Showing posts with label dirty dozen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dirty dozen. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Fear

Lil' furball
Fear is evil.  It keeps us from doing things we should.
However, let me make a quick detour and tell you about spinach.  I have had problems with depression and OCD.  Lately, though, I've been feeling pretty darn good.  Why?  I pondered the situation and realized that it had to be the introduction of spinach into my diet.  I always knew I hadn't been eating enough dark green leafy veggies, but after hearing Dr. Oz extol the virtues of spinach as a natural source of calcium and as something that helps detoxify the liver, I decided to make it a regular part of my diet.  Eat as much raw organic spinach as you can.  It's important it be organic, because spinach is one of the dirty dozen; it soaks up pesticides like a sponge.
Back to fear.  I was thinking this would be a triumphant blog post.  I planned to title it "3 in 2," because, I told kids to leave local wild animals alone 3 times in 2 days.  I was proud of myself.  I got better at it too.  I became nicer.  They say you'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar.  Well, the other night, a couple of young guys (20s-early 30s) were hanging out on the picnic table that can be easily seen from my windows.  They were smoking and laughing.  I'd rather hear my music than them, but, whatever, it wasn't too late for them to make some noise.  Then I noticed that one of them was approaching my building with a stick in his hand.  I immediately suspected that he picked up that stick to attack or terrorize a small wild animal.  I began to monitor the situation.  However, I was also a little scared that these guys would see me looking out the window at one of them and confront me about it.  Which I don't care about presently.  But if I were to make enemies with these guys and buy a car, then I'd be worried about it being vandalized.  So I wasn't as aggressive about looking at what they were doing had they been kids.  I never saw this man do anything wrong.  Both of them were laughing about what he was doing, or threatening, to do.  That was the end of it.  I'd like to think, that if he continued to act like that, I would have gotten involved.  Regardless, I feel like a coward when it comes to that incident.  I've pondered things thoroughly since then, and I've come to the conclusion that the nice, funny approach is the right way to go.  If you want to change the world, and I certainly do, practice nonviolence, treat people with respect, and, as Patrick Swayze's character said in the great film Road House, be nice.          

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Making Your Own Hummus Is a Reason to Live

I love it.
 I'm serious.  I made hummus today.  In addition to standard ingredients like chick peas, olive oil, and salt, I added plum tomatoes, garlic, and hot sauce.  It is red, and it is very good.  Why would anyone kill themselves when they can make any kind of hummus they want?  It just doesn't make sense.  These are some of the ingredients I plan to use in hummuses of the future: spinach, kale, parsley (Yes, the next batch might be green.), onion, leeks, mushrooms, and spicy peppers.  And there will be more.  Making a green one with veggies like kale, parsley, and spinach will be key.  I tend to get stuck in ruts.  I'm in one now.  Even though I've been doing well eliminating refined sugar and processed foods from my diet, I've really only consistently been eating carrots, split pea soup, hummus, and corn.  So, technically, pretty much the only veggie I've been eating are carrots.  The hummus is a great opportunity to break out of that rut.  I love hummus.  I know I like it with spinach in it, because I've bought the spinach and artichoke variety of it several times.  I'll just have to make sure to buy organic spinach, because spinach is one of the dirty dozen.
Everyone who cares about their health and that of others should know about the dirty dozen.  They are the fruits and veggies that tend to soak up the most pesticides.  It is recommended that, if you eat any of them, you should only choose organic varieties.  According to PBS' website, this is the dirty dozen:      
  • celery
  • peaches
  • strawberries
  • apples
  • domestic blueberries
  • nectarines
  • sweet bell peppers
  • spinach, kale and collard greens
  • cherries
  • potatoes
  • imported grapes
  • lettuce

Just in Case

if you're here from twitter because i stopped posting, i ask that you NOT ask twitter or anyone to do a wellness check on me. i wouldn...