End of the Veggie Run!

Welcome to the end of the work week! (For most, that is.)

I am here to give you the update on how our final Fruit and Veggie Run went!

Wednesday I was feeling great - still loving the abundance of fruits, though admittedly a little tired of salad with no dressing ;-) But I just kept at it - last day, right?? And we had dinner plans with the dad, meeting at Applebee's.

Uh-oh. That sounds tantalizingly dangerous!

So, what's a good little nutritionist do? She plans ahead! I scour their website and hunt down the menu to see what would be acceptable for me. Lo and behold, a beautiful salad is part of their menu! The Asian Crunch Salad - romaine lettuce, cucumber, red onions, roasted red peppers, and sweet peas! I decide to just order it without the chicken and almonds, and dressing on the side.

I don't need no steenking dressing! I has my lemon!

(Mine came without the chicken though!!)

So, with that plan in mind - off we go! The only splurge I make is to keep the almonds - I am hungry and the salad just doesn't sound filling enough without some extra protein. So there it is! A lovely salad - and I devoured that sucker!

....and then we sat there for another hour conversing and laughing and having good times, and Dave had half of his burger sitting there, taunting me.

Evil burger.

A chink in the armor - I ate that half of that acid-forming burger.

Then a damaging blow to the armor!

The men wanted dessert - and oh what a dessert it was! A Maple Butter Blondie and a Chocolate Chip Cookies Sundae staring me in the face.

My rational mind began telling me all the reasons that I didn't want those resplendent foods: they're not really food, they're just "edible foodlike substances," I have worked too hard to bomb that heavily; processed food junks up the system, dairy can cause mucus formation for me... ok, well maybe one little bite....

And those men and their small stomachs! They couldn't finish their desserts! So I did. Ah well, it was enjoyable and tasty - though quickly past the pleasure of the taste buds and then just sat like a brick in the stomach. And that dairy and/or burger sure did affect my mucus production. I felt more congested and drainy that night than I have in a long time!

My body began working to digest all of that, and I don't know if it was just coincidence, but I was so tired! I couldn't even stay awake on the drive home! Thankfully Dave drove!

And the next morning, I woke with a lethargy like none other, and still some mucus buildup in my throat. And no appetite. By the time lunch rolled around, I felt somewhat hungry again, so I enjoyed a fresh veggie salad - but something was still undigested. That salad felt like it just sat there, blocked, and I felt all bloated and cramped. Yuck!

So it's back to my lighter fair again! Yesterday I went back to fruits and veggies and a few nuts. And this morning - so much better! I went to the gym, did my 3.1 miles on the treadmill - and didn't want to get off! So I just kept a'truckin'! Then for the last few minutes, I even cranked up the pace a bit! My 3.1 miles turned into 4.85!! Ahhhh, the body just seems to function better on lighter, colorful foods!

I have a luscious alkalizing green smoothie with me today (my happy desk companion as I type!) and some soaked wild rice to wrap with spinach and sprouts for lunch.

To quote my dad's old-time computer game hero, Duke Nukem: "Ahhhh, much better!"

Happy Friday! Lots of love :)

~Katie

Peach Ice Cream!

As the sun sets on this warm evening, I turn to my last peach recipe for this week: Peach Ice Cream! (Or, "ice kream" as I have seen it called since it's not actually dairy!)

This simple, succulent dessert took about 5 minutes to whip up:

Peaches-In-Kream:
2 sliced bananas, frozen
2 peaches, pitted and diced
1 Tbs honey
1 tsp vanilla

In food processor, process frozen bananas until smooth - soft serve consistency. Then add peaches, honey, and vanilla and whip until smooth!

Then I topped with a dollop of Chocolate Fruit Dip, and a mint sprig. How pretty! :)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!
~Katie

Blackberry Base Smoothie

Good morning, sunshines! :D I hope you're beaming bright and beautiful light to all those around you!! (...since some days I give off more than my share of gray rain clouds to those around me...)

Today I was less in the mood for a deep green smoothie, but I still wanted all that wonderful alkalinizing health from my leafy greens! So, I decided to use FRESH blackberries instead of frozen. It is AMAZING how much extra flavor they have that way! So today, this was my smoothie:

Blackberry Base Smoothie

2 c spinach
2 c romaine
1/2 cucumber
1 tbs flax oil
1.5 c red grapes
6oz blackberries
ice

Antioxidant PACKED! Along with the wonderful, cool hydrating effects of the cucumber, the skin-healing properties of red grapes, and the omega-rich benefits of flax oil (granted, oil will lack some of the other perks of the flax seed, but I was just going for omegas today!)

The blackberries actually turned this green smoothie into a beautiful burgundy! I tried to take a few pictures, but the lighting was no good, so I have nothing to share. Sorry!

So, if you have still been hesitant to try a smoothie, I recommend using blackberries or pineapple as a base - they have potent sweetness that helps to overcome greeness. And just start with some spinach, as it is less flavor-bursting green than Romaine and other leafies!

Have fun and give a smoothie a try!

~Katie

Drink the Summer Rainbow

Good morning, everyone! I hope you've had a good week, and that your weekend is off to a great start! I know one way to get a good kick to your energy... c'mon you know what I'm gonna say... Smoothie!! :) (Do I sound like a broken record yet?)

I love Saturdays because they are Farmers' Market days here in my town! We have a humble little market with only about 8 farmers, and a few other entrepreneurs. You can also find soaps, lotions, baked goods, and crafts.

But before I restock my fridge with new produce from the market and the grocery store, I needed to make some room! So it was time to use up left over produce. I was surprised how much variety I still had! And it all looked so pretty! So this morning I did a rainbow smoothie. In produce, each color food carries its own health benefits - so get that variety!



So here's what I put in my smoothie:
Red: goji berries
Orange: peach
Yellow: pineapple and frozen mango
Green: kale and Romaine
Purple: strawberries and blackberries

Then I sprinkled in a few Tablespoons of flax seeds for some extra protein and omega oils.

Blend and enjoy!

This is a power-packed drink of fiber, vitamins and minerals, very alkaline and antioxidant rich... and a lot of great natural sugars to kick start the morning! It made a nice, thick, heavy smoothie - keeps me full for hours! (And keeps me skipping along as I browse the produce section at the store while being crowded among all the other Saturday morning shoppers.)

David Heber, MD, PhD wrote a book called What Color Is Your Diet? In it, he goes over the different colors and benefits.

White: Usually it is agreed that there is also the white color category - that would include things like onion, garlic, chives, and mushroom. Yeah... I didn't feel like putting that into my smoothie! I'm not that adventurous! Other white/green foods that I could have included, though, are celery and pears. These foods all contain flavonoids that protect your cell membranes.

Red: I talked about benefits a little bit in an earlier post during Valentine's Day. But, to refresh, bold red foods include tomatoes, watermelon, etc. Think bold bright, leaning more towards pink than purple. These foods are rich in lycopene, which helps fight cancer.

Darker Orange: carrots, sweet potato, and squash are great for the eyes! All the carotenoids help with night vision and are also great disease fighters.

Yellow-Orange: brighter colored oranges such as the orange fruit, nectarines, and papaya are phenomenal sources of Vitamin C - great for the immune system! Since Vitamin C is water-soluble, your body doesn't like to store it too much. So it's important to get vitamin C from food on a daily basis!

Yellow-Green: corn, spinach, avocado, and peas are part of this group. They are rich in the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These components are now being linked with eye health and protection from macular degeneration!

Green: And the darker greens - kale, broccoli, sprouts, cabbage... these are such an important part of health. I've talked about it a little before, but these are rich in sulforaphane and help stimulate the liver, enhancing your body's natural detoxing and cleansing processes. They also contain isothicyanate and indoles, which help your body break down cancer-causing checmicals.

Purple: now you move into foods that are a darker red, such as grapes, berries, and eggplant. This color comes from anthocyanins that protect the heart.

So do like Skittles and taste (or drink!) the rainbow; but go for the natural, healthy rainbow instead of the sugary nutritionally-empty rainbow! ;-) You'll find that pot o' health in the end!

~Katie

Bananas Galore!

Lately, I have been craving bananas and I’m not sure why. I tend to have at least one a day, and some days as many as 5! I’m going to grow a peel soon!

I felt kind of bad about this, as I always had this view that the banana was the “junk food” of the fruit realm – that it was a higher sugar content and lower nutritional value food. So I looked in to this more. (Of course, I’m not going to beat myself up one way or the other – either way, bananas are leaps and bounds better than the old cheesy, salty, fatty, chocolatey things I used to gorge on!)

As a fruit, it is known as a potassium power house. True, there are other great sources of potassium, but I like my bananas these days! (Especially with a little bit of copper-rich cashew butter. Yumm!) But bananas are also a great source of vitamin B6 and even has Vitamin C!

This little guy also has been found to help with stomach ulcers by helping first to produce a thicker mucus lining in your stomach to provide a stronger barrier against acids. Bananas also contain protease inhibitors which may help eliminate the stomach bacteria that has been accused of causing ulcers. They have also been tagged as a good food after dealing with, shall I say, excessive eliminations from your colon. :)

Need more? The greener the banana, the better for you blood sugar – it will be a much less drastic peak and crash of your sugar levels so that’s good! But what if you like your banana very yellow, even slightly browning? True, it about doubles in the affect it can have on your blood sugar - BUT! The University of Innsbruck in Austria finds that fully ripened bananas carry a heavier antioxidant punch. And it is more alkaline at that riper stage. So, pick your perk! (Maybe add some almond butter to slow the blood sugar spike.)

Yet another added perk: bananas’ high fiber content can protect your heart from disease.

So, while variety is always best, for me and my taste buds, we’ll continue to enjoy bananas as I crave them! :)

Have a beautiful weekend!

~Katie

PS - An easy recipe idea (not my own - I forget where I first learned this one.)

Take 2 bananas, slice and freeze. Then whip them into submission in a food processor for a healthy, all natural "frozen yogurt" dessert! No fattening creams, no acidic sugars... just pure health! I am experimenting with all-natural, all health cacao sauces, I'll keep you posted :)

Poop Pop

Mmmmm, with a title like that, you KNOW this is gonna be good!

I hope pop is something you try to avoid to begin with, but now, maybe you’ll have extra motivation to abstain from fountain drinks when you go out!

Pop is already a drink to skip as much as possible with all it’s chemicals and sugar (diet or not!) It’s a very acid-forming food (wrinkles! Akk!), and there are studies now linking soda intake with bad bones. Calcium is a very alkaline substance, so if you’re dumping acid pop (or coffee!) into your system, your body will pull calcium from its stores to help buffer it. And where is a lot of calcium stored? Bones and teeth, my friend. Bones and teeth.

Well, here’s what’s new with pop…

It may have poop in it.

Uh, say again?

The International Journal of Food Microbiology did a study that was published this month. They went to soda fountain machines and tested them for bacteria. In testing, they really did check all options: regular soda, diet soda, water, and even the ice dispenser. Ahhh, and what wonderful little things did they find? Thankfully, the ice water tested just fine. But 48% had coliform bacteria, which can be found in an aquatic environment, in soil, on vegetation, or most commonly… (dun dun duuuuun) in fecal matter of warm-blooded animals. Gross!

The report goes on to say over 11% of the beverages tested had Escherichia coli, and over 17% had Chryseobacterium meningosepticum. But wait! There’s more! A whole line up of microorganisms were waiting in line: Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Candida, and Serratia. And to top it all off, most of the identified bacteria showed resistance to one or more of the 11 antibiotics tested.

Awesome. Drug-resistant poopy pop.

Chances are your immune system can handle it, but still! So, if you’re eating out at a restaurant, well, now you have yet another reason to opt out of pop. Go for the water – it’s healthier, it’s cheaper, and it’s cleaner. Squeeze a little lemon in to help with that good ol' alkalinity and beneficial enzymes! And just sip – you don’t want to over dilute your stomach acid anyways, because that's what's going to help you digest your dinner better and faster, not leaving you feeling bloated and backed up.

Have a great day! It’s Friday Eve! :)

~Katie

Greenie Meanie

Alright, my friend. It's time... Embrace the Green! :) A power house drink to help boost your energy and begin cleansing your body inside and out!

Bear with me - as it can take some getting used to. Raw foodists love this type of drink. All the fresh nutrients in it can pack quite the energy punch! I like to drink some version of this most weekdays before work - since I have started it, I haven't needed coffee. The rich greens are full of energy-boosting vitamins, rich in antioxidants, very alkaline, and full of fiber to help with satiety!

Here's my basic recipe (all organics), but feel free to alter and let me know what types of spin you put on it!

-one apple, cored but not peeled
-one pear, cored not peeled-juice of half a lemon

-1/4th a head of Romain lettuce (or start with spinach, which usually tastes less “green”)

-1 Collard green leaf, or 2 Kale leaves

-water to desired consistency

Put everything in a blender, and give it a whirl! For your first time, you may will want to push some more fruits – pears, grapes, and bananas work well – but really whatever you. You may even prefer to start with just a fruit smoothie with a handful of spinach.

The "greenness" taste was almost overwhelming for me at first, but I've since gotten used to it. Oddly enough, some days I crave this sucker! Well, my body does - my tongue does not always agree! But I know that I feel better, lighter, and healthier when I have this for breakfast. Over time, as you get used to this little guy, you may start to cut back on the fruit, and push some of the darker greens.

Other additions I have made to this (once I realized I was sticking to the healthy, natural diet that I am now on) I went a bought some watercress, spirulina, hemp protein, and goji berries to add.

Having this for breakfast can fill your body with many needed nutrients, hopefully giving you a healthy kick to the day to kill those nasty cravings for useless, processed dead foods! And, then should you eat something less desirable later, well, at least you got this awesome start to the day!

Rock on, my friends, and give that Greenie Meanie a try! Oscar the grouch would be proud do slurp one of these (and maybe he wouldn't be so crabby then! Though I guess his grouchdom is endearing) ;-)

Here's to your Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds Away!

~Katie (and Oscar!)

Acidic Joints

This post is dedicated to my younger sister :) She has been struggling with joint pain in her fingers for several years, and she is finally starting to explore the diet-health connection. (She likes to joke that she does not have blood running through her veins, but cola.)

The doctor recommended to my mom that she push alkaline foods for Carolyn, as an acidic body can exacerbate joint inflammation and pain. There are a lot of health problems that are beginning to be linked to an overly-acidic diet, and sadly, the standard American diet is very acid producing! However backwards as it may sound, an acidic body is NOT caused by eating acidic foods, like lemons and pineapple. Oddly enough, fruits are very alkaline-forming in the body as your body digests it. On the contrary, an acidic body is the result of a high meat, high refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, sugars, pop, etc), high dairy diet! I know it can sound somewhat confusing, but a food's acid or alkaline-forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself. There is a difference between a food being acidic, and being acid-forming.

So, whether you're trying to battle arthritis, bone weakening, or fatigue (all of which may be linked to an overly acidic body!) we could all use a little more alkaline foods.

And what are the best alkaline foods? Yep, you guessed it – fresh fruits and veggies!

Some of the most alkaline-forming vegetables include asparagus, spinach (raw), broccoli, parsley, celery, zucchini, beets, carrots, and tomatoes. Some of the fruits include all citrus, watermelon, cherries, papaya, grapes, kiwi, pears, blueberries, and peaches. (This list could go on.... I can post a more extensive version if you prefer.)

Start your morning off with a glass of water and squeeze in some lemon - cool, or warmed is fine, but don't have boiling water! :) Remember, too much heat will begin to degrade the nutrition of your lemon! Start small, if you like. I now enjoy a half of a lemon squeezed into about 8-12 ounces, but even just a small wedge can provide benefits. It's a wonderful enzyme-full, vitamin C-rich way to kick off the day! (ESPECIALLY with this cold weather! Keep that immune system rolling!)