Day 25 - Spinach Anyone??

Here is my refrigerator filled with 2 bags of 3lbs each of spinach, a 25 lb bag of carrots and other various vegetables and fruits.  I must be out of my mind...yep!!,,but this will all be gone in about a week.  Not bad though when you consider there is no meat and I purchased enough for two weeks under $100. Is this what it's called "GOING GREEN"?.

I have not been blogging for the last two days except posting a recipe.  I had so many things to do that I needed to focus on them since I had a long weekend.  It is no wonder that I have stayed the same in weight since Friday morning.  My daughter and I went to Orlando for the a fundraiser for a little girl named "Izzy" who has leukemia and there was alot of snackie foods. White chocolate covered strawberry. I could not resist, but I must admit, it did not taste the way I remember.  My taste buds are changing and that is really on the plus side.  Plus I did not juice except for breakfast which makes it a little hard.  I woke up late this morning since it is my day off and can do that..LOL!!.  I rarely sleep in so this was a treat.  BUT, now to business!!

I had a nice large class of apple juice this morning made from golden delicious apples this time.

Here is the recipe for the lunch and dinner I just juiced

3-4 large handful of fresh spinach
2 cucumbers
1 bunch parsley
12 carrots

Wash the spinach, carrots, parley and cucumber if they are not organic.  Then juice all together..ENJOY!!  It has a sweet taste because of the carrots.

I posted about the Health Benefits of Spinach and nutritional value here.  Although I eat my spinach mostly raw in a salad, now I am using them for juicing.  If you are more into cooking spinach, here is a suggestion.

The Healthiest Way of Cooking Spinach
Spinach is only one of three vegetables we recommend boiling to free up acids and allow them to leach into the boiling water; this brings out a sweeter taste from the spinach. Discard the boiling water after cooking; do not drink it or use it for stock because of its acid content.

Use a large pot (3 quart) with lots of water and bring to a rapid boil. Add spinach to the boiling water and boil for 1 minute. Begin timing as soon as you place the spinach in the pot if you are using 1 pound or less of spinach. If you are cooking larger quantities of spinach bring the water back to a boil before beginning timing the 1 minute. Do not cover the pot when cooking spinach. Leaving the pot uncovered helps to release more of the acids with the rising steam. Research has shown that the boiling of spinach in large amounts of water helps decrease the oxalic acid content by as much as 50%.
Remove spinach from pot, press out liquid with a fork, place in a bowl, toss with our Mediterranean Dressing, and top with your favorite optional ingredients.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.  Let me know what your favorite juicing is or even your favorite recipe that you would like for me to post.  Have a wonderful Labor Day everyone!!

Day 21 - Staying On The Diet and Getting Healthy!!

Here it is another day and another 1 lbs.  I have now lost 18 lbs in 21 days.  Not bad at all.  I am really learning about each vegetable and their health benefits.  These are food items I had been consuming but only as a side dish.  I knew vegetables are good for you especially carrots, but I never realized how beneficial they are until I started reading more about it.  If you have noticed I have not included potatoes.  I love potatoes!!  I will be reading more on their health benefits before I include them in my daily diet.  I know that potatoes has alot of starch and I did not want to add them to my food groups I have now.  

I started out with green apple juice.  Boy, it is so delicious having it in the morning to begin my day!  

Here is the recipe for my Bok Choy juice. I made this for lunch and dinner.

8 leaves of Bok Choy

1 cucumber

5 carrots

3 celery stalks

1 large tomato

It made a delicious green drink.  Dark green vegetables are very good for us.  Read on the health benefits of Bok Choy.

In structure, bok choy resembles collards and could be described as a non-heading cabbage (Acephala group). It is basically a small plant which grows upright from the ground with smooth white romaine lettuce like stalks which spread in the end to fine, glossy green oval or round leaves. Fully grown up plant may reach about 12-18 inches in length.
Brassica campestris group can be further categorized according to the color of the petiole in its leaves. White petiole varieties include joi choi, pak-choy white, prize choi, lei choi, taisai, canton pak choi…etc. Green petiole types are chinese pak choi green, mei qing choi…etc.

Health benefits of bok choy

• 
  It is one of the rare vegetable that is very low in calories. However, it is very rich source of many vital phyto-nutrients, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
• 100 g of bok choy provides just 13 cal. It is one of the recommended vegetable in the zero calorie or negative calorie category of foods which when eaten would add no extra weight to the body but in-turn facilitate calorie burns and reduction of weight.
• Like other brasisca family vegetables, bok choy contains certain anti oxidant plant chemicals like thiocyanates, indole-3-carbinol, lutein, zeaxanthin, sulforaphane and isothiocyanates. Along with dietary fiber, vitamins these compounds help to protect against breast, colon and prostate cancers and help reduce LDL or "bad cholesterol" levels in the blood.
• Fresh pak choi is an excellent source of water soluble antioxidant, vitaminC (ascorbic acid). 100 g provides 45 mg or 75 % of daily requirements of vitamin C. Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals. 
• It has more vitamin A, carotenes, and other flavonoid polyphenolic anti-oxidants than cabbage, cauliflower...etc. Just 100 g of fresh bok choy provides 4468 IU or 149% of daily required levels vitamin A.
• Pak choi is very good source of vitamin K, provides about 38% of RDA levels. Vitamin-K has potential role in bone metabolism by promoting osteotrophic activity in bone cells. Therefore, enough vitamin K in the diet makes your bone stronger, healthier and delay osteoporosis. Further, vitamin-K also has established role in curing Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
• Fresh bok choy has many vital B-complex vitamins such as pyridoxine (vitamin B6), riboflavin, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine and thiamin (vitamin B-1). These vitamins are essential in the sense that our body requires them from external sources to replenish.
• It also contains good amount of minerals like calcium, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, iron and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzymesuperoxide dismutase. Iron is required for the red blood cell formation.

Thanks for stopping by and being part of my Fresh Start Journey program.  Have a blessed day!!