We’ve moved!

Spring greetings to our loyal readers of The Produce Lady blog! While we’ve noticed that older blog posts continue to be viewed, you may have noticed a lack of new blog posts on this site. Actually, we’ve been busy posting, but we’ve relocated the blog (including older posts) to our newly revised website, www.theproducelady.org. It’s the same web address, but you’ll find a fresh look and more easy-to-locate content from videos to recipes and a wealth of other resources…including the blog! To make sure you don’t miss any upcoming blog posts, simply go to the new blog, http://www.theproducelady.org/blog/, and sign up to “Follow” using the button in the lower right corner of the page.

Of course, be sure to “Like” us on Facebook as well for the most up-to-date seasonal tips for fresh produce and the latest happenings with The Produce Lady program.

Quickest Way to a Person’s Heart

February is American Heart Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the number one killer of

both men and women in America, claiming more than half a million lives each year.

Obesity is a key contributor in developing heart disease, but fighting obesity by incorporating a healthy diet can seem daunting and downright impossible to some. So this month we want to share tips and cooking ideas to help you give your heart a hand!

An Apple A Day

The old adage is true, and fruits and vegetables can make for a healthier person. Fortunately for all of us, N.C. apples are still available. Low in calories and loaded with fiber and vitamin C, apples promote healthy teeth, bone and skin, plus they’re good for your vision. The skin is ripe with antioxidants, so try not to peel apples to gain the maximum health boost.

Apples make for a perfect on-the-go snack and are excellent when eaten “as is”: unpeeled and raw. All apples are not created equal (though they’re all pretty darn good). Some are better for eating fresh, some for cooking and others for sauce. Visit our apples page to see a chart advising which apple to use for what. The video shares information on selecting, storing and preparing apples. You have to start somewhere, and a good old-fashioned apple may be just the place.

Heartfelt Work

Researchers with N.C. State University’s Plants for Human Health Institute are hard at work investigating what makes a couple of super heart-healthy foods so good for us while discovering ways to enhance their health-protective properties. We’re talking about blueberries and broccoli.

Dr. Mary Ann Lila, institute director, and her team are looking at the phytochemicals (compounds in blueberries) that confer human health benefits when the berries are eaten. By identifying those compounds and how they work together, Dr. Lila hopes that medical doctors may one day prescribe doses of fruits to treat chronic conditions like Parkinson’s or diabetes. But why wait? She recommends adding at least one-half cup of blueberries to your diet daily! Learn more about blueberry research at the Plants for Human Health Institute by watching this video featuring Dr. Lila and The Produce Lady.

And we must not forget our vegetables. Dr. Allan Brown, a molecular geneticist with the institute, wants to improve broccoli and, in the long-term, human health. He is identifying the compounds in broccoli that are associated with certain health benefits, such as cancer preven­tion, and aims to produce a broccoli that contains even more of these nutritious compounds. Learn more about broccoli research at the Plants for Human Health Institute by watching this video featuring Dr. Brown and The Produce Lady.

Contributed by Justin Moore

“Super” Snacks for the Big Game

Fresh produce wants in on the big game this year - go for it!
(Source: watermelon.org)

Aside from family and friends, food may be the single most important factor for fans looking to enjoy the Super Bowl each year. We know some of you may be planning to serve chips, fried finger-foods or the occasional frothy beverage at your gameday get-together, but there are healthier, alternative snacks that are sure to score big with you and your guests. What do you have to lose?

Root for the home team

While our favorite pro athletes are grinding it out on the football field, North Carolina producers continue growing it in the farm field. Even in the dead of winter, chances are good you can find local apples, carrots, peanuts, squash and sweet potatoes at retailers and farmers markets. Try these fun party snacks for a sure win this year!

•  “Pick 6” Veggie Tray
  Choose six of your favorite vegetables (try to include a couple of local options), cut them into finger-friendly pieces and serve with a dressing. If you’re not careful, someone may snatch this one and take it to the house! Create single-serve portions by spooning some dressing into a clear party cup and pre-loading it with veggie sticks (carrots, celery and peppers, for example).

• The Trick Play
  Every team has a trick or two up its sleeves. Make sure to include celery and zucchini sticks with those chicken wings and place pepper strips next to the veggie tray with the more traditional items, like baby carrots. Slices of lettuce, onion and tomato always find their way onto burgers and sandwiches when available. They’ll never see it coming!

• Touchdown Fries
  What vegetable looks more like a football than the sweet potato? Click here to get the full recipe for these delicious roasted sweet potato wedges or chips (your choice). If you’re really in the spirit of the sport, decorate a couple of baked sweet potatoes by using thin strips of cheese for laces on top.

• The Berry Bowl
  Break out those berries you froze last summer (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries) and combine with grapes or other fruit in a large bowl. Serve with a ladle and bowls to avoid too many fingers in the food. This is one worth celebrating! 

Taking Control of Your Resolution to Eat Healthier in the New Year

The new year offers us an opportunity to start fresh and take another step toward better health. For many folks, that step may be losing weight, eating healthier, exercising or a combination of all the above. A worthy cause to be sure, but as Time Magazine pointed out earlier this year, dieting is one of the most commonly broken New Year’s resolutions! We’re here to share some advice to help keep you on the healthy track in 2012.

Plan for Success

It’s been said before, but one of the best ways to improve your diet is to incorporate more fruits and vegetables every day. Without putting pressure on yourself, assess a typical weekly eating plan. How many fruits and vegetables do you eat for each meal? If fresh produce doesn’t make up half of your plate for every meal, then you’re skimping on your health. (USDA’s My Plate program and Super Tracker service are a great help!) It also could be helpful to develop a daily eating plan that gradually increases the amount of fruits and veggies in your diet (two extra servings/day for first week, three extra servings/day for the second week, etc.) until you’ve reached your goal.

Know Yourself

Part of the problem with maintaining a healthy diet resolution (in our opinion) is the amount of pressure people put on themselves to make as quick and dramatic a change as possible. It’s OK to allow yourself a treat from time to time (you’ll earn it!) so long as you develop and grow healthy habits and consistently include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Just because you indulge in a soda or enjoy a piece of cake at work (it would be rude to refuse, right?) doesn’t mean your diet is shot and you should revert back to your 2011 ways. While discipline is certainly important, it’s more important to be mindful of what works for you or else this New Year’s resolution could be resolved by Groundhog Day.

(See our New Year’s 2011 post for five simple guidelines to maintain a resolution for a healthier diet. The Hoppin’ John recipe is a Southern favorite and could bring you good fortune!)

Another common issue we hear is that it’s too time consuming to shop for and prepare healthy, home-cooked meals. It doesn’t have to be this way! As with anything, careful planning goes a long way.

• View “What’s in Season?” – a chart of locally available produce – to make a shopping list of items you can get fresh and easy from the farmers market.
• Get the whole family on board to increase your odds of success. Watch our video on 10 Tips for Getting Children to Eat Fresh Produce and take along the Farmers Market Treasure Hunt to introduce the children to fruits and vegetables.
• Prepare dishes that are quick, simple and nutritious – not to mention tasty – like the ones on our Recipes page.
• Browse our collection of short, informative Videos to find tips for selecting, storing, preparing and preserving a wide variety of fresh produce.

Take control, be strong and have a happy, healthy New Year! Be sure to check out the January 2012 newsletter to see our program’s “Year in Review.”

Protein…from Plants!

When we think of consuming protein, we typically think of meat, but protein is also found in plants, including legumes, nuts, seeds, grains and even fruits and vegetables. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the recommended daily allowance of protein is 10 to 35 percent of your calorie intake, dependent on age. Proteins are found in every cell and tissue of our body promoting growth and repairing bone, muscles, tissues, blood and organs. Proteins are the basic building blocks of human cells and one of three nutrients the body uses for energy (the other two are fat and carbohydrates). Here’s a closer look at how plant proteins stack up.

Photo credit: Naypong

Legumes contain proteins, while also providing a source of carbohydrates, fiber and other micronutrients. Legumes include dried beans such as soy, pinto, navy, black, kidney, chickpeas or garbanzos and lentils. You can add beans to soups, salads, casseroles and tacos. Or you can make beans into a spread, such as hummus, for a dip or to use on a sandwich.

Soy is a legume, but there are many soy foods in addition to dried beans. Edamame, tofu, tempeh and soy milk are a few other forms of soy. Soy is one of the only plant-based complete proteins, meaning it contains all of the essential amino acids. Other plant proteins are “incomplete” and must be eaten in combination (such as rice and beans) to get the full complement of essential amino acids.

Photo credit: Justin Moore

Nuts provide protein, fiber, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (the good fats). Regular consumption of nuts has been shown to help lower blood cholesterol levels. Nuts also include seeds and nut butters. Almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds offer a good selection of protein-rich nuts to choose from.

Grains such as wheat, rye, quinoa, oats and barley are a few choices with a reasonable supply of protein. Quinoa is the grain with the highest amount of protein, but perhaps is the least familiar. Quinoa is actually the seed of a plant that is related to beets, chard and spinach. Like soy, quinoa is also a plant-based source of complete protein. Cooked quinoa is fluffy and creamy, yet slightly crunchy with a somewhat nutty flavor.

Vegetables and fruits offer little protein in comparison with the other plant proteins I’ve mentioned, but there are a few vegetables that do pack in the protein. Spinach and broccoli are two recognized leaders with four to five grams of protein per cup (compared to tempeh, which boasts 41 grams per cup). Fruits generally offer even less protein that vegetables, with peaches and dried figs topping the list for fruit-based protein content.

Plants provide more than vitamins and fiber. Their available protein offers a low-fat, low-calorie alternative to meat-based proteins. If you’re looking for a healthy recipe to offer a meatless meal, check our website, www.theproducelady.org for easy, tasty dishes.