Donna’s Day: ‘Ice’ candles for every climate School menu

Donna’s Day: Creative Family Fun Make ‘ice’ candles for every climate

By Donna Erickson Signal Contributing Writer L et’s make fire with ice! Impossible, you say? Well, it just depends on how you look at it. Follow this DIY process using candle wax and ice to create these super “cool” chunky candles.

To make several medium-sized candles, you’ll need: • 1 saucepan and a tin can with label removed, such as a stewed tomato can • candle wax from a craft store (leftover candle stubs in similar color may also be added) • candle coloring from a craft store • empty and clean pint or quart-size cardboard milk cartons with the tops cut off (the shape of the carton will be the shape of the candle) • a white or colored taper candle for each ice candle, 1 inch shorter than the cut carton; trim the candle from the bottom, if necessary • ice cubes crushed into medium-sized chunks 1.An adult should fill the bottom of the saucepan with a few inches of water and place the tin can in the center. Put pieces of candle wax inside the can, along with any extra candle stubs. Stir occasionally on low heat as wax melts, keeping a constant eye on it, since it is flammable. Add coloring, if you wish. 2.Just before the wax is completely melted, your school-age child may place a taper candle in the middle of a milk carton and pack ice around the candle. Be sure it is centered. Leave top portion and wick of candle exposed. 3.When the wax is melted, an adult should use a potholder to lift the can out of the saucepan and pour the melted wax directly into the milk carton over the ice and around the taper candle. Be sure not to cover the taper candle wick. As the wax melts the ice, you’ll hear cracking and popping! 4.When the wax is almost hard, drain off the water a time or two as it melts. Let wax harden completely. 5.Peel the carton away from the

CLIP N SAVE Elementary School Menus Menus courtesy of Santa Clarita Valley School Food Services which serves these school districts: Castaic USD • Newhall USD • Saugus USD • Sulphur Springs USD

(choice of one entree, seasonal fruit and milk)

Monday, Feb. 24

Tuesday, Feb. 25

Wednesday, Feb. 26

Thursday, Feb. 27

Friday, Feb. 28

BREAKFAST LUNCH Buttermilk Bar Breakfast Bun Cereal Chilled Fruit Fruit Juice Chicken Enchilada Cheesy Pillow Pull Aparts Chicken Sandwich Spicy Chicken Sandwich Smart Choice Pizza Seasonal Salad Bar Scrambled Slider Breakfast Bun Cereal Chilled Fruit Fresh Fruit Pork Carnitas Taco Chicken Nuggets PBJ Sandwich & String Cheese Smart Choice Pizza Seasonal Salad Bar Maple Burst’n Mini Pancakes Breakfast Bun Cereal Chilled Fruit Fresh Fruit Fruit Juice Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes Cheeseburger Corn Dog-chicken Smart Choice Pizza Seasonal Salad Bar Celebration Cookie Breakfast Pizza Breakfast Bun Cereal Chilled Fruit Fresh Fruit Beef Meatball Sub Dippin’ Chicken Cheesy Stix & Marinara Smart Choice Pizza Seasonal Salad Bar Brownie Cup Cherry Muffin & String Cheese Breakfast Bun Cereal Chilled Fruit Fruit Juice Macaroni & Cheese Chicken Nuggets Smart Choice Pizza Manager’s Choice Seasonal Salad Bar

candle and enjoy the surprise of your work of art! The ice will have formed interesting pockets, like a chunk of Swiss cheese. Let set a day before using.

To use, set candle on a plate and surround it with marbles. When you light the candle, give your preschooler the job of saying “Ta-da!” as you stand around proudly watching the creation flicker on a dark, winter’s night. Note An adult should always be present when burning candles.\ Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

© 2020 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.

Thursday, March 5 8:30am

Sunday, March 9 6:30pm

Diet and heart health go hand in hand. The American Heart Association notes that a healthy diet and lifestyle are the best weapons to fight cardiovascular diseases, which the World Health Organization says kill more people across the globe each year than any other disease. Men and women do not need degrees in nutrition science to create heart-healthy diets for themselves and their families. In fact, the familiar calls to “eat your fruits and vegetables” many adults recall from childhood lessons or nights around the family dinner table still bear weight today. A diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables is a hallmark of a healthy lifestyle. And supplementing such a diet with other heart-healthy foods is a great way to reduce one’s risk for cardiovascular disease. Fruits and vegetables

The U.S. Department of Health and or low-fat plain yogurt or cottage cheese. You can even add fruit or vegetables to such snacks to make snack time even more heart-healthy. Proteins

Healthy proteins are another way people can promote heart health with their daily diets. When choosing proteins at the grocery store, the AHA recommends choosing chicken and fish over red meats. That’s because red meats, which include beef and lamb, have more saturated fat than chicken and fish.

Saturated fats increase blood cholesterol levels and can worsen heart disease, while the unsaturated fats in fish like salmon can actually reduce the risk for cardiovascular issues like heart failure and ischemic stroke. When preparing poultry, remove the skin, as most of the saturated fat in poultry is found just beneath the skin. Grains

When buying grains, the DHHS Human Services notes that fruits and vegetables are healthy whether they’re fresh, frozen, canned, and/or dried. The AHA advises eating fruits and vegetables with every meal and snack, and that may require a little creativity as you sneak them into favorite dishes. For example, the AHA suggests replacing half the ground meat in recipes for burgers, meatloaf or meatballs with cooked chopped mushrooms. The mushrooms can be finely chopped with a knife or food processor, and then sautéed in some olive oil until they’re soft.

At the breakfast table, add fruit to a bowl of cereal to make for a more flavorful morning meal. Dairy products

When purchasing dairy products, the DHHS recommends sticking to fat-free or low-fat options. Replace whole milk with fat-free or one percent and buy fat-free or low-fat cheese. When snacking, reach for fat-free recommends reading the ingredients list on the package before purchasing. Make sure whole wheat or another whole grain is the first item listed in the ingredients list, and choose only those products that say 100% whole grain. Instead of preparing white rice as a side dish, serve brown or wild rice, quinoa or oats.

A heart-healthy diet is easy to design and just as flavorful as less healthy alternatives. (MC) \ Incorporate more heart-healthy foods into your diet

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Ahealthy diet and an active lifestyle are great ways to achieve a healthy weight and good overall health. Many people associate exercise with fitness centers and gym memberships. While gyms certainly are effective places to break a sweat, exercising at home can be an effective way to get fit as well.

Here are some tips for exercising at home. Body weight exercises

Body weight exercises include push-ups, planks, squats, and lunges. Alternating incline and positioning of the body when performing some of these exercises is a great way to work various muscle groups. Body weight exercises do not necessarily require equipment. Get outdoors for cardio

A mix of cardiovascular activity, which puts a strain on the heart and lungs to build up stamina, can help shave off the pounds when paired with strength-training exercises. Take to the great outdoors near home to get in a good cardio workout.

Rally Health, a digital, data-based health advisory company, says that walking can constitute a cardio workout if one goes at a brisk pace of around three miles per hour. Walking on an incline also can constitute vigorous exercise that’s on par with running or biking, particularly when it’s a steep hill. Set up a home gym

With a few barbells, dumbells and a weight bench, it’s easy to create a home gym in a basement or garage. Extra equipment, such as TRX resistance training equipment or an elliptical machine, can be added to make the gym more complete.

Many people find that they can effectively workout at home with little to no equipment necessary. With such convenience, individuals may find they make more time for exercise, which is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. (MC) \ Start exercising at home

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A SECOND WIND It’s about time

By Mary Petersen Signal Staff Writer I read in an article the other day that gardening could be the hobby that helps you live to 100. Something about vitamin D, fresh air and moderate physical activity as stress relief. But that isn’t why I have been gardening lately.

I’m not sure I want to live to 100. I have been gardening to reclaim my backyard slope from the unruly jungle that has overtaken it. Armed with heavy gloves and shears, I have been hacking away at bushes until they reached a manageable size, all the while saying I’ll never let it get this overgrown again.

I’ll take time each week to garden. But that simple task has proven difficult. Although I love gardening, I never seem to have enough time. I thought that after I retired I would have plenty of discretionary time for leisurely pursuits. I would read books in the middle of the day, attend lectures at the college, have museum dates with friends, maybe even have time to get bored. But three years into retirement, time still proves to be elusive and I never feel I have enough of it.

Research, however, does not validate my experience. According to the consulting and research firm AgeWave, Americans 65 and over are the most “time affluent,” with an average of 7.5 hours of free time per day.

I’m in the most time-affluent stage of life, yet I feel time-impoverished. This is the heart of the problem— feeling that there is a lack of time. Feelings are subjective and not necessarily based on reality. Mind time and

clock time are totally different.

Our perception of time can influence how we experience our lives.

Feeling that we don’t have the time to pursue our passions — travel, cook or run marathons — narrows our life experience and restricts our joy. We miss out on the fulfilling things that make life meaningful. We feel trapped and battered about by the clock.

What if feeling victimized by time is a choice?

In one studyof more than 7,000 working Australians (ok they’re not retired), researchers concluded that those who feel they have the least free time generally impose that feeling upon themselves. They determined that being pressured by time is largely an “illusion.” Changing this mindset can actually free up time.

The great paradox as we age is that there is so much time and yet so little of it. Time goes by quickly in this last trimester of life, but we have more discretionary time than we think.

Maybe changing one’s perspective is as simple as putting the big rocks of life in the jar first. Remember that story?

If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. We may feel pressured by lack of time in our busy schedules, but if we commit to the passions that edify us, the time to pursue them will emerge.

Years ago my friend gave me an ornamental garden stone, now graying and faded that says “as the garden grows, so shall the gardener.” It has never been more timely than now. Mary Petersen is a retired COC English instructor, 30-year SCV resident and two-time breast cancer survivor. \

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Great activities to embrace this spring S pring arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on March 19, bringing with it visions of more hours of sunshine, warmer temperatures and ample opportunities to embrace the great outdoors.

Come mid-March, people who live in climates marked by cold winters have no doubt been anticipating spring fun in the sun for some time. Once spring arrives, the following make for some great activities. Sports

Come spring, various sports fill up afternoon and weekend schedules. Whether these are professional sports or youth sports leagues, the games can be a great way to spend time outdoors in the fresh, suddenly warmer air. Visit an orchard

Spring is a season when many berries, such as strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, begin to ripen. Find your local pickyour-own establishment to spend a day having fun (and getting a little messy) grabbing sweet berries for salads, jams and pies. Hit the links

It’s time to dust off the clubs and play the greens at any of the thousands of golf courses in North America. The National Golf Federation says the United States is home to around 15,000 courses. The warmer temperatures are ideal for practicing your short game on the putting green or for playing all 18 holes. Get the patio ready for entertaining

Clean off the patio furniture or start shopping for new items. This is just the start of the outdoor entertaining season, and it pays to refresh the deck or patio and invest in some quality furniture to keep guests comfortable. Plan a vacation

Many schools go on a hiatus for From pick-your-own berries to biking in the sun, spring is the time to start getting outside before the summer heat sets in.

a week or two during the spring, prompting otherwise busy families to get away for some R&R. Book early to score the best deals on hotel rooms and flights. Prepare gardening equipment Before long, the grass will need mowing and the shrubbery will have to be pruned. Ensure that lawn and garden tools and equipment are in top form before they are called into action. Stock up on fuel for gas mowers and sharpen those pruning shears. Visit a local garden

Enjoy the sights at a garden when the first spring blooms start to peek out of the soil. Spring is known for tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and snowdrops. Give your bike a tune-up

Take your bike out of storage and give it a once-over. Now is the time to put air in the tires, grease the chain and make sure that the brakes and other equipment are working properly. Most bike helmet manufacturers recommend replacing helmets every three years, even if you haven’t been in a crash. That’s because the polystyrene foam can degrade over time from environmental exposure. Visit a farm

Many farm animals give birth in the spring. Children may be excited to see piglets, foals, kids, and all the other adorable young animals draw their first breaths.

Spring’s arrival presents the perfect opportunity to reacquaint oneself with the great outdoors. (MC) \

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