By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Season Cooking with Kerin
In a country where childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the last thirty years, it is refreshing to see teachers like Mark Wagner combat that statistical nightmare. As head of the Organic Garden Club at Palmquist Elementary School in Oceanside, Calif., he’s getting kids excited about gardening and eating right. “I really wanted to promote nutrition awareness. That was my main goal,” Wagner says. When he arrived at Palmquist four years ago, the school garden was a fenced-in patch of waist-high weeds. Now it’s filled with ground crops and fruit trees that the students are not just excited to grow, but to eat as well.
About karebearrawr
Kerin is a southern California native, hailing from Oceanside in north San Diego County. Although she loves her home-state, she's never one to pass up a traveltunity. She's hoping to visit every continent in the world, and every state in the country. Three continents and eleven states down, there's still quite a bit left to go; but there's nothing like a good challenge to inspire someone.
WIth a B.A. in Creative Studies: Literature from UCSB, Kerin has a definite love for the written word (and the stringent rules of grammar that accompany it). She has a fondness for editing. There's something about taking raw text and shaping it into a bona fide piece of work that's extremely satisfying.
Kerin is also a novice gardener and a total foodie. Not only does she love to try new food (that conforms to her pescetarian diet) she loves to cook it as well. And if the ingredients can come from her garden, all the better! She grows four different varieties of heirloom tomatoes, three different kinds of carrots, squash, serrano and bell peppers, anaheim chiles, green onions, three different lettuce varieties, radishes, and a well-stocked herb garden. She hopes to expand her garden with each season, not only becoming more knowledgeable in her culinary exploits, but in sustainable eating/living as well. She also hopes to encourage people to start their own home gardens, because there is nothing more tasty than food grown at home, the right way.
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karebearrawr has written 7 articles so far, you can find them below.
Gardening
Elementary School Garden Inspires Health and Nutrition with an Organic Garden
Food
Pumpkin and Sausage Dumplings
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin
Everyone loves small bites and finger food! This is a great recipe to make for dinner parties or your friends and family. It’s a simple filling that packs a lot of punch. So don’t be surprised when your guests swoop in on your dumpling platter and decimate it! If you’ve never made dumplings before, don’t worry. It’s like riding a bike. Once you get into the rhythm of it, you’ll be cranking them out at top speed.
Food
Easy Pumpkin Bread For Your Autumn Table
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin
The holiday season is in full swing and that means it’s time to crack open that canned pumpkin, right? No! Take the time to head down to your local farmers market and pick out a few choice pumpkins to use this season; they’re incredibly versatile! To break it down, cut the top off and then cut the pumpkin into workable pieces. I find quartering it works really well. With the side of a spoon, scrape away the seeds. To get the raw meat out, scrape against the grain and you’ll get nice short shredded pieces. This pumpkin bread is just one way to use your pumpkin; make sure you save your leftovers for another recipe!
Food
Seasonal Eating: The Best Nature Has to Offer
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin Before the advent of refrigeration, seasonal living wasn’t an aspiration, it was a long-established way of life. Communities grew and raised their food where they lived, with respect to the seasons. Spring meant new life in the fields, and winter meant [...]
Food
Seasonal Cooking with Kerin: Roasted Butternut Squash Mac ‘N’ Cheese
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin
Perfect for autumnal cooking, try your hand at Roasted Butternut Squash Mac ‘N’ Cheese (and don’t forget to buy your ingredients local and organic!)
First, to roast the butternut squash you’ll need:
one hot oven
1 butternut squash (medium sized), peeled and cubed (about 1/2″ x 1/2″)
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp sage
salt and pepper
olive oil
Food
Eating Well & Healing Yourself With Your Very Own Indoor Herb Garden
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin
When I jumped on the gardening bandwagon, the first things I started to grow were herbs. I had really started getting into adventurous cooking, and it only made sense to grow my own herbs. If you go to the grocery store, you’re going to wind up spending a few bucks on a couple leaves of basil. Well, I don’t have a few bucks; but I do have a minute to snip off as much basil as I want from my garden, for free. And that’s really what it’s all about: saving time and money while bringing your food to a whole fresh, new level.
Family
Michelle Obama Urges Restaurant Industry To Change For Kids
By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin
Did you know that most kids’ meals in restaurants have twice as many calories as the meal you’d serve them at home? Not only are the majority of these meals laden with saturated fat and salt, but some even reach a whopping 1,000 calories! Such a meal is high in calories for an adult, and for a child that’s just ridiculous.
