A Little Motivational Fact

FACT: According to the National Organic Program, the number of organic farms increased by 1,109 farms or more than 6% between 2009 and 2011.

This information was retrieved from: BusinessDailyNews.com

My very 1st Podcast! How Exciting!

Brighten Your Day with Mediterranean Freshness

It’s been gloomy, misty, cloudy all day here in my part of the world (NE Ohio) and when I wake up and see that, the last word that comes to mind is “motivation.” So, needless to say, days like this I dig deep. Somehow, I managed to drag myself out of bed, feed the furkids, and poured myself a good cup of Fair Trade, organic coffee.

So after spending the morning being just plain old grumpy I decided the day needed a pick-me-up. “There just has to be something to brighten this day up,” I thought to myself. Then I got excited. I got really excited. I realized I had all the components to make my favorite salad. 

So, I got my ingredients together, made my FAVORITE Lebanese Dressing, and added a homemade gluten-free potato pancake to it. Just like that, lunch whisked me away to a small town in the Mediterranean somewhere with people speaking foreign languages and the ocean lapping in the background. Alas, peace in my day.

Lebanese Dressing

4-5 Fresh Garlic Cloves

Small Palm Full of Fresh Mint Leaves

1 Rounded 1/2 tsp of Pink Salt

Juice of 1 Lemon

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-4 Ice Cubes, depending on size

Using a mortar & pestle, crush the garlic and mint leaves with the salt until a paste forms. Toss paste into the bottom of a jar with a lid, like an old pickle jar. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and ice cubes. The ice cubes are important to emulsify the mixture. Put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously, breaking the ice cubes into small pieces. Use immediately or store in the fridge for up to a week, depending on how fresh your ingredients are.

Viola!

Remember: Use fresh from the garden, organic ingredients to keep your recipe as clean as possible! Your body will thank you!

Picture Perfect Lunch:

Clean Eating?

These days you might hear the words, "clean eating" used to describe a recent diet trend - but this is no fad diet. Clean Eating is a way of life and it takes dedication and education to be able to accomplish it. Why is it so difficult? Because there are companies like Monsanto who believe that genetically modified foods shouldn't have to be labeled and that using chemicals to keep our produce bountiful is ok. Organic farmers disagree, and there are even organizations such as Millions Against Monsanto who protest and speak out against the company.

So how do you eat clean? There are a few basic rules:

• Eat whole, organic plant-based foods such as fruits, veggies, grains, seeds, and legumes
• Eat fresh from the farm eggs, dairy, and meat (obviously we won't be talking meat in this blog)
• Do not eat anything that comes in a bag, box, or other packaging unless it's a bag of carrots or other whole food. This basically means don't eat processed or refined foods and if you can't read the ingredients, that's a sure-sign you shouldn't eat it!
• Avoid eating out when possible unless you know for sure 100% where the ingredients are coming from. Farm-to-table restaurants should be fairly safe.
• No soda, no fruit juice (unless you juice it yourself), and avoid alcohol.

Those are my basic rules to clean eating and I will be the first to admit - it's hard. Really hard. Especially in the summer when there are so many parties and picnics. You may not be able to win the battle against chemically-induced foods all the time, but any effort is better than no effort. Think of it this way, the more organic food you buy, the more support that goes to organic farmers. Eventually the words "organic" won't equate to "expensive" in the grocery stores if we all start buying it. 

Here is a fairly easy-to-follow beginner's guide to clean eating I found on Pinterest. Just remember - the fruits, veggies, and other whole foods should be O-R-G-A-N-I-C! Also, this is a pretty basic beginner's guide so we'll get into the nitty-gritty details for you another day.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!

Jessica