The Wrong Kind of Green Food

As I read this, I am eating a handful of mint M&M's. They're green! So sorry, I couldn't help myself, but seriously I ate a green salad earlier with garlic salt and a little of oil&vinegar. I didn't do too bad?

Dianna

Snackgirl, What can you tell me about 2 drinks I like. I think they are on the healthy side. Apple & Eve Fruitables and

FRS Healthy Energy

I have a Fruitable every morning. I like the fact it has vegetables in it too. And I enjoy the FRS in the afternoons.

arlene

Totally agree with you. Thank you for getting people to think about what they eat and suggesting some great ideas.

Sue

You are right! There are wayyyyyy too many "special" days throughout the year! My daughters and I are baking a pie today because it is "pi" day (3.14)! Just like with screen time, the whole monitoring/moderation thing seems to fall on the moms. I guess it's our lot in life!

Katie

I gave up sweets before Christmas. I figured if I could make it through the holidays without sweets I could go year round. I've cheated once. Couldn't resist a cruller one day, but it wasn't good enough to fall of the wagon.

That said, giving up sweets makes it much easier to resist a lot of the unhealthy green stuff. ;-)

Mike aka MonolithTMA

What about eating some healthy (green) cabbage along with a small piece of lean corned beef? Great traditional way to celebrate.....and my Publix is carrying cabbage for only 29 cents a pound!

Kris

I absolutely agree also! I can't even count how many times people say to me "Oh come on, it's only one (fill in treat here)" with the alternate comment of, "It's only one day". The reality is that it's a string of sweets or days or celebrations and they all add up. I'm all for an occasional splurge but the constant stream is just not healthy.

Pat

Exactly, Pat, and my problem was I was making too many exceptions using the "it's only one" excuse. I'll be drinking a green smoothie on St. Patty's day though. :-)

Mike aka MonolithTMA

Oh Snack Girl, You are singing my song!!!! It seems that society wants to celebrate, celebrate, celebrate with garbage food!!! Not sure why we can't use celebration s an opportunity to introduce delicious healthful food to children. Green is a beautiful color- let's celebrate the glory of brussel sprouts, brocolli, asparagus, cabbage, snap peas, romaine, cucumbers, and celery this St. Patricks Day!!! Thanks for all you do!!!

Diane Van Ryn

Oh boy I'm so glad I'm not alone in being frustrated with the holiday food celebrations. My pet peeve are the friends that bring me "treats" when they visit. At Christmas a dear fiend (who has lost 35 lbs. on WW!) brought me pounds of homemade treats, expensive fruit cakes, MooseMunch, etc. It all went into the trash the minute she left.There are very few times that I allow this stuff in the house. I don;t like wasting food but this stuff is not good for anyone!

Debbie

A way I deal with the barrage of sweet treats is when I allow myself to indulge, is exercising my '2 and I'm done' rule. Which means 2 bites (which are always the most savored) and I am finished. I push the rest away, or throw it out, but I am done with the treat. Usually works!

Liz

In Whole Foods last night and they were giving samples of Irish Potatoes out, I had that thing in my mouth before I even thought about it. Oh well, at least I stopped buying a cookie to go with my coffee everytime I go.

Sue K

I had my (if I'm lucky) large Shamrock Shack from Mickey D's the other day. I savored every spoonful to the tune of well over 700 calories! I burnt it off with 70 minutes on the treadmill the next day though... no worries. :)

Mark

I'll try to stick to a green apple to satisfy my sweet tooth in honor of St.

Patricks (with a green tea):)

brandy

Wow, well said! Food can't always be the way the we celebrate things. So many other options.

Audrey

You and your followers have shared many healthy substitutes for almost everything on your list. For occasional slips think moderation, just a bite, then back to a healthy path. It becomes easier with time and empowering :) Just recognizing that our culture promotes empty food celebrations alot and staying aware of what we are deciding to eat in the face of all this social pressure helps one make healthy choices too.

BARB L

You could make your own snacks and treats and use natural green food coloring. My secret is liquid chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is what makes plants green. It just takes a few drops to make a pretty color, it is tasteless, and it is all-natural. You can find liquid chlorophyll in the supplement section of most health food stores (it also comes in a powder).

Cristina @ An Organic Wife

I have been on a mission to find holiday friendly ideas that are not CRAP food. welcome pinterest! Take a rectangle platter...celery on the left, cauliflower in the middle, carrots on the right. HEALTHY yet festive irish flag! It doesnt have to be green to still be festive for a party!

Tifani

Cristina, thanks, good to know about the coloring!

BARB L

Yum. Both of those (good) green pictures make me drool. Unfortunately, so do the donuts, ice cream, and beer. :P

Shanna

Totally agree with Shanna. Lol

Mark

I hate to say it but I'm to the point I don't even want to celebrate holidays because it's always food based and there is a holiday or a reason for celebration practically EVERY month!!!

linda

My husband is very proud of his Irish heritage, so instead of eating (what is actually) Americanized food colored green, we stick with traditional Irish fair - goat cheese on soda bread; potatoes, sausage and cabbage; shepherd's pie, salmon; or white pudding are examples.

Victoria

Yes! St. Patrick's Day doesn't you can't be festive with healthy foods. One of the things we don't like (we at Drazil Foods) are the artificial colors. We wrote a post on how to be festive for St. Patrick's day while using natural foods for food coloring (while adding nutrients!) Hopefully you'll check it out :) http://www.drazilfoods.com/natural-green-foods-for-st-patri…

Courtney

I like the comment about our culture promoting empty food celebrations. Many holidays seem to be only about the sweets and not about the other parts of the traditions. This is a terrific reminder to put the other meanings back in while jettisoning some of the sweets! Thank you Lisa for bringing this up !

Jennie McKenna

I sometimes make a healthy shamrock shake with vanilla yogurt thinned with milk and with a few drops of peppermint extract. Usually I use plain yogurt, sweeten it with agave and use a little vanilla extract too. It would probably be good using frozen yogurt, but I like to be able to control the amount of sugar in it, and it's hard to do that with presweetened products. If I'm really craving the mcdonalds kind, I add some green food coloring because it tricks my brain and tastes more like junk food! Also, make sure it's peppermint extract and not mint extract--the mint kind is blend of peppermint and spearmint and is a little overpowering.

J.Jones

J.Jones--any chance you could include an exact recipe for that healthy shamrock shake? I'd like to try it!

Mark

How could I have forgotten to mention avocados and cabbage, two of my most FAVORITE green foods!!!!!

Diane Van Ryn

I agree Lisa but try to think of other ways besides food. I liked the idea of the flag that someone mentioned..takes your mind off of sweet things at least. The two bite thing works for me too. Thanks to all of you for your help!

Barbara

Great suggestions. I wouldn't have thrown out the moose munch, though. I looooove moose munch. So, i would have enjoyed the moose munch and gotten rid of the fruit cakes and other stuff and the moose munch would have been my one indulgence

Sparkina