The word Green has many more meanings today than it did 20 years ago. Back then, it was just a color. Or, for me, it was my last name, my maiden name.
Now, today we hear: Have you had your GREENS today? It’s the GREEN thing to do. Eat GREEN. Be GREEN.
Almost all are terms describe a lifestyle. If you eat Green, you eat very clean and are consciences about where your food comes from, but most importantly, how it gets to you. Did it travel far to get to you and ultimately bad for the environment?
Do you recycle, reuse, and re-purpose? Don’t forget your reusable (and recyclable) bags when shopping, and not just grocery shopping. If you are in Austin, the new bag ban may have you stranded with carrying your purchased items in hand, making multiple trips to the car if you forget your bags. IKEA has been doing this for years.
Eating your Greens – simply means to eat dark green, leafy vegetables. This includes spinach, kale, Swiss chard, collard and mustard greens, beet greens, broccoli greens, and arugula. They are a great source for Vitamin C, K, and A. And Fiber. Some of these greens have a very bitter taste. It’s important to find recipes that cook the greens correctly or use other seasonings and ingredients to compliment the greens.
For a my Kale and Cranberry Salad recipe – go to this post.
In our class this past week, we made Spinach Dip. Okay, this is probably the mildest green we have discussed and yet the kids were super cautious about trying this dip. Almost all of the kids tried the dip. A couple of them liked it. One loved it and asked for seconds. Who knows, your kid could be the one that loves it! TIP: Use less spinach and work up to tolerance.
We served it with green veggie chips, and the kids decided to add 2 green grapes for what they thought was an animal face 🙂
Spinach Dip
1 – 16oz. Low fat Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt
1 cup Olive Oil Mayo
1 box frozen spinach, defrosted and drained well
1 small can of water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 bunch of green onions, tops chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced or 1/4 tsp garlic powder (we used fresh)
1 tsp cumin
dash of red pepper or hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together. Shred the spinach apart with your hands while adding so you don’t get any big clumps of spinach. Put in refrigerator to get cold. Serve with veggie sticks, crackers, or tortilla chips.
And, if you are still not GREEN, you better wear GREEN on Sunday – or you might get pinched!
