Creasy Greens, love them! Can substitue for spinach.

Well after having healthy scrambled eggs this morning from our girls I had a pretty light food day, so I was starved at dinner. Poor planning on my part, I know! Breakfast sandwich was only 1 slice of whole wheat and only one egg scrambled. Normally I'd be at a two egg minimum, I mean seriously this is still American you know and I still have choices! LOL  For lunch from what I can remember I had roasted red bell pepper hummus/chips (not the healthy kind, my bad) and a cinnamon applesauce and sliced bananas. So I was starved by dinner. Anyway, I happened to pass a bag full of Creasy Greens at Cedar Lodge the other day and since they were the only bag left I couldn't resist. I've been eating Creasy greens since I was a really little girl. Shout out to Grandpa Hash for that one! But I think my mother's love of turnips is really what kicks creasy greens up a knotch for me! Here's how that party in a pan works out:

here's the bag of the lovlies..look at that vitamin rich GREEN

this is what the stem looks like which most are tender and you can eat them, but don't all the way down to the root (although you'll want to for sure)

a closer look at the green leaves

basically I fried up some bacon (just some as you can see) then peel your purple turnips and chop up...i pan fried the turnips in (some) the bacon drippings until tender with a pinch of kosher salt and cracked pepper

after I get all of the turnips cooked 'til tender I add the heaping (washed thoroughly) pile of creasy greens on top of the roasted turnips

toss it all together and put a lid on it to steam the greens down, but not too long I want the greens to still have the green/nutrition left in them

but right before that lid goes on, grab that bacon and crumbled it up and toss it back in with the turnips and creasy greens

turn down the burner because really you're only wilting the greens/tender stems

Well WHOOPS I'm missing a finished picture, mainly because they barely get to the table before this dish is gobbled up! Really they're that good! I did not know until today after looking creasy greens up that they had that much nutritional value in them. I also didn't know that you could eat them raw and are great in a salad. These greens are tender and are sweeter to me than some of the other winter greens. I also didn't know they are a winter green and grow through sub zero temps with little or no trouble even without protection. Creasy greens can be used in place of spinach. I can totally see this knowing how sweet the greens are to me. And definitely didn't know that it's available 3 seasons of the year and has 3 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges and twice as much vitamin A as broccoli according to www.localharvest.org 's product description

http://www.localharvest.org/upland-cress-creasy-greens-seed-C9734

(Barbarea verna BRASSICACEAE)

"Creasy greens" are an old favorite which are as easy to grow as spinach indoors or out, but is more cold tolerant than spinach. Produces rosettes of glossy, green leaves. These slow-bolting greens are popular in the South, and unprotected plants last all winter even in sub-freezing temperatures. Very easy to grow, even on clay soils. A highly nutritious green available 3 seasons of the year. Has 3 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges, and twice the amount of vitamin A as broccoli. Makes a nice topping for salads and can be used in quiche. 

 I copied and pasted for your convenience, but also pasted the link that goes directly to the seeds for purchase and their product description.

I had no idea all this time that they were this good for you! Grandpa Hash gets another brownie point for best Grandpa ever! Try and think about what vegetables that your Grandpa ate and served you as a kid and then look it up. You may be shocked as to how healthy some of those vegetables where?

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First spinach harvest for our turkey sandwiches!

Whelp! Today was the "big" day! We harvested fresh organically grown Spinach today! And nothing makes me more proud then watching my daughter grab a handful (her sized hand) of fresh vegetables especially spinach and puts it on her own sandwich. I mean the kid is just 3.5 and she won't eat a chicken nugget! On the rare occasion she's been given a fastfood cheeseburger out of necessity she will only eat the bun with ketchup. And she doesn't eat well out to eat unless it's breakfast food, so I guess the parents are doing alright after all. She's asked us in a parking lot if we could go home and eat in mommy's kitchen. No joke, the hubs will vouch. Just about made me cry walking on into the restaurant!

Harvesting the first spinach that we've ever successfully grown. Just about 15 steps from the kitchen door.

She put her own spinach on her own sandwich. And ate every piece of spinach!

Yep we grew all that dark green healthy stuff! And with NO chemicals! 

 

 

 

 

 

So proud of our little family, just trying to learn more and do better! I love you Savannah, my little garden buddy <3


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Seed starting

Our 2 -36 cell greenhouse kits came today

She picked out her spinach, lettuce, and dinosaur kale seeds. Mommy grabbed a bowl of water and a measuring cup for her to scoop out water. What 3 yr old turns down an opportunity to play in the water.

She's wetting down the peat pots and waiting for them to grow, so she can begin planting her seeds.  Galations 6:7 -Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

It constantly amazes me how a tiny dried up seed becomes something so beautiful! A 3yr old finger next to a spinach seed. God is SO amazing!

Okay, lettuce seeds are so tiny you can hardly pick them up, but yet with water, soil, and sun they grow into beautiful living things. God is SO amazing!

Planting all of the spinach herself. She only dropped one seed out of 36! She's awesome!

Well done my grasshopper! Mommy loves you and am so proud of you! She planted all 36 spinach seeds herself with quite precision. She's been planting seeds with her own hands and little fingers since she was 18 months old. I'm so proud of her excitement to learn and be apart of learning to grow her own healthy food. God gives us the ability to do more things than we would ever imagine that we're capable of, gardening and growing your own food is one of them. And it also gives you the ability to feed a friend, family, or the unknown that are in need of food.

72 seedlings begin there germination and life will start to emerge in about 7-10 days. We'll watch every day for the first sign of life peaking through. We got to discuss the "greenhouse effect" today. Although Ms. Amanda would have done a much better job I'm sure <3

Okay now there's just a flat out "root party" in the propagated rosemary bowl! Going to definitely transplant this weekend, so I can propagate more and develop these current prolongations into good future healthy transplants.

Egyptian Walking onion sprouting! First time ever planting. I'm excited!

Next omlet day it's fresh healthy organic spinach harvest day! Can't wait until we plant our 36 more spinach plants that Savannah and I started today! We'll be eating lots of fresh spinach, dehydrating, and freezing ahead for the next 5 months!!!

Our egg harvest for today

Spinach. First time grower. Long time lover!

I've never grown spinach. I've tried, but last year the seeds never germinated. So I'm gonna count this as the first time "actually growing" spinach. Walking outside yesterday to 50 degree weather, wind, rain, and soggy ground made me wish for spring. When I arrived at this vibrant green patch of spinach growing, it made me smile and feel a glimpse of the upcoming spring. A reminder that it's good we have all 4 seasons, even though I like to grow those summer veggie favorites like cucumber & tomatoes!



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