Day 2 - June 2013 GSC

Who has Chickweed growing in their yard? 


You may not recognize it, but if you have a look at the weeds in your backyard, perhaps you'll find some Chickweed already growing there. 

If not, you can create your own wild edibles garden bed  -  that's what I did - and now have Stinging Nettles, Miner's Lettuce, and Chickweed growing in their own garden bed (separated away from the veggies). 

Another option is to 'harvest for free' Chickweed that is growing as weeds in lawns, open sunny areas, and partially shaded spots in fields or hillsides nearby where you live.

Minty Chick GS

Yield: 1 quart

2 cups water

1 apple, chopped

1 mango, fresh or frozen

1 banana, peeled
2 cups chickweed, tightly packed
1 cup mint leaves

• Add fruits to a blender first and blend together
• Next add chickweed, mint leaves and blend again until smooth
• This would be lovely with a pear, but since I didn't have one, I substituted a banana

Nutri-Tip:

• Chickweed is a nutritional powerhouse that provides plenty of vitamins including C, D, and beta-carotene.
• It’s an excellent source of minerals magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, copper and silicon.
• And contains steroidal saponins responsible for its ability to increase the absorptive ability of all membranes, and to eliminate congestion.

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Finally harvesting some beet greens from my garden. The beets are still in the ground and more greens will grow where I clipped off  the leaves for this Green Smoothie.

Beet Greens Fruit Medley GS

Yield: 1 quart

2 cups water

2 organic pears, stem removed
2 cups organic green grapes
1 organic banana, peeled

2 cups beet greens, from the garden

• Add all ingredients to a blender, in the order above, and blend together until smooth

Nutri-Tip:

• Did you know that the green tops on the beets are the most nutrient dense part of the entire beet?
• Beet roots (actual beets) have significantly more sugar and water.
• Calcium in beet tops is 7 times higher than in the beets.
• Vitamin A is 192 times higher in the tops than in the roots.
• Beet tops have 2 times more potassium than the roots, and 3 times more iron than that found in the roots.

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ONE FINAL STEP

If you participated in this GSC, please send an email to Clive of RawBC so he can keep track of the numbers of participants. Send email to info@rawbc.org with the words "I DID IT - FIRST NAME - CITY" in the subject line.

We thank you for your participation and assistance!

Day 1 - June 2013 GSC

Welcome to our Monthly Green Smoothie Challenge!

Next month the Two-Day GSC will be on July 15 and 16 - mark your calendar!
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Light and refreshing, this GS is one I make a lot! Both banana and mango have soluble fibre to keep your GS from separating (like it does when you add citrus or apple).
 

Insoluble fibre passes through our intestines largely intact - while soluble fibre prolongs stomach emptying time, and may affect blood sugar levels, as sugar is released and absorbed more slowly.

Collard Greens GS

Yield: 1 quart

2 cups purified water

1 pink grapefruit, peeled and seeded

1 orange, peeled and seeded

1 banana, peeled
1 mango, peeled and seeded
4 large leaves Collard greens

• In a blender, mix together until thick and creamy

Nutri-Tip:

• Collard greens are packed with nutrition and provide anticancer properties.
• An excellent source of vitamins B6 and C, carotenes, chlorophyll, and manganese, one cup of collard greens provides more than 70 percent of the RDA for vitamin C.
• They are also a very good source of fibre, and several minerals, including iron, copper and calcium, with vitamins B1, B2, and E.

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Coconut Mylk GS

Yield: 1 quart

1 large young Thai coconut, water and meat

1 cup Red Russian kale

2 cups frozen strawberries

• First make coconut mylk by blending together the water and meat from a young Thai coconut. If you have less than 2 cups of coconut water, add enough purified water to make 2 cups.
• To the blender with the coconut mylk, add kale and strawberries
• Blend all together until smooth and creamy

Top 10 GMO Foods to Boycott

Let's talk about GMOs (genetically modified organisms) . . . also called Frankenfoods (as in Frankenstein monster) because they are created by scientists in a laboratory. Does the name Monsanto sound familiar? 

Poland has become the eighth EU member state to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops. You can read more at these two sites:  

• http://www.infowars.com/poland-becomes-the-8th-eu-nation-to-ban-monsanto-maize/ 
• http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/germany-bans-monsanto-s-maize/

My choice has always been to stay away from GMO foods - especially the ones in this picture! Here are some tips:

• Canola Oil - Using first cold pressed, ORGANIC extra virgin olive oil eliminates the GMO worry about oils. So what if other oils are cheaper - what is your health worth?
• Soy - Miso and Tamari contain probiotics and are both fermented and cultured foods. ORGANIC unpasteurized Miso and ORGANIC gluten-free Tamari, are the only soy products in my kitchen.
• Corn is one of the most GMO contaminated foods in the world, it is something I haven't eaten for a few years now. If you check labels on food boxes and packages, you will be surprised how corn has found its way into most of the food chain.
• Rice - Instead of rice, you can easily make your own veggie rice in a food processor using root veggies. And be aware that when rice is labelled enriched it means it has been sprayed with nutrients which may contain wheat (meaning gluten).
• Tomatoes - Do your own taste test. In the summer when local tomatoes are ripe, compare an ORGANIC tomato to a conventionally grown tomato. I have done this and until my own tomatoes are grown and ripened, I buy tomatoes labelled ORGANIC only.
• Potatoes have been off my menu ever since I began my raw food journey. Since raw potatoes are not a good fit, I have never had to deal with the GMO problem. But when eating sweet potatoes or yams (which go well in soups and pates) they are always ORGANIC.
• Papayas fall under the GMO umbrella and are even labelled as such in some stores. Labels with 5 digits starting with an 8 indicate that the food is genetically engineered/modified.
• Peas - ORGANIC peas are simply bursting with flavour and therefore a natural choice. During the summer they are readily available at farmers markets.
• Dairy products have been off my table for many years, and I no longer suffer from  sinus infections. Dairy can raise our cholesterol, deplete our calcium, and place a strain on our heart. Allergic responses in the body as well as swelling that makes us feel and look bloated, inflammation and mucous are finally being linked to dairy. You'd be surprised at the variety of mylks, ice cream, and dairy-like foods that can be easily made by substituting nuts, seeds, and even coconut for dairy.