Add Mesquite to your Cooking and to soothe sore throats …

Mesquite is great for barbeque and to add as a nice spice to healthy cooking. It’s also great for sore throats … here are some pictures of this great shrub/tree and some botanical marker sign stats on the plant ….

Mesquite Prosopis Glandulosa Washune has had many uses for New Mexico’s native people and early settlers. Its branches provided shelter, fuel, and food. The bean pods were delicacies and the seeds were cooked or dried and ground into meal. A good honey was made from the nectar of its flowers. From the root fibers beautiful baskets were made. Its gum served as a glue, dye on pottery, and as a medication for sore throats. The foliage provides browse for livestock and wildlife. ~ (biological marker at Bottomless Lakes State Park)

Mesquite ©2005 Technogypsie.com, click photo for larger view

Pack Your Lunch with Healthy Snacks

First off, yeah, OK, I’ve been AWOL for a long time. It’s a busy life, and things happen that keep you from doing all the things you’d like to do, or all the things you need to do. All I can say is that I will try harder in the future. :0

In any case, it’s back to school time, and for a lot of kids that means packed lunches. A lot of grownups pack lunches too (myself included) because it’s a great way to save money and to ensure that you’re getting something nutritious when you’re really busy. You might think you don’t have time to pack a lunch, but if you can at least pack a few snacks to store in your desk for when those late afternoon munchies come on, you’ll make better choices and have more energy to boot.

Here are some ideas for quick and healthy snacks you can pack, for yourself or your kids:

* fruit cups. Fruit cups come in all sorts of varieties, from plain old peaches to fruit salad with mandarin oranges, pears, even strawberries. Look for varieties packed in light syrup, because the heavier syrup is full of sugar and other unpleasant things.

* applesause. Little cups of applesauce are a great sweet pick-me-up. Go for the all-natural brands, or for a special treat for the kids, pick applesauce flavored with other fruits.

* fresh fruit. Bananas, apples, oranges and pears travel well. Pack lots of paper towels if you’re going to be peeling an orange in your office, or peel and slice before you leave the house (store slices in a zip-top bag or other food storage container). You can also preslice apples and pears if you spritz them with lemon or lime juice after cutting to prevent browning.

* pretzels. For those who need a crunchy snack, pretzels are a good choice because they’re usually fat free. Go for low-salt varieties, and if you can find some made with whole grain, so much the better.

* nuts. There are all sorts of good reasons to eat nuts. Nuts can help lower cholesterol and may be good for your heart. Most nuts are a good source of potassium, and brazil nuts are a huge source of selenium, which forms an antioxidant in the body. Cashews and hazelnuts are good sources of copper, while macadamias, walnuts, pine nuts and pecans provide a burst of manganese. Again, look for low salt or dry roasted varieties.

* granola and other bars. The number and kinds of granola bars on the market have exploded recently. There are bars for low carb eaters, trail mix bars, meal replacement bars that taste like cake. Buy a variety of healthy ones (low calories, a little bit of fat and carbs for keeping the brain working) to find your favorites, but don’t eat a meal replacement bar as a snack, they’re way too calorie dense.

* yogurt. If you have access to a refrigerator, pack yogurt. Dairy is thought to help people lose weight, and the combination of fat, protien, calcium and other nutrients can provide a long-running burst of energy. You can even enjoy yogurt in tubes (so you don’t need a spoon) or health drinks. If you don’t like dairy, try soy yogurt. Choose varieties that are low fat, or check out the new heart healthy yogurts. Add granola, flax seeds or protien powder for an even bigger health boost.

These are just a few ideas for easy, quick, healthy snacks on the go. Next time you’re at the store, grab some of these healthy treats, and pack up little zip bags with all you need to enjoy the treat (a spoon and napkin, for instance) so all you have to do in the morning is grab a sack and go!

Let’s Get Nuts About Nuts

This is something I already knew, but it never harms to get another insight into it after a while: nuts are good for the health. Well, alright, no need to eat five pounds of them per day, else we may just end up with unwanted pounds elsewhere, like with any kind of food excess. Regarding health, though, they’re indeed a perfect source for “good” fats, notably the famous omega-3. Here’s a bit of a nice article about the benefits of adding more nuts to our diets:

People who eat nuts are healthier. A study published in the July 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA) shows that eating a handful of walnuts every day can help patients with type 2 diabetes achieve recommended intakes for polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as omega-3s), critical to protecting the heart. Other large-scale studies, including the Physician’s Health Study, the Iowa Women’s Heath Study and the Harvard Nurses Health Study, also found that eating nuts lowered heart disease risk. Other studies have shown that nuts help lower bad LDL cholesterol.

And a few more things:

• Nuts provide varying amounts protein, vitamins and minerals, carbohydrate and fiber.
• Nuts are rich in immunity-promoting phytochemicals, important in preventing heart disease, stroke and other chronic diseases.
• Nuts are low in saturated fat and contain no trans fat: they contain mainly heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Read more about nuts in this eDiets article.

Happy Fresh Produce!

I love random holidays. Every week and month are full of days, weeks and the months themselves that recognize different things. A check of Butler Webs tells us, for instance, that June is home to such events as Carpenter Ant Awareness Week, Step Parent Week and Hug Week. It’s also Dairy Month, Rose Month and People Skills Awareness Month.

But to me, the best “month” of all is Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month. I don’t know whose idea this holiday was, but it makes perfect sense. In much of the United States, the farmer’s market season is heating up (pardon the pun) and we’re starting to see lots of fresh fruit and vegetables at roadside stands and markets. I was amazed this weekend to see grown-in-my-state tomatoes in a major grocery chain as well as the first peaches of the year at my local farmer’s market.

I love produce in all its many forms, as long as those forms are organic, locally grown and eaten as close to raw as possible (well, except for roasted veggies, which I love as well).

To celebrate this month, why not go out and try a fruit or vegetable you’ve never had before? OK, if you’re a devoted vegetarian it might be tricky for you to find something you haven’t eaten before, but I’ll bet there’s something. Jicama, bok choy, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, rutbaga, pomegranate, pluot. Wander the stalls at the farmer’s market (or the natural foods store) and let your senses do the shopping. Pick something that looks beautiful or strange, or like something you’ve never tried before.

This is where it helps to go to a market where people really know food, not like my local grocery store where the checker didn’t know what a poblano pepper was (another checker at the same store didn’t know what tofu was!). Ask the grower how he likes his kohlrabi, or ask the produce stocker how she prepares oyster mushrooms. You’re bound to learn something and you just might get to add to your list of favored foods.

Another Pyramid to Ponder

The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine department has built a new food pyramid based around healing foods. The bottom of the pyramid is water, and the top is meat and “acompaniments” such as dark chocolate and alcohol. (You can see the pyramid here.)

In between are fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, seasonings, healthy fats, dairy and eggs. The cool thing about this pyramid is that you can click on each section and find healing foods particular to that group.

For example, clicking on seasonings gets you information about the health benefits of tumeric (anti-inflamatory), ginger (motion sickness), garlic (helps with infection and can lower cholesterol), peppermint (prevents gas) and cayenne pepper (improves circulation, eases tooth pain and increases appetite). Clicking on fish and seafood gives you information on the amount of omega-3 fatty acid in different types of fish and explains why that is important, as well as saying which fish you shouldn’t eat because of high mercury content.

Each section also underscores the importance of buying organic, pesticide-free food.

This looks like a really great basic education in natural, healing foods. I hope you all check it out and think about this pyramid as you plan your meals this week.

Food Fresh From the Backyard

My husband and I enjoyed the first few salads from our backyard garden this weekend. I alwyas love this time of year, when things in the garden first bgin to produce. It’s the calm before the storm of July, when there will be (almost) more tomatoes than we know what to do with, and when we could eat something out of our own yard every day.

I really like gardening and I think of producing some of your own food as a key component of healthy living. Whether you make bread from scratch or grow herbs in a window box or have a huge backyard garden, getting your hands a little dirty and then reaping (and eating) the rewards is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It makes you feel a little self-sufficient and in tune with the Earth and the goodness of the food you are eating, even if it’s not actually planted in earth.

It is possible to grow a little something no matter where you live. If you don’t have a yard, you can garden on your balcony. (Here is a great list of vegetable plants you can grow in containers.) At the very least you have a windowsill, or a place inside you could put a lamp with a grow light so you can grow some herbs.

There’s nothing like going into the back yard (or to the ledge or the kitchen window) and picking something to eat that you’ve grown yourself. See if you can find a place to bring a little life into your life. You’ll be glad you did.

Earth Day Eats

I’ve had that Dramarama song stuck in my head all day: “It’s April 21st, and everybody knows today is Earth Day, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever’s bein’ born…”

Which has nothing to do with anything, but it is Earth day (though not April 21st) and though it’s a topic I bring up a lot, it’s worth repeating today that we should all spend more time thinking about where our food comes from.

And I don’t just mean its country of origin, though of course that is important. Is it organic? Full of pesticides? Genetically modified?

Labels are getting better and better at showing you when things are organic or free of growth hormones, but sometimes it can still be tricky to find out what kind of food you are eating. There is a trick, however, when it comes to produce, that is buried inside the PLU code.

Almost all produce in your traditional grocery store has a sticker, tag or bag with a code on it, which is used by the checkout person much like a UPC code is on any other product. This number can tell you if the produce was conventionally grown, organically grown or genetically modified.

A number that is four digits long indicates the attached food is conventional produce (meaning chemical pesticides, fertilizers, etc. may have been used). A number beginning wiht 9 is organic, while an 8 indicates genetically modified foods. These two possibilites will both have five digit PLUs.

If the produce doesn’t have a label (if you’re buying at a farmer’s market, for instance) ask the seller how the food was grown. You have every right not to put strange chemicals into your body if you don’t want to (and you shouldn’t want to). So do your homework and enjoy the great produce of spring. Happy Earth Day!

Wild Blueberries for Health

When I lived in Massachusetts for a summer, I knew someone who would go running in the hills, collect wild blueberries and come home and bake a pie. Now, I’m not usually big on baked fruit (you can have your apple pie, I’ll just take the ice cream) but I’ve got to say those were the most delicious blueberries I’d ever eaten. It turns out they were probably the healthiest, too.

According to research from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, wild blueberries have a lot of potential as a cancer fighter, attacking growths at all stages.

Wild blueberries are also said to have the highest amount of anti-aging antioxidants per serving of any fruit. They’ve been lauded as superfoods by Health magazine and Vegetarian Times and are bound to be the next big thing for health-conscious eaters everywhere.

If you’d like to know where you can find wild blueberries, check out this site (if you live in Ohio, Maine or Canada) and for more information about these sweet blue bundles, click here.

Power foods

I came across this article from Shape magazine that talks about five types of food everyone should be eating to live longer, more helthful lives. The reason is usually antioxidants, those compounds that are said to fight other compounds in the body that cause deterioration and damage to cells.

So what are these power foods?

1. berries
2. low-fat, plain yogurt
3. green leafy vegetables
4. bright orange vegetables
5. whole grains

You can read the article to find all the details about why these are great foods. Did you notice there’s only one animal product on the list and meat is nowhere to be found? There’s a reason for that…

Go Organic for Earth Day

Eighteen grocery store chains and more than 50 organic manufacturers are joing forces this month to encourage consumers to go organic for Earth Day (April 22). To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Earth Day, the Earth Day Network and the Organic Food Association will be distributing booklets (including coupons and recipes) on organic eating and offering samples at participating stores on Earth Day.

The chains that are participating are: Kroger, Publix, Wild Oats, H-E-B Grocery Company, Rainbow Foods, Copps, Pick ‘N Save, Giant Eagle, King Soopers, City Market, Ingles Market, Food Lion, Smith’s, Henry’s Marketplace, Sun Harvest Markets, Marsh Supermarkets, Cub Foods and Fry’s.

If you don’t have one of these stores in your area, you can get the booklet and some free recipes by calling 1-866-446-6742. (There’s also supposedly a website but I couldn’t get it to load.

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