Month: October 2017

If you need someone to Clean-it, call Clean-it

Celly de Freitas is the owner and operator of Clean-it. She and her team work together to ensure their clients’ homes and offices are thoroughly cleaned.

If you’re in the market for a new cleaning service for your home or office, Celly de Freitas invites you to try Clean-it, her family-owned cleaning service based in Wesley Chapel and serving the surrounding areas, including New Tampa, Lutz and Land O’Lakes, which she has owned and operated since 2013. The company is unlike many, in that Celly herself meets with each client to get specific instructions and room-by-room requests and then returns to either do the job herself, or supervise it, every time your home is cleaned.

Celly says other cleaning services don’t usually offer the consistency she does. Large companies hire a lot of people, she says, so you don’t always get the same crew working in your home. She says this is a recipe for miscommunication, and also considerably slows down the cleaning process.

“For all of my clients,” explains Celly, “I either personally clean their house, or I check it after my crew is done. Every house, every time.”

Clean-it includes four crew members besides Celly, and they are all her family members and friends.

“I only have people working for me who I know and trust,” Celly says. “I’m not going to allow someone into my clients’ homes if I don’t know them.”

She says she often hears from people who are not happy with their current cleaning service.

“They tell me they’ve arranged their schedule to be home, then people don’t show up, and sometimes the cleaning company doesn’t even know they’re missing houses,” she says. “Or they don’t like that different people show up at their house for each cleaning. So, they tell me they’ll give me a try, and then they (usually) stick with me.”

Clean-it provides general cleaning services, including dusting, wiping down and disinfecting window ledges, baseboards, interior glass doors, countertops, the facings of all appliances, sinks, faucets, exterior cabinets, blinds and ceiling fans, as well as floor vacuuming and mopping. If you need something done that isn’t on this list, Celly says all you have to do is ask, as she is happy to accommodate special requests.

The same goes for offices, too. Celly says she vacuums, clean the bathrooms, tables and blinds, fans, and mops floors. She says offices tend to be more simple, but she still accommodates whatever is needed.

“I do whatever the client asks, and I always accomplish what I promise,” Celly explains. “My clients are always happy with my services, or I go back and make it right.”

She says this is another contrast to large cleaning companies, where a cleaning crew may have so many homes scheduled that they are in a rush at every home they visit.

“This isn’t a quick clean,” says Celly. “We’re not paid by the hour, so we don’t have to look at our watches while we’re cleaning, to be sure we get in and out quickly.”

She stresses that, in her business, the needs and desires of her clients are of the utmost importance. “We just do whatever it takes to make sure your house looks good every time we leave.”

Celly insists that each time she cleans your home, it will be as clean as the first time. She says that her reputation has been built on satisfied customers who know she does a thorough and detailed cleaning each and every time.

A Little Background

Celly has now worked in the cleaning industry for more than 20 years, the last five as the owner and operator of Clean-it. She moved to Florida 21 years ago from Brazil and her family settled in the Seven Oaks community in Wesley Chapel more than 15 years ago. With her roots in this area, she has many long-term relationships with her clients.

“I want people to know they can trust me,” she says. “I have houses I’ve cleaned for 15 years. I provide references and I welcome new clients to call my current clients and see what they have to say about me.”

Julie is one of those clients who is happy to talk about how much she appreciates Clean-it’s cleaning services. She says she first met Celly in 2006 when she was looking for someone to clean her home and a neighbor referred her.

“Celly is incredibly reliable, neat, prompt and honest,” Julie says. “She does a good job, and she’s careful with delicate things.”

Julie adds, “I have a lot of plantation shutters, and Celly is obsessed with keeping them dusted and clean, even more than me,” says Julie. “And that’s a big job! I’m very happy with her.”

Celly says Julie is just one of her many satisfied customers. She believes her customers stay happy because she dedicates her time to each one of her clients and puts her personal stamp of approval on each cleaning job.

“Homeowners like the fact that they know me and my crew,” says Julie. “If I don’t come to your house one day, but send a crew instead, it’s still going to be someone you know who has cleaned your house before.”

And, Celly will still stop by to make sure that everything has been done properly.

It’s also important to Celly to use environmentally friendly products, she says. She chooses products that are efficient, ones that, “work well but are not harmful,” she says.

“If you have kids and pets, we know they sometimes come into contact with cleaning products, whether that’s from licking the floor or just having their hands on the floor,” Celly explains. “So, we use products that will not be harmful to their health.” If a client wants their own, personal products to be used for cleaning instead, Celly says she is happy to oblige.

Clean-it offers a 10 percent discount on your first cleaning to Neighborhood News readers who mention this story. Be sure to see her ad on page 49 of this issue, too. Like it says, if you choose to give her a try, “you will see the difference.”

For a free estimate, call Celly at (813) 505-0431. You can learn more about Clean-it online at Facebook.com/CleanIt.Services. The business is licensed and insured. Appointments are available Mon.-Fri., with special request appointments available on Sat. Clean-it is accepting new residential and business clients for regular weekly, bi-weekly and monthly cleanings, as well as one-time services for moving in out.

Clean-it

Specialized Care Available In Wesley Chapel At Florida Orthopaedic Institute

It’s been two years since the newest office of Florida Orthopaedic Institute opened in the Shoppes of Wesley Chapel on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., directly across from Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC).

The staff and doctors at the office are meeting the increasing demand for specialized orthopaedic care that can help the residents of Wesley Chapel and nearby communities stay active.

The Board-certified doctors and surgeons at Florida Orthopaedic Institute have been recognized globally for their expertise. Headquartered in North Tampa, the Wesley Chapel office is the tenth for the practice, which has been open for 27 years and now serves patients in or near Bloomingdale, Brandon, Citrus Park, Northdale, Oak Hill/Brooksville, Palm Harbor, South Tampa, Sun City Center, Temple Terrace and Wesley Chapel/New Tampa.

The Wesley Chapel office offers physician services, physical therapy and X-rays, with three Board-certified physicians on staff:

• Christopher Baker, M.D., a fellowship-trained specialist in sports medicine and shoulder reconstruction;

• Brian Palumbo, M.D., who specializes in hip and knee replacement surgery, with a focus on diagnosing and treating hip and knee arthritis, and

• Timothy Epting, D.O., orthopaedic foot & ankle surgeon, who focuses on injuries and disorders of the foot and ankle and general orthopaedic conditions.

To maintain the highest level of orthopaedic skill, Florida Orthopaedic Institute only employs doctors who have had fellowship training.

“This additional training is just part of what sets us apart,” says Dr. Baker, “especially when the sophisticated work of joints is involved. In order to keep our patients active, the precision of the treatment is paramount to success.”

Dr. Baker, a partner at Florida Orthopaedic Institute, has been with the group for four years and has practiced in the area for seven. He graduated cum laude with his M.D. degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville and completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His fellowship at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas (in Spartanburg, SC) gave him an extra year of study in sports medicine and shoulder reconstruction, making him the only fellowship-trained shoulder specialist in eastern Pasco County.

He also has been very influential in high school athletics, since he assisted in opening the sports medicine programs at Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills high schools. Dr. Baker continues to serve as the team physician for several schools in both Pasco and Hillsborough Counties. He also treats professional athletes and has served as the orthopaedic and sports medicine physician for the Tampa Bay Storm Arena Football League team.

In addition to caring for athletes, he also treats patients who have shoulder pain stemming from aging or injury. Many patients avoid shoulder treatment because they are afraid they will need surgery or because of the misconception that pain is a normal part of aging, but Dr. Baker always informs his patients about all available alternatives.

“There are a lot of options other than surgery, like physical therapy or cortisone injections,’’ he says. “Our mission is to do what is best for the individual patient.”

Even when surgery is necessary, Dr. Baker says he does not go straight to invasive surgical techniques. He uses the latest technologies and says that many repairs are done with an arthroscope to minimize incisions, pain and recovery time. The other doctors at Florida Orthopaedic Institute, like Dr. Palumbo, also believe that minimizing surgical trauma and muscle damage should be a high priority for any surgeon.

Speaking of Dr. Palumbo, he served in the Special Operations Command for the U.S. Air Force. He later earned his M.D. degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he also served as a resident in USF’s Department of Orthopedics & Sports Medicine. After that, he attended Harvard Medical School’s Hip & Knee reconstruction surgical fellowship for one year at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.

Dr. Palumbo specializes in hip and knee arthritis management, joint replacement surgery and the treatment of failed or painful hip and knee joint replacements. He is Board-certified by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, a member of the American Association of Hip & Knee Surgeons, and serves as an assistant professor for the University of South Florida’s Orthopaedic Residency Program.

There are several unique aspects to Dr. Palumbo’s orthopaedic practice. He is a proponent of the direct anterior approach (DAA), also known as the frontal approach, for hip replacements. He says this technique minimizes surgical trauma and allows for faster recovery and decreased pain. He explains that, “Rather than cutting through or damaging muscles (with the DAA approach), you’re simply spreading certain muscles to the side, using their natural tissue planes. It’s like opening a window versus breaking through it.”

His approach to joint replacement surgery also includes a technique for total knee replacements called Kinematic Knee Alignment. This technique is unique in that the goal of the surgery is to restore the natural position and dynamics of the knee joint, rather than implanting it in an alignment that the surgeon believes is correct.

“Conventional total knee arthroplasty implants the knee where the surgeon thinks it belongs, while kinematic alignment implants the knee replacement in a way that attempts to replicate (that) knee before (the patient) had arthritis,” he states.

Dr. Palumbo also is an advocate for partial (rather than total) knee replacements whenever possible. He feels that sparing hip and knee joint muscles and preserving bone (when possible) can lead to improved and faster recovery and long-term outcomes.

He also firmly believes in the importance of fellowship-trained, specialized surgeons. “The added training and expertise this provides allows us to care for complex failed and painful joint replacement issues,” he says. “Approximately 30 percent of joint replacements I perform are re-do replacements for old or failed joint replacements.”

An Emphasis On Education

Educating patients is a core philosophy at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute, whose surgeons encourage patients to seek out options to ensure that they are getting a doctor who is experienced in treating their particular type of injury.

Dr. Epting is an orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon, the only one in Pasco County. He is Board-certified and did his fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Prior to joining the Florida Orthopaedic Institute team, Dr. Epting served three years as an orthopaedic surgeon at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. He also served as an orthopaedic surgeon in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2010. “My military experience and fellowship training allow me to explore all options for my patients so they can receive the best possible care,” he says.

Dr. Epting treats sports injuries of the ankle/foot (fractures, ligament and tendon injuries), as well as arthritis (fusions and ankle replacement) and foot & ankle deformities. He utilizes non-surgical measures (bracing and physical therapy) as well as surgical repair, arthroscopy and reconstruction, when appropriate. Orthopaedic surgery training gives him insight into foot and ankle conditions, as well as their impact on the body as a whole.

For more info, stop in at Florida Orthopaedic Institute’s Wesley Chapel office at 2653 BBD, or visit FloridaOrtho.com. The Wesley Chapel location is open Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Call (800) FL-ORTHO for appointments.

Florida Orthopaedic Institute

Ciccio Cali Does The Impossible (Burger)…And We Actually Liked It!

Ciccio Restaurant Group’s Jeff Gigante is on a mission — to prove to the world that a meatless, 100-percent plant-based burger, including a secret ingredient called “heme” that you’ve almost certainly never heard of, can not only help save the planet, but taste good as well.

And, that’s not just good for a “veggie” burger, which would be a low bar to clear.

But good good…like a “real” hamburger.

“We’re going after carnivores, not vegans and vegetarians,’’ Gigante said.

The night before the beef-free Impossible Burger made its debut in Florida at eight of Gigante’s restaurants, including the New Tampa Ciccio Cali, Gigante promised us we’d be blown away.

“It will change your life,’’ he said.

It has certainly changed his.

Since touring the Impossible Foods facility in California last year, Gigante has been obsessed with bringing the Impossible Burger to his restaurants. He beat out many others also eager to unveil the burger outside of food meccas like New York and Las Vegas. “It has taken me a year, and I did it,’’ Gigante said.

Impossible Foods, headquartered in Redwood City, CA, was founded by Stanford University biochemistry professor Patrick Brown in 2011. After spending an 18-month sabbatical working to eliminate industrial animal agriculture because of its negative effects on the environment, Brown decided the best way to work towards solving the problem was by creating products that did so, including a plant-based burger that looks, smells and tastes like ground beef.

Heme, a molecule in blood that makes it red (and makes meat look pink), is the key ingredient (and derived from the roots of a soy plant) that helps make the Impossible Burger burger-ish. The rest of the burger is intricately comprised of various plant, wheat and potato proteins that most mimic the smells, taste and texture of ground beef.

The Impossible Burger launched last year in NY and Los Angeles. According to the company, the burger uses 95% less land, 74% less water and emits 87% less greenhouse gases than a burger made from cows – the livestock industry is known for requiring an abundance of food, water and land.

It also has more protein and less fat and calories and is free of cholesterol, antibiotics and synthetic hormones (although it does have more sodium and more saturated fats). A 3-ounce Impossible Burger patty has 220 calories, 13 grams of total fat (but no trans fat), 5 carbs and 20 grams of protein.

“It really is a noble mission,” Gigante says. “They say, and (Patrick Brown’s) numbers prove it, that the choice of one consumer choosing the Impossible Burger over a regular quarter pound of beef saves greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to driving 19 miles, 290 gallons water and puts 75 square feet of land back on the earth.”

Which is great…but how does it taste?

To find out, I gathered my wife and a few friends and we headed over to Ciccio’s on the day the burger launched.

Let’s call it Mission: Impossible Burger.

We weren’t the first to order it. Manager Shannon Hulton said there were five Impossible Burgers ordered the minute Ciccio’s had opened, and by the end of lunch more than a dozen had been sold.

But, her staff had tried them, and everyone loved them. Ciccio Cali chef Dan Higgins and Gigante’s regional chef Tim Delaney cooked up the first batch.

“The timing is a little bit different than with beef,’’ Higgins said. “But, it even sizzles like ground beef when it hits the grill.”

While waiting for our burgers, I asked the group how close it would have to be to a regular burger to make it their burger of choice. The consensus was 80-90 percent, although Tampa Palms’ Clayton Smith was a hold out: “I need it to be 100 percent (the same),” he said.

The burgers were served with Swiss cheese, a delicious mustard-based aioli that’s supposed to harken to a Tampa cuban sandwich, pickles and tomatoes. “Well, it definitely looks legit,’’ said West Meadows resident Drew Fisher, who also noticed the heft of the Impossible Burger.

Once everyone had their burger (they take a little longer to cook — we got ours in about 15 minutes), we all took our first bite on the count of 3.

Everyone was surprised. It was far better than anyone at the table expected.

“Not bad,” said local Realtor and Wesley Chapel resident Nikki Spirakis. “It’s not a burger, but it’s good. And I like the texture.”

“It’s not ground beef,’’ said Phuong Cotey, “but it’s definitely tasty.”

“It doesn’t crumble,’’ Clayton said.

Bite No. 1 drew a thumbs-up and head nods from everyone. The group agreed it was way better than any veggie burger they had ever had, and that comparing it to any other veggie burger seemed unfair.

On a scale, the Impossible Burger was significantly closer to tasting like a ground beef patty than it was to a veggie burger. “I wouldn’t have known it was a “veggie” burger,” said Drew.

Each burger was cooked either medium or medium well. While billed as a fake meat that bleeds, ours didn’t, but they were moist.

We poked, prodded, bit, chewed and swallowed bite after bite. Clayton even smelled it, noting it had a smell that didn’t remind him of ground beef. An avid wine drinker, we trust his nose.

Drew likened the Impossible Burger to a crab cake – it was seared on the outside, which gave it a slightly crispy outside layer, and did not have the traditional grill marks of a burger — but when he was done said he felt much better than he normally does after having a burger and fries at other places, “where it sits with you all afternoon.”

Everyone commented on that same point. And it was true – afterwards, there wasn’t that bloated, unbutton-your-pants kind of feeling you can get from eating a large ground beef patty. It was refreshing.

The burger was quite tasty. There was a subtle sweet taste to the first bite.

It wasn’t juicy, but it was far from dry. Minus the bun and condiments, you wouldn’t confuse it with ground beef, however, but like everyone else, I will definitely order it again.

For those who are socially and environmentally conscious, choosing an Impossible Burger over a regular burger anywhere else is a no-brainer, even though on days I can suppress those feelings I may still sneak off to Oakley’s.

My wife took half of her burger home and ate it five hours later and thought it tasted better than it did at Ciccio’s. Clayton said if it was available in stores, he would buy some for his next cookout.

On a scale of 1-10, the appearance of the burger got two 9s and two 10s, with the Drew only giving it a 7.

As for the taste, Clayton gave it a 7, and everyone else rated it a 9. The Impossible Burger got three 10s and two 8s for texture.

I texted Gigante before I pulled out and told him he was right – the Impossible Burger was, actually, a little mind-blowing, and it did make me think about where our food comes from and the effects it has on our environment. I decided I would take my kids there for one, and see if they liked it, because something Gigante said to me the day before had stuck with me.

“I have kids, and someday I hope for them to grow up to be good people, and meet someone they love, and they have kids,” Gigante said. “Wouldn’t you like for your grandkids to enjoy life like you did? The way we are going, that won’t be possible. That’s why the Impossible Burger is so important.”

impossible burger

Hillsborough Puts Up $250,000 To Build Kinnan-Mansfield Connection

This photo taken by a drone shows the 60-foot gap between Kinnan St. (on the bottom) and Mansfield Blvd. Hillsborough and Pasco counties are stalemated on the issue but continue to discuss connecting the two roads.

There are many things keeping the 60-foot patch of dirt and grass separating Kinnan St. and Mansfield Blvd. concrete-free, but Hillsborough County District 5 Commissioner Ken Hagan wants to make sure money is no longer one of them.

Comm. Hagan proposed adding $250,000 to the county budget on Sept. 14 to be used for a potential Kinnan-Mansfield connection, which the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners approved, potentially removing one of the roadblocks to resolving the long-standing dispute between Pasco, Hillsborough and the City of Tampa.

Hagan says he has been told there have been recent meetings between Hillsborough and Pasco County’s MPO, and a traffic study Pasco commissioned to evaluate a number of connections between the two counties is expected to be finalized in November.

“At this point, we are waiting for their traffic analysis to come back,’’ Hagan said. “Then, we will reach out to Pasco County administrators and see if we can finally break this stalemate.”

Kinnan St., which runs north from Cross Creek Blvd. to the Hillsborough/Pasco county line, is located mostly in the county, although it does turn slightly west and into the City of Tampa boundaries as it nears Mansfield — where the barricades currently stand.

Both Tampa and Hillsborough County have worked on the issue over the years, but recently the city has declined all requests from Pasco involving putting up any money related to traffic studies or potential construction of the connection.

“I know the City of Tampa staff is unwilling to invest anything to make it work,” Hagan says. “I didn’t want the cost to hold us back, so we put the $250,000 in the budget to make the connection. I didn’t want money to be a deterrent or in any way delay making the connection.”

The money, Hagan said, it to be used for the actual construction of the connection.

The Kinnan-Mansfield link is seen as an important connection to help alleviate traffic on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. for drivers from both counties, particularly those driving between the residential communities in both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.

It would also serve as an economic stimulant, Hagan says, as well as assist in public safety efforts in an area where hundreds of new homes are approved to be built in K-Bar Ranch, which is entirely within the city limits.

“I know firsthand, from living in Cross Creek, the frustration of being essentially landlocked,” says the former resident of the Creekwood subdivision of Cross Creek, just two miles from the unconnected roads.

Hagan, the longest-serving current commissioner in Hillsborough County, now in his 15th year, is no stranger to the dispute between Pasco and Hillsborough over the two roads.

As the commissioner in District 2 (which includes Cross Creek, Pebble Creek, Live Oak and many of the communities located in the city in New Tampa) from 2002-10, Hagan has been involved in dozens of discussions about connecting the two roads.

“We were told that once Wiregrass was fully connected to the north, Pasco would authorize the connection,’’ Hagan says. He said he grew so frustrated during negotiations that, at one point, he threatened to put a toll booth on Bruce B. Downs at the county line.

“I got a lot of very, very favorable response from New Tampa, and a very very hateful response from Pasco County,” Hagan says.

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, who represents New Tampa as part of the city’s District 7, has been a vocal cheerleader for the connection. Viera has called Hagan’s move a “game-changer.”

“I’m glad the county took this step,’’ Viera says. “Pasco has its position, we have had ours, but now, this could potentially change things with the involvement of the money. It’s a very positive step.”

Regardless, residents on the Mansfield side of the debate, as well as their local county commissioner, have remained cool to the idea because of fears that the two-lane road cannot handle additional traffic and that the location of elementary, middle and high schools, as well as Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, all along Mansfield is a safety hazard.

“The study will probably come back late fall or into winter,’’ Pasco County District 2 commissioner Mike Moore said. “There’s not much more I can add.”

Comm. Moore said the money appropriated for Kinnan-Mansfield wouldn’t have any effect on the decision by his county. He says many of his constituents in Meadow Pointe, particularly Meadow Pointe II & III, do not want Mansfield and Kinnan hooked up, even though it’s been in Pasco’s long-range transportation plan since Meadow Pointe was first developed in the early 1990s.

Based on feedback his office has received, Moore puts the percentage of those opposed at 70-80 percent.

At a public meeting hosted by Pasco County planners at PHSC in April, three potential connections were discussed —Kinnan-Mansfield, extending the existing Meadow Pointe Blvd. to the proposed K-Bar Ranch Blvd. and extending Wyndfields Blvd. to both K-Bar Ranch Blvd. and to Morris Bridge Rd.

While Dennis Smith, the chairman of the Meadow Pointe I CDD, said he wanted to see the connection made, others did not. The proposed extension of Meadow Point Blvd., two miles further east, had wider support, Moore said.

“Right now, in my mind, Meadow Pointe Blvd. would be an excellent location,’’ Moore said. “There is little to no objection to it.”

However, Hagan made it clear the $250,000 the county has allocated is only for the Kinnan-Mansfield connection, not any other connector roads Pasco County may request instead. Multiple connections could be an option.

“We always talk about regional connectivity,” Hagan says, “and we have (other) connections between the two counties. It’s just absurd this road hasn’t been connected all these years.”

Kinnan-Mansfield

‘Let’s Not Be Still’ Walk To Be Held Oct. 15!

On Saturday, October 15, which is National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day, Heritage Isles resident Kimberley Asante will lead an event called “Let’s Not Be Still!”

It’s New Tampa’s first walk to support the Star Legacy Foundation, which provides research, education and support for families who have lost their babies due to miscarriage, stillborn birth or death shortly after birth.

“In 2016, I was pregnant with my daughter,” says Kimberley, who lives in Heritage Isles. “My cousin, who lives in Spain, was pregnant at the same time and was due 10 days after me. We shared a lot of our experiences, because this was the first pregnancy for both of us. On December 31, my baby, Maya, was born happy and healthy. Unfortunately, 2 weeks later my cousin’s baby was stillborn. It was such a horrible loss for the whole family.”

Kimberley decided to do something in honor of her cousin and many other families who suffer similar losses. She says she tried to find an event to participate in, but couldn’t find anything closer than Atlanta. That’s when she decided to organize the event herself.

The “Let’s Not Be Still” walk will start at Heritage Isles Country Club (10630 Plantation Bay Dr.) with registration at 8 a.m. and a family walk at 9:30 a.m. There’s a “diaper dash” for toddlers ages three and under, and a “kids fun run” for ages four through 12. Also, there will be a remembrance ceremony at 11 a.m.

For information or to register, visit LetsNotBeStill-Tampa.org.

Let's Not Be Still walk