Tag Archives: Nutrition

Peachy Jar Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette

This jar salad is so full of freshness, it makes me want to sing!

Food is supposed to make us feel good! So often today, the food that makes us feel “good” is not good for us. We have been inundated with ads and media from food manufacturers that tell us a food will make us happy.

Food that truly makes a person happy is the food that supports every cell of the body. Food that your body recognizes and knows what to do with. Pure, real, unprocessed food. It makes us feel good and look good. It gives us energy, and makes our skin glow and hair shine. It promotes longevity and prevents disease. Our bodies are like a very intricate computer that communicates with all the different components. We don’t want to confuse it by putting in artificial food that we weren’t made to process.

Peachy Salad in a Jar with Ginger Vinaigrette

Peachy Jar Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette

You can make this jar salad to pack for lunch, or make a larger version of it for another meal to share. It keeps well also! After a day in the refrigerator, the flavors meld even more!

PEACHY JAR SALAD WITH GINGER VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients for the Salad:

1 Cup of Ripe Tomato (Your favorite, any color. I used Heirloom)

1 Ripe and Juicy Peach (sliced and tossed with a tsp. fresh Lime Juice to prevent browning)

1/2 Cup of Watermelon (cubed)

1/2 Cup of Cucumber (cubed)

2 Green Onions (thinly sliced)

1/4 Cup Raw Pecans

1/4 Cup Green Pepper (diced)

GINGER VINAIGRETTE

This makes a 1/2 Cup of dressing, so you will have extra!

1/3 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tablespoons of Fresh Lime Juice

2 Teaspoons of Fresh, Minced Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon of Minced Jalapeno Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1/8 Teaspoon of Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions: Puree the Vinaigrette ingredients thoroughly in a blender.

To assemble your salad: Use a generous glass jar that holds 4 cups. You can also make two smaller jar salads with pint jars, which hold two cups each.

Place two tablespoons of Ginger Vinaigrette in the bottom of the jar.

Add the other prepared ingredients in the following order from bottom to top:

Green onion
Tomato
Green Pepper
Watermelon
Cucumbers
Peaches
Pecans

Seal your jar, and refrigerate until ready to eat! You have made sunshine in a bottle.

Before eating, toss your salad gently by inverting the jar several times to coat the salad with the dressing. Remove lid and enjoy.

*I used organic ingredients

Peachy Salad in a Jar with Ginger Vinaigrette

Eat Your Nutrients! Don’t settle for less. It makes All The Difference!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Farm Market Haul (Are You Going to Eat All That!?)

Farm Market Bounty

Yep, we will eat it all! It is rare that we throw anything out.

The farm market, when it is at the peak of Summer, makes me feel like a little kid in a candy shop! There is much more bounty to come, however the lettuces, snap peas, strawberries, kale and spinach are at their peak. I am in Northern Michigan for the month of July and will be back home in Maryland next month.

This is what I brought home recently to last us four days. This doesn’t include the starchy vegetables that we eat as well, just what looked good at the Farmer’s Market. Our style of eating is to fill 2/3 of our plate with vegetables, including a serving or two of starchy vegetables and lots of non-starchy vegetables. We almost always have a leafy green salad on the table.

The salad greens will be used in green smoothies and salads. I like to quickly cook spinach with pine nuts and garlic olive oil. I used the snap peas in a Cashew Chicken recipe from Russ Crandall’s new cookbook, Paleo Takeout…..so delicious…..I recommend the book!

Paleo Takeout Cashew Chicken

What is your favorite vegetables? Are you trying new ones as well as your favorites? What do you like to go to the farm market to buy? I like to stroll through and find the produce that looks the freshest and most nutrient dense. It is exciting to find something new also, like the baby curly bibb lettues on the bottom right. They were so tender and pretty.

Farm Market Haul (Are You Going To Eat All of That!?)

The Farm Market here is twice a week on Saturday and Wednesday mornings. What is your Farm Market like, and what are you eating this Summer?

Eat Your Nutrients!

Kale Kiwi Green Smoothie (Kale Made Me Do It!)

Nutrition Stripped T-Shirt worn by Sandra Shields, HealthCoach sameatshernurients.com

Green Smoothies are nutrition powerhouses and a great way to ensure you are getting lots of very important nutrients, fiber, phytonutrients, calcium, and cancer preventative greens, vegetables and fruit in large varieties. They help your hair and nails grow faster….this is due to the nutrient absorption. Blending a smoothie is like predigesting your food, so your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard to access the benefits. The energy they give you (which isn’t a sugar boost energy you get from too many carbohydrates) is sustainable for hours. They are a great addition to your diet, and you can reap many benefits from them. Drinking green smoothies makes it easy to get in your daily servings of vegetables. I know a lot of people do not eat enough vegetables, and this is an easy way to ensure you do!

If you have never had a green smoothie, you may have to start out a little sweeter when you begin. After your taste buds adjust, and you start feeling like you can conquer anything because you feel so fantastic, you will learn to love the green taste along with the fruit flavor and know you are feeding your body something oh so good for it! I actually love the taste of green smoothies without a lot of fruit now. When this happens, you get to join the seasoned green smoothie club. 🙂

I like to rotate the greens I use in my smoothies to get as much variety as possible. Different greens taste better with certain fruit and vegetables. Experiment and see what works well for you.

Kale Kiwi Green Smoothie

There are a few things to consider before you start drinking green smoothies regularly. If you are susceptible to kidney stones, you will want to avoid too many high oxalate foods if your doctor has put you on a low-oxalate diet. These would be foods such as spinach, kale, nuts and kiwi. Here is a list of low oxalate choices for your smoothies.

Choose lower sugar fruit, such as berries if you are monitoring your blood sugar levels, and consult with your doctor if you are on any medication like blood thinners or thyroid medication before drinking daily green smoothies to rule out any food you should avoid adding. Food is medicine.

The smoothie recipe I am sharing with you today uses kale. It is on the sweeter side of a green smoothie due to the addition of kiwi (Excellent source of Vitamin C), Watermelon (lycopene which has sun protective properties and is hydrating) and banana. The raw cocao contains antioxidants and is a source of energy, and chamomile is a mild diuretic (helps reduce water retention).

Kale has a stronger flavor than colorful lettuces and spinach which are mild and good starter choices. Kale is an excellent source of calcium, iron, beta-carotene and vitamin K.

Try a green smoothie challenge…….30 days, one a day, preferably in the morning to start your day, but anytime is okay.

Then let me know how it has made a difference in your life! If you already are drinking green smoothies, I would love to hear your story!

Kale Kiwi Smoothie

Kale Kiwi Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 Kiwi, peeled

1 Cup Cubed Watermelon

2 Cups Kale Leaves, Stems Stripped

½ Ripe Banana

1 Teaspoon Raw Cacao Powder

1 ½ Cups Chamomile Tea Chilled

1 Cup Ice Cubes

1 Tablespoon Tahini or Sunbutter

Blend in a high speed blender until smooth. Drink slowly making chewing motions to help the digestion begin in your mouth.

Enjoy how good it feels to know you have just given your body a loving dose of nutrition!

Have a beautiful day!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad

Peach and Berry Summer Fruit Salad

Hello Lovely People!!! One of the things so fantastic about this Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad is, it is just naturally gorgeous! You don’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, it is no cook, and it is nutrient rich. The nutrients, polyphenols and variety of natural from nature color pigments in the fruit feeds your skin, which is out in the sun more in the Summertime.

Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad

I know you all want your skin to glow! Am I right? Glowing skin just screams “healthy”. It is far lovelier than any makeup, although I like and use makeup.

Peach and Berry Summer Fruit Salad

I’ll admit I am really careful about balancing my nutrition. I have worked hard on my gut health over the last three years so I can really absorb the nutrients I eat. I have learned to listen to my body and be intuitive about what it may need. The needs of our bodies changes based on many factors including the time of year, our age, exposure to toxins, activity levels, stress, sleep, illness, and our environment.

Food is your most basic form of self care. One thing I rarely compromise on with myself is, I don’t eat junk. If I am having a treat, the food is real food ingredients. If you adopt this way of eating, if you aren’t already, you will get feedback as your body changes. We really are what we eat. People will comment on how obvious it is that you take care of yourself, and ask you your secret.

Next week I will share a new chocolate chip cookie recipe with you made from real food. All the recipes you will find on my blog are real food recipes. So check out the recipe index.

Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

5 Organic Juicy Ripe Peaches (pitted, peeled and sliced)

6 oz. of Organic Blackberries

2 Cups Organic Strawberries (halved)

1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Organic Lime (Zest and Juice)

2 Tablespoons Dry White Wine (Optional, I used Sauvignon Blanc)

2 Teaspoons of Good Quality Honey

1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions: Whisk together the Lime Juice, Honey, Lime Zest, Vanilla and White Wine if using. Pour over the bowl of prepared fruit and gently fold. Refrigerate 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Right before serving, sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Serve chilled and enjoy! Have a fabulous weekend!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Simple Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

I was at the grocery store last week buying butternut squash, and the checkout clerk held up my squash, squished up her nose in curiosity and asked, “What do you do with these? I see people buying them, but how do you eat them?” I asked her if she had ever had butternut squash? She said, no she was Italian and was familiar with zucchini, but not butternut squash. I was so excited to share with her my favorite way to prepare it…..oven roasted. Simple is often extraordinary! It is delicious, caramelized, sweet and nutty when oven roasted. I so wanted to invite her into my kitchen and give her a demonstration so she could taste it for herself! So, that has motivated me to do a series of simple vegetable dishes that are delicious and nourishing.

Butternut squash, referred to sometimes as Butternut Pumpkin in Australia and New Zealand, is full of health benefits including a good amount of beta-carotene which our bodies convert to Vitamin A, Potassium for our bone health, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Fiber and some good Carbohydrates (5% in a cup) in addition to Carotenoids, which are naturally occurring pigments thought to be preventative against cancer and macular degeneration.

Here is a simple and delicious way to prepare it!

Simple Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 Medium Butternut Squash

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

2 Teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400º degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash and peel the squash. I use a vegetable peeler. It works beautifully! Slice the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. It will look like this:

Peeled and Seeded Butternut Squash

Cube the Squash into 2 inch cubes and place on your rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle it with the salt and pepper.

Cubed Butternut Squash

Melt the coconut oil, and pour it over the cubed squash. Toss with your hands until well coated. Spread the squash out in a single layer on the cookie sheet, and place it in the oven. Roast a total of 50 minutes to an hour until it is starting to caramelize, tossing with a spatula every twenty minutes. There you have it! Utterly delicious, and you are Eating Your Nutrients in a very yummy fashion!

*If you are eating Low FodMap a serving is 1/4 Cup at a time.

Eat Your Nutrients!

Brazilian Cranberry Fig Bites

I love little energy bites when I am on the go, in a hurry, or after an afternoon workout. The pace seems to always pick up when the school year starts doesn’t it? Summer has been relaxed and more laid back with the schedules, but now we are watching the clock more and checking our daily calenders. Am I the only one?

These little bites are a delicious, healthy snack that is portable. The brazil nuts add selenium which good quantities of vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals, and figs are full of nutrients and fiber, and just taste wonderful! The tart dried cranberries are lower in sugar than other dried fruits and give the bites a sweet tangy burst of flavor. (use dried cranberries sweetened with apple juice.)

You can make these in your oven or a food dehydrator. They are easy and a delicious, healthy addition to your snack rotation that might save you time and your sanity when you are on the run.

Brazilian Cranberry Fig Bites

Ingredients:

12 Dried Figs (soaked in hot water 30 minutes)

1 Cup Raw Pecans

1 Cup Raw Brazil Nuts

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut

1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries

1/4 Cup Clear Honey

1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1 Teaspoon Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Directions: Soak your figs submerged in very hot water for 30 minutes to soften. Add them to a food processor with the pecans, brazil nuts and coconut and pulse until they are a fine consistency. Add remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse again until it is combined and a sticky consistency that holds together. Scoop into tablespoon sized mounds. (I used a tablespoon cookie scoop, but you could also use a spoon) and roll into balls, then flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Place on your dehydrator trays or on a parchment lined cookie sheet if you are baking.

Dehydrate for 18 hours at 105º degrees or bake in your oven at 250º degrees for 45 minutes.

I like to individually package them in twos so we can grab them and go.

Enjoy these! They are so good and good for you!