nutrition

Adding Greens to Your Favorite Foods

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A long day at the office. A stressful day with the kids. An unsatisfying lunch or lack thereof. Things like this lead us to search for our most favorite foods to make the day a little better. It’s hard to beat the pleasure of a cheesy slice of pizza or a warm gooey cookie, so who says these cravings can’t be healthy?

Feel as if that’s impossible? No worries! Start with following these few tips and tricks that we use to incorporate healthier options into our recipes. Try embracing whole-grain options, replacing butter with heart-healthy oil, and exploring lighter cheeses. Stuff your veggies where you can, don’t forget seasoning goes a long way, and learn where to make the right substitutions to get the nutrients your body needs. Before you know it, you’ll be implementing these easy changes into all of your recipes.

From our kitchen to yours, here are some recipes that have made our worst days better and our tummies a little fuller!

For all my Pizza Lovers

Barbeque Chicken Pizza with Mustard Green Pesto

A favorite meal that everyone is bound to love. Grab a bag of Nature’s Greens Mustard Greens, pick your favorite crust, and add just a few more toppings before letting this tasty pizza cook for 15 minutes. Whether you decide to share it or save it all for yourself is up to you!  

Check out the recipe!  

Mac & Cheese? Yes Please!

Collard Mac & Cheese

This go-to dish has all the same delicious ingredients plus one, collards! It only takes 10 minutes to cook and you can easily make this as a main course or a quick snack.  

We all know the cheesier the better so give it a try! View the full recipe.

Not Just a Tuesday Night Taco!

Buffalo Cauliflower Kale Tacos

Tuesdays may be taco night but this dish will have you craving them every day of the week. Grab a few tortillas, chop up some cauliflower, then add our Nature’s Greens Kale greens and a few other necessities for a yummy twist on a veggie-loving favorite.

 These tacos have all the right toppings. It’s up to you how hot you like it! Give it a try.

A Sweet Secret!

Hidden Kale Cookies

This is a sweet treat that you’ll want one too many of. This recipe calls for basic baking ingredients, a bag of our Nature’s Greens kale, and some grated carrots for a snack worth sharing!

Check out the full recipe!

We know you’re ready to get cooking so check out what Nature’s Greens products were used in these recipes below and join us on our website to find where these products are sold closest to you. Feel free to share these tasty dishes with your friends and family and leave us a few comments on what comfort foods we should transform next! Don’t forget to check us out on social media too for more tips, tricks, and recipes @naturesgreens!

Healthy Cooking for Two or Just You

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When cooking for one or two, it can seem like a complete hassle. The mess alone is more overwhelming than it should be. Your fresh veggies tend to go bad before you can eat them all, and you consequently start passing up on bulk deals in fear of throwing away food you can’t consume in time. The lack of time, energy, and not knowing what to cook create major obstacles that feel like only a professional chef can overcome.

Trust us, we’ve been there. We know what it’s like to find yourself spending less and less time shopping for groceries, and more time eating heavily processed takeout or settling for sugar-high cereals.

If you’re not head over heels about cooking right now, and you hate that you hate cooking, the good news is that you’re in the right place. We’ve put together a couple of tips and paired them with a few recipes to help you feel inspired.

Your freezer is your new BFF

We’ve said this before, and we’ll say it again: Freeze your veggies! There are numerous ways to do it.

Blanch and freeze. Simply put the greens in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then remove and place in ice water to chill for 3 minutes. Next, transfer the greens into freezer bags and place them onto a baking sheet so the greens freeze flat. Pro tip: write the current day’s date on the bags so that you know how old they are in the future.

Blend and freeze. Simply add water to your greens and blend as fine as possible. Then, use silicon ice trays or silicone muffin trays to freeze blocks of greens. Once frozen, pop them out and place them into a freezer bag. You can use one or two each time you make a smoothie.

Just put the bag in the freezer. If you’ve got the space, go for it! Most leafy greens won’t freeze well this way for long, but nonetheless, it’s a great short-term solution.

Be sure to also prepare any whole grains ahead of time and…freeze! Brown rice, couscous, barley, and quinoa can all be easily heated up without losing quality. In search of healthy dessert options? Don’t overlook frozen fruits! They’re typically picked at the season’s peak when they’re their ripest, and without added ingredients like sugar, they maintain their nutritional value while helping you cut down on meal-prep times during the week.

One-Pan Wonders

Look for an all-in-one bowl or a pan recipe that helps you significantly cut down on cooking times. If the original recipe serves two, double, or triple the ingredients, and freeze the surplus for some easy weeknight meals.

Homemade burgers are one of our go-to strategies for spending less time in the kitchen. Jumpstart your meal prepping for the week while making the most of your freezer and fully satisfying your taste buds all at once. With these Salmon Collard Burgers, for instance, all you need to do is combine accessible ingredients like canned salmon, collard greens, onions, and lemon juice in a medium bowl, refrigerate for 15 minutes, and then use your hands to mold 2-4 burger patties. Cook half of it and freeze the rest for when you want a healthy dinner option, but can’t bring yourself to the cutting board.

Leftovers? There are none

Cooked too much rice? No problem, use it in a fried rice meal such as our Very Veggie Unfried Rice by adding some chopped-up veggies.

Extra meat? Throw it on a salad like our Kale Salad with Blackened Salmon for some extra protein!

Shredded too many greens? Prep them in pasta such as our Pantry Pasta for a quick meal the next day.

Regardless, we understand that getting out of a cooking rut can seem impossible at times, and even more so when the weeks are busy. So start by simplifying your meals to take away some of the mess and stress. Stock your kitchen with basic necessities, and some greens of course, and follow along with us on our blog and Pinterest for all the cooking motivation you need!

Bringing Healthy Back to School

For many of us, back-to-school month also means back to some serious meal prepping to feed the brains and nourish the bodies of kids of all ages in our families! Make no mistake — nutrition and academic achievement go hand in hand: In fact, the CDC indicates that skipping meals or the lack of adequate, nutrient-rich food consumption is associated with decreased cognitive performance, lower student participation rates, and (you guessed!) lower grades.

Whether you need the inspiration to spice up the contents of a lunch box, a few practical recipe ideas to get your on-the-go meals in order, or even an incentive to go Meatless Monday, this collection of bowls, noodles, salads, and wraps is sure to help both you and the littles thrive in the classroom and beyond.

Make-Ahead Beans and Greens Quesadillas

We've bean thinking about this plant-based quesadilla made with corn, red bell pepper, and other seasonal veggies all summer! By incorporating other good-for-you ingredients like kale and black beans that you can also make ahead and even freeze (gasp!), we're positive you'll be wrapped with the result.

View the full recipe here!

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Korean Chicken and Kale Rice Bowl

Oils, seasonings, and garnishes aside — which you can always modify to your liking — all you need to bring this recipe to life are kale, onions, chicken, cooked rice, and eggs. We know, it's hard to get easier than that! Read on to see if we can beat this quick combo with an even simpler recipe.

View the full recipe here!

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Collard Greens Baked Ziti

If you love baked ziti as much as we do, try this version with collard greens and lentil pasta for extra nutrition. Complete with tomato sauce and three-cheese types, this one is as mouth-watering as it is mind-blowing.

View the full recipe here!

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Super Green Pesto Wraps

If you're looking for meals on the go, wraps are your best friends! Make these super green wraps even fresher by preparing the Kale-based pesto ahead of time and keeping the other ingredients, including collard greens leaves and hummus, in separate containers for easy assembly when you're ready to eat.

View the full recipe here!

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Fettuccini with Collard Greens Pesto and Grilled Shrimp

Can't get enough of pesto or pasta? Neither can we! If you haven't yet taken your plain fettuccini to Rawl status with collard greens, shrimp, and tomatoes on the vine, head right to this recipe page, spend 30 minutes max of prep and cook time combined, and thank us later for the explosion of flavors!

View the full recipe here!

Easy School Lunch

With a series of super fruits and greens like avocado and kale, the finale can only be a delectable, yet E-A-S-Y meal. Be sure to mix in some lime juice to your guacamole and add a thin layer of water on top of it before refrigerating in a container to lock in the green and keeping your guac looking and tasting its best.

View the full recipe here!

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Crunchy Chickpea & Sweet Potato Kale Salad

What if we told you that you can make your own salad dressing with ingredients you likely already have in your fridge and pantry? Then bake some chickpeas and sweet potatoes and combine them with some sautéed kale when you're ready to dig in, and enJOY!

View the full recipe here!

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Warm Quinoa Salad with Crispy Kale

Quinoa, zucchini, and kale are the stars of this serious salad show, with open acts by avocado oil, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, and cilantro. If this ingredient combination doesn't rock your world, we don't know what will.

View the full recipe here!

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Make sure to check us out on Instagram and Pinterest for even more delicious recipes @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.


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 FlawsNutrients. 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).