Organic greens or NOT

If you've taken my advice and started making the green drinks (aka hulk juice), you've probably become familiar with green leafy vegetables like Kale and Chard and Collard Greens, Spinach, etc.  If you haven't heard of these, I hadn't really either until a couple years ago.  I spoke earlier about the health benefits of Kale and Chard.  I did some research and found that nearly 10 of the 12 essential vitamins we need daily come from Kale and Chard.  Not only that, there are lots of minerals found in these 2 leafy green vegetables.  I've had people ask me if I buy organic greens.  I do for 2 reasons.  1) They last longer in my fridge. 2) No pesticides.  Whenever possible I'm looking for opportunities to cut out the amounts of sprays and chemicals going into my body.  Sure there are probably bugs found in the leaves but that's why I wash them.  I've tried buying non-organic chard and kale and it doesn't last but 2 days in my fridge.  Organic is a bit more expensive but worth it to me to know that I'm going to be able to use all the  leaves without it going to waste a few days later.  Sometimes I just can't find all organic especially as I'm looking for varieties.  If this happens then I'll wash the greens carefully and use them right away to avoid waste.

Grow your own GREENS

It's coming up to my favorite time of year when I get to garden. Last year I grew whatever I could but my absolutely favorite things to have in my garden were Kale, Chard, Collard Greens and Beet Greens. I loved being able to go outside and cut the fresh leaves for the Hulk Juice. I had a flower garden in the front yard of my house. I decided that instead of planting just flowers I'd mix it up and do all of the greens as well. It ended up being a beautiful garden because I did the Kale and Chard plants in circles around the flowers and then the beets around the chard. The plants flourished. I was a beginning gardener and all of the plants worked perfectly. I was sad because 1/2 way thru the summer last year I had to move. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving the plants so I decided that I'd just take my plants with me from the garden. My husband thought I was insane and pretty much everyone I talked to said it just wouldn't work out.  I ended up transplanting all of the greens and to my shock every single plant flourished again after making the move.

(my garden in front of my house.  Isn't it pretty? And edible)

The point is... It's easy to grow your own greens. You don't need a great big garden or even a green thumb. Instead of doing all flowers this year, grow some greens with it.

Rotate your greens

I posted earlier about HULK JUICE!! Hulk juice is a great way to add greens to your children's diets.  If you are making them regularly its important that you rotate the greens you use.  Instead of blending the same recipe over and over again, try mixing it up.  Did you know there are several different types of Kale leaves and several different colors of chard-red, yellow, and green (look for rainbow chard).  There's also collard greens, dandelion leaves, watercress, and many more green leafy vegetables. 

 

today's recipe was a good one.  We made a green smoothie by using frozen fruit.

3 frozen apricots
3 frozen strawberries
1 banana
1 frozen pear
 2 tomato
2 collard greens
4 carrots
 4 chard leaves-yellow
  4 red kale leaves
handful of frozen blueberries
filled blender 2/3 apple juice
blended very well

This is a big recipe that feeds 6 people 1 1/2 cups each.  I usually fill my blender 3/4 of the way full of greens.

This drink was suprisingly good.  I thought the kids would reject it because it had vegetables.  The pear was so sweet that i think I found my new favorite thing to add to shakes.  PEARS!! I never thought to try.

Remember you can use fresh fruits instead of frozen and then use ice.  Since I don't have an ice maker anymore I've been freezing my own fruit and using it for shakes.  Anytime my kids eat only 1/2 a banana or apple, I throw it into the freezer for shakes.

OH so BUSY!! How Do I possibly make good food?

The past 3 weeks I've been completely slammed with deadlines at work, studying/taking the GRE, and a million other things.  If I was okay with feeding my kids fast food, this would have been the time to do it for sure.  But since I can't stand the thought of processed foods I had to really be creative and organized.  Here's a suggestion for everyone.

Spend one day a week making food for the week.  I cooked on Saturday mornings about 4 or 5 meals to pull out of the fridge during the week for lunch or dinner.

Try making soups, lentils or beans, bread, rice, chili, stir fry, teriyaki chicken, or salad toppers to mix into a salad.  Every pan in my house was dirty but I spent about 3 hours cooking and cleaning up.  The great thing was I had food for the whole week.

 Instead of using the microwave, use a pan.  Nutrients are damaged when you reheat in the microwave.

Organize your kitchen

I am able to whip up good wholesome foods quickly because my kitchen is set up to do so. All the ingredients are easy to get to and available. It's easy to get to my bowls and pots or pans.  When things are down in the storage room or in the clear, far back of the cupboard we are less likely to dig around to get to it. Human nature I guess. I know I'm a culprit of this for sure. I don't have a lot of time. I work everyday, usually 30 hours a week. I have 4 children who demand every second after school with piano, dance, basketball, scouts, homework (ahhh... the homework). Most of the time I have 20 minutes to prepare dinner. Remember, I make everything from scratch. I don't use boxes or mixes or processed foods. Things in my kitchen are organized and easy to get to. If I know I'm wanting to have beans the next day, I'll soak them overnight and then start cooking them in the morning. I have general meal ideas already set up so the ingredients are already either in the fridge or in my cupboard. It's important to have plenty of the basics; onions, garlic, and herbs (see post about herbs).

Find a system that works for you. One thing I've always tried to do is plan ahead. If I see the flour bucket low, I'll grind the wheat before I need it. If I see that my jars of nuts or grains are getting low, I'll refill them before I need it. This is primarily what I do on Sat when I'm doing my deep cleaning in the kitchen. This is really how I can be so successful with preparing good food with very little time. Here's a few pics of my kitchen.  Try having open shelves. I love it.   I also keep everything in jars or cans; so I don't have to worry about mice getting into them or plastic leaching.  I also like how it looks. 

 

Here's my pantry cupboard.  Everything is marked and easy to find.  All my baking products, nuts, seeds, grains, beans, legumes etc. go in here.  I have larger buckets of them in my storage room but have these in my pantry for easy access  

AHHH the CRAVINGS!!!!

Have you ever been craving something all day and can't quite satisfy it? Do your cravings bounce back and forth between wanting salty foods to sweet foods. For example, you start breakfast with a donut or sugar cereal and pretty soon your rummaging through the cupboards for something salty a few hours later. So you eat some potato chips and awhile later you start craving something sweet. And the cycle continues.
 Or maybe you can't stop eating because nothing seems to satisfy your appetite. Both of these scenarios should mean something to you.

ALL SIGNS LEADING TO VITAMIN DEFICIENCY!

Your body is telling you there's a deficiency in something. This is a perfect time to blend up some greens and make some hulk juice. The alkalinity in the greens will balance out the extreme cravings caused by too many acid forming foods. So get yourself a salad or some vegetables or drink a green drink. Try it. It works for me every time. WARNING: Pretty soon you will no longer be satisfied with foods without lots of nutrients. Your body will crave the nutrients. This could change you forever.  ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? :)

the new and improved me

When you feel good... When you can exercise hard . .. When you can see the results of your efforts . . . Life is Awesome! 


I wake up everyday so grateful to be alive and healthy.  I've been truly blessed. I am so happy to have been healed from sickness and disease.  I spent so many years physically and emotionally sick. Through diet, herbs, exercise and the Lord's tender mercies,  I've been able to change and be healed.   I'm healthy and strong now. I'm never turning back.  I'm becoming the person I want to be.  I can do things physically that I could never have done before like beat my brother-in-law in a push up contest doing guy push ups (and no he's not a weakling-i'm just buff :) or run 5 miles in less than 50 minutes. Or do 3 pull ups!! Wow! That doesn't sound like much, but for me, it's freakin awesome..  I've dropped 5 dress sizes.  I went from a size 9 to a size 4 and lost over 10 lbs.


Here's me last year... What a babe!!!

                                               Me now!!

You can do it too.  Start with your nutrition.  When you give your body what it needs, you'll feel so much energy that all you'll want to do is workout.  The food I eat fuels my body and it feels great. Experiment on what foods give you energy and what foods make you tired and sleepy.  Stick with the foods that provide the most energy; foods like: whole grains, vegetables, and lean proteins. 

Next step on my journey... a seriously ripped abdomen and maybe climb a rope.  Flashback to high school... I was the geek who never could climb the stupid rope.  Where's a rope for me now to redeem my scrawny, geeky self.

Promise all this healthy stuff will help you be a better influence for the children in your life.  I used to wonder how my kids had so much energy.  I can keep up with them now.  They learn their eating habits from me and it's up to me to set a good example for them.  Not only that, my kids will learn to have self control when they see me practicing it daily.  2009 was my year! Make 2010 yours!  Do it for them!