It's MyPlate's Birthday
Written by: Ashley Lynn Crossman 

Get a healthy jumpstart on summer with MyPlate. This month MyPlate celebrates its 11th birthday, and to celebrate we want to invite you to discover healthy eating and budget savvy tips and tricks for warmer weather. Share your favorite summertime MyPlate meals and family recipes. 
Join in the birthday fun by helping us celebrate throughout the month of June!

We will celebrate by sharing a MyPlate win for the next few weeks. 

11 Ways to Celebrate MyPlate
1
MyPlate Quiz Take a quick quiz (available in English and Spanish) to see how your eating habits stack up against the MyPlate recommendations. Based on your answers you receive tailored resources and a personal quiz results code to sync with the Start Simple with MyPlate app.

2
Start Simple with MyPlate App Download our free app to set simple food group goals to help you eat healthier. Sync your results from the MyPlate Quiz for a personalized experience. Complete goals, see progress, join challenges, and earn badges to celebrate successes. This month join the MyPlate Birthday Challenge!

3
Personalized MyPlate Plan Use this easy interactive tool (available in English and Spanish) to help you find out what and how much to eat from each of the food groups based on your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. (Embed the MyPlate Plan widget to your own web page or blog for free!)

4
MyPlate Kitchen Explore our recipe website with over 1,000 healthy, budget-friendly recipes that provide detailed nutrition and food group information to help you choose recipes that fit your needs. All recipes are available in English and Spanish.

5
Shop Simple with MyPlate Healthy food choices don't have to cost a lot. Use this tool to find cost-saving opportunities in your local area and discover new ways to prepare budget-friendly foods.

6
Healthy Eating on a Budget Discover our budget friendly resources to help you save money at the store by making a shopping plan, shopping smart, and preparing healthy meals to stretch food dollars.

7
MyPlate on Alexa Get MyPlate on Alexa as a skill. Simply say, “Alexa, open MyPlate” and start receiving age-based healthy eating tips straight to your Amazon Alexa device or via the free Amazon Alexa app on their smartphone.

8
Pages for Each Stage of Life For more personalized information based on a person’s age, check out MyPlate’s new life stage pages that provide all the latest nutrition information based on a person’s age and tips and resources to help different ages eat healthy.

9
Tip Sheets Check out our popular educational series of simple, one-page resources that provide helpful nutrition tips for common food topics. Topics include food groups, life stages, meal planning, snacking, and healthy eating at celebrations and gatherings. Find tip sheets in English and Spanish.

10
MyPlate Icon in 22 Languages Check out our downloadable MyPlate graphic in 22 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

11
Social Media Share your favorite MyPlate summertime meal, nutrition tip, or activity. Be sure to tag us by using @MyPlate and including the hashtag #MyPlateBirthday. Use the social media graphics below.
Facebook Twitter YouTube

​ Miami's iconic fashion festival, Miami Swim Week™ The Shows, is returning to Miami this Summer from July 13th to July 18th at the SLS South Beach Hotel spotlighting the latest swim and resort wear fashion designs along a stunning, brand new virtual fashion swimwear Metaverse like never seen before.
Over the course of five days on Miami's notorious South Beach, dozens of fabulous runway shows, VIP events, dinners, parties and showcases will take place, offering the largest fashion swimwear gathering in the world. This year's events will showcase top designers and innovators in the swimwear, resort-wear fashion industry, fashion-tech, beauty and summer lifestyle spaces. In fact, over 100 new and top swimwear designers are flying into Miami from around the world to debut their Summer 2023 collections. 
"From sustainable and eco-friendly fashion, to Metaverse digital fashion and fashion NFT collections, this year's Miami Swim Week™ The Shows will be unlike anything the fashion industry has ever seen. We have designers flying into Miami from over 70 countries who will be a part of 50 live fashion shows and pop-up events," said Moh Ducis, founder & CEO of Miami Swim Week™ The Shows.
Noteworthy Florida-based swimwear brands like Tiare Hawaii, DAYZ DAZE, Maxine, Bikinilista, Onalaja, Dobikinis, and Supermodel Swimwear are showcasing new collections with runway shows at this year's Miami Swim Week™ The Shows. The complete list of registered designers participating and exhibiting at this year's week-long series of events is available online with more to be added. 
One of the biggest highlights of this year's Miami Swim Week™ The Shows will be introducing a fully interactive Web 3.0 luxury swimwear fashion runway Metaverse and first-of-its-kind social impact swimwear fashion NFTs. In addition, select events and shows will be ticketed with exclusive collectible NFT tickets, available for sale to influencers, VIP guests and industry professionals. 
Miami Swim Week™ The Shows is creating the first-ever swimwear fashion-centric Metaverse experience for a global fashion swimwear audience, ultimately eliminating traditional barriers to entry found in the traditional fashion industry. "Digital swimwear fashion in a decentralized Metaverse provides a leveled playing field and equal opportunity and empowerment to designers and artists around the world," said Moh Ducis.
VIP tickets for the Grand Opening of  Miami Swim Week™ The Shows, scheduled for July 13, 2022 from 7PM to 10PM EST at the SLS Hotel South Beach, will go on sale on in the form of NFTs starting mid-June. This first star-studded first show will kick off a series of week-long fashion shows, parties and VIP dinners bringing together the most creative, brilliant and innovative swimwear fashion & tech minds from around the world. In fact, Miami's very own top talented designer, Ema Savahl, will debut an innovative, new wearable art design collection with live NFT drops. 
Miami Swim Week™ The Shows is partnering with innovative fashion commerce app, RUNWAY BUY, making every runway show shoppable in real-time via its proprietary, cloud-based interactive video marketplace platform."This is Miami's big moment where all these innovative sectors merge together to spotlight talented designers and models while introducing new swimwear trends and technological experiences that the fashion world hasn't seen before. This year's Miami Swim Week™ The Shows will also include partnerships with well-known brands such as Runway Buy, Hammock Shows, JOOR.com, Fashion Innovation NYC, and the City of Miami Beach," Ducis said. 
About Miami Swim Week™ The Shows:
Miami Swim Week™ The Shows is owned and managed by D.C. Swim Week Shows™ and is the fastest growing luxury fashion show production company specializing in innovative fashion concepts, production, and execution. The company has over 10 years of experience producing fashion shows at DC Swim Week, Miami Swim Week, and Hammock and shows at New York Fashion Week. For more information, please visit the Miami Swim Week™ The Shows website and follow the brand on instagram. To apply for official media credentials for Miami Swim Week™ The Shows, please visit here and apply.

I hope everyone is staying healthy and enjoying fresh vegetables. I know many of you are buying bulk and starting to feel the pressure to use everything. Never fear if you can't use all your produce there are many different ways to preserve fresh vegetables and fruits for a long time. Over the next weeks I am going to start sharing ways to preserve your produce. First off my favorite and go to for quick food processing FREEZING. 

PEAS
Shell, wash and blanch 1 minute. Chill in iced water 1 minute. Drain and place on tray in a single layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to freezer bags, remove air, label and seal.
CORN
Clean well and remove all silk. Cut off top of cob. Wash, blanch a few cobs at a time for 5-7 minutes, depending on size. Chill in iced water 5-7 minutes. Drain and wrap each cob in plastic wrap. Pack in freezer bags, remove air, label and seal.
SPINACH AND COOKING GREENS
Wash well and trim leaves from stalks. Blanch in small quantities of boiling water for 1 minute. Chill in iced water for 1 minute. Drain and place on tray in a single layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to freezer bags, remove air, label and seal.

TURNIP ROOTS
Peel and trim young, tender turnips. Cut to required size and blanch 3 minutes. Chill in iced water for 3 minutes. Drain and place on tray in a single layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to freezer bags, remove air, label and seal.
PEPPERS
Wash, remove seeds and cut into slices or leave whole. Place on a tray in a single layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Pack in freezer bags, remove air, label and seal.
BROCCOLI or CAULIFLOWER
Choose tender young heads with no flowers and tender stalks. Wash well and divide into sprigs. Blanch 3 minutes in boiling water. Cool in iced water for 3 minutes. Drain. Spread on tray in single layer. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent the smell from permeating the freezer. Freeze 30 minutes. Pack in freezer bags, remove air, seal and label.
Another Method:
Wash well and divide into sprigs. Drain. Pack in freezer bags, remove air, seal and label. Keeps up to 6 months. Great for stir-fry!
POTATOES
Scrub new potatoes. Cook in boiling water until almost done. Drain, cool, pack in freezer bags. Seal, label and freeze.
Slice and deep fry 4 minutes. They should be tender but not browned. Drain and cool on paper towels. Place on a tray in a single layer and freeze 30 minutes. Pack in freezer bags, remove air, label and seal. (Freeze up to 3 months.)
Prepare mashed potatoes. (Freeze up to 3 months.)
CUCUMBER
Peel and chop in food processor. Pack into plastic containers with tight fitting lids. Label and freeze. Great for a fresh garden salsa.

TOMATOES
Wash thoroughly. Freeze whole and unpeeled on a tray. Transfer to freezer bags once fully frozen.
Another method:
Wash and remove the ends of the tomatoes. Blanch (drop in boiling water until skins wrinkle). Remove the skins. Freeze whole or chopped in bags.
NOTE: Frozen tomatoes should be used in cooked recipes only. Freezing changes the texture and makes them too soft for eating raw.
EGGPLANT
Cut into slices, sprinkle with salt and allow to stand 30 minutes. Drain off excess liquid and fry gently in butter or margarine until just tender. Cool and pack into plastic containers. Seal and label. (Keeps up to 3 months.)
BEANS
Shell and wash. Blanch in boiling water for 1½ minutes. Cool in iced water for 1-2 minutes. Place on tray in a single layer and freeze for 30 minutes. Pack into freezer bags, remove air, seal and label.
ZUCCHINI AND OTHER SQUASH
Wash and chop to desired size. Then, blanch for three minutes; allow to cool; and freeze in an air-tight container.
BEETS
Only freeze young tender beets, not more than 2-3 inches across. Cook until tender and slice. Cool and transfer to plastic containers. Label.
OKRA
Wash and trim off stems. Blanch in boiling water 3-4 minutes. Cool in iced water 3-4 minutes. Drain and pack in freezer bags. Remove air from bags, seal and label.
​
Onions
5 STEPS TO FREEZING ONION
STEP 1: GET OUT ALL OF YOUR EQUIPMENT AND ONIONSHere’s what you’ll need to bulk prep onions for the freezer:

• Food processor or onion chopper
• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Garbage sack
• Bowl for storing onions before bagging
• Measuring cup if desired
• Spoon for scooping into the bags
• Freezer bags (quart-size is what I use)
• Sharpie to label the bags
• Onions 

You won’t be chopping the onions yourself if you’re going to dice them, but you still need a knife and cutting board to get the ends off the onion and cut them into halves or quarters for the food processor or onion chopper. If you are using an onion chopper, you might want to chop one onion at a time and store the diced onion in a bowl until you finish with all the onions.

STEP 2: START DICING OR SLICINGNow you can start doing your thing.

STEP 3: LABEL YOUR FREEZER BAGS with 3 pieces of information:

1. The kind of onion (i.e. yellow, white, sweet, red, etc.)
2. The amount in the bag (i.e. 1 medium, 2 cups, etc.)
3. The date I need to use them by (i.e. the “expiration date”)

STEP 4: BAG THE ONIONSSTEP 5: PUT THE ONIONS IN THE FREEZERWhen your onions are in the bags, you can remove as much air as possible and close them tight. I like to push the onions down flat so I can stack the bags in the freezer. This also makes it so much easier to break off small amounts of onion as needed.
FAQ ABOUT FREEZING ONIONSYou probably have some more questions about freezing onions, so I have addressed some that I had when I first started doing this.
DO YOU NEED TO BLANCH THEM?From my research, I’ve found you don’t need to blanch onions before freezing them.
WHAT ABOUT THE SMELL?This can be a huge concern for some people, and others, like myself, don’t really mind the smell.
If you don’t really care, you can use one freezer bag to store the onions and then keep all the bags of onions in one spot in your freezer, away from things that could potentially be affected by the smell of the onions, like fruit. You will just have to realize that the onions may cause your freezer to stink for about a week after you store them in there. In my experience, the fridge doesn’t smell if it’s attached to the freezer where you’re storing the onions.
If you are concerned about the smell, there are a couple of things you can try. If something doesn’t work, try something else!

1. Double or triple bag the onions
2. Keep the onions in a freezer in your basement or garage where you won’t have to smell it

CAN YOU FREEZE ONIONS WITH OTHER VEGETABLES?Yes. You can easily freeze onions with peppers or onions with celery. If you already know you want to use onions with some other vegetable in the near future, you can freeze them together. However, it might just be easier to store them separately so you can easily use one or the other at any time.
HOW LONG CAN YOU FREEZE ONIONS?The standard for freezing most vegetables is about 3 months. If you cook at home most of the time, you’ll probably be able to use all the onions within a month or two. Be aware that the taste of the onions may be altered somewhat after spending too much time in the freezer.
CAN YOU USE FROZEN ONIONS IN FRESH DISHES LIKE SALSA OR SALAD?No, you should only use frozen onions in dishes where you will be cooking them. The texture of the frozen onions will be different than fresh, so you won’t want to use them in anything where they will be eaten raw.
Credits to: https://www.meetpenny.com/2011/01/what-freezes-fresh-vegetables/
https://feedingourflamingos.com/how-to-freeze-onions/
https://www.wikihow.com/Freeze-Vegetables

It's official here in Florida stay home for 30 days... I like many of you are home with kids and a lot more time on my hands than usual. I spent the first week giving myself mini spa days. Then we started doubling the time we spent working on Moon Lake Farm. Now we are really stuck except for our deliveries. We have painted decorated reorganized rooms and now we are on to cooking. 

Bread the Albanian way.
All the credit must go to Denis I sat back and watched the cooking this time ;)  

Watching Denis making bread for the first time I was blown away to find all you need is Water, Yeast, and Flour. Our recipe goes:
Ingredeants:
8 cups flour
4 cups warm water and
a teaspoon yeast.

Mix and knead dough, let rise double in size. Then separate into loafs let rise double in size again and cook at 350 until golden brown.


All in all Bread making is really easy truly messy I suggest doing it on a separate table you have cleared and then you don't have to wipe around or in the cracks for flour dust. Also it's good to work on a table so you can stand above the bread as you knead it this way you have your body weight to work the bread and not your arms. Unless your looking to add a workout in your bread making.

Good Luck, Stay Healthy and Enjoy!

--Ashley 

These amazing Root veggies are carrots and turnip / rutabaga. The rutabaga have a flavor profile like potatoes that has been flavored with onion (to me) there is also a hint of cabbage flavor in the after taste. I used them to make soup in the place of potatoes and that was so good there are no images. Another dish I tried was fried like home style potatoes. They came out great the rutabaga cooks faster and hold more water then that potatoes but it's a really flavorful and yummy root veggie.  Finally after tasting the rutabaga and feeling confident it would work like a potatoes I created a curry using it and it as well passed the too good for pictures test #2good4pictures .