Eat Your Veggies

How come I’m just catching onto podcasts now?  I LOVE them! I listen to them in the car, on a walk, while I’m cooking, and while I’m cleaning. The podcasts I’m enjoying right now are all centered around food and health. My most recent podcast I have been bindging on is “The Paleo View,” hosted by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne and Stacy Toth. They both have a wealth of knowledge. There are over 350 podcasts so I have plenty of material for a while I think! Sarah and Stacy have 3 1-hour long podcasts on vegetables! Who would have thought vegetables could be a topic of discussion for 3 hours! One thing that has stuck with me is that in the world of health, there is much controversy over what is the best way to eat and sustain a healthy life style. Whether promoting a vegan, paleo, vegetarian, or keto diet, the one thing that scientists can agree upon is that an increase in vegetables is linked to an increase in overall health.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2019 is to increase my vegetable intake to 8 servings a day, plus 2 or 3 servings of fruit. At first this seemed like an easy goal but eating 8 servings of vegetables a day is no easy task.  I was probably eating 4 to 5 servings of vegetables on average prior to my New Year’s Resolution. After New Year’s, I started adding a vegetable to my breakfast. Most days, I eat a couple of eggs, avocado, and greens because it is easy, quick, and will sustain me for a few hours with the fiber, protein, and healthy fats I need.  For lunch, I often have raw veggie sticks with a sandwich, a salad, a lettuce wrap, or leftover dinner, which includes veggies.

My biggest shift has been dinner. Before we were eating protein and grain as our main dish with a veggie on the side. I now try most nights to cook dinners where the main dish is veggies and the meat and grain (if we have one) are on the side.  When I envision a plate, my goal is to have half of it filled with a few different veggies, a quarter with protein, and a quarter with a grain or a starchy vegetable (potatoes, peas, parsnips, and squash).  After doing this for over a month now, I’ve noticed that I’m buying less meat. This mindset has helped us transition to buying most of our meat and eggs locally. At first the thought was a bit overwhelming since local good quality meats and eggs are significantly more expensive than buying organic meats and eggs at the grocery store. But now that I’m buying less, it has made the financial piece more realistic for our family.

For a snack, I often grab cut up veggie sticks and dip them in a delicious homemade herb ranch dressing, hummus, or nut butter, depending on how hungry I am and how much protein I need. Something I found most helpful was prepping about 2 to 3 days worth of chopped up raw veggies.  I found I was far more likely to eat them if they were already prepared. When my girls come home from school, it is easy to get out the veggie container and snack on carrots, cucumbers, and peppers before dinner rather than chips and crackers. It is amazing how many veggies they will eat when they are hungry and that is the only option. My girls like to watch a TV show while I’m cooking dinner.  Our family rule is that the only food allowed in the living room is veggie sticks. It is one of our best family rules ever as there is definitely a lot of veggie-eating that takes place on the couch in front of the TV.  Mindless eating at its best!

Do my family and I eat 8 servings of veggies every day? No, but I always have that in the back of my mind as a goal. There are so many ways to add in veggies whether it is a smoothie for a snack, a veggie-filled bowl of soup for lunch, or a muffin with hidden carrots, zucchini, or squash.

In a world where there are two sides to almost every dietary recommendation, I’m thankful that experts agree about vegetables: eat them and eat a lot of them as they will help increase your overall health.

If you are up for the veggie challenge, try just adding one more serving of vegetables a day.  Once four servings, for example, have become habit, add another serving and continue to do so until you have reached your goal. Happy veggie eating!!!

Squash Cakes

I have been on a mission lately to find a few nutrient dense, easy, quick breakfasts for my girls during the school week.  My oldest daughter Ayla is happy with scrambled eggs and sautéed greens.  However, my youngest daughter, Haley isn't as easy to please.  She is happy to eat cereal and rice cakes, both with minimal nutritional value.  Eggs are packed with nutrients so I have been trying to figure out ways to sneak them into her breakfasts.

Larry and I were watching a documentary, "The Magic Pill," where Pete Evans shared his squash, almond butter, egg pancakes.   I baked a butternut squash that night eager to try to make a batch.  The next morning, I came down to Larry in the kitchen whipping up Pete Evans inspired Squash Cakes.  They were a hit with a little maple syrup drizzled on top.  Definitely another nutrient dense breakfast favorite!

Ingredients:
1 cup pureed butternut squash
4 eggs
1/4 cup almond butter (or your favorite nut butter)

Instructions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 400.
2.  Cut a butternut squash in half length-wise.  Scoop out the seeds and place flat side down in a baking dish with a lid.
3.  Cook for about one hour or until you can easily poke with a fork.  Time will vary depending on size.
4.  Measure one cup of cooked squash.
5.  Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.
6.  Grease a griddle with coconut oil.
7. Once the griddle is heated pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto the griddle forming pancakes.
8.  Flip once the batter starts to bubble.  About 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
9.  Serve with pure maple syrup.
Enjoy!

Whipped Body Butter

Today, I’m grateful for my DIY whipped body butter.  I keep a small mason jar of  body butter in my purse since my winter hands are always dry!   It smells amazing, like chocolate, and works great on my dry skin.  Unfortunately the cosmetic industry is highly unregulated.  Many lotions are full of endocrine disruptors so knowing exactly what is in my lotion offers me peace of mind.   My family uses all nontoxic skincare products which can be expensive.  It is always nice to find a few easy recipes that I can make to help make it a little more affordable. 

A few of my girlfriends and I got together to make our first batch.  It was a fun girls night out.  Something a little different than dinner and wine which is also fun.  We started getting together monthly to DIY!  So far we have made beeswax candles, lip balm, lotion, essential oil rollers, and hand sanitizer.  Next up... kimchi and elderberry syrup!

Ingredients

¼ cup shea butter

¼ cup cocoa butter

¼ cup coconut oil

¼ cup sweet almond oil

Instructions:

1.    Combine all ingredients in a double boiler. You can create one by taking a pot and filling it with a few inches of water and then putting a stainless steel or glass pot inside the pot.  You do not want any water to get in the bowl as it will change the consistency.  Keep a close eye on the water.  You may need to refill the pot with water as it evaporates.  I have come close to burning my pots this way so just a heads up!

2.    Melt and stir over med-low heat until liquid.

3.    Remove from heat and allow mixture to partially set.

4.    Place in fridge or freezer to speed up the process but make sure to keep a close eye on it. 

5.    Once mixture is partially set, whip with hand mixer until body butter is fluffy and peaks form.

6.    Spoon into a glass jar. 

This recipe is slightly modified from The Prairie Homestead.