Showing posts with label celebrate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebrate. Show all posts

Monday, April 4, 2016

Happy National Sweet Potato Day! Pixel Shares 5 Fun Facts About the Sweet Treat

It might seem silly to celebrate a root vegetable, but never has a root brought so much joy to my heart, or to the world (in my humble Pixel opinion). Sweet potatoes are incredibly yummy and so good for you, they are quite worthy of having a day of celebration all to themselves! Sweet potatoes are nutritious, easy to cook in a variety of ways, and go good with just about everything, including whatever you might be wearing. I'm wearing sweet potatoes from dinner on my chin right now to celebrate this festive occasion. But don't let me keep yammering on about sweet potatoes, let's get to the root of this distinguished tuberous vegetable.
The sweet potato is a super food!

5 Fun and Interesting Facts About Sweet Potatoes:

1. Although often called "Yams", Sweet Potatoes are not the same as Yams.
That's right. Yams are not sweet potatoes. Yams are white potatoes from the Caribbean, while the lovely, orange sweet potato is originally from South America. The sweet potato can, however, come in colors such as white and purple.
2. Sweet Potatoes are high in LOTS of Vitamins and Minerals.
Vitamins A, C, E, Potassium, Fiber, and Beta Carotene are just a few of the good benefits your body gets from this root vegetable, plus they are low calorie, making them an excellent addition to any meal of the day.
3. Sweet Potatoes are believed to have healing properties.
Doctors and healers use them to fight diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Medical experts say the benefits from sweet potatoes come not just from the pretty orange fruit we love to eat, but the entire plant, including the skin, the shoots, the greens and the leaves. So from tip to root, this sweet treat is of benefit to every single body, whether you are two or four legged!
4. Christopher Columbus LOVED sweet potatoes!
The world traveler was introduced to sweet potatoes in 1492 while visiting the Americas. He thought they were so delicious and amazing, he brought them back home across the ocean to England. Great thinking on his part.
5. The Sweet Potato was "domesticated" over 5,000 years ago.
In fact, the sweet potato is one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind! That is one faithful staple for dinner. I bet dog loving pet parents have been slipping a little big of sweet potato under the table to their beloved companions for thousands of years. Here's an interesting article from NPR talking about how the sweet potato crossed the Pacific before Columbus.
Sweet potatoes are fun to eat & they look good on your chin too!
I love them pureed in my food, mashed like regular potatoes and cut up into wedges and baked in the oven. I eat them every day! In fact, I wear them on my chin quite often as a matter of fact.
Do you like sweet potatoes? Tell me how you enjoy eating your sweet potatoes friends.

Learn More:

All About Sweet Potatoes
Dr. Axe.com - Nutritional Facts on Sweet Potatoes
Library of Congress - A Sweet Potato History

Monday, March 28, 2016

The Joy of Easter - Pixel Celebrates with Her Family & Her Peeps


Hi friends! Just hanging out with my peeps after an amazing weekend of fun. I hope you all had a great time celebrating the joy of Easter with your family and friends, sharing everything that this special day means and enjoying the day with laughter, food and a sense of renewal. We certainly celebrated all weekend long.
We started out the weekend by enjoying all the pretty flowers that are growing in our yard. It was such a pretty day with a blue sky and sunshine all around! I just had to stop and smell the flowers!
 The pear trees are in full bloom too, and looked gorgeous with the sun kissing each bloom. I wished I was a little bird so I could fly up in the tree and sit among the blossoms!
On Sunday morning my sisters and I were surprised with a basket full of Easter toys and goodies. So many new little friends to play with! It was such a fun time that we all had! I can't believe the number if little peeps and cute little squeakie fuzzy friends that showed up at our house. I guess they'll be hanging out with the duckies now.
Dixie, Sassy, Bella, Peanut and I played and played until we were exhausted. It was almost like Christmas!
And speaking of duckies, inside the big basket of toys was a special little friend for me, a round little duckie I'd never seen before. I knew he had to be for me so I gently picked it up immediately. He is very sweet and we became instant friends! He squeaks just like all my other duckies and rides on my back really well too. He is very special because he is made by the company who made all my other favorite duckies. Unfortunately they no longer make that model of duckie. I've been heartbroken for months over this sad, sad news, and Mommy has searched far and wide to find me a similar duckie friend. Well, this little guy is a direct relative of those duckies!! So I am a happy Pixel again. I still have my favorite duckies, they are just getting injured more and more each time I play with them, so I have to be extra careful. Now...I just have to come up with a good name for my new round duckie friend.
Do you have any ideas for a good name for him?
So, how was your Easter friends? Tell me something special about it in a comment.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Pixel Blue Eyes Celebrates the Joy of Rubber Duckie Day...ALL WEEK LONG!


HAPPY NATIONAL RUBBER DUCKIE DAY!!
Okay, officially it was January 13th, but to me, it's not just a day, it's a state of mind, so I'm celebrating National Rubber Duckie Day for an entire week!
I celebrate rubber duckies unlike many others you might know. Rubber duckies are my friends. I have many rubber duckies. I celebrate each of them for their uniqueness. I started out with one, and then the family grew. The one pictured with me here is Pinkie Tuskadero Duckie. She and I play together a lot, but I also play with her brothers Little Duck Blue and Green Day Duckie.
Do you know the history of Rubber Duckie Day? It is the birthday of Sesame Street's Ernie's famous Rubber Duckie. Isn't that cool? Learn more interesting Rubber Duckie Facts at www.rubaduck.com.
I started out with a beloved purple duckie named Purple Duckie. He was my very first one. We played and played all the time for a year, then one day he just...broke in half. It was sad and tragic. I moped for days...weeks. Mommy searched and searched for his family, and then one day they showed up! It was so wonderful, and that very day I made up my mind to never let another duckie fall like purple duckie again.
So, I used my nursing skills and Mommy's surgeon skills and we started a Duckie Hospital for injured duckies. That is how I still have Pinkie with me. That story I will be sharing later...but we did save her life. This photo is her right before her surgery last month.
Let me show you just how much I enjoy my rubber duckie friends. We have such fun together! I've created the BEST game, it's like a puzzle game, Mommy doesn't even know the rules, it's so advanced, but the duckies know. They love it! Here's a video of me and Little Duck Blue playing together:

I hope you leave today with a greater appreciation for the Joy of Rubber Duckies. Have fun celebrating the Joy of Rubber Duckies with me. Do you have a rubber duckie story to share? I'd love to hear about it!
This is a #WordlessWednesday Hop! Hosted by my friends at BlogPaws. Click on some links below to see what other pets are doing on this fine Wordless Wednesday.