Vegetables | My Health Villa - Everything Health....all Under One Roof!

How many Cruciferous Vegetables can you name?

September 22, 2011 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

Yes, it has been a long….time….since I posted anything. I have been in a crazy work vortex, but I am out again now. Besides work, I also had my in-laws visiting from England. My beautiful cat was hit by a car and we lost her And we got 2 new pets to bring life and happiness back into our household! So, it’s been some good and some sad and some stressful. I’m not feeling as healthy as normal (I honestly think it’s the stress and lack of exercise), but I am on my way to recovering.

I just saw this article about cruciferous vegetables and how they are superb vegetables to choose in your daily diet. I had NO idea that there were so many cruciferous vegetables, so I thought I’d share the list and information with you.

I love a lot of the articles from Alicia Silverstone’s site, The Kind Life, and here is the article I’m referring to: http://www.thekindlife.com/post/incredible-cruciferous-veggies
I am sure you can learn something from it. Enjoy and stay healthy.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: alicia silverstone, cruciferous vegetables, health, the kind life, vegetables

Veggies Galore

November 18, 2010 By kbuchanan Leave a Comment

According to Parade Magazine (which, by the way, I love being able to read every Sunday now that I’m back in San Diego!), one of the food fads of this year is the focus on vegetable-based dishes, even by top chefs. People are getting creative with new and interesting vegetables (red celery, anyone?) and making those vegetables the main ‘act’ in a meal, rather than meat.

I probably don’t dine at fine restaurants enough to say whether I see this trend happening, but I like the sounds of it.

Certainly in the last six years, while I’ve been in the UK, a lot more vegetarian and even vegan restaurants have popped up in my hometown. And the idea of having one day a week where you eat no meat (Meatless Mondays), has caught on somewhat. There actually is a non-profit initiative called Meatless Monday. Their website has a host of great information and recipes.

I love that this is happening. Even if you’re a meat eater, through and through, and you say there is no chance of giving up meat, you almost certainly could use more vegetables in your diet. Get creative. Try a vegetable you’ve never bought before.

Parade magazine also said that the popularity of hummus, which is made from chickpeas, in the US has increased 1500% in the last ten years. That is a pretty hefty change. The reason I mention this fact is that chickpeas count as a serving of vegetables. So, a lot of people are probably increasing their vegetable intake without even knowing it.

If you’re trying to lose weight naturally, get healthier, or just maintain your health, the trends of today are trying to support you. Dining out is not going away. I wouldn’t even want it to go away – it is fun! But, at least when you do dine out, you are more likely to have a choice of dishes loaded with vegetables. I know there are many other trends that take you in the opposite direction regarding your health (i.e. fat city, diabetes, heart disease), but if you stick to the healthy choices most of the time, you’re in business. It’s up to you.

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: health, hummus, lose weight naturally, vegetables

Superfood recipe – super easy kale chips!

January 8, 2010 By kbuchanan 1 Comment

Believe it or not, I only tried kale for the first time about six months ago. I had heard of it, but I guess I was so stuck in my ways of eating normal salad greens, cabbage, or spinach, that I never even thought about trying it.

However, it came as part of my weekly Abel and Cole organic vegetable box, so I had to figure out what to do with it.

In case you haven’t tried it before, kale is a leafy green (or purple) vegetable. It is in the same family as cabbage, so it is similarly tough in consistency. Due to its high nutrition content, it has been named a “super food” by some nutritionists. It has beta carotene (an antioxidant), vitamin c, vitamin k, calcium, and many other nutrients.

In figuring out what to do with my kale, I came across many interesting recipes, but I thought one was particularly scrummy sounding! It was Kale Chips. Yep, chips. But, healthy chips.

They are super easy to make and satisfy that desire for something crunchy and a bit salty.

All you need is some kale, olive oil, sea salt, and an oven.

Rinse the kale leaves, break off the stems, and tear the leaves into potato chip size pieces. Dry the leaves on a paper towel, or use a salad spinner to dry them. Drizzle some olive oil on the leaves. Sprinkle some sea salt. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350F or so. Then enjoy these crispy delights!

To your health,

Kimberly

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: healthy recipes, kale, vegetables