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Archive for 2012

I’m Blue, But No Tears Here

Posted by terrepruitt on November 13, 2012

Last week I cancelled my Monday and Wednesday Nia class and got a substitute for my Tuesday Nia class with the City of San Jose. I decided to take the next level of Nia training. I was a White Belt, now I am a Blue Belt. Nia calls their trainings intensive. I cannot assume to know why, but I am glad they do. They are very intense. The training is part lecture and part moving. The moving can be dancing or types of exercises to further the learning process. People tend to learn better when they are doing, so there is a lot of doing. In my rough calculations it was about 53 hours of instruction, including the Master Classes. It was Saturday through Friday. It was exhausting. It was energizing. It was incredible. As I have mentioned before and I will continue to mention Nia is a cardio dance exercise. Come to a class. Move. Have fun. Sweat. Get your workout in. But Nia is also a practice. I compare it to yoga in that a person can go into a yoga class and work out and do the exercise and then leave and not give it a second though. Or they could give it a second thought. They could take on some of the aspects of yoga, they could practice breathing and/or meditating or anything else that might be attached to their yoga class on a deeper level. That is what a person can do with Nia too. So some people take the intensives for self-growth with no intention of teaching at all. Even if they are not planning on teaching or are not currently doing so, the training is just as intense.

Each belt level has its own focus and intent. Blue Belt focus is Communication, Relationship and Intimacy with the intent to energize personal connection through self-discovery and communication by following The Body’s Way. Sounds like a lot. Ok, it IS a lot. LOL!

In addition to a focus and intent, each belt level (aside from Green) has its own set of principles. With the Blue Belt, the principles were made to layer onto or over the White Belt Principles. Some of the information is very close to being the same, but with a little more added to it. It is very interesting the way Nia does things. It is very amazing the training they come up with and the delivery of it.

In this training we were shown many things, one was an enlightened way to use the Nia 5 Stages or the Developmental Anatomy to measure all types of things and where we might be in a process. It is a pretty cool tool. It is part of the Body’s Way.

I am 100% positive I will have more posts regarding the Blue Belt Intensive, the Blue Belt Principles, and my thoughts on it all. I am still processing it right now. My mind is racing with thoughts, ideas, things I learned, things I didn’t learn, just a lot of things. There is so much that I want to share. There is also a lot I don’t want to share. Nia is not a secret society by any means. There are no secrets to the intensives, in fact most of the information is things that have been around for as long as I can remember. The information is stuff you have probably heard before. It is just the WAY they deliver it. And the way it is connected to the body that is somewhat unique. If I decide not to share something or talk vaguely about some things it is because I don’t want to ruin the surprise of some things for those of you that will be taking the Blue Belt. Since the Blue Belt Principles are layered onto the White Belt Principles I will probably write more post about them too. And we will see what comes up. I have chosen to participate in Nia as a practice. For now, I will revel in Blue!

Is there something that you have in your life you consider a practice?

Posted in Blue Belt, Nia | Tagged: 13 principles, Blue Belt Principles, cardio dance, cardio dance exercise, cardio dance exercise classes, City of San Jose Nia Classes, dance exercise, Developmental Anatomy, focus and intent, Master classes, Nia 5 Stages, Nia Blue Belt, Nia dancing, Nia exercise, Nia Intensives, Nia Practice, Nia training, Nia White Belt, TBW, White Belt Principles, Yoga, Yoga Practice | 2 Comments »

No More Oil Wrestling

Posted by terrepruitt on November 10, 2012

Ok, so just like the Green Smoothie kick I am a little behind on the olive oil sprayers. I have seen them for a long time, but I thought they were just regular pump sprayers, which is fine, I could do that, but I have a little bottle that does a great job for me. It “pours” a drop at a time. But being in that HUGE warehouse store recently I decided to grab a package of the Misto sprayers. They came in a two pack. So as I often am late to the party, I JUST got them. These things are cool. Although they might be a little leaky, it is still cool to get the misty spray of an aerosol without the added chemicals that they put in the aerosol cans. I am not sure what it is — probably the additional chemicals they put in the cans — but when I used one of those “cooking sprays” like Pam the pan gets this weird coating on it that won’t come off. My first thought is, “Dang I don’t want that weird coating on my dishes.” But then I get that “D’oh!” moment and realize I don’t want that weird coating in my body. I don’t even know what it is, but it DOES NOT COME OFF. So now with the sprayer I am getting a nice mist and no weird coating I have to try to wrestling off of the pan.

When I was excitedly sharing information of this new-to-me spray bottle with my friend, she laughed at me and said they had been around for a long time, but I did start my story with that same statement. I had explained that I had seen them for a long time, but never bothered. The path of our conversation lead to the stuff that coats the dishes when other cooking spray is used. So I was happy to know it was not just my imagination or my sub par dishwashing skills. After having noticed that weird coating, I was buying Trader Joe’s Olive Oil spray which does not leave a weird coating on things, but still has additional chemicals in it.

This pump and spray Misto is cool. I like it. I prefer a sprayer because not only do I use it to “oil” my pans, but I use it to dress my salad. I just use olive oil and vinegar on my salad so it is so nice to not have to pour. My little bottle works good, but so does the sprayer! Then, of course, I also use it to spritz the veggies as I am cooking them. I feel I use a lot less oil with the sprayer!

Since the package came with two I will probably use the other one for vinegar that way I can just completely spritz my salad.

So I know I am late on actually using one of these, do any of you have an oil sprayer? Do you have a sprayer that you use for something other than oil or vinegar? What do you use it for?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: aerosol cans, green smoothie, Misto, Oil wrestling, olive oil sprayers, Pam Cooking Spray, spritz the veggies, Trader Joe's, warehouse store, Wrestling With The Oil | 2 Comments »

Poboylivinrich Rainbow-Stuffed Chicken

Posted by terrepruitt on November 8, 2012

This week I have been in training all week. Nia calls its trainings “intensives”. I have been in one all week for Blue Belt. It is about 40 hours of a lot of information. So I am sharing something about a recipe I have made and love. As you may know, I only like to eat meat that has been marinated. I figured out that I don’t really like the taste of meat. So I like it to have soaked in something a long time to give it a different flavor. I’ve shared with you the fact that we now freeze our meat in the marinade. A couple of weeks back we took a weekend trip to Costco, so we spent a couple of hours after our shopping trip making marinade bags and trimming the meat and putting it in its separate bags. Originally we had a problem with the marinated meat in a bag because we could not tell if it is whole steaks or cut up steak. We have taken meat out expecting one thing only to get the other, so I finally learned to label the bags. I can tell the beef from the pork from the chicken at least. The reason I am explaining about marinating meat is because I found one recipe which I didn’t marinate the meat and I loved it.

The recipe is from Po’ Boy Livin’ Rich, he calls it Rainbow Stuffed Chicken. It is boneless chicken breasts stuffed with bell peppers. You use red bell pepper, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and orange bell pepper. Red onion helps add to the rainbow. I love bell peppers as you know if you have read some of my posts. Also, if you have read any of my posts you know I love cheese and mushrooms and this recipe has that too! Yum. This recipe really hits on all of my favorites.

Some people do not like sweet peppers because of their strong flavors and I bet it is because of their strong flavors that I can eat this meat without it having been marinated. The peppers provide enough flavor. And, of course, there is salt and pepper, but again, if you’ve read my blog for a bit you know I don’t like pepper!

Another thing I really like about the recipe is that you don’t cook the vegetables beforehand so the peppers don’t get too cooked. I LOVE raw bell peppers, but I am not a big fan of the cooked variety. So not cooking them before stuffing them into the chicken allows them to remain crunchy and not get too cooked.

I actually think I left out the mushrooms. I just used the peppers. That was an accident as I love mushrooms. I think I might cook the mushrooms up a bit, because while I love my bell peppers raw, I like my mushrooms cooked. I like this dish very much. I actually have not made it recently and looking at the pictures makes me want to go make it for dinner now. I don’t have all the colors of bell peppers, so I will wait until I do. I encourage you, if you like chicken and bell peppers, to try this recipe. You will not be sorry. It is easy, but it takes like it is a difficult thing to make. Ya know, one of those recipes!

You can find this tasty recipe at: Po’ Boy Livin’ Rich Recipe: Rainbow-Stuffed Chicken

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: beef, chicken, easy dinner, marinated meat, Po' Boy Livin' Rich, pork, quick dish, rainbow stuffed chicken, tasty dinner | 4 Comments »

Something New For Christmas This Year

Posted by terrepruitt on November 6, 2012

I love teaching Nia, but it does not earn as much as my corporate job. I have always loved shopping for Christmas presents. I am a catalog shopper. My hubby and I tend to watch the same movies over and over, so while we are watching V For Vendetta for the 50th time, I will thumb through a catalog. Plus at one time catalog shopping was not that common and very unique items could be acquired that way. Now with the internet you can get anything from anywhere so many things are not as unique. I don’t shop that much any longer. My friends, family, and I are very blessed and we have enough, so I don’t buy them all the cute decorations any longer. I try to stick to stuff that will be used, sometimes I really feel strongly about something that might not rank up there in usefulness so I succumb, but mostly we try to keep it useful. I am not one to go out and do my shopping all at once. To me that makes it a chore. I like to do my shopping throughout the year. So I just look and if I see something that I think someone will like, I get it. For me that also helps out with the I-don’t-make-corporate-bucks because it spreads the cost out over the year. One problem with shopping all year long is I don’t have a lot of space to put stuff because I have so much stuff. So I end up putting it in odd places wherever it will fit. Yes, I have forgotten about things. Just recently I gave someone a birthday present I bought for her years ago because I forgot about it. Found it. Forgot about it. Found it again . . . and you get the picture. Which leads me to my point — yes, I have a point! Instead of keeping a list of what I have gotten over the year I have been taking pictures. I am finding this to be much easier to keep track. I can just glance at the picture and remember exactly what I got for whom.

I must not have taken very good notes in the past because I would look at the list and think, “What? What kind of ‘funny T-shirt’ did I get him?” Then I would have to go look at the actual shirt to know which one I got so I didn’t buy the same thing. I mean I bought it once it would make sense that I would be attracted to it again right. And yes, you would think I could remember what I bought, but sometimes if stuff is on sale you buy it, then months later you remember you like it but forgot you bought it. So I am finding that this picture record keeping is working very well.

For some people I buy a few things, so I just piled it all together and took the picture and labeled that picture “So and so”. So now I know if I am “done” with that person’s give buying or if I want to get a few more things. Then I have all the pictures in one folder on my computer and I just pop in there to see, “Did I by her something already or not?” So much easier than trying to decipher my list.

Also with the picture I can snap a shot of where I have hidden the item so I won’t forget that either! Yeah, I have done that too, I know I have purchased it but I can’t remember where I stashed it. Yeah, I should just clean out a closet and have a designated space, but . . . . for now I have adopted this new method that seems to be working just great!

Do you shop early for Christmas gifts? Are you a Christmas Eve shopper? Do spread out your gift buying?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: 5th of November, catalog shopper, Christmas gifts, Christmas presents, Christmas shopping, corporate job, keeping track of gifts, Nia, Nia Teacher, V for Vendetta | 2 Comments »

YAY To New Things

Posted by terrepruitt on November 3, 2012

Yay! I am so excited — I am taking the next level of Nia, Blue Belt AND I received fennel in my organic produce box. Fennel. Yay. Two new things. As you may know if you’ve read any of my posts about the delivery I receive, I ordered it partly because I wanted to try new stuff. Yeah, it is possible to go to a store or a Farmer’s Market and purchase produce I have not tried before, but I don’t. I just stick to what I know. But when I get it delivered to me then I can work with it. I am excited to be trying new things. Ok, I just realized though that while I am cooking with a new-to-me vegetable I did it the same way I do everything. I have heard about roasted fennel and again, if you’ve read anything about my cooking you know I roast pretty much all my veggies. So I did that again with the fennel. This time I also looked at the information on the website of the company that delivers the produce. Yes, I learned after chopping off the beat greens and throwing them away, that I should find out what portion of the fruit/vegetable can be used. The information indicated that the bulb can be roasted and the fronds can be used to flavor meat. I am not familiar with fennel. It is not a vegetable I even think about. So I was happy to receive some to try. Yay a new-to-me vegetable.

As soon as I cut the fennel I recognized the smell. So I must have had the flavor somewhere. Which makes sense because fennel is actually an herb that is eaten as if it were a vegetable. I’ve probably had it in a Greek dish or something from the Mediterranean region. I decided to use some of the fennel with the chicken I was cooking. I just cut off some of the fronds and put them in the dish with the chicken that I was cooking. I didn’t change the recipe I was planning for the meat, I just put the fennel tops around the chicken.

The bulb of the fennel I sliced, put in a pan, sprayed with olive oil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with salt, and put in the oven at 400 degrees F. I cooked it for about 40 minutes. It was good, but I thought it was sour. My hubby didn’t think it was sour. I am wondering if it was because I took the pieces that were drenched in vinegar. He doesn’t really like vinegar so I decided to take those pieces. Or maybe it was just what I was tasting. But I will get some fennel in the future to see.

I still have some of the fronds left so I plan I using them in other dishes. Maybe cut up on a salad, added to a soup, or cooked with other meat.

Have you eaten fennel before? Do you cook with fennel? How do you cook it?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Blue Belt, fennel, fennel recipe, Greek food, Mediterranean dish, Mediterranean region, Nia, organic produce, organic produce box, roasted vegetables | 4 Comments »

Why, Yes, It is GOOD Fat

Posted by terrepruitt on November 1, 2012

Don’t you just love avocados? I know so many people who do. Some people I know could just eat an avocado plain. Cut it in half, pull it apart, and use a spoon to scoop out the mushy flesh inside. Ewwww. Not my thing. I am not a fan of avocado at all. I usually get as far as cutting it in half and scoop out a portion, then it starts to get on my hands and under my nails and I am done. I end up putting it on a dish with a spoon or a knife — depending on the ripeness — and telling my husband he has to deal with it. I lean towards the idea that they taste like dirt. But I can’t actually remember the last time I tasted one. But the idea of it tasting like dirt is stuck in my head. People are often amazed that I don’t like avocado because most people LOVE them. They say, “Oh, but you must like guacamole?” And I don’t. But there are many smoothie recipes that have avocado in them. There is also a recipe that came with my blender for tortilla soup recipe that has a bit of avocado in it. I do like that, but it has a very small bit of avocado. I think that if you mix avocado with enough other stuff the taste can be disguised. After looking up nutrient information on them I am going to try to add it to more recipes. It seems the fat in avocados is unique and has the potential for many health benefits.

According to WH Foods about 85% of an avocado’s calories is from fat. But as you probably have heard it is a “good” fat. The properties in the fat contained in avocados have anti-inflammatory benefits. And you might have heard that more and more research is proving that chronic inflammation in the body is being linked to many illnesses and diseases.

The information I am seeing is that avocados are thought to help lower blood cholesterol levels. Also since they contain oleic acid it is believed they might help lowering risks of heart disease. These are some of the things that are meant by avocados contain “good” fat.

World’s Healthiest Foods nutrient information on Avocados:

1.00 cup (146.00 grams) = 233.60 calories

fiber 9.78 g / 39.1% of the DV
vitamin K 30.66 mcg / 38.3% of the DV
folate 118.26 mcg / 29.6% of the DV
vitamin C 14.60 mg / 24.3% of the DV
vitamin B5 2.03 mg /20.3% of the DV
potassium 708.10 mg / 20.2% of the DV
vitamin B6 0.38 mg /19.0% of the DV

WebMD states:

“Avocados are a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamins C, K, folate, and B6. Half an avocado has 160 calories, 15 grams of heart-healthy unsaturated fat, and only 2 grams saturated fat. One globe contains more than one-third daily value of vitamin C, and more than half the day’s requirements of vitamin K.”

According to Wiki, avocados originated in Mexico. Wiki further states “The avocado is a climacteric fruit (the banana is another), which means it matures on the tree, but ripens off the tree.” I didn’t know that. I always thought they were picked too soon, but apparently they ripen off the tree.

So do you like avocados? How do you eat them? Do you have any recipes that you put them in?

Posted in Food | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, avocados, chronic inflammation, good fat, green smoothie with avocado, guacamole, heart disease, lower cholesterol, smoothie recipes, Tortilla Soup, WebMD, Wiki, World's Healthiest Foods | 4 Comments »

When Good Veggies Go Bad

Posted by terrepruitt on October 30, 2012

Ok, so no criminal acts have been committed, but I do hate when my produce goes bad. I get a box of organic produce delivered, plus, as I have mentioned there is a fabulous produce department on my way home from my Nia class on Tuesdays so sometimes I end up with a lot of produce. Since I didn’t go to the store and pick out the produce that comes in the box sometimes I put the veggies in my vegetable bin and forget what is there. I know that I have it because I took it out of the box and took a picture of it, but then some might get pushed to the bottom of the drawer. Or I can even go to the store and buy something and then forget about it. Especially if it is an ingredient in a recipe and I make the recipe and have left overs of that ingredient. Sometimes I forget I have an entire bag of, oh let’s say, cilantro. So it ends up going bad. I do not like to waste food so to have it just sit and get spoiled in my fridge really is annoying.

My refrigerator even has see-through drawers which helps, but sometimes they are kinda jammed packed (I say kinda because I try not to JAM my vegetables in so as not to damage them, but they can still get pretty full) and I can’t see all that it is there. So I think I am going to have to start keeping a list on the fridge. Silly I know, I can just look in the drawers and see, but I don’t wanna have to rummage around in there every time I am thinking about what to cook for dinner. Plus if I see the list over and over I will remember I have to cook/eat what is on there. Sometimes I will remember that I have a vegetable that I should use, but then the day will go on and for some reason I will get the idea to make a different veggie. Then rushing around to make dinner I forget about my original plan and the vegetable that should be used first and I just grab and go with my last thought. Then later —- sometimes way too much later — I remember the veggie I should have used. With the list I will be reminded when I am ready to start cooking and I won’t have to rummage and it will be right there. And I can cross off the vegetables as they get used.

Also, some of the vegetables from the farmer’s market are too big for the drawers so they are on top on a shelf and sometimes they get pushed to the back. With the lists it won’t matter because I will know they are there. Now I need to make sure I keep the lists updated. I might end up getting one of those shiny plastic coated board things where you can write and erase. Yeah, because there is not enough “stuff” on my fridge!

So do you ever forget you have a vegetable in the fridge and it goes bad before you eat it? Do you have a method to help you keep that from happening?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: bad vegetables, criminal acts, Farmer Market, forgetful, Nia class, Nia Jam, Nia on Tuesdays, organic produce | 4 Comments »

No More High Fructose Corn Syrup

Posted by terrepruitt on October 27, 2012

Awhile back, March 2010, to be more accurate, I posted about one of my favorite condiments. I use Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in almost all of my marinades and whenever I cook meat. Sometimes I even splash it in my vegetables. I was upset back in March of 2010 when I realized that it had High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in it. This sweetener is being used in way too many products. I actually think that people recognize it to be an awful sweetener and so some companies are removing it from their products. I believe HFCS to be awful because it is made from corn and there is too much corn in too many products. One of the main problems with corn is that at least 88% of the corn produced in the United States (in 2011) was from Genetically Engineered seed. So, corn is an altered vegetable. Next the processing in which the corn has to go through in order to create HFCS involves many additional chemicals making it, in my opinion, a double-whammy of things I don’t want to eat. So annoyed was I that there was HFCS in the Worcestershire Sauce that I gave feedback on the Lea & Perrins site. Their response was that HFCS does not cause obesity. That was very odd to me since I never mentioned weight or fat or anything. I just asked if they could make their sauce without HFCS. Well, they are.

I am not saying that it was my doing at all, but I am just here to report that Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce does come in versions without High Fructose Corn Syrup. In my opinion it is only fair of me to report that. If I complain about something in a post on my blog and it gets changed, then it is only right that I post something about it being fixed. I am very excited that it no longer contains HFCS.

However it does contain “sugar” and the general rule with “sugar” is that if it just says “sugar” and not PURE CANE sugar then it was made from sugar beets. Sugar beets is another highly genetically engineered food. Ninety Five percent of sugar beet acres in the US were planted with the genetically engineered seed in 2011. Sugar Beets are “Round-up ready”. While sugar from sugar beets is from a genetically engineered food, I believe there is a lot less processing involved. With less processing the chances are there are less chemicals being used. So it is a whammy, but not a double-whammy, although it is a BIG whammy!

The less our food is processed with chemicals the better. The closer to natural it is the better. But again, when the vegetable has been genetically engineered it probably isn’t close to natural at all. But again, I for me, I would rather eat sugar beet sugar than High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Anyway . . . Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce now lists sugar as an ingredient instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Now if we could just get them to use Pure Cane Sugar . . . .

Or what I really need to do is try the kind that my Nia friend told me about. It is organic. But it doesn’t have anchovies (ewww, I know) and that is what makes worcestershire sauce worcestershire sauce.

Have you tried another brand of Worcestershire Sauce?

Posted in Food | Tagged: anchovies, condiments, genetically engineered food, Genetically Engineered seed, genetically engineered sugar beets, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lea & Perrins, marinades, Nia, PURE CANE sugar, Round-up ready, sugar beets, sweetener, Worcestershire Sauce | 9 Comments »

Genetically Engineered Foods Labeling Questionnaire

Posted by terrepruitt on October 25, 2012

1. Do you understand that 88% of all corn and 94% of all soybeans produced in the U.S. were grown from Genetically Engineered* seeds in 2011?

2. Do you understand that with 88% of all corn and 94% of all soybeans produced in the U.S. being from Genetically Engineered seeds that ANYTHING with corn ANYTHING (corn syrup, corn oil, corn, High Fructose Corn Syrup, etc.) or soy ANYTHING (soybean oil, soybean, soy protein concentrate, etc.) is more than likely a Genetically Engineered Food?

3. Do you think Genetically Engineered Foods should be labeled?

4. Do you believe the burden of labeling the Genetically Engineered Foods should fall to the manufacturer?

5. Do you believe the burden of labeling the Genetically Engineered Foods should fall to the retailer?

6. Do you believe that ALL Genetically Engineered Foods should be labeled or just MOST?

7. Do you believe that the Genetically Engineered Food itself should be labeled?

8. Do you believe that if the Genetically Engineered food product is not labeled the retailer should be responsible for doing so on the shelf or where the item is displayed?

9. Do you think that if the Genetically Engineered food product is not labeled (package/shelf/display) the retailer “generally must” be able to document why it is exempt?

10. Do you think an acceptable way to document exemption is to obtain a “sworn statement from the provider of the product indicating that the product has not been intentionally or knowingly genetically engineered”?

11. Do you think that it is acceptable that some food need not be labeled such as food “made from animals fed or injected with genetically engineered material but not genetically engineered themselves”?

12. Do you think that processed food that contains “one or more genetically engineered processing aids or enzymes” should be exempt from being labeled a Genetically Engineered Food?

13. Do you think that it is acceptable for there to be percentages of Genetically Engineered Food allowed in products without the product having to be labeled a Genetically Engineered Food?

14. Do you believe that it is acceptable for a governmental department to “adopt any regulations that it determines are necessary for the enforcement and interpretation of” an article?

15. Do you think that an acceptable way of enforcing a labeling law is to allow for lawsuits without demonstrating “any specific damage occurred as a result of the alleged violation”?

*Genetic engineering is the process of changing the genetic material of a living organism to produce some desired change in that organism’s characteristics.

Posted in Food | Tagged: Corn, corn oil, corn syrup, GE, genetically, Genetically Engineered corn, Genetically Engineered seeds, Genetically Engineered soybeans, Genetically Modified Organism, GMO, High Fructose Corn Syrup, soy protein concentrate, soybean, soybean oil | 12 Comments »

The Greens Go Round And Round

Posted by terrepruitt on October 23, 2012

I love the grocery store that is near the facility in San Jose where I teach Nia on Tuesdays. Right after Nia class I can easily stop by because it is literally on the way home. It seems so new because it is fresh and clean! They have a very large produce department. Today I purchased some dandelions greens. Yeah, I bought a weed. You might know that I have mentioned that different plants fall into different botanical families and how we might think of it as a vegetable but it is really a fruit according to the world of botany. I have shared how I cannot keep track of that. Well, I am going to have to start at least when it comes to greens. Apparently when you eat a lot of greens over an extended period of time you risk eat high level of toxin. It is important to rotate the family of greens.

The science behind it is that plants, what we call greens have a survival mechanism where they contain small levels of toxins. These toxins are contained in the plant in order to keep the entire crop from being depleted. The toxins build up in the body and cause reactions. So that keeps them from being eating in large quantities. The toxins are specific to a family of greens. Here are some families and the vegetables/greens that belong to them:

Plant Family: Brassicaceae/Cruciferae (cruciferous vegetables) – kale, collards, arugula, cabbage, bok choy, radish greens, mustard greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, turnip root greens, rutabaga, daikon

Plant Family: Amaranthaceae/ Chenopodiacea Family (beet family) – beet greens, beet root, spinach, chard, beets

Plant Family: Asteraceae – Romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, leaf lettuce, escarole

Plant Family: Apiaceae (carrot family) – carrots, parsley, cilantro, anise, celery, chervil, cumin, dill, fennel, parsnip,

Plant Family: Poaceae – wheatgrass

I’ve been mixing a bitter green, such as kale, with a mild green, such as baby bok choy or spinach. Now according to the families it’s ok to mix the kale with the baby bok choy, but if I want to rotate my greens by doing it between the different families then I shouldn’t mix kale and spinach. For me I think rotating between different families and keeping them separate will be easier than try to track two families then switch to another, but we will see. I love spinach and baby bok choy so I think it would be better for me to keep them separate so that I can have one or the other more often.

I have yet to try lettuce in a smoothie. As I mentioned, I just bought my dandelion greens and I have not used them because I have a large amount of spinach I want to try to make a dent in first. I did read they are bitter so, maybe this will be an opportunity for me to try lettuce in a smoothie. I feel that mixing a bitter green with a mild green cuts the bitter so that is what I have been doing. The information I have seen said that spinach is mild and that is what people start with so I was using that as my “mixer”. But now I will try to use something from the same family in order to keep with my plan of rotating between families.

I don’t know that I am really so concerned about these toxins building up to unsafe levels because I think I do a good job of switching, but this type of information gives me an extra push to really work to get the variety of greens in my smoothies. I mean aside from wanting to have more greens I do think of my smoothies as a way to get nutrients from greens that I would not normally eat. As an example, I eat spinach all the time so it is good to for me to “have” to branch out with some of these other greens. A good variety of fruits and vegetables is how we get the most nutrients out of our food.

Also, having this information is good because if you do start feeling ill/off you could look to this information to see if you are consuming too much of one thing and it may be the cause.

Do you rotate your greens? How do you do it?

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: baby bok choy, beet family, beet greens, bitter greens, collards, cruciferous vegetables, dandelion greens, family of greens, green smoothies, Kale, Nia class, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Rotating greens, San Jose Nia, spinach, survival mechanism, toxic greens | 2 Comments »

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Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

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