Can You Really Get Your Greens In Powdered Form?

I saw a funny meme the other day that said “I wish I were the person I thought I was when I bought all these vegetables.”

How often do you buy a lot of fruit and vegetables intending on eating super healthy during the week. But then something happens.

You can’t find a recipes. You got too busy. Or you didn’t really feel like eating it that night.

And the fruits and vegetables quietly go bad.

Don’t feel guilty.

It really does happen to all of us.

In the United States, 20% of the food purchased never gets eaten, and 9 kg of food is tossed each month by the average person.

Betty Crocker (of the cake mixes and recipe books fame) is holding a challenge to raid your pantry and eat up when you have from 16 October through the 21st. If you’re interested, you can find out more here. There will be lots of tips posted on their social media channels.

In today’s blog, I’ll talk about strategies to help you get more mileage out of your fruits and vegetables.

Then we’ll look at ways to supplement your diet to stay at your peak.

The Important Step One

The best thing you can do is plan your meals for the week. And then hold yourself to it.

I can understand swapping out days, or mixing things up.

But for the most part, you will save money and reduce food waste if you craft a meal plan and then follow it during the week.

Simple Tips for Meal Planning Success

First, review your week. Will there be any late nights? Will everyone in the household be eating at the same time, or will there be stragglers?

This way you also won’t be planning a meal on a day when you were going to eat out. And you won’t be making a time intensive meal when you only have 15 minutes to get food on the table.

Ask your family for ideas. If they get involved, they’ll be more likely to eat what’s put in front of them. Better still, let them help prepare it.

Try to use what’s already in your home. If you discovered you had four cartons of chicken broth, maybe it’s time to make soup.

Unless your household eats up every scrap, have a plan for leftovers. You may want to bring them in for lunches. And you can repurpose them for a fun dinner later in the week.

One friend has a “clean out the fridge” night on Thursdays since her rubbish bin is collected on Friday.

Reviving Your Produce

You can revive herbs, carrots, celery and lettuce by putting the cores and stems in water, and letting them sit for a bit.

However, you don’t have to revive your food to cook with it.

If you create a soup or stew, it won’t matter if your potato and carrots were soft, or if the onion was starting to look a little off.

There are recipes for wilted lettuce on the internet that you could use. In fact there is a fun book by Joel Gamoran called Cooking Scrappy. It teaches how to stop wasting food, and use the things we’d normally toss to create delicious food.

Wonder What to Do With Carrot Tops?

Have you ever wondered what to do with things like the green tops of carrots?

You could turn it into a pesto or a chimichurri sauce.

But What About Fruit That’s Going Bad?

The easiest way to use up fruit that’s going bad is to turn it into a smoothie in your blender. You can add in some protein powder.

You can also cut up some of the fruit (and cut off the bad bits) and turn it into a baked dessert.

And you can also freeze the fruit for smoothies later. Or turn it into a jam or preserve.

Another idea is to add the fruit to pancakes, quick breads or muffins in place of sugar. The very ripe bananas will be quite sweet, so taste before adding syrup. And some ripe apples, pears, or berries will add a fresh flavor.

Do you own a dehydrator? You can make snacks out of fruits and vegetables.

Overripe fruits can also make a wonderful marinade or glaze. Grapes, kiwis, and pineapple are terrific for this.

And finally (although there’s a LOT more ideas out there on the internet), you can make a granita. It’s a frozen ice made from blending your going-bad fruit with a little bit of alcohol. Then pop it into your freezer. Stir it with a fork to break up the icy areas every hour or so.

Get Your Greens Without Buying Produce

Fresh and frozen fruits and veg are wonderful, and a great way of eating and living clean.

It’s also good to supplement your diet with powdered green blends.

What’s In It?

Every brand has its own unique blend. Generally they’re made from greens like spinach and kale. They also usually contain seaweed, probiotics, and sometimes tea. Others contain beets, ginseng, pineapple, and more.

What you want to look for are the percentages of recommended daily values of vitamins and minerals. You’ll want to look for something that’s well balanced.

If you can find one with fiber included, that’s an extra bonus.

And I’d also recommend looking for one that didn’t have added sweetener. It’s better if you add your own to taste.

Does It Taste Awful?

While green powder is not something you wake up in the middle of the night craving, it’s not so bad.

If you want to mix it straight with water, you will want to use a blender or shaker bottle to get it fully blended. It will taste better if you use a nut milk. And you can add in a little natural sweetener like agave or honey.

One friend found pumpkin spice flavored greens, and added in a drop or two of pumpkin spice stevia.

You can also add in cinnamon or vanilla flavors to make it more enjoyable.

How Do I Prepare It?

The best way to get your greens is to mix the powder with other things like soups or scrambled eggs. You can mix it in with salad dressing or hummus.

And it fits right in with pesto!

If you mix it in with a shake or smoothie, make sure you’ve incorporated it fully. It will taste better that way.

My Final Thoughts

Powdered greens can be a wonderful way to supplement your health. If you’re having a crazy busy week, drink some powdered greens.

It will help boost your immune system, and it will help your body move away from being naturally acidic to naturally alkaline.

InnerOrigin currently has a wonderful blend of greens, fiber, and pre-biotics that you may wish to try.

Let me know if you have questions, and if you’re interested in learning more about powdered greens and other supplements to ignite your lifestyle.