Tips & Tricks for Improvising Your Meal Plan Midweek

THIS MESSAGE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY COLLARD KALE 2020

#CollardKale2020

Let’s be real—life happens. There will be days that are hard, where you’ll just want to come home and relax instead of make dinner. There will be activities or practices that run late, there will be the occasional missing ingredient, and there will be times where you just don’t want to eat what you have on your meal plan.

What do you do when this happens? Stick to your pantry! Avoid making a quick trip through the drive-thru line on the way home and skip the online ordering by ensuring that your pantry is always stocked with items you can use to pull together a quick meal.

Create a list of easy-to-make meals.

Keep a list handy of meals that are not only easy to make, but are family favorites. These should be meals that everyone enjoys and that can be pulled together in under 30 minutes. These do not need to be fancy meals! It can be as simple as pasta topped with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese. Meals like rice bowls are wonderful to have on your list—you can toss whatever meat, veggies, and cheese you have on hand into your rice bowl to make a complete meal.

Looking for some great recipes to add to your list? Take a look at the collection of recipes that we have featured on our website—we know you can find plenty of recipes on here that would be perfect to add to your list alongside your tried and true favorites.

Keep your pantry stocked.

Now that you have the list of meals you know are easy to pull together at the last minute, it’s time to create a grocery list of items to keep stocked in your pantry. These are items that you’ll want to have on hand at all times and as soon as you run out, you add them back into your weekly shopping list so that you can restock as soon as possible. Trust us—you’ll thank yourself later when you’re resorting to one of your quick fix dinners and all of the ingredients are readily available in your pantry.

This goes for your freezer, too! Always keep a pack of your most commonly used meat in your freezer, along with frozen veggies, frozen sauces, and any frozen meals that you can make ahead of time and pop into the over in a hurry.

Sub in similar ingredients.

Ran out of an item you need, and you haven’t made your weekly shopping trip yet? Sub in a similar ingredient! If you were planning to make beef tacos but are out of ground beef, swap it out for ground chicken or turkey, or even sautéed vegetables for a veggie taco. In the mood for spaghetti but no pasta noodles? Spiralize those extra zucchini that you picked in your garden earlier in the week and swap those out for the regular noodles. 

How do you get creative in the kitchen when you improvise your meal plan? We’d love to know your secrets! Share your tips and tricks with us by tagging @naturesgreens and #collardkale2020 in your posts and stories.

How to Meal Plan On-The-Go to Save Time and Money

THIS MESSAGE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY COLLARD KALE 2020

#CollardKale2020

If you’re looking to save both time and money when it comes to putting healthy, nutritious, and delicious meals on the table for you and your family, the best way to go about it is through meal planning. Meal planning will make it easy for you to achieve all of the above plus, it takes out the stress of your weekday afternoons and evenings because you won’t be scrambling to figure out what to cook for dinner and making a quick trip to the grocery store for the ingredients.

Browse through our collection of 100s of great recipes that incorporate our greens and veggies by clicking here!

Save Time & Money at the Grocery Store

Two huge benefits of meal planning come at the grocery store—by walking in with a shopping list and a plan, you’re less likely to spend extraneous time wandering up and down the aisle of the store and inevitably adding additional, unnecessary items to your cart. You’ll browse the aisles with ease as you put just what you need in your cart and head to the checkout line quicker than ever before.

Reduce Your Weeknight Stress

Meal planning ensures that you, and everyone in the family, knows what’s on tap for the week when it comes to dinner. You won’t be sidetracked at work as you try to think of something for dinner that everyone will love and you won’t be trying to squeeze in a quick trip to the grocery store—during the busy afterwork hours—on your way home.

Make It a Family Activity

Start your kids out young in regards to educating them about great snack and meal choices by involving them in your weekly meal planning session. You can take a look at the calendar together as you map out your family’s activities for the week and determine which meals you’ll be gathering around the table for as a family. Having everyone’s input can seem daunting but in reality, you’ll be giving everyone a voice in making sure that some of their favorite meals make it into the rotation, too. This will save you sibling squabbles and complaints of “but I didn’t want that for dinner!” during the week since everyone will know ahead of time what to expect. Who wouldn’t want to save that time for extra family bonding time?

But how exactly do you go about meal planning to save time and money in a world that’s already crazy busy and constantly on the go? Here’s a few tips and tricks that we have for making meal planning as quick and easy as possible.

• Create a Recipe File

Sit down and create a file somewhere—it can be a recipe box, a recipe binder, or even on Pinterest—of all of you and your family’s favorite recipes. You can sort them by type of meat included, the type of meal (salad, soup, pasta, etc), or even by time it takes to make. Having this handy will make the process go faster because you’ll have everything you need in one spot. All you have to do then is pick 5-7 recipes, jot down the ingredients, and then your meal plan is ready! 

• Set Aside Time for Your Weekly Grocery Shopping

Whether you choose to use a shopping service or you go to the store yourself, set aside a designated time each week. Preferably, it’s a less popular time to shop so that you or your shopper can get in and out of the store even quicker! 

• Keep Your Pantry & Freezer Stocked

Save money in your overall grocery shopping budget by keeping an eye out for your most commonly used ingredients going on sale at the store. Even though you might not need that ingredient this week, you might next week, and you’ll be glad that you got it on sale ahead of time. It has the added benefit of also saving you a trip to the store in a pinch. If you need to substitute a different meal during the week than what you had scheduled, it’s easier to do with a well-stocked pantry than with one that is depleted. 

Happy meal planning and shopping, friends! Tag us in your photos and your videos as you tackle meal planning together with your family or in the meals that you’re making each week by using @naturesgreens. We’d love to see what you’re up to in your kitchen!

Happy National Nutrition Month!

THIS MESSAGE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY COLLARD KALE 2020

#CollardKale2020

Happy National Nutrition Month! Held annually in March, National Nutrition Month is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics where they invite everyone to focus on eating right, bite by bite. It’s a month to focus on making informed food choices as you develop both sound eating and physical activity habits.

The campaign has four main pillars to focus on throughout the month:

• Learn to vary your diet by eating a variety of nutrition foods each day

• Incorporate meal planning into your week so you have healthy food choices during your busy days

• Discover new prep and cooking skills to create delicious meals in the kitchen for you and your family

• Visit a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist to learn more about your specific nutrition needs

At WP Rawl, we strongly believe in helping everyone have access to good nutrition. This means that we provide local grocery stores with our fresh produce, packed with an abundance of nutrients, and we work to help provide people with the knowledge that gives them the power to make informed food choices at home, out with friends, and even on vacation. We want nutrition to be easy to understand! The easier it is to understand, the more likely you are to use the information to make an informed food decision.

If you’re diving into nutrition mindfulness for the first time, we’ve broken down a few easy steps for you:

My Plate

Do you remember the Food Pyramid from your school days? Established in 1916, it has evolved over the last century to a new concept called “My Plate”—it gives you new, easier to interpret visual cues as to how you should proportion the amount of fruits, vegetables, protein, grains, and dairy that you should consume on a daily basis. Start your nutrition journey first by focusing on giving yourself a variety of food to consume each day based on these proportion guidelines. Consuming way more protein than you are fruit? Try a smaller protein portion and add a few extra fresh strawberries to your plate instead.

Nutrition Fact Label

Once you’ve figured out how to change up the portions of the five main food groups that you consume, the next step we suggest is diving into learning how to read a Nutrition Fact Label.  Start with the serving size—this will tell you right away a suggested serving size that likely fits in with your MyPlate portions that you’ve already mastered. Next, take a look at the Percent Daily Values and use them as your guide on whether or not this particular food works for your meal plan. Anything than 5% is considered low, and you’ll want your saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium all to be under 5%. Anything over 20% is considered high, so try and select foods that are over 20% in vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Meal Planning

Once you’ve mastered the first two steps, you’re ready to tackle meal planning! Use our website as a great reference for finding healthy, nutritious recipes that will guide you to making tasty dishes in your kitchen ahead of time to enjoy throughout the week.

How are you simplifying nutrition in your life this month as you celebrate National Nutrition Month? Tag us in your photos and videos on Instagram using @naturesgreens!

Improve Your Mental Health by Spending Time in the Kitchen

THIS MESSAGE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY COLLARD KALE 2020

#CollardKale2020

It’s the time of year where we’re all focused on our health. The New Year has come and gone and we’ve made our resolutions, created charts to track our fitness goals, and we’re excitedly celebrating each step that we accomplish. With all of the goals that you made this year—was your own mental health a focus of any of them?

According to MentalHealth.gov, mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood adolescence through adulthood. Despite how important we know it is to take care of, we aren’t always the best stewards of our own mental health.

Add one more resolution to your list for 2020—make it a goal to check in with yourself more often. How are you feeling… really? Is your mental health soaring high this year or is it lingering down by the ground, refusing to bloom?

One way to encourage positive mental health and to ensure that you are taking the time to do the things that you enjoy the most. They can be things like:

• Being outside

• Partaking in physical activity

• Gardening

• Cooking in the kitchen

• Gathering around the table with your family

• Hosting dinner parties with friends

• Baking cookies with your grandchildren

• Making family-favorite recipes for your family to enjoy

If being in the kitchen or being surrounded by family and friends at the dinner table is high on your list of things that you enjoy, we know a few recipes that would be great to whip up in your kitchen this week. Spend time with your children as you prepare these recipes together, or even brighten up an elderly neighbors day by dropping it off at their home. Check out some of our favorite recipes:

Breakfast

Take time to set the tone of your day by starting it off right by getting your heart rate up with a early morning run or quick trip to the gym, and then spend some quality time with your partner catching up before you both head out the door for the day. Our Mediterranean Egg White Cups are easy to make ahead to be able to enjoy on busy weekday mornings. Grab one (or two, we won’t tell!) to eat as you catch up with your partner.

Lunch

Give your littles something to smile about when they open up their lunchbox in the cafeteria at school. Maybe they have a big test in the afternoon that they’re worried about, or maybe the morning was tough in a new classroom. Nothing goes better with our Make Head Beans & Greens Quesadilla than a sweet note from mom or dad!

Dinner

Is a friend having a hard month or an exceptionally rough day? Invite them over for dinner! You can catch up, lend a listening ear, and offer your support over a delicious meal homemade in your kitchen. We suggest our Modern Pad Thai. You can’t go wrong with this healthy comfort meal!

#breakthestigma this year by being more in sync with your mental health and being more aware of the mental health of those around you. We’d love to see how you’re taking time to enjoy the things you love the most as you work towards keeping your mental health at the forefront of your mind—tag us in your Instagram stories and in your photos using @naturesgreens!

Can A Good Diet Be An Answer to Mental Health?

Collard Green Wraps with Peanut Sauce by Rosemary Squires (@thehintofrosemary)

We all know that eating healthy is good for us in so many ways. From keeping a healthy weight, to protecting our eyesight, to even helping our hair grow! But, did you know that a nutrient dense diet is also crucial in maintaining good mental health?

Every cell in our body is fed by the nutrients we eat. So it’s no wonder that the neurons, hormones, and cells involved in our mental health are also protected by healthy eating.

Poor diet and mental health rates in the United States: is this a coincidence?

Obesity rates are at an all time high and expected to rise. While in the past, we thought of malnourishment as the sick and starving. Today, we see malnourishment in a new form: obesity. Diets high in refined carbohydrates and fried foods without whole grains, beans & legumes, nuts & seeds, fruits, and vegetables. We are more sick than ever. And at the same time, mental health disease rates are rising.

According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), the prevalence of obesity in US adults between 2015-2016 was almost 40%. That is approximately 93 million Americans!

And when we are looking at instance of mental health disorders, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates nearly 1 in 5 Americans living with mental illness in 2017, which is about 46.6 million people.  The CDC estimated 9.8 million adults, which is 1 in 25 Americans with a serious mental illness. A serious mental illness is when an individual’s major life activities and functioning is impacted by their mental illness.

So we wonder, does this rise in poor dietary habits have an effect on our mental health as a nation?

Nutrients needed for mental health

When looking at a mental health and brain function as a whole, many nutrients come into play. And due to the synergic effect of food, there is not a “cure-all” nutrient or food. Rather, the most beneficial results are seen in a well rounded plant-based diet.

Let’s look at some of the nutrients needed in cognitive function:

B-vitamins

B-vitamins are used widely throughout our bodies. They are used in neurological function and cell signaling. B-complex vitamins have been shown to improve depression and anxiety symptoms (1,2) . The most well-known B vitamin in mental health is Vitamin B-12. It is vital for neurological function.

Many of the B vitamins are found in meats, whole grains and leafy greens, like collard greens.

Magnesium

Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals in the body that is connected with brain chemistry (3,4). It plays a major role in calming the nervous system. Thus, it is an important nutrient in mental health disorders, especially anxiety and depression (3,4).

Magnesium is found in green leafy vegetables, fresh fruits, nuts & seeds, and legumes. Are you starting to notice so many of these nutrients needed in mental health are what most Americans are lacking?

Selenium

Selenium, while only needed in small amounts, plays a huge role in mental health (5)! Deficiency of selenium has been correlated with higher rates of depression (6). Selenium is necessary in preventing depression and anxiety. And what is even better, that it has shown to help prevent memory loss that leads to devastating diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (7).

Brazil nuts are rich in selenium. Just a few brazil nuts per day can give you enough selenium! Other foods include oysters, fish (like sardines and tuna), mushrooms, and eggs.

Note here that you can get too much selenium, so it is best to obtain it from natural food sources rather than supplementation where there is the risk of toxicity.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is another nutrient used widely throughout the body. Its receptors are found everywhere! It is no wonder that a deficiency of this sunshine vitamin is linked with higher rates of depression (8,9).

Vitamin D receptors are not only found in the brain to help with neurological signaling, but the nutrient itself protects the depletion of mood hormones like serotonin and dopamine (8).

Make sure you are getting at least 15 minutes of direct sunlight exposure per day! But, if you’re like me and live in the northern hemisphere, you will want to eat vitamin D rich foods in the winter.

Good sources of vitamin D foods include: cold water fish, mushrooms, beef liver, egg yolks, cod liver oil, and fortified foods.

Omega 3

Good fats are essential to your brain health (10)! Your brain itself is mainly composed of fat.

There are 3 main types of omega 3’s: ALA (alphalinolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid),  and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). While these can all make omega-3 in your body, the most important one to get is DHA.

Good sources of DHA omega 3’s include: fatty fish, and fish oil. It is also found in lesser amounts in grass fed meat, eggs, dairy, and spirulina. 

This is not an exhaustive list of nutrients related to mental health. And so many benefits have actually been seen when we are eating a well-rounded diet. A well-rounded diet includes quality whole grains, nuts & seeds, beans & legumes, fruits, vegetables, and quality protein sources.

And make sure you are staying hydrated! Even being mildly dehydrated can cause irritability.

Gut health and mental health

We can see that eating a variety of foods can help to protect and improve our metal health. And even the potential for developing degenerative diseases.

But even more interesting is that in recent years, scientists have found that gut health may be even more crucial for mental health (11,12). Our guts are home to trillions of microbes, think of them as “gut bugs.” They are responsible for reducing inflammation, controlling the immune system, digesting foods to provide our bodies nutrients, and even the production of neurotransmitters.

You know the happy hormone serotonin? You’d think that it was produced right in your brain. Bit in fact, 95% of serotonin is made in your gut! Yes you read that right ninety five percent!!

Just like our bones and muscles and the organs in our body, our gut microbes also need to be fed the right nutrients. They thrive on fiber dense foods like whole grains, beans, nuts & seeds. Other good foods include fruits and vegetables (13). Try any type that you like!

Note: if you have been on a long-term antibiotic, your gut bacteria have likely been killed off. You may want to talk to your doctor about starting a daily probiotic for a month to recolonize your gut.

So what can you eat today to start improving your mood??

1. Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Make sure you eat the rainbow! Bright red, yellow & orange, dark greens, and even purple!

2. Choose whole grains. Wild rice, quinoa, farro, and oatmeal. When you are looking at a nutrient label, make sure there are >3 grams of fiber.

3. Add nuts and seeds to your meals. Use chia seeds, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Make sure you are choosing raw and un-roasted.

4. Look for quality protein sources. Lean and organic meats. If you are vegan choose beans, legumes, and tofu.

5. Stay hydrated! Drink plain or fruit and herb infused water throughout the day.

And above all, make sure you are enjoying your food! Experiment with new foods, you might be surprised.

Conclusion:

A poor diet high in refined foods has been linked to higher rates of mental illnesses. Foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds have been shown to be protective against mental illness. Gut health is crucial in reducing mental illness symptoms. Add many plant based foods to your diet!

Sponsored by Nature’s Greens — all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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References:

1. Almeida O, et al. B vitamins to enhance treatment response to antidepressants in middle-aged and older adults: results from the B-VITAGE randomised, double-bling, placebo-controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2014; 205(6): 450-7.

2. Lewis J, et al. The Effect of Methylated Vitamin B Complex on Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms and Quality of Life in Adults with Depression. ISRN Psychiatry. 2013; doi:10.1155/2013/621453.

3. Derom M, Sayom-Orea C, Martinez-Ortega J, Martinez-Gonzales M. Magensium and depression: a systematic review. An International Journal on Nutrition, Diet and Nervous System. 2013; 16(5): 191-206.

4. Serefko A, et al. Magnesium in depression. Pharmacological Reports. 2013; 65(3): 547-554.

5. Albuquerque R, Tufik S, Andersen M. Benefits of selenium in the treatment of depression and sleep disorders. Sleep and Breating. 2019; 23: 933-4.

6. Wang J, Um P, Dickerman B, Liu J. Zinc, Magnesium, Selenium and Depression: A Review of the Evidence, Potential Mechanisms and Implications. Nutrients. 2018; 10(5): 584.

7. Santos J, Gois A, Mendonca D, Freire M. Nutritional status, oxidative stress and dementia: the role of selenium in Alzheimer’s disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2014; 6: 206.

8. Spedding S. Vitamin D and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing Studies with and without Biological Flaws. Nutrients. 2014; 6(4): 1501-18.

9. Anglin R, Samaan Z, Walter S, McDonald S. Vitamin D deficiency and depression in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2013; 202(2): 100-7.

10. Martins J. EPA but not DHA appears to be responsible for the efficacy of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in depression: evidence from a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Am Coll Nutr. 2009; 28(5): 525-42.

11. Taylor A, et al. A review of dietary and microbial connections to depression, anxiety, and stress. Nutritional Neuroscience. 2018.

12. Aslam H, et al. Fermented foods, the gut and mental health: a mechanistic overview with implications for depression and anxiety. An international Journal of Nutrition, Diet and Nervous System. 2018. 

13. Dash S, Clarke G, Berk M, Jacka F. The gut microbiome and diet in psychiatry focus on depression. 2015; Psychiatry. 28(1).  

The Leafy Greens Party: Dedicated to Fresh

Uniting people with fresh leafy greens.

[Not a real political campaign]

We are for fresh leafy greens for all.

Most people know that fresh leafy greens are a great thing to add to your diet, but many people aren’t sure how to do that.

We take the confusion away through easy-to-make recipes plus bonus tips on everything from planning, preparing, selecting, and storing.

When you know more about leafy greens, you will feel more confident making them in your own kitchen.

There’s too much confusion.

Everywhere you look online, there’s some new study, some new diet, or some new way of doing something that seems to contradict another article you just read.

We exist to provide simple, practical information around topics like nutrition, fitness, mindful eating, and meal planning.

When you cut down on confusion, you make decisions with less stress and more confidence.

We need to celebrate.

There’s a lot in this world that could bring you down.

All of us need to actively remind ourselves of the good things going on each day.

We exist to bring out the good—especially the things we can all celebrate—so that we can keep forming bonds of unity.

We’ll celebrate improving our self-care routines, saving money and time in the grocery store, reminiscing family favorite dishes, and cherishing happy times with friends and family.

Let’s celebrate more.

Understanding what and why we eat.

Have you ever heard of mindful eating?

It’s a growing trend right now, and we want to provide the best, clearest information about it so that you can feel confident practicing it.

We exist to explore topics like understanding cravings, losing/gaining weight, and developing new eating habits.

While we will give information on these topics, we know that the information will not be for everybody—and that’s OK!

As we’ll explore this year, nutrition and eating really varies from one individual to the next.

We want to help you find the right tools that work well for you.

Introducing our candidates.

COLLARD ∙ KALE

It's not about getting it right, it's about getting better.

Our mission is to give you simple, practical information about self-care and grocery planning so that you can live your best life in this new decade. Together, we can learn new ways to meal plan, grocery shop, and store food — like leafy greens — to create more space and less waste.

MUSTARD ∙ TURNIP

To eat or not to eat?

This is a daily, nagging question for most people. We believe that mindful eating is a wonderful way any person can enjoy and celebrate food. Craving some leafy greens? Great! Want some of that apple pie? Fine by us! With a better understanding of your personal relationship with food, you will be more at peace & confident with what you eat, especially during the holidays.

Leafy Greens Election 2020

Keeping with our political spoof theme, we will be hosting an actual vote between Collard Kale and Mustard Turnip on October 20th, 2020.

Stay tuned for more details on why you will want to cast a vote!

Follow us @naturesgreens on Instagram for campaign updates!

Our purpose in doing this.

We love our country and we are thankful for the right to vote! What a privilege it is to farm and live in the United States. Our gratitude to military service members, government officials, and other agencies that do so much to provide this freedom is immense.

That being said, we don’t deny that the current political climate is tough. There is a lot of nasty back and forth, and we know that it can get tiresome and exhausting to keep up or care.

So, while we all practice democracy this year through our right to vote, we want to create a space that is lighthearted and adds value for you!