There is no need to get overwhelmed when you hear the world diet. Thanks to present day mainstream culture that encourages you to indulge mostly on processed and pre-made food, you only need a few adjustments that don’t require all that much effort and you will be back on track with healthy meals for you and your family.

Here are 7 steps you can take to green your diet:

1. Grow your own herbs

That is something you can do regardless whether you have a garden or not. Herbs can be grown in pots indoors in any season. You can store them in a freezer or dry them for later use. Then, use them for seasoning your meals or even to make herbal tea.

2. Boil your own stock

Instead of spending money on pre-made vegetable or meat stock from the store (usually with at least one preservative) you can boil your own and freeze it for later use. This will ensure a whole lot of nutrients enter your meals every time you cook instead of artificial coloring and additives.

3. Skip the can

Refuse canned food. The tin that makes up the cans contains Bisphenol-A also known as BPA, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

According to a hair-raising post on ecokaren about the food you should avoid at any cost:

Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”

What you can do instead is buy jarred food, or can it yourself in jars at home.

4. Eat fresh

Cooked vegetables lose their beneficial enzymes and their level of vitamins and minerals is considerably lowered. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits every day to increase your daily intake of vitamins and antioxidants fresh from their sources in stead of extracted and packed in pills.

5. Eat nuts

The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of nuts have been continually proving in the past years that they are beneficial for your metabolism, heart, diabetes and can even prevent cancer. Make sure that you include a handful of nuts a day to your diet.

6. Replace sugar

Sugar contributes to health problems such as weight gain, infertility, lowered immune function, and insulin resistance. Instead of concentrating on sugar, you can get your daily dose of sweet using some natural alternatives. Choose dark over milk chocolate and fruits over sweets. You can even replace white refined sugar with Stevia – the herb that is 300 times sweeter than sugar.

7. Read the fine print

Before you buy, read the label and make sure there aren’t any artificial ingredients, preservatives or MSG. If there are, however, you can go without and even better, you can find a way to make it at home.

Following these easy steps you will ensure a healthier lifestyle and soon you will not only increase your vitamin intake and gain control over your weight but in the meantime you will have saved money.

What are you doing to green your diet? Is there a step that I haven’t mentioned but you find life-saving?

 [Balanced diet photo and Vegetable dietary composition photo via Shutterstock]

More from GLI:

1. What Is An Organic Raw Food Diet?
2. Natural Living with a Raw Food Diet
3. Don't Let Thanksgiving Ruin Your Carbon Diet!

Maybe you’ve dreamt of building your own garden, but don’t yet have the means or space to do so. Guess what? You don’t even need soil to try the simplest way of growing food! All you need are some seeds.

Seed sprouting is gardening at its most basic – gardening you can do any time of year, any place you live, and with little or no gardening experience. ~ Alison Kerr

While you can sprout a variety of seeds, including lentils, mung beans, sunflower, or radish seeds, today we’ll try sprouting alfalfa. Different seeds will have different sprouting times, so be sure to read up on how your seeds sprout before starting.

Alfalfa sprouts are a good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Niacin and Calcium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Copper, and Manganese.

Toss them in salads for an extra little crunch, put them in your sandwich, wrap, or snack on them raw. Put them in your green smoothies and add them to your pasta salad.

What You Need

• 2-4 Tablespoons of alfalfa seeds (from online, gardening stores, or health food stores)
• a half-gallon jar
• screen for the jar (such as a clean wire mesh, cheesecloth, or pantyhose)

What To Do

Day One

• Take a look at your seeds. Toss out any that are broken or shriveled, and anything that’s not a seed.
• Rinse seeds well and place in the jar.
• Fill the jar with enough water to cover all the seeds. Affix the screen to the jar opening and let it soak overnight (8-12 hours).

Day Two

• Pour out all the water. Your screen will allow the water to flow through, while keeping the seeds inside.
• Rinse the seeds again by pouring water into the jar, shaking it up, and then pouring the water out through the screen.
• Be sure to shake well so all the water is gone. Too much moisture will induce rotting. It’s okay if they stick to the sides of the jar.
• Set the jar at an angle so the excess water drains out. Leave to sit. Keep out of direct sunlight.
• In the evening, rinse again.

Days Three and Four

Keep rinsing the seeds 2-4 times a day. As they begin to sprout and grow, the jar will fill up quickly.

Day Four or Five

• After four or five days, the seed hulls will start to break away from the leaves. They are now ready to harvest!
• Drain sprouts completely. Store them in the refrigerator, and enjoy!

Smell something funky? This means your seeds are either too wet or too warm, and something else is growing in there. Toss them and start over again, making sure to rinse more often. Try to keep them at around 70-80ºF.

Tutorial adapted from Uprooted.

[CC Image by Erin Collins via Flickr]

More from GLI:

1. Environmental Activists Plant Seed Balls in Abandoned Lots

Whether you are a newbie greenie or seasoned earth-lover, we can all use a little renewal on our vows to live and be green. 2012 brings a new year of opportunities to deepen your commitment to living lightly and growing the green movement.

As we look back on all that happened in 2011, sometimes we forgot to bring our reusable containers, missed an opportunity to enlighten and support others in their journey, or just held back for whatever reason to living more consciously.

Let’s forgive our imperfections, our mistakes and absent-mindedness, and allow ourselves to move forward with whatever habits and changes we’d like to incorporate into our lifestyle.

Time for Reflection

Before we pounce on those resolutions, take a moment to reflect on all the ups and downs that 2011 had to offer. Remember to reflect with compassion. You can’t change what’s already happened, so just take a good honest look, and don’t judge yourself for what you didn’t do. What did you make progress on, and what would you like to do better?

Renewed Commitments For 2012

Now for the fun part. What new green things will you try this year? And what habits will you commit to deepening? Here are some ideas to inspire your 2012 green resolutions.

1. Don’t buy bottled water. Bottled water is equivalent to filtered tap water, but many times more expensive. The top 2 easiest ways to reduce waste and plastic consumption are to bring your reusable bags and water bottles. Just keep bringing them!

2. Compost. Start your own worm bin compost or backyard pile.

3. Grow your own food. If you don’t have space, start an indoor container garden or join a community garden.

4. Use cloth pads and a moon cup. A woman’s moon cycle is a wonderful, life-giving process to be celebrated, not shunned or avoided. I know, this topic is a little gross and taboo. But if you can, try switching from disposable plastic, synthetic tampons and pads to reusable cloth pads and a cup. Some cups to choose from: Diva cup, Keeper cup, and Softcup.

5. Give up toxic cleaning products. Conventional cleaners contain harsh, resource-intensive, pollutive, and allergenic chemicals. Switch to plant-based, non-toxic, hypoallergenic products, or, even better, make your own.

6. Join a CSA. Support sustainable agriculture by becoming a stakeholder in an organic farm. You can subscribe to a program in Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, and receive a box of delicious, organic, and fresh vegetables and fruits for anywhere between $25-50 a box.

7. Give up paper towels. Start using cleaning rags instead.

8. Reduce. Go without when you can. Do you really need those new shoes? That new jacket? It’s snazzy, but if it’s sitting in your home without use, it’s using unnecessary resources. Even if it’s a green product, it’s not green if you’re not making good use of it.

9. Volunteer. Green living isn’t done for yourself. It’s for the community. Go out and help your community. In the meantime, you’ll have more opportunities to connect with like-minded people and talk about eco-friendly activities.

10. Become a solutionary activist or social entrepreneur. Already a pro at green living and want to do more? Instead of protesting, create solutions to the problems that you see. Start organizing your neighbors and friends to push for more sustainable policies in your community. If you’ve got a business or marketing streak, start your own social enterprise. Two ladies from {r}evolution apparel started their own sustainable design company, producing multi-functional clothing from recycled fabric.

The possibilities are endless! The only thing stopping you from deepening your commitment are your own limiting beliefs. Liberate yourself, and let your inner earth-lover out to play.

What are your 2012 New Year’s Resolutions?

[CC image by JoelMontes via Flickr]

More from GLI:

1. The Handmade and Upcycled Christmas Gift Guide 2012
2. Grants for Green Businesses

This list is by all means not conclusive –there are many other plants that work well together around the home to benefit the members of your family. If you have some good ones to add, let us know.

Alfalfa – This is an excellent plant for busting up hard clay soil. It also fixes the soil with nitrogen. Great to use with vermiculture for quickly transforming even the worst quality top soil into the  richest, most fertile soil possible.

Amaranth – There are some beneficial beetles that like amaranth, which also benefits sweet corn. Plant a fringe of amaranth next to your sweet corn patch. Amaranth is a very interesting grain that makes a yummy hot cereal, or jazzes up any bread recipe.

Anise – will repel aphids. Anise tends to host predatory wasps that will hunt many of the unwelcome types of insects.

Allium – use this near most vegetables (except beans and peas)  to repel aphids, carrot lifes, moles, weevils and tree borers. Allium can be part of a garden or tree border to help protect your plants from these pests.

Basil – helps to control flies, aphids, mosquitoes and mites. Great to use by asparagus and tomato plants for problems with hornworms or beetles.

Bay Leaves - not only can these be used to bring the awesome taste of fresh bay leaves to your soups and stews, the leaves help repel insects in general as they are growing. You can place any extra bay leaves around the kitchen (in the pantry) to repel roaches and ants.

Bee Balm – attracts beneficial bugs and bees, and improves the flavor of tomatoes.

Chamomile – plant chamomile around onions, cabbages and lettuces for better flavor. Chamomile is also wonderful for gently cleaning wounds (make a strong tea), as a shampoo additive to condition hair, or soothing tea to drink. Chamomile is also often used along with marigold as a border around gardens.

Chives – not only do chives add a delicious zip to any food, they repel many tomato and fruit pests, and are also known to enhance the flavor and growth of carrots.

Garlic - here’s another one that’s good everywhere, or as part of a border mix around the garden. Garlic repels practically everything -beetles, aphids, spider mites, weevils and borers.

Horseradish – encourages potato growth and has been shown to deter many types of potato bugs. Great to have on hand for a natural way to spice of the usual dishes.

Hyssop – deters cabbage moths around grapes and cabbage and may improve growth.

Lavender – this is a great ant repellent. Lavender can be used in teas, as a decorative element in flower arrangements, made into a tea or other solution for the homemade bath and beauty items. Lavender is a very useful and beautiful herb to have on hand. Plant with peppermint around the house foundation to discourage ant infestation.

Marigold – encourages the growth of tomatoes, strawberries, beans, roses and potatoes, as well as repels several types of insects and nematodes. Marigold should definitely be a part of any garden border mix.

Mint – fun herb to have on hand for cooking and cold drink making. Mint will improve the flavor and growth of nearby tomatoes and cabbage.

Mustard – is well known as a trap crop. Place it somewhat near cabbage, radishes, cauliflower or greens of any kind. It the mustard attracts an infestation, destroy the mustard. If not, you’ve got zesty mustard greens for salad, and veen dried mustard, depending on your dedication and abilities.

Nasturium – repels aphids, several kinds of beetles, squash bugs and white flies. Cucumber and squash benefit the most from nasturium.

Onion – is sort of like garlic in its generally efficient control of several types of pests. Onions repel cabbage moths, weevils, aphids, carrot flies, moles, rust flies, some nematodes and red spiders.

Oregano – benefits broccoli; repels cabbage moth.

Parsley – repels carrot flies, rose, and asparagus beetles. Plant near asparagus, carrots, tomato, and roses.

Peanuts – encourage the growth of squash and corn.

Peas - benefit corn by adding nitrogen.

Pennyroyal – deters ants, ticks, fleas, aphids and cabbage maggots. This is an excellent choice for a yard border, especially if you have pets. Also, cabbage, sprouts and broccoli will benefit directly from pennyroyal.

Peppermint – plant with lavender around the house to repel ants. Use peppermint for teas, cool drinks, headache slaves/lotions/ointments. Like lavender, peppermint can be very useful for making bath and body preparations.

Rosemary – repels mosquitoes as well as beetles, cabbage moths and slugs. Rosemary is another herb that’s great to use in a general border around the yard, or planted in pots around where people tend to hang out.

Rue – deters Japanese beetles; roses and raspberries will benefit.

Sage – tastes great, benefits carrots, and repels carrot flies an cabbage moths.

Soybeans – add nitrogen to the soil, so put them near corn or other nitrogen-sucker. Repels chinch bugs and Japanese beetles.

Savory – plant with beans to deter bean beetles and improve the growth and taste of beans.

Thyme – Useful near cabbage and in cooking. Repels cabbage maggots, cabbage moths and flea beetles.

Tomato – planted near roses will protect them from black spot.

Remember, starting a garden doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal. You can start as small as you want, with a potted herb garden. Using one of those Claw garden tools (you can get at any home or garden store) is actually pretty easy to use for putting in borders, and provides a good workout if you’re making long borders. Also a good tool for stirring up mulch near plant stems.

You might consider watering your plants via harvested rainwater.

Stevia Lemonade / Limeade

As I was trying to get rid of my artificial sweetener habit (particularly Crystal Light) I gravitated toward stevia, but it took a few adjustments to find the right drink and preparation to make it just right. Here’s what I’ve learned. If you have other suggestions, please share with us by leaving a comment.

For a long time I thought I had to make whole pitchers because that’s what I was used to, but discovered that it’s just as easy to make stevia lemon/lime -ade by the glass, and the stevia staid suspended much better this way (in a pitcher you have to stir it again each pour, or use liquid stevia). You’ll have to experiment to see what people like, but a good guideline is one whole lemon/lime per large tumbler.

And now for something a little more exciting:

Shrub

Shrub is a wonderful traditional type of naturally made fruit concentrate that is used to flavor water or other liquids. During the colonial era shrub was used to flavor soda water and several other soda fountain concoctions and cocktails. You can make your own using the simplest of ingredients and have full control over the quality. Buying organic and fair trade fruit are ways to make your shrub a truly green drink. Using stevia instead of sugar or replacing some sugar with stevia will also make your shrub healthier.

In case it comes in handy for those of you who wish to combine sugar and stevia, here is a stevia / sugar conversion chart:

Stevia / Sugar Conversion Chart

I like berry shrub the best, but sometimes add the juice of 6 lemons or limes to add a citrus flavor to the berries. Have you tried any other shrub variations or have a favorite recipe of your own?

The brown gravy version has a satisfying tamale flavor. The cream gravy version is, well creamy. Both dishes are surprisingly low in calories considering how tasty and satisfying they are. Very economical as well.