Drink Your Greens!

Drink Your Greens!

This is what I'm telling my kids.  They're picky.  One day they'll like a certain fruit or veggie and the next day...not so much.  I was pretty surprised when they asked my husband to make them edamame today.  Go girls!!

As they were eating their edamame, thoroughly enjoying popping the little beans out of the shells, I was in the kitchen prepping for and making green juices for today and tomorrow.  (Yes, I am fully aware that the best nutritional benefit comes when juice is consumed within hours, if not immediately after making it.  However, I figure it's still a better option tomorrow than some other things I could pull out of the fridge or pantry!)  When I was finished juicing, two of my three girls asked for their own glass of juice.  How could I not oblige?  Heck yeah girls, you can have some green juice!!!

I gave them some of the Kale, Apple, Orange.  Nearly as soon as I sat it down in front of them, I heard that super annoying noise that occurs when you sip through a straw into the bottom of an empty glass.  Yeah.  They inhaled that juice.  They asked me if they could start bringing juice to school to have with their lunch.  Again, HECK YES!!  If I can get them to have a green juice-a-day, I'm ALL FOR IT.  I'll happily make juices all the time if they will reap the nutritional benefits of that green goodness.

It took me an hour, but I got 4 x 24 ounce jars plus 3/4 jar (not pictured) for my husband plus the glass I gave to the girls.  Not bad!!  I used two small bags of baby spinach, one large bunch of kale, 5 oranges, 4 apples, 4 lemons, a small pre-cut container of pineapple, 6 mini cucumbers and a package of carrots.

The longest part of the process is washing and prepping the veggies.  Because I have an Omega juicer, I have to chop everything smaller to fit it through the hole on the juicer.  No worries...I know it's worth it.  

The juice combinations I made today were:

• Kale, Apple, Orange
• Kale, Carrot, Cucumber, Lemon
• Spinach, Pineapple, Carrot

Prepped fruits & veggies (washed & cut)

Washed kale, I juice the stems too.

Washed and cut apples - 2 Gala, 2 Granny Smith

R to L
*Spinach, Pineapple, Carrot
*Carrot, Kale, Lemon, Cucumber
*Kale, Apple, Orange (x2)

Very Veggie Scramble with Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Very Veggie Scramble with Sweet Potatoes

I like making my Very Veggie Scramble because, well, I'm still not a big fan of eggs and this scramble is great for masking the eggy flavor.  Whatever works, right??

I grabbed the handful of veggies I had on hand for today's scramble.  This time of year it's easy to find prepped sweet potatoes at most grocery stores.  Sometimes I pick these up when I know I can use them quickly and easily in my recipes.  Today was a good day for it because my kids are all home from school.  I couldn't spend too much time doing prep work in the kitchen.

Very Veggie Scramble:

• 2 cage-free eggs
• 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper (I used orange - opt for Organic)
• 1/2 cup chopped white mushrooms
• 1/3 cup chopped vidalia onion
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped baby spinach (opt for Organic)
• 1T coconut oil
• Spices (I used garlic salt, cumin & Mexican Fiesta seasoning)
• Optional: goat cheese, chopped avocado, chili sauce

Beat eggs in a bowl with your spices, then add all veggies.  Mix to coat veggies evenly.  In a shallow pan over medium heat, add coconut oil and let it warm.  Add your veggie & egg mixture and scramble it until your desired doneness.  I like mine to brown up, so I cook it for several minutes.  Serve hot, sprinkled with goat cheese, avocado, chili sauce or whatever floats your Very Veggie Scramble boat!  I added goat cheese to mine.

Pan Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes:

• 1 and 1/2 cups cubed sweet potato, peeled.  (I bought mine pre-prepped)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1T coconut oil
• Spices to your liking (optional - I did not use any)

Heat a shallow pan over medium heat and add coconut oil.  Once it melts, add the sweet potato and onion.  Stir to coat evenly and allow it to cook for ten minutes or so.  I covered mine during cooking so it would cook a bit faster.

All veggies - washed, cut & ready to go!

I love this Artisana coconut oil!

Opt for cage-free eggs (and local!) whenever possible

My favorite spices - I use them in everything

I have WAY more veggies than egg in this scramble.

KK approved!

She liked the goat cheese and mushrooms the most

Very Veggie Scramble with Roasted Sweet Potatoes