Tuesday, September 18, 2012

How to Eat Your Kale Without Hating It

   Yay! I'm blogging! I've missed it so much. Every day I think, "Tonight is the night I'm going to blog!" 
But the reality is, that I'm home alone with the girls 12 hour days, four days a week. So the sad truth is, by bed time, I'm stone dead on the couch. Plus my Macbook has pooped out on me, so my blogging days on the couch are over. Sit at a desk? What? No, I can't get in that position at night. 

   So where did my burst of blogging energy come from? Well, I happen to have the most gigantic 9 week old baby on the planet. Want to know something special about gigantic babies? They start to sleep through the night earlier. So for two nights in a row, this chick has slept for over 8 hours straight! I know! Gift from God. Now that she is sleeping through the night, I need to relearn. I haven't slept through the night since early in my pregnancy when there wasn't a baby squishing my bladder.

   A couple weeks ago I was really sluggish. I realized it was because I wasn't eating my greens! Eating my dark leafy veggies is super important because it replenishes my calcium and keeps me feeling Popeye status. The only way I can eat these hearty veggies is by dressing them up. When I was breast feeding Monique, I had Kale with Udon noodles every night. Ume plum vinegar literally change my life making it possible for me to eat these greens. If you don't have Ume vinaigrette, please try to get your hands on some! It's turns your greens into a party! I've shared my recipe for greens with Ume plum here. I love this dish with quinoa or udon noodles, which can be found down your international foods isle at specialty stores. To me, this is an elegant, delicious dish, and whenever I have company over, I share this dish with them and everyone loves it! Even my toddlers enjoy it.

  My husband gifted me this shirt. He was really excited to find a statement that embodied one of my major beliefs. I procrastinated wearing it because I don't like to call all kinds of attention to myself. Turns out to be a great conversation starter. Turns out I love to be able to actively promote veggies.


     We often get caught up in the "One Perfect Food" idea. All dark leafy greens are fantastic: bok choy, collard greens, even parsley, are filled with the stuff your body craves. However spinach and chards, greens that leave a sticky feeling in your mouth, don't need to be consumed as frequently. 

   Because kale with ume plum is so darn good, I rarely seek out other ways to consume it. I'm actually pretty apprehensive that I can enjoy it any other way. But when my in-laws shared this rice bowl with me, I knew I had to add it to my circulated recipes! You can find this Spicy Peanut Ginger Kale rice bowl recipe here


   When I made this dish for lunch a few days ago, I didn't have all the ingredients, like the ginger, I just threw in a dash of ginger spice, it was still delicious. This dish is super scrumptious. Put on top of brown rice, it feels like it's from a phenomenal restaurant. I definitely recommending you all trying this one!

   I try to have dark greens at least once a day. I love to eat them for breakfast. This morning I had steamed kale, left-over long grain brown rice and left over potatoes. This meal took under five minutes to make and it was so nutritious and satisfying. 


   What are some of your favorite ways to eat kale? The more I'm learning to love kale the more I'm actually starting to be open to more ideas!