Since I’m a vegetarian, one would assume that I eat my fair share of fruits and vegetables. For the most part, I consider my diet to be healthy and well rounded, but I’m pretty sure that I still miss the mark when it comes to the daily-recommended value of fruits and veggies. My Pyramid, brought to you by the United States Department of Agriculture, and revamped from the traditional food pyramid that we saw in school as children, says that I should be consuming 3 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit daily (the older version preached 5 to 9 servings, hence the name of this month, in reference of course to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5). What’s kind of cool is that the servings are personalized, based on your age, gender, height, weight and activity level. You can go onto the website, www.mypyramid.gov and enter your information to find out your own recommendations.
In addition to outlining my own personalized daily recommendations, they also gave me a weekly goal: 3 cups of dark green vegetables, 2 cups of orange vegetables, 3 cups of dry beans and peas, 6 cups of starchy vegetables, and 7 cups of other vegetables. I like thinking of it in terms of weekly rather than daily, because let’s face it, some days I’m going to be under and hopefully some days I’ll be over. So, I’m making myself a nice little star chart and tallying up my score each week. Maybe I’ll buy myself the kale necklace from last post if I manage to meet my goals for the whole month.
What’s always been a little bit confusing is what constitutes as a serving. Here are a few examples, but check out this website for a much longer list.
What is a serving of vegetables? -1 cup of raw, leafy vegetables -1/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or raw -3/4 cup of vegetable juice -5 broccoli florets, 10 baby carrots, 4 slices of onion
What is a serving of fruit? -1 apple, banana, orange, or pear -1/2 cup of chopped, cooked or canned fruit -3/4 cup of fruit juice -1/4 cup of dried fruit -6 strawberries, 15 grapes
So, that’s my August challenge. I’ll post a photo of my star chart at the end of this week and any interesting findings as they come.
July turned out to be a very tasty month of kale eating indeed. Did I eat it every day? Well no, I definitely wasn’t perfect, but I did manage to work it into my diet on most days and I have to say that it’s really grown on me. I get excited when I see it on the menu at a restaurant, I have fun trying to figure out how to sneak it into recipes, and it was definitely a funny topic of conversation: “Is there any kale in that? I’m trying to eat kale every day this month” got me a few funny looks.
The biggest lesson I learned and what I’ll take with me from this month: You can sneak kale into just about anything. Toss some into a smoothie and you won’t even notice the taste. A bit of kale mixed into some scrambled eggs really jazzes ‘em up. Try these delicious apple kale muffins, you’d never guess they were chock full of kale. Basically, kale plays well with others and considering how awesome it is for you, it’s worth it to include it in your cooking whenever you can.
So, I’m officially a kale convert. Thanks to everyone who ate kale with me and supported my kale habit. I think it’s finally time for me to sport the “Eat More Kale” tshirt. And oh wow, this is on the top of my Christmas list.
And tell me I’ve taken it too far but I think Kale or Cael, would be a pretty good name for a baby boy. Sorry future baby’s daddy, my mind’s made up…
Next up for August: The 5 to 9, where I attempt to eat the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
In my search for kale-centric pasta dishes for tonight's dinner, I stumbled on this article, "How I Learned to Love Kale" and thought I'd share. Enjoy and eat more kale!
I just had a very delicious week of kale eating. Highlights were my pear kale smoothie (scroll down a bit for it) , and the lemony chickpea kale stir-fry that Jocelyn and I made the other night. Super easy, light, delicious, healthy, and awesome for summer. Here's some kale talk that happened during our meal:
Danne: "What did you say again? I want to put it in my post" Jocelyn: "I don't remember" Danne: "Yes you do, you just don't want to be on the internet" Jocelyn: "I said, the kale makes the meal. It's like a PSA for kale, ok?"
So, Jocelyn said it best, the kale makes the meal.
In other kale news, I wrote to Bo, the Eat More Kale guy and he sent me a bunch of bumper stickers for free. Thanks Bo, you're the best! Let me know if you want one, I have a few leftover.
To kick off July, here are a few facts about kale:
1. Kale is one of the most nutrient dense foods there is.
2. It has been cultivated for over 2,000 years.
3. It’s a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
4. Studies suggest that the phytonutrients in kale may actually help the liver neutralize potentially cancerous substances.
5. Kale is a cool-weather crop—frost actually makes it taste sweeter and more flavorful.
6. Research has shown that kale consumption is linked to improved mental function as you age.
7. During World War II, the cultivation of kale in the U.K. was encouraged by the Dig for Victory campaign. The vegetable was easy to grow and provided important nutrients to supplement those missing from a normal diet because of rationing.
7. There are several varieties of kale known commonly as: curly kale (pungent flavor with delicious, bitter, peppery qualities), ornamental kale (mellow flavor and tender texture) and dinosaur kale (slightly sweeter and more delicate taste than curly kale).
9. Kale can be kept in the refrigerator for several days, although it is best when eaten within one or two days after purchase since the longer it is stored, the more bitter its flavor becomes.
10. Both the leaves and the stem of kale can be eaten.
So, as my kale sistah Jess says: Eat (or drink) more kale!
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with kale: The love part being more wishful thinking (I really wish I loved kale), and the hate part being more of the truth (I really don’t like it that much). Recently though, I discovered the kale chips from Prana Café in Newton and I’m obsessed. I find myself buying bunches of kale each week at the farmers market and making them in huge batches at home. While I’m happy that I finally found a way to enjoy kale, there’s still a problem: the chips are really the only way I can tolerate it. After seeing the millionth “Eat More Kale” bumper sticker the other day, I decided that it was time to lent it out and really embrace kale for the wonderful gift from nature that it is. I've officially declared July “Eat More Kale” month and by the end of the month I’d like to not only have eaten kale every single day, but also to have discovered new recipes and ways to prepare it so it can become a part of my regular diet.
Suggestions anyone? I’d love to get some good recipes prepared before the month starts.
Are you back yet? How was it? What was your project? What were the other people like? How was Belfast? Was it what you expected it to be? To answer everyone’s questions:
1. Yes, I’m back!
2. It's definitely up there on my list of “best experiences of my life”.
3. To sum it up: We did a “blitz” project focused on using hair booms to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which culminated in an outlandish booth at a local event called, The Good Life Festival. We wore red jumpsuits with “STUFF IT” spray painted down the leg, stuffed human hair into panty hose, gave over 25 haircuts to willing participants, crafted snazzy buttons made out of hair (they’re not nearly as disgusting as they sound), made Evan sit in a kiddie pool filled with fake oil dressed up as a BP executive, and had a letter writing station so people could write to their congressmen. Here's the video that Ben Barry was kind enough to make of the event.
We were all fairly convinced that we’d continue with the oil spill theme for our final project but when we learned of the sudden death of David McLaughlin, an artist, craftsman and collector whom we had met days prior to the festival, we unanimously decided to switch gears and create a project in his honor and memory. Inspired by David’s incredible home, a converted cannery in Liberty, Maine, and his philosophy of reusing what others discarded to give new life to otherwise unwanted materials, we developed “100 Hammers”, a collaborative project in which participants are shipped a hammer from our collection of 100 and then use it to create an art piece, in whatever form that may take. The artwork is then shared on our website and auctioned off to benefit a local charity. I will post as soon as our site goes live.
4. My fellow M’ers were incredible. Half expecting a group of pretentious designers with their own agendas, I was relieved to meet a bunch of talented, down to earth, dedicated, hilarious, hardworking, and passionate people. Our group dynamic was exceptional and we proved to be a prolific and dedicated team. We laughed and cried (sometimes laughing until we cried), ate and drank, worked and played, and just did absolutely everything together for the 2 weeks that we were there. I was, and continue to be, inspired and motivated by each and every one of them and am thankful to have so many awesome, new friends.
5. I’m pretty sure that Belfast is the best town in America. Delicious, local, organic food abounds, there’s a pretty hip art scene (considering it’s northern Maine), bars have outdoor bonfires to sit around (go to Three Tides if you ever make it up that way), the scenery is beautiful, the community is incredible (with one of the guys in my group remarking “I’ve never felt like I was a part of a community until I came here”), just an A+ all around. If I can’t handle the long winters I’m at least having a summer house there.
6. In one word, yes. It met my expectations and then surpassed them. I couldn’t have anticipated what M taught me about design, about myself, and about life. In my application essay I ended it by saying “So, when it comes down to it, why am I applying for Project M? Because there isn’t enough time in life to spend your day doing something that doesn’t quicken your heart.” I remember thinking to myself a few times that even as mentally and physically exhausted as I was, there wasn’t one thing in the world that I’d rather be doing. To me, when you’re in the moment, and truly living from your heart, that’s the whole point of everything. Thank you Project M for reminding me that this is possible.
I’ll be posting more as soon as I sort through the 3,000 photos and 10GB of video that I have (seriously) and I will let everyone know when 100 Hammers launches. Check out this article that was written about us in the Village Soup if you didn't see it already on my Facebook page.
One last thank you to everyone who donated to my M fund. It was such a hugely positive experience in my life and I literally couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'll be blogging about my personal experience with Project M when I return in a few weeks, but you can view the blog that we're keeping as a group documenting our process here. There's not too much on it right now but it'll definitely be filling up more each day. We're working on a Twitter account too so I'll post that info when I have it.
12 Months of Lent is a project that I started in 2009 where I assign myself a different personal challenge to complete each month—a sort of hybrid between the concept of lent and a New Year's resolution (just with less religion and more frequency). Through making myself do these funny challenges, not only do I live a more positive and fulfilling life, but I actually get things done—and have fun doing them. Thank you for reading!
