Clean Eating Challenge

Mark your calendars, because on April 22 we will begin our Spring 2012 Clean Eating Challenge with P.O.W.E.R..  This time, we are excited to be on the other side of the challenge, helping Janine and Jenni make things happen.   As we prepare our fellow POWER girls to get on board, we'd like to extend the challenge to our blog followers as well!  You do not have to be part of POWER to participate.  You do not even have to be local.  Join us as we help others say "no" to the Standard American Diet (highly processed, sugared & void of nutrition).  We believe, and have experienced for ourselves, that nutrition is the key to optimal body composition, health/wellness, and strength.  The challenge will run for 4 weeks, from April 22-May 20. 

The premise of the challenge is simple:  to eat "clean".  Never heard the term "clean eating" before?  The goal of eating clean, is to eat foods closest to the state in which God made them.  To learn more about Clean Eating and what the challenge will entail, take a peek at Clean Eating Challenge and POWERfuel Eating Guidelines. 

Stay tuned!  More to come...

Your green girls-
dawn & leanne

Dinner Downers

Today we have a guest blogger, our dear friend Jenni Cockerham!  She is as passionate about food, health, and wellness as we are and has been an amazing resource and friend during this journey to eat more plant based.  In lieu of a discussion we had last week, we wanted her to blog about the frustrations we often feel when trying new recipes and foods with our families.  Enjoy her insights as well as her blog

http://jenni-100cupsofcoffee.blogspot.com/. 

Happy eats -

leanne & dawn

P.S.  Her latest post, Chocolate Lava Cakes, looks scrumptious!

Dinner Downers

For a very long time, it seemed the more I tried to aggressively insert vegetables into my families’ diet, the more discouraged I became.  Here's the deal, I feel like I have spent the last year and a half walking through bad meal after bad meal.  Dinners have been interrupted by spankings, yelling, time outs, throw up (they have actually thrown up after gagging on a particularly funky morsel), and many, many more you-sorta-wannna-laugh, you-sorta-wanna-cry moments!   We have bribed with desserts (not always clean), thrown away food, and even once spent an entire meal "paying" our kids to try new items on their plates.  For every bite they tried they got a dime!  

SO friends, do not lose heart!

Here are a few things I have learned along the way:

1.  Try, try, and try again.  They eventually DO try new things AND LIKE them.  Keep trying.  Some of the same things that made my kids gag are now their favorites!?!

2.  Do not introduce too much too soon:

In every meal I try to have at least ONE fruit, vegetable, grain, or pasta, they DO like.  (This is so I don’t have to make a separate meal, but I also don’t send a kid to bed starving.) 

3.  Do not try too many new meals in one week.  For a while I was doing a new meal every night and it was stressing my husband out and ending with terrible tantrums.  We treasure dinnertime.   It is a time to connect as a family but it often felt more like a battlefield.  I bumped it down to a new meal once or twice a week and this seemed to go over MUCH better.   

4.  On the flip side, I try to have 1 to 2 meals a week that they LOVE.  Bring back oldies but goodies.  My kids LOVE the gnocchi from Peas and Thank You.  It is made with tofu cream cheese and firm tofu.  I don't care that they are not the "perfect" ingredients, but I love that my kids eat asparagus and other veggies alongside that meal and they are full of smiles!

5.  I have a few more “practical” thoughts in my blog on “How do I get the Family Clean?”  http://jenni-100cupsofcoffee.blogspot.com/

Life is filled with shades of gray.  I continue to learn that it is simply never “black and white,” and it is never as easy as it seems. Nutrition follows the same truths.  So PLEASE don't get discouraged!  Know that you are “setting the table” one bite at a time, one meal at a time, to help shape your families’ lifelong health and wellness.  You are literally helping to create habits and health for their lifetime.  

Give yourself LOTS of grace - it's the only way they will really "grab their greens"!  =)

- Jenni

Whole Foods Favorites

©We are often asked what our favorite things are to buy at Whole Foods.  We know Whole Foods can be more expensive than other grocery stores, so we shop at Trader Joes, Harris Teeter, Target, etc. for the items we know we can buy cheaper there.  Then we fill in with items from Whole Foods.

Note:  Whole Foods has a Health Starts Here Program where you can find MANY recipes if you are eating a more plant based whole foods diet!

PRODUCE -
They have such great variety and I try to look for what is on sale!  We try to pick out 1 - 2 new vegetables/fruits to try each week!
Health Starts Here No Oil Salad Dressing - found above the lettuce and spinach

PANTRY:
Eden Organic Beans (no salt added)
Canned Vegetables (no salt added - we like Muir Glen & 365)
Ketchup - Organic Ville (sweetened w/agave)
Low-Sodium Veggie Broth (we like )
Farro (grain, also found at Harris Teeter)
Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Pasta
Brown Rice Pasta
Whole Wheat Cous Cous
Unsweetened Apple Sauce
Bulk Bins - you can buy things in the bulk bins for cheaper
Rip's Big Bowl Cereal - you can buy in the bulk bins
Peanut and Almond Butter - fresh ground
Spelt flour
Whole wheat pastry flour
Local honey
Dates (great for making your own bars)
Stevia
Santa Cruz Organic Pure Lemon Juice
Santa Cruz Organic Pure Lime Juice
LARABARS (WF has greatest variety.  Next best variety at HT)
Chia Seeds (for baked goods and smoothies)
Flax Meal (for smoothies, baked goods, pour on oatmeal)
Hemp Seeds (for smoothies, baked goods, pour on oatmeal)
365 Morning O's (cereal)
365 Bite Size Wheat Squares (cereal)
Nature's Path Corn Flakes
Arrowhead Mills Organic Spelt Flakes Cereal
Brown Rice Crisps (Barbara's)
Udi's Gluten Free Au Naturel Granola or Gluten Free Vanilla Granola
Gro-Wild Almond Date Delight and Gro-Wild Pecan Spice Granola
Unsweetened Vanilla Soy Milk (for my coffee)
Think Healthy Quinoa Cakes
Spelt Pretzels - Newman's Own
Baked Tortilla Chips - Guiltless Gourmet
Salsa - (Muir Glen & Amy's Salsa)
Baked Woven Wheat Crackers

FREEZER:
Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers (a little cheaper at TJ's)
Green garbanzo beans
Diced sweet potatoes
Frozen Veggies
Ezekiel bread products (bread, burger buns, wraps, english muffins)
Waffles - Nature's Path and Van's
Quorn Products - my kids like the "chicken" nuggets

REFRIGERATED:
Nature's Path Hummus
Amande Yogurt, made from cultured almond milk
Unsweetened Almond, Soy, and Coconut Milk

In the prepared foods area, they have purple labels (Health Starts Here) to indicate foods that are super healthy!  Some of my favorite items to buy and take home that are already made are the Smoky Collard Greens, Quinoa & Sweet Potato Cakes, and Black Eyed Pea Salad.  They will let you sample any item, so taste away!

happy shopping!
leanne & dawn

2012 © Dawn Mendez & LeAnne Olive

Eat a rainbow

We posted this fabulous link on our Grab Your Greens Facebook page, but we are aware we have at least a handful of readers who aren't on Facebook, so we wanted to make it available to you, too.


Print this cute rainbow coloring sheet for your kids and have a fun, healthy competition on eating the colors of the rainbow, in a day, a few days, or over the course of a week! 


Color Your World


And, just a note of trivia for our non-Facebook fans, you can bookmark and still view our GYG Facebook Page, without having to be a member!  You just cannot participate in discussions.  We do typically post more frequently on our Facebook page, than we do our blog, so it is worth it to check it out for little words of encouragement, inspiration, or short tips & tricks for living healthier!


Eat a rainbow today-
Dawn

Pantry Staples

Our pantry and fridge staples have changed drastically in the last year.  We are currently wishing we had before & after pictures, for a fun little comparison.  Together we've compiled a list of clean, whole foods we have in our house on a regular basis.  Just because something did not make our list, does not mean it isn't healthy.  If there are clean, healthy foods you use, let us know and we'll keep adding to the list!  The key when shopping is to do most of your shopping along the edges of the grocery store where the bulk of fresh, unprocessed food is.  Remember several things when buying processed foods:

• Read the ingredient list, not the nutrition label!
• The fewer the ingredients, in most cases is better.
• Ingredients should be recognizeable things you could find or make in your kitchen (tomatoes, basil, oregano, corn, apples, strawberry puree, etc.) Some examples of ingredients you could not find/make in your home kitchen (soy lecithin, ascorbic acid, BHT, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, etc.) 
• Look for the word WHOLE for flour, pasta, breads, etc.,  WHOLE wheat. 

PANTRY STAPLES

BAKING/COOKING

Dark chocolate chips or Vegan Chocolate Chips

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Unsweetened Coconut

Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning

Spices

Tamari

Organic Vanilla Flavoring (no added sugars)

Vinegar (balsamic, white, apple cider…)

Nutritional Yeast (@Whole Foods)

Chia Seeds

Braggs Liquid Aminos (natural soy sauce alternative, @Whole Foods)

BEANS

Beans, canned (Black, cannellini, chickpeas, pinto, etc.)

Dried Beans

Trader Joe’s 17 bean & barley soup

CANNED/JARRED

Amy’s Organic Black Bean Chili

Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup

Unsweetened Applesauce

Canned fruit (in juice, not syrup…fresh or frozen is preferable)

Canned veggies (no salt added)

Diced tomatoes, no salt added

Frontera salsas

Marinara Sauce (Whole Foods 360° Fat Free Sauce)

Pumpkin

Squash puree

Sweet potato puree

Tomato sauce, no salt added

Low Sodium Vegetable Broth &/or Stock

CEREALS

Mini Wheats

Grapenuts

Uncle Sam’s

Organic Puffed Kamut Cereal (Arrowmills @Whole Foods)

Trader Joe’s “Joe’s O’s”

FLOUR

Whole wheat flour

Whole wheat pastry flour

Oat flour (you can make by pulsing oats in your food processor)

Spelt flour

Corn Meal

Organic Buckwheat Pancake & Waffle Mix (@Whole Foods)

GRAINS

Brown rice

Whole wheat couscous

Farro

Lentils

Oat bran

Quinoa (a seed, not a true grain, but cooks up like a grain)

Steel cut oats

MISC

Dried fruit (dates, cherries, raisins, apricots, etc. – no sugar added)

Flaxseed, ground

Wheat germ

Whole wheat pasta

Brown Rice Pasta

Bread – Trader Joe’s spelt bread or Great Harvest Bread Co. has several breads high in whole grains and fiber

Jelly – Nature’s Hollow (sweetened w/xylitol), preserves with only ingredient fruit

Ketchup – Organic Ville (made w/agave nectar) or other organic brands

Salad Dressing – Health Starts here – refrigerated section @Whole Foods – no oil

NUTS

Almond Butter (just almonds, no sugar, no oils, no salt)

Almonds, whole & sliced

Walnuts, chopped

Cashews

Peanut Butter (just peanuts, no sugar, no oils, no salt)

Pine Nuts

Sunflower Seeds

SNACKS

Goji Berries

Triscuits

Spelt Pretzels

Lara Bars

Thin Rice Cakes (Suzie’s Whole Grain @Whole Foods)

Real Fruit Strips (Archer Farms @Target)

Baked Blue Corn Chips

Popcorn (to use with Air Popper)

Pretzel Slims (Trader Joes)

Dried fruits & nuts (no added salt, sugar, or oils)

SWEETENERS

Agave

Honey

Stevia

Maple Syrup

Blackstrap Molasses

FREEZER STAPLES

Ezekiel bread, English muffins, tortillas, burger buns

Frozen veggies

Frozen fruit

Dr Praeger’s California Veggie Burgers

FRIDGE STAPLES

Almond milk, unsweetened

Coconut milk, unsweetened

Soy milk, unsweetened

Dijon mustard

Fresh fruit (lots!)

Fresh veggies (lots!)

Almond Yogurt, amande @ Whole Foods)

Hummus (Nature’s Healthy Gourmet @ Whole Foods) – Spinach / Artichoke

Lemon juice (NOT from concentrate) (@ Whole Foods)

Lime juice (NOT from concentrate) (@ Whole Foods)

Orange Juice (pure OJ, NOT from concentrate, Simply Orange brand, etc.)

Naked/Odwalla Juices

*If it can be bought as no salt added, low sodium, no sugar or no sugar added, no oils, that is what we buy.  For 'no sugar or no sugar added', make sure no artificial sweeteners (Splenda, etc.) are used!

Dawn & LeAnne

Where Do I Start? Follow-up...

I'd like to introduce you to Mallory, from The Andrews' Family.  Mallory is a sweet girl I grew up with.  I had the privilege of tutoring and babysitting Mallory and her siblings back in high school/college.  I always loved her sweet family that really loved Jesus.  Well, now she's all grown up and is also passionate about making informed, healthy choices for her family.  She wrote this fantastic post about the road to health, that ties in well with our Where Do I Start? post, and I am thrilled to share it with you.  Do What You Can, When You Can.

Happy green eats-
Dawn

Where Do I Start?

One person at a time is becoming aware of the mess we have gotten ourselves in, as a modern nation of convenience, with our highly processed, refined diets.  We have both been overwhelmed and humbled, at the enormous interest in our diets.  We have been spending time fielding questions, responding to emails and phone calls, as one by one, friends and family say they want a change.  Because so many of our readers may be just starting their journey, we thought it was a good time to address a few things.


A very common beginner's reaction, is to feel overwhelmed:  'But, High Fructose Corn Syrup (& sugar) is in everything!  I don't have time to cook from scratch!  I don't have time to relearn how to cook!  My husband is NOT onboard!  My kids only eat 3 foods!'  It is normal to feel overwhelmed.  There is a huge learning curve to eating healthfully.  We cook what we know and for many of us, we cook what we knew as a child.  We also buy what we know.  It takes time and patience and a conscience effort to SLOW DOWN!


We are both 1-2 years into this, and we are still learning!  In some ways, there is indeed a sense of urgency, as we look at the rate that obesity and serious diseases are climbing in our country.  It's time for a change and it needs to be soon.   Many of you have responded with a fire lit under you and are ready to dive in headfirst.  For a small few, that method will work.  But for most, that type of 180 has the potential to backfire over time.  Getting healthy and revamping your diet does not have to be an all or nothing endeavor. This is after all a JOURNEY!


What are some simple ways to begin?


*Read a book.  Educate yourself.  KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!  Once we saw statistics, proven data, and started to truly educate ourselves on what we eat, we could no longer continue down the same path.
*Learn to read ingredients, NOT the nutrition label.  Our eyes are easily drawn to calories and fat grams but you need to be more concerned about what is in the food!  If it has more than 3-5 ingredients, we usually don't buy it.  If we can't pronounce the ingredient, we put it back on the shelf.
*Meatless Mondays!  Make one dinner each week a meatless, unprocessed meal.  Why not start with Monday and join others around the country -  Meatless Mondays!
*Begin serving fruit & veggies intentionally.  When you grocery shop, go ahead and cut, peel, and chop the fruits & veggies so they will be easily accessible. 
*Eat greens (kale, collards, turnips, broccoli, spinach, etc.) several times a week.  Put them in salads, smoothies, and soups.  Eat them raw.  These are some of the most nutrient dense foods that exist, giving you the most bang for your buck.
*Eliminate or drastically reduce sugar intake.  READ labels.  Sugar is in practically everything! 
*Choose brown rice, whole wheat pasta/flour/bread, over white.  White foods are simple carbohydrates and are nutritionally empty.  Eating white grains, is like eating sugar.
*Invest in a reuseable water cup.  Then take it everywhere with you!  Drink, drink, drink.  It is so good for you, more than you know.  Becoming a big water drinker can and will become a habit, if you invest the energy.
*Eliminate soda and other non-nutritional beverages.  Soda=sugar.  Water, water, water is where it's at.   
*Exercise.  Get off the sofa and move the incredible body God gave you!  Get your heart pumping. 
*Keep a bag of nutritious snacks in your car.  This can help prevent the hungry urge to stop for fast food. 


For most people, it works best to start small.  Make changes slowly at a pace that is sustainable for you.  The goal is for these changes to be FOR LIFE.  Take the time that you need to relearn what you know about food.  We are so proud of you and we want to see you succeed!


Glad to be a part of your journey-


Dawn & LeAnne