Tips For Keeping Healthy Food Fresh And Tasty

When you're on a diet it's hard to avoid the problems that come with keeping fresh fruits and vegetables. With a very little keep time, most of us can't get through all of the fresh fruits and veggies before they go bad. There are ways to keep them fresher longer, and below I list some top tips to help you do just that:

1. If you bananas are very ripe, freeze them for a tasty treat.

2. Perforated plastic bags work well to ripen fruits. The bag retains the ethylene gas fruits produce to help them ripen, and the holes allow for some air movement.

3. Toss a quart or two of freshly cut fruit with the juice of half a lemon to prevent the fruit from becoming dark.

4. To get more juice from you lemons, store them whole in a close jar of water in the refrigerator.

5. If your bread becomes dry, you can bring ti back to life by wrapping it in a damp towel and placing it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

6. Place a rib of celery in the bread bag to keep bread fresher longer.

7. Wrap crackers tightly and store in the fridge to keep them crisp even in humid weather.

8. When you cook corn, don't add salt to the water-it makes corn tough.

9. Do you want to peel a bunch of potatoes in advance but are afraid they'll turn black or spoil before you use them? Add a few drops of vinegar to cold water, cover your peeled spuds with it, and refrigerate, and they'll last three to four days.

10. Re-bake leftover baked potatoes by dipping them in water for five seconds and then baking them for about 20 minutes at 35 degrees.

11. Rinse frozen vegetables with boiling-hot water before preparing them to eliminate the frozen water in which they came.

12. Get more kernels popped in your popcorn by storing it in the freezer and then pooping without thawing, or by running ice cold water over the kernels before you pop them.

These 12 tips should keep your foods nice and fresh and should enhance their taste and texture. Try and use these tips to aid in your weight loss efforts. When you can eat more healthy food because it tastes better (than your "danger" foods like processed foods and junk foods) then weight loss becomes not only easy but fun!

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Fresh Fruit Salad - A Fast Healthy Breakfast and Dessert Idea

Looking for a simple, healthy and fast breakfast or dessert idea? A fresh fruit salad is the perfect choice. This simple fruit salad with just a few ingredients is easy to prepare and delicious every time. With some simple ingredient exchanges and serving ideas it can be one of the most versatile recipes around.

This fruit recipe serves two to three people but can easily be doubled to serve more.

For this fresh fruit salad recipe you will need:

One large red delicious apple - cored and thinly sliced

One large navel orange - peeled, sectioned and cut into chunks

1 cup green or red seedless grapes - cut each grape in half

1/2 cup of sliced almonds

1 to 1 1/2 cups of lemon yogurt - to desired moistness

ground nutmeg - to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. This salad can be prepared the night before, so in the morning the salad is ready to go. It's a healthy and quick breakfast any day of the week.

With these easy ingredient exchanges, this fresh fruit salad will always be new and flavorful. As the seasons change you can use whatever is available. Some fruit combinations you could try are:

- Spring fruit combination: bananas, blueberries, kiwi

- Summer fruit combination: grapes, pineapple, peaches

- Fall fruit combination: apples, pears, dates

- Winter fruit combination: mango, avocado, oranges

Swap out the almonds with toasted or raw coconut, toasted sunflower seeds, walnut pieces, pecan pieces, or dried cranberries. Instead of the lemon yogurt, try strawberry, peach, blueberry, or plain Greek style yogurt and instead of the nutmeg, use cinnamon, or a nutmeg and cinnamon combination, or honey. You are only limited by your imagination.

For a simple dessert, try serving this salad in mini graham cracker tart shells or you could try preparing the fruit salad without the yogurt and instead layer the fruit and the yogurt in alternating layers in parfait glasses.

Another simple presentation is to serve the fruit salad over a bed of sliced strawberries or salad greens with warm rolls on the side for a light and quick meal.

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Fresh Fruit: The Sweet, Healthy Dessert

Americans love dessert so much that some of us eat it before the meal instead of after. Fudgy brownies, gooey layer cake, cookies the size of saucers - we savor them all. But these desserts are high in sugar, fat, and calories. Is there such a thing as a healthy dessert? Yes, and it's fresh fruit.

"The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook" recommends fresh fruit as a regular dessert and for good reasons. Fresh fruit contains fiber, something we need to eat every day. Our bodies also need vitamin C and fresh fruits are loaded with it. Some fresh fruits, such as red grapes, may protect your body from heart disease and cancer, according to Mayo Clinic.

There are other reasons for eating fresh fruit. An article on http://www.MyPyramid.gov says fresh fruit may reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, protect the body against colon and rectal cancer, and reduce the risk of kidney disease. When the government and Mayo Clinic recommend fresh fruit, they're talking about plain fruit, not something under a mountain of whipped cream.

You must store fruit properly in order to reap its health benefits. The University of California, Davis, says some fruits should be stored at room temperature. Bananas are an example. If you put bananas in the refrigerator they get black spots on them and the flavor diminishes.

Honeydew melon, cantalope, and other fruits that can be refrigerated should be chilled after they're ripe. Store fruit in a separate bin, away from vegetables and meat. Fresh fruit should be washed just before you eat it.

Choosing fresh fruit for dessert satisfies your craving for sweets and helps you get the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. These desserts are the perfect ending for a casual or fancy meal. They're healthy, too, so if you want to eat dessert before dinner, do it!

RED AND GREEN GRAPES WITH FRENCH CREAM. Wash grapes, pat dry with a towel, and put them in a large bowl. For French cream, combine 1 cup of fat free sour cream, 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup Splenda, 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon mixed grapes into serving dishes and top with a dollop of French cream.

ORANGE FLOWERS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE. Carefully remove the peel from four oranges. With a serrated knife, cut tic-tac-toe slices in the top of each whole orange, being careful not to cut all the way through. Place the oranges on serving plates. Spread the orange "petals" apart, leaving the center "stamen" in tact. Combine 1/2 cup low sugar raspberry jam with 2 tablespoons hot water and 1 tablespoon of honey. Drizzle sauce over the orange flowers and garnish with mint.

STRAWBERRY DELIGHT PARFAITS. Wash and slice 1 pint of strawberries. Sprinkle with Splenda and set aside. Break apart mini vanilla wafers until you have 1 cup of crumbs. To make parfaits layer strawberries, fat free, sugar free strawberry yogurt, sugar free topping, and crumbled wafers in parfait glasses. Stick a whole wafer on top of each parfait before serving.

BAKED APPLES WITH CINNAMON CRUMBLE. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel 4-5 Granny Smith apples. Cut the apples into slices and arrange in concentric circles on a 9" pie plate coated with baking spray. Combine 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 3 tablespoons extra-light olive oil, and 1/2 cup sliced almonds. Sprinkle crumble mixture over apples and bake until the top is golden brown, or about 30 minutes. Serve warm with a spoonful of fat free, sugar free vanilla yogurt.

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Tips For Keeping Healthy Food Fresh And Tasty

When you're on a diet it's hard to avoid the problems that come with keeping fresh fruits and vegetables. With a very little keep time, most of us can't get through all of the fresh fruits and veggies before they go bad. There are ways to keep them fresher longer, and below I list some top tips to help you do just that:

1. If you bananas are very ripe, freeze them for a tasty treat.

2. Perforated plastic bags work well to ripen fruits. The bag retains the ethylene gas fruits produce to help them ripen, and the holes allow for some air movement.

3. Toss a quart or two of freshly cut fruit with the juice of half a lemon to prevent the fruit from becoming dark.

4. To get more juice from you lemons, store them whole in a close jar of water in the refrigerator.

5. If your bread becomes dry, you can bring ti back to life by wrapping it in a damp towel and placing it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

6. Place a rib of celery in the bread bag to keep bread fresher longer.

7. Wrap crackers tightly and store in the fridge to keep them crisp even in humid weather.

8. When you cook corn, don't add salt to the water-it makes corn tough.

9. Do you want to peel a bunch of potatoes in advance but are afraid they'll turn black or spoil before you use them? Add a few drops of vinegar to cold water, cover your peeled spuds with it, and refrigerate, and they'll last three to four days.

10. Re-bake leftover baked potatoes by dipping them in water for five seconds and then baking them for about 20 minutes at 35 degrees.

11. Rinse frozen vegetables with boiling-hot water before preparing them to eliminate the frozen water in which they came.

12. Get more kernels popped in your popcorn by storing it in the freezer and then pooping without thawing, or by running ice cold water over the kernels before you pop them.

These 12 tips should keep your foods nice and fresh and should enhance their taste and texture. Try and use these tips to aid in your weight loss efforts. When you can eat more healthy food because it tastes better (than your "danger" foods like processed foods and junk foods) then weight loss becomes not only easy but fun!

More about → Tips For Keeping Healthy Food Fresh And Tasty

Tips For Keeping Healthy Food Fresh And Tasty

When you're on a diet it's hard to avoid the problems that come with keeping fresh fruits and vegetables. With a very little keep time, most of us can't get through all of the fresh fruits and veggies before they go bad. There are ways to keep them fresher longer, and below I list some top tips to help you do just that:

1. If you bananas are very ripe, freeze them for a tasty treat.

2. Perforated plastic bags work well to ripen fruits. The bag retains the ethylene gas fruits produce to help them ripen, and the holes allow for some air movement.

3. Toss a quart or two of freshly cut fruit with the juice of half a lemon to prevent the fruit from becoming dark.

4. To get more juice from you lemons, store them whole in a close jar of water in the refrigerator.

5. If your bread becomes dry, you can bring ti back to life by wrapping it in a damp towel and placing it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

6. Place a rib of celery in the bread bag to keep bread fresher longer.

7. Wrap crackers tightly and store in the fridge to keep them crisp even in humid weather.

8. When you cook corn, don't add salt to the water-it makes corn tough.

9. Do you want to peel a bunch of potatoes in advance but are afraid they'll turn black or spoil before you use them? Add a few drops of vinegar to cold water, cover your peeled spuds with it, and refrigerate, and they'll last three to four days.

10. Re-bake leftover baked potatoes by dipping them in water for five seconds and then baking them for about 20 minutes at 35 degrees.

11. Rinse frozen vegetables with boiling-hot water before preparing them to eliminate the frozen water in which they came.

12. Get more kernels popped in your popcorn by storing it in the freezer and then pooping without thawing, or by running ice cold water over the kernels before you pop them.

These 12 tips should keep your foods nice and fresh and should enhance their taste and texture. Try and use these tips to aid in your weight loss efforts. When you can eat more healthy food because it tastes better (than your "danger" foods like processed foods and junk foods) then weight loss becomes not only easy but fun.

More about → Tips For Keeping Healthy Food Fresh And Tasty