6 Tricks to Choosing the Best Watermelon
Watermelons are a healthy and refreshing treat in the summertime! If you spend time and effort picking out a watermelon and slicing it up, you want it to be sweet and amazing! Here are five tricks to pay attention to when buying a watermelon, to ensure a delicious watermelon every time.
How Your Valentine's Breakfast Can Enhance Your Romantic Evening
Some people starve themselves during the day to “save calories” for their special meal. You're more vulnerable to overeat at dinner if you come incredibly hungry and food deprived. Feeling uncomfortably full can sabotage the rest of your romantic evening with your sweetie. You may not know that the type of breakfast you eat can help you from overindulging in the evening. Summary: eating breakfast on Valentine’s Day will help your romantic night out!
5 Ways to Enjoy Holiday Eating Without Sabotaging Your Weight
How many of you gorge yourself with food over the holidays with the thought that you will go on a strict diet the following day, Monday or even the next year? It's an all-or-nothing mentality that ends up making you heavier overall, less healthy, and disappointed with yourself. If you watch your weight, you know what I'm talking about! I have five tips to help you to enjoy your holiday food without sabotaging your weight or your mental state.
Plum Surprise!
Jack Horner was on to something; plums are delicious any way you eat them, and are especially good for your bones, blood sugars, waist size, cronic disease risk, and even your memory.
A New Look at Labels
Have you noticed any food label changes yet? Exciting things are coming with the new FDA food label requirements!
The Real Fruit Truth
I’m challenging you this month to replace processed sugar and sweet treats with fruit! Many people equate fruit with white sugar, claiming it to be just as bad. THIS ISN'T TRUE! I'm regularly told, "I'm skipping fruit and sugar as part of my diet plan," as if it's the same thing. If you are someone who thinks this, please keep reading!
Make Your Salads Healthier!
My challenge this month is to eat leafy greens every day. Even though this month is almost over, don't stop eating those greens! Make it a habit for life to help decrease cognitive decline as you age, boost your health, and keep body fat off.To help with this challenge, this week's Tuesday Tip addressed some tricks for making salads more nutritious. Here are the tips in a nutshell:
Oyster October
"Les Poisson, les poisson, 'ow I looove les poisson!" That Little Mermaid song is dang funny even if it is somewhat macabre... October is National Seafood Month! If you're new to Foods with Judes, you will soon find out I have a great love for our underwater friends, both to protect and to eat! Seafood has extremely positive effects on our health and brain function. You can learn more about why this is true, in addition to other clarifying mercury tidbits in a previous article, "Seafood Newsflash." I could go on for days about health benefits of different kinds of seafood, but this month's healthy challenge will focus particularly on oysters. Don't worry - you don't have to eat them raw.
Fairytale Eggplants
I'm enchanted by the beautiful baby eggplants I found at the farmer's market in downtown Durham a couple of days ago. In addition to being the most adorable things ever, they are called "fairytale eggplants!" Whoever magically shrunk them did us all a favor. They have tender skins and only a few seeds. They're sweet and firm without the mushiness and bitterness found in the mama-sized eggplants. So for all of you who love eggplant and even those who don't, these ethereal fruits are for you.
Judes' Healthy Choices at Restaurants
This post is the first of a new miniseries I call "Lunch Date" that demonstrates my healthy choices at various restaurants. As you see my healthful choices, hopefully, it will help you in your restaurant decisions.
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.
Blood Oranges: Winter Detox
Eat half of your meals and snacks in fruits and vegetables for your daily “detox cleanse” and don’t forget to eat a variety of colors, including bright and dark colors. Blood oranges are a perfect winter fruit full of these powerful phytonutrients and lots of vitamin C to boot. Take February’s Healthy Challenge and eat blood oranges while they’re still in season.
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.
Fabulous Flax
It’s surprising that before now, I haven’t chosen flax seed as one of my monthly Healthy Challenge foods since I started my blog more than six years ago. It’s oozing with valuable nutrients that we have a difficult time getting in our diet, but that truly make a difference to our health.
Southern Okra Fun
Okra is full of valuable phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and you don't need to fry it to make it delicious! Instead, try roasting it to create an appealing texture so you can enjoy this delicious southern vegetable.
Peanut Health Punch
Peanuts aren’t actually nuts, but they do have the heart benefits that nuts have, with some bonus value. Peanuts are most closely related to beans and lentils. They may even make you healthier, leaner, and smarter over a lifetime. Interestingly enough, it may be the peanut itself that prevents peanut allergies from developing.