Monday, January 30, 2012

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes

We all know that raising are dried grapes, but what is the nutritional value of grapes vs. raisins and is it better to eat one versus the other? You would think that these two types of fruit would have the same nutritional facts but they are a bit different. Here is the scoop.

Comparison

If we compare 2 cups of fresh grapes to a 1.5 ounce box of raisins were would get the following results for the major nutritional data.

Grapes Raisins
Calories 123 129
Protein 1.16 1.32
Fat .64 .2
Carbohydrate 31.56 34.05
Fiber 1.7 1.6
Sugar 29.9 25.45

As you can see, using these serving sizes there is no huge difference between the two. The nutritional facts of raisins show that they are quite close to the nutritional value of grapes. There are, however, differences when we take a closer look at vitamins and nutrients.

For example, the box of raisins has far more magnesium and phosphorous than grapes and the serving of grapes has higher levels of beta carotene, vitamin C and vitamin K than the raisins. The fact is that when grapes are dried and they shrink into grapes, some things become more concentrated in a typical serving. Since there appear to be pros and cons to eating both the fresh fruit and the dried fruit form of the grape it makes good sense to eat both.

How to Eat Them

Grapes are a wonderful addition to your diet because they are delicious, easy to eat as a snack, available most of the year, and fairly inexpensive. You can eat grapes as a snack any time, but don’t forget to add them to a salad or even a main dish as a tasty addition.

The benefits of raisins include that they are easy to pack and bring along on a trip or on the trial, they last a long time and they are available year round at a fair price. Raising are great as a trail mix with nuts, but they also work well in a salad or on top of your morning oatmeal.

Health Benefits

Both grapes and raisins are an excellent source of antioxidants. The highest concentration of antioxidants is in the seed and the skin of the grapes, so make sure you include the skin in your snack for the highest antioxidant benefits.

Other health benefits of grapes and raisins are that they are a natural anti-inflammatory, they promote cardiovascular healthy, prevent certain cancers, and can even help to reduce the risk of macular degeneration.

Conclusion

Since the nutritional value of grapes vs. raisins is not a big deal, go ahead and enjoy both as part of your healthy diet.

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes

Salt Free DietSalt free diet is based on the rejection of salt in the ration. There are different types of salt free diets that differ in the menu and timing.
If you observe the diet correctly, you can lose weight, cleanse the body, and put yourself in shape. Waiver of salt leads to getting rid of edema, cellulites, high blood pressure, varicose veins, migraine. Salt overload the work of internal organs, vessels, and contributes to fluid retention. During the diet, you can lose up to 5-8 kg.

Salt free diet for 15 days
This diet will last for fifteen days for which you can lose up to 8 kg.
The first three days – you can boil or bake in the oven chicken without skin and fat.

The second three days – you can cook in the oven or boil half a kilo of lean fish.
The third three days – you should eat cereals (boiled buckwheat, oats or barley). During the day, you can eat up to two hundred grams.

Fourth three days – eat fresh vegetables (exclude potatoes). Necessary to use up to two kilograms per day.

Fifth three days – you need to diversify the diet of fresh fruits. Only need to abandon of bananas and grapes, which contain much sugar.

Drink at least two liters of water or green tea.

Salt free diet for 2 weeks
During this diet you will need to have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals should be fractional.

For breakfast, you’ll need to drink a cup of freshly brewed coffee. It should be natural.

For lunch and dinner you can eat fish, baked in the oven, or boiled or steamed veal.

You can drink water, a glass of tomato juice or a cup of fermented baked milk.
Exit from the diet should be gradual. You should eat more fruits, boiled chicken and replace coffee with green tea. Exclude from your diet all the sugary, fatty, spicy, pickled dishes. During the diet, you can lose up to ten kilograms.

Products that can be eaten: bread, veal, chicken, turkey, rabbit, fish, porridge from cereals, salads, raw and cooked vegetables, vegetable broth soups. One boiled egg per day, low-fat cottage cheese, juice, tea, dried apricots and raisins.

Foods that should be excluded: fat, salty, spicy, pickled, sweets, lamb and pork.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes

In fact, fridge doesn’t always keep all food in a fresh condition, even these five kinds of food are not proper to be put into it.
Tropical fruit
Tropical fruits and subtropical fruits don’t adapt low temperature, putting them into fridge make fruit skin appear dark brown spots, lost nutrition and go bad. Although most fruits keep at 0 to 4 degrees for one to two days, not all fruits are appropriate – banana should be stored 12 at degrees Celsius above, citrus should be store at two to seven degrees Celsius, grapes and persimmons at a low temperature will go bad. Strawberry, waxberry, mulberry and other fruit is best to be eaten fresh, stored in the fridge will affect its taste and go mildew.
Leafy vegetables and tomatoes
Leafy vegetables are easily to lose water so that which should be freshlymade. Potatoes, carrots pumpkins wax gourds and onions are kept at a constant temperature of 37 degrees centigrade. Tomatoes at low temperature will go rotten and appear brown with round spots. Cucumber and green pepper will go black, sticky and taste different stored in the fridge for a long time. Starchy foods
Such as, bread and cakes. Put into fridge will increase the speed of losing moisture. If you really want to store them, just put them in zipper bag to keep in the freeze. Cookies, candy, and honey, pickle, lemon, preserved fruit, dehydrated food don’t need to keep in the fridge.
Chocolate
Keeping it in the fridge will lose its original flavor. When you take it out, it will be covered in a sheet of frost. In summer, when the temperature becomes high, you can put it in zipper bag stored in the freeze.
Fish and meat
These Kinds of food are easily to be oxidated. Although it can be stored, the time should not be long. If you discover it frozen yellow, it shows that it has been oxidated, which must be discarded.
Anyhow, taking your health into consideration, pay attention to storage requirements on the packing is very necessary and important so that you may eat fresh and healthy food.
Copyright by Danica. A professional wholesaler of Chinese Cut Paper offers you superb collection on this products. Selection includes Chinese Shadow Puppets and so on. Goods such as Chinese Knot also can be found at Chinese Handcraft Store with reliable quality.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Thursday Thought Provoker « KayeDacus.com

Thursday, January 26, 2012 12:30 pm

Once I get to a point in my low carb program at which I can have something made with the Splenda brown sugar (which does have some real sugar in it), I like to slice an apple, sprinkle it with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little nutmeg and “bake” it (in the microwave). One of my favorite low-carb desserts!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes


New research from a Fordham University cell biologist suggests that a diet rich in anti-oxidants and begun at a young age can significantly reduce age-related blindness.

Silvia C. Finnemann, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, conducted the three-plus-year study by comparing the vision of three groups of mice fed differing diets: One group received a diet rich in freeze-dried grapes, a fruit very high in anti-oxidants. Another group received a diet rich in lutein, an anti-oxidant derived naturally from marigolds. The third group, the control group, received a normal diet.

All of the mice used were from the same genetic strain, said Finnemann—one prone to developing retinal damage in old age in much the same way as human beings do.

Results showed that the mice in the control group experienced a 74 percent reduction in retinal function, while the mice fed the lutein-rich diet experienced a significantly lower 29 percent reduction in retinal function.

Those mice fed a grape-rich diet, however, did dramatically well: retinal function decreased by only 16 percent.

“We’re not suggesting that you need to eat grapes like crazy, but that a life of having a healthy diet of natural anti-oxidants makes a difference to changes in the human eye,” said Finnemann.

Finnemann’s study also showed that, in order to be effective, eating anti-oxidant-rich foods should begin before the onset of advanced age, preferably in youth or young adulthood.

Mice who were not fed a grape and lutein-rich diet until they were the equivalent of a human age of 60 showed little or no improved retinal function, she said.

“Once the changes have started to happen, it may be too late to reverse them,” she said.

According to statistics, Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness or partial blindness in the elderly, affecting about 25 percent of the population over 70 years of age in the United States. Finnemann said she hopes her study will lead to the development of new ways to prevent AMD, especially among the bourgeoning elderly population of baby boomers.

“Our research shows that, when it comes to AMD, a healthy diet may be better than supplements, and the earlier you begin it, the better the results,” she concluded.

Finnemann was assisted in her research by Chia-Chia Yu, M.S., and Ying Dun, Ph.D., both from her laboratory at Fordham University and Emeline Nandrot, Ph.D., a biologist from the Paris-based Institut de la Vision. Funding was provided by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health and The California Table Grape Commission.

Results of the study were published in December 2011 in Free Radical Biology & Medicine.

--Janet Sassi

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes

Now that I’m trying to be gluten free for the last three week’s of January ALL I WANT TO EAT IS BREAD… How yum does this Roasted Grapes with Thyme, Fresh Ricotta and Grilled Bread look? If you want to make it check out the recipe on Sacramento Street.

image from Sacramento Street

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Fruta planta can help you slim in winter | china tea

Again the thin body of punk was all not to “eat” this theme, how to eat enough still can “thin come down” is absolutely eternal theme. The more you have, the more it is difficult to ensure that thin, but do not deny that have a lot of natural food has the effect of reducing to oil. Fruta planta can help you slim in winter.
Again the thin body of punk was all not to “eat” this theme, how to eat enough still can “thin come down” is absolutely eternal theme. The more you have, the more it is difficult to ensure that thin, but do not deny that have a lot of natural food has the effect of reducing to oil. If you want to keep is the envy of lithe and graceful figure, the introduction of small make up your cannot not know well.
An apple a day fat away from you. Why so say, mainly because apple contain a lot of pectin and dietary fiber, can effectively increase the full abdomen feeling. At the same time apple containing particular malic acid, can accelerate metabolism, those who reduce fat, but it contains calcium than other fruit is rich, can reduce a private parts edema of salt. Fruta planta can control your appetite.
Mexico medical experts study found that eat a fresh grapes, already can reduce weight, and beneficial to the cardiovascular health. Because fresh grapes contains a lot of help to reduce weight of the vitamin, and a kind of can protect the heart of flavonoids substances, and can contain malignant tumor formation anti-cancer antibodies. At the same time these grapes are still have a lot of fiber and water can add to the human body needs nutrition    meizitang   , but quantity of heat is only a small part of the lower calorie cookies. Drink more water after taking fruta planta.
Cranberry contains plant chemical composition is very rich, among them the most value to the health of human body including: enrichment tannins, procyanidins, flavonoids, rich in vitamin C, etc, and it is also very rare high oxide low quantity of heat fruit, you can eat breakfast to point cranberry salad, which can meet the tongue to still can slim figure.
The carrot is one of the most common kind of vegetables, eat raw cooked. The quantity of heat of carrot is very low   botanical slimming   , 100 grams of carrots only 21 calories, less than 1/15 of the rice. And it also contains a lot of plant fiber can improve human metabolism, to the purpose of natural weight loss, is very good food reducing weight.
Many people mistakenly think that eat sweet potato will cause fat, in fact, not only can body stabilization of sweet potatoes blood sugar can also reduce hungry feeling, because of the sweet potato contains a large amount of fiber structure, the fiber in intestinal cannot be absorbed, obstruct the special features of fat into sugar. Although very sweet taste sweet potatoes but actually contains quantity of heat is low, whether it is used as a staple food or fusi, all is one kind of good food reducing weight.
Cauliflower, also called broccoli    botanical slimming soft gel . Cauliflower is very good food reducing weight, it not only quantity of heat low also contains a high potassium. Cooking up also is very simple, into the soup seasoning, can also with other food fry together, more can after steaming mash to replace mashed potatoes edible. Fruta planta is the best choice for losing weight.
related meizitang blog:
meizitang botanical slimming gel
botanical  slimming meizitang

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Fruta planta can help you slim in winter | Dragon well tea

Again the thin body of punk was all not to “eat” this theme, how to eat enough still can “thin come down” is absolutely eternal theme. The more you have, the more it is difficult to ensure that thin, but do not deny that have a lot of natural food has the effect of reducing to oil. Fruta planta can help you slim in winter.
Again the thin body of punk was all not to “eat” this theme, how to eat enough still can “thin come down” is absolutely eternal theme. The more you have, the more it is difficult to ensure that thin, but do not deny that have a lot of natural food has the effect of reducing to oil. If you want to keep is the envy of lithe and graceful figure, the introduction of small make up your cannot not know well.
An apple a day fat away from you. Why so say, mainly because apple contain a lot of pectin and dietary fiber, can effectively increase the full abdomen feeling. At the same time apple containing particular malic acid, can accelerate metabolism, those who reduce fat, but it contains calcium than other fruit is rich, can reduce a private parts edema of salt. Fruta planta can control your appetite.
Mexico medical experts study found that eat a fresh grapes, already can reduce weight, and beneficial to the cardiovascular health. Because fresh grapes contains a lot of help to reduce weight of the vitamin, and a kind of can protect the heart of flavonoids substances, and can contain malignant tumor formation anti-cancer antibodies. At the same time these grapes are still have a lot of fiber and water can add to the human body needs nutrition    meizitang , but quantity of heat is only a small part of the lower calorie cookies. Drink more water after taking fruta planta.
Cranberry contains plant chemical composition is very rich, among them the most value to the health of human body including: enrichment tannins, procyanidins, flavonoids, rich in vitamin C, etc, and it is also very rare high oxide low quantity of heat fruit, you can eat breakfast to point cranberry salad, which can meet the tongue to still can slim figure.
The carrot is one of the most common kind of vegetables, eat raw cooked. The quantity of heat of carrot is very low   botanical slimming , 100 grams of carrots only 21 calories, less than 1/15 of the rice. And it also contains a lot of plant fiber can improve human metabolism, to the purpose of natural weight loss, is very good food reducing weight.
Many people mistakenly think that eat sweet potato will cause fat, in fact, not only can body stabilization of sweet potatoes blood sugar can also reduce hungry feeling, because of the sweet potato contains a large amount of fiber structure, the fiber in intestinal cannot be absorbed, obstruct the special features of fat into sugar. Although very sweet taste sweet potatoes but actually contains quantity of heat is low, whether it is used as a staple food or fusi, all is one kind of good food reducing weight.
Cauliflower, also called broccoli    botanical slimming soft gel . Cauliflower is very good food reducing weight, it not only quantity of heat low also contains a high potassium. Cooking up also is very simple, into the soup seasoning, can also with other food fry together, more can after steaming mash to replace mashed potatoes edible. Fruta planta is the best choice for losing weight.
related meizitang blog:
meizitang botanical slimming gel
botanical  slimming meizitang

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Fruta planta can help you slim in winter - dragon well tea

Again the thin body of punk was all not to "eat" this theme, how to eat enough still can "thin come down" is absolutely eternal theme. The more you have, the more it is difficult to ensure that thin, but do not deny that have a lot of natural food has the effect of reducing to oil. Fruta planta can help you slim in winter.
Again the thin body of punk was all not to "eat" this theme, how to eat enough still can "thin come down" is absolutely eternal theme. The more you have, the more it is difficult to ensure that thin, but do not deny that have a lot of natural food has the effect of reducing to oil. If you want to keep is the envy of lithe and graceful figure, the introduction of small make up your cannot not know well.
An apple a day fat away from you. Why so say, mainly because apple contain a lot of pectin and dietary fiber, can effectively increase the full abdomen feeling. At the same time apple containing particular malic acid, can accelerate metabolism, those who reduce fat, but it contains calcium than other fruit is rich, can reduce a private parts edema of salt. Fruta planta can control your appetite.
Mexico medical experts study found that eat a fresh grapes, already can reduce weight, and beneficial to the cardiovascular health. Because fresh grapes contains a lot of help to reduce weight of the vitamin, and a kind of can protect the heart of flavonoids substances, and can contain malignant tumor formation anti-cancer antibodies. At the same time these grapes are still have a lot of fiber and water can add to the human body needs nutrition    meizitang   , but quantity of heat is only a small part of the lower calorie cookies. Drink more water after taking fruta planta.
Cranberry contains plant chemical composition is very rich, among them the most value to the health of human body including: enrichment tannins, procyanidins, flavonoids, rich in vitamin C, etc, and it is also very rare high oxide low quantity of heat fruit, you can eat breakfast to point cranberry salad, which can meet the tongue to still can slim figure.
The carrot is one of the most common kind of vegetables, eat raw cooked. The quantity of heat of carrot is very low   botanical slimming   , 100 grams of carrots only 21 calories, less than 1/15 of the rice. And it also contains a lot of plant fiber can improve human metabolism, to the purpose of natural weight loss, is very good food reducing weight.
Many people mistakenly think that eat sweet potato will cause fat, in fact, not only can body stabilization of sweet potatoes blood sugar can also reduce hungry feeling, because of the sweet potato contains a large amount of fiber structure, the fiber in intestinal cannot be absorbed, obstruct the special features of fat into sugar. Although very sweet taste sweet potatoes but actually contains quantity of heat is low, whether it is used as a staple food or fusi, all is one kind of good food reducing weight.
Cauliflower, also called broccoli    botanical slimming soft gel . Cauliflower is very good food reducing weight, it not only quantity of heat low also contains a high potassium. Cooking up also is very simple, into the soup seasoning, can also with other food fry together, more can after steaming mash to replace mashed potatoes edible. Fruta planta is the best choice for losing weight.
related meizitang blog:
meizitang botanical slimming gel
botanical  slimming meizitang

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes


New research from a Fordham University cell biologist suggests that a diet rich in anti-oxidants and begun at a young age can significantly reduce age-related blindness.

Silvia C. Finnemann, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, conducted the three-plus-year study by comparing the vision of three groups of mice fed differing diets: One group received a diet rich in freeze-dried grapes, a fruit very high in anti-oxidants. Another group received a diet rich in lutein, an anti-oxidant derived naturally from marigolds. The third group, the control group, received a normal diet.

All of the mice used were from the same genetic strain, said Finnemann—one prone to developing retinal damage in old age in much the same way as human beings do.

Results showed that the mice in the control group experienced a 74 percent reduction in retinal function, while the mice fed the lutein-rich diet experienced a significantly lower 29 percent reduction in retinal function.

Those mice fed a grape-rich diet, however, did dramatically well: retinal function decreased by only 16 percent.

“We’re not suggesting that you need to eat grapes like crazy, but that a life of having a healthy diet of natural anti-oxidants makes a difference to changes in the human eye,” said Finnemann.

Finnemann’s study also showed that, in order to be effective, eating anti-oxidant-rich foods should begin before the onset of advanced age, preferably in youth or young adulthood.

Mice who were not fed a grape and lutein-rich diet until they were the equivalent of a human age of 60 showed little or no improved retinal function, she said.

“Once the changes have started to happen, it may be too late to reverse them,” she said.

According to statistics, Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness or partial blindness in the elderly, affecting about 25 percent of the population over 70 years of age in the United States. Finnemann said she hopes her study will lead to the development of new ways to prevent AMD, especially among the bourgeoning elderly population of baby boomers.

“Our research shows that, when it comes to AMD, a healthy diet may be better than supplements, and the earlier you begin it, the better the results,” she concluded.

Finnemann was assisted in her research by Chia-Chia Yu, M.S., and Ying Dun, Ph.D., both from her laboratory at Fordham University and Emeline Nandrot, Ph.D., a biologist from the Paris-based Institut de la Vision. Funding was provided by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health and The California Table Grape Commission.

Results of the study were published in December 2011 in Free Radical Biology & Medicine.

--Janet Sassi

Fresh-eat-grape - Yes

Hey Peeps!

The Saturday before Christmas I decided (for well-being reasons! LOL) I needed to escape the everlasting coldness and gray skies of Wisconsin and replace it with sand between my toes and sun shining on my back. Totally spontaneous…

So off to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beach my teen daughter and I went! (hubby stayed back for a previous committment-attending a Packer game on Christmas day). We spent a fun Christmas and my daughter’s 15th birthday on the beach.  I’m digging the unconventional beach holidays!

Just what my well-being needed. Fun times spent with my daughter, sunshine, blue-green ocean to swim in,  sand to sink my toes into, an abundance of fruit, and beautiful boutique style ocean-side hotel for chillaxin.

*My daughter 500 feet in the air on Christmas Day*

She was able to see sea turtles and jelly fish from way up there!

I heart this fruity lifestyle~

Hubby booked us in this stunning ocean-view room (10th floor) at the B Ocean Hotel. Thanks, hubby!

The B Ocean Hotel was formerly the Holiday Inn, which was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma in 2005.  Completely remodeling it, it became the chic (yes, it was designed by a chick!) beachfront B Ocean Hotel in 2010.

What I Ate on Christmas Day~

(not everything is pictured)

  • nanners
  • papayas
  • cukes
  •  cantaloupe
  • bunch of celery
  • 3 large toms
  • 3 large apples
  • water
  • romaine

My cantaloupe tower. I plowed through these sweet babies one morning. Can you imagine the hotel housekeepers arriving in my room? I tried to be creative with my fruity mess…

Yes, I share my nanners with others!

A large fig tree in Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.  along the Intercoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale. We had never seen anything like it before! Directly around the corner from our hotel, we explored this park a few different days, walking trails and taking in the variety of foliage, lizards, spiders, coconut trees and sapodilla trees (see more park pics below).

My fruit ripening stations…the top of the dresser…

and the breathtaking window sill…. We woke up to this view & the scent of ripening fruit every morning. Heaven~

16 Tips for Frugal Fruitarian Travel

1) Save $$ on Water: On the day of arrival, buy gallons of water for cheap (I picked some up at nearby small market for $1.99/gallon) to keep in your hotel room so you can fill up your stainless steel water bottles all day as necessary. Versus spending $2.50-3.50 for one small individual size plastic water bottle in the tourist shops and/or restaurants. Stay hydrated and drink LOTS of water when on vacation.

2) Book your hotel stay near a local grocer, farmers market or fruit wholesaler: Before booking hotel, be sure to research to find out where you are going to obtain your fruit. The nearest fruit supply this trip was a Publix grocery a short 10-15 minute walk (depending how fast you walk!) from our hotel. This made it easy to supply myself with abundant fruit.   On the few occasions my fruit haul was too heavy to carry, I relied on a short cab ride ($5 one way) back to hotel.

3) Save $ on Food: If your hotel is near a grocer, you can rely more on preparing your own meals and snacks in your hotel room vs. eating out at local eateries for every meal & snack, which can add up $ quickly. Prepare your snacks in your room and always carry a backpack filled with goodies. This way, you and your fam will be less tempted to eat out at every turn.

4) Book a hotel with a fridge in the room if possible: This is optional. I survived (and thrived!) 5 nights at a beautiful boutique beach-side hotel without a fridge. Our hotel didn’t provide them in the room but you could request one upon arrival and if they had it available, they would provide for free. I asked during the stay on a few different days and they were never available. I even used “I have a special diet” bit and they asked “do you have diabetes?”. No but..

A fridge is nice to store your greens, cukes, apples, and celery. I learned to enjoy eating these all at room temperature. However, I didn’t consume the amount of greens I normally do due to they wilt quickly in the humidity if not stored in cool place. As for the gallons of water, I prefer my water at room temperature.  All the fruit ripened beautifully on the windowsill and on the dresser counters, no need to put in fridge.

5) Save $ on transportation: Location, location, location! Be sure your hotel is in a location near attractions, the grocery, etc. so you don’t have to rely on a car rental if you don’t have to.

Instead rely on your feet to take you where you want to go. We had such an active stay this way walking everywhere and walking far. When you are surrounded by beautiful scenery (hello…palm trees, white sandy beach, ocean), you don’t even realize you are getting exercise! OR better yet, rent a bike or scooter.

We really enjoyed taking a water taxi one day which featured many stops. You pay a flat fee. We were able to see all of Fort Lauderdale this way. Fun! In addition, if there is a bus system at the location, this can be an economical way to travel if you need to get to the other side of town or further.

One of the stops from the water taxi was the Museum of Discovery and Science where we took in a fascinating 3D film called Sea Rex: Journey To A Prehistoric World, at the 300-seater IMAX theater, which featured a 5-story high screen and is home to the biggest screen in South Florida.

6) Plan Your Fruit Haul Ahead: Plan on making a large fruit haul from local grocer the day of arrival and then plan accordingly for more as necessary. I was in Florida 5 nights and visited the grocer 2 days. If you are going to rely on a cab to take you back to the hotel with your fruit haul, make it worth it. Stock up!

What I Ate On This Trip (Dec.24 afternoon through Dec.29 afternoon)

Note: Because I didn’t have the luxury of all-I-can-eat ripe nanners and fresh organic medjool dates (my staples at home) at my destination (and no blender!), my caloric intake was considerably lower than if I were at home.  But for this short of time, it didn’t affect my energy levels and overall feeling of optimal well being.  We do the best we can, given the circumstances and can still thrive!

  • 9 papayas
  • 1 HUGE $10 watermelon (yep, had to take a taxi-cab home from the grocer for this one–this watermelon weighed more than I did!)
  • 6 cantaloupes
  • 5 lbs apples
  • 2 lbs nanners
  • 2 cactus pears
  • 1 pineapple
  • 3 lbs tomatoes
  • 10 cukes
  • 3 bunches celery
  • 6 Romaine Hearts
  • 2 lbs red grapes
  • 30 kumquats
  • 1 quart fresh blueberries
  • 2 pummelos
  • 1 lb dates
  • water
  • 2 salads eaten out in restaurants

7) Leave your vitamix, large cutting board, meat cleaver & veggie peeler at home! I  totally rely on my vitamix, meat cleaver,large cutting board and veggie peeler at home, but I know that when I vacation, having these luxuries is not necessary. I can do without!  Isn’t the purpose of vacation to get out of our comfort zone and mix things up?! Think simple.

8) Pack a small cutting board. I brought along a small wooden cheese board. Used it every day in the room to cut my fruit. Going through security, they wanted to go through my bag. They claimed the cutting board looked like a bottle of liquor!

9) Prepare Salad on the Go: For rawkin’ peeps, pack in a large ziplock bag: some romaine hearts, cuke slices, toms, red pepper slices. This makes a great beach picnic or eat-on-the-go.

For the non-raw peeps,  stock up on pita bread and pre-packaged salad bags, along with small individual salad dressings at the local grocer. Filling up the pita pocket with some salad mixture, then drizzling a little dressing over top, makes an easy delicious meal.

10) Ask for kitchen tools upon arrival. Upon arriving at the hotel, I went to one of the hotel restaurants and requested 1 knife (small simple dinner knife) and 1 spoon, to be used during my stay in my room. No problem.

Here is the knife and small cutting board I used all week.  Believe it or not, this small knife worked well slicing the papayas, pineapple, cataloupes, watermelon, and all my other fruit. I didn’t have a veggie peeler either so used this to cut peeling off my cukes too.

This is Fort Lauderdale’s famous beachfront coastline that goes for miles featuring shops, sidewalk cafes, restaurants, entertainment venues, all with breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean. It goes for miles, and we enjoyed daily walks here, to and from our hotel.

11) Bring walking shoes.There’s nothing worse than a complaining tourist with blisters on her feet! Wear your comfortable sneakers on the plane so you don’t have to pack them.  You can bring flip flops on your warm destination trip but don’t leave behind your most comfortable pair of walking shoes!

12) Pack backpack w/fruit & water. For airport travel, as well as when you are at your destination, always have a backpack filled accordingly with fresh fruit, greens, dates, and your stainless steel water bottle.  The key to this lifestyle is to always plan ahead and have fresh fruit & water on you at all times!

13) Choose easy backpack fillers for snacks or meals on the go:

  • apples
  • stalks of celery
  • Romaine Hearts, medjool dates (fill a romaine heart with dates)
  • sliced cukes (in your hotel room, peel cukes (I didn’t have a peeler so I used my knife) and slice them lengthwise, put in ziplock bag)
  • large tomatoes– delicious eaten whole like apples
  • Clementines–(bring extra bag for peels)
  • kumquats
  • nanners
  • stainless steel water bottle

14) Have a standard “go-to” meal when eating at restaurants:

We went out to local eateries often while on this trip (usually twice/day). And while I kept my daughter company at the restaurants, I only actually ate out on 2 occasions myself.  I usually delighted in eats from my backpack or in the hotel room, absolutely not necessary to order out a salad (that wouldn’t fill me up anyway!) every time we made a stop. That would be $8-15 per salad/per stop, depending on where we went. And being that it would take 5-6 of these salads per restaurant to actually fill me up, you do the math$!

This Romaine lettuce-tomatoes-cukes-herb salad above (NO dressing!) with lemon slices on the side to be used for dressing-is my usual “eat out at a restaurant” meal . This is my go-to meal when at a restaurant and am always pleased with the presentation. Each place presents it a little differently.

I enjoyed this particular salad above at The Cheesecake Factory on Las Olas Bouleverd on my daughter’s birthday while she ordered…

The biggest enchilada you’ve ever seen!  And for the birthday girl’s dessert…

Of course, one of  The Cheesecake Factory’s 50 cheesecake creations…

Three handsome waiters delivered the cheesecake to her and surprised her by singing Happy B-day! She was just a little embarrassed.

14) Share The Abundance! I feel so blessed to be living this fruity lifestyle, I wish to share it with everyone! Upon arrival, when I saw peeps who had fallen on hard times, I wanted to do my best to share the abundance.  Some of the best moments on vacation are shared with others we reach out to.

We had noticed a homeless man (the Annual Report on Homelessness Conditions in Florida 2006 reports that  “the impact of 2004-2005 hurricanes that hit Florida and it’s neighboring states have destroyed many low cost housing units and have contribute to a rise in the cost of housing statewide.”) hanging out under a palm tree on the beach for a few days so on my daughter’s birthday….

coming back from having dinner at Briny Irish Pub  with leftover Shepherds Pie in tow, we decided to deliver it to our friend.  We looked for him and he wasn’t there, passing on to another location.

So, the following day, after acquiring more than enough food items in our hotel room & wanting to share the abundance, we decided to put together a bag of  pre-packaged salad bags (my daughter couldn’t eat these fast enough), individual pre-packaged salad dressings, some oranges, package of pita bread……

and some fresh untouched leftover breakfast items from Primanti Brothers, one of our fave eateries near the hotel-see pic above in hopes that our friend would be sitting under the palm tree. (No utensils needed when you can fill a pita bread with just about anything!)

Our friend wasn’t sitting under the tree but I knew we would run into more friends along our walk on the famous Fort Lauderdale coastline bustling with tourists and locals alike. We came upon a woman and her companion on the beach, surrounded with bags of her belongings, I knelt down and looked into her eyes and said, here is a bag of food for you.  Her response, “I love you, I can’t wait to dig into this, I love you!”

Not 30 minutes later my daughter and I were coming out of…..

Sonic Beach and saw our friend eating the pita bread. It’s a picture we’ll always remember!

According to Poverty in Florida,“On any given day, there are an estimated 83,931 persons living homeless in Florida (Pierce, 2005). Why? Among the major causes is the devastating impact of the 2004 hurricanes, which destroyed over 20,000 homes and caused major damage to over 45,000 rental units. This alone left over 17,800 people homeless and increased burden to Florida’s already limited housing stock (Pierce, 2005).

We enjoyed kumquats for the first time!

15)Try some new fruits that you can’t find at home. We tried kumquats and were delighted to also find cactus pears and pummelos.

How to Eat Kumquats:  First wash them. Next, according to Foy Update, “roll the fruit back and forth between your fingers with enough force to squeeze the fruit.  This releases the oil in the skin, and it will look shiny.  The oil has a sweet citrus smell and taste.  If the kumquat isn’t rolled the peal tastes bitter. Then just bite into the fruit skin and all.   The inside is juicy like a tangerine and the skin is tender enough to eat.”

Delicious prickly pear (or cactus fruit)! How to Prepare: I used my knife to skin it (spines and all!). I then sliced into bite size pieces. I chose to eat the seeds too, chewing very well as they are rather large. However, you can choose to scrape off the seeds if you prefer not to eat them. Prickly pear makes a wonderful snack.

Succulent pummelos (pronounced pom-EH-loh)! They resemble a large grapefruit (they are relative to the grapefruit). I slurped through a few of these and have been picking them up in our local stores lately. Mmm! To see a vid on how to peel and cut them, click here.
Here’s my go-to salad I dove into at The Parrot Lounge.

~~Enjoying  Hugh Taylor Birch State Park~~

16) Take A Time Out In Nature!

This is a sapodilla tree …another fruit I’ve never tried before. But alas, I brought a sapodilla home from Florida that is ripening on my table now.

About sapodillas: Sapodillas are also known as chikoos or sapotas.

According to nutrition and you.com, “Sapota fruit is brown in color with sandy “potato like” outer surface. Internally, the pulp is white with sticky latex called as saponin in unripe fruits. Latex disappears once the fruit ripens and the pulp turns to brown color. Pulp is deliciously sweet with smooth or grainy texture and contains 3-10 black colored smooth, shiny “bean” shaped inedible seeds in the center.”

How to Buy Sapodillas: nutrition and you.com explains, “In the store, buy fresh sapodilla with smooth intact skin and without cuts/cracks, bruises or wrinkles.

When they are ripe: Once ripen, the fruit just yields to gentle thumb pressure.  Mature but unripe fruits must be kept at room temperature for 7 to 10 days to ripen. Firm, ripe sapodillas can keep well for several days in the home refrigerator.

Can you see the hawk?

Nature = beauty