Gabriola Island Lifestyle Blog
Archive for the ‘Healthy Eating’ Category
Friday, February 25th, 2011
I have been spending a fair amount of time looking online at farm co-op’s and how they are started and run. I looked at Glen Valley farm’s website located in the Fraser Valley and was inspired by what they have created there, a successful model of co-operative organic agriculture. The goals of this co-op is below and a model like this could work on Gabriola :
The original goals of the co-op when established in 1998 remain priorities today and figure into our decision-making processes. These goals are to:
- provide access to certified organic food for shareholders and the local community;
- own and operate the farm co-operatively;
- steward the entire farm for the mutual benefit of the land, wildlife and people;
- be a model of sustainable living; and
- create opportunities to learn about sustainability.
Shareholders and friends of the farm meet regularly for a shared meal and meeting. All major decisions for the co-op are achieved through concensus. We believe this process helps to ensure that issues are carefully thought through before action is taken, that it gives everyone a voice in the process, which results in much greater buy-in by all participants.
Check out their website for more information at http://glenvalleyorganicfarmcoop.org/ and a local blog from a Gabriola group who is quite involved with the slow food movement at http://www.goal-2025.com/
Posted in Food, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, West Coast Living | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
…and they just keep coming – tomatoes that is. Even though we had a very cool start to the year we seem to have an abundance of tomatoes. The beauty of buying bedding plants is that you can try so many different varieties. In the spring we went to the Wild Rose nursery located on Gabriola and bought 15 different varieties of tomatoes, many of them heirloom. We had small and large Beefsteak, Golden Delight, Jolly Elf, Black Prince, Early Girl and many others, some were cool weather varieties, some not. The result was very satisfying and there were so many that every few days I was processing them this fall. In my opinion the easiest way to keep tomatoes is to skin them and simmer them all day until they are reduced by half. Then ladle them into sterile jars and screw on the lid – now they are ready to use!
Posted in Buy Local, Cooking, Food, Healthy Eating | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
What a delight it is to find a few chanterelle mushrooms along your path. When you are walking in the mossy forest in the fall it is not unusual to find mushrooms of all types, but the chanterelles are particularly tasty and very easy to recognize. Both white and golden ones can be found on Gabriola. The golden ones seem to grow a bit higher off the ground while the whites snuggle under the moss and are usually more covered in forest debris. On our last forest expedition we found a large grouping of the whites and were able to pick enough for the whole family to enjoy!
Posted in Flora and Fauna, Food, Healthy Eating, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Saturday was opening night for Woodfire Pizza and Pasta located at the new Madrona Marketplace and we had a reservation and high hopes. We were not disappointed! Each of us ordered a different 10″ pizza, some with unusual but very tasty toppings, shared a couple of tomato salads, washed down with a sleeve of beer and followed with one of the fabulous desserts – it was too much food for four but great nonetheless. The marscapone cheese cake was exceptional and the creme brulee was to die for. We highly recommend this restaurant and look forward to going back. I will try the Degnen Bay pizza next time (confit of duck, shitake mushrooms, cilantro oil and baby mozzarella). ps – great wine list!
Posted in Food, Gabriola Living, Healthy Eating, Holidays and Special Events | No Comments »
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
There was live music today at the Village Shopping Center. We were there to shop for this afternoon’s get together with our friends and family. We stopped at the Village Liquor Store and then on to the Village Food Market. I love our grocery store, it is open every day except Christmas and always well stocked with everything I want. And they gave me and all their other customers a present today – great music and 
a really nice shopping bag!
Tags: Buy Local, Food, Healthy Eating, Shopping on Gabriola
Posted in Buy Local, family life, Food, Healthy Eating, Shopping on Gabriola | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
It is amazing what you discover is in your backyard just by googling something somewhat unrelated. While searching for Belvedere Farm whilst writing the previous blog I stumbled across “Supply Line Organic Foods Buyers Club”
which is accepting orders for Gabriola residents for the next 2 weeks, May 4- May 16, 2010. Very excited I browsed throught the online store and am very excited to receive flours, sugar, oats, dried fruit, lentils etc. in bulk, all organic and well priced. A fantastic end to my great day, and again I say “I love this place”!
Posted in Buy Local, Cooking, Food, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, greener living, Healthy Eating, Shopping on Gabriola, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Well the year is winding down and it is time to look back and remember all the days sunny or rainy, happy or sad. The girls are another year older and our oldest will be registered for Kindergarten in the coming months. The younger will be starting pre-school this year and so begins the yearly adventure of another grade, another teacher and so much to learn for both them and us. We added a new member to our family by finally getting a dog! Dexter is a 5 month old Bichon and is greatly loved by all, especially the girls. This year also came with the addition of 15 chickens of which 12 are still around and kicking, 2 of the 3 roosters became dinner this past summer and were quite tasty. Our garden was fantastic with beautiful tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and beans, we are still eating greens, herbs and squash that we grew this year. Hopefully we will expand the garden next year and try growing new things such as some ancient grains.
I joined the board at People for a Healthy Community and look forward to working with the other amazing board members to give back something to the community that made me who I am today. Dave’s business has taken off and Sleepdeprived Computer Tech’s have helped keep many people’s computers running smoothly. He also has spent a fair amount of his time volunteering with the Gabriola Co-op Radio. Through all of this we still manage sometime for each other and the kids and have really enjoyed the past year watching them grow while laughing at all the goofy things they say and do.
We always tried to keep Real Estate out of this blog but I am breaking the rules just for a moment. Business was slow in the beginning of the year but then took off at an incredible speed, so much for the “Quiet Year” perhaps that is still to come. Okay so know that the rule has been broken I will endeavor never to do it again and keep this an island lifestyle blog.
Thanks so much to all who have made this such a great year we really appreciate all your support.
The McMahon’s/Vincent’s/Wishinski’s
Posted in Causes, Food, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gardening on Gabriola, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events, Kids | No Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
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With winter coming on and the family needing to exercise but not wanting to be out in the pouring rain we decided to share on the purchase of an eliptical trainer. This is a very easy thing to do, you order it from costco.ca and it arrives at your door. Putting it together was a bit more challenging but we managed it in about 4 hours. We had pizza for lunch, whole wheat naan bread, sauce from scratch, back bacon and jalepenos, topped with mozarella and avocado, all ingredients from our local grocery store.
Posted in Gabriola Living, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
I don’t remember when exactly I became interested in cooking but I have been asked many times by friends why I don’t cook for a living. My answer to that is that I do it for the love of it and want to keep it that way. I had considered taking some classes to learn some new skills and tackle the dishes I have shied away from in the past. Now I can do that thanks to Gabriola chef Double Dave. He will be teaching the lucky class how to prepare a sensational yuletide feast using local Gabriola fruits, nuts, wild mushrooms, vegetables, seafood and free-range meats. Classes are to be held at Jupiter Ranch. select either the session on Friday November 13th from 6 to 10pm, or the session on Saturday November 14th from 6 to 10pm. Cost is 120.00 per evening. For more information visit Jupiter Ranch.
Posted in Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events | No Comments »
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Robyn & Carly McMahon and unlicensed assistant Lesley McMahon, your Gabriola Island Real Estate Sales Team