The Importance of Eating Spinach plus Recipe

I HATE SPINACH!!! ... or at least I thought I did.  What I hated was cooked spinach ... all stinky and slimey ... ewwwww!!

My latest discovery is that I DO like spinach ... as long as it is RAW!!  The following poster from the Healthy Food web site tells us how good spinach is for us!  I know, people have always said that, but this is the first time I have really eaten spinach so I am paying attention this time.

Here is a great summer salad using spinach and strawberries ... who knew they made such a great combination.  This recipe comes from the Mother Nature Network.

 

           Strawberry Spinach Summer Salad

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 bundle fresh spinach
• 1 cup strawberries, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled

 

Time estimates

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Directions

1. Rinse veggies thoroughly.
2. Combine vinegar and oil in small jar. Close lid and shake well.
3. Over medium-high heat add dab of oil to saucepan. After one minute add almonds. Stir for five or six minutes or until light brown.
4. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Add feta. Toss gently and serve.

Serves 4

Planting Herbs -- A Few Tips

I am in the process of starting my herbs in my green house. Soon I will be able to move them to the planter on the deck. I love keeping my herbs and greens close to the kitchen because it is easier to get fresh cuttings for dinner every night.

Today we were at Jerry's Home Improvement. They had a really great "herb wheel" for planting herbs in the garden. I think it was about $10. I've seen lots of pictures of old fashion herb gardens, and they were planting in old wagon wheels which kept the herbs separated from one another. I was tempted to buy one of the "wheels" (or nostalgia sake), but I know I will get better use of the plants if they are up on the deck. Maybe some day I will plant a "tea" or "medicinal" herb garden ... then I could justify getting an herb wheel for the garden.

I have fairly big planter boxes for each herb, so to conserve the amount of soil I have to use, I place a small layer of rock at the bottom of the pot, and then I fill the pot with packing peanuts (we used to call them "ghost turds!") to just over the half-way mark in the planter. Next, I place a layer of landscape fabric over the peanuts (to keep the planting mix from falling through) and finally I put in enough potting soil to finish filling the pot, leaving about an 1" margin at the top. Now the pot is ready for the plants. Using the packing peanuts also helps keep the weight of each planter down, so moving the plant is much easier.

Another little tip I just picked up from a friend is to cut herbs (and flowers) with a knife instead of scissors. The reason is because scissors crush the end of the stem, therefore the cuttings can not absorb as much water. So cutting them with a knife will keep your flowers and herbs fresher longer.

Seed Starting Chart

If you are like Tom and me, you can't wait to get your seeds into the ground.  Here is a great little chart from the Knowledge Weighs Nothing Website to let you know when to grab your trowel and start planting.

How to Build a Hanging Gutter Garden

Here is another vertical garden idea I "borrowed" from The Goods Home Design Website.
Also check out my "Strawberry Gutter" idea in the next post!!!

Gutter gardens are a great way to take advantage of the vertical spaces around your home to grow flowers, edibles and create a stylish space divider or privacy screen without spending too much money.

MATERIALS:

1 – 8′ PVC white rain gutter cut into 3 32″ sections
6 – PVC white gutter end caps
2 – 1/8″diameter steel cables cut to desired length
6 – Feeney Cross Clamps (see image below)
6 – 1/8″ diameter Feeney steel rods
2 – Galvanized eye hooks
Potting soil and Plants

TOOLS:

Cordless Drill with drill bit set
Hand saw or hack saw
T-square or straight edge
Tape measure
Permanent marker
Level
Eye protection

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Determine the center of your gutters and draw a reference line (otherwise your gutter won’t hang right).

2. Mark and drill the holes for the steel cable rods. Find a drill bit the same diameter as the cable to minimize the wiggle room.

3. Space drill holes a few sizes larger to make sure you get good drainage (plant roots hate sitting in water for long periods of time).

1. Locate a spot that gets at least 4 hours of sun. I placed mine on the cross beams of a pergola I built a couple of years ago.

2. Drill pilot holes (a hole slightly smaller in diameter than the screw diameter) to make screwing in the eye hook a lot easier. Make sure the holes are the same distance as the steel cable so they hang straight down.

3. Slide the gutters through the holes and secure them with the cross clamps at your desired heights. You’ll notice I placed mesh tape (normally used for drywall joints), left over from another project, over the drainage holes to keep the soil from seeping. However, I think the holes are small enough, this step is not necessary. I did it out of habit.

4. Secure the gutter with the cross clamps and half circle steel rods.

Going Organic the Easy (and Cheap) Way!!

When I talk about "going organic" I have people tell me all the time that "it is too expensive to buy organic food."  That is true, but I realized that it is sort of a "pay now or pay later" type decision.  You can pay for cheaper GMO or conventionally grown produce and meats and save in the pocket book today, or you can "go organic" and save the cost of medication and treatments for illnesses that these toxin laden foods cause in the future.

But you don't have to spend a lot of money on organic produce.  What if I told you that you could get $100 (or more) worth of  fresh, healthy, delicious tomatoes for $4???!!!  Now that is a great ROI don't you think?  How can you do this?  Buy a $2 pack of seeds and a $2 bag of planting soil and GROW YOUR OWN.  It simple ... fun ... healthy ... and the kids can even help!!

Tom and I have already planted our lettuce (Mesculin, which is made up of a variety of lettuces).  This spring mix of salad greens can cost around $2.50 in the "bag" at the grocery store, but we can go out every night and cut a fresh salad from our garden all summer long. What is our cost for a summer's worth of salads? -- $5.00!!  How can you beat that????

You can grow your favorite veggies anywhere, even in a pot on your back porch if that is all the room you have.  Start out easy ... maybe a batch of lettuce and a tomato plant to start.  Once you taste the fresh difference and feel the savings in your pocketbook ... you will be hooked on growing your own produce like me!!!

Surviving the Salad Bar

I used to feel so virtuous whenever I would go to a restaurant and JUST have the salad bar.  Now that I have been changing my diet up a bit, I realize that walking down the salad bar line was a bit like walking through a field of land mines.  Here are some tips from SparkPeople I have started using to assure me safe passage as I tip-toe through the veggies!


Take the safe path and apply these strategies to avoid salad bar traps:

• Use a smaller plate; limit the number of trips you make.
• Start with the nutrient-rich dark green, leafy vegetables, such as spinach, romaine, and endive.
• Fill up your plate with vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and tomatoes.
• Power on the protein with legumes, beans, lean meat, turkey, and crabmeat.
• Take only a small taste of the high-fat food items such as pasta salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, and coleslaw.
• Go easy on extras like croutons, chow mein noodles, crackers, nuts, seeds, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheeses.
• Dress your salad for success with 2 tablespoons of a low-calorie or light salad dressing, OR only 1 tablespoon of regular salad dressing. For a new taste twist try a splash of flavored vinegar.
• If the salad bar contains soups, go for a broth-based version over a cream-style selection.
• Allow only a small taste of the whipped topping-jello-fruit combinations.
• For dessert, return to the salad bar for a small plate of fruit topped with a little yogurt or cottage cheese.

Use the following guide to chart your course while maneuvering through your next salad bar excursion:


Salad Bar Guide

Food	Amount	Calories	Fat Grams
Vegetables
Artichoke Hearts	1/4 Cup	20	Trace
Avocado	1/4 Cup	75	8
Bean Sprouts	1/4 Cup	8	Trace
Beets	1/4 Cup	15	0
Bell Pepper	2 Tbsp	3	Trace
Broccoli	1/4 Cup	6	Trace
Carrot, shredded	1/4 Cup	15	Trace
Cauliflower	1/4 Cup	6	Trace
Cucumber	1/4 Cup	4	Trace
Green Peas	2 Tbsp	30	Trace
Lettuce	1 Cup	10	Trace
Mushrooms	1/4 Cup	5	Trace
Olives, ripe	2 Tbsp	30	4
Radishes	2 Tbsp	2	Trace
Spinach	1 Cup	10	Trace
Tomato	1/4 Cup	15	Trace
Fruits
Fruit Cocktail, canned in juice	1/4 Cup	35	0
Mandarin Oranges, in juice	1/4 Cup	25	0
Melon, fresh	1/4 Cup	15	0
Peaches, canned in juice	1/4 Cup	25	0
Pineapple, canned in juice	1/4 Cup	35	0
Raisins	2 Tbsp	60	0
Strawberries, fresh	1/4 Cup	10	0
Beans, Nuts, Seeds
Chickpeas	1/4 Cup	40	< 1
Kidney Beans	1/4 Cup	55	Trace
Sunflower Seeds	1 Tbsp	80	7
Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs
Eggs, chopped	2 Tbsp	25	2
Ham, chopped	1 oz	35	1
Shrimp	1 oz	30	< 1
Turkey	1 oz	35	< 1
Tuna, canned in water	1 oz	35	< 1
Cheese, Dairy
Cottage Cheese, creamed	1/4 Cup	60	3
Cottage Cheese, 1% low fat	1/4 Cup	40	< 1
Cheddar Cheese	2 Tbsp	55	5
Mozzarella Cheese	2 Tbsp	40	4
Parmesan Cheese	2 Tbsp	45	3
Others
Chow Mein Noodles	1 Tbsp	15	<1
Croutons	1/4 Cup	27	4
Bacon Bits	1 Tbsp	25	2
Mixed Salads
Cole Slaw	1/4 Cup	45	5
Macaroni Salad	1/4 Cup	100	10
Potato Salad	1/4 Cup	100	10
Tuna Salad	1/4 Cup	190	10
Three Bean Salad	1/4 Cup	60	0
Dressings
Blue Cheese	2 Tbsp	155	15
Italian	2 Tbsp	160	15
French	2 Tbsp	135	15
Italian, low calorie	2 Tbsp	15	0
Lemon Juice	2 Tbsp	8	0
Oil and Vinegar	2 Tbsp	100	8
1000 Island	2 Tbsp	120	10
Vinegar	2 Tbsp	4	0

How to Build a Salad that Satisfies

With all of our veggies becoming ripe at the same time, we are eating a lot more salads.  I found this article on CalorieCount.  Now I am really ready to take on all those vegetables in our garden.

How to Build a Salad that Satisfies
By Brittany Mullins



People often think of a salad as an appetizer, diet food or something that won’t fill them up for longer than an hour. This isn’t always the case. With a little planning you can make a nutritious salad that will satisfy your taste buds and keep you feeling full for hours. You don’t even need a recipe! The key to building a meal-sized salad that won’t break the calorie bank is having about three quarters of the salad be fresh vegetables and the other quarter protein and a healthy fat.

Simply choose your favorite greens as a base and top with veggies, a protein and a healthy fat. Here’s a list of items to help you get started creating hearty, healthy and delicious salads:

Greens:

• Spinach
• Arugula
• Romaine
• Spring mix
• Kale

Vegetables: (It’s best to choose veggies that are in season)

• Tomatoes, fresh or sun-dried
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini or other squash
• Mushrooms
• Yellow, orange, red, or green bell peppers
• Cabbage, sliced
• Carrots
• Beets, roasted or boiled
• Radishes
• Sweet corn
• Sweet potatoes, roasted or steamed
• Peas
• Onion
• Artichoke hearts
• Roasted red peppers
• Hearts of palm

Protein:

• Lean cuts of grilled or baked meat – chicken, turkey pork or beef
• Shrimp, crab meat, scallops or other seafood
• Salmon, tuna or other fish
• Tofu, plain or cooked
• Tempeh, plain or cooked
• Edamame
• Beans - black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans
• Hummus
• Crumbled veggie burger
• Hard boiled eggs
• Cottage cheese
• Low-fat cheese

Healthy Fats:

• Avocado
• Nuts (I like almonds, walnuts and pine nuts)
• Sunflower seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Olive oil based dressings
• Flax seed oil or ground flax seeds
• Hemp seeds
• Olive oil (and vinegar)
• Olives

 Other Notes:

• Don’t drench your salad in dressing. If the salad ingredients are fresh and in season they’re often very flavorful on their own.
• Throwing leftovers on salads is the best- leftover grilled and roasted veggies (straight from the fridge) make great salad toppings.
• Complex carbs are a fun addition as well – wheat berries, whole grain cous cous, quinoa or orzo are all great options
• Fruits are also a great addition to salads in the summer time – try adding strawberries, blueberries, pears, and figs.

As for preparing the salad, simply toss the ingredients of your choice into a large bowl (or small bowl for a single salad) and enjoy. You can plan ahead and prep some of the more time consuming items early. For instance you can chop veggies and cook a pot of beans on Sunday evening so weekday lunches or dinners can be thrown together in a flash. Have fun trying out the endless number of salad possibilities!

 

Yum!! Watermelon for Dessert (with recipes)

I absolutely L-O-V-E watermelon in the summer.  I can't think of a more refreshing treat.

 MmMmMmMmmmmm water melon (sounding a little like Home Simpson!!)

I just read in Hungry Girl's newletter that 4 cups of watermelon is only 200 calories ... yippee!!!!!

The amino acid arginine, abundant in watermelon, might promote weight loss, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition. Researchers supplemented the diets of obese mice with arginine over 3 months and found that doing so decreased body fat gains by a whopping 64%. Adding this amino acid to the diet enhanced the oxidation of fat and glucose and increased lean muscle, which burns more calories than fat does. Snack on watermelon in the summer, and eat other arginine sources, such as seafood, nuts, and seeds, year-round.

Here are three watermelon recipes for you:

1.  Watermelon Salad
     1 bag (4oz) arugula with stems removed and roughly torn
     2 cups cubed watermelon
     1 pkg (3oz) feta cheese, crumbled
     2 Tbsp olive oil
        ground black pepper (to taste)

In a large bowl combine watermelon, arugula and feta cheese.  Gently mix and add pepper to taste.

Calories:  146

2.  Watermelon Daiquiri
     3 cups watermelon chunks,  frozen with seeds and rinded removed.
     1/3 cup rum
     2 Tbsp lime juice
     1 Tbsp superfine sugar

Blend frozen watermelon chunks, rum, lime juice an sugar.  Pour into chilled glasses.

Calories:  183

3.  Cherry Tomatoes with Watermelon
     1/2 pint yellow cherry or grape tomatoes
     1/2 pint red cherry or grape tomatoes
     1 small seedless watermelon, red or yellow
     1/2 tsp coriander seeds
     1/4 tsp white or red peppercorns
     kosher salt
     1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
     1 Tbsp slivered fresh mint leaves
     12 long thin breadsticks
     12 slices prosciutto

Slice half of the red and yellow tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl with the remaining whole tomatoes.  Slice the melon in smaller sized cubes (or use a melon baller -- you should have about 4 cups of melon).  Add to bowl with the tomatoes.

Crush the coriander seeds, peppercorns, and kosher salt with a mortar and pestle (or pounded with a mallet, or placed in a small coffee mill) until coarsely ground.  Sprinkle on tomatoes and melon.  Add olive oil and mint and gently toss.  Serve with breadsticks wrapped in prosciutto.

Calories:  253


Recipes from Prevention Magazine online.