Spring Lunch Outdoors

It's always a good time catching up over lunch with a friend. Since the weather has been warm and sunny here in the Pacific NW I decided to break out my outdoor dinnerware and take the delicious fun outdoors.

On the menu, Asian inspired cuisine:
- Hand-chopped slaw (cabbage, red cabbage, carrots)
- Grilled chicken in a marinade of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, etc.
- Brown rice
- Peanut sauce

Good food. Good company. Good times.

An Apple A Day

I love apples. Absolutely love them. My favorite variety is Gala. What a great, nutritious, portable snack. Not only are they wonderfully crunchy and sweet in the raw, but there are many ways you can prepare and enjoy them. For breakfast, I like to dice them and add to a warm bowl of oatmeal with Craisins or on top of plain Greek yogurt with Craisins and walnuts. At lunch and dinner they continue to impress; they’re great on salads. A friend, hipped me to another way to jazz up an apple: drizzle a little lime juice on it and sprinkle with Chili powder, yup Chili powder - delightful. It’s a hit with her kids and I love it, too.  Of course, I can’t forget to mention the not-so-healthy American favorite…Apple pie – yum.

One day recently while I was enjoying an apple, the adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” came to me. I started wondering how much truth there is to the statement, so I researched it. And, low and behold, I found my love for apples goes beyond a tasty snack but indeed I’m getting loads of nutrients too. Here’s what I found:

Five Reasons To Eat An Apple Every Day

1. Your Diet - Apples are the perfect, portable snack: great tasting, energy-boosting, and free of fat.
2. Your Heart - Research confirms it! The antioxidant phytonutrients found in apples help fight the damaging effects of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
3. Your Digestion - Just one apple provides as much dietary fiber as a serving of bran cereal. (That's about one-fifth of the recommended daily intake of fiber.)
4. Your Lungs - An apple a day strengthens lung function and can lower the incidence of lung cancer, as well.
5. Your Bones - Apples contain the essential trace element, boron, which has been shown to strengthen bones - a good defense against osteoporosis.

Source: VirginiaApples.com