Eating Paleo with Elise Jones

Having "gone paleo" before, I have had a continuing interest in the topic, therefor leading me to read the book Practical Paleo, and have learned more about the fundamentals, and purposes around the paleo lifestyle. I'd like this first post to explain what the paleo way of eating is, and what it does for the human body. First off, it is not considered a diet, it is a change in one's lifestyle that leads to long-term health benefits. Also, when hearing about paleo; people commonly think "why would I eat like that, didn't cavemen only live to be 30?". This belief can be shattered with the fact that there is now modern medicine, lack of vulnerability to predatory animals, and the average person is less vulnerable to the elements due to advancements in shelter....you know advancements in the basic needs of survival.  Instead of harming, paleo has actually proven to heal a person's body, "It has helped countless individuals overcome what were seemingly insurmountable, chronic, or even unrecognizable health problems." (Sanfilippo, 18).

 

To summarize the author's views and opinions: the paleo lifestyle surrounds the idea to eat whole foods and avoid modern, possessed, and refined foods. Also today's modern, factory made foods  have commonly led to child-obesity, behavioral disorders, early-onset puberty, and autoimmune conditions. This can be explained with how the USDA's guidelines are not based on sound and scientific theories, and are more set on illogical and potentially dangerous hypothesis, whose use is to mass produce food in order to mass produce food to feed the world's growing population. Where as foods involved with eating paleo are nearly identical to what is already in nature.(Sanfilippo, 32). These reasons have influenced me to choose this lifestyle, and the following ideals will be incorporated into the recipes I prepare from the book.

 

Do eat whole foods...

• meat, seafood, and eggs 
• pasture raised, cage free, vegetarian fed, free range, naturally raised, organic, natural, or wild caught
• vegetables and fruits 
• local, and/or organic
• nuts and seeds
• local, and/or organic
• fats and oils
• organic, cold-pressed, and from well -raised animal sources

Don's eat refined foods...

• refined grains
• whole grains (today's whole grains are still refined and produced in factories)
• packaged snacks
• dairy products
• certain beverages
• sweeteners (yes, this does include sugar)

The ideals of paleo, commonly scare people away, because of how this way of eating cuts out foods that are most familiar to them. "We live in a time when up is down and black is white. We have been taught to believe that the foods coming out of factories are safer and healthier than foods your great-grandmother ate." (Sanfilippo, 32) I believe this is a significant quote from the text, as it explains how people are so used to eating what the government produces, that most people don't realize that going back to the basics would be the best thing for them.


The paleo lifestyle is not for everyone, as it takes quite a bit of knowledge and a lot of commitment. But given the increase of organic foods and places to get these foods, it has made the paleo lifestyle as easy as ever. Which leaves the question, would you try going paleo, or not?

 

Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course - Jack Thorsland

What makes one pianist stand out from the others? what makes one pianist great? 

Hello Everyone! For me, learning piano was an easy choice. I believe that the piano is the most important instrument in music. It is arguable that the drums may be considered more important, due to them being the first of instruments, but the ability to play piano opens many doors in the musical universe. This consists of; The ability to identify notes, to gain a "musical ear", and to learn why things generally sound good or bad. Upon beginning my book, i learned one thing. There is a science to playing musical instruments correctly, actual theories that revolve around what makes a player not just good, but great.

The first words of my book, are quite literally "BE KIND TO YOUR HANDS!" (Palmer 4) The author is VERY confident in his belief of hand condition. He explains how it is necessary to wear gloves every time I have to lift a heavy object, or even use hand tools such as screwdrivers or wrenches. This is only the beginning. (Palmer 4)

"Before practicing, it is good to soak the hands for a few minutes in warm water. This promotes circulation. Many concert pianists use very warm water on their hand before beginning to play. Towel the hands vigorously until they are dry, then hold your arms out with the hands dangling from the wrist, and shake out your hands rapidly for a few moments." (Palmer 4)

I have already changed my outlook on playing piano. what Palmer is explaining is that there is much more to playing the piano, then just pressing your fingers against the keys. The conditions of your hands, and the way you prepare them upon practicing or even performing, these are the traits that differentiate those who are mediocre at piano, and those who can be great.

Now, looking back on my question, i answer with this statement, feel free to quote this one day.

The ability to play piano is not influenced by the time you practice, but the manner in which you practice, and the manner in which you prepare.

This one is for you Mr. Palmer! 

Honestly, dipping my hands in warm water was one of the best ideas ever. All the activities that involve using fingers are benefitted, especially playing the piano.

Chef Pres IRP- Baking Cookies

Preston Viltz

Meara

Honors English P4

Blog

November 30 2015


Hola! Yo soy Preston. I made a totally American snack for y'all to salivate to. I wanted to do cooking, more specifically baking for my project because I feel like it would be a good skill to know going into a relationship and during marriage... Uh sike I wanted to perfect this skill to make some tasty food for me and my family as well as Cor, Llama, and Chubbs. But to do this task I wanted to create something that I have never really had before. So I went to the library and picked out the book Baking by Natalie Chapman. I wanted to start my first dish off with a more simple cookie because I am new to baking and didn't want to get ahead of myself. The food I chose was the Peanut Butter Blossoms because personally I think chocolate and peanut butter bode well with each other in the sense of a cookie, so that was just what I was looking for. I have also never made this desert before. So first I gathered all ingredients listed:

List:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon backing powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (For later)
• 31 milk chocolate kisses

First I put all my dry ingredients into a bowl and here is a picture of me adding the flour to the bowl:

Then once I got all my ingredients together I mixed all of them to a paste-like substance with an electric mixer:

Next I rolled 31 balls of dough and covered them with the 1/4 cup sugar to coat the outside edge and placed them on the baking sheet to be ready for the oven:

After that I placed all the cookies into the oven at 350 to bake for 2 minutes and this is a picture of the cookies baking in the oven:

Lastly, when the 12 minutes had passed, I took the cookies out of the oven and quickly placed a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie, and here is a picture of the finished project:

I was very pleased with my final outcome and received a couple compliments on the taste. I think this  dessert was the appropriate difficulty for me because I am just a beginner at baking. But I feel like this dish helped my skills and my next treat will be a little bit more difficult because each dish I become more experienced with baking. This was a very successful outcome to me and I am striving to make more snacks in the future.

The book also stated that to store my cookies I should "layer cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months". That is a very smart idea that I probably won't follow for a couple reasons: What is wax paper and where do you get wax paper. But thanks for the idea anyways Natalie!

I'll leave you guys with this:

Do you think these look bomb?

If you answered no to the question above you are not getting any and if you answered yes to the question then you still won't get any. Leave your answers below! ;)


Chapman, Natalie. Baking. Des Moines: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Basics of Kawaii Drawing

I’ve always had an interest in drawing. I’m pretty good at it if I work on a piece for a while, but for the things I was drawing, it was too long of a time. That’s why I decided that for this project, I wanted to work on my art skills.

I chose my book, Manga for the Beginner Kawaii: How to Draw the Supercute Characters of Japanese Comics by Christopher Hart, based on two things. The style was similar to what I draw in my free time, and it’s for someone with little to no skills, like me. It’s really easy to understand, and it gives fool proof steps to drawing cute characters. “You’ll learn the specific techniques that will enable you to take an ordinary character and, with a few strokes of the pencil, totally transform it into a supercute character.” (Hart, 9)

It started off with talking about the basics of Kawaii figures, like how they’re made of really simple shapes, or how the colors are typically brighter and more unnatural. I learned that to be considered a “supercute character”, the figure has to have the right proportions, which are a large head, and short body. After learning this, it was time to start drawing.

First, I had to learn how to draw a head. To start off, the author recommended you draw a circle for the head, which was easy enough. The eyes had to be low and far apart, the mouth was small, and there was no nose. Then, you add the details, like the anthro-hat (animal hat), and hair. It wasn’t hard, but I didn’t expect it to be at first.

First head drawing

The book then went on to talk about the different variations of faces for Kawaii characters, like their eyes or their facial expressions. The main point of this style is that everything is simple and clean, so none of the variations are too over dramatic.

I decided that I just wanted to focus on the basics right now, so the last thing I did was read about and draw a full figure. I had to be able to put a lot of detail into a small sized character while still keeping things simple, which I thought might be pretty difficult. I was wrong. The steps the book took me through made it really easy. It was the exact same process as with the head, except there was just one extra part.

First full figure drawing

I’m really excited to continue learning about this style of drawing. I think it’ll be fun and not-at-all hard for me to do, especially with how much reassuring the author gave that anything too complex would take away from the overall final product.

Do you think this seems like a good entry style to drawing characters for anyone? Let me know what you think!

Playing piano after a long time

 Hello,

After practicing about thirty minutes on reading the notes and playing the right notes, I remembered a lot of the songs that I used to play (children song mostly). The next lesson was about listening to music you are playing. For example, record yourself playing the music you chose to learn, so when you play it back you know where you need to improve on. "When you listen to the recording, you'll hear things you didn't hear when you were playing. This allows you to critique yourself, hear any imperfections, and make adjustments in your playing"(Haplin25). In this case, my Org/Piano has a recording system that can record the notes and the way I am playing, then I can listen to it after playing the notes. In this book, it is said that to learn you have to have a good teacher that can encourage you to continue on playing Piano. "The best Piano teachers are the ones who know how to motivate and encourage their students and give them the necessary constructive criticism"(Haplin25). I believe that if I'm teaching myself then I have to find time to actually practice. I should not get discouraged easily if I do not understand how to play but try and refer to the resources that can help me to understand the concept better. I really loved this concept because I don't really have patience and I get discouraged easily but this concept gives me a reason to learn to have more patience , so that way I can keep up with learning about playing Piano more professionally! 

I am not in this picture but I am trying to listen to the playback!