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Apr 18, 2019

Moving To A More Plant Based Diet, New Flowers!



Moving To A More Plant Based Diet-
Dave and I started recently moving to more of a plant-based diet. Basically eating a lot more whole foods, fruits and vegetables, less meat and dairy. We actually never ate a ton of meat anyway, maybe a couple times a week. There's tons of information online, but one of the tools I found really helpful was this one 5-to-1 Rule For Fiber In Packaged Foods  Basically you want to really increase your fiber to keep you feeling fuller longer and to be healthier. The 5 to 1 rule is you divide the total number of carbs by the total number of fiber grams. For instance if you have something that has 30 grams of carbs, and only 3 grams of fiber, that's 10, which is not good. If you have 30 grams of carbohydrates, with 6 grams of fiber, that's a 5 which is acceptable. Under 5 is even better! Basically the more fiber the better. It's always better to eat food as grown, which is basically the less processing/cooking the better. I'll post more information over time about what we're doing and we'll see how it goes. We're not giving up our eggs since we have our own chickens! What was really sad was learning that one of of three children in the U.S. will become DIABETIC! ONE OUT OF THREE! For parents this is going to come down to being diligent, reading labels of everything you feed your kids and making better choices. More whole grains, less sugar, no soda, no high sugar foods like the popular Gogurts and cereals. Luckily there are lots of options now.


Bowl of Beauty Japanese Peony

New Flowers!
One of the realities of gardening is that you plant things and sometimes they die. Sometimes it's years later. Or sometimes you just want something different! We had two plants that finally had to be composted. I started doing some research about what to replace them with and found an interesting info. Since one of the areas was in shade and sun it was a little bit more tricky. It's right by our front entryway and front door and so I wanted something that would have nice foliage, possibly flowers, that would do well there. I found this nice article Shade Gardening Top 10 Shrubs For Shade  I stumbled on the Oakleaf Hydrangea. I did some research and thought it would be a good fit for there. We went to two nurseries today and I found the one in the Ruby color in stock!


Another flowering shrub we bought was a butterfly bush, a Blue Knight-


We got a lighter color of butterfly bush since the one in the front yard is called Black Knight. We looked at several peonies for sale the nursery and we chose that one. We planted those on the weekend with a cool rainy week ahead. All three are also pollinators, which is something important to us.

We also planted some mixed Mesclun lettuce mix today in a cold frame. The seeds are only a few years old so I'm hoping they're still viable? Time will tell. I store my seeds inside in a cool dark area. If they don't germinate I may buy some more and try again!

6 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Such a sad commentary on the non-nutritional way kids are being raised today. I think it's all in education, but if parents (or a single parent) don't have enough time to give to learning about and making sure their kids (and themselves, too!) are fed in a way that will truly ensure the ability of their bodies to grow strong in all ways, there's not much hope. Making sure your growing kids receive all that is necessary, and in this day foods that are grown without poisonous chemicals, is time consuming and can be expensive. Getting away from so much meat consumption helps financially, but it takes more time to cook beans than to slap a ground beef patty in a skillet. Sigh.

Love the pics of your new purchases of blooming lovelies. Adding color to our lives is such an "upper!"

Nancy In Boise said...

Thanks Mama yes it is sad and it's not just poor people who feed their kids poorly sadly. What's sad to me is seeing the 20-somethings that I work with at work that are obese. That's really sad! I remember when I was in my twenties you never saw anybody that was heavy. And it's so much easier to lose that weight when you're young! Yes it does take longer to cook beans but it is certainly a much cheaper shopping list as Dave and I found out. And thanks yes the flower should be really nice it's just going to take a while for them to grow and Bloom but we've had a nice wet week again. Supposed to be 75 tomorrow and I think we're in for some dry weather for a while hooray

Susan said...

I am headed that way, too. I already eat a mostly plant-based diet but I will admit, it was hard to cut back on cheese. I am a cheesehead! And I'm not even from Wisconsin... :) There are quite a few obese people in the city in which I work - and where I live, as well. I love peonies! And that oak leaf hydrangea is gorgeous!

Nancy In Boise said...

I love cheese, but not much. Hubby can't eat any, bad for his tummy. The irony is where I work is a large healthcare system. The first peonies I ever bought. Will give it Tlc!

Goatldi said...

I have always lived a moderation eating style. Nothing to excess nor to total elimination . Unless it involves a true sensitivity to it. A steady diet of one item will leave you devoid of needed assets. Common sense is a good tool. But unfortunately in short supply.



Nancy In Boise said...

Yes, and I'm feeling better, losing weight. Great so far.

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