Keeping Lettuce Fresh

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There's nothing like buying 3 beautiful heads of fresh lettuce from the farmer's market, only to have them go bad prior to eating them all.  The advantage to buying from the farmer's market is the lettuce is recently picked (fresh), not loaded with chemicals (yummy), and fully grown so it's loaded with nutrients (healthy--store bought veggies are picked prior to full development).  The downfall is they do tend to get bad a bit sooner.

How do we prevent this?

1.  Fill sink with cold water. Place your separated leaves of lettuce in and move them around until some of the dirt has come off.  This is just a pre-rinse.  Also, if your lettuce is soft or limp, let the lettuce sit in the water for 20 minutes and the fresh cold water will make them crisp again!

2. Drain the water & refill a clean sink up with cold water and add about 1 cup of vinegar (or read this post for some other fruit & veggie washes). Dunk in the leaves & gently rub off the dirt. Place in a colander and let dry or put them in your lettuce spinner and spin like crazy until your leaves are dry.

The lettuce/washer/spinny thingy.  I LOVE this. Buy one. Now. 

2. Clean out one of your refrigerator drawers. Lay down your damp cheese cloth.  Damp, not dripping wet.  Too much moisture could actually speed up rotting. You ever see how the puddle of water in the bottom of your lettuce bag always seems to leave a big brown rotten spot? Yeah, you don't want that to happen.  If you don't have cheese cloth, just wet some paper towels, ring the excess water out and line the drawer. But honestly, you can buy some for $3 on amazon. No chemicals, no throwing out after each batch. Just one, washable, reusable, cloth.

With Cheese Cloth

This is what is looks like with paper towels.

3. Place your clean, chopped up (bite size) lettuce leaves in that drawer, but don't squish the leaves. Be gentle.  Fruits & veggies bruise, and when they do, it almost guarantees rotting.  No need to smash down your leaves to fit more veggies in the drawer. Gently place them in and give them room to breath.

4a. Fold over the excess fabric on top.

4b.  If you're using paper towels, place a damp paper towel on top.

5.  Be sure your drawer is nice and cool (place on cool & crisp setting).

What is so convenient about this is you now have a massive salad in your drawer and all you have to do it open it up, grab a handful, and put on your plate.  No cutting off just a little from a head of lettuce and then having to wash.  No plastic bags and pooling water to deal with.  It's quick and easy to make your salad now! No excuses not to eat one with dinner or pack one for lunch.  And you're lettuce will be fresh, crisp, and last longer than in that plastic bag.

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to packing healthy lunches? I'll address those issues in a post next week! Leave a comment below.

Here's to big salads and clean lettuce.
-Lacey

My Favorite Summer Dressings

Healthy dressings are hard to come by.  They're either filled with cheeses, milk, or other processed dairy or they simply have ingredients that don't provide adequate nutrients.  There are a few great natural companies out there (check out your grocery store, find the label that says "All natural", but then double check the ingredients list to see if they're honest about that. Not all companies are).  The problem with some of these dressings is they're quite pricey.  Here are some great dressings that are quick & easy to make in your food processor/blender, and can keep well for the week.  The first 3 recipes are some of my favorites from from Dr. Fuhrman's recipes in "Eat to Live".

Apple Pie Dressing
2 peeled apples
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
cinnamon, to taste
-Blend ingredients in food processor/blender.  Store in air-tight container.

Caesar Salad Dressing
3 cloved garlic, roasted
1/2 cup almond milk
1/3 cup raw cashew butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
dash of black pepper
-Roast garlic (Break cloves apart, leaving skins on. Roast at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until mushy.)
-Remove skins and blend with remaining ingredients in a food processor/blender until creamy & smooth.

Blueberry Dressing (My favorite!!!)
2 cups fresh or frozen & thawed blueberries
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
3 tablespoons raw cashew butter
3 tablespoons fruit-flavored (or blueberry flavored) vinegar
-Blend in food processor/blender until smooth & creamy

Mango Salsa (while not exactly a dressing, this tastes GREAT on top of salads and then no dressing is needed)
1 ripe mango, peeled, cut into small pieces
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilatro
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons chopped, seeded fresh jalapeno chili
-Combine in bowl.  Store in air-tight container

I hope this gives you some ideas for some yummy summer dressings that are not only easy to make, but extremely healthy.  Be creative! Don't like blueberries? Replace with strawberries or blackberries. Have some sun dried tomatoes? Put in the food processor with some garlic, olive oil, basil, and other flavorful seasonings for a fresh italian salad dressing.  Use some honey, lemon juice, and poppy seeds for a light flavor.  This is about testing out what you have in your kitchen, understanding which foods compliment each other and learning to combine different flavors.  Have fun with it!

Here's to fresh, fun dressings!
-Lacey

Keeping Lettuce Fresh & Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner for the giveaway of an awesome basket full of Very Berry Granola bars, homemade strawberry jam, and cinnamon apple chips. The winner is Adele from Little By Little.  Adele and I went to college together and lived on the same freshman floor.  She is a thrifty wife, preggers, and still finds time to make great healthy food and start her own garden! This was her comment*:

...As for health changes, Cam and I have slowly (i.e. as budget allows) made a bunch since getting married. Most recently, we're trying to incorporate only high-quality (local, free-range, organic) meats and dairy/meat products into our diet. We've noticed wonderful differences for sure and we're hooked! Also, we're growing our own garden this year and really making an effort to eat a majority of fruits and veggies in our diet. I'm also doing my best to go "homemade" for as much food as possible (including cheese and yogurt when I have time). AND, we're working on more vegetarian meals around here, which is hard with a meat-lovin' hubby and a bean-hatin' (ok, not quite, but almost!) wifey! Haha! But that's what we love your blog for -- great ideas in those areas!

Congratulations, Adele!! I'll be mailing out everything tomorrow as I'm making the granola bars and apple chips today, nice and fresh, for you and Cam.

*winner was chosen by a completely random drawing.

Now, onto our regularly scheduled blog post:
There's nothing like buying 3 beautiful heads of fresh lettuce from the farmer's market, only to have them go bad prior to eating them all.  The advantage to buying from the farmer's market is the lettuce is recently picked (fresh), not loaded with chemicals (yummy), and fully grown so it's loaded with nutrients (healthy--store bought veggies are picked prior to full development).  The downfall is they do tend to get bad a bit sooner.

How do we prevent this?

1.  Fill sink with cold water. Place your separated leaves of lettuce in and move them around until some of the dirt has come off.  This is just a pre-rinse.  Also, if your lettuce is soft or limp, let the lettuce sit in the water for 20 minutes and the fresh cold water will make them crisp again!

2. Drain the water & refill a clean sink up with cold water and add about 1 cup of vinegar (or read this post for some other fruit & veggie washes). Dunk in the leaves & gently rub off the dirt. Place in a colander and let dry or put them in your lettuce/washer/spinner thingy (yes, that's the technical name for it) and spin like crazy until your leaves are dry.

The lettuce/washer/spinny thingy.  I LOVE this. Buy one. Now. 

2. Clean out one of your refrigerator drawers really well. Place a layer of damp paper towels down.  Damp, not dripping wet.  Too much moisture could actually speed up rotting. You ever see how the puddle of water in the bottom of your lettuce bag always seems to leave a big brown rotten spot? Yeah, you don't want that to happen.  Just wet some paper towels, ring the excess water out and line the drawer.

3. Place your clean lettuce leaves in that drawer, but don't squish the leaves. Be gentle.  Fruits & veggies bruise, and when they do, it almost guarantees rotting.  No need to smash down your leaves to fit more veggies in the drawer. Gently place them in and give them room to breath.  This draw is just for your leaves.

4.  Place a damp paper towel on top of your leaf pile.

5.  Be sure your drawer is nice and cool (place on cool & crisp setting).

Look! Doesn't take up any extra shelf space. Conveniently
tucked away and ready to be eaten!

6. Enjoy!

What is so convenient about this is you now have a massive salad in your drawer and all you have to do it open it up and pull out some leaves to put on your plate.  No cutting off just a little from a head of lettuce and then having to wash.  No plastic bags and pooling water to deal with.  It's quick and easy to make your salad now! No excuses not to eat one.  And you're lettuce will be fresh, crisp, and last longer than in that plastic bag.

Here's to big salads and clean lettuce.
-Lacey