I can remember as a kid blowing the fuzz off of a dandelion weed and making a wish. Little did I know that dandelions were nutritious. Dandelion greens are considered a leafy vegetable that contain more nutrition than broccoli. Having a higher content of vitamins A, and C, and iron. Dandelions also contain lots of magnesium and potassium.
The best time to eat dandelion greens is in the spring and early summer when the leaves are still young. Dandelion greens should be harvested in early spring, before the flowers appear. They’re a bit bitter but taste fantastic in a salad. You can also saute the flowers, roots and leaves with onion and garlic, serve them on a sandwich or salad, boil the leaves and serve like spinach or add them to your green smoothies like I do!
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My kids and I are crazy about green smoothies. We make them a couple times daily usually. Never before has it been so easy to get my kids to eat plenty of those all important leafy greens! Just check out my daughter’s green smoothie moustache (left).
You may be wondering what a green smoothie is exactly. Or maybe not, they seem to be getting really popular in healthier living circles everywhere lately. A green smoothie does not refer to being “green” in the eco sense of the word. Although they can be that too. The green in a green smoothie refers to what is in the smoothie and usually the color as well. Quite simply, green smoothies are blended beverages that combine fresh or frozen fruit and leafy greens like Kale, collard, spinach, or wild edibles. Veggies like carrots may make a cameo appearance in green smoothies as well. The genius of a green smoothie is that they are jam packed with nutritional goodness, usually in its raw life living form, and they taste absolutely fantastic! When was the last time your kids begged you for fresh spinach? Well, mine ask me daily for some. 
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by Jennifer Lance on February 13, 2009 · 1 comment
Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”
Children get home from school and they are hungry. The day was packed full of learning energy zapping activities and they need to refuel. When I got off the bus after school I remember eating chips, cookies, drinking soda and complaining if these items weren’t around.
Sorry mom and dad, I just made you look really bad.
I would eat these junk food snacks and then at dinner not be hungry. I filled up on sugar, carbohydrates and fat. Nothing that helped to refuel me and tide me over until I could have a well balanced nutritious meal. Just as it is important for our children to be fed healthy meals they need healthy snacks. It is known that what we eat plays a role in our brain function, our weight and overall how we feel. Health Guidance has a great article describing nutrition and brain function that all parents might want to consider reading. The article isn’t focused on children but the article still applies, especially the behavior part! Many children have behavior issues in the evening from fatigue, stress and probably nutrition issues. I’m finding this to be true in my own household. [read the full article...]
I was exhausted while breastfeeding one child, so I can’t imagine what the mother of octuplets, who already has six children previously, must feel like nursing eight babies!
I commend the new mother for making sure her infants received the best nutrition possible through breastmilk. They’ve already survived to be only the second set of octuplets to be born alive in America, rarer than your chances of being struck by lightning.
The unidentified mother gave birth to two girls and six boys, weighing from 1 pound, 8 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The mother plans to breastfeed all eight babies, according to Inhabitots.
At present, five of the octuplets are being fed donated breast milk while their mother is pumping to save milk for all of her babies. The medical staff will help the mother learn how to express her milk so that they can store and give it to the infants. Each baby now weighs in at under 3 lbs each, so it is essential that they receive their mother’s breast milk to help their tiny bodies grow in strength, and to build up their digestive and immune systems. Mom and babies will gradually get used to breastfeeding, but will always be allowed to have skin to skin contact while the babies gain their strength. Such contact is another important necessity for their sustained health. (This is the typical recovery breastfeeding system for premature born infants).
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I am not a big fan of pasteurized milk, even organic. It just seems like milk flavored water with much of the nutrition and all of the enzymes being killed during the pasteurization process. For several years now we have opted to buy raw milk or make homemade almond milk instead. Both are much healthier and easier on the stomach. Conventional milk is not an option for me in fact as the moment I drink I get dehibilitating stomach aches. To me this means I just shouldn’t be drinking it.
Making almond milk is incredibly easy once you get your system down and my kids think it is incredibly delicious. They will drink it straight, add it to cereal, or use it to make chocolate milk or banana milk smoothies. Since I use raw organic almonds, I get to rest easy knowing that their milk, or “mylk” as many refer to it, is healthier for their little bodies and healthier for the planet. Nuts are an essential fuel for the body too. To make it I just follow these simple steps:
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by Derek Markham on November 6, 2008 · 1 comment
With so many choices in the grocery store, it is often difficult to pick out the healthiest foods for your family. Recently, a system was introduced to help consumers make this decision. It is called the NuVal system and it was developed by a team of healthcare professionals led by Dr. David Katz, a nationally recognized authority on nutrition and funded by Yale University School of Medicine
With the NuVal scoring system, foods receive a simple numeric score between 1 and 100. This score summarizes the overall nutritional value of the food. The score considers many factors, including the presence of nutrients and the quality of protein, fat and carbohydrates. With this system, you can compare items across food groups. For example, you can compare veggie burgers to actual veggies, or cheese to chicken. [read the full article...]
by Jennifer Lance on October 15, 2008 · 0 comments
