What about Kale?

Kale is a superfood that is power packed.

A one cup serving of kale has 1327% of the recommended daily value (DV) of Vitamin K, 192% of the DV of Vitamin A, and 88% of the DV of Vitamin C. WOW! It is also a great source of many other nutrients including protein- yes, protein! This web resource gives a good view of the nutritional profile for kale. Also, kale and other cruciferous vegetables have received attention because of their sulfur-containing phytonutrients that seem to be powerful cancer preventing and fighting antioxidants.

Recipes:
Mashed Potato Kale Cakes

SuperGreens

I could never write and summarize all the benefits of green leafy vegetables from cancer fighting phytochemicals to immune boosting vitamins. Trust me on this one the verdict is out, green vegetables are super good!

Here is a nice summary of 12 "Hearty Greens" from Cooking Light: 12 Hearty Greens.

Yumidy tip: eat as many and as much variety of green leafy vegetables as possible.

Yumidy menu suggestion: Salads! Lots of salads made interesting by mixing lettuces with spring green mix and adding lots of toppings such as tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, corn, green onion, what ever your imagination can think of.

I often make a themed salad such as tex-mex which might have lots of greens topped with roasted corn (leftover grilled corn), diced avocado, green onion, black beans, and salsa (medium or hot to make it interesting). Other themes are Mediterranean (olives, green onion, kidney beans, roasted red pepper tapenade) or Asian (bean sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, asian vinaigrette). (I will soon post the recipe for the asian vinaigrette I invented and the roasted red pepper tapenade I fell in love with.)

Why Yumidy?

There is a revolution going on in my life. A wake up call. A majority of Americans are overweight, fat, obese- on top of that most Americans, even if they are not overweight do not feel well, experiencing chronic fatigue and pain as well as a whole range of more serious conditions. A perfect storm of events happened so that I realized I needed to change the way I feed and fuel myself and my life.

Based on research, deep thought, and personal experience I have chosen to follow a primarily botanical diet that is nutrient rich, power-packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and phytochemicals- all the good stuff. My sister calls this SuperFoods eating.

Admittedly it is difficult to eat and live this way in the carb rich, fat laden, processed, food additive, nutrient-poor, refined sugar food world. My sister is on a similar even more difficult journey. This blog was started out of our conversations about eating to feel good and be truly healthy and how to do it. "Yumidy" came out of a conversation when I was enthusiastically describing a dinner I had made with a beautiful mixed spring green salad juxtaposed next to spicy lentil curry- "It's just yumidy!"

These are the basis: lots of green leafy vegetables, vegetables, some amount of starchy vegetables, lots of mushrooms, fruit, nuts, and beans. That is basically it- you can fill in the avoid list. This blog will contain recipes that I have invented or found, as well as, tips and informational tidbits.