I found this recipe in a Whole Foods flier and thought it sounded like another good idea for a vegetarian meal. So I tried it and I think we were all surprised at how good it was, especially with such simple ingredients. My almost-three-year-old son even liked it!

Ingredients:

• 2 organic carrots, shredded
• 2 bunches organic dark leafy greens (kale, collard greens, or Swiss chard), tough stems removed, leaves very thinly sliced
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 lb Feta cheese, crumbled
• cooked organic brown rice (I cooked 2 cups dried rice)

Notes About Ingredients

I deviated from Whole Foods’ recipe in the following ways:

• I did not use onion, like the recipe called for (1/2 red onion, finely chopped)
• I used 1/2 lb (8-oz) Feta cheese because we like it (the recipe calls for 1/4 lb)
• I cooked 2 cups dry organic brown rice ahead of time; I guessed at the amount needed. (the recipe calls for a 20-oz package of Whole Foods’ brand frozen organic brown rice – I do not agree with using pre-packaged foods like that, although I’m sure some people like it to save time)

Directions:

• Put carrots, greens, onions, 1/4 cup water, salt, and pepper into a large, deep skillet and toss well.
• Cover and cook over medium heat, tossing once or twice, until greens are wilted and tender, 10-15 minutes.
• Toss with Feta cheese and spoon over brown rice.

(Sorry about my less-than-stellar photos. Go to the Whole Foods website to see a better photo of this meal. It truly was great!)

Final Thoughts

This meal was really easy to make, even when I cooked the rice myself. And it was very tasty; maybe surprisingly so, given the few ingredients. Yes, the extra Feta cheese we added might be part of the reason. And I was pleasantly surprised that our son ate it all up, especially given his recent “dislike” of most things green. I would definitely make this meal again, and make it exactly the way I did here. I may cut back on the 2 cups dried rice, but I really don’t  mind having some extra; I just put it in the freezer for easy use at another meal.

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Wendy – ParentingTips365.com

Read all the posts in the Healthy Living series by clicking on the icon on the left.

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March is National Nutrition Month® and, if you didn’t know by now, good nutrition is very important to me and my family. We are very passionate about natural health and wellness and I thought this would be a great time to share our nutrition journey. (We didn’t always eat as well as we do today).

Also, throughout the month of March I will be sharing our favorite healthy recipes. As you know, the Healthy Living series I started earlier this year is well under way and future articles will share even more information about living a healthy lifestyle, including more information about why we made these changes – and how you can too.

10 Years Ago

Ten years ago we didn’t eat as healthy as we eat now, but of course we thought what we ate was fine. (Don’t most people think they eat healthy when asked?) I am trying to remember what we ate then, and here is what I came up with:

• Breakfast: Cold (boxed) cereal with milk
• Lunch: Deli meat sandwich
• Dinner: Various things, but vegetables played a minor role on our plate

I specifically remember a time when we ordered pizza almost every week and I drank Mountain Dew with it. And I remember going to fast food restaurants and not thinking anything of it. We used our microwave a lot, too, even for cooking frozen vegetables (which seems so odd to me now). I am pretty sure I sometimes ate cookies for breakfast, too, because I was an adult and COULD do it – HA!

I also remember that being a time when I had my percentage body fat measured and was surprised to find it rather high. I also got sick a lot (colds) and went immediately to the doctor where I was given some useless drug, which I happily took.

Slow Changes

I don’t remember exactly how we got started with our healthy eating overhaul; perhaps it was the conversations my husband had with our chiropractor that gave us the spark. The information he gave us was interesting, and we followed it up with some research. Slowly, we decided to change the way we ate.

While we were doing our initial change, I remember eating some interesting things, for breakfast especially. We were following a cookbook called Back to the House of Health and eating the “Zippy Breakfast”, which was a bowl of brown rice with lemon juice, olive oil, liquid aminos, avocado, and tomato. Or alternately we would make a big salad (yes, green salad for breakfast)! We would pile it with various greens including sprouts and top it with our homemade salad dressing.

We started shopping at Whole Foods Market, a natural and organic grocery store. We looked for new recipes and kept with it.

We increased our veggie portions on our plate and added more fresh vegetables. We started eating hot rice cereal for breakfast, as well as eggs. We increased our healthy fats by including olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, and coconut oil into our diets. We switched to deli meats from Whole Foods (without nitrites and other preservatives) and then eventually switched to cooking regular chicken breasts and cutting them up for sandwiches.

We did feel completely tired as our body started cleansing, and this was good. Out with the toxins and in with the real food and nutrition.

What We Do Now

I won’t go through all the changes we made, because there were many and it covered the span of YEARS. My biggest advice if you want to really make a lifestyle change is to make health a hobby. Put time into research. Ask questions. Try new recipes. Change one thing at a time. Always yearn to grow and change and learn more.

Trying to compare and contrast what we do now compared to how we used to eat, here are just a few snippets:

• Breakfast: We eat oatmeal with ground flax seed, coconut oil, and fruit. We also sprinkle cinnamon on top; my husband adds turmeric, too. We eat eggs almost every morning, too.
• Lunch: I cook a bunch of organic chicken (usually thighs, but sometime breasts) in a glass pan, with plenty of organic seasonings. I cut into serving portions (which are smaller than they used to be) and freeze all in a big container. Each day for lunch, I pull out some chicken and warm it up in a saucepan on the stove top. We put it on a sprouted grain wrap with various veggies.
• Dinner: Various meals but with organic and better ingredients. Vegetables now take up half or more of our plate.

Here are a few other things we do now:

• Eat real foods
• Eat organic (fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, butter, etc.)
• Low dairy (no more milk)
• Eat 75% vegetarian
• The meat we do eat is mainly chicken, turkey, bison, or whatever game my dad gives us. We eat very little beef; we do not eat any pork at all.
• Low processed foods/snacks and what we do buy is natural or organic
• Absolutely none of these ingredients in food: hydrogenated oils, MSG (in any name/form), food colorings, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives, hormones
• Low/no sugar
• We only drink filtered water; no juice, soda, etc. (we installed a reverse osmosis unit under our sink, which makes it SO easy)
• Absolutely no fast food, and reduced our restaurant visits to those that have better ingredients (we love Jason’s Deli)
• We do not use our microwave at all; food is cooked or reheated on the stove top or in the oven.
• We only cook with stainless steel or glass; no aluminum or plastic. Same with food storage.

Resources

Here are a few places we learned about nutrition:

• We talked to our chiropractor, who also was a clinical nutritionist. You can search out healthy professionals in your own life. Information can be varied and contradicting, though, so listen smartly.
• Mercola.com
• Dr. Mercola’s Total Health Cookbook & Program
• NaturalNews.com
• Weston A. Price

What Can You Do?

When you decide to eat healthier, all the information can be overwhelming. My advice is to make changes slowly; change one thing at a time. Incorporate that change into your life until it becomes a habit. Then change something else – and keep going. Like anything, if you try to do everything at once, it may be too hard to maintain, and  you end up not changing anything!

A good start is to follow my blog, or other health blogs, to learn about healthy options. Find the people who are the most vibrant and see what they do.

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You may be wondering why we made the changes we did; why certain things are ‘bad’ and certain things are ‘good’. I will go into detail in future articles about the ‘why’ for most of those things so that you can decide for yourself if you want to embrace that change, too. For now, keep reading and learning – and enjoy this month of healthy recipes!

Wendy – ParentingTips365.com

Read all the posts in the Healthy Living series by clicking on the icon on the left.

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Now that you know how to ‘green clean’ your kitchen and laundry room, it’s time to tackle the bathroom – in an eco-friendly way, of course. I am going to share some simple homemade bathroom cleaning solutions that will save you money as well as help protect your family’s health and the environment. Thankfully, you will be using the same basic ingredients you’ve learned about already.

Learning eco-friendly, non-toxic ways to clean your bathroom is so important. Mainstream surface cleaners, scouring powders, and toilet cleaners come packed with an arsenal of toxic and corrosive chemicals that are dangerous to our health and to the environment.

Health Concerns

• Ingredients with high acute toxicity include chlorine bleach and ammonia, which produce fumes that are highly irritating to eyes, nose, throat and lungs, and should not be used by people with asthma or lung or heart problems. These two chemicals pose an added threat in that they can react with each other or other chemicals to form lung-damaging gases.
• Triclosan is a common ingredient used in antibacterial and antimicrobial cleaners and it contributes to the increasing problem of drug-resistant bacteria. Triclosan is similar to the pesticide Agent Orange and can cause infertility, birth defects, and damage to major body organs. Also, studies have shown that triclosan can combine with chlorine in our tap water to make chloroform gas. 
• Isopropanol, also known as rubbing alcohol, is a nervous system depressant.
• d-Limonene is a high-odor volatile organic compound that irritates skin and eyes.
• Pine oil is irritating to mucus membranes and harmful or even fatal when ingested.

Environmental Concerns

• Some chemical ingredients do not break down into harmless substances in the environment, and thus threaten water quality or fish and other wildlife.
• Many use chemicals that are petroleum-based, contributing to the depletion of this non-renewable resource and increasing our nation’s dependence on imported oil.
• The plastic bottles used to package cleaning products contribute to the mounds of solid waste that must be put in a landfill, incinerated, or, in not enough cases, recycled.

As I show you how to clean your bathroom with homemade, non-toxic ingredients, you will notice that we are using many of the same ingredients and solutions as we did for cleaning the kitchen; see how easy it can be to make your own cleaning solutions!

Disclaimer: These natural cleaning ideas and solutions are offered as a way to minimize the use of toxic substances in your home and reduce environmental harm. Results may vary and are not guaranteed. Always test in small, hidden areas before applying any cleaning solution. Always use caution and keep the products and homemade solutions well-labeled and out of the reach of children.

Bathroom Mold in Shower

Mold in bathroom tile grout is a common problem and can be a health concern. Here are several options for a natural mold remover:

• Mix one part hydrogen peroxide (3%) with two parts water in a spray bottle. Spray on areas with mold. Wait at least one hour before rinsing or using shower.
• Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the moldy area, and let set without rinsing. The smell will dissipate in a few hours. Vinegar kills 82 percent of mold.
• Mix 2 cups water and 2 teaspoons tea tree oil. Combine in a spray bottle, shake to blend, and spray on problem areas. Do not rinse. The smell of tea tree oil is very strong, but it will dissipate in a few days. Recipe found here.
• A half a lemon dipped in Borax will also scour the mildew out of the cracks in your tub and tile.

Remember that vinegar can break down tile grout, so use sparingly. Also, use Borax with care around children and pets, as it can be toxic if swallowed.

Bathtub

For a natural soap scum remover, apply baking soda (it is non abrasive) and then sprinkle with water or vinegar. Scrub with a damp cloth or sponge; for tough-to-remove soap scum, use a bristle brush.

Drain

Chemical drain cleaners are one of the most toxic cleaning products. These caustic mixtures commonly contain lye, bleach, or sulfuric acid and can cause damage to skin, lungs, and eyes. Instead of messing with chemicals, all you need is baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

For a natural drain cleaner, pour 1/2 cup to 1 cup baking soda down the drain and then add apple cider vinegar. Let it bubble for 15 minutes and then rinse with hot water.

Sink

For a natural sink cleaner, simply scrub with baking soda and water.

Countertops

For a natural countertop cleaner, add water and vinegar to a spray bottle (in a 1:1 ratio) and spray. You could even add a few drops of liquid castile soap. However, do not use vinegar on marble, granite, or other stone countertops as it may etch the stone surface. Another option is to simply add some liquid castile soap to some water. Imagine that, soap and water!

Another option is to use an E-cloth. You only need to use water with this wonder cloth and it can clean many surfaces: stainless steel, tiles, chrome, glass, marble, or plastics. It can be washed and used over and over.

Glass and Windows

Commercial window cleaners contain many toxic ingredients such as ammonia and butyl cellosolve (a toxic ingredient that is not listed on the labels). Also, by buying commercial glass cleaners, you are going through many, many bottles, not to mention paying a high price for a product that is 95% water!

To clean mirrors, create your own natural glass cleaner with vinegar and water; it is much safer. Combine equal parts water and white vinegar in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray and wipe, using a micro fiber cloth. Do not use newspaper, which contains toxic dyes, or paper towels, which contribute to waste.

Toilet

Most toilet bowl cleaners are highly acidic and can irritate lungs and burn eyes. For a natural toilet cleaner, spray vinegar around the bowl, sprinkle with baking soda, and scrub it with a toilet brush. This solution will clean and deodorize.

Another option is to use Borax, a naturally occurring alkaline mineral that is a powerful disinfectant and deodorizer.  Toss 1/2 cup in your bowl, wait a half an hour, then scrub.

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How is your ‘green cleaning’ coming along? What steps have you taken so far? Do you have any questions? Leave a comment and share!

Wendy – ParentingTips365.com

Read all the posts in the Healthy Living series by clicking on the icon on the left.

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