Marilu Henner's Blog, page 172

Sláinte chugat!

That's "Good health to you" in Irish Gaelic.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! You don't have to be Irish to GO GREEN today.

Evaluate your recycling habits. Can you do more? Check with your recycling provider to find out if you're taking advantage of all the programs (for example, hazardous materials collections, electronics collections, etc.).

Add a green vegetable (not salad) to every lunch and dinner. Tired of broccoli and green beans? Look at all the produce you've been ignoring, and try something new.

Check your lawn care products – are they horrible chemicals? There are other options – look for environmentally friendly (earth-, air-, and water-friendly, not to mention people- and pet-friendly) lawn care.

Reduce your junk mail. Seriously. You get enough in your spam folder; you don't need it in your actual mailbox, too.

Drink a green smoothie at least once a week. Just add a couple of handfuls of spinach to your favorite smoothie. (If the color bothers you, put it in an opaque or colored glass or mug.)

Reduce your energy consumption. Energy costs are skyrocketing between the civil unrest in the Middle East and the issues with nuclear power in Japan. How can you cut back? Where can you walk, or carpool, instead of drive? What can you turn off?

Make your salads from a variety of greens – get more adventurous than romaine and spinach. Try arugula, mesclun, baby herb mix, butter lettuce, red or green leaf lettuce… there are lots of choices.

Don't use the dry cycle on your dishwasher. After it's done washing, open the door and let everything air-dry. If you start it before bed, set it to "air dry" – everything is dry in the morning.

Plan – or plant – your garden. Depending on your growing zone, it may be planting season already. Even in an apartment, you can grow herbs in pots. If you have a balcony or deck, you can grow tomatoes and strawberries. If you have a yard, you can grow just about anything.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Arky's colcannon

Yes, today's recipe for St. Patrick's Day is a day early… so you can prepare!

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of potatoes and cabbage, and sometimes other things. This is a vegan version, and it's awesome (especially if you love potatoes). You can increase the nutrient value by using half the amount of cabbage and a bunch of kale. Wash the kale, remove the leaves from the stems, and chop the leaves. Add the kale with the onions and cabbage.

We like to serve this with spicy chicken or vegan sausages (and some good Irish beer on St. Patrick's Day).

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Arky's Colcannon

Blue * Serves 8

3 large Idaho potatoes

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 green cabbage, cored and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

salt

pepper

2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut them in chunks, put them in a pot, and cover with cold water. Bring the potatoes to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat to maintain a low boil for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and cabbage, and cook until transparent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the apple cider vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. When the cabbage looks thoroughly wilted, add the potatoes, and mash them into the dish. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the paprika and parsley, stir well.

Mound the potato mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Don't pat it down, you want a mound of potatoes. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until it gets a light brown crust.

 

Posture check!

Are you sitting up straighter now?

Good.

You're longer and leaner when you sit and stand tall, but even better, your body is in better alignment and it works better when you sit and stand tall. Better digestion, better breathing, better spinal support.

Looking good – feeling good. It's all connected.

 

Symptoms of ADHD may be reduced with diet

Marilu has been championing this for a long time – what we eat affects our behavior. What children eat affects their behavior. A recent study published in The Lancet (Britain's leading medical journal) showed that a "restricted diet" can positively impact kids with ADHD.

"Restricted diet" is their term. We know that it's possible to eat amazing, delicious meals prepared from fresh, natural foods. Limiting chemicals and preservatives, animal-derived foods, sugars, and other health robbers is not all that difficult. The early stages of the diet in the study were more restricted, as are all attempts at identifying allergens and symptom-inducing foods.

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD (or ADD), ask your health care provider about trying dietary changes to reduce your child's symptoms. It may not be the only solution, but it may help.

The full article is linked at the end of this quotation.

Kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, are normally treated with behavioral therapy and stimulant medications. A new study suggests that a highly restricted diet can be just as effective at reducing symptoms in a majority of children with ADHD.

…

"There's no question that foods have effects on people's mood, sleep and energy," says Dr. David Schab, a psychiatrist at Columbia University in New York. However, he adds, the current state of knowledge about what foods are problematic and which kids are susceptible is still too limited to be of much use for doctors or their patients.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 9.5% of school-age children in the U.S. have ADHD. That adds up to more than 5 million kids who could potentially benefit from a symptom-reducing diet.

…

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder exhibit a range of symptoms. Many have trouble staying focused on a single task and become bored or distracted quite easily. Others are unable to sit still, stay quiet or be patient. Some kids have a combination of these symptoms, plus others, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

In the study, published last month in the Lancet, 100 children with ADHD symptoms who were 4 to 8 years old were divided into two groups. Half were allowed to eat only a small number of foods for five weeks; their diets were customized from a short list of ingredients that included water, rice, turkey, lamb, lettuce, carrots, pears and other hypoallergenic foods. The rest of the kids were counseled (along with their parents) about healthful eating but allowed to eat whatever they wanted.

At the end of the study, 64% of the kids on the limited diet showed significant improvement on a variety of standard rating scales. Though the initial scores for all of the kids in this group put their ADHD symptoms in the moderate-to-severe range, after the diet intervention their symptoms were classified as either mild or nonclinical.

~ Jill U. Adams, special to the Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2011

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Blue dino smoothie

For our MIX IT UP class starting today, we have an awesome green smoothie recipe. If you're skeptical about green in your smoothies, you aren't the first, and you won't be the last. But trust us – the banana and blueberries really do make this a great tasting smoothie.

You can make this recipe in a regular blender or in a Vitamix. Using a Vitamix makes it much easier and quicker, and makes the resulting smoothie, well, smoother. A regular blender yields a slightly chunkier smoothie, but adding a little water will help that, and frozen fruit helps, too.

If you can grind your own flax seed, that's best – it's fresher, and oils get rancid rather quickly. You can grind a cup or so at a time and keep it in your freezer. If you purchase it ground, then do keep it in your freezer to reduce spoilage.

Baby spinach is the mildest "green" flavor, and it makes great smoothies. If you want to amp it up, add the kale. When washing the leaves, pull them from the stem (you don't really need a knife, just hold the thick end in one hand and strip the leaves with the other hand). Kale leaves come in different sizes, depending on the type of kale and the point of time in the growing season. If your kale leaves are as big as your head, only use one to start. If they're the size of your hand, use 3-4.

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Blue Dino Smoothie

from Jennifer Taylor

Blue * Serves 1

1 to 1/2 cups of water (start with 1 cup and add more if necessary)

1 Tablespoon ground flax seed

2 big handfuls of baby spinach

2 or 3 leaves of kale (but only if you have had green smoothies before and want to kick it up a notch or if you are feeling like really going for it)

1/2 of a frozen banana

1 cup of frozen blueberries

Blend and enjoy.

Remember if you don't have a super duper high powered blender like the Vitamix, add the liquid, flax and greens first and blend. Then slowly add the frozen fruit. You may have to start and stop the blender a few times and stir it and add more water.

 

Spirit Sunday * In solidarity

Marilu says, "Everything is connected to everything."

People are connected, too, and not just through social media and the amazing world wide web. What we eat depends on what is planted in fields around the world. What we wear depends on what is made in factories around the world. Everything we purchase requires a global effort.

Our sisters and brothers in Japan are dealing with so much loss and devastation, and we will be feeling it around the world for years to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with them now, as they face the lack of food and water, the loss of friends and family and home and jobs.

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/01 - Send Me An Angel.mp3

 

Mix It Up starts Monday!

Mix It Up with Marilu, Lyrical, and Chef Ryan for ten weekdays, starting Monday, March 14.

Kick it up into high gear, and get fresh and sexy for spring.

PLUS * Win a VitaMix! Invite a friend to join and let us know your friend's name. When she (or he) joins for a year, your name is entered in the drawing! Participate in class each day to get your name in the drawing again. It's easy – and you'll have fun sharing classes with your friends at Marilu.com!

 

Spring forward!

In the USA, we move our clocks forward one hour tonight – it's one of signs of spring!

"Spring forward" also means we only have 23 hours in the day. Let's take the "glass half full" approach and commit to being more efficient today, so we don't miss that hour. Go to bed one hour earlier than you normally would, and you won't even miss it.

 

Fitness Friday * Pump iron

Buy some free weights – 2, 3 and 5 pounds, or maybe 3, 5 and 8 pounds to start. They don't have to be heavy to be effective.

Then start weight training. Don't know what exercises to do? Pick up a fitness magazine and look for a beginner routine. You're looking for a sequence of exercises with lots of repetitions, not heavy weights. It's a great way to get long, lean muscles.

Weight training prevents bone loss, improves balance, boosts metabolism, and tones your body. Just 30 minutes a day of weight training cuts your risk of cardiovascular disease by over 20 percent.

 

March is Red Cross month

After last night's earthquakes in Japan and the tsunamis in Japan and the Pacific (and even the recent earthquake in New Zealand), we're reminded that our help will be needed once again. We're a global village on this planet, and we need to step up and help each other.

March is Red Cross month. Your local Red Cross chapter can use your blood, your money, and your time. You can always give locally, or you can contribute to any global disaster (just make that note with your donation). And they always need blood – if you can't donate blood, call and volunteer to help at the next blood drive (you can always serve juice).

Of course, if you have other disaster relief organizations you support, give generously to them. Always give to organizations with a good track record for service and low administrative costs (you should be able to check on their website). If you want to help another country, be sure that organization is already established in that country.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan and the Pacific.