Cheap as chips

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Some of my family never seem to get round to eating much fruit.

It's not that they don't like it - they do - but they come up with all sorts of reasons for not eating it. 

One of the reasons they give me is that fruit is too expensive.  But it's just not!

Tropical treats!

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I love juicy tropical and Mediterranean fruit that spills down your chin as you bite in! 

Pineapples, mangos, peaches and plums are big favourites.  They're so lusciously rich and succulent that it always seems like a big treat to eat them.

But it can seem an awful lot of fuss and bother to cut them up.  It doesn't really take very long to get the prickles off the pineapple or the stones out of the mangos.  It just sometimes seems like fuss when I am in a hurry.

Over the rainbow ...

Copyright Elena Norbiato 2007 Creative Commons

So there really is a crock of gold over the rainbow!

It turns out eating a "rainbow" of different coloured fruit and veg each week is great for us because each colour group is packed full of different good stuff.  All these different things together can protect against cancer and heart disease.  

This got me thinking about my all the fruit & veg I like in each colour group:

Red & pink: Strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, raspberries, rhubarb, radishes, beetroots, blood oranges, cherries, red grapes, red onions, chilli pepper, red apple, cranberries, guava, papaya
Yellow & orange: Bananas, melons, peaches, carrots, apricots, grapefruit, peppers, squash, corn, mango, pineapple, lemons, nectarines, pumkins, sweet potatoe
Green: Spinach, peas, spring greens, chard, courgettes, beans, broccoli, apples, pears, gooseberries, avocado, cabbage, cucumber, grapes, lettuce, limes, kiwi fruit, celery, samphire, asparagus, leeks, sugar snap peas
Purple, blue & black: Blueberries, blackberries, aubergines, sprouting broccoli, bilberries, blackcurrants, plums, damsons, figs, grapes, prunes, raisins
White: Mushrooms, onions, potatoes, parsnips, garlic, ginger, cauliflower, white peaches, shallots

Wow! I never realised how many different fruit and veg I love to eat!

What about you? What are your absolute faves in each colour group?

Note to self: Eat your way over the rainbow every week!
Did you know? The nutrients in red fruit and veg can help to protect joint tissue in those with arthritis

Enjoy more posts about fruit & veg:
Favourite fruit
Tastes like chocolate
Hidden Gems

Hidden gems

_{"Rhubarb muffins" © 2010 S Schlingen Creative Commons Licence}

I love fruit and veg but I didn't like them as a child.  Now I have a toddler who will never knowingly eat them either.  And she's not the only one - some of the adults in my family are not that keen.

So I have to get creative about how I cook them.  But the good news is that I have found lots of things I can sneak both fruit and veg into that the little one and the rest of the family will wolf down.

Some of her favourites - and mine because they are quick to cook - are :

• Really cheesy pasta sauce blended with green veg - spinach and broccoli work very well which is great because they're packed full with good stuff!
• Home made smoothies made of yoghurt, orange juice, a banana to thicken and whatever fruit there is in the house - everyone loves these!
• Fruit muffins are the quickest thing in the world to make and they freeze well.  Just grate or mush the fruit and stir into mixture.  Banana & pineapple both yummy!
• Veg muffins savoury muffins - without any sugar - are also tasty.  Red onion, carrot and spinach and red pepper have all been popular.
• Tomato pasta sauce can hide all sorts of veg! I make a bit pot of very tomatoey sauce with lots of carrots, mushrooms and courgettes, leave it to cool and then blend to hide the veg

We've also enjoyed blended curry sauce, grated apple in cheese on toast, banana cake, banana custard and nice thick creamy soups.

Are you a fruit and veg fan or do you prefer to hide it away inside other stuff? Have you got any hidden gems of your own to share?

Note to self it doesn't matter how you eat it as long as you enjoy it!

Did you know? fruit and vegetables are rich in fibre that helps to flush away the "bad" cholesterol that can block your blood vessels

Tastes like chocolate ...

I love berries of all sorts. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, bilberries.  If it's a berry, I'll have it.

© 2012 A Thompson Creative Commons license 

The problem is they don't last.  It's so frustrating when for some reason you don't get round to eating that punnet of raspberries right away and go to the fridge only to find they've already got mould on them.

But now I've discovered that frozen berries are just as delicious.  They don't taste the same as when you eat them juice spurting fresh but they are still yummy.  Lovely dense drops of chocolatey textured sweetness.

So now as soon as I realise I am not going to eat berries on the day I bought them I bung them in the freezer to be savoured on another day.

How do you like to eat berries? Which are your favourite? Have you tried them frozen? Or do you like them tinned?

Note to self
Bung the berries in the freezer if you're not going to eat them.

Did you know?
Berries are full of fibre and anti-oxidants which can help to ease cholesterol, blood pressure, fybromyalgia and arthritis.

If you're a fruit fan you might also like these posts:
My favourite fruit

My favourite fruit ...

What's your favourite fruit?

As a child it was easy, strawberries, but now I am not sure.  There's just so much great stuff available these days.

I like the everyday quick stuff - bananas, apples, pears.  I love all those sweet summer berries - strawbs, raspberries, blueberries - that you can chuck on your cereal or jazz up a yoghurt with.  And I adore all the luscious tropical stuff - pineapple, mango, melons, peaches - that seems like such a treat because it used to be more scarce.

But now it's September I think my favourite are those tart and zingy English autumn specialities - damsons,  blackberries, plums and hard as a nut little apples. 

What about you, what do you like best?

Note to self ...
Fruit is yummy, don't forget to enjoy lots of it!

Did you know?
Medical research shows a diet rich in fruit can help to reduce blood pressure in less than 14 days. 

If you're a fruit fan you might also like ...
Tastes like chocolate