Last week’s Grant Farms CSA box included dill and parsley, along with a bunch of other green and red goodies (see past two beet recipes). This post will focus on the herbs. I’ll be brief and spare you the geeky details. I almost promise. However, my enthusiasm for the healing power of food might trump your eye rolling (I have a Mac with spy capabilities, I know when you’re making faces).

Dill — has a clean, faint lemony smell and taste to it; with a hint of anise or fennel. Freezing preserves the flavor better than drying, but either work well. You can freeze dill whole in a plastic bag and cut off little sprigs as needed. Add dill at the end of cooking as it loses its flavor if overcooked (thanks chef Miles). Dill goes well with beets (yeah), cucumber, tomatoes, potatoes, fish and seafood, rice, egg salad, spinach, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, celery root, cabbage, salad dressings.

Nutritional profile of dill
The volatile oils in dill make it a “chemoprotective” herb. It helps neutralize certain carcinogens (cancer causing agents). It’s also a good source of calcium and iron. Calcium? Surprise, surprise.

Parsley – is a bit like dill, but with a tangy hint of pepper. It’s one of the most versatile herbs and is essential to several flavoring mixtures (French bouquet garnis, fines herbes, salsa verde, tabbouleh). It combines well with basil, bay, capers, garlic, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, tarragon and can be used with most vegetables. I love it with tomatoes, rice and fish.

Nutritional profile of parsley
This one’s a nutritional powerhouse. Seriously, don’t take it for granted and don’t leave that parsley garnish on your plate. Eat it! It’s an excellent source of vitamins K, C, and A, is a good source of folate and iron, and its volatile oils put it in the same chemoprotective category as dill.

Fresh parsley, dill and tomato pasta
what you need
4 large tomatoes, diced
3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
2 - 3 tablespoons Vidalia onions (or green onions), finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon dill, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey Dijon mustard (I use Annie’s Naturals, it’s gluten-free)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
12 ounces pasta (I use Tinkyada organic brown rice spaghetti style pasta)

what you do
Combine olive oil and honey Dijon mustard in medium sized bowl. Whisk until well blended. Add the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the pasta and the salt and pepper. Blend well and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. When ready to serve, add the salt and pepper and toss with prepared hot pasta. Makes about 4 servings. This can also be made into a cold pasta salad.

I had some leftovers, which I refrigerated and served the next night (reheated) over a big plate of the fresh leaf lettuce from the CSA delivery box. It sounds weird, but it was delicious!

Go forth and hug your CSA farmers.
Melissa

Don’t try this at home.

But if you do, definitely don’t eat it in front of anyone you’re trying to impress. Your teeth will be the color of a Barbie Glamour Gown.

I was inspired by Ali of Whole Life Nutrition to try my hand at making ice cream. Lilly’s bunny bowl full of fresh strawberry ice cream was too tempting to ignore. The fact that I didn’t own an ice cream maker did nothing to curb my enthusiasm. I’ve been saving a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath & Beyond for something like this and figured it was time to give Ben & Jerry a run for their money.

No vanilla, chocolate or caramel pecan for me. Nooo way am I going to start my ice cream making career with something basic like that.

I’m also on a mission to use everything I find in my Grant Farms CSA box each week. No waste, I’m determined to creatively use every last lettuce leaf. So far, so good, although I’m only 1 week into the 26 week harvest. Last week’s bounty included several fresh herbs, French breakfast radishes, butter lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale, spinach — and baby beets!

Hmmm? Beet ice cream? Sounds better than kale ice cream.

I figured no one had ever tried this before — until I googled “beet ice cream” and found that Todd and Diane at White On Rice Couple had a recipe for it and so did Michael Symon of the Food Network. Who makes beet ice cream? That’s down-right weird. Although they both looked good, I wanted to try it dairy-free and both recipes used cream.

Uh, it’s ice CREAM, why would it be dairy-free?

White On Rice Couple have a beautiful food blog stocked with recipes made from healthy, fresh, local ingredients. Plus, they’re just plain groovy people. Check them out.

Back to the task at hand. Dairy-free, beet ice cream. I knew I was going to use coconut milk for the cream substitution (that’s a basic for me), but I had no idea what else to do, so I went back to Ali’s ice cream recipe for inspiration. I can always count on Ali and Tom to come up nutritious, tasty and simple recipes. For a complete cooking guide to healthy fare, check out their Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. It’s wonderful!

Beet Coconut Chocolate-Chip Ice Cream
what you need
2 cans “classic” coconut milk (the full-fat version)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 cups beet juice
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips
Electric ice cream maker

what you do
I blended the coconut milk and maple syrup in my blender until mildly frothy and stored it in a large glass bottle in the refrigerator. My CSA delivery had a bunch of small baby beets – I had to add 6 larger beets to the mix. Trim the stems, scrub well and roast the beets in a 400 degree oven for about 45 to 60 minutes. I added the smaller ones half-way through the roasting process. For more information on how to roast beets, check here. (Next time, if there is a next time, I’m going to skip the roasting and use raw beets.) Let cool, trim ends, cut into chunks and run through a juicer or vita mix. I ended up with almost two cups of juiced beets. Blend all ingredients in mixer until creamy. Pour the mixture in the ice cream maker per manufacturer’s directions. I churned the ice cream for 25 minutes, then added the chocolate chips and churned it for another 5 minutes. Place in the freezer for several hours while you clean up the fuchsia mess that was once your kitchen.

Eat alone and don’t smile.

As you can see, I liked it. A lot. And no beety taste – seriously, you would never know it was made from a root vegetable.

The beet goes on,
Melissa
P.S. Who wrote the song – The Beat Goes On? And when?

The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is the more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.
Jitterbug Perfume — Tom Robbins

Do you ever read something you wish you had written? Something so well-crafted, so simple, yet sublime? That’s how I feel about the above paragraph. I should have written that. I’m the one obsessed with beets, born with an affinity to Rasputin’s favorite vegetable. No one understands beets like I do.

Of course, good writing and a passion for beets are two distinctly different things. Even if I have to let Tom Robbins say it for me, I’m content knowing I’ve chosen the most torrid of all vegetables as my favorite. Trust me, carrots, celery, even burdock root are no match for the wild and impassioned beet.

I love beets.

I belong to Grant Farms CSA program and yesterday was my first delivery of 26 weeks worth of organic vegetables, fruits and farm fresh eggs (I have a year-round egg share). Those of you who have been following this blog know I border on ardently evangelical when it comes to my local farmer friends and their freshly-harvested, seasonal produce.

I opened my CSA box last night and inside I found a bunch of deadly serious beets. Need I say more?

Deadly Serious Beet & Spinach Salad
what you need
1 pound beets
3 – 4 cups spinach leaves
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon agave nectar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pecans, chopped
crumbled goat cheese (I use local Haystack Mountain goat cheese)

what you do
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim beets and save the leaves; please don’t throw them away, they are wonderful (see link below). Scrub the beets and place in a glass baking dish.* Pour about an inch or so of water into the dish and cover with foil. Roast for about 45 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the beets and the “heat” of your oven. Carefully (don’t spill the HOT beet water) remove beets from oven, set aside and let cool. Save the beet water for making smoothies. Seriously, let it cool and store it in a glass jar in the fridge – it makes for wonderfully healthy smoothie juice.

In the meantime, using a small bowl, whisk together diced garlic, shallots, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, agave and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. I usually put the mixture in a glass jar and shake like crazy. Shake, shake, shake your booty.

Once cooled, cut beets into 1/4 inch circular slices. (I never peel beets, I simply trim the stems and leaves and wash and scrub the beet root with a veggie scrubber before I roast or use them.)

Arrange spinach on plates, top with beets, chopped pecans and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle with dressing.

* I have a Le Creuset enamel-covered, cast iron French oven with lid that I use for roasting beets. It’s wonderful, but the above method works as well.

Go forth and sizzle with seriousness,
Melissa

P.S. You might also like –
Beet Greens & Brown Rice (good information about beets and the greens and how to use them)
Grant Farms Egg Information (information and nutrition profile of pastured eggs)

I’ll be posting weekly nutrition information and recipes depending on what Andy and the gang put in my big red Grant Farms CSA box each week. Stay tuned and leave a comment if you want ideas, help or information about farm-fresh food. Sign-up for emailed updates so you don’t miss anything.

How does my garden grow?

Lets put it this way – I’m counting on my friends at Grant Family Farms to grow most of my food for the next 26 weeks. I can come up with creative ways to prepare fresh food (again, with a little help from my friends), but I’d starve if I had to rely on my own wimpy garden to get me through the summer. My CSA delivery starts next Monday and I’ll be posting weekly recipes according to the harvest. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’ve been watching my little organic garden thrive in spite of my dog’s initial digging interest, the recent rain and hail we’ve had and a few overly enthusiastic wild bunnies. The photo above is of one of my four purple mizuna plants. My micro-victory garden is .00229568415ths of an acre. Seriously.

Urban gardening at the nano-level.

I didn’t make that number up, I actually figured it out. Of course, I could be totally wrong. It’s not like I went to MIT or anything. Within seconds of square feet conversion calculating, I was having synapse spasms, but I pushed on and I think I’m right.

Although I won’t have much of a “harvest” per se, working my little .002295-whatever of an acre has been very rewarding. I’m feeling like quite the little farmer-ette. Today I made a wonderful mizuna salad for lunch. I walked outside, clipped off some leaves and made my lunch. Oh my gosh, I love that feeling. Zena, Farmer Princess.

Purple mizuna is a Japanese salad green that I find to have a mild earthy taste. Maybe it’s a mild spicy taste. Or a mild peppery taste. I can’t really identify it.

* Cid, can you help me with this since you’re the expert on all things Japanese? What does it taste like? Other than good.

Purple mizuna salad
I made this up with ingredients that were sitting on my counter and it turned out delicious. The fresh cherries, dates and walnuts made this mix a winner. Crumbled goat cheese or feta would be a nice addition.

2 cups mizuna greens
mejool dates (I used 3, pitted and chopped)
fresh cherries (I used about 8, pitted and cut in half)
walnuts (4-6 chopped)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
drizzle with dressing

dressing (any good vinaigrette will do, this is just one of my regular versions)
whisk together
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon agave nectar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Go forth and grow your own greens!
Melissa

*Thanks Kay, for all your gardening tips and guidance. Kay is a blogger friend who is a master gardener, composter extraordinaire, worm rancher (or something like that), chicken herder and all around hard-working farm girl. She’s my gluten-free garden guru.

“It is a shame to be caught up in something that does not make you tremble with joy.”

That quote is from legendary culinary queen, Julia Childs, but the thing I love most about it is that applies to so many aspects of my life. It’s a personal mantra of sorts, from farm-fresh food to outdoor adventure to family and friends. Yes, life should be all about trembling with joy!

I don’t advertise on this blog, but I do advocate healthy living and a huge part of that is a focus on nutrient-dense foods. Because I have celiac disease and want to avoid the pit-falls that often accompany autoimmune conditions, I choose high-quality, organic foods and steer clear of the vitality-zapping junk that makes up the Standard American Diet (very SAD indeed).

Those of you who have been following this blog know I support my farmer friends at Grant Family Farms. I thrive on their organic fruits, veggies and pastured eggs and as a nutrition therapist, I know exactly why. It’s my medicine (lucky me). Nothing like fresh garlic scapes sautéed with summer squash, served with wild rice and a few ounces of wild-caught salmon for a dose of healing flavor. Or fresh, omega-rich eggs that look and taste much better then their store-bought counterparts. There’s no comparison.

So, while I don’t advertise on my blog, I won’t hesitate to encourage you to jump on the “eat healthy and eat local” bandwagon. For those of you in Colorado, please check out Grant Farms as they’re now delivering to the mountain communities. Yippee! From Dillon to Winter Park to Steamboat Springs to Leadville, Fairplay and Buena Vista – Grant Farms will bring organic goodies right to a drop-off location near you. For more information and to sign up, check here.

Okay, so I have ulterior motives. It’s about that tremble with joy thing I started with. Every Tuesday during the 26-week harvest season, I’m inspired by what I find in my big red CSA delivery box. Inspired to play with my food, strengthen my body and nourish my spirit. Food can do that, especially when you know it has been grown with love right up the road from you.

Bottom line? I want my local farmers to be successful! I actually need them to be successful. My health depends on it.

Go forth and hug a farmer – then tremble with joy!
Melissa

This is a multi-faceted post — euphemistically speaking. Actually, it’s several threads that don’t really go together, but I’ll press on anyway.

My last post elicited several responses about using beet greens. Aside from the random commenter who admitted tossing the greens away (yikes) and only using the beet root, I also received 1 phone call, 3 emails and a scattering of real-time comments from friends who had no idea people actually ate the greens. I won’t mention any names, but one of you is a complete beet virgin, root and all.

I love all greens, but beet greens are a favorite because the texture is so delightful. For a post I did on the comparison of collard greens to rubber gloves, check here (recipe included). Don’t get me wrong, I love collard greens, kale and the other hearty greens, but beet greens are my favorite because they’re more delicate and the magenta and green colors add an artistic flair to your table.

I don’t do any advertising on this blog and for the most part, I don’t advocate anything other than healthy living, good food and friendship. Today I’m going to stray from that a bit and mention a cookbook I have, along with a beet green recipe from the book.

Every room in my house is full of books. Buying books is my downfall. I’m addicted, seriously addicted. Many of my books are cookbooks that I have never used. But this is a book I not only cook from, I read it in bed. It’s called Outstanding in the Field by Jim Denevan, whom I’ll admit, I have a mild crush on. But the book is worth drooling over, whether you ever cook from it or not.

If you don’t know who Jim Denevan is, take the time to watch this video. This is a table to farm cookbook, rather than the other way around. Jim is a surfer, artist, chef and visionary who brings his dinner guests to the food — right in the midst of the garden or field. You can’t get any fresher or more local than that.

From Outstanding in the Field
beet greens with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch beet greens (10 - 12 ounces)
4 tablespoons EVOO
Kosher salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper

Wash beet greens. Remove stems and chop into a small dice. Coarsley chop the leaves and set them aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat. Add the chopped beet stems and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the stems are nearly tender, about 8 minutes. Push the beet stems to one side of the pan and add the garlic to the other side. Cook until fragrant but not brown, about 1 minute. Stir the garlic into the stems. Add the chopped beet leaves and season with salt. Stir in a splash of water and cook until the leaves are tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and 3 tablespoons olive oil with a pinch of salt. Remove the pan from the heat, pour the dressing on top, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Pick your plate and be inspired!
Melissa

If I had to pick my favorite vegetable, it would probably be beets. Roots, stalks and leaves — I love every part of the plant. The vibrant colors just add to their charm. For detailed information about the health benefits and some off-beat bathroom science about beets, check this past post I did on the subject.

This may sound a bit obsessive, but I eat fresh beets (never canned) in one form or another almost every day. I’m not sure which part I’d call my favorite — the root or leaves, as both are delightful for different reasons. If you’re tossing your beet greens in the compost pile, or (don’t even tell me) the trash, you can stop doing that right now. Beet greens are mild, tasty and full of healthy goodness. They can be used in the same way you’d use kale or spinach, lightly sautéed (my favorite) or steamed quickly.

Tips
I don’t peel beets, as the skin contains fiber and trace minerals and protects other beneficial nutrients from seeping out. Plus, there’s less mess from the color “bleeding” when you keep the skin intact. To store, cut off the stems and leaves about an inch or so above the root. Store greens in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days. The greens don’t last long, so use them quickly. The roots store well on their own (in the refrigerator) for much longer periods.

Raw beet root
Scrub beet roots and grate, shred, or use a potato peeler to add to salads. Cut in matchstick strips and mix with jicama, pear, apple and/or carrots for a wonderful crunchy raw salad.

Cooked beet root
Beet roots can be roasted, steamed or sautéed. Roasting beets brings out the sweet earthiness; serve warm, or cool and save for adding to salads later. To roast — cut the stems and greens off about an inch from the root. Scrub roots, pat dry and toss with a small amount of oil. Place in a baking dish, add an inch or so of water, cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes depending on size.

Sautéed beet greens and brown rice
Wash beet greens, pat dry. Chop stems into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Coarsely chop greens. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or olive oil) in medium-sized skillet over low/medium heat. Add 1/4 cup diced onions and beet stems, stirring occasionally for about 5-8 minutes. Add 2 finely minced garlic cloves and continue stirring until lightly browned. Add a splash of broth (vegetable or chicken), the beet greens and a cup or so of cooked brown rice, stir gently and sauté until leaves are tender and rice is heated thoroughly. Add broth as needed to maintain moisture. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Skip the rice if you just want sautéed greens.

Your beet-nik nutritionist,
Melissa

I’m shifting from food to altitude to sophisticated blog posting from the highest mountain on the planet. First a short altitude 101 lesson to create the appropriate ambiance (pun intended).

I took the above winter mountaineering photo from the summit of Drift Peak, high in the Tenmile Range of the Colorado Rockies. Drift Peak is a little over 13,900 feet, making it one of Colorado’s centennial peaks (the 100 highest summits, all over 13,800 feet in elevation).

If you’ve ever wandered around at high altitudes (above 10,000 feet), you know that as you ascend it becomes more and more difficult to do anything in a hurry. Your legs feel heavier, your respiration increases and you might even feel nauseous or develop a headache. That’s because you’re not breathing in enough oxygen and the consequences can go from mildly annoying to life threatening.

I won’t go into too much detail, but the higher you go, the more the body has to adapt to less air pressure, therefore less oxygen intake. Here’s where it gets confusing. The percentage of oxygen in the air is the same whether you’re at sea level or on top of Mt. Everest, which is 29,000 feet. Our atmosphere is made up of 21% oxygen at any altitude. There isn’t less oxygen as a percentage of gases at 29,000 feet, it’s just that the higher you go, the less atmospheric pressure there is. With less air pressure the oxygen molecules scatter into a larger volume of air. If I’m standing at sea level that same 21% of oxygen molecules is being pressed down around me so it’s much easier to breathe and get the oxygen I need to do whatever it is I’m doing.

Our bodies do adjust somewhat and depending on our individual physiology, we adapt and acclimatize to varying degrees. To begin with, our breathing increases and our movement slows down. Heavy breathing (the altitude-related kind) allows us to take in more oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. Our heart rate goes up to deliver the oxygen to our brain and muscle tissues. There’s also a lot going on with our kidneys when we increase elevation. Have you ever noticed that as you get above treeline you have to go to the bathroom more often? Darn, no bushes to hide behind — that can get a bit tricky if you’re a girl (especially in the winter). Men have it made.

Here’s what happens (to make a long, complicated story short). Your kidneys know you need more oxygen so they conspire to get rid of extra water so your blood becomes thicker and can carry more concentrated oxygen. Aren’t we just amazing little creatures?! All the more reason to honor our bodies and take care of ourselves.

I’ll leave it at that and get on to the point of this post, which is about dispatch-blogging at super-high altitudes. I just wanted to set the stage as I often find it difficult to write a wimpy little post while sitting in my office, listening to music and sipping tea. Think about doing it on Everest. It’s hard enough just to breath, let alone create glorious dispatches such as these.

I’m a Mac girl, so I love the idea that they’re using MacBook Pros to do their Himalayan blogging. I’ve been following the progress of this expedition and their daily dispatches since they started several weeks ago. I’ll explain why later and keep you posted as the team expects to summit in a few days.

Go forth (or up) and have fun!
Melissa

(Day 1 of the cleanse chronicles can be found here.)

Okay, who decided coffee was off-limits while detoxing? Whoever it was should be smacked upside the head with a wet collard green. Or a bunch of beets.

Grrrrr!

Normally I have one cup of coffee each morning, no more — and 1/3rd of that is coconut milk. Even though I’m a nutritionist, I’m not part of the “coffee is evil” crowd. My coffee of choice is a nice mellow, organic breakfast blend. It’s light and bursting with aroma and high mountain zing. Aaahhh.

As much as I like my morning cup, I think it’s important to skip it right now. But I miss it and thoroughly enjoy having that warm, creamy drink each morning. I’ll do a whole post on coffee and why I don’t think it’s a bad thing if you keep it to one cup a day. And I don’t mean those Starbucks mega-grande-ginormous versions.

More on that later. For now I’ll share with you some of my basic principles of detoxing. I like my spring cleanse to be pleasant, and for the most part it is. Nothing extreme, nothing weird, no reason to take time out from life to camp out on the bathroom floor and be totally miserable. I don’t want to weaken myself — I want to lose a couple of winter pounds, look and feel better, strengthen my immune system, boost my energy levels, lighten my toxic load, sleep better, and recommit myself to choosing clean, nourishing foods.

Again, make sure you consult your health care provider before starting any detox program. I do this quite often, so other than some minor things, it’s not terribly unpleasant for me. But depending on your current lifestyle and over-all health, even what might be considered a mild cleanse can be unsafe if not monitored carefully.

Vibrant health maintenance doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. Avoid things that cause harm and give your body what it needs to thrive. Let it do the complicated stuff, all you have to do is safely and effectively support the process. Here are a few of my tips (a loose guideline) on how to safely cleanse, lessen your toxic burden and regain strength and vitality.

1. Organic (check here for a prior post I did on organic food)
Organic food is free of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics and is generally easier for the body to break down, absorb and assimilate. Some studies show organic foods to be higher in nutritional value, but what they lack is almost more important to me, especially while cleansing. The point in detoxing is to get rid of the nasty stuff from your system, not add to it. We’re living in a different world than our ancestors did and are exposed to 40,000 - 50,000 chemicals that didn’t exist decades ago. The average American (eating the Standard American Diet, also known as the SAD diet) ingests in one way or another, around 120 pounds of additives per year. So, choose organic foods whenever possible.

2. Avoid
Eliminate all gluten grains (whether you need to in normal life or not), dairy (with a few exceptions), most soy foods, sugar (with a couple of exceptions), caffeine, soda, alcohol, meat, all processed and packaged foods, fast food, and some vegetables. I’m cutting way back, or eliminating, starches (most grains, potatoes, yams, peas and beans) and most nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant). I do have a few minor exceptions to these rules, but for the most part, I avoid everything on this list. Don’t panic, there are lots of wonderful foods on the “choose” list.

3. Choose
Eat any combination of fresh organic vegetables, a good portion of them raw. Goitrogen foods (cruciferous vegetables) should be lightly cooked. I’ll do a separate post on cruciferous vegetables and thyroid function later. Use olive oil for salad dressings, coconut oil for cooking and ghee for other uses (if you like ghee, which is clarified butter). Unfiltered raw honey, raw agave (use sparingly), or stevia can be used for occasional sweetening, but go easy on it. Pastured organic eggs are fine in moderation.

4. Rough it up
Eat lots of whole, high-fiber foods. Fiber in the form of raw veggies and fruit is instrumental in helping to move toxins out of the body. For a detailed post I did on the benefits of fiber, check here. Fiber is high on my list of important substances, with all kinds of valuable health benefits, but add it slowly or you’ll explode (and it won’t be pretty). At the least, you’ll be feeling icky until you get used to the sweeping effects on your digestive system.

5. Flush it out
I’m in the process of creating a separate post on water, so I’ll keep this brief (famous last words). Drink lots of water while cleansing, especially since you’ll be increasing your fiber intake. Water, water, water! Divide your weight in half — that is the amount of water in ounces you should drink daily. If you weigh 150 pounds, that’s 75 ounces of water per day, which is about nine or ten 8-ounce glasses.

6. Turn up the heat
Not in your house, but in your body. Exercise daily and sweat it out. I love yoga for detoxing as it’s bendy and twisty and stimulates fluid movement in the body and helps wring things out. This deserves a separate post as well — yoga for detox and digestion.

7. Eat less
According to my Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition book, if you live for 65 years or longer, you will have consumed more than 70,000 meals and disposed of 50 tons of food. FIFTY TONS OF FOOD?! Oh my gosh, that’s almost creepy. Actually, it is creepy. Okay, I will admit to eating more calories than I need a good part of the time, but spending a little less time at the trough makes us realize that we’ll not only survive, but we’ll be much healthier if we don’t super-size everything.

8. Just say no to stress
Now? While the economy sinks to new depths? Yeah, right. Well, at least do the best you can as stress can undermine all your good intentions.

These are my basic cleansing guidelines. Tomorrow I’ll start posting detox recipes, and good ones, at that. Remember, I said I wasn’t into starving myself or feeling totally deprived. Except for the coffee thing. Grrrr!

Go forth and get rid of icky things.
Melissa
P.S. Darn it, I “talked” too much again. I need a word-count cut-off program.

March is National Nutrition Month.

You all knew that, right?

Aren’t there festive parades scheduled for your city? Here in Colorado we have prune parties and turnip green galas planned throughout the month. You can catch me (Miss Eggplant) blowing kisses and tossing Brussels sprouts from a horse-drawn vegetable cart during this Saturday’s National Nutrition Month parade through downtown Denver. It’s a big deal.

Okay, so no one’s ever heard of it.

Well — now you know, so let’s start celebrating.

I took the above photo yesterday while on my weekly trip to the market. Yes, weekly now that I’m on a serious budget and am protecting myself from overspending on bok choy. Most women go shoe shopping when times get tough, I head for the organic veggie isle at my local market, Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers. Seriously, doesn’t this produce look beautiful? I love this Natural Grocer and they’ve provided me with everything I’ve needed while I’ve been in mourning the past few months, waiting for my favorite farmers to start delivering my organic veggies and fruit again.

When that happens, look for weekly nutrition tips, recipes, and information as we go through the growing season. I’m planning to post about whatever the bounty is for that week, including ways to use every bit of it. No wasting. I’m planning some good stuff for that 26 week period. Stay tuned — and join a CSA.

In the meantime, since it is National Nutrition Month, check this past post I did listing my top tips for healthy eating. And for the latest information on how to avoid pesticides, check out the Environmental Working Group’s data on pesticides and human health. They also have a handy little shopper’s guide you can download and take with you so you know which fruits and vegetables are the highest and lowest in pesticides. Organic is usually the best choice, but when we have to pick and choose for financial reasons this list will help you make the best choices. They also explain in detail why you should care about pesticides in your food.

Go forth and celebrate National Nutrition Month with me!
Melissa