Please Pass A Berry Ice Cube

It's getting hot around here and a Berry Ice Cube sounds like a perfect summer time treat -- it's refreshing, healthy and a good source of Vitamin C. Here is how to make it (thanks to a recipe from Kuakini Health System).

Berry Ice Cubes

• 12 ounces Fresh or Frozen Strawberries
• 1 1/2 Cups Orange Juice
• 1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
• 1 Ripe Banana

Combine ingredients in a blender, puree until smooth. Pour mixture into ice cube trays. Place trays in freezer for about 2 hours of until the mixture hardens. Ice cubes may be frozen up to 4 weeks.

Yield: 2 ice cube trays

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Here's a easy favorite in our household -- frozen bananas on a stick. Just cut ripe bananas in half. Insert a popsicle stick in the cut side. Wrap with plastic wrap. Freeze. Enjoy!!! You can get fancy by adding a chocolate shell and nuts but we enjoy it best in this very simple way.

Summer Reading Program at Hawaii's Public Libraries

Here is a wonderful, FREE and educational opportunity available to everyone this summer. It's the 2008 Summer Reading Program located at all Hawaii Public Libraries. From now until July 12, 2008, children, teens and adults are encouraged to visit your community library and sign up for the reading program. Read one book a week and receive a fun gift. Infant and toddlers can participate by having an adult read to them.

Here is a list of what you can win:

• Infant/Toddler and Children prizes -- Pro Bowl Disposable Cameras; Quaker Chewy 90 Calorie Bars; Diamond Bakery Animal Crackers; Catch the Reading Bug pencils and tattoos; Keiki's First Board books; Doorhangers and Stickers; Refracto and Rubber Rulers; Protractors.
• Teen -- Gel Writer Pens; Mechanical Pencils; Twister Stick Erasers; Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix bars.
• Adult -- sign up for prize drawings.

This statewide reading enrichment program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Hawaii, National Football League Charities, McDonald's Restaurants of Hawaii, First Insurance Company of Hawaii, Diamond Bakery, and the University of Hawaii Outreach College's Statewide Cultural Extension Program.

For more information, please visit http://librarieshawaii.org/ and also check out the other library services available to you.

Having a Green Summer

If you are looking for a fun Eco-Adventure activity for your child this summer, consider the Green House's EcoExplorer Adventure Club. The Green House is located at 224 Pakohana St. in Pauoa Valley and was started in 2004 by Betty Gearen. During the year, Betty offers classes to adults and children teaching everyone about earth conservation through projects that include worm composting, creating solar ovens, butterfly gardens and more.

We are lucky that this year the Green House is offering this fun summer program that includes

...five fun-filled weeks of hands-on environmental education that will inspire within students an ethic of stewardship for the world around them. The EcoExplorer Adventure Club is geared for children ages 5 through 12. They will spend each week exploring a range of topics designed to give students an appreciation for their environment and an awareness of their impact. Each week covers a new theme, and weekly enrollment options are available if families choose not to take the full five- week course. Our Green House teachers will create a safe learning community with a maximum of 15 children per session: a ratio of five children per teacher. Hands-on learning projects include planting a garden, building a solar oven, making a compost pile, building a wormery, making art using recycled items, and more! Join the fun this summer at The Green House!

Program dates: June 17 - July 17
Program days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Program hours: 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Ages: 5 - 12 years

For more information, please contact: thehawaiigreenhouse@hawaiiantel.net

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