Spinach

I love spinach, but was a little unsure when I went to the grocery store on Saturday and all they had was the giant container. I usually buy the smaller box, and sometimes some of it still ends up in the garbage. That said, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to eat it all this week!

Pre-planning all my weekly meals was a brilliant idea, but I decided to take Jclarkey's advice and prepare many of my meals on Sunday. It sounded like a lot of work at first, but it was so easy! In two hours I made most of tonight's dinner, tomorrow's lunch, Thursday's dinner, a meal for next week, a loaf of bread and then even cleaned up my mess. It was so satisfying to have it all done -- the only problem was how hungry it made me!

I managed to use up a lot of my spinach then, but still had lots left for dinner last night, lunch today, and dinner on Friday. Last night's dinner is pictured above (before I added the almonds -- oops!). I was still a bit hungry after dinner so I had a cheater cookie for dessert (more on cheater snacks tomorrow).

Spinach contains the following vitamins and nutrients:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K
• Magnesium
• Manganese
• Folate
• Iron
• Vitamin B2
• Calcium
• Potassium
• Vitamin B6
• Folic Acid
• Copper
• Protein
• Phosphorus
• Zinc
• Niacin
• Selenium
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• And recently discovered, Rubiscolins (?)

They are also loaded with antioxidants that kill free radicals (rebel cells that cause damage to other cells -- NOT hippies). Actually, to be honest, spinach's impressive resume doesn't really mean anything to me one way or the other. There are only two factors that interest me: 1) it's good for me, and 2) it tastes delicious.

What's your favourite super-food?

Menu

Tuesday, February 2

Breakfast: Cheerios, milk & tea

Lunch: Spinach salad with pecans, raspberries & goat cheese, fruit juice & yogurt

Dinner: Black bean avocado salad, chicken, fruit juice & a cheater cookie