goats and this little guy was walking on his elbows. Very cute.

We also walked up to some horses. I think I'm going to try to go horseback riding while I'm here.

My all-black dish. Recipe on last post.

Using plain yogurt really does taste like sour cream, and it's healthier too. This dish may not look super delicious, but it is.

And now... Holly's Super Cinnamon Peanut Butter Apples!

Easy to make, delicious, completely healthy, and filling, this snack/lunch will make your day!

Ingredients:

Two Tablespoons of Organic Smooth Peanut Butter* (you can use crunchy, but for this it makes more sense for smooth)

One Teaspoon of Organic Liquid (non-hard) Honey

1/4 Teaspoon Organic Cinnamon (or to taste)

One Large Organic Apple, Cut into Slices

*Note: The ingredients on your peanut butter should read: "peanuts" unless you prefer salted peanut butter then it should read "peanuts, salt." Peanuts already have a ton of oil in them, so adding more isn't necessary, even if it is organic.

Supplies:

Knife*

Small Bowl or Dish

Plate

Spoon(s)

*Note: Please use adult supervision, as always.

Nutrition Information:

About 340 calories per serving

Monounsaturated fats (the good kind your heart needs), vitamin E, niacin, folate, protein,  manganese, antioxidants, fiber, and lower risk of cancer from peanut butter

Fiber (lots), vitamin C, antioxidants, blood sugar regulation, cancer protection, and much more from apple

Digestive properties, vitamin B6, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, amino acids, antioxidants, enzymes, protein (believe it or not), and more from honey

LDL cholesterol lowering properties, antifungal properties, blood sugar lowering properties, relief from arthritis pain, helps with migraines, manganese, fiber, and calcium from cinnamon

Gluten free

Dairy free

(All of the above nutrition facts combined makes one seriously healthy snack!)

Directions:

Mix peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon together in a small bowl.

Slice a large apple and place on a plate.

Dip the apple slices into the peanut butter.

Eat!

For more of a "meal" feel, try spreading cinnamon peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat toast (organic, of course), place the apple slices on another piece of whole wheat toast, and make it a sandwich! Think cinnamon sugar toast gone wild (with health properties)!

Sources:

www.whfoods.org

nutritiondata.self.com

www.benefits-of-honey.com

www.livestrong.com

www.organicauthority.com

Recent picture of plants. It's getting to be a little crazy as you can see. And the black pots are the ones I got from the cemetery... I still find that odd. I will be replanting the pumpkin plants as soon as the weather improves again!

Life's Lessons: Never Lick a Knife Clean... Even When It Has Peanut Butter On It

Coloring eggs. A past-time shared the world over (I saw my host mother bought egg dye, so even here in Germany!) it creates beautiful works of art... until consumed or thrown out. Now, there are some beautiful, and I mean beautiful, works of art created on chicken eggs, for example Pysanky eggs made in Ukraine, and even at home with petroleum based food dyes (yes, I know, organic over here) and glitter. For the record, you can make your own all-natural egg dyes, which I think has a much nicer, less fake, look to them. However I really like the idea of making eggs that will last a very long time, or forever as the case may be. There are several options to create a long-lasting egg. You can blow out your own egg, which I think is nice but a little time consuming. Plus if you want to make a dozen eggs, you have to find something to do with all of the yolks and whites afterwards, and then you have to plug up the holes you made. There are also many plastic, Styrofoam (not even worth mentioning), and wooden eggs that you can decorate, but plastic isn't very easy to decorate and wood has a similar issue, unless you are an expert wood-burner or have the proper wood paint. I discovered a cotton-based craft egg which I thought was a brilliant idea, and proceeded to buy eight of them at 50 cents a piece. I purchased a few more decorating goodies, and tested out my first egg when I got home. About a half hour later, gorgeousness was born. I got all the kids to make one, and I have shared my masterpieces below with directions.

All the supplies you'll need for the craft, except for maybe a piece of newspaper for clean-up.

Non-Edible Decorated Easter Eggs

Supplies:

Cotton Based Egg(s)

Small Paint Brush

Varnish Glue (Modge Podge will work)

Thin Paper (I used brightly colored origami paper, but you can also use pretty much anything that isn't crepe paper, tissue paper, poster paper, or construction paper. You can try, but I'm not sure it will have the same effect.)

Instructions:

1. Choose your colors. I wouldn't pick any more than three.

2. Take your base color, or whichever color you'd like to use first if you're doing a two-toned/speckled egg, and rip the paper (not cut) into irregular shapes only slightly bigger than the eraser of a pencil.

3. Take your egg, and starting at the top, brush a small, medium thickness amount of glue. Take a piece of your ripped up paper (I found it easiest to dab a piece with my glue brush to pick it up) put it on the area of the egg where you brushed glue, and brush additional glue over it.

4. Continue the process by brushing more glue over the egg and overlapping paper pieces in a mosaic-esque format until your egg is the way you'd like it to look. Be sure to brush glue over the pieces as well.

5. Allow to dry thoroughly. You may think that the egg will look funny because of the glue, but just let it dry.

6. Once dry, you can cut out shapes or designs out of more paper and glue/varnish them onto the egg for more decoration.

7. Admire!

These are my finished eggs. I have one more egg that I'm thinking about making.

Continuing on the topic of crafts, today I have decided to try a new craft I discovered online. (If you guys aren't familiar with Stumble Upon, you should check it out. It's not a site on crafts, actually, it's a site on... well, everything.) This craft is very simple: take broken pieces of crayon, unwrap them, glue them on the top of a piece of poster board or cardboard, take a hairdryer and blow onto the crayons and watch what happens! I got the littlest girl to help me with the gluing of the pieces. I honestly did not know if this was going to work, but the two youngest were amazed! (And me too, I'll admit.) I'm definitely going to try this again, but with a little more form and a lot more crayons.

Art. I have a few ideas for making this look even cooler, so I'll keep everyone updated.

Everyone knows I love crafts and, of course, food. Being organic and trying to eat a naturally sustainable meal, I got the idea for my most recent dish, believe it or not, from Bill Nye the Science Guy. I really love the show and I've decided to watch all five seasons in its entirety online. Anyway, in his "nutrition" episode he spoke about people who have eaten rice and beans together for centuries because of it's complimentary proteins equaling complete proteins. (For those who are not into science, a piece of meat would contain proteins that are complete for nutrition in your body. Rice and beans both contain proteins. Separately they are not enough to sustain your body but together they form a complete protein. So rice and beans are complementary proteins creating a complete protein for your body. This is how vegetarians are able to receive their needed amount of proteins.) So this being said, and probably needing the protein, I combined my favorite rice (black) and favorite beans (also black) to make a bean and rice dish, which was, you guessed it, all black! I prepared the rice in chicken broth instead of water, soaked the black beans overnight then boiled them until mostly soft (I got impatient), added some cumin, chili powder, and rosemary (with salt and pepper, of course), then took an immersion blender and made it pasty. Rice on the bottom, beans on the top, and a dollop of plain yogurt (instead of sour cream, it really does taste the same!) and I had an absolutely delicious meal... enough to last me a week or more! I don't have a picture of it for this post because I had left my camera up in my room, but will take one for the next post. I do, however, have pictures of the vegetarian Reuben I made. I made it an open-faced sandwich, so the rye bread is on the bottom. I have decided for my next dish I will be making pita pizzas! Those should be delicious. By the way, for those wondering about the title of this blog post, as a healthy snack today I was eating an apple with peanut butter... or rather the other way around. I got a little carried away with the peanut butter.

Reuben, with the sauce unmixed on the side.

Reuben, plus addition of the sauce. I will be making this again I'm sure.

Spring is finally here, so playing outside is a must for this family. I'm learning that the children vary on their enjoyment of the outdoors. The oldest seems to enjoy it quite a bit, the middle child, the boy, can go with or without it (doesn't really mind either way), and the youngest would rather stay inside, but if she is told to do so and is in a pretty okay mood, she'll do it, if not, it's a struggle until she really gets into being outside. I enjoy playing with the children (and their friends, whenever they are around) outside, but the outdoors for me has always been an experience beyond experience. I love to watch the birds, I love feeding the birds, I like to stare at the sky, I like to climb things, I love swimming, I love walking around aimlessly, I like to stare at the worms after a rainstorm, I like to stick blades of grass onto spiderwebs, I like getting lost, picnics are fun (combination food, creativity [organizing everything], and outdoors!), flying kites make me feel good... but for a small backyard, many of these things aren't possible. The host mother seems not so enthusiastic about me taking the children around to explore (I really don't know why), so I get to stare at the children and make sure they don't fall off of the swing-set. And the little boy tries to push me into the grass when I'm supposed to stay on the sidewalk. Occasionally we'll go to the park but the toys of choice are Frisbee and ball with tail. Basically a larger backyard. I'd like to teach the kids kickball or another equally American sport (Kan Jam!), but I would also like for the children to enjoy it. So the next project for myself is figure out an outdoor activity they'll love, but I'll enjoy too.

Lastly, the subject of vacationing. I think I may go to Salzburg, Austria tomorrow and spend the day. For those of you who don't know, Salzburg is where "The Sound of Music" was filmed and where Mozart was born. It's a beautiful looking city, and I may spend the day there tomorrow to get some authentic Austrian experience. Plus it's only an hour and a half away. Also, I am actively trying to plan my Paris vacation, which isn't going so well due to prices and timing. I'm working on it though. And, of course, Athens is just around the corner.

Below I have included two pictures: one of my current plant situation, and the other of the first true German butterfly I saw on my way home from school on Wednesday.

Enjoy!

My plants are really growing... but I lost another bean plant. Hopefully the last three will be fine.

I'm not sure what kind of butterfly it is, but it's beautiful. Happy Spring!

I wish I could wake up every day and see mountains again...

It has been quite the strange week here, and I apologize for not writing a blog post sooner. Writing a blog post for me, by the way, takes on average about three hours. Blocking out three hours of time where I'm not working or exhausted or needing a break is hard!

But I was able to have from noon on off yesterday, so I decided, because the weather was so nice, that I was going to do something fun. I was determined to see mountains. And real mountains. Not the Appalachian kind. So I jumped two trains, total of two hours, and landed in the middle, literally, of the Bavarian Alps. It was an experience I have been waiting to have since I was in Jackson Hole, WY where I was waking up everyday to an extension of the Teton Mountains. (You know how some people want to get lost in the woods? I want to get lost in the mountains.) I really wanted to hike an Alp, but I didn't want to be out too late, and these mountains were a bit too tall. In fact, I saw the tallest mountain in Germany: the Zugspitze, measuring in at 2,962 meters (9717.847 ft)! I had the option of taking a trip up, but it was 24 Euros, more than the round trip ticket was to get there and back from Munich! The surrounding towns: Garmisch, Partenkirchen, and Grainau were absolutely gorgeous with so much to see and do. There were so many little stores and restaurants, it would take me a very long time to explore them all. I got to go for a nice walk around, spent maybe three hours or so there. This may not seem like a very long time, but unfortunately, it is only March still, and the sun has a thing with setting on the early side, and with a setting sun comes cooler weather. I will be going back, don't you worry. I still plan on hiking an Alp. Also, included with the pictures below I have provided a map (courtesy, obviously, of Google Maps) showing you where I was in respect to Munich, and then where I was in respect to Austria (the Austrian border is literally at the top of the mountains). I want to visit Salzburg!

Alps from Garmisch.

Walking a little closer to Alps...

Welcome sign...

There it is: the Zugspitze!

Went for nice walk around. Lots of farm-like land.

Found this waterfall run-off during my walk.

This was my view from the train station before I went back home. So beautiful.

Okay so "A" is Zugspitze, Munich is clearly labeled, and the red line that I marked is the border of Austria. Cool, huh?

Let's talk about time change, shall we? Many of you, I say many because not all areas in the U.S. and the world practice the time change, experienced "spring forward" and lost an hour of sleep. Well, I found out this week that Europe does do the time change as well... two weeks or so after the U.S..  The States have their time change the second Sunday in March, and in most European countries, the last Sunday in March. There is not necessarily a reason for this, it just is. Now, there are three "countries" in Europe that do not practice Daylight Savings Time, and those countries are Belarus, Iceland, and Russia. Iceland does not do this because of their location on the Earth, and with the amount of hours of actual sunlight they get the time change would mean very little (the idea is similar to northern Alaska getting 20+ hours of sunlight in the summer). Belarus and Russia underwent their final time change last spring (spring 2011), and have decided not to continue with the process. Now I said "countries" in quotations because there has been quite the debate over whether Russia is an Asian or European country. If you look at Russia on a map, it clearly looks as though it belongs to Asia. However, anthropologically speaking, the physical features and culture of that of Russia compares more to that of a European country, not to mention Russia seems to define itself with Europe more. So which is it? Winston Churchill said, “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. But perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” Russians themselves are trying to decipher their future, as told by Russia, Beyond the Headlines. So there's a bit of fascinating history for you today!

Moving on, Paris is still on my list of things to do. The hotel that I cancelled with in Athens did refund my money, and therefore I will hopefully have enough for either the hotel or the trip there, and with the money I make here I can cover the other side. The host mother gave me the days in late May that I can take off, and because Paris is a bit on the expensive side, I am hoping that I can travel to Venice during this time as well! It is a lot of fun for me to live my dream of traveling, and more so now after being in the Alps. Experience is something that American culture has really downplayed because everyone is so focused on "who they are" and "right now." I see this oftentimes with American celebrities. They do a charitable event in Africa, talk about it for a small magazine page or a ten minute news interview, people say, "oh how very nice," then wonder what movie they'll do next. It's a very sad, but unfortunately a very true aspect of our culture. I am a firm believer of charitable work, having done a lot of it myself. When I was younger, I really thought that charitable work was stupid because you don't physically get anything out of it. But you do and it's more than just something to put on your resume. It's something that opens your eyes and lets you know that someone really does have it worse than you, and you're making a difference even if you help one person. Or animal, as the case may be. I would like to, while I'm here, to see if there is an animal shelter that will let me adopt a dog for a day so that the children can have fun playing fetch and running around and all the fun things that children like to do with animals. My host family tells me they'd really like to have a dog, but they say they don't know who will take care of it during their vacations, which are numerous. (The children tell me I can take care of it while they're gone. I was half flattered because I think it was partially a way of telling me they'd like me to stay around for a while, but I was half offended because I'm not exactly here to do that.)

Back to food. I did end up making the vegetarian Reubens and they are delicious! I have one more serving left, then tomorrow I will be making a black beans and black rice dish that I am very much looking forward to. Yesterday I made "Oatmeal Energy Bars" which are delicious, but I forgot to add the peanut butter which would have made them a little more moist. (After tasting them though, I'm glad I didn't add the peanut butter. It would have made the flavor a little funny. Cashew or macadamia butter would have been better.) I don't have a picture for the Reubens, but I have a picture for the bars, shown below. I love to cook!

Yum! The recipe was so easy too: basically, 3 cups oats (you can use gluten-free), 1 cup milk (you can use dairy free), 1 egg (you can substitute ground flax seed), 1/2 cup coconut flakes, 1/2 cup pureed dates, 1/2 cup nut butter, 1/2 cup (or less) agave syrup, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix all together until cookie dough like consistency, then press into very lightly oiled square glass baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celcius) for 25-30 minutes. Very healthy for you, too!

As I said before, it has been a very strange week for me. First I found a few swollen lymph nodes on my person which made me nervous (they are gone now), I discovered that the bicycle that is reserved for au pair usage is broken and not worth repair, the cleaning lady had off on Monday which effectively meant I cleaned for her, the host mother told me that I need to take better care of my bathroom (note: my bathroom was clean. I had no idea that the little drain thing in the tub could be unscrewed and therefore all of my really long hair be removed, and apparently my toilet bowl wasn't perfectly spotless. Because of those things she essentially told me I didn't clean it well enough), and I can't seem to kick this virus as I am still coughing and not sleeping that great. I find myself low on energy and it's very hard for me to get myself out of it. So that being said, what did I do with the children? I decided to set up an obstacle course in the play room and time the children to see how fast they could go. Wow. I had no idea they'd love it so much. It was a lot of fun actually, and we did this for quite a while. We also experienced some really great weather this week, and I got to play with the kids and the girl across the street outside for a while. The two youngest children haven't really felt that great this week (the littlest girl actually started throwing up yesterday while I was gone) so I decided to introduce origami. The children really loved making things out of paper, and I'm learning that the children like me for doing these things. I have included these sites to share with you in case you are interested in some origami for yourself:

Monkey and the Mountain

Jumping Frog

Face Changer

Glider

I have discovered another really neat craft project to do with the children and I will provide pictures and information on it when I do it. I was also able to show half of Aladdin to the children, in English. Nothing like celebrating 20 years of "A Whole New World" (Aladdin was released in 1992)!

I went a little nuts with the origami...

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Now, normally I would provide a "Special Holiday Blog Post" on this, but since I have already provided everyone with a week's worth of activities and pictures, plus information on the time change and Russia, I will provide a bulleted list of information on Saint Patrick's Day that I think you should all know:

• Saint Patrick was not Irish. In fact, he was born British and was captured, fled captivity, studied for twelve years under St. Germaine, became a bishop, then felt called to go to Ireland.
• Under the Pope's approval, he went to Ireland to convert many Gaelic Irish (who were Pagan) to Christianity.
• St. Patrick used a shamrock as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, which is why we have the shamrock as the symbol for today.
• The original color of St. Patrick's Day was originally blue, but changed with the times to green.
• The 17th of March is used to commemorate the anniversary of St. Patrick's death.
• The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years, but the first official day was set aside in 1903.
• Saint Patrick's Day was also used as break from Lent, therefore feasting and drinking was acceptable.
• St. Patrick's Day is celebrated all over the world, as an official holiday in Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador, and in Montserrat, but also as a celebratory day in the U.S., Argentina, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and of course, in other parts of Europe.
• Of course, many parades, drinking parties, and dying of rivers green happen on this day as a modern way of celebrating (personally, I think this is all very environmentally unfriendly).

(Sources: www.wikipedia.com, www.history.com, and www.theholidayspot.com)

I have included a picture of my plants below. The tallest pumpkin plant fell over sometime yesterday while I was gone, and I need to hold it up with something (although maybe it just needed some more water!).  I also received a rose from the mother of the little girl from across the street who likes to come over to play, and I was so touched by this act of kindness that I took lots of pictures of the flower, but only one picture is shown below.

Sorry the picture is a little dark. Took it last night. I lost two bean plants (it happens unfortunately), the pepper plants are really growing, the apple plants are getting there, and the pumpkin plants are crazy!

My gift. It was so nice of her.

I hope everyone is well, and I will try to get another blog post in sooner. Athens is coming up for me pretty soon, and I am very excited about it! Everyone should be prepared for a very exciting blog post on that when I get back.

Spring is right around the corner!

How to Properly Peel, Core, and Chop Up A Fresh Pineapple

Do you love fresh pineapple, but hate the task of preparing it? Do you always seem to lose more pineapple cutting it up then what you get to eat? Have you looked at those instructions on a pineapple and still seem to get no where? Never fear! I have discovered the perfect way of chopping up a fresh, ripe pineapple which loses virtually no extra fruit and takes only 10 minutes! (Or less, depending on how quick you work!)

What you need:

1 (or more) Organic Pineapple(s)

Sharp Medium Sized Knife

Cutting Board

Bowl

Adult Supervision

What you do:

1. First, twist off the top of the pineapple. Since the pineapple can be kind of prickly on the outside, use a clean dishtowel or two to wrap around the pineapple during this process.

2. Next, Slice off the top and bottom of the pineapple, so that you cut off the hard parts of the pineapple, and so that it will sit straight up but flat on the cutting board.

3. Now, slice off the rind by cutting straight down the sides of the pineapple. The way I do it is by looking at where the rind starts at the top, and slicing it about a centimeter from the beginning of the rind straight down. Then I just cut off the little sections of the rind I may have missed.

4. After all the rind has been cut off, by looking at the top of the pineapple, you can see the center/core. Cut one side of the pineapple off about a half centimeter away from the core. Do the same on the opposite side. Now cut off the two smaller sides.

5. The two smaller sides can be cut up into chunks as is, and each of the bigger sides can be divided into fourths, then cut up into chunks.

6. Place the chunks into the bowl for Holly's Awesome Yellow Fruit Salad!

7. Don't forget to compost the leftover pineapple rinds!

Holly's Awesome Yellow Fruit Salad

*Note - In the photo below I substituted mango for clementine sections because I had used mango for my last fruit salad. If you are allergic to mango, try papaya (even though it's not yellow!)

Ingredients:

1 organic pineapple, chopped

1 organic mango, chopped

3 organic passion fruits

1 organic lemon

Supplies:

large bowl

knife

cutting board

large spoon

small spoon

adult supervision (as always)

Nutrition Information:

 Soluble and insoluble fiber, bromelain (helps in digestion and is anti-inflammatory), vitamins A, C, and many of the Bs, copper, manganese, and potassium from the pineapple

Pre-biotic fiber, antioxidants, vitamins A, B6, C, and E, potassium, copper, and possible cancer protection qualities from the mango

Fiber, vitamins A and C, potassium, iron, phosphorus, copper, and calcium from passion fruits

Citric acid (aids in digestion), vitamins A, Bs, and C, antioxidants, iron, copper, potassium, and phytochemicals (immune system builder, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, free radical scavenger) from lemon

Very low in calories

Gluten and casein (dairy) free

Instructions:

1. Cut the lemon in half.

2. Place the pineapple in the bowl and squeeze one lemon half over the top, picking out seeds as necessary. Toss pineapple in lemon juice.

3. Add the chopped mango to the bowl, repeating the lemon process from above.

4. Take the passion fruits, carefully cut in half, and using the smaller spoon scoop out the pulp, including the seeds, which are edible, and put over the top of the other fruits.

5. Mix thoroughly.

6. Enjoy! Nutrition is fun, healthy, and delicious!

P.S.: This would also make an excellent smoothie!

For the nutrition information above I thank Nutrition-and-You. So another week is coming to a close and many interesting things have happened. First off, before I left for school on Monday, there was a lady downstairs talking to the host mother. I was only briefly introduced, then I left. When I came back... she was cleaning! As in, the job I was doing before she came here! The host mother had never mentioned that she hired a maid at all, she didn't even mention it to me when she was actually here. It was pretty obvious, however, and I was not so much relieved as I was curious as to what my job was going to entail now. Eventually (days later) the host mother told me that I would still be cleaning the top floor (consisting of my bathroom, my bedroom, and the playroom, plus the stairs, thoroughly, doing my normal "tidying" shores, and do more of the "organizing" aspect in the children's rooms. I was told that originally she had a system with the children's clothing: short sleeved shirts, polos, turtlenecks, long sleeved shirts, etc., all had their places in the drawers, and she didn't want to be digging for children's clothing in the morning. So I'm assuming that at some point I will have to organize the children's clothing. Sigh.

Something else that happened was that I was informed on Monday that my last German class was to be on March 14th, but the next section would start on the 19th. I love school very much, even though sometimes I get very frustrated with myself when I can't talk right, and was really hoping I could continue. So I went back home, and brought up the situation with my host mother. She said she would talk it over with her husband and let me know if and what I would have to pay for it. The next day, she gave me some money and said she'd pay for it entirely, all I had to do was provide transportation for myself. I was, well, stunned, and could barely say thank you. It was the first genuine act of kindness I had felt in a while, and I was very happy about it.

The feeling of kindness was unfortunately short lived as the host mother and I continue to have communication problems. I have no problems talking with anyone else here, just the host mother. I am trying, but it's difficult to know what to say. However, she did have some information to share with me as to my vacation week. I can take anytime off between the fourth and the twelfth of April. Plus she mentioned something that made sense to me: Paris is still going to be cold in April. Maybe late May would be better (she's planning another vacation week then.) Good thought, I realized, and I thought Athens would be perfect considering it's warm, sunny, has beaches, good food, and amazing sights and architecture. I also decided that I do want to go to Venice for a few days at some point because it is so close, only about a six hour train ride. (Plus I'll do some day trips around Germany while I'm still here.) After some serious agony and anguish over airfare and hotel problems, I spent about $88 more than I wanted to because I had to change hotels, (Bad neighborhood with the first one I had chosen. I realized it after I booked: drug dealers and prostitutes. Not so good for a lone traveling female.), and then had to figure out a way to get to the airport so early (have to leave at 1:00am to get to the airport at 4:00am to leave at 6:55am). I did finally book everything and I leave April 4th, stay until the 7th, and I plan on having a lot of fun. Restaurants, ancient buildings, landscape, water, warm weather... ahh. Vacation that I so desperately need. I will be going to Paris in late May/early June, and I do plan on spending a weekend or so in Venice, and of course traveling around here! I'm still going to climb an Alp, in case anyone was wondering.

And what about the children and I? Well, I went back to Kunst und Spiel (picture below, finally), and picked up travel sized versions of "Jenga" and "Shut the Box." Shut the Box, for those of you who have never heard of it or played it, is really very fun and is even better with more than two players. You can play with any amount of people, or even by yourself, and even though it's simple, it's kind of exciting. Check out the video below for how to play (two versions):

I also went back to the playground with the children and had some fun. I finally included pictures and some captions below. I also played a scavenger hunt game with the children which they LOVED. I hid Peanut Butter (German name is Erdnussbutter) and left clues for them as to how to find him. I plan on making an extravagant scavenger hunt for them one of these days.

Today, I did my basic chores and will be picking the children up from after-school care (they have that every Friday), and possibly doing some outdoor playing with them because it's sunny outside and the mother told me to. Today I will be finishing up my very last piece of chicken pot pie (cooking all that food was seriously a great idea!) and have all the ingredients to make the vegetarian Reuben tomorrow. I also plan on compiling some recipes and making oatmeal energy bars consisting of delicious ingredients like dates, coconut flakes, some kind of nut/nut butter, chocolate, honey/agave, and maybe some other delicious things! But sadly, I have to conserve my money spending because I would like to do some traveling, and I only have 300 Euros a month to work with. This includes food, transportation, and other needs like shampoo and things. Not to mention fun things for the children and I to do. Not much to go on.

Well, I have a little less than three hours until I need to pick up the children so I'm going to enjoy the quiet. As far as my health goes for those of you who are curious, my cough is almost entirely gone, but I am still a little congested.

Enjoy the photos!

Αντίο!

Kunst und Spiel. They have everything there!

Playground supplies: soccer ball, awesome Frisbee, popcorn, bananas, water, fun throwing ball, and backpack to carry everything in.

A little too sunny, but if you look kind of hard you can see the swing set.

At the playground they have this really cool climbing contraption made from ropes. Lots of fun to climb on.

This is the ball with the cool tail. Kind of hard to throw, but I got a great picture of it in the air! (The little boy has quite the arm!)

Peanut butter cup!

Detail. Added a touch of agave to the peanut butter. Delicious!

Recent plant picture! Those pumpkin plants are really growing, and the bean plants are showing promise too.

Spring Weather Has Visited Munich!

Welcome to March everyone!

I was pleasantly surprised to encounter spring weather this week! Thursday through Saturday (yesterday) was just astonishingly gorgeous, with it being the nicest on Thursday, and dwindling down to today where is is actually rather crisp (about 44 degrees Fahrenheit). I was blessed with sunny, clear, blue skies and upwards of 65 degrees. So how did I enjoy all this beautiful weather? Well I will tell you.

I went for about a two and a half hour walk where my goal was to find out where the trains take me. Now, I wasn't going to walk all the way to downtown Munich, but I did want to see where I was going. (For those of you who don't regularly take public transportation, it's like being picked up and dropped off someplace only knowing how to get there by that particular route and no other. I like knowing where I'm going.) It was amazing weather for a walk, and I got to discover a new Marlboro sign (my favorite so far), and where two of my frequented health food stores are (surprisingly close to each other). I now know how to walk to these places, or bike if I so choose (and I will when it gets a little warmer), and I also had a great time just walking around.

Something else I did that was a lot of fun (for me anyway) is I went past the place where I nervously fed the goats, and discovered there is an actual walking/biking trail. This trail leads past a farm or two and leads right up to a park/forest area. I walked around a bit, but I was on a time restriction so I will be exploring more later. I got to see that there are people who walk and ride their horses in this area, and I would like to go horseback riding at some point (it would make my day or maybe even month or year, I love horses).

Yesterday the mother was gone for most of the day, leaving the father, children, and I. The father decided that he wanted to go for a bike ride with the children and I was invited to go along. Now, I hadn't been on a bicycle in four years or more but I did really want to go, so I went. We biked to this beautiful little nature walk, and then walked along the Isar river, which is the main river here in Munich. I skipped some stones with the children, and got to talk to the father a bit, whom I enjoy talking to. We then walked back, biked a short distance further and I had my very first Biergarten experience. For those of you who don't know how a beer garden actually works, there is pretty much one to every restaurant that has a small or medium piece of land. When the weather gets warmer, there are picnic tables set up outside, and a small hut that you can drop off your dishes in. Now what you do is you walk into the restaurant, order what you wish (small note: you can actually bring your own food as long as you at least buy drinks, traditionally, of course, being beer or wine), then it's pretty much self-service to bring your food to the table, and eat outside. Also, you will find that tables are shared here, so you may sit next to someone you have never met before if there is no more room. This particular beer garden was very nice with a little playground and chalkboards lining the fence for the children. The father had a non-alcoholic beer (he gave up alcohol for Lent, and apparently here in Germany alcohol free beer tastes almost exactly like the real thing), and the children had Apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling mineral water, very traditional here). I didn't have anything, although the father offered to let me taste his beer, which I declined. After the beer garden experience, we went back towards home and went to my very first traditional German restaurant. So traditional that the waitstaff was wearing Lederhosen and Dirndl. I, being organic, had the safest option I could find, which was whole grilled mackerel with herb potatoes. It was pretty good, although mackerel isn't the best smelling fish on the planet and also has some pretty irritating bones in it. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this day, I had left my camera at home because I am used to it being in my coat pocket, which I wasn't wearing at the time. But rest assured I will be going back to the Isar and I will also have many more beer garden experiences, especially because there is a restaurant around the corner which is a beer garden and also happens to be Indian food, which I love.

As far as everything else here, not much has changed. I know that I will be doing a lot more work outside as the weather gets warmer, which doesn't decrease my inside work amount at all unfortunately. I was supposed to get paid I believe on the first of this month, but I wasn't and I am now officially sitting on only six euros and two public transportation stripes, which will get me to and from school tomorrow, and if I don't have money after that I have no idea what I'll do. This also unfortunately means I can't get to church today like I normally would because I can't afford to buy another set of stripes. I know what many of you are thinking: well just go and ask when you'll get paid. The bad news is, I already mentioned to the mother I don't have much money left and she said that the host father should have taken care of it and to check my bank account, which I have since then and still nothing. I have a small reserve which I am saving for my two weeks of vacation, which I am very excited to be planning. The first or second week in April I will be going to Paris as I've said before, and after looking at ticket prices, I will most likely be taking a train. And buying a small English-French dictionary if I can find one, or picking up a little French online. Oui-oui!

Speaking of languages, the father told me that as far as the number of people in Europe goes, German is actually the most common language, followed by French. Sehr interessant (Very interesting.) It makes sense when you look at the size of countries.

As far as plant life goes, my avocado pit met an untimely demise... my own fault. Kind of split the avocado pit a little too much... anyway. I also got rid of the pear and clementine seeds because I was skeptical on both to begin with, the pear because they were a little too shriveled to begin with, and the clementine because I'm not in Florida. I also replanted the little apple trees in individual pots. Wait until you see the pictures below... I also introduced a new craft with the children! You can do it too with some garden stones and acrylic paint. Practically a free project!

No new food stories, I still have two servings of tortellini soup and three servings of chicken pot pie left. Cooking all that food was a great idea! I had meant to make peanut butter cups with the children... but somehow an entire jar of peanut butter disappeared within three or four days after me buying it... I have no idea how that happened...

That's about it. I've had a nasty cough for the last few days, and I'm waiting anxiously for it to go away. I've been drinking lots of tea and chicken broth, and trying to eat extra healthy. Hopefully it will be gone by my next post!

The father and the kids went to see a German movie in the theater today. If you'd like, take a look at Yoko.

Take care everyone! Enjoy the pictures!

Maybe Never Found A Way. Be Marlboro.

Just past the goats. Very pretty fog.

The entrance sign to the park. Der Forstenrieder Park.

Just past the sign. There were some log piles around. There was a sign in German as to why, but it was beyond my vocabulary.

German forest trees. Very different than in Maine!

Recent plant picture! See the new craft?

Aren't they cute? My little stone bugs. (Bean plants to the left, pepper to the right.)

I love my stone bugs. The children loved the idea so much they started doing way more than bugs. I did one too... (Apple plants left and center, pumpkin right.)

Another Blogger rotation error. It's supposed to be turned clockwise 90 degrees. But, care to guess what it is? (*Answer below!)

The newest Elephant & Piggie Book. My grandma bought it for me and sent it to me. I love Elephant and Piggie!

*Ice cream cone!