Health & Nutrition: Healthy Fruits & Vegetables
We all know that they are good for us, but do you know how and why? Plus, discover the great variety and abundance in our own modern market places.
Apples: Core Nutrition
If you watch what you eat, apples must be a part of your diet! The average American eats approximately 120 apples a year. It may not be a nutritional standout in the fruit bowl but if eaten as one of 2 to 4 servings of fruit per day, it will provide you with respectable amounts of fiber, some Vitamin C, beta carotene (if you eat the peel), potassium, and boron. The fruit is fibrous, juicy, and non-sticky, making it a good tooth cleaner.
Enjoying Summer Fruits
Most everyone loves fruit due to their sweet taste and the fact that they are relatively low in calories! Drupes, or fruits with a single stone or pit, are great summer fruits that include apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums. They are sweet, juicy, and fairly fragile. Beta carotene, Vitamin C, Potassium, and Fiber are key nutrients this group of fruit provides. Cherries are also considered drupes but contain fewer nutrients per ounce than their larger cousins.
Read more....Melons-Another Great Idea From Nature
As the summer blossoms before us, a whole array of melons are available for us to enjoy. Although cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew melons are the best known melons, there is a wide variety of others to experiment with, such as the Casaba, Crenshaw, Persian, and Santa Claus. Listed below are some types you may find available at the supermarket or the farmer’s market.
Read more....Melons-Shopping, Storing, and Serving Tips
Buying the best looking and tasting melon is not always an easy job! Some tips to remember may help make the selection just a little easier.
Read more....It’s Berry Time!
Berries are fun to eat. They’re small, juicy and low in calories. The various types range from 50 to 70 calories per cup so you don’t have to worry about overindulging! Many berries are sufficiently sweet for eating raw; others can be cooked and sweetened to make compotes, relishes, and preserves.
Read more....Exotic Fruits from Home and Around the World
As the world seems to grow smaller each and every day, we are finding a greater variety of exotic fruits in the supermarket today. Tropical fruits come from climates that have warm rain and bright sunshiny days. They are known for their high nutritional value, special shapes, colors, and flavors. Once you learn to recognize, buy, and prepare them, you will be amazed at their versatility.
Read more....A Closer Look at Tropical Fruits
A description of some of the tropical fruits you can find in your local grocery store and their health benefits.
Read more....Tomatoes-Abundance of Summer
Summer is here and the tomatoes are growing. Every year the gardener tries to come up with new ways to serve that ever popular vegetable...or fruit? Botanically it is a fruit--a berry--but was named a vegetable in 1883 by the Supreme Court due to a tariff dispute.
Read more....We’re Talking Sweet Potatoes!
The sweet potato has become an important component in menu planning. This tuberous root is one of the most nutritious foods in the vegetable kingdom. It is a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, and a medium source for fiber. It also possesses an intense natural sweetness due to an enzyme that converts most of its starch to sugars as the potato ripens. Because of its rich flavor, the sweet potato is often thought to be high in calories, but in reality a 5-inch baked sweet potato contains only 120 calories--no more than a white potato.
Read more....Discover the Goodness of Asparagus
Asparagus, a member of the lily family, was first cultivated about 2500 years ago in Greece. The name is a Greek word, meaning stalk or shoot. The Greeks believed asparagus was an herbal medicine which would cure toothaches and prevent bee stings. Today we know it as nutrient-dense food.
Read more....The Versatility of Squash
What to do with the great abundance when your garden has a bumper crop of squash? That really is quite easy due to its versatility! Squash can be used in soups, to enhance salads, entrees such as stir-fry’s or stuffed with bread crumbs, to make moist quick breads and muffins, in vegetable dishes with corn or tomatoes, and even desserts.
Sweet Corn
When we slip into those lazy, hazy days of summer, the corn has reached “an elephant’s eye” and is ready to eat! Corn is one of America’s favorite foods; especially in the summer months, when it is fresh from the fields
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