Get FREE Greens at the Farmer’s Market & Strawberry Lemonade Green Smoothie
source: Tess Masters
Back in October of last year, I posted my top 7 Tips For Boosting Immunity With Green Smoothies.
Tip #5 was: Get Affordable or FREE Greens at your local Farmer’s Market
I want to talk about this again, as I receive countless emails every month from readers who want to include more fresh organic vegetables and leafy greens into their diet but find the cost a challenge.
To recap on tip #5: Most people ask to have the greens cut off of their beets, turnips, and carrots, etc. at market stalls. Ask your local vendor for any tops they have cut off for other customers. These greens are absolutely loaded with nutrients, and very often you can pick them up for free (they are just going to throw them away) or for a couple of bucks.
Another top tip for getting affordable produce is to make friends with the stall owners, and at the end of the day you can pick up large boxes of surplus produce for a song! This can include leafy greens, as well as other seasonal fruits and veggies. You can then create all kinds of smoothies, juices, salads, and other delicious creations for a fraction of the cost.
A nutrient-dense green smoothie is a quick, easy, delicious way to get your daily dose of greens and other fruits and vegetables in one hit. It is also a fabulous way to help inspire confidence in novice cooks and children. Picking up seasonal produce boxes at the market keeps things interesting and diverse, and expands the family’s gustatory repertoire and experiences.
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Picking Wild Edibles and a Recipe for Garlicky Fiddleheads
source: Danielle Rouse
My family has been picking fiddleheads each spring for as long as I can remember. My Dad would take us every year to our *Top Secret* family spot. With his passing in 2005 (from colon cancer), I hold this tradition close to my heart and share it with my children each year.
source: Danielle Rouse
Fiddleheads actually hold a very significant meaning for mean. So much so, that I use them in my logo on Fresh4five. They are green (my favorite color). They bring me and my family to the outdoors (where I am meant to be) and they honor my amazing father.
Fiddleheads are actually the Ostrich Fern, still coiled up emerging from the ground. They are found along the sides of creeks and rivers in the spring time.
My kids love the family adventure through the forest. They pack little backpacks with magnifying glasses and binoculars so they can explore and investigate nature. They also usually end up a little wet! Those rubber boots are never high enough 
Secret Ingredient Chocolate Sheet Cake
source: Alta Mantsch
Chocolate. Sheet. Cake. Now those, my friends, are three words that invoke comfort. And this cake definitely fits the bill – a fudgy, moist cake, topped with a decadent, rich, sweet chocolate frosting. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a crowd-pleaser. That’s my favorite kind of cake.
But what if I told you that this cake is actually a tad healthier than your typical chocolate sheet cake? That aside from the fact that there is no gluten, dairy, or refined sugar, that there is also a secret ingredient thrown into the cake batter – something that provides a boost of vitamins K and C, fiber, and folate, and even helps keep the cake nice and moist?
What if I told you that secret ingredient is…
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Raspberry Fools
source: Karen Morgan
I don’t suffer fools lightly, but when it comes to desserts, I’ve always been one to dash in head long without considering anything beyond how delicious it is going to taste the moment it touches my tongue. I pity the fool that can’t cast caution into the wind every once in a while and enjoy themselves by indulging in a little dessert. This doesn’t mean that you loose total control and eat an entire cake, or a whole carton of ice cream. To me, having dessert means having just a touch of something to satiate that sweet tooth when it gets all excited.
After all, the older I get, the more I find myself adhering to the ancient quote found above the temple in Delphi, “Everything in moderation,” for many reasons. It could be that I’m actually growing up emotionally, or it could be that I’ve become so in tune with my body, that I know what will make me over dose on sugar, fats or salts, so I’ve learned how to pump the breaks, even when the urge is to go past the point of no return is at a fever pitch.
Enter the raspberry fool. With just a hint of cane sugar to bring out the natural, tender sweetness of the raspberries, and a pinch of kosher salt to harmonize this marriage, and you have the perfectly balanced dessert on your hands. If you are avoiding dairy, then by all means, enjoy with just the toasted almonds (I know I do!)
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