Delicious Summer Fruits

Summer is without a doubt my favourite time of year.  Not only do I enjoy the warmer weather, but I also love summer food.  Meals are more assembled than cooked, and I love the delicious, fresh, crispness of raw foods.

Summer fruits seem to be full of sunshine.   Mangoes are a huge favourite in our family and they are getting more affordable by the season.  We’ve been enjoying them occasionally for breakfast or lunch.  According to the Australia Mango website (www.mangoes.net.au ) a 200g serve of ripe mango provides you with up to 3 times the recommended daily intake of Vitamins A and C.  They also contain more beta-carotene than any other fruit. Beta-carotene is an anti-oxidant that assists with the growth and repair of cells, tissues and skin.

One of the ways we enjoy our ‘mango fandangoes’ is to eat them with banana, and topped with yoghurt and desiccated or shredded coconut.  What a delicious tropical treat!

We also love eating summer berries and cherries.  Berries are particularly beneficial to health in the following ways:

-          They keep you mentally sharp, as they contain anthocyanidins, which cross the blood-brain barrier and locate in learning and memory centres in the brain.

-          Berries have a low glycemic index, meaning that they release their sugar slowly and keep you feeling fuller for longer – the perfect fruit for those with diabetes who need to regulate sugar release to their bodies.

-          Flavanoid packed berries, such as blueberries and raspberries, may one day lead to more effective cancer-prevention strategies.

-          The antioxidants in berries can help your body fight oxidative stress caused by free radicals that can lead to illness. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants can help improve your health, protect your skin and hair, and prevent certain diseases. All fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, but nutrient-rich berries are some of the absolute best sources.

(Sources:  http://www.joybauer.com/food-articles/berries.aspx and http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition-pictures/amazing-health-benefits-of-berries.aspx )

I usually like to top breakfast cereal with berries, or have them with muslei and yoghurt.  I also like to make an apple and berry crumble – delicious served with vanilla ice cream.  And berries are also great just on their own, or to liven up a cheese board.

Which seasonal fruits are your favourite and how do you enjoy them?  I’d love you to share your recipes, so send me a post or comment below or you can email me at livewelllivesmart@gmail.com .   

Family Recipe Book

Each year we usually spend Christmas with my family in-law in Perth.  It’s a joyful, spirited and rather large event, with a growing number of members as children are born and partners are introduced.   We number about 30 people if we’re all present, and usually share the catering between us with a different host family arranging the lunch or dinner.  Having our two kids at these Christmas celebrations has been great fun – the family love to shower them with presents and affection.  Christmas is much more magical with kids around who are so enthusiastic about Santa’s visit and express their happiness and wonderment in such an uninhibited and pure way.

This year we are going to spend Christmas with my immediate family in Melbourne instead, and I’m so excited about it.  I haven’t spent Christmas with my Mum, Dad, sister and brother for over 10 years!  So, it’s definitely time to do it, particularly while the kids are young.  I’d love for my parents to relive the magic that Christmas brings, which they haven’t experienced since we were children.   

Because we’ll be away, I wanted to give extra special gifts for my family-in-law; gifts that were useful, thoughtful, creative and didn’t cost the earth – being so many people in number.    I found a terrific idea from Cath Armstrong who writes a magnificent blog that I follow called www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au .  Cath had some suggestions for home-made Christmas presents and one of these was to produce a family recipe book.  What a great idea!  With so many celebrations we have shared together over the years, we’ve been spoilt by all the wonderful dishes we’ve shared.  And we all have our favourities both to cook and to eat. 

 

Cath’s blog can be found here http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/09/100-days-to-cheapskates-style-christmas.html .

Last weekend I requested recipes from all members of the family and I’m waiting in anticipation for these all to come in.  Will people share their secret recipes for some of the dishes I’ve requested of them?  I hope so!  My plan is to have the children create some pictures to include, which I’ll scan into the document so that the whole recipe collection can be printed and bound.   I might even put the individual sheet sleeves into a display folder if I can find some nice ones, to protect the pages from splashes when cooking.

I can’t wait to put it all together and see the finished product.  I hope the family enjoy them!

Do you have any home-made Christmas gifts you’re currently working on?  I’d love to hear your suggestions, so send me a post or comment below or you can email me at livewelllivesmart@gmail.com .   

All We Have Is This Moment

I took my eldest daughter to her first concert last night.  It was Katy Perry and both of us have been huge fans for over a year now.  We were so excited and the show didn’t disappoint.  There were dances, contortionists, lots of costume changes, conveyer belts, Katy flying, … it was a high energy performance and Katy’s voice was amazing.  The show had everything and was such a great party!

I’ve been inspired by Katy’s lyrics this year, particularly from her Prism album.  Even though she is quite provocative at times some of Katy’s lyrics are very profound and uplifting.  She sings a lot about being the best you can be, finding strength within and being positive.  One particular lyric that has resonated with me is:

“All we have is this moment.  Tomorrow’s unspoken, yesterday is history.”

This is so true.

So often I worry about the future – what do I have in my calendar coming up in the next month?  What have I done in the past that I could have done better?  Thinking and worrying about either of these things is really a waste of time and energy.  What can I effect right now?  That’s so much more important.  How can I make the most out of the moment I am in right now?  Being fully present in the current moment means that I’ll take time to notice all the small miracles that happen every day.

Like when my daughter and I sat down at the concert, one of the few to take their seats early, and realised that across the aisle were seated our previous neighbours!  In a stadium seating 15,000 people what are the odds?  There are no coincidences, only miracles –everything happens for a reason.

My youngest daughter is struggling with living in the moment.  She’s only 4 years old, but worries so much about things… actually she reminds me of me!  I didn’t have the easiest of childhoods, suffering from anxiety, and now I see a similar pattern playing out in my daughter.  It really breaks my heart.  I need to teach her to live in the moment, and not worry about the past or future.  It’s what got me through…. Although it took a hell of a long time.  I wish that my youngest can get over her anxiety much more quickly than I got over mine (only about 10 years!).

Katy’s Perry’s song “This Moment”  says…..

“Can you tell me who called a race?  Can anyone stay in one place?  And when you get to the finish line, will you wish for more time?  …….

“But you know who I think will win?  Are the ones who let love in.  Are they ones who take the time.”

Do you have something to share about being in the moment?  Or taking time to discover life’s small miracles that happen daily?  I’d love to hear your stories, so send me a post or comment below or you can email me at livewelllivesmart@gmail.com .