Gentle Spring Detox with Veggies and Fruits

Some think you have to go to extremes to detox your body, but I believe in a natural, gentle process of caring for it every day of the year. Continue reading to learn how to select foods that refresh, heal, and enhance wellness and make you glad to be alive this spring.

For most effective results, eat in-season fresh local vegetables and fruits. They're the ones that are brightly colored, organic (not sprayed with toxic chemicals or come from seeds that are genetically modified), and haven't spend days or weeks coming to you from distant lands. 

Prepare and serve produce as soon after purchase as possible to reap peak health benefits. Also, get in the habit of snacking on foods like cucumbers, apples, and berries instead of junk foods. 

 Gentle Spring Detox with Veggies and Fruits

Select any of the following veggies and fruits for health-promoting effects:

·      Dark green leafy lettuce including romaine, red leaf, arugula

·      Avocados

·      Apples

·      Tomatoes

·      Cucumbers

·      Celery

·      Carrots and Citrus Fruits

·      Red beet roots and greens

·      Daikon (white), Red Radish, and other radish varieties

·      Cabbage

·      Broccoli

·      Kale

·      Spinach

·      Chard

·      Bok Choy

·      Collards

·      Parsley 

·      Watercress

·      Onion

·      Asparagus

·      Artichoke

·      Berries including Strawberries, Blueberries, and Mulberries

Vegetables and fruits are potent, because they’re loaded with nutrients, antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Most are available at farmer's markets, health food stores, or in many neighborhood markets in Tucson and southern Arizona year round. They're readily available in your neck of the woods too. 

Try your hand at growing some of them in a home or community garden. Experience the joy of tilling the soil, harvesting the crop, and cleansing your body the natural way. 

Get your whole family into the act. When you set a good example by eating healthy rather than eating highly processed foods/fast foods, your kids learn from "showing" rather than "telling."

Each veggie or fruit on the list helps filter toxins out of the body, aids in digestion and elimination, provides hydration and energy, builds up the body's defenses against illness and infection, and increases overall well-being. 

Food is powerful. Eat veggies and fruits to fuel your body and elevate your mood in a healthful way. That means you need to eat at least 5-7 portions of colorful produce a day. 

If you have slacked off healthy eating during the winter months, don’t worry. Be good to yourself and take steps to improve your health care habits, starting from where you are today. Springtime is a great time to convert to a more plant-based eating plan, one smart self-care decision at a time.

Before you go, please take a moment to comment. How much and how often do you eat foods from this list? Which ones are tops with you? Are you stuck for recipes? Click on a label from the list to the right of this post for recipe ideas and food handling tips or check out these:

Vividly-Colored-Plant-based-Recipe

Why-We-Need-to-Eat-Orange-Fruits-and-Vegetables

4-Key-Reasons-to-Eat-a-Variety-of-Fruits-and-Veggies-Each-Day

4-Day-Color-packed-Vegan-Menu-Reveal

The quote for today made me smile: "Let my words, like vegetables, be tender and sweet, for tomorrow I may have to eat them."

-  Author Unknown


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Quotations to Inspire You in the New Year.

Start the New Year off to a healthy start by reflecting on these self-care quotations. They can comfort, inspire, or motivate you. Perhaps you're afraid to risk moving forward or avoid change. Quotations can help access your inner wisdom. Once you tap into that guidance, let it enable you to head in a new or more positive direction in 2017.

Maybe this year you'll read a quotation that will re-enforce your resolve to detach with love from people, places, or things that no longer bring you joy.

No matter what stage of life you're in, it's possible to improve your sense of well-being. Quotations can help you identify with that part of you that feels small, afraid, unfulfilled, or dreads to do things differently.

Embrace and accept yourself as you are. Know if change is necessary for your betterment, the answers will come. Hang in there and remember to like and love yourself just the way you are right now. 

Contemplating the wise words of others has been an instrument for personal growth for me. I've used the wisdom of others as role models. Quotations from my mentors, teachers, and students have provided encouragement, support, and validation. I'm so grateful!

Learning how to compose and recite affirmations (quotations I write and repeat to myself) helped me summon the courage to pen and publish a woman's self-care journal. Affirmations continue to give me inspiration to keep up with writing this wellness blog.

I suggest you use quotations from people you admire to spark your creativity, sustain your momentum, and refresh your spirit. Repeat them aloud to fortify your resolve to pick yourself up and begin again.

Let these messages help you remember to be kind and gentle with yourself and others. We are all part of the human race and need compassion more than ever in the world today. Be an instrument of peace.

Wishing You a Happy Holiday. Many Blessings in the New Year!

Which quotation or quotations put things into perspective for you?

Do you have a favorite quotation that inspires or motivates you? 

Please let me know what are your favorite quotations. How many of the ones I shared in this post resonate with you? Comments are greatly appreciated. Scroll down to the bottom of this post to comment. Please remember to click publish after you've done that.

Thanks for the visit. Be Well and Live Your Best Life Ever in 2017!

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Awesome Reasons to Eat Family Meals at Home

Life is often hectic, and filled with responsibilities. Nonetheless, the ritual of eating meals around the kitchen or dining room table can help you and your loved ones feel centered, nourished, and energized. Whether it’s your nuclear family, your life partner or roommate, or a group of congenial friends, eating meals at home together is salve for the spirit, and does wonders for wellness.

 A consistent habit of eating meals together bolsters everyone’s sense of well-being. According to data collected in the National Survey of Children’s Health, 48% of youth surveyed ate a meal together with their families every day during the previous week. Additional studies show that children who knew a lot about their family history, through family meals and other interactions, had a closer relationship to family members, higher self-esteem, were less likely to abuse alcohol and drugs, and had a greater sense of control over their own lives.

Gathering with folks to break bread is a relaxing, restorative social function. It’s a great time to put aside electronic devices and daily tasks temporarily. Partaking in regular family meals establishes a tradition of unity as well as provides an opportunity to hone communication skills. Mealtime talk demonstrates by example the “how-to” of polite, effective conversation. Each person involved will have the experience of taking turns to share the happenings of the day, light moments, and the joys and sorrows of being part of the human race.

Slow Roasted Black Eyed Peas, Roasted Carrots, Greens and Sprouts

Research indicates that home cooked meals reap mighty nutritional benefits. The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) has found meals and snacks based on food prepared away from home contained more calories per meal than those based on at-home food. Away-from-home food was also higher in ingredients that Americans over-consume (sodium, sugar, and saturated fat) and lower in nutrients that Americans under consume (calcium, fiber, and iron).

Although it requires planning, know how, and time to assemble and serve a healthy meal at home, you and your family or friends can share responsibility for prepping meals, setting the table, and clean up. When you consciously choose to incorporate a variety of fresh produce, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and fruit into meals served at home, you and your loved ones will get back on the wellness track. Purchase these foods at the peak of freshness and you’ll get more of the body’s daily requirement for vitamins, protein, minerals, complex carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, fiber, water, and antioxidants. Menu planning and cooking food for oneself and others are positive life skills. It’s good training for both youngsters and oldsters. The first group grows up and the second may lose a partner through divorce or death. Both kinds of individuals often need to fend for themselves as they live on their own.  

You can design a more relaxing ambiance for healthy eating and good communication at home than in many restaurants. When you eat at a fast food place or even a moderately priced restaurant, more than likely you will be bombarded by loud music or offensive smells like excessive perfume or rancid cooking oils. Perhaps your serenity is disturbed by people at a nearby table, who shout into their cell phones or are accompanied by a crying baby.

At home, you can regulate the air conditioning or heat to your liking, you won’t get a rush job, or be served by ineffective or rude wait staff. Although there are no large-scale studies to show that it’s more cost effective to dine at home, I’ve found that if I plan ahead, buy sale items and in-season, local produce, and freeze what I can’t use for another meal, I save money and time shopping and cooking. An informal study I conducted indicates that all those interviewed do think it makes good sense to eat more meals at home. Here’s a link comparing time and money saving of a Fast Food Meal vs. a Home-cooked One.

If you eat at home, there’s no need to drive to an out of the way location or get tied up in traffic, before you can eat that meal. Even if you pick a restaurant that’s close-by, it’s hard to assure the cook doesn’t add too much oil, salt, sugar, or processed ingredients rather than serve a low sodium, low fat, whole food meal.

Family connections require attention to sustain them. Make it a point to eat at least one meal together daily, and you will automatically reserve a place in your busy schedule for shared time. Often, it’s the only time when you and your loved ones aren’t rushing to get somewhere else. Make family meals as uncomplicated as possible. To give them a festive flair, serve foods on dinner wear instead of paper plates. You don’t need a special occasion to use a tablecloth and cloth napkins. Decorate your home with flowers and candles to celebrate the next birthday, anniversary, graduation, or other special occasion, when you might have been tempted in the past to eat out. A delicious home cooked meal conveys caring and interest in the people you cook for.

When you and your family eat nourishing food at home, it broadcasts a positive message about warm sentiments and a passion for good health. For fun, gather individual family members together each week, when no one has to leave early. Stay in your pajamas, and each help prepare a meal that includes lean protein and complete carbohydrates, instead of fattening bacon, home fries, and eggs. Before too long, you’ll realize your clothing has gotten looser and it's much more cozy to stay put, than it is to drag yourself out in that rainstorm, heat, or other inclement weather to have a meal in a restaurant. Celebrate the joy of eating the earth’s bounty at home with family and friends. Nurture your body, mind, and spirit by entertaining and eating healthfully at home more often.

The quotation for today follows:

“To make changes like this more widespread we need action both cultural and political. The cultural lies in celebrating real food; raising our children in homes that don’t program them for fast-produced, eaten-on-the-run, high-calorie, low-nutrition junk; giving them the gift of appreciating the pleasures of nourishing one another and enjoying that nourishment together.” Mark Bittman

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Walk with Me in Tucson

I moved to Tucson from the east coast in 2001 and am thrilled I did! During the winter months of December, January, February, and March, I breathe easy and appreciate not having to shovel snow or walk in slush.

Here in my city, one that's surrounded by majestic mountain ranges, I dash out for a hike or walk in a sweater or light jacket, sweats, and my athletic shoes or hiking boots. I'm good to go.

On one day's hike, here are a few things I saw. This beautiful Palo Verde Tree.

I also saw a saguaro, prickly pear, and basked in the beauty of a perfectly clear blue sky.

On to another day, as I strolled along in Downtown Tucson, I saw this vista. It's a picture that captures one area of the city, showing one section of the Catalina Mountains in the background.

On the third day I saw this humongous figure on the University of Arizona Campus. Isn't it a neat sculpture?

On the fourth day I saw this...

It's a decorative screen gate in front of a residence. I love the scroll work. Tucson is home to many exceptional craftspeople, iron workers, and metal artists. I don't know the name of the artist of this one, but I love it.

No matter where you walk or hike in Tucson, there are interesting or beautiful things to see. Walking is a cheap exercise that can even be thrilling. All you need are a good pair of walking shoes, comfortable clothing, a sunhat and sunglasses, some time, and an adequate supply of water to keep hydrated.

Do you walk outside for exercise, entertainment, to run errands, and/or to learn about new places and things? Please share your comments about that with me below.

Walking is one of my favorite pastimes. Even when I'm grumpy at the start, breathing in fresh air, a change of scene, and mild temps lift my spirit and energize me. 

Walking grounds me to mother earth, gives me a sense that my Higher Power is with me, and introduces me to new sights. Walking also refreshes my perception of places I've visited before.

Walking often calms an overactive mind. 

Walking allows creative juices to flow.

Walking reduces stress and relieves aches and pains from sitting.

Walking briskly gets blood pumping and lungs oxygenated.

Walking without a specific destination in mind is a way to stay present and live in one moment at a time.

Walking outside provides a dose of natural Vitamin D from the sun, and is an element that helps prevent depression and promotes sound sleep.

How often do you walk outdoors and what tricks or tips do you use to get yourself going? At times, I need extra motivation to stop what I'm doing to walk. You know, those sticky times when I'm glued to my seat at my computer, and think I have too much to do and too little time. 

Please comment below with motivational ideas, tips, tricks and comments about walking. How many of you readers have ever visited Tucson and how many of you are locals? Sure would love to know more about you and your willingness to exercise outdoors.

My parting picture is of cowgirl Nancy A, outdoors at Trail Dust Town. What a hoot!

The quotation for today is:

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." Audrey Hepburn. Read more at: brainyquotes

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Broccoli, Why It's a Smart Food Choice For YOU

Broccoli, Why It's a Smart Food Choice For YOU

Stir Fry Ginger Broccoli, Carrots, Red Pepper, on Brown Basmati Rice

Broccoli is a key weapon in the dietary arsenal against serious health issues. This flowery green vegetable boosts the immune system, lowers the incidence of cataracts, supports cardiovascular health, helps with Vitamin D absorption, and contributes to bone health. Case Adams, PhD in Natural Health Sciences explains, “Researchers from Italy have recently determined that broccoli will cut inflammation within hours. And eating broccoli for just ten days will cut the body’s inflammation by more than half.”

Following are shopping tips, preparation ideas, and serving suggestions that make eating broccoli simple, delicious, economical, and nutritionally savvy.

Note: Use organic vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds whenever possible, because organic produce tastes better, is healthier for you, and doesn't pollute the planet.

Shop for broccoli at a farmers' market, health food store, or pick it fresh from your home garden. In fact, learn why growing your own broccoli sprouts (indoors year round)  is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve one’s diet. Biggest-Nutrition-Bang-for-Your-Buck/

On your food shopping run, select fresh broccoli that has dark green, tight, dense florets, or flowers. Leaves and stalk should be firm and fresh-looking too. Flash frozen broccoli is a suitable replacement, when the fresh variety looks yellow or is wilted.

Store broccoli in the crisper compartment of your refrigerator for a few days, but don't wash until ready to use. Broccoli is inexpensive and is available throughout the year in most supermarkets.

The easiest way I've found to clean and prep broccoli is to rinse it in cold water. If broccoli seems sandy, soak in cold water and rinse until clean. Use a sharp paring knife and cut across the head, below the florets. Separate each individual flower into a bite-size piece. Don't discard the stalk and leaves; they are edible. The stalk is rich in fiber and the leaves are rich in nutrients. Cut off the tough bottom part of the stalk and the hard outer covering. Chop in small pieces, as the stalk takes longer to cook than the florets.

Broccoli should retain its bright Kelly green color, even after it is cooked. Quick cooking (steaming) is the healthiest method to use, because it retains the most nutrients. Don't steam for more than 5 minutes tops. If you accidentally overcook broccoli, it tastes strong and bitter. One way to remedy this is to sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon of salt or low sodium soy sauce to mask the bitter taste.  

To add a lively dimension to broccoli’s flavor, sprinkle on fresh cut dill, basil, oregano, browned minced garlic, or a seasoning blend that combines a medley of flavors. Add zing to this powerhouse of nutrition, by splashing on a teaspoon of lemon juice or a ½ teaspoon of mild flavored vinegar.

Uncooked broccoli is a crunchy addition to green salads, coleslaw, potato salad, and bean salad. Add raw pieces of broccoli including leaves and stalks to any vegetable salad.

Eat florets, leaves, and stalk of Broccoli

Broccoli is in the same plant family with cauliflower, cabbage, garden cress, bok choy, and Brussels sprouts. This green vegetable is a mighty source of folate, vitamin C, calcium, beta carotene, vitamin K and iron. "As little as 10 grams a day or 1/8 cup of chopped broccoli can have a significant effect on reducing your risk for developing cancer," advises Dr. Steven G. Pratt, author of SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life.

Meatless Monday Salad with Broccoli, Black Beans, Quinoa Tabbouleh, and Pumpkin Seeds

Here’s another simple, delicious recipe you'll love. It comes from Saveur Magazine.  Steamed Broccoli with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts.

Note: if you prefer, you can substitute cashews or walnuts. They are more economical and easier to find.

Serve broccoli often, because it makes a great addition to any meal and can be easily incorporated into a stir fry, pasta dish, soup, casserole, or stew. If it’s handled properly and not overcooked, this plant powerhouse will nourish and energize you and make you and your family sing its praises.


The quote for today follows:

 “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”  ~Hippocrates

Please take a moment to comment below. Do you eat broccoli often and how do you like to serve it? Did you learn anything new about this superfood? I welcome hearing about your tips and vegan recipes that include broccoli. If you like what you see, please spread the word. Sharing is caring.

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