Archives for October 2014

The Pack-a-Salad Method

October 28, 2014 by Sarah

I try to make it a goal to eat some greens everyday. Most of the time, I like to consume them by enjoying a nice – usually big – bodacious salad. Sometimes I’ll even come home from work around midnight and just make a nice quick salad because I feel like I just need those greens. Here’s an example of what one looked like the other night:

(some arugula, leftover diced bok choy greens, diced radishes, sunflower seeds and my favorite organic Woodstock barbecue sauce).

I do acknowledge that some days are much harder than others for getting your greens and veggies in.

Do you ever have one of those days when you’re in quite the pinch and putting in the time to prepare, eat and clean up after making a good wholesome meal just isn’t feasible?

Time for the Pack-a-Salad Method to come to the rescue.

Now, let me try and sell you on this one.

First, some pictures:

mixed greens, diced green pepper, shredded carrot, kalamata olives, pumpkin seeds, random spices, and balsamic vinegar

sliced cucumbers, diced red and yellow peppers, pickled beets, mint leaves, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, balsamic glaze

Second, some benefits (a.k.a. why you need to implement the Pack-a-Salad Method into your life ASAP):

You are consuming dark, leafy greens and vegetables, thereby giving your body an assortment of vital nutrients; nutrients that will help you sustain good energy for whatever activities you are embarking on and also to support your health in general.
They are very quick, versatile, and easy to make. I’ve literally whipped up a salad in less than 10 minutes before running out the door (like the ones in the pictures above!).
There’s not much clean-up at all! A cutting board and a knife. And the bowl later on in the day. And possibly the cheese grater if you grate some carrots, but you can just slice them if you’re feeling ooober lazy.
You can make sure you are eating up your produce so it doesn’t go bad, and you can also use up some of your leftovers! Keep reading for more details on that.

Okay, now that you’re dying to know, here is what the Pack-a-Salad Method entails:

Get a bowl with a lid; I highly suggest a 4-cup Pyrex bowl because it’s such a great size, and I love using glass over plastic (this set is my favorite if you’re looking for more sizes).
Place a bed of greens on the bottom. Anything. Mixed greens, romaine, leaf lettuce, spinach, arugula, chard, beet greens, bok choy greens, kale, you name it.
Cut, dice, slice, grate any sort of vegetables you have on hand: carrots, tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, celery, radishes, scallions, pickled beets, broccoli, bell peppers. You can use leftover steamed vegetables too!
Add protein. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds. Pecans, walnuts, almonds. A hard-boiled egg. I really only add goat cheese as far as dairy goes because it’s so creamy and gives the salad an awesome flavor. You can also add organic, local, or good quality meat as well if you have some of that on hand (think leftovers again).
Add some pizazz! Dried fruit (cherries, raisins, or cranberries), olives, hearts of palm, seasonings, mint leaves. Not all of that together though. Unless you want to, but I sure wouldn’t. Just any miscellaneous ingredients you think would accompany what you have already put in the salad.
Dressing. I never go the conventional dressing route. Many of them are filled with lots of junk like GMO oils, sugar, corn syrup, MSG, and preservatives. There are some good organic ones out there, but I never really buy them because I like dressing the salad myself. Goat cheese and avocados are really creamy, and I love pairing those two with balsamic vinegar. You can use balsamic vinegar or glaze and olive oil. Or lemon juice or lime juice with a piece of fruit (I’ve done orange slices, grapefruit slices, mango slices, raspberries, diced apples or diced peaches!). Or whole grain mustard, honey, and lime juice mixed together for a honey mustard dressing.
Place the lid on, and bring with you to your destination. Give the salad a nice little shake up before enjoying at your convenience.

Start simple and then branch out to figure out what you like. I’ve come to realize what my ultimate favorite pairings are, and I stick with those a lot. Also, you can check out some of my other salad posts to get more ideas!

Oh, and how about those sales woman tactics?! Are you just dying to try this the next chance you get? 😉

Veggies for Breakfast

October 22, 2014 by Sarah

I love eating eggs for breakfast; organic, brown, free-range and local ones if I can get them.

And I know I do not stand alone; there’s a reason eggs are such a popular way to start the day. They have an astounding nutrient profile, offering such a variety of many nutrients that are vital to our health.

If I were to compare eggs to a potential dating partner, they’d be what we call the ‘total package’.

The combination of protein, healthy fats, and vitamins can give you the energy you need to embrace the day. Although eggs are high in cholesterol, they do not necessarily raise cholesterol levels in the blood. Cholesterol is an essential nutrient and our body makes cholesterol on its own so if you receive more in your diet, your body compensates by making less of it. In some studies where eggs did raise blood cholesterol, it was usually the levels of the ‘good’ cholesterol, HDL (High Density Lipoprotein), instead of the ‘bad’ cholesterol, LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein). Eggs also provide the body with choline, a brain nutrient that many people may not be getting enough of in their diet, and the carotenoid antioxidants, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, which may promote healthy eyes.

Also, since eggs are high in a variety of nutrients, particularly protein, they increase feelings of satiety and help you feel fuller longer. They are a much better alternative to other common carb-heavy breakfasts like toast, pancakes, waffles, bagels, cereal, etc.

Want to hear the best part?

Eating eggs for breakfast can be a great way to incorporate vegetables (including greens) into your first meal of the day!

You can:

1. Sauté onion, garlic, bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, celery, or any other kind of vegetable you like before adding the eggs and scrambling them. I like to fold in diced tomato or greens at the very end since they are more fragile and don’t taste as good when over-cooked.

2. Easily place your eggs on a bed of greens! I do this pretty much every time regardless if I add vegetables to the scramble or not. I like to use mixed greens, but you can use any other leafy greens like spinach, romaine, kale, chard, etc. If I’m in a hurry, I like to season the eggs with garlic or onion powder, a dash of himalayan sea salt, any other spice blend I have on hand and just place them on top of a bed of greens.

So don’t be afraid of those eggs! And have fun making vegetables a delicious part of your breakfast 🙂

Rawnola Parfait

October 16, 2014 by Sarah

If you’re looking to skip the crunch and enjoy a more chewy treat, try some rawnola!

As you’ve probably guessed, rawnola is just raw granola, which is a product of skipping the baking step when making granola.

Pretty self-explanatory.

Why?

Well, I can think of two reasons why someone would prefer rawnola instead of granola.

1. It’s faster. Not that you’re really doing much when the mixture is baking in the oven, but you may not have time to wait for it to be done to take it out. Or you are so excited and would rather enjoy the goodness ASAP instead of wait 45 minutes for the mouth dance party.

2. They both taste uniquely different! It’s not even the crunchy vs. chewy thing, it has a different (equally great) taste as well. Since I’m a proponent of variety, I like changing things up like this.

Need an idea of how to use your rawnola goodness?

I made this Rawnola Parfait proooobably 4 days in a row for breakfast when I made my last batch of rawnola. It was so good I would almost classify it as dessert 🙂 And it was so quick and easy.

Are you ready for this?

I used my Homemade Salted Caramel Coconut Granola recipe (I actually doubled it) for the rawnola and then layered it with frozen blueberries and sliced banana.

Okay, that’s all.

Now, go ahead and indulge.

Juicing: Dandelion Greens

October 11, 2014 by Sarah

Have you ever heard of dandelion greens?

Although they are one of the more bitter-tasting greens, they are also among some of the most nutrient-rich as well. They are high in vitamins A, C, E and K and contain a good amount of iron and calcium! They are known for aiding in detoxification by assisting functions of the liver. If you are looking for another type of greens to add to your diet.. this is it!

There are various ways to eat the greens, including sautéing or adding them to salads and pasta dishes, but another easy convenient way is to juice them. Just as I mentioned that they are commonly associated with detoxification, you will find these in various detox/cleanse juice recipes like the one below. This one that I made was very earthy tasting because I didn’t add any fruit. It was a little hard to drink, if I do say so myself, so if you have a difficult time with strong tastes like that, I would definitely add an apple or two (I just didn’t because I’m trying to decrease my overall sugar consumption).

Instead of providing a recipe with amounts, I’d just like to tell you what was in this one to give you ideas so you get a better understanding of how to juice dandelion greens. And to demonstrate that it’s a good idea to juice those foods in the fridge that you need to eat up or they will go bad (like the half of a tomato I added and some beet greens that aren’t pictured hence the purple color of the juice) 😉

The juice I made had a lemon, a couple stalks of celery, ginger root, turmeric root, a cucumber, a good handful of greens, cilantro, a half of a tomato, and beet greens. Like I said, I would probably add an apple to this if I made something similar again because it was quite bitter, to say the least.

Cilantro and lemon juice are also good for detoxification and cleansing so they are good additions to any dandelion green juice.

Happy juicing!!

Seven Things you Can Add to your Water that Aid in Digestion and Promote Cleansing

October 4, 2014 by Sarah

Because water is so essential to the body and its processes, the benefits of drinking clean and sufficient water regularly are unbounded. In order to ensure that you are getting enough water, it is a good idea to carry a water bottle with you when you are on-the-go. Not only will this remind you to drink more water, but it will also give you an opportunity to have clean, filtered water at your fingertips no matter where you are.

I prefer to drink from a glass water bottle so that no chemicals from plastic water bottles leech into my water (namely Dioxin and BPA). Plastic water bottles are especially not good when left in a hot car/atmosphere. I know there are many different kinds of plastic, but I just decide to go glass to avoid any chemicals in plastic altogether. This Lifefactory water bottle is my favorite because it has the silicone sleeve and is easy to carry around.

I’d also like to note that I do not put all seven things from the list below in my water at one time. I guess you could, but it might taste a little funky. I usually just do 1-3 things depending on what I have or what I think would go good together. I like putting lemon juice and apple cider vinegar (sometimes with ginger too), cloves and mint leaves, lime juice and cucumber, or lemon juice and cinnamon together.

1. Freshly-Squeezed Lemon or Lime Juice

Lemons and limes are a good source of Vitamin C, which is a very important antioxidant because it helps neutralize free radicals in the body. Lemons and limes are also good for alkalizing and cleansing the body as well as aiding in digestion because their make up is very similar to our own digestive enzymes. I like to squeeze about a half of a lemon or lime in my water bottle.

2. Fresh Mint Leaves

I have a spearmint plant out in the backyard that is growing like crazy so I started adding them to my water bottle. Mint leaves can also be grown inside as well in a pot by the windowsill. Mint improves the flow of bile and can help with activating salivary glands and digestive enzymes that help absorb the nutrients from your food. It is also a calming and soothing herb that can be used to settle an upset stomach.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

Over the summer, I was living on Mackinac Island and got a cold. I didn’t have any natural remedies with me so I looked for some natural foods to help me feel better. I headed to the tiny market and found some Bragg’s ACV. I’ve read about many health benefits of consuming ACV and started adding a couple tablespoons to my water. I liked it so much that I started adding it to the water bottle that I took to work almost everyday! Even though it is normally bitter, it started tasting almost sweet in time, and I even craved it periodically as I kept drinking it.

I still love regularly adding it to my water because it is said to help with eliminating toxins and killing bacteria, maintaining a healthy weight, and improving digestion overall. And just like lemons and limes, ACV can also help balance the PH in your body. I like to get the unfiltered, organic ACV with the ‘mother’; a great one is made by Bragg’s.

4. Cloves

In addition to stimulating digestion, cloves can also be used for ailments of the digestive system and are thought to have anti-parasitic properties. I place about 3-5 whole cloves in my water and let them sit in there to flavor the water. When I’m finished with the water, I just eat the cloves because they have many healing properties (beware, they’re pretty hot!).

5. Ginger Root

Another one for stimulating the flow of digestive juices! Ginger is also another wonderful remedy for indigestion, cramps, nausea and gas that has been used traditionally as a medicine for thousands of years. It is an anti-inflammatory, anti-viral root that boosts circulation. I dice up about a thumb-sized amount of ginger and add it to my water. Like the cloves, I eat it at the end, but it is also very hot!

6. Cucumber Slices

Cucumbers add a nice fresh taste to your water, and can be eaten while drinking the water (because they float!) to help eliminate toxins from the digestive system and continue to hydrate the body. They not only contain antioxidants and fiber, but they may also help with the production of insulin in the pancreas. I like to cut the slices into quarters so I can eat them easily as I am drinking my water.

7. Cinnamon

Cinnamon is another traditional herb that also anti-fungal and anti-viral and is used to relieve indigestion. It may also help with circulation, metabolizing fats during digestion, and regulating blood-glucose levels by slowing the time it takes for food to go from the stomach to the small intestine. Place a small amount of a cinnamon stick in your water and let it flavor the water just like you would with the cloves.

And there you have it! Have I missed anything that you love to add to your water? Use the form to leave a comment below!

*This information is meant for basic informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as medical advice, substitute for a doctor’s appointment or to be used for diagnosing or treating a disease. Users of this website are advised to consult with their healthcare provider before making any decisions concerning their health.

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