What Is a Mango?

Shaped like an avocado, with hues that rival the papaya, and a taste that is sweet and sometimes sour, kind of like kiwi or a plum .  What tropical delicacy am I describing?  Why, mango, that’s what.

What is a mango?

·        one of the largest produced tropical fruits in the world

·        an antioxidant powerhouse

·        tasty as a soup, juice, smoothie, dessert, ice cream

·        or fresh off the tree

·        member of the drupe family, like apricots and nectarines

·        grown predominantly in India and other warm weather climates like China, Mexico, Thailand, and Pakistan

·        delicious

Ready to try one?  First you have to open one up—here’s how:

One of my favorite vacation spots in the world is Maui and while relaxing on the island, I also enjoy visiting the farmer’s market where I get to sample fresh and often exotic fruits and veggies.  It was on Maui where I discovered passion fruit, star fruit, papaya, and, the star of today’s post, mango.  Besides needing to recharge my batteries and basking in the sun and fun, trying new things, especially healthy, new things, is what it’s all about.  Living life 365.

The good news is you don’t have to jet to Maui to taste a mango (though it’s not a bad idea); just head out to your grocery store or natural food place, or, better yet, your hometown farmer’s market, and look around.  You’d be surprised what you may discover.

Speaking of all those discoveries…

 

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

Landscape Escape Update

I am a man blessed with many hobbies, from book collecting and reading, to writing music and playing guitar, to traveling with my lovely wife and videography.  One of the hobbies I enjoy the most this time of year is working outside, digging in the dirt, and creating something out of nothing...like landscaping!

Last year, I started a landscaping project on the side of my house—I wrote about it, and produced this video:

Hobbies should fill your time and interest, perk your curiosity, and deliver satisfaction to your mind, body, and spirit.  They should take you away from the daily grind, inspiring and challenging you to make mistakes while attempting to do things you don’t normally do.  The good part—it’s your hobby, your time; if it doesn’t work out, who cares?

But when I start digging up the side yard, taking thrice-weekly sojourns to Lowe's, and invest mega time, money, and sweat equity, the end result should at least be something to be proud of.  You be the judge:

I love working up a sweat while I’m working outside, but I have to constantly watch out for dehydration, continuously chugging water, grabbing rest in a shaded area, and being cognizant of the

Next hobby for me is to continue working on getting my video site back up and running, while also creating more videos every week.  I am putting the finishing touches on a new music vid about green tea that I feel is my best work yet.  Stay tuned…

And if you do happen to stay out in the sun too long and start feeling sick, this video should help:

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

A Message, A Meal, and A Mouthful…All In One Minute

Anyone trying to visit my video site,livelife365.com, has probably figured out by now that something is up.  No, not the site—that, sadly, has been taken down for the time being.  I decided I needed to change things up, shop around for a new host and server, and had to put the vid site on ice for a few weeks.  The good news: I plan on making it bigger and better, while still loaded with hundreds of self-help videos ranging from diet and nutrition, motivation and inspiration, music and humor.

In the meantime, I appreciate your continued support of this blog over the years.  Thanks. 

And remember, you can also watch many of my videos at my channel on YouTube.  Almost 250,000 people have already viewed them, with hundreds more watching every day.

 

My latest video is for those of us who are in search of a healthy, delicious, vegetarian, and fast meal.  How fast?  How does one minute sound?  Of course, when you consider some prep work, it may cost you all of five minutes—still, not bad for something that tastes so good.  Check out my black bean tacos:

The best part about these tacos are they are loaded with veggie protein, high in healthy fiber, very low in saturated fats and sodium, and simple to make:

organic black beans

corn tortillas

chopped tomatoes

grated sharp cheddar and Monterey jack cheese

shredded lettuce

avocado

organic salsa (make it yourself—I will, in a soon-to-be-produced VEG OUT WITH MIKE)

Two of these tasty tacos will net you around 27gs of protein; 15g fiber; 500mgs of sodium, with only 5gs of sat fat, and that's if you use cheese made from dairy.  If you opt for vegan cheese, you will virtually eliminate all sat fats.  Total calories: 500, which is amazingly low for such a gut-filling meal.

Again, I thank you for your continued support and patronage and look forward to sharing hundreds of more videos and blog posts in the coming months and years.  Be on the lookout for a new music video about the benefits of  drinking green tea every day, a couple of books that I have been working on for a while, and lots more.

 

Until next time…

peace,

Mike