Sure we had to clear out some furniture, bring folding tables out from storage and my aunt had to bring extra chairs to make room for everyone, but my Thanksgiving was one of the most memorable holidays I’ve had in a long time, thanks to the company… and the food helped too.

My family decided to do Thanksgiving a little differently this year. Sure we served the typical turkey (actually we had 2 – 1 kosher and 1 organic), stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, but instead of loading up on appetizers like we do for every holiday and get-together, my family served lighter (and healthier) “hors d’oeuvres” like steamed green beans, raw peppers, cucumbers and carrots with hummus and crackers and nuts. The appetizer tables were beautiful colored rainbows, and everyone really appreciated the lighter and healthier options. We were actually hungry when it was time to eat dinner! Imagine that!

We had two beautiful salads as well during dinner. I could see a sea of green when I was looking around at everyone’s plates during the meal. For dessert we had two brightly colored fruit salads in addition to dark chocolate chip cookies, banana bread and a few other desserts that guests brought. There were lots of healthy options available the entire evening!

This quinoa salad is one of the most delicious ways to eat quinoa that I have ever experienced and it was a huge hit!

Ingredients:

2 cups Quinoa, cooked

½ bunch parsley or cilantro

½ bunch of mint

3 stems of scallions

Handful of dried blueberries (get the kind that contains apple juice in them to keep them moist)

Handful of pomegranate seeds

Handful of roasted almond slivers

½ cup olive oil (or less)

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tbs. honey

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients

Mix olive oil, lemon juice and honey and pour over salad 1 hour prior to serving

My family has always been relatively “healthy” eaters, but it wasn’t until the last couple of years that my entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) has really started to change their eating habits The most significant changes have taken place after my mother and I both became certified health counselors last year. Numerous family members have experienced significant weight loss. Heart and cholesterol problems have subsided. It was really exciting to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with so many like-minded folks. I am really so thankful to be part of such a special family filled with so much love and support.

We finished the meal (and dessert) feeling satisfied, but not uncomfortably full. There were no complaints of needing to change into pants with elastic waste bands to make room for very full bellies and there were no food comas! We were up until midnight talking and spending time with one another.

Here is another recipe that we served on Thanksgiving. High in nutrients and low in calories, green beans are an easy vegetable to spice up for the holidays or any other day. They have wonderful anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in vitamins A, C and K. Give this recipe a try. It’s easy and really fast.

Ingredients:

½ pound Green beans, rinse and stems snapped off

1 onion, sliced into long stringy pieces

½ cup Almond slivers

Extra virgin olive oil

Mrs. Dash

Garlic powder

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Lightly steam green beans

Water sauté onion

Allow green beans and onions to cool and combine in bowl. Add almonds and lightly drizzle olive oil. Add spices to taste.

If my Thanksgiving is any indication to the holiday season that lies ahead, I am off to a great start! Lots of veggies, family, rest and quality conversations; what more can I ask for?

Yesterday was one of the nicest days we have seen in Asheville in awhile – not a cloud in the sky, breezy but not too chilly and the different colored leaves were really starting to pop. It was absolutely gorgeous! I spent the morning studying, but was itching for an excuse to be outdoors when I remembered that the local Downtown Tailgate Market was open until 6:30pm. Perfect! I grabbed my reusable grocery bag and took a stroll to the market. 

Asheville is great for health counselors and the health conscious. There is strong support for local food and local farmers with Farmer’s Markets scattered throughout Asheville year-round and several restaurants offering local and seasonal selections on their menus. When family and friends visit they are always amazed by the diverse and delicious cuisines available in Asheville. Anyway, enough bragging about Asheville.

The Downtown Tailgate Market is one of the smaller markets in Asheville, but it is right up the road from my apartment so I was able to walk and maximize my time outdoors. Local food, sunshine and exercise – it was a triple bonus!

The nights have been getting cold up here in the mountains so I knew I wanted to make soup. I tend to be cold constantly so once fall settles in, I immediately start to crave hot (temperature, not spice) foods. I already had beans and carrots, but I needed more vegetables to add to the soup. Here is a picture of all of the delicious vegetables that I got – and for a whopping $13.25. Pretty sweet huh?

Buying local foods directly from the farmers is less expensive than buying the same food item in your grocery store – there aren’t any transportation costs or middlemen involved to jack up the price. Plus you’re getting more flavor in your food because it was picked at its peak level of ripeness and taste – it did not ripen in the back of a truck. 

I got to be outdoors the entire time I was shopping, mingle with other members of the community, chat with the farmers and see and smell varieties of vegetables that you don’t typically see in the grocery store. See the skinny green stalks with purple and white stems to the left of the squash in the picture? That’s celery. Yea – celery. Smells like celery, tastes like celery, but it definitely does not look like the thick, light green stalks of celery you typically see in grocery stores. Pretty cool, huh? I didn’t have to sit in traffic or wait in line either. It doesn’t get any better…

Here is my recipe for the black bean soup that I made with the celery.

Ingredients

2 cups black beans

3 – 5 carrots, chopped

celery, chopped – I used my entire bunch, but if you are using thicker stalks than I think 3 should do it

Kale (or dark leafy green of your choice) – 1/2 to 1 bunch, chopped (more about that below) – I love dark leafy greens so I used an entire bunch. Add however much you prefer – after all this is your soup, right?

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

Dr. Fuhrman’s Vegizest (You can still make soup without this ingredient. I highly recommend it for flavor and added nutrients.)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Onion powder to taste

Pepper to taste

Mrs. Dash to taste

Directions

Rinse beans and pour into large soup pot

Add 6 cups of water (for more nutrients replace 1 cup with carrot juice)

Add chopped onions, carrots, garlic, celery, tomatoes and spices

Cover with lid and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook until beans are tender – about 45 minutes to 1 hour

Once beans are tender, add chopped kale and stir into the soup – the kale will cook immediately

Remove from heat and allow to cool

Use immersion blender to blend soup to preferred thickness (this isn’t necessary to enjoy the soup. I like soup that is really thick so I prefer to blend)

About the kale (or any leafy green you choose)… when you cut it up, you want to remove the stem first – like this. Cut down both sides of the stem. Toss the step and chop the remaining halves.

Then you can stack a few leaves on top of each other before you slice them width-wise. This will save you time.

My entire apartment smelled like soup. Mmmmm. Ryan came home and wanted to know what was cookin’ – it smelled so good. I hope you enjoy this healthy and filling soup throughout the cold months ahead!

So what did you do last Sunday afternoon? I spent my afternoon downtown at Organicfest, an annual festival held here in Asheville, that promotes everything organic from clothing to beauty products and of course, food! Local and national businesses all joined together to promote healthy, organic foods, sustainable business practices and everything was (obviously) organic and eco-friendly! I had a booth on the main strip of the festival (big thanks to everyone who stopped by) and had the opportunity to meet all kinds of interesting folks. Mothers with children in strollers, couples visiting for the weekend (Asheville is a very romantic weekend get-away destination), crunchy and corporate minds – all joined together in support of the same interest! An added perk, the weather was perfect – not too hot with a pleasant breeze throughout the afternoon.  It was really an incredible afternoon.

BIOselect, one of the like-minded vendors, uses olive oil, a natural antioxidant, which has anti-aging, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and skin-toning properties. Their booth smelled amazing! I was immediately drawn to it – plus Christina (BIOselect representative pictured below) was super sweet and easy to talk to. 

Environmental organizations and gardening companies shared information about organic gardening, organic farming and other earth care matters. Folks left with blackberry bushes to plant that evening.

And of course no festival would be complete without music! Local musicians performed throughout the day! 

What better way to educate people about the benefits of integrating organic living into your daily lifestyle than with music, food (and beer), clothes, jewelry and beauty products! 

Top 10 Reasons to Eat Locally Grown Foods:

Be Kind to your Taste Buds: Taste the Difference
Produce has more time to ripen when eaten locally. Instead of picking bananas that are green and hard that ripen in a truck, you can eat a banana that was picked 24 hours ago. Believe me, you can taste the difference. These foods are picked at their peak taste. It’s that simple.

Know What You’re Eating
E. Coli in our spinach, peanut-butter, ice-cream and romaine lettuce recalled nation-wide; it’s hard to know what is really in our food. The US does not require genetically modified foods to be labeled as such. Add pesticides, preservatives, “organic” versus “natural”, free-range and grass-fed to the mix and it can be hard to find answers. If you want control over what you put in your body, eat foods that are grown locally. It’s much easier to get answers.

Get In Touch with Mother Nature
When we eat with the seasons we are in harmony with the environment. Summer fruits and vegetables (like berries, tomatoes and cucumbers) are light and refreshing to keep us cool in the summer heat. Root vegetables are perfect for stews and keep us warm, strong and grounded in the winter.

Give Back: Support Small Farms
According to Food Inc., the average grocery store has 47,000 products on its shelves but only a handful of corporations actually own and control these products. These corporations strongly influence our government that create and enforce policies concerning food production and safety. We can change this by voting at grocery stores. The scanners cast our vote when we buy organic or not, local or not, etc. Do you need proof? Walmart started to carry organic products because of customer requests.

Local Food = Local Economy
Money that is made locally typically stays within the community.

Rediscover Your Neighborhood
You are more likely to have a conversation or hear a story about the food you’re going to eat when you shop locally. The stories add character to your meal.

Have New Travel Experiences
See cities in a new way when you travel! You’ll meet interesting people who are likely to give you a real flavor of your destination city or town; more than sightseeing or eating at touristy restaurants.

Discover Variety
When a farmer does not have the pressure of growing “name brand” produce to sell to large grocery stores, he can experiment with new kinds of produce. Each variety of a fruit or vegetable provides different phytonutrients (these are health protecting compounds found in plants).

Be Social
Most of us consider grocery shopping to be an obligation, something that’s not meant to be fun or enjoyable; stores or crowded and lines are long. Eat locally and you will find the complete opposite is true.

Be Healthier (may be even lose some weight!)
Fewer pesticides and preservatives, seasonal eating, variety of fruits and veggies, fresh and rich tasting – what part of eating locally grown foods is unhealthy?

Be Green
Eating locally grown foods:
•    Puts fewer chemicals into the air from pesticides and preservatives.
•    Uses less oil and gas to get your food from the place it’s grown to your plate.
•    Protects biodiversity.
•    Lets the farmer focus on actually growing your food – not the processing, packaging, refrigeration and marketing – all of which deplete energy and natural resources.

I encourage you to rediscover your neighborhood and try locally grown foods! What better way to give back to your community, benefit the environment, yourself and loved ones all at the same time!