Choosing Fruit In The Winter

Satisfy your fruit cravings now even though it's winter. Many people say not to buy produce out of season. You can still enjoy fruit, It's just a matter of knowing which version is the healthiest and tastiest at this time of year.
In the winter, frozen or dried may be a better choice over fresh. Here's a guide to making the best picks now.
Blueberries: Buy them frozen.
Frozen blueberries are the petite wild version. They have been found to contain more antioxidents than the cultivated type.

Apples: Buy them fresh.
Apples are a top notch source of quercetin, an antioxidant known to slash the risk of cancer.

Peaches: Buy them frozen.
Frozen peaches are harvested at peak ripeness and quickly flash-frozen to lock in vitamins, antiixidants, and flavor.

Strawberries: buy them fresh.
Fresh or frozen strawberries are a leading source of vitamin C.

Cherries: buy them dried.
Dried cherries are high in beta-cerotine, which is a building block for vitamin A.
Be sure to pick dried cherries that are not sweetened with sugar.

Information taken from the December 2011 issue of "Health" magazine.

Benifits of a drink a day

Raise your glass to long-lasting good health: Women who are moderate drinkers(one to two alcoholic drinks a day) at midlife are more likely than nondrinkers to reach age 70 without having any
major chronic disease(including cancer, diabetes and heart disease) or major cognitive or physical impairment, according to a new Harvard study. What's more, the more often you drink, the better. Those who had one or two drinks 5 to seven days a week were much more likely to stay well into their golden years than those who drank only once or twice a week. Now there's a prescription we'll gladly stick to!
Article taken from the December 2011 issue of "Health" magazine.

Protein Packed Kale and Pasta

Ingredients:
1bunch of kale, rinsed and chopped.
1cup of peas
1 cup of white beans
Olive oil
1clove of garlic, chopped
The juice of 1 lemon
Whole grain shell pasta
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Cut seems off kale and boil until tender. Meanwhile, saute peas in olive oil for about 8 minutes. Add 1cup of white bean and garlic. Saute for another minute over medium heat.
Cook pasta as stated on the package.
Once finished strain pasta.
Strain cooked kale and mix both pasta and kale in bean mixture.
Season with salt and pepper and stir in the juice of one lemon.

We should always appreciate what we have and be thankful for those in our lives who truly care about us.

A treat for nature

Instead of tossing out your jack-o-lanterns, make a tasty treat for the animals instead.
Cut a circle where the face is on the pumpkin and place birdseed on the bottom. Set outside on the grass for animals to eat.