Power Monday #37 Power Greens

Happy St. Patrick’s Day friends! I hope you all celebrated on the weekend and had a wonderful time since having a party/holiday on a Monday gets kind of ruined due to the whole work/school thing. But, hey, if you are having some big bash tonight, live it up and make it a great start to the week! But are you even Irish? I am pretty sure the majority of the population that only celebrates because of the media sensationalization of it (haha, that is a word!). But really St. Patrick’s Day is (from Wikipedia): “Saint Patrick’s Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated annually on 17 March, the death date of the most commonly-recognized patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.”

So if you are not Irish…you should not be celebrating 😉 but I know that won;t stop anyone, haha! Well I am proud to say that I am Irish! My mom’s mom (my grandma) is fully Irish, so I guess that makes me 25% Irish? Anyway even though I am Irish I did nothing to celebrate, what a bummer! However I did choose to wear my favorite green sweater! That’s the spirit right? My mom has made corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes the last two weekends (totally ew to the beef) for herself and my brother. I did not partake in this obviously! But I am planning on making a late Irish Soda bread next weekend! I just need to play around with a few more recipes in my head and test some stuff out first. The one time I did make gluten-free/vegan soda bread, I made the mound of dough to “moundish” and it ended up not cooking in the middle even though the outer parts were perfect. That was a few years agao though so I think I need to try again. I am also not sure if I want to put raisins in. I usually would just pick them out, but they do give Irish Soda Bread that authentic flavor, so I might just toss a few in and see how it goes. Decisions, decisions. Until then, I will just make sure to celebrate by eating tons of GREENS! Speaking of which…

For this addition of Power Monday I give to you Power Greens! We all know that greens of any kind and powerhouses for the body and mind. Chock full of nutrients, antioxidants, flavor, and health. I am a firm believer in eating something green at every meal (or at least lunch and dinner!). Now dark leafy greens aren’t the only powerhouse greens, although they always tend to be in the spot light. There are tons of other greens that are just as wonderful!

You’ve got a lot of options to choose from and I am sure I forgot something! But if you eat most of these and keep these power greens readily available in your kitchen your good to go! Here’s why:

+ Greens are rich in Chlorophyll, which is a natural detoxifier to the body. Delivering oxygen and blood to the cells while neutralizing free radicals.

+ Greens are alkalizing. They help balance and restore a neutral pH in the body.

+ Greens are mineral-rich and supply the body with vital nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iorn and vitamins, including vitamins C, K, E and B.

+ Greens contain a variety of phytonutrients, which protect the body against free radical damage, stimulate detoxifying enzymes, support the immune system and act as antiviral and antibacterial agents.

+ Dark leafy greens contain omega-3 fatty acids which help to lower bad LDL cholesterol.

+ Greens also have powerful antioxidants, known to protect the body from damaging toxins in the environment and the foods we eat. Antioxidants neutralize these toxins and clear them from the body.

Sounds like a good idea to get them in your diet right? And you don’t just have to have a salad everyday to get in your greens! You can add any of the power greens to smoothies, juices, soups, salads, sandwiches, blended in pancakes or hot cereals, added to big power/dinner bowls, or even just snacked on plain or with some hummus or nut butter! The possibility are endless for getting in your greens and you body will thank you when you do!

So tell me:

What is your favorite Power Green?

How did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Are you even Irish? Haha!

P.S. Just because you did not win my Ola! Granola giveaway last week doesn’t mean you totally lose out! Dina has offered all my readers a free shipping code for online purchases! Just enter the code: SAS2014 (exp 07/01/14) when you checkout your online order!

**Green info from this source**

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