Best Way to Ripen, Cut, & Preserve an Avocado
Either in guacamole, as a replacement for mayo on a sandwich, or just plain with a little bit of salt, avocados are delicious and nutritious! Full of fiber, potassium, folate, vitamins K, C, B6, E, and monounsaturated fat, avocados are great for blood pressure and blood sugar control, as well as for keeping belly fat down. Do you need any more reasons to indulge?
Sunflower Seeds: Brain Boost
Sunflower seeds do more than give a satisfying crunch; they improve our health! They are totally delicious AND loaded with some heavy-hitting nutrients that are especially good for our brain power.
Arugula: A Rock Star Green
Arugula isn't just delicious. It’s also brimming with health-protecting nutrients. In fact, arugula strengthens your bones and may make exercising easier. These rock star rockets may even help keep your brain sharp and smelling better.
Seafood News Flash!
Contrary to previous recommendations, new government guidelines recommend that everyone, especially pregnant and breastfeeding women and children, consume seafood two to three times per week! Seafood contains nutrients that are difficult to find in other foods that most people aren't getting enough of.
Powerful Papaya
I’m so glad that I’ve given papaya another chance. Not only can I enjoy its delicious taste, but now I can take full advantage of the wonderful health benefits. With 144% of daily value of vitamin C in one cup of papaya, along with a good dose of folate, vitamin A, magnesium, potassium, copper, vitamin E, and choline, papaya can boost our immune system to help us fight sickness.
Build a Bowl: Easy Grain Bowl Formula
Are you in a rice, pasta, or potato rut, and searching for delicious, simple ways to eat more whole grains? Grain bowls, the west coast's healthy obsession, are a perfect solution! These aren’t too unfamiliar, given that Chipotle’s best-selling item, their burrito bowl, is just a Mexican version of a grain bowl. These bowls are the ideal way to make a fast, tasty DIY meal using leftovers and ancient whole grains, any time of the day. Cooked whole grains like farro, barley, brown or black rice, or quinoa keep for about five days in the refrigerator, so you can prepare them in advance in a rice cooker or on the stove top and use them throughout the week as the base ingredient of this tasty new trend, in various combinations.It's so easy for quick, causal restaurants to put together a burrito bowl or a rice bowl right in front of you – you tell them what you like, and they throw it in a bowl. It's not much harder to do this at home, and it may just become your go-to weeknight staple. Make variations using one or a mixture of whole grains as a base, and then top it with ingredients that combine different textures and a balance of flavors between salty, sweet, and acidic. In other words, use my simple Grain Bowl Formula below to build the best bowl ever!
Red Grapefruit Strength
You were probably thinking chocolate for Valentine’s Day, but since red grapefruits are so amazing for you, maybe you could throw some in the festivities. After all, it is national grapefruit month, and they are pretty red inside! Their powerful nutrients boost the immune system, fight cancers with gusto, decrease the risk of heart disease, and even give us an edge in the battle to lose weight. Named by how they grow in clusters like grapes, this deliciously tart yet sweet fruit may be a much-needed health reprieve for your body after gorging on Superbowl and Valentine goodies.
2016 Pulse Pledge
Do you really want to improve your health this year? If the answer is YES, then take the Pulse Pledge! Pulses, defined as dry peas, lentils, and beans (including chickpeas) are the focus of the recently-launched United Nations International Year of Pulses. Why? Because they are a nutritious, sustainable, inexpensive, versatile, and tasty source of food for people around the world.
Colorful Carrots
Carrots aren't only orange. In fact, purple, red, and yellow carrots are commonly eaten around the world. We have been a little slow in America to take advantage of these inviting, rainbow-colored carrots. It's not too late to join the fun and cash in on all the different phytonutrients that these various colors offer.
Black Rice: The Emperor's Rice
This royal rice is the rice to eat! In fact, it's known as Forbidden Rice in China since black rice was so rare, tasty, and nutritious that only the emperors were allowed to eat it. This nutritious rice isn't forbidden anymore, so we can all take advantage of its amazing nutrition and disease-protective power.
Grape Greatness
We've all heard that red wine is beneficial to our health, but it’s actually the grapes used to make wine that provide such amazing health benefits. These delicious berries may even help us live longer.
Plant-Based Protein Boost: Hemp Seeds
This high-protein seed is commonly confused with marijuana, but it's actually from a different plant in the same family. Although it doesn't contain the psychoactive substance found in marijuana, it is loaded with impressive nutrients.
Sweet Soothing Cherries
Life is sweeter with cherries, and it appears to be healthier too. They appear to reduce risk of diseases like cancer, to reduce hypertension and harmful inflammation, and to relieve sleepless nights and muscle aches. Cherries are the perfect addition to your diet!
Spring Health Boost: Pineapple Upside Down
Encourage great skin, strong bones, a healthier immune system, better digestion, and happier taste buds by indulging in this naturally sweet, juicy treat.
Pomegranates: The Crown Jewel of Superfoods
Pomegranates are a part of many cultures around the world and are often symbolic of good fortune, abundance, and as in Persian wedding ceremonies, a joyous future. That seems fitting, since they contain so many powerful nutrients that improve health for a happier future.
The Artichoke Baby Boom
Keep your eyes peeled for baby artichokes during May for a real treat. Given that artichokes have an amazing antioxidant content, a delicious flavor, and awesome nutritional value, you will want to start eating them all the time.
Oatmeal: Breakfast of Champions!
If you are looking for a great-tasting food that can help you begin your day with lasting energy, lose weight, fight disease, and stabilize your blood sugars, eat oatmeal! It's high in dietary fiber, quality protein, and vitamins and minerals, as well as phytonutrients. It is the breakfast of champions!
Marvelous Mushrooms
Mushrooms are packed with phytonutrients that help the immune system fight sickness and prevent unwanted inflammation. They're also full of vitamins and minerals not usually found in vegetables, and this is all in addition to a wonderful, savory taste, with lots of fiber and few calories.