Color Me Healthy!

The Doctor's Office

One of the first things you may notice about this week's produce bag is the variety of beautiful colors present.  We humans are naturally drawn to bright colorful foods and there is good reason: these colors actually signify health promoting properties. Phytochemicals are compounds produced by fruits, vegetables, beans and grains that give these plants their colors, smells, and tastes.  These same phytochemicals provide our bodies with a host of benefits including protection from disease and aging.

Phytochemicals are grouped in families, many of which you may be familiar with.  Examples of these families include carotenoids like beta-carotene and lutein and polyphenols like anthocyanins.  You don't have to be able to pronounce these names, or even know what they are to reap their benefits.  It is enough to know that they are responsible for the beautiful colors in our fruits and vegetables and by selecting a wide variety of color for your diet you will protect your health.  A diet rich in these phytochemicals (think colors) provides your body with many different health benefits including prevention of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and aging.  You will be able to protect your eyesight, skin, brain and sexual function simply by eating a (naturally)colorful diet! (No, skittles do not count!)

The proof is in the science.  The interactions of these phytochemicals in our bodies is immensely complex and difficult to study.  Nevertheless scientists are dedicating large amounts of time and money to understand how these important chemicals work to maintain health and prevent and reverse disease.  There are countless studies showing beneficial effects of individual nutrients on cells grown in petri dishes and on health markers in the ultimate test tube, our bodies.  But to demonstrate an impact on disease is more difficult, especially when evaluating only one chemical at a time.  This is why studies on single isolated nutrients or food items have often been disappointing in human trials despite promising preliminary evidence for the next cure for cancer or heart disease.  It is most likely that the protection we get from our diet is based on multiple factors and food choices interacting together over periods of time.  We should get away from the mindset that we need to add one superfood or juice in massive quantities and embrace a varied diet rich in color and therefore rich in phytonutrients.  By eating the rainbow we will provide our bodies with many potentially healthful chemical compounds and our bodies will take what they need to maintain and restore our health.  It's really simple and that's the beauty of it.  Eat your fruits and vegetables.

THIS WEEK'S ORGANIC PRODUCE - MARCH 31

MONDAY, MARCH 31

• Pick Up & Delivery Monday, MARCH 31
• We all have different favorites.  See something you don't like?  2 substitutions are allowed with Full and Half Bags. Substitutions not allowed on Upgrades
•  Upgrades and Extras are only available with the purchase of a Full or Half bag of produce
•  We have Eggs,  Bacon, Chicken Breast, Ground Turkey and White Oaks Grass Fed Beef this week

This Week's Organic Produce!

Full/Half Bags

Avocados
Granny Smith Apples
Bosc Pears
Kiwi
Valencia Oranges
Spring Mix
1 lb. Carrots
Cucumber
Sweet Potatoes
Green Onion
Roma Tomatoes

Jumbo Fruit Bag
(Will include the Full list plus the following. Must purchase full/half bag) 
1 lb Strawberries

Kent Mango
Bananas

Jumbo Veggie Bag
(Will include the Full list plus the following. Must purchase full/half bag) 
Yellow Squash

Eggplant
Red Pepper

*list subject to change due to availability
**approximate counts, depends on total weight

ORDER HERE

THINK INSIDE THE BAG! KALE TWO WAYS

KALE - RAW AND COOKED

Yay! Kale is in the jumbo veggie bag next week... my eyes light up and my mouth waters when I see we can order it. Here are two simple, yet different ways to enjoy this healthy vegetable. One raw and one cooked. Both are nutritious and delicious.

LEMONY KALE SALAD 
Think tabbouleh without the grain. No exact measurements here, but you can handle it!

bunch of kale, chopped
bunch of green onion, chopped
handful of both mint and parsley
half handful of chopped dill
toss with fresh lemon juice (lots so it's drippy juicy) olive oil and sea salt. 

SAUTEED KALE WITH ONIONS,  GARLIC & BALSAMIC

1 head kale, chopped
1 small onion (any color), chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. coconut oil (or whatever oil you prefer)
a good dousing of quality balsamic vinegar

Saute onions and garlic in coconut oil until cripsy
Add kale and cook until wilted
Deglaze the pan with a generous sprinkling of balsamic
Cook, covered, for five to ten minutes

A primer on prebiotics, probiotics and produce

The Doctor's Office

Our bodies contain an estimated 10 times as many microorganisms as human cells. These microorganisms make up a "microbiome" which is unique to each individual.  For a great overview of this concept check out this entertaining video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM

There is a lot of interest in probiotics these days and for good reason.  Probiotics are bacteria or yeast that are thought to be beneficial to our health and are most commonly used to counteract the depletion of good bacteria caused by antibiotic use.  Many capsules and yogurt products are marketed to us, but do they actually provide a benefit?  While little has been proven as to the benefits of probiotics, a lot has been learned thanks to an explosion of research on the human microbiome, the collection of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live on us or in us.

The largest reservoir of these microorganisms is in our gut, specifically the colon which is estimated to contain over 100 trillion microbes.  These microbes metabolize, detoxify and activate crucial components of our diet and therefore are very important to many aspects of our health.  Scientists have started to make connections between our colonic microbes and our immune function, allergies, asthma, anxiety and obesity.  This may seem far fetched, but it is more believable when we understand that the gut houses an estimated 70% of the immune system and as many nerves as the spinal cord!  While at first glance this seems bizarre, it stands to reason when we consider that the gut is the biggest interface we have with the outside environment, even more so than our skin!

So what does this have to do with the produce bag this week?   As it turns out, the diet we eat can drastically affect our microbiome, and the effects occur rapidly.  Researchers demonstrated drastic changes in subjects' microbiome in as little as 4 days when consuming either a vegetarian diet or an entirely animal product diet.   In this short time, bacterial composition in the colon seemed to be completely altered.  This gives us great hope that we can improve our own microbiome, and hopefully our health with the diet we eat.  Probiotic tablets may have a role, but they can be expensive and cumbersome.  Therefore a dietary pattern that promotes health is obviously very attractive.

While probiotic tablets and food contain active bacteria or yeast that we want to colonize our gut (set up shop), they must survive the stomach acid and passage to the colon where they must then attach to the lining of the gut.  This is a considerable challenge, but there are non-digestible or partially digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon and these can be taken with the probiotic or by themselves to promote a healthier microbiome.  Inulin and fructo-oligosacharides are an important class of these "prebiotic" nutrients as they pass through the small intestine to the colon where they stimulate the growth of bifida bacteria and other beneficial micro-organisms.  This week's produce bag contains some great sources of these powerful prebiotics, such as bananas and kale.  Yet another reason you can take satisfaction from fueling your family with the very best foods available!

THIS WEEK'S ORGANIC PRODUCE - MARCH 24

MONDAY, MARCH 24

• Pick Up & Delivery Monday, MARCH 24
• We all have different favorites.  See something you don't like?  2 substitutions are allowed with Full and Half Bags. Substitutions not allowed on Upgrades
•  Upgrades and Extras are only available with the purchase of a Full or Half bag of produce
•  We have Eggs,  Bacon, Chicken Breast, Ground Turkey and White Oaks Grass Fed Beef this week

This Week's Organic Produce!

Full/Half Bags

Cameo Apples
Valencia Oranges
Bosc Pears
Kiwi
Lemons
Spring Mix
Baby Spinach
White Mushrooms
Zucchini
Celery
Roma Tomatoes

Jumbo Fruit Bag
(Will include the Full list plus the following. Must purchase full/half bag) 
1 lb Strawberries

4.4 oz Blueberries
Bananas

Jumbo Veggie Bag
(Will include the Full list plus the following. Must purchase full/half bag) 
1 lb Asparagus

Cucumbers
Kale

*list subject to change due to availability
**approximate counts, depends on total weight

ORDER HERE

WHO ARE ANDREW & EVERETT?

CHEESE PLEASE - UDDERLY THE BEST

I just got my bag home and as much as I adore the wonderful fresh fruit and veggies, all I wanted to do was to rip open the package of Andrew & Everett provolone cheese I had ordered this week.

Wow! Was I impressed with the flavor of this cheese! I feel much better knowing that the cheese we can order from Then Neighborhood Garden is not full of hormones and supports small farmers.

Some impressive information from Tim Jones, the founder of Andrew & Everett:

• All milk sourced from small, self-sustaining family owned farms.
• All cows are free range, grass fed, and treated humanely with care and respect.
• No cows are injected with synthetic rBGH-BST growth hormones.
• No cows are fed animal by-products.
• No antibiotics are used for our dairy cows. If cows become ill and antibiotics are necessary, they are removed from the dairy herd.
• All products are third-party certified Gluten Free.
• No preservatives, binders or fillers are used in our cheeses.
• All cheeses are made with non-animal rennet.
• Certified Non-Clone Sourced
• All product claims are stated clearly on our packaging so consumers can purchase with confidence.

Our mission is to bring to market the highest quality cheese possible free of any hormones, animal by products, fillers, or binders that support the small independent family run dairy farmers values.

To develop a better cheese I believe one needs to first find out what makes cheese inferior to begin with. What the common consumer doesn't realize is that most cheese is made from milk that has too much age on it to be able to be sold in a liquid form in a bottle. Many cheese makers buy this distressed milk at a large discount to make cheese with. The older the milk is the more it denigrates or breaks down. This requires the cheese manufacture to put additives into the cheese such as binders and fillers. Fillers such as milk protein concentrate or binders like casein help to firm up the cheese made from older denigrated milk

Another concern is the use of rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormone) and BST (Bovine Somatrotropin) in dairy cows. Most consumers don't realize that these two hormones (rBGH) & (BST) are outlawed for the use in milk production in every developed country except for the United States and Brazil. rBGH is a synthetic, genetically engineered version of a cows natural growth hormone, used to make the cow over produce milk by up to 35%. This causes great stress for the cow and can greatly decrease a cow's lifespan, this in turn requires a significant increase in the use of antibiotics for treatment of udder inflammation or mastitis. 

We have addressed all of these concerns in our ANDREW & EVERETT brand of cheese. All of the milk used in making our cheese comes from farms that produce milk solely for the production of cheese. Their milk is turned into cheese within hours of leaving the farm. The best tasting cheese is always made from the freshest milk. Making cheese this way eliminates the need for fillers and binders. None of the cows are ever given any rBGH or BST growth hormones. All of our dairy farmers are self-sustaining and it's just a core value not to practice the use of these hormones. The care and effort these farmers put into there farming is truly a family value. On most commercial dairy farms all of the cows are given numbers, our dairy farmers give their cows names!

All of our milk is hauled separately to the cheese plants. Under no circumstance do we ever commingle our milk with unknown sources of milk. All of the cheese plants must have separate milk silos to ensure our milk is kept apart from other milk. Our cheese is always a first run batch to further ensure no residue from other batches is mixed. All of our farmers and cheese makers sign an affidavit swearing to abide by our claims. 

Our packaging facility is brand new. We have the latest state of the art slicers and packing machines.


So, who are Andrew and Everett? Tim's children? Maybe they are cows? I guess it is not that important, but what is important, is that the cheese has flavor, is not filled with yucky stuff and comes from a manufacturer with integrity. 

To view 

THINK INSIDE THE BAG! SNOW PEAS

SNOW PEAS STIR-FRIED WITH CELERY

Snow peas have been making repeated appearances in our weekly bags. They are so yummy to simply munch and crunch in raw form. Here is an easy peasy (haha) adapted recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook. Items in bold are in this week or last week's bag

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil

3 slices of fresh peeled ginger

1 green onion, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch-wide rings

2 3/4 cups celery stalks, cut crosswise at a very slight diagonal into 1/4 inch wide strips

1 1/2 cups de-stringed snow peas, cut crosswise at a very slight diagonal into 1/4 inch wide strips

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over high heat

When hot, put in the ginger and green onion

Stir for 30 seconds

Now put in the celery and snow peas

Stir for about 3 minutes

Put in the salt and pepper to taste

Stir and mix for another 30 seconds

Turn off the heat

Remove the ginger slices before serving

Serves 3-4

Variety is the spice of life!

The Doctor's Office

Variety is the spice of life, and as it turns out, spice is good for life too!  Cilantro, aka coriander, and Rosemary provide great aroma and taste to many recipes, but they also provide our bodies with some amazing health protective benefits.  Specifically, rosemary was shown to decrease inflammation and protect our cells' DNA from damage.  Researchers gave patients rosemary (amounts similar to what you might eat in a meal) and an inflammatory insult (oxidized cholesterol like you'd get from fried chicken).  Blood was then examined and found to have less TNF-α and less DNA damage with the rosemary on board.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or TNF-α, is an inflammatory protein secreted into the blood to fight off threats. That's the purpose of TNF-α, however when it gets out of balance it causes a lot of damage.  Excessive TNF-α is found in many disease states such as crohn's disease, septic shock, and most commonly, metabolic syndrome (a constellation of major cardiovascular risk factors).  It is amazing to think that adding something so tasty as rosemary could potentially improve these conditions.

In this study, the scientists also measured DNA damage in white blood cells and found it to be reduced in the patients who were given Rosemary.  Protecting DNA is generally accepted to be important to slow aging and prevent cancer.

Does that mean we should all go out and start consuming obscene quantities of these delicious plants?  I don't believe so.  Variety is the spice of life.  These plants should be a healthful addition to a diet rich in variety of many types of fruits and vegetables.  Not only is this an enjoyable way to live, but it provides the best opportunity to obtain the best nutrition.  This concept is explained in fascinating depth by T. Colin Campbell in his book "Whole".  Our bodies will take what they need from our food, so by supplying ourselves with a great variety of different foods, we have the best opportunity to achieve prime health!  Enjoy!

THIS WEEK'S ORGANIC PRODUCE - MARCH 17

MONDAY, MARCH 17

• Pick Up & Delivery Monday, MARCH 17
• We all have different favorites.  See something you don't like?  2 substitutions are allowed with Full and Half Bags. Substitutions not allowed on Upgrades
•  Upgrades and Extras are only available with the purchase of a Full or Half bag of produce
•  We have Bacon, Black Forest Ham and White Oaks Grass Fed Beef this week
• Add Jalapeno peppers for $2
• Herb bags are back! Cilantro, Rosemary, Limes 

This Week's Organic Produce!

Monday, March 10th

Full/Half Bags

Bananas

Granny Smith Apples

Valencia Oranges

Bosc Pears

Kiwi

Spring Mix (upgrade to Red Leaf Lettuce $1)

Snow Peas

Russet Potatoes

Baby Peeled Carrots

Red Onion

 Roma Tomatoes

Jumbo Fruit Bag

(Will include the Full list plus the following. Must purchase full/half bag)

1 lb Strawberries

Kent Mangoes

Avocados

Jumbo Veggie Bag

(Will include the Full list plus the following. Must purchase full/half bag)

Yellow Squash

12 oz Green Beans

Red Peppers

*list subject to change due to availability
**approximate counts, depends on total weight

ORDER HERE

SAVE OUR STRAWBERRIES!

 FOUR DELICIOUS IDEAS FOR FREEZING STRAWBERRIES
 

The Neighborhood Organics provides us with easy access to organic strawberries. We are lucky because conventional strawberries contain a large amount of pesticides.  When the PDP (the USDA's Pesticide Data Program) releases its annual list of produce samples with residues that exceed tolerance levels, strawberries appear more often than any other fruit or vegetable.

According to prevention.com, a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that a single sample of strawberries contained 13 different pesticides. Yick! Some organic growers joke that conventionally grown strawberries are so full of chemicals, you could grind them up and use them as a pesticide.

Ordering organic strawberries by the case or half case makes good sense and cents, but what if I don't use them all? Here are some tips to save our strawberries.
  
While nibbling on some fresh berries, think of which of these ideas for freezing the berries works for you.  Best not to dump them in a plastic bag so they become one big lump with freezer burn. 

Below are four different methods for freezing strawberries.

1. Whole Strawberries

Bags of whole, frozen strawberries are handy to have around for adding to smoothies or baking. This method of freezing on a tray or sheet ensures the berries freeze individually, rather than that inconvenient lump.

If you won't use them within six months, a light dusting of sugar before freezing will both help preserve their color and prevent freezer burn.

1. Wash and gently dry the strawberries. Don’t soak them too long in water as this will result in a loss of flavor and nutrients!
2. Hull the berries and remove any ones that are spoiled. (Save those ones for your coulis, below)
3. Place the strawberries on a baking sheet, not touching one another, and freeze until solid.
4. Transfer the strawberries to plastic resealable bags or airtight containers and store in the freezer for up to six months.

2. Strawberries in Simple Syrup

Freeze the berries whole in a mildly sweet sugar-water. You can use jars or plastic containers. Packed in liquid, the berries retain their color and shape when reconstituted, making them a standalone dessert. They can also be spooned over yogurt or ice cream, or heaped onto scones and topped with cream. 

1. Make simple syrup: Combine 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar. Dissolve the sugar in cold water.
2. Place whole or sliced berries in containers and cover with cold syrup; use about 1/2 to 1/3 cup of syrup for each pint container. Package and freeze.

 To Thaw: Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter. Never immerse frozen jars into hot water.

Tip 1: Make the simple syrup before you receive your fruit. It keeps for several weeks in the fridge, and will be waiting, already chilled, for the moment your fresh strawberries arrive.
Tip 2: Add a gentle, natural flavor to the simple syrup such as orange zest or vanilla bean. Your jar of berries is now dessert; thaw, open and eat with a spoon when berries are not as easily available.

3. Strawberry Coulis

Strawberry coulis adds ruby color and fresh flavor to many desserts. Drizzle over ice cream, spoon it over pancakes or crepes, serve it over chocolate cake.

• 1 pound strawberries, washed and hulled
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or lime juice

1. Combine strawberries, lemon or lime juice and sugar in blender or food processor.
2. Pulse until berries are somewhat chopped then blend until smooth. Taste and adjust sugar if needed.
3. Pour into two 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/2 an inch of space at the top of the jar, and freeze.

Makes 2 cups.
Note: Sauce will also keep up to four days in the refrigerator.

Tip: Be sure to set aside some strawberry sauce for a refreshing strawberry-limeade concentrate below!

4. Strawberry-Limeade Concentrate

Transform bruised and less-attractive berries into this refreshing cooler. By having this concentrate on hand, you can quickly and easily whip up fresh and beautiful drinks.

• 3/4 cup strawberry coulis (recipe above)
• 3/4 cup sugar or whole cane sugar
• 1 cup lime juice (approximately 8 limes)

Mix ingredients together and freeze in ice cube trays.
To serve: In a drinking glass, stir together 1 cup cold water and two frozen cubes of concentrate and stir to combine. Enjoy.


Please refer to "The Doctor's Office" blog post for amazing benefits of strawberries.