Seedy (Fruit) Strip Joint

Hey babes!

If you’ve managed to forgive me for that incredible post title, welcome aboard. I appreciate your appreciation for a good/bad dad joke. Love ya!

But in all seriousness, today we are talking about a much more salacious kind of stripping: the kind that involves a vegetable peeler. Yep, we’re talking about snacks!

I am a snack ENTHUSIAST. If I’m doing work at a keyboard (perhaps at an office job or writing for a website about plant food, for example), I am constantly reaching for something to eat. Luckily for my health, the snacks I reach for are usually fresh fruits, sliced vegetables with some kind of homemade bean dip, edamame, pumpkin seeds, air-popped popcorn, and the souls of everyone who gave up on this insufferable list after the third addition.

And I’m sure by now you’ve gotten a hint that I may really like fruit. One time, a guy that thought I wanted his nutrition advice told me to not eat too much fruit if I wanted to be lean and sexy. That might have been the first time I deeply understood the perfect place to put a “LOL, K” in my face-to-face life.

Fruit by the Foot Pound

I am a loyal follower of some major influencers: the weekly sales circulars. Truly, they influence my decisions for the following week more than any other content I check regularly. And while I go gaga over berries and grapes, kiwis and cherries, I still round out my weekly shopping with the good old staple fruits of my region. Bananas, oranges, apples, mangoes, and for parts of the year, pears and strawberries.

I know, I know, when you think of the health superstars of the fruit world, these are not the players that come straight to mind. But you don’t have to be Aretha Franklin to have pipes, and an apple deserves as much recognition as an acai berry. For example, mangoes, pears, apples and strawberries are packed with plant compounds that act as antioxidants, including polyphenols and anthocyanins, particularly concentrated as always in the peels.

Occasionally though, I do overshoot the amount my kids and I can reasonably smash through before things get dicey. While freezing is always an option for some of my selection, we also like to keep our options (and freezer) open, and with spring and summer upon us, we need snacks that travel. Backpack snacks. Pocket snacks. Nonperishable friends. And that means dehydrating.

But hold on, we can’t just rush over to the oven without considering our options. Dried fruit is great, but what if we could somehow boost it, maybe add a bit of texture and additional health benefits? A mad woman, you say? Ha! Absolutely! Mad about omega-3!

Seeding a Plot

Chia seeds, flax meal, and hemp hearts are the Holy Trinity of the super seeds world, and for a litany of good reasons. All are packed full of insoluble fiber, protein, and omega-3 fatty acids, mostly in the form of ALA, which the body can convert to DHA and EPA, particularly if your diet is low in linoleic acid.

Chia seeds contain a number of plant compounds that have been shown to fight inflammation and chronic disease, while flax seeds are the most plentiful source of lignans. Lignans can help to fight oxidative stress, inflammation, blood pressure, heart disease and metabolic syndrome through reduction of the levels of fat and glucose in your blood. Hemp hearts are higher in protein and lower in fiber than the other two, but are also an excellent source of arginine, which helps the body to synthesize nitric oxide. As I mentioned when I talked about oats, nitric oxide allows your blood vessels to dilate and relax, which means lower blood pressure, better heart health, and better blood flow.

From here it’s a matter of preference. I love chia and mango, but pear and apple slices dusted with ground flax seeds are also delicious, and hemp hearts add a nutty twist lacking in the other two choices. Try a variety of combinations or mix different seeds to see what suits your mood. Spices could also be sprinkled on to add even more variety, such as ginger, cinnamon, or even chili powder (chili, hemp and mango is MUY delicioso).

So give it a try and let me know what you think! What’s your favorite flavor combination?