It's spring! Woo hoo! The trees are blooming, the kids are sniffling and I'm prepping the garden. Oh, if feels sooooo good to play in the dirt again! My three year old agrees. I don't have the turn the soil over too much as he helps quite a bit with his construction equipment.One of the growing season's first yields is lettuce. I can't wait! Our CSA will start delivering by next month. They have a few spots still open if you are interested. Check out Maple Spring Gardens. By the way, if you are planting a garden, now's a great time to start those lettuce seeds!
I eat lettuce all year long. If I make a ziti, it goes on top of my pile of lettuce. The same is true for soups and stews. It's difficult for me to eat 100% raw all year, but the pile of lettuce in my dish keeps me honest. Lettuce is considered the respiration of the planet. Look at all the wonderful veins running through those wide leaves. The beautiful green color of chlorophyll and the crunchy goodness of all that water in the meaty parts. Man, I get hungry just thinking about it!
Historically, I've been a quantity kind of girl when it comes to food consumption. Both of my parents grew up on farms after the depression in rural Maine and Canada. Food was NEVER thrown out. So, needless to say, that mentality was carried over to my brother and I.
When I first learned that my portions were way out of control, the only way I could even think about cutting calories was to fake my way into thinking my plate was full. Enter lettuce. Romaine to be exact. Just cut up a few big leaves and the plate is already full. Now add 1/2 cup of brown rice and 3 oz. of protein plus a handful of broccoli and the plate is already 3" tall! That was all my eyes needed to see to feel satisfied.
Benefits of Lettuce:
-low in calories
-high in water content
-high in vitamin A, K, C, folate, manganese, chromium
-a good source of dietary fiber
-a diuretic
-inexpensive
Here's a tip if you want to detoxify with food - eat lettuce twice a day. Snack on it in between meals. The more you fill up on the good stuff, the less room there is for the bad stuff.
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