Category: Healthy Fall Foods

Fourteen Seasonal Fruits And Veggies For Fall

Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables - Fruits and Veggies for Fall - shutterstock_152970545

The fall season brings a great variety of fruits and vegetables that can help you stay on track with your healthy eating plan.  Eating seasonally not only offers great taste, it usually offers a lower price per pound and the opportunity to support local farmers.  That’s what I call a win-win.  🙂

This fall, I encourage you to explore local farmer’s markets, roadside stands, and grocery stores for an abundance of good eats this time of year. To help you get started, here’s a list of in-season fruits and vegetables and ideas on how to incorporate them in your weekly diet.

TRY THESE TASTY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR FALL

1) Apples. Harvest Season: August-November.

Apples make great on-the-go snacks. Use them in salads, with savory dishes like pork chops or chop them up and put them in yogurt.

2) Dates. Harvest Season: September-December.

Dates are great in baked goods. Try chopping up a few for your oatmeal or over the top of frozen yogurt. For savory dishes, try doing a search for middle eastern recipes that include dates.

3) Grapefruit. Harvest Season: September-April.

Add over greens, squeeze fresh for a healthy juice, or eat this fruit in its fleshy form just like an orange.

4) Kiwi. Harvest Season: September-March.

Kiwis are a great way to spice up a fruit salad or a smoothie.  They make a wonderful dessert on their own.  If you want something a bit more decadent, try pairing them with a small serving of ice cream.

5) Pears. Harvest Season: August-February.

Pears are one of my favorites because they are so versatile. This fruit is great as part of a snack, added to mixed greens, used in savory dishes, or poached with a bit of cinnamon for a low-cal healthy dessert.

6) Tangerines. Harvest Season: November-April

Add these sweet little treats to yogurt, pack them in lunches, snack on them, use as a dessert, or add them to a salad.

7) Brussel Sprouts. Harvest Season: September-March.

I must confess, it took me awhile to like these wonderful little cabbages.  Now, they are one of my favorites this time of year.  Try roasting brussel sprouts with olive oil, or sauteing with butter and garlic. Serve with roasted meat and mashed potatoes.

8) Cauliflower. Harvest Season: September-June.

Use cauliflower to make fantastic soups, mix it in your stir-fries, or serve steamed with other vegetables as a side. You can also chop up cauliflower with other veggies and serve it with a healthy yogurt dip for parties.

9) Squash. Harvest Season: October-February

There are so many varieties of squash and ways to prepare them. Try them steamed, stir-fried, or in soups. I’ve even used butternut squash to make a lower calorie bechamel sauce for mac and cheese.

10) Pumpkin. Harvest Season: October-February.

Pumpkin is used mostly in desserts like pies and cakes. You can use it for waffles, pancakes, and breads.  However, pumpkin soup is delicious and I’ve even had pumpkin raviolis.  You can get really creative with pumpkin.  Just like with the dates, try doing a search online for interesting pumpkin recipes.

11) Sweet Potatoes. Harvest Season: September-December.

Sweet potatoes are not just for Thanksgiving Day anymore and they are a fantastic complex carbohydrate.  Roast them.  Make mashed sweet potatoes, or baked french fries. If you’re cooking for 1-2 people, you can save time in the kitchen by microwaving a large sweet potato.

12) Turnips. Harvest Season: September-April.

Try these tasty root vegetables roasted with olive oil or in stews.

13) Parsnips. Harvest Season: October-April.

Add parsnips to other root vegetables and puree for a sweeter soup, or roast with potatoes and carrots for a wonderful blend.

14) Rutabaga. Harvest Season: October-April.

Honestly, I haven’t cooked with this one yet. I discovered it when researching my list for this article. It’s a cross between a turnip and a cabbage. Suggested uses include roasting, or adding to casseroles and soups along with turnips and carrots. I’ll report. You decide.  🙂

When meal planning this fall, decide which seasonal fruits and vegetables you’d like to incorporate into your healthy eating plan and use lower calorie nutrient dense recipes that include these foods as ingredients. You can find great low-cal seasonal recipes on websites like Cooking Light and Eating Well.  If you are a little old school like I am and enjoy looking through recipe books I recommend purchasing a monthly subscription to a healthy cooking magazine.  The cost is minimal and having a variety of seasonal recipes to choose from takes the boredom out of meal time.

Have fun experimenting with healthy seasonal foods. Browse your produce stand and farmer’s market. When eating out, ask your food server what’s fresh — and depending where you live — ask what’s local on the menu.

Please feel free to share any great seasonal recipes or snack ideas you come up with. I love to hear from you!

Blessings to you and yours!
Jennifer

How to Limit Consuming Pesticides From Produce

Concerned about pesticides on your produce? You’re not alone! Buying organic fruits and vegetables is a great way to limit pesticides in your body. However, cost and/or availability can be a barrier to eating 100% organic. Here are some facts that will help when you’re faced with the choice of conventional (non-organic) or organic.

Three Simple Tips to Limit Pesticides From Produce

 

1. Remember that eating conventional produce is still better for you than not eating it at all. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet and should be consumed daily.

2. Whether you shop completely organic for your home or not, you don’t always have control over the choices when you are out and about. This is when it’s helpful to know which conventional produce is considered “cleaner” than others.

Use this helpful guide! The Environmental Working  Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce has recently updated information on 45 popular fruits and vegetables and their total pesticide loads. This guide can help you choose from what’s available in your local market.

Highlights from the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce:

 

The Dirty Dozen are the highest offenders in conventional produce per the EWG.

Here they are:

apples

celery

sweet bell peppers

peaches

strawberries

nectarines, imported

grapes

spinach

lettuce

cucumbers

blueberries, domestic

potatoes

Good news!  These yummy 15 were found to be the cleanest!

onions

sweet corn

pineapples

avocado

cabbage

sweet peas

asparagus

mangos

eggplant

kiwi

cantaloupe, domestic

sweet potatoes

grapefruit

watermelon

mushrooms

See any of your favorites on the dirty list? You may want to consider switching anything considered high in pesticide loads to organic — or ask your local produce provider how the produce was grown. Some smaller growers will go pesticide free without applying for an expensive organic label in order to keep the cost of the food down. For access to the complete “Shopper’s Guide,” go to the EWG website. 

3. Another option is to use a wash for fruits and vegetables to remove residue. These washes can be found in most grocery stores.

Good Reasons to Limit Pesticides

 

While it’s impossible to get through life without being exposed to toxins from time to time, my gut says it’s a good idea to avoid them as much as possible. Current research is linking certain pesticide residues to cancer and damage to the nervous system in humans. I think it’s important to keep these studies in mind when developing your healthy eating plan.

Have a question or something you’d like to share? Please leave a comment below. I enjoy hearing from you.

To your health!

Jennifer

 

Boost Your Immune System to Fight Off Colds and Flu!

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Stay well this Fall and Winter!

Fall is officially here and that also means “cold and flu” season is approaching as well.  Nobody likes being sick, and I’m sure you don’t have the time for it either. You can fight off catching a cold or flu by taking some simple steps to boost your immune system.

The words immune boosting  have been used so often for mass marketing that it’s hard to know what really works. The tips I’m sharing below are not theory. They are my own personal immune boosting secrets. My clients can vouch for me when I tell you it’s very rare for me to even catch a cold.

Use these proven tips to build your immune system!

1)  Vitamin D.  Researches believe that one of the reasons we catch colds during the winter months is a lack of Vitamin D.  Make sure you are getting outside when the weather allows.  Ask your doctor to check your Vitamin D levels. Your doctor may recommend that you take a Vitamin D supplement to help boost your immune system.

2)  Eat immune boosting foods! Yes, there are foods that help boost your immune system. Broccoli, almonds, cabbage, watermelon, garlic, spinach, sweet potatoes, button mushrooms, oysters, yoghurt, wheat germ, acai berry, elderberry, and grapefruit are all considered to be immune boosting foods.  Incorporate these foods into your daily diet. Look for recipes that include them and get creative with snack choices.

Variety is important when choosing foods for their nutritional value. Each food offers its own unique benefit. Avoid buying into the marketing hype around one magic food that can do it all.

3)  Get enough sleep! Per WebMD, the average adult needs 7 to 8.5 hours of sleep per night. Lack of sleep can compromise your immune system, making you more vulnerable to colds, flu, and other more serious illnesses.

4)  Exercise! Moderate exercise is proven to boost the immune system. Studies have also shown that thirty minutes of moderate exercise can improve your sleep as well.

5)  Hit the coffee shop! Coffee and tea are both rich in antioxidants. Studies have shown that they can fight off illnesses when consumed in moderation. Too much caffeine can interrupt sleep and cause your body more harm than good. It seems that some people metabolize caffeine quicker than others. If you know it keeps you up at night, you may want to limit consumption to the morning hours.

Years ago I heard the words of a very wise nutrition expert Dr. Peter Levy.  They were so powerful! He said,  “60% of all symptoms in people could be easily reversed with proper nutrition and exercise.”  I believe with all of  my heart that he’s right.

Have any immune boosting tips you’d like to share? Please comment below! I really love hearing from you!

To a healthy Fall and Winter season!

Jennifer