Summer Doesn't Have to be the PITS!

Summer is almost here and that means those beautiful cherries hit our supermarket shelves!  Our family devours cherries during the summer, so I needed an easy way to pit our mounds of cherries. 

 I am obsessed with the cherry pitter!  

It's one of those gadgets you see in the store

 and think I would never use that. 

 Oh yes, you would, and it makes summer life a little easier.  

  

Cherries juice can stain and splatter everywhere when pitting. For easy clean up pit your cherries in a plastic bag, so pits and juice stay in one place. 

Gloves optional

Hurry cherries are only in season from June - August.  Make sure you remove steams and wash cherries before pitting.  I try to buy organic cherries when available, but they can be quite costly, so if buying conventional make sure to soak in fruit wash before eating.

You can purchase a cherry pitter at most grocery and kitchen stores.

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Swap the traditional Valentine's "treats" for delicious and fun to make dark chocolate dipped strawberries. Conversation hearts are loaded with artificial colors

(FDC Red #3, Red #40, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Blue #1).

 A little box of Russell Stover chocolates (3 very small pieces) have over 27 grams of sugar.  

Reese's peanut butter heart is packed with unhealthy oils and preservatives.

 Your kids will love to help make these juicy delights that are loaded with antioxidants.

Organic Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

 2 ounces of dark chocolate 

 12 organic strawberries, washed and dried well

  1/3 cup of finely chopped nuts (optional) 

1.  Place dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Stir until melted.
2.  Line baking sheet with wax paper. One at a time dip strawberries in the melted dark chocolate, twirling to coat. 
3. At this time, you can sprinkle the chocolate covered portion with your favorite nuts. 
4.  Chill strawberries in fridge for at least 15 minutes to set, but no longer or they will collect moisture drops on the chocolate.

Why Organic Strawberries for Valentine's Day?  

Thanks to People's RX for this great info.

• Conventional strawberries are one of the 12 Dirty Dozen Foods.
• The USDA Pesticide Data Program discovered 39 pesticides in conventionally grown strawberries. 7 are know/probable carcinogens, 18 are suspected hormone disruptors, 11 are neurotoxins & 6 are developmental & reproductive toxicants.
• Rinsing strawberries does NOT eliminate pesticide exposure.

If you don't have the time to make your own chocolate dipped strawberries,  you can always order them from People's RX.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.

  

Immune Boosting Salad Dressing

 We're in the thick of cold and flu season, so I try to pump up the vitamin C in my family's diet.  

This immune boosting recipe is a take off from Dr. Fuhrman's recipe seen on Dr. Oz and in his book Super Immunity....a must read.

Orange Cashew Dressing

Orange Cashew Dressing 

1/4 cup of unhulled sesame seeds

1/4 cup of raw cashews (I always use more to make it creamier) 

1/2 cup of orange juice 

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar 

Use either freshly squeezed OJ or from the carton

Toss the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium - high heat for 3 minutes, shaking the pan almost continuously.   In a blender or Vitamix, add all ingredients and blend until creamy. Pour over some leafy greens and add some cut up kiwis and you have a salad boosting with vitamin C.  So easy our son made the last batch minus toasting the sesame seeds. 

Toast sesame seeds for three minutes or until golden brown.

Blend until creamy

Great for dipping since most kiddos won't eat salads.

Other foods with high vitamin C content:
Kiwi
Spinach
Peppers
Grapefruit
Tomatoes
Guava
Broccoli
Strawberries
Kale
Goji Berries - add to smoothies
Just to name a few........


Other ways to help your kids stay healthy during this  sick season:
frequent hand washing
Elderberry
vitamin D
probiotics
and a prayer

I am no expert, just a Mom who is passionate about learning more about the relationship between food and good health.