Keep your greens fresh and crisp!

It's 4 o'clock, nap time is over but you've still got 2 hours till dinner.   The kids wake up hungry and you've only got seconds until the domino  effect meltdowns occur.   A box of peanut butter crackers taunts you with the promise of temporary blood sugar stabilization, but your inner purist cringes at the whiteness of the "organic" flour... you must've been shopping hungry again... THINK!  5...4...3... SMOOTHIE! ... Water, Greens, Bananna, BAM! Done.  Here you go baby monkeys, drink up!   

According to Victoria Boutenko in her book "Green for Life," Chimpanzee's are our closest DNA relative; and we should be eating more like them for optimal health.   For weeks I allowed lettuce to wilt in the fridge before realizing that there must be a way to keep it clean and fresh and ready to serve ( in a smoothie or salad) at a moments notice.   Then, I remembered a trick I learned while working at Nature's Bin Health Food Store in Indian Rocks Beach.  We kept a large sealed plastic container in the deli with washed lettuce leaves and a damp paper towl that kept the lettuce perpetually crisp.  While I'm sure this is the intention of the "crisper" drawer of my refrigerator, I've not had the same results.    The tip:

1. Go to the grocery store and fill your handbasket with 4 heads of various greens.
2. Feel healthy and empowered knowing you will consume all of these this week!
3. Go to the food container isle and check the price of the largest one available. ($15 rubbermaid)
4. Realize that you can buy a plastic container intended for your closet with a lid for 1/3 of the price. ($5 sterilite)
5. Buy the cheap one,  take it home and wash it to make it ready for use.
6. Chop the bottom off all the heads of greens, wash them in cold water and place them in the bin with a damp kitchen towl.

Now you will have the freshest, crispiest greens available at your fingertips anytime of the day, just like your cousin the Chimpanzee.  Once again, that recipe for delicious kid friendly green smoothie is this:  handful of greens, frozen banana, 1 cup water. Blend.

For more green smoothie recipes, visit A Veggie Venture.

Happy Year of the Ox!  Stay healthy with a resolution to drink more greens!

Ants on a log…

The holidays can easily seem overwhelming.  As a mother of two small children I know how challenging it can sometimes be to keep a patient and cheerful attitude when your list of chores is longer than Santa's list of good little girls and boys.  However, I encountered a brief moment of that good-mom feeling when choosing for the children a healthy snack paired with a lively song over the less eco-friendly option of tossing them a kid sized package of some  processed health food imposter. 

"The ants go marching one by one hoorah, hoorah... the ants go marching one by one hoorah, hoorah... the ants go marching one by one, the little one stopped to play his drum, and they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out, of the rain...the ants go marching two by two hoorah, hoorah..."  I sang while decorating peanut butter slathered celery with little ant-raisins.  They both lit up like tree angels and never questioned the green-ness of the celery. 

To continue the song, just make sure the little ant always does something that rhymes with the number you're on.  Maybe the song has traditional words, but I'm sure whatever you and your kids come up with will be more fun!