What a wonderful time of year. Longer days, flowers blooming, birds singing—yes it's spring. It's the perfect time to make changes (not New Year's, by the way). Spring is all about remodeling your life. Here are a few suggestions, recipes and more.
Create a Vegetable Garden
The fun of getting your hands dirty, planting and growing your own food, might actually encourage you to eat healthier. Where should you start? Try looking at the following websites:
- www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow
- www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/indoor-herbs-growing-guide
- www.gardenguides.com/599-starting-first-vegetable-garden.html
- www.gardeners.com/
- www.eatingwell.com/food_news_origins/seasonal_local/gardening/how_to_start_a_vegetable_garden
- http://containergardening.wordpress.com/
- www.esquire.com/features/gardening/vegetable-garden-0509
Imagine this scenario: You wake up and can't find a thing to wear because your closet is a disaster. Searching takes up five to 10 minutes of stress and wasted time. You plan on grabbing something to eat for breakfast, but when you look in the fridge, it's a mess. You think about making some eggs, and when you go to find a pan, everything comes tumbling off the shelf. Now you're borderline late, so you skip eating altogether. You're stressed, and this is not a healthy start to your day. Read about how to clean out.
Watch Those Easter Candies
- Speckled Jelly Beans, Jelly Candy, 9 pieces, 220 calories
- Bunny Mix, M&M's Peanut, 1.5 ounces (1/4 cup), 220 calories
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, 5 pieces, 220 calories
- Palmer Happy Hopper Bunny, 13 ounces, 1,100 calories
- Cadbury Creme Egg, 160 calories
- Cadbury Mini Eggs Candy, 12 pieces (40 grams), 190 calories
- Russell Stover Marshmallow Rabbit, 2 ounces, 230 calories
- Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, 1 piece, 170 calories
- Pez Hippity Hoppities, 1 roll, 35 calories
- Bunny Peeps, 4 bunnies, 110 calories
- Jelly Beans, 4 calories per bean
- Hershey's Hollow Milk Chocolate Egg (570 calories for the shell alone) with 4 candy-coated milk chocolate eggs inside (90 more calories)
Buy Local
If you're interested in sustainable food production, conserving fuel, polluting less, supporting local farmers, eating new and interesting varieties of food, getting fresher food, supporting the local economy and eating less-processed foods--you should be eating local. How do you get started eating locally grown food? Take a look at LocalHarvest.org for a national directory of farmers who market their goods directly to the public.
Other resources:
- www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa (Community Supported Agriculture)
- www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets (4,385 farmers markets)
- www.eatwellguide.org (fresh food listings)
- www.foodroutes.org (information and news)
- www.sustainabletable.org (recipes and tips)