Supper beets

[CrealCritter]

I was watching a little TV (rare for me) with my DW (Damn or Dear Wife) and up comes this commercial for some kind of powdered beets called "Super Beets". For $39.95 you get this little jar of powdered beets that you can mix up in your drinks for a boost of energy. Have a read here ---> https://www.humann.com/getsuperbeets

Now granted us gardeners/homesteaders waste very very little and already know beets are awesome for you and yes adding just a little to whatever you drink really does give you a boost of energy and also puts you in a good mood too.

My "Super Beets" are a bi-product of canning beets for winter use. I scrub and wash my beets very well prior to boiling them to slip the skins. I skin them in the same pot of water I boil them in. When I'm done I strain the water and put it in quart jars and have my DW water bath the jars.

Granted My "Super Beets" are not a powder but it's some really good stuff. Just pour a little bit in to whatever you drink for almost instant boost of energy and mood change.

A few quarts of My "Super Beets" Concentrate.

And just a tad of My "Super Beets" Concentrate added to a glass of lemonade.

Their "Super Beets" $39.95

Which would you rather have?

 

[CrealCritter]

My parents use the super beets. My mom hates beets, they do have a garden but root vegetables can be difficult for them to manage (knee surgeries and all, still hard for them to get down on the ground). They aren't lazy. They just pick their battles. I think supplements are often better than taking medication.

Lazy... I stand corrected! If you can't, you cant. Thanks for keeping me honest

 

[baymule]

I used to sell chicken eggs and I still remember one lady that told me she wasn't going to buy my eggs anymore because "they're too orange!" She claimed they made all her baked goods look weird. *sigh*

You just can't fix stupid....

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I really like beets. I planted two rows of them yesterday. When I was a kid, my mom used to make beet jelly. Prettiest jelly you've ever seen. It was my favorite kind. We've been looking for the recipe for years.

I do also use supplements, because face it, I can be a really lazy cook sometimes. I'd much much much rather be outside doing almost anything than be stuck inside cooking. I'm the first one up in the morning, and DH and DS rarely eat breakfast, so I sometimes just make up a healthy shake, or a cup of yogurt with healthy stuff dumped in. It's fast, and I don't have to do a lot of dishes. If I'm outside working on something, I often lose track of time, and hate to have to stop for something like making lunch. I'm very productive until I stop and sit down... Granted, this is when DH is at work, and DS is now old enough to make his own meals...
My husband is a FABULOUS cook (his only brother was a certified chef), lucky for me! My kids call me a "tin can connessiouer" (I have no clue how to spell that!) The joke around our house is that we "survive" on my cooking, and "thrive" on his. I'm ok with that.

 

[Mini Horses]

I keep some protein shakes at hand. Often, coffee, feed animals, change clothes & go to work. That protein is my breakfast. Sometimes it is lunch if I'm running around at farm working. Bolthouse chocolate is really tasty! Large size more cost effective, pour in a glass or smaller bottle and go! MOST days I eat, home cooked, homemade & healthy, raw milk, home cheese, etc,

I prefer to "eat" but sometimes no time. I do take a couple supplement pills each AM. Vinpocetine & turmeric, plus Krill Oil every 3rd day or so. There is a difference if I don't take. Vinpocetine helps with blood & oxygen, so brain isn't foggy....yeah, old age thing. I have very low BP & take no meds, no need. That's a good thing. Still work outside jobs plus do farm (15 acres, 30 head livestock & 60-70 chickens) --- Stretch exercise each morn & probably walk 2 miles a day. I work doing resets, so move a lot, climb ladders, lift product. Still load my own animal hay/feed, repair/install fence, gates, etc.

KEEP active...as long as you can.
If I could just outrun wrinkles!

 

[CrealCritter]

Home grown, beets store bought processed powdered crap.

My point EXACTLY!!!

 

[CrealCritter]

That's true of so many things - why don't people THINK???

Many have no idea. I mean, powdered kale, powdered beets? We grow these and eat them fresh --- don't tell!
Some just have tooo much free $$$.

I don't know if people have more $$$ than brains or if they are just lazy and don't want to put in a garden and can? All the dependancy on processed food nowadays is simply crazy. Even my MIL & FIL won't eat the eggs that my chickens lay, let alone chicken that I raised and butchered. They say "it's not natural". Which is the most lame assed excuse I ever heard... if they would only understand what kind of conditions factory chickens live in they might understand natural from unnatural... But you know I have to be nice to the in laws.

We did have a interesting conversation about watermelons recently - that left them scratching their heads. They like the sugar baby water melons I grow but "all those seeds". After a lengthy discussion about seedless watermelons. We ended our conversation by me asking how do you grow a watermelon that doesn't have seeds and is it really a watermelon or is it an it? That left them wondering what was cooked up in a laboratory that they enjoy eating so much.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Wow, this thread has taken on a life of its own!
@crealbilly thank you so much for starting this with so much detail and pictures. I apologize for helping to highjack your thread. It has been years since I was able to have a real garden and this spring's garden didn't do well. I am really looking forward to my beets growing (along with the peas and broccoli I just planted.) I'm very fortunate to be able to plant two gardens a year here.
My family has a history of high blood pressure, and beet juice is one of the best things a person can drink for that. I really do prefer the real food, and am so very impressed with your garden and pictures. (I really like that this site covers so many different topics...) I am really hoping to have some beets later this fall to can. A daily dose of beet juice might not be what the doctor ordered, but it might just be what I need to stay out of his office.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm going to throw out a warning here... Several years ago after juicing some very healthy ingredients....apples, carrots, fresh from the garden beets, I had a very severe reaction. Everything I used was organic and/or home grown.

It was a very hot day and I had been outside mowing, weeding and was overheated and thirsty. I made juice. What could be more healthy, right? Within a minute or so of my first drink of "healthy" juice my throat started feeling scratchy... so I drank more juice. Another minute goes by and I'm dizzy, nauseous, feel like I'm about to pass out and can't even call out for DH. I managed to get from the kitchen to the living room and still can't speak so I knocked on the wall to get his attention. Being the nurse that he is - he takes one look at me and says we're going to the ER. Being the stubborn person that I am - I said no - I just want to get in a tub of cool water (because I'm thinking I'm hot and I want to cool off). Or maybe not thinking, lol. I get in the tub - start shaking violently, vomit in the water, get out and off to the ER we go.

I had oxalate poisoning from the fresh beet juice. Oxalates are the same thing in the house plant "dumb cane" (which accounts for the vocal cord problems) and in rhubarb leaves. Excess oxalates can also do kidney damage.

Let me just say that you DON'T want to experience what I experienced.

I am a firm believer in healthy eating - and I still think juicing has its place for some folks. Just be careful.

Further research seemed to indicate that my ratio of beet juice was too high and the beets were too fresh. The beets you get in a grocery store are usually ok - because they are anything but fresh, lol.

A lot of times I'll say I had an allergic reaction to beets - but in reality - that's not true. I had a reaction to the oxalic acid in the beets.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Just to clarify - what I experienced wasn't from a large quantity of nutrients - it was due to the oxalic acid (oxalic acid = poison) contained in the food. Oxalic acid is also implicated as contributing to kidney stones and is considered to be an "anti-nutrient."