Live Long Naturally ©2012

This is the salad I spoke about in my last post – it is also my first of three raised bed gardens.  A fellow volunteer acquaintance of mine lent me his Square Foot Gardening book (author, Mel Bartholomew) to get me started. It has been a delight to learn how to grow more in less space. I have plenty of yard, however the sunlight isn’t the best in many areas.  As the tomatoes grow a little more, I am going to have some netting put up via some poles so the tomatoes can grow up and not out. Done correctly, even pumpkins can be grown vertically. 

The idea behind square foot gardening is to plant so many of each plant per square foot. Example… 1 broccoli plant is allowed to grow per square foot, spinach and beets can have 9 plants per square foot, while carrots, onions and radishes can each have 16 plants per square. Another benefit to growing this way is you use a lot less seeds. 

The benefits to growing your own garden are endless! A huge benefit to growing raised bed and/or square foot is you need less starting soil, so… it is possible to have your garden be organic from the start! No waiting years for yard soil to become healthy enough to be labeled “organic.”

Go green, get clean and stay lean for 2010!

A great quote by Elson Haas, M.D., Author/Speaker on Nutrition & Detoxification

Most of us have heard, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Dr. Elson Haas has brilliantly updated that quote for the 21st Century. Different colored fruits and vegetables eaten in season, local and organic can easily take the place of many different colored pills. Real food can be our pharmacy – the more colors the more vitamins.

The Mayo Clinic, Cornell University, and the National Cancer Institute have  all shown that eating apples can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, asthma, diabetes and more. They are a powerhouse of antioxidants – the pectin in them is a great source of fiber that can help regulate the LDL cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, and help keep you regular, especially when eating the Red Delicious variety (peel and all)! Pectin is so powerful, it is often added to high quality bowel cleansing formulas, such as Dr. Schulze’s Formula #2.

If eating an apple sounds boring, an organic apple can make a huge difference in taste. My nieces and nephews enjoy eating them with organic raw almond butter or organic chocolate. Apples make great a addition to salads, smoothies, and juices. Adding apples can to fresh vegetable juice, can take any possible bitter taste away. Carrot and apple together are delicious, or…a great summertime treat is to make fresh squeezed lemonade sweetened with fresh apple juice.  

**Note: A 2003 report put out by the Environmental Working Group listed apples as one of 12 foods most contaminated with pesticides… another great reason to eat organic!

Does the thought of eating sweet potato or yams have you rolling your eyes? Think again!! Both are packed with vitamins, high in fiber and easy to prepare. Sweet potatoes have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties as well as antioxidants. And for those of you counting calories… a medium size sweet potato has approximately 100 calories. The following recipe I discovered when craving something sweet and needing to use up some yams. I have since made the dish with both – sweet potato and yams and both are divine!

• Scrub 1 medium sized sweet potato or yam
• Steam or cut in chunks and boil until tender
• Mash and mix in real butter, raw honey and top with coconut flakes

It doesn’t get any sweeter (or easier) than that! 

**Note: I use all organic ingredients because they are healthier and taste better. Raw honey is full of enzymes that are better absorbed by the body than processed sugar. If blood sugar is an issue, omit the honey and the eat sweet potato/yam without a sweetener or you can use stevia (or something similar). Eating them with vegetables and protein helps slow the release of sugar into the blood.

I was never a Kale eater myself! Until a dear friend and fellow CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture) volunteer told me a simple and delicious way to prepare. Even kids love it!

KALE CHIPS

• Simply tear kale apart into bite size pieces

• Drizzle olive oil and salt over and bake at 350 until crisp.

Another tasty way I discovered is to spray with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in place of the olive oil and salt.

Need more reasons to eat Kale? It is an antioxidant, helps prevent cancer, loaded with vitamins A, C and K. Great for the eyes and a good source of protein and fiber ♥♥♥

Children are not the picky eaters parents make them out to be. Last year I had the wonderful opportunity of caring for 4 grand nieces and nephews. I found after weaning them off the junk food, which only took a couple of days, they came to love REAL food – they also craved structure.

We crave what is in our blood, and it starts while children are in the womb. Many pregnant women eat everything BUT wholesome foods. Instead of using pregnancy as a green light to get fat, let it be the beginning of a wonderful, healthy life for you and your child.

Think long term on the health of you and your child. A healthy radiant child can’t possibly be created out of boxed, fast, canned, bagged, or processed food? There’s a reason women miscarry and children have behavior problems. Begin feeding your children wholesome foods to give life to the brain and body the way nature intended. Schools are chock-full of hyperactive medicated children. This doesn’t have to be! This is common sense stuff, but I am surprised by how many parents feed their kids everything BUT wholesome foods! This sets them up for craving unhealthy foods as an adult. Your food can be your pharmacy!

You wouldn’t build your dream home out of scraps would you? Then why build a junk food junkie!?