Get SOMETHING Green on Your Plate!

You know green veggies are good for you, but do you find you keep telling yourself you'll be better about eating them - in the future?  Does it seem like too much to deal with today? When it all seems too much, I seek SIMPLE solutions. 

Why eat fresh green veggies?  Green veggies help digestion and help you feel satisfied with less likelihood of overeating. They can help avoid acid reflux and indigestion.  The chlorophyll in your green veggies is said to improve anemic conditions, the action of the heart, reduce high blood pressure normal blood count and platelet levels; to contribute to healing of hepatitis and other liver diseases, asthma and hay-fever, pyorrhea, varicose veins, ulcers - internal and external, high and low blood sugar, offensive body odors, sore throat; to shield the brain from antioxidant damage; and to add power to an anti-aging program. My article on chlorophyll details all kinds of the amazing benefits of green stuff.
{You can find chlorophyll here}

Despite all this goodness, it is so easy to find your meals have little or no green! (And don't try to cheat yourself with canned vegetables - they do not have the nutritional value of fresh veggies)

A little bit of iceberg lettuce (what I sometimes call "green water") a slice of insipid tomato, a few bits of shredded carrot are of little help.  Remember the more veggies you eat, the easier it is for your body to process your meal - leading to weight loss, better digestion, blood sugar balance, and all around real nourishment and health improvement.

It may seem that getting around to creating a routine of eating plenty of green veggies is impossible.  It just isn't happening.  I have been through stages like this - I found myself thinking:

- Oh my gosh HOW do I get something GREEN on this PLATE??  I can barely manage to get myself fed in the first place!

Well, the first thing is to commit to making the habit of veggie.  Start with just the idea of it,  like "I am okay with eating more green veggies. I can make it happen (as long as they taste good). I just have to keep it really simple to start."

Now, I realize that even my super simple Perfect Green Veggie Sautee and Kale Salad can seem a little daunting if you are living life in overwhelm. So for this post I got down to basics. I found that when there is too much going on in my life, the minimum was all I could do - maybe you feel like that too.  So let's break it down - what is the one thing you can do - one thing you can manage to get yourself to do? Start with veggies that need little or no preparation.

Baby Steps:
(this is all I could manage for a couple of weeks!)
Just slice some celery, cucumber, and/or decent tomatoes.  A handful of snap peas also work well (remove the strings). Baby carrots are better than nothing. (Okay, okay...tomatoes and carrots aren't green, but I feel better if I have them with a meal than if I have no veggies at all!) In my experience, if I could get one or more of those vegetables on my lunch or dinner (or breakfast!) plate, I felt better.  If I felt better, I found I was able to do it again -- if by no other means than by remembering feeling better.

Get the green on your plate! Veggies aren't taking anything away from you.  They don't make you fat! They don't give you health problems! Just add them to what you are already eating, whatever that is.

Once you take the first steps, try some variety: Super Simple Chunky Salad

• Super Simple Chunky Salad -- For one serving, cut 1 Persian cucumber or half of a regular cucumber in half lengthwise, and then cut these halves the long way again, then I cut these long quarters into bite sized chunks; toss in a medium bowl with virgin olive oil, Himalayan or other quality salt, any savory dried spices that are handy (oregano, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary) and similarly sized chunks of tomatoes.  

Variation #1:  Add more green veggies to your chunky salad, cutting them to about the same size as your cukes and tomatoes: Try celery, sugar peas, even leftover steamed asparagus or broccoli.  

Hey, it's summer, so grab some decent tomatoes at the farmers' market or if you can't get there, you can get organic Del Cabo Cherry tomatoes at many grocery stores.

Variation #2: Add fresh herbs, such as chopped basil, Italian parsley, mint, or dill. 

EAT MORE - WEIGH LESS!

 

I learned a fantastic lesson a while back.  I found that by eating more veggies with every meal, I lost weight. I didn't eat less food overall - more of what I ate was veggies.  The key is to make them yummy.

What happened was that by eating more veggies at meals, I was not so hungry for the other heavier foods or even for sweet desserts.  I truly believe that this is because when the body is getting better and more various nourishment (via veggies), it isn't continuing to trigger a hunger action in the brain.  In other words - when you don't get certain nourishment you think you are still hungry.  I believe it may be impossible to overeat vegetables! The more veggies you eat with your meal, the less you will eat the stuff that keeps weight on.  When you go for seconds - go for veggies!

By my mid-20s I had normally been a little chunky.  I experienced an epiphany after a long bout of flu -- I decided to try to eat more veggies for my general health.  I realized the reason I didn't eat enough vegetables was because either 1) there weren't many veggie options on the menus at restaurants where I ate; and 2) they usually weren't delicious.

I realized that the first priority is to make veggies at home and make them delicious. Later tackle the restaurant question.

For emergencies keep some celery, cucumbers, and tomatoes available. In a pinch you can simply slice cucumbers into big chunks and drizzle with virgin olive oil and a little good quality salt. Or make a quick salad with any combination of the 3 (cucumbers, celery, tomatoes) tossed with your olive oil and salt, adding fresh herbs like parsley, mint, tarragon, oregano.  For cooked green goodness, I have included below a recipe for green veggies that has won fabulous feedback from family and friends.

At every family holiday I make broccoli or kale. My young niece once requested "Stefanie's Signature Kale" for her birthday dinner.   Wow, that is a compliment. Okay - This is how I do it.

Some folks like to use a steamer - broccoli and kale only need a minute or two - I prefer to cook quick, edible green veggies quickly, using fairly high heat in a skillet with a lid. I often use a pre-seasoned cast iron skillet (mine is a 12 inch).  These are perfect for some kinds of high heat cooking, quick cooking. They are durable, difficult to damage.

I have kept the following recipe simple, in case you are a beginner.  You can get fancy with garlic, onions, spices, or other variations once you get the hang of the basic method.

RECIPE
For quick and tasty kale, broccoli, green beans, sweet peas, snow peas, asparagus, etc.
1 skillet (this can be done in cast iron, ceramic or pretty much any other type of skillet)
Green veggie of choice (broccoli, snow peas, sugar snap peas, green beans, kale, rapini, etc.)
High quality salt (i.e. Himalayan or other mineral salt)
1 Tbsp of water

Put your veggies in the pan, but don't add water or oil at first. Let the pan heat up, and then add

Green is Good

Why should you take chlorophyll when you are already taking tons of supplements? 

“It could be said that the source of all life on earth depends on a special process that only the green plants possess. This process is called photosynthesis. All green plants absorb energy from the sun, take water and minerals through their roots and air through through leaves en route to maturity. Using the energy from the sun, plants utilize water, minerals and carbon dioxide to make starches, fats, proteins, vitamins and everything they require to grow.
….The chlorophyll molecule bears a striking resemblance to hemoglobin, the red pigment in human blood. The red blood pigment is a web of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms grouped around a single atom of iron. Nature’s green pigment is a similar web of the same atoms, except that its centerpiece is a single atom of magnesium.” (Read the entire article at: http://proliberty.com/observer/20011010.htm)

I just don't feel right if I don't eat green stuff.  I guess it turns out there is a reason for this.  

Chlorophyll is said to improve various anemic conditions, improve the action of the heart, reduce high blood pressure and improve overall health. The writer of the above mentioned article cites examples of chlorophyll normalizing blood count and platelet levels. 
{Buy Chlorophyll here}
Further benefits attributed to chlorophyll include improvement or healing of:
Hepatitis and other liver diseases, asthma and hay-fever, pyorrhea, varicose veins, hemorrhoids,
ulcers - internal and external, high and low blood sugar, offensive body odors, sore throat.
“While we always hear that eating more fruits and vegetables enhances our health, new research shows that eating green foods adds extra power to an anti-aging program.