Freezing Your Vegetables and Fruits: The Frugal Life

Don't you just love buying fresh fruits and vegetables, but just a few days later you will have to throw them away because they've already wilted or rotten? I can't consume a bag of spinach for a whole week! Anyway, there's a happy solution to that!

I freeze them and save money!

Prolonged storage in the fridge loses its color and nutrients until it gets rotten. Freezing maintains them. Frozen is always better than canned.
I usually buy one box of organic spinach.
Spinach is one of the "dirty dozen" foods that has a lot of pesticides so its always better to buy organic.

Spinach is a very nutrient-dense food, loaded with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, anti-inflammatory and an excellent source of iron. It is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, magnesium, folate, manganese, iron, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B2, potassium, and vitamin B6. It’s a very good source of protein, phosphorus, vitamin E, zinc, dietary fiber, and copper. Plus, it’s a good source of selenium, niacin, and omega-3 fatty acids.

S$6.80 at Fair Price Finest and Cold Storage

Wash them very very (i mean VERY) well. I soak them in water mixed with baking soda. You can also use salt. Leave it for 30 minutes and rinse. I rinse them 3 times. Even if they were already pre-washed 3 times

Yup its a LOT.

Prepare a tray and put some kitchen paper towels. place the leaves and let them dry OR what I do is I press them with another kitchen paper towel. Please do not skip this step as when they freeze wet, they will stick together.

Place them in a Freezer bag. Flatten the bag to remove the air. You may zip it up and leave a little space, insert a straw and suck the air out then close. I wish I had a vaccum sealer though!

and freeze away!

*Another option (a better one) is to blanch. Prepare a pot with boiling water and put the spinach for 20 seconds, drain and place them in a bowl of water with ice.  Drain and then dry.

These will last up to 9 months in a ziplock bag placed in a normal freezer. Mine will last only for about 2 weeks haha. I super love spinach because I can mix it in everything-- I make mine and Simone's smoothies and add a lot of spinach,  and add them in her every meal!

Freezing doesn't end with spinach! My freezer is full of frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, strawberries, blueberries, chickpeas,black beans, even bananas for smoothies or if they are already overripe and can't consume them all.  For broccolis and the like, you have to blanch them first or steam them before freezing. Fruits can be frozen fresh. Yes, so cooking at home is much easier as they are already prepared in advanced. I just have to thaw them. Freezing is not good for salads because when they have been thawed, it's wilted. It is best used for cooking and making smoothies. You may divide a batch into two- one for freezing and one for fridge.

Enjoy!

Shiela

*Nutritional information sourced from http://www.naturally-healthy-eating.com/benefits-of-spinach.html

Disease-Proof your Child

I hate it when I see kids sick. It's normal to fall sick, but why not take it to the next level and prevent it  than cure?  Every mother must have this book, I wished I had discovered this when I was pregnant. But I'm happy that I am on the right track. From The Super Baby Food Book (which I will blog soon), the foods discussed are the same, veggie-grains-beans-nuts-seed-fruit diet. Simone follows that, but of course I include meat like salmon and chicken and no red meat, oh and dairy (but now minimizing).  The book explains what physicians do when patients come to them-- of course to diagnose and prescribe medicine. It is right they are taught to treat, but what food we eat must also be discussed, and that is where Dr. Furhman (the author) is most concerned about. He talks about the different diseases, especially cancer. Dr. Fuhrman states that all cancers that occur now are from the foods that we eat during the first quarter of life, that's why we have to eat the correct food to build our bodies and protect them against diseases. He also discussed antibiotics as too much given to a patient can lead to auto-immune therefore they will not become effective anymore, it will also destroy the good cells.

Here are excerpts from the book that are very knowledgeable:

• The modern diet that most children are eating today creates a fertile cellular environment for cancer to emerge at a later age.
• Childhood diets create cancer.
• Kids become ill not because they naturally pass around germs or have bad genes, but because their diets are inadequate.
• The vast majority of adult cancers are avoidable if an excellent diet is begun and maintained from early childhood
• Not only do children like to eat healthy, but once they do they will reject junk food on their own
• Animal products contain no antioxidants, bioflavonoids, carotenoids, folate. Vitamin C, K or those thousands of phytochemicals that are essential for cellular normalcy and preventing DNA damage.
• Flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts are examples of great brain food that can maximize human potential. Berries and vegetables are also rich in brain0favorable nutrients.
• Most vegetables have more protein per calorie than meat and more calcium per calorie than milk.
• Animal protein is married to saturated fat, the most dangerous type of fat.
• Vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds are all rich in protein, and they also have no saturated fat or cholesterol. But the clincher is that they are higher in nutrients than any other foods.
• Excess animal protein and sodium promotes calcium loss in the urine, increasing calcium requirements.
• Parents need to eat the diet they would like their child's diet to become.

The five most dangerous things to feed a child are :

• Butter and cheese (ouch for me!)
• Potato chips and french fries 
• Doughnuts and other trans fat containing sweets
• Sausages, hotdogs, and other processed food
• Pickled, smoked barbequed meats

He also has his fab 5:

Berries, Greens, Seeds, Beans, Tomatoes

He also encouraged that we take 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds, an ounce of walnuts and hemp seeds daily. I think I can do that!!!!! I have been trying to find a decent(meaning not too expensive) grinder for the longest time since Simone was an infant!!!!! I want Krups but a bit expensive though :(

You may check his website at www.drfuhrman.com and his blog, www.diseaseproof.com for articles, videos, recipes and a lot more. He has other books that I'm planning to buy too.

I'm SLOWLY following a Nutritarian diet based on Dr. Fuhrman

You can learn more about it here http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/foodpyramid.aspx I'm in need of a long life for my family.

Seriously, there's a LOT more in the book! I learned so much. You don't have to go all the way, just do what you can and the rest will follow. Before, I was hesitant to eat brown rice and beans because you still have to soak them overnight and cook them for an hour, but I got the hang of it. Simone eats brown rice, beans and vegetables and fruit everyday and I'm happy that she is a healthy eater. Today, I was chopping her broccolis into smaller pieces when she took a floret from her plate and ate it! I was stunned! I hope she will continue that habit! I went grocery shopping this evening, got home, placed everything in the fridge because all were vegetables... Uhhh something was missing I though, but I didn't bother. OH WAIT, MY BEANS! yes, I left the other plastic bag containing Black beans and chickpeas at the cashier. Quickly called Fair Price and luckily it was there LOL. Seriously this brain of mine is dead! What a forgetful me! Ugh.

Tootles,

Shiela 

My First Kefir

I learned about Kefir when I was researching on yogurt. What is the best kind of yogurt and what is the brand out there? Answer: Greek yogurt, and anything organic. Oh, there's also coconut yogurt. What? that is so rare to find, unfortunately. I'm tired of buying greek yogurt every time, and if you haven't tried greek, its creamier than the normal yogurt, and very sour. I also learned how to make your own yogurt, but that didn't work for me. Looks complicated! And then I read an alternative- kefir. What is it?

Kefir (pronounced kee-fer) originates from the Caucasus Mountains in Eastern Europe. It's believed that the name comes from the Turkish word "keif" which means good feeling. Kefir's flavour is naturally sweet and slightly bubbly, and mild but a bit tangy as well.

The drink is made either with kefir grains or a powdered kefir starter — the grains aren't an actual grain like wheat, but are made of bacteria and yeast. Generally of a thinner consistency than yogurt, kefir is usually sold as a drink, either plain or flavoured.

Yogurt is a source of probiotics, the live organisms (including healthy bacterias)that are naturally found in out digestive tracts. These organisms help stem the growth of harmful bacteria and boost our immune systems. But kefir is an even better source of these helpful little guys, 3 times the source of yogurt, it's thought. This is because kefir is made by fermenting milk with 10-20 different types of bacteria and yeasts, where yogurt is usually just fermented with a handful of types; this leads to a higher probiotic count in the final product.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/12/kefir-benefits_n_3914818.html

I was checking out a trade fair at Tampines Mall and found a booth selling it. I instantly bought it! They had a promotion of S$20 instead of $23. You may call at 93371928 according to their name card. 

It's easy to ferment: 

• Mix 1L of milk(cow's milk is most efficient while alternatives would be coconut milk and soy milk) to 1g of the starter kit in a glass jar, cover with a cloth and seal with a band,
• Leave it at room temperature for 24 hours. Do not touch or shake while fermenting. 
• After fermenting, let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours to stop it from fermenting. 
• Voila! You have a yummy kefir!

The kefir starter kit. 

Contains 10 packs

Excited to open after putting in the fridge for 2 hours

Mmm. Creamy-like yogurt

Kefir topped with strawberries, blueberries, kiwi . I added a banana too.

She took the spoon from me. Guess she liked it.

The kefir face LOL.

Yay for a new discovery!! I love it.

xx,

shiela