Soccer season kicks off

The Anna Maria Island Community Center's recreational co-ed soccer league officially kicks off its 2011 soccer season this week. Players formed 31 teams last week, which is a new soccer record for the Center, surpassing last year's record of 30 teams.

It all begins with the annual soccer kickoff fund-raiser banquet. The banquet will be held Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the gym at the Center. A complete spaghetti dinner with Caesar salad, garlic bread and drink will be donated by the Beach Bistro, and the cost is $6 per person. Children under the age of 3 eat free. Parents are encouraged to bring a desert to pass. Sean Murphy and the Beach Bistro have been donating and preparing the food for this event for 15 consecutive years.

All players, including adults will receive their jerseys and socks. Coaches will pass out the season, spirit and picture schedules. This event is not limited to players and parents only, and anyone who wishes to support the youth soccer league is welcome to attend. Takeout will be available. The proceeds of this banquet are very important and go directly to supporting the youth soccer season.

Thursday, Sept. 15, will be opening night games. This year the adult league will kick things off and start the season. Rightly so, since the adult league has the most teams in it with nine total. The league is composed of male and female players between the ages of 20 and 54. They play seven a side and must have at least one female on the pitch at all times.

Youth spirit week games will take place on Saturday, Sept. 17. Players and families are encouraged to dress in their team's colors and show their team spirit. The more creative the supporters, the greater amount of points the team will receive. The winner in each age division receives an ice cream party at Dips.

The Center's new Athletic Director Troy Shonk said, "We have a record season for participants in our soccer league this year. Thank you to all parents, families, coaches and players for making this a great start to a great season."

Adult co-ed soccer schedule:

Sept. 15, Thursday, 6 p.m.
Don Meilner & Son Construction vs. Jessie's Island Store

Sept. 15, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Euphemia Haye vs. Florida Discount Signs

Sept. 15, Thursday, 8 p.m.
Sato Real Estate vs. Island Pest Control

Sept. 15, Thursday, 9 p.m.
Wash Family Construction vs. Ross Built Construction

Youth soccer spirit schedule:
Instructional League (4-5-year- olds):

Sept. 17, Saturday, 10 a.m.
The White Egret vs. Bowes Imaging

Sept. 17, Saturday, 10:15 a.m.
Island Dental Spa vs. GulfBay Realty

Sept. 17, Saturday, 10:30 a.m.
The White Egret vs. Island Dental Spa

Sept. 17, Saturday, 10:45 a.m.
Bowes Imaging vs. GulfBay Realty

Instructional League (6-7-year olds):

Sept. 17, Saturday, 11 a.m.
Air & Energy vs. Beach Bums

Sept. 17, Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
Coastal Orthopedics vs. Tyler's Ice Cream

Sept. 17, Saturday, 12 p.m.
Beach Bums vs. Coastal Orthopedics

Sept. 17, Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
Air & Energy vs. Tyler's Ice Cream

Division III (8-9-year-olds):

Sept. 17, Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Island Real Estate vs. Island Pest Control

Sept. 17, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Gettel Toyota vs. West Coast Surf Shop

Sept. 17, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
Island Real Estate vs. The Feast

Sept. 17, Saturday, 3 p.m.
Gettel Toyota vs. Island Pest Control

Sept. 17, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
West Coast Surf Shop vs. The Feast

Division II (10-11-year-olds):

Sept. 17, Saturday, 12 p.m.
Eat Here vs. LaPensee Plumbing

Sept. 17, Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
LaPensee Plumbing vs. Jen Crady Massage

Sept. 17, Saturday, 1 p.m.
Eat Here vs. Jen Crady Massage

Division I (12-14-year-olds):

Sept. 17, Saturday, 10 a.m.
Mr. Bones BBQ vs. Spinnakers Vacation Cottages

Sept. 17, Saturday, 10:30 a.m.
Wash Family Construction vs. AutoWay Ford

Sept. 17, Saturday, 11 a.m.
AutoWay Ford vs. Mr. Bones BBQ

Sept. 17, Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
Spinnakers Vacation Cottages VS. Wash Family Construction

Premier League (15-17-year-olds):

Sept. 17, Saturday, 9:30 a.m.
Ace Hardware vs. Beach Bistro

Making ends meet in a hurricane and beyond

As a former anchor/reporter in Miami and elsewhere, I know that for whatever meteorological reasons, hurricanes threaten Florida more before, during and after Labor Day. As a cooking instructor focused on preparing healthy foods on a budget, besides the incredible health benefits my students often experience, this time of year I hear, "Wow, this is great hurricane food!"

If daily news stories are to be believed, you can't eat healthfully and inexpensively. The media tell us that eating a nutritious diet costs big bucks. Fortunately, these doomsayers are wrong. I set out to write a book that would blow that myth out of the water. I love showing in writing and cooking demonstrations how you can eat really well for a lot less than you think.

Before becoming a cooking teacher and chef, I spent 18 years doing investigative reporting on television. Then I became a financial consultant at the now defunct Smith Barney. I left Wall Street in 2003 to join my husband in his successful media-consulting business and began teaching cooking classes. What started out as a little passion – teaching people how easy it is to prepare delicious, healthful, inexpensive meals at home – became a full-fledged, concurrent second career.

A lot of what I learned as a reporter and financial consultant has made its way into my book and writings. For example, most people fear outliving their savings, if they have any. Most people think that buying fast food is the least expensive way to eat, but a simple investigation of the facts reveals just how wrong that is.

At today's prices, your average fast food meal would cost, say, $5. That might even be conservative, but humor me. Let's figure $2 for a large box of fries and $3 for a whopping big burger with cheese. If you want a drink, you may need to hold the cheese. OK, breakfast may cost less, dinner may cost more. Still, in all, over the course of a year, a regimen of fast food would break down as follows:

• $5 per meal x three meals per day = $15 per day;

• $15 per day x 365 days = $5,475 per year.

Now, take that year and multiply it by the average 30 years in retirement (that's what they told us to say at Smith Barney), and you've got a significant amount of change needed just to eat supposedly cheap fast food.

• $5,475 x 30 years retirement = $164,000.

The calculations show that even in just one year, one person would pay $5,475 (that's more than $450 each month) for so-called cheap food. On my plan, you can eat three great-tasting, nutritious meals for less than the cost of just one of these fast food meals. And you'll be trimmer and healthier for it. Six dollars a day is the average amount for food stamps, or SNAP, as it is now called.

These days I eat a naturally lean, whole-grain, plant-based diet. No dairy, no eggs, no meats. I've never felt or looked better – or saved more money at the store. If you're wondering why I started eating a vegan whole-foods diet, it's simple: I wanted to cheat death.

Doctors had long told me the handwriting was on the wall. My aunt died of breast cancer in our home when I was five. I almost died of a colon blockage the year my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. When my mom and second sister got breast cancer and I started facing the fact that every member of my family faced something life threatening, mostly heart disease and diabetes – I began reading as if my life depended on it.

Many doctors told me I had to do things drastically differently than my family members. As the youngest child, I learned very well by observation what not to do. And I started changing my diet. Today, as the mother of three girls, I still worry about our genetic odds. But even genetic illness requires a trigger, and genetics do not dictate our destinies. There is much we can do to beat the odds.

Hurricane foods simply are beans, grains and greens, with fruits for desserts. Now that my book is out and thriving, I'll start posting recipes. Stay safe!

You can follow Island resident Ellen Jaffe Jones on her Facebook page and keep up with her just released book:,"Eat Vegan on $4 a Day," or her website: www.vegcoach.com. She is also a nationally certified personal trainer and running coach. For training in a gym or private hire, contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.