Let's Eat

Super Bowl was last night. Who ate healthy? Uh huh. We always find reasons for eating a feast of grease, cheese, sugar, and drinking soda, don't we? Well I admit myself, I made some cookies because I have a new favorite RECIPE and we got a free pizza from my sister who works at a local pizza place.

So today I had my new usual, eggs and a juice smoothie. Oh man they are just delicious and healthy. One motivation for me is finding out what makes them healthy. If I can eat a fruit and think of all the benefits while chewing then I feel even better about eating it. Also, food is like medicine or poison to our bodies. If I'm struggling with a sickness or symptom of something then I can reach for a food I know will help the problem and know what to avoid.

Here's a new favorite smoothie of mine. I want to look at the health benefits and feel inspired on this Monday to reach my goals! Hopefully this will motivate you, as well :)

Pineapple Almond (this is just what I'm naming it)
1/2 cup Pineapple
1/2 cup Spinach
3-4 Strawberries
1/2 Apple
1 tbsp Flaxseed
1/4-1/2 cup Almond Milk

Pineapple- holy cow there are so many benefits. How to pick a ripe one? Well, they stop ripening as soon as they're picked, there's nothing you can do to ripen it more, so pick one that smells fruity and "tropical."

To name a few benefits, it is high in manganese which aids in bone development. Your body cannot absorb calcium if it doesn't have good levels of manganese and magnesium. This is why we live in the country with the highest amounts of bone loss, we consume the most calcium of any other country but the least of the foods that promote bone growth. Eating too much calcium actually causes bone loss. Who would have thought?

Ok, back to benefits. One cup provides 75% of manganese needs for the day! It's also a digestive aid and helps your body use protein efficiently. It's an anti-inflammatory which helps with osteoporosis and arthritis, just a half cup helps with that. It is high in vitamin C and reduces mucus in the throat. So if you have a cold, eat or drink fresh pineapple! This is where knowing these things come in handy. When you have a sinus infection don't drink milk because it produces more mucus and eat pineapple to reduce it! It also helps reduce blood clots and discourages plaque growth in the mouth. If that's not motivating, I don't know what is! It tastes yummy and has so many benefits that could help prevent or aid in things people take medication for everyday (I'm not saying it eliminate meds altogether but it certainly will prevent getting there).

Spinach- this helps a host of things such as different cancers, etc. Read more in another post I did HERE.

Strawberries- there are loads of benefits....The phenols in strawberries also fight against many inflammatory disorders, such as osteoarthritis, asthma and atherosclerosis, by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) in the same way that the drugs aspirin and ibuprofen do. Strawberries, however, do not carry unwanted side effects like stomach and intestinal bleeding.

They also aid in preventing cancer, help eye health, lower blood pressure, and contain lots of vitamin C. Read more HERE

Apple- helps reduce bacteria in your mouth, giving you healthier teeth. It helps prevent Alzheimer's disease, protects against Parkinson's disease, reduces your risk of getting Pancreatic cancer by 23%, reduces gallstones, digestive problems, and reduces cholesterol. There are more benefits so read the rest HERE 

Flaxseed- helps reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. It is high in fiber and helps with weight loss as well. Read more benefits HERE

Almond Milk- it has high amounts of Vitamin A, E, D which are fat-soluble vitamins our bodies need. It is also high in Calcium which helps with bone growth and strength. Almond milk is an excellent replacement of cow's milk because it contains no dairy and our bodies can digest it properly unlike cow's milk. If you'd like to read more then go HERE.

So I'm motivated! Think about all those benefits in just one smoothie!! This is the kind of stuff I like to read about. Not only is it low in calories which helps with weight but it has so many benefits that not having it actually harms my health! Usually we only look at foods that we really shouldn't eat and try to find an excuse to have "just a slice" or a bite, but there's no worries with this!

Apple Tortilla Snack

I get tired of "typical" snacks. You buy the same food and eat the same snacks but they can get boring. Here's a new snack that I enjoyed and it can have some variation so if you're bored of snacks then try this.

This uses a homemade tortilla, carrots, apple, spinach, and yogurt (can sub)

A new way to get those wonderful carrots in, right? We know that carrots have Vitamin A, K and C which help eyesight, kidney health, healthy immune function, preventing non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, strong bones, strong teeth, and healthy gums. Plus it's a good source of fiber with 1 medium carrot providing 2 grams of fiber. It is also a good source of potassium which is the third most abundant vitamin in our bodies. This helps with electrolyte balance which is important for hydration, reduces the risk of stroke, anxiety, lowers high blood pressure, helps maintain your metabolism, plus it improves the health of your muscles, heart, and nervous system.

Plus, the apples and spinach are great additions. Read the post of apple benefits HERE. Read about the benefits of spinach HERE.

I used organic vanilla yogurt on this wrap. To be honest, not my favorite at all. Next time I will do hummus or cheese. The yogurt was too sweet for the overall wrap. Just a weird combo in my opinion. I still liked the rest of the wrap. But as I was eating it I just wanted cheese. Ha. So put a little colby jack and wowsers. I would be interested to see what peanut butter tastes like. If you try it let me know.

Apple Tortilla Wrap

1 apple
1 tortilla
1 spoonful of yogurt, hummus, or 1 ounce (slice) of colby jack cheese
8-10 spinach leaves
3 baby carrots thinly sliced or grated

1. Put choice of yogurt, cheese, or hummus on tortilla.
2. Slice apple and put half in tortilla.
3. Put baby carrots and spinach on top.
4. Roll.
5. Cut the rest of apple and eat in slices with the wrap.
6. Enjoy with some green tea like I did.

Frozen Pizza and Smoothies

12/20/12


Mmm pizza. We love pizza. It's Abby's favorite food...it's Kyle's favorite food...it may be my favorite food. Ha. I grew up with my dad working for Pepsi at Pizza Hut for 15 years. Actually, my parents met at Pizza Hut! My mom was a waitress and my dad was a manager. You could say I've had my fair share of pizza in my life. Plus my brother worked at Papa John's a year or two in high school and my sister has worked at Volcano's for quite a few years now.

So when it comes to eating pizza, it must taste good! I have worked at perfecting my pizza crust and continue to do so. We can't afford to go out and get pizza every week but we like eating pizza, let's be honest, at least 2 times a week. So making it saves SO MUCH money. It costs me about $2.40 to make a large pizza.

When we were first married I bought frozen pizzas (before I knew not to) and we liked the Meijer ones.  So now I decided to make my own frozen pizzas. With Kyle home a lot of days now working I have to keep him eating here instead of going out to LC (Little Ceasars). So bam! Homemade frozen pizzas it is. Super easy. Make your pizza up and then stick it in the freezer for about 20 minutes at least to get it hard. Take it out and put foil over it and put back in freezer. Preheat oven to 400 when time and stick it in straight from the freezer. Piece of cake! If you're interested in my current pizza recipe then let me know and I can post a recipe.

Now...on to smoothies. 

Can I say I'm a little bit obsessed with my Nutribullet? Well I am. My favorite so far.....

Spinach

Blueberries

Banana

flaxseed

plain nonfat yogurt

water

Holy cow.....YUM. Even my picky husband and BIL, Erik, liked it.

SPINACH.

Let's talk about this amazing vegetable. Here's good info I found from LIVESTRONG...

"Low in calories and high in vitamins, spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense foods in existence. One cup of the leafy green vegetable contains far more than your daily requirements of vitamin K and vitamin A, almost all the manganese and folate your body needs and nearly 40 percent of your magnesium requirement. It is a good, very good or excellent source of more than 20 different measurable nutrients, including dietary fiber, calcium and protein. And yet, 1 cup has only 40 calories! Spinach is an excellent choice for nutrition without high calories."

Spinach also fights against ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, protects brain function and prevents aging. 

Still need motivation to eat a few servings of spinach every day? This dark green leaf will protect your brain function from premature aging and slow old age's typical negative effects on your metal capabilities. Spinach accomplishes this by preventing the harmful effects of oxidation on your brain. Those who eat a vegetables in quantity, especially those of the leafy green variety, experience a decrease in brain function loss. However, there is no such correlation with fruit consumption. Oh, and iceberg lettuce doesn't cut it. A good rule of thumb: the darker the leaf, the better. Which brings us back to spinach.

This is all in 1 cup of spinach....which is contained in that smoothie I made! I love learning about foods God made for us. So eat your spinach because it's loaded with amazing benefits! 

Eating Whole Foods and Saving Money

So one of the #1 things I hear about making changes towards eating healthy is related to money. People often say that eating healthy requires a much bigger budget. But if you have followed my posts over the last couple years then you can see that cooking from scratch with real ingredients (whole foods) is actually cheaper. 

There are some things that will cost more with being organic, such as a lot of fruits and and vegetables. Grass fed meat and dairy products are more as well. You can save on some things and spend more on others. Figure out what is important to your family and what you eat the most of that is important to go organic (such as grassfed beef and milk for us, but I don't get organic flour. Some fruits that have a thick skin and aren't on the "deadly seven" list). But even if you buy non-organic and eat more whole foods you can save money by purchasing fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables rather than boxes of processed food. 

Another way to save money?? Start a garden! I did 2 years of garden boxes and then took a year off in 2012. I had to re-coup and figure out what I really wanted to do that would make sense for our family and be cost saving. 

How do you start a garden? First, figure out what you want to do. Then figure out how much space it will take up/how much of each you want to plant. Figure out what type of soil you have to determine if you want it in the ground or raised beds/boxes. 

We have sandy soil so I really don't need boxes like I did before. I am doing a lot of stuff for making salsa and tomato sauce since we eat a lot of salsa and Italian dishes. My husband doesn't particularly like the look of gardens so we came to an agreement and are putting fencing around it once it's all done. Which is fine with me :)

Here he is tilling up the ground. 

My husband also built a box for me, today, to put my strawberry plants in. Love it.

We also got dirt to put on top of the sandy soil. Then I got duck mulch (fertilizer) to mix in with the top soil. I also have mulch to put around the edges of the garden and in between my planted areas to have a path without getting all muddy every time and easier to keep weeds out. 

Dirt that I am shoveling into a wheelbarrow and putting in my garden.

Here's my strawberry box.

There are so many benefits to growing your own food. You know where it's coming from and what you're putting in it. It's very fresh if you eat it as it is ready to harvest. It costs a fraction of the price. Once you have a plan, support of your spouse, help from others, it's fun!

Before.....

Current...

What am I growing and planting? 
Raspberries (once you plant a bush, it multiplies so each year you can grow more without spending)
Strawberries (bought a bunch of plants in one container at Lowe's for $5...or $7 regular price)
Blueberries (bought 2 bushes last fall and will produce 10 lbs per bush)

.....each of these will produce every year with good care and don't need replacing. These fruits save a TON of money. We probably saved hundreds of dollars in raspberries alone last year because we picked bowls of them everyday for months!

Soon I will plant....
Romaine lettuce
spinach
broccoli
carrots
tomatoes
onions
peppers
basil
peanuts!
possibly potatoes

Most of the things I am planting are on the list of things to buy organically (such as the berries and lettuce) because they are heavily doused with chemicals and the skin gets eaten. So this will be a great way to save and lots of fun to go pick and eat :) Are you doing a garden? What are you planting?