Healthy Chocolate Covered Strawberries?!

Now that we've got your attention, let us explain.

Strawberries, the little powerhouse of a fruit that they are, were ranked the 27th best among foods in the USA that are rich in anti-oxidants. And they are 4th ranked among fruit!  That's good news to us at Fruit Occasions...we love our strawberries here!

Now, I know all us chocoholics were elated behind belief when we heard that dark chocolate not only tasted oh so good but was actually good for us! It's anti-oxidant properties outrank even red wine, blueberries, and even green tea...who would have ever thought that right?

What could be better than our favorite fruit, the strawberry, being ranked 4th highest in anti-oxidant power....only our powerhouse strawberries dipped in our semi-sweet, anti-oxidant packed, chocolate! What an awesome thing, a double whammy of anti-oxidant goodness all just in time to help you with your New Year's resolution. Yes, ladies and gents, a New Year's resolution food that will totally satisfy that sweet tooth and that you can feel awesome for eating!

Not only are they a wonderful sweet treat for those wanting to keep their New Year's resolution but strawberries are also rich in folic acid which is highly important to mommy's-to-be or women that nursing, and dipping them solves any chocolate cravings!

So stop by, call in, or order your chocolate covered strawberries today! Remember that every occasion is a Fruit Occasion!

Phone:203-691-1111

TOP 3 for Turkey Day!

Many of you have yet to place your orders for Thanksgiving and time is ticking! Fruit Occasions will be open  on Thanksgiving Day until 8:30 a.m. until 12:00.p.m. We have a lot of different fruit bouquets that are being featured this month with prices all across the board.

Lets look at the Delightful Gathering:

Delightful Gathering is a beautiful November themed bouquet with it's keepsake acorn/ leaf container. This arrangement has a variety of fruit including chocolate dipped apple wedges, fresh strawberries, oranges, cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapes. This arrangement makes a great centerpiece on the Thanksgiving table!

Bountiful Blessings:

Bountiful Blessings is personally one of my favorite arrangements. It comes with a generous amount of fresh fruit beautifully arranged in a cornucopia. The chocolate covered strawberries give this arrangement that added touch of sweetness that I know will get everyone talking at the dinner table. This unique, one of a kind arrangement can also be done with adding chocolate covered apples! There is no other fruit arrangement like it...if only you could see this one in person, it is absolutely STUNNING! (This one will being going on my Thanksgiving table : )   )

Another favorite: THE Kick off!

The Kick Off is a fun arrangement that will get all of the football fans talking.. and eating some more! Enjoy your Thanksgiving football game by eating some chocolate dipped apple footballs, cantaloupe, honeydew, fresh strawberries and grapes! You can also add chocolate covered strawberries to this arrangement. You can feel as healthy and in shape as the football players your watching on tv while eating the Kick off! :) 

Let me know your favorite Thanksgiving day arrangement! We had one customer tell us his favorite is the Very Berry Basket. Another likes the Fruitful Bounty. Let us know your Thanksgiving dream bouquet! 

Bitter-Sweet moment, Hostess closing

It is a bittersweet moment here in America, iconic confectioners Hostess is closing their doors for good today.

The company filed for bankruptcy back in 2005 which caused a lot of pay cuts and loss of benefits. This caused the bakers to go on strike. Rather than reaching an agreement, the company decided to close it doors for good if the bakers didn't return. Its unfortunate that the company had to go into bankruptcy and couldn't afford to pay its workers correctly... but it's also sad that the company has to close it's doors.


We all grew up with Hostess, and all had our favorites. Personally, my  favorites are the Snowballs and cupcakes. Fruit Occasions Marketing Director's fave was the twinkie. So long Hostess and all of your sugary baked snacks! We will miss you!


R.I.P. Hostess, No one does pink coconut and chewy marshmallow the way you do!

This is bitter sweet. Bitter because we will miss your confections, sweet because our waistlines will now get smaller!


We wish all of Hostess' employees and bakers well. This is the tough part when it comes to companies closing, all of the invested people who lose their jobs.

Perhaps people can now more easily opt for a healthier option.. like Fruit Occasions fruit bouquets and arrangements. They are just as delicious as a snowball or twinkie... all natural... and won't hurt your waistline!


Go to www.FruitfulTreats.com to see our fruit arrangements and other fruit products.

Our new look!

As many of you know, (or don't know), Fruit Occasions is going through a major look transformation. We used to be called Fruitful Treats and are in the process of phasing that name out completely. At the current moment we working on many aspects.

Our website- We are so happy to announce the launch of new website. This website has been months in the making and is really convenient for customers, especially with the online ordering system!

The store- Our store front is undergoing a look transformation as well with new colors on the walls, posters and signs! I can't divulge the color schemes though, your going to have to wait and see the finished product!

Products- We are excited to say we will be launching new product lines, and improving old ones. Stay tuned for updates on our products. You can see a full list of our products (with the exception of smoothies) on our website : www.fruitfultreats.com or www.fruitoccasions.com (they are linked to one another)


Social media- Twitter, facebook, THE BLOG, google plus, and our email has changed from Fruitful Treats to Fruit Occasions. @FruitOccasions is our twitter name, and Fruit Occasions@gmail.com is our email... like us on face book and get coupons!

Stay tuned for more great news, articles, and facts  from Fruit Occasions!

Shucking a strawberry the "right" way

So, check out this article/ youtube video that shows how to de-leaf a strawberry with a straw.  This could get very interesting!


Remember though, there are a lot of nutrients in the leaves..!




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elie-ayrouth/strawberries-all-wrong_b_2067653.html

Yum!

Come get your chocolate covered strawberries at fruit Occasions! Can't wait to tell Fruit Occasions' fruit prepper about this method!

Oh the things some people come up!

First Sandy.. then this Noreastern!

So, we are finally just getting back to normal after hurricane sandy, and BOOM... now we had this crazy Noreastern. This storm was definitely under estimated. Many of the weather stations said we would have a few snow showers, but mostly rain. It was a blizzard, literally!

I saw so many people getting stuck (including myself this morning), remember everyone, please be safe out on the roads!

Today is much warmer than yesterday so all of the snow is melting... which means the snow is now slush which makes this worst for driving conditions.

According to WTNH, state police in Connecticut have reported from "12:00am midnight- 9:00am this morning over 385 car accidents, in which 24 had injuries and 2 were fatal." Thats a lot of accidents!

This morning it took me an hour and half to get out of my long driveway! I had to shovel a track for my tires to go!

I am very lucky that this was the least of my problems. There are many people between Sandy and this blizzard that are in trouble and need our help! Remember to donate if you can. Dried goods, canned goods, winter coats, anything that  helps!

We hope everyone gets to work safely and our first responders are OK.

Fruit Occasions is open and running, and ready to take and deliver your orders!

Go to our new website to place your order www.Fruitfultreats.com  (we haven't changed our website name to Fruit Occasions yet, it will happen soon though!).

Election Day! Did YOU vote yet?

Today November 6, 2012 is election day! Many people have been going out and hitting the polls to cast their ballot for their top candidate! In spite of the devestation that hurricane sandy left behind for many people, many affected people were out and about casting their votes.

After watching the news there was a lot of worry that people wouldn't show up to vote because they were too busy filing insurance claims, cleaning up, restoring or just trying to get by. Fruit Occasions is located by the coast in CT where many people are still left without power.  As I went to cast my vote during my lunch break I was so happy to see in my town of West Haven ( where one of southern CT's most popular beaches was devestated) many people in line waiting to vote, it was one of the few times in my life I was HAPPY to see a line.

As I waited in line and listened to the chatter I kept hearing references to "Hurricane Sandy", "no power yet", "tree removal", "work is still shut down", and many other disaster related phrases. Despite what everyone is going through, they still turned up to vote which is so wonderful.

Despite who you are voting for, what party you associate with... voting period is so important. It is important because so many people FAUGHT and DIED so everyone in the United States who is a citizen can vote. The sufferage movement faught for womens right to vote, people faught for African Americans to get the right to vote.... voting is a right that was faught hard for.  It isn't only a patriotic thing to do, the action itself is what makes our country so great.

As you go to the ballot box today, say thank you to all of those who sacraficed for your right to be standing in that spot. Don't get angry over the lines, be happy. Be happy that today whether your in turmoil because of a monster storm, whatever race, gender, or ethnicity you are... today  you are taking part in this UNIFYING moment. Americans, we find ways to unify despite tragedies and lets keep that going.

How ironic is it that the areas that were hit by Sandy will be getting a Noreastern TOMORROW?! I guess the politicans are lucky, they are worried about people showing up to the polls because of hurricance sandy, imagine if the noreastern hit today and not tomorrow? If thats not luck I don't know what is!


Elect your favorite berries by Fruit Occasions! Go to the Elect Your  Berries post (a few posts back) and let us know your favorite berry!!! We don't have Mitt O' Berry or Obama Berry but we have plain semi-sweet berry, semi-sweet with crushed almonds, white chocolate berry with coconut and so on!  We also have some great election day arrangements with a cool patriotic flair at www.Fruitfultreats.com (NEW WEBSITE JUST LAUNCHED!)

Happy Halloween! Specials!

For those of you that failed to read our previous post and didn't see our Halloween specials here a quick repost!


As a Happy Halloween Treat, Fruit Occasions is doing a one day strawberry special! All boxes for today only are $10.00 off!

Come get your SPOOKY BERRIES now! Or place an order!

They are delicious chocolate covered strawberries dipped in both white and semi-sweet chocolate, rolled i

n crushed Reeses Peices candy! YUM!

 

And for those of you that don't like peanut butter........

You can order Fruit Occasion's  exclusive MASQUERADE BOUQUET!!! This gorgeous bouquet is ONLY $47.99! It is $10 off today for everyone! This "spooky" bouquet makes the perfect treat! It contains strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, and chocolate dipped pineapple masks! This is an excellent option to bring to halloween parties, a healthy alternative to candy all still having the sweetness with a touch of chocolate. A halloween treat that won't hurt your pockets or you teeth! It also comes with the adorable Jack O Lantern ceramic keepsake!

 

You can go to www.FruitfulTreats.com to see more exciting Fruit Occasions by Fruitful Treats products! Continue to spread the word about our name change to Fruit Occasions!



Hurricane Sandy vs. Fruit Occasions! Our account.

Happy Halloween all! Well, technically not anymore! As we are all dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, our local officials have informed us that HALLOWEEN HAS MOVED to November 7th. One employee is very sad about this because her FAVORITE holida is halloween.

We are all too busy to par-tay anyway dealing with this cleanup. The morning after the hurricane (tropical storm Sandy is the official name now because she "technically" did not reach hurricane status according to the local news) we arrived here at Fruit Occasions ready to assess the damage.  It can be broken down into two catagories:  DAMAGE and POWER.

DAMAGE: Luckily, we prepared as best we could by taping up all of the store windows, taking in all of our signs, flags, and banners. None of Fruit Occasions actual property was damaged, BUT  our parking lot was covered with downed trees, foliage, and other organic debris. We spent several hours cutting up downed trees (this was especially fun for Fruit Occasions awesome owner since he likes to get chainsaw happy from time to time). He was out there ripping his chainsaw through a mountain of wood and trees. Our wonderful employee Sanchez helped, cleaning up the leaves and clearing all of the debris. With a little elbow grease, sheer will power, and a chainsaw... our parking lot was cleaned up in no time! (actually it took a few hours).

Now, for the power failures:


POWER:  Fruit Occasions ended up losing power like many many people in CT and areas the storm hit. Luckily Fruit Occasions is located in Hamden, CT which is a twenty minute drive from the shoreline, but not directly sitting on it. Our local friends from East Haven and West Haven, CT got hit real hard with flooding since Ms. Sandy decided to push all of the ocean water on to land! Anywho, the whole block lost power. Our neighbors at the mobile gas station had to close due to the power outage, and our other neighbors at the 7-11 were running on generators I believe.

PROBLEMS WITH LOSING POWER AT FRUIT OCCASIONS:

• The obvious: No lights/ no OPEN sign- This means customers won't know from the street that we are here and ready to serve you!
• Chocolate- The double boilers we use to heat up our chocolate stop working, hence...  we cannot make any  chocolate covered strawberries or other dipped fruits!
• The Cooler- With no electrictiy to power up our giant walk in cooler we keep all of fruits in, there is no way to keep our fruit cold! Or to cool down chocolate covered fruit! Luckily, the power outage lasted long enough as to where the fruit was fine. That big of a cooler stays cool for quite a while.
• The freezer- Our small freezer that we keep the fruit that is cut fresh then frozen in house for your fabulous smoothies begins will melt! We had to throw away, replace and wash all the fruit and containers.
• Phone- Without electricity our phones didn't work. Luckily, our phones run on batteries also so we were able to phone people, and customers were able to phone us.

Other than these things that people all over are dealing with, we are happy and lucky to say that those were all the problems we had.

The shocking thing was once we had cleaned everything up, about one hour in of having the store back up and running....all of sudden BOOM! All the lights went out, everything shut down once again. The power went off again! It wasn't until the evening that it had returned.

We are glad to say that Fruit Occasions IS OFFICIALLY OPEN and back to normal hours as of today, Oct. 31.

All local businesses that are still closed without power, we send our thoughts and cannot wait for everyone to be back normal, to be open and ready to serve Hamden and the rest of the local community. We are urging for things to return to normal and get the economy moving again!

As a little pick-me- up for many of our suffering customers... and as a little Halloween treat... Fruit Occasions is doing a one day strawberry special. All strawberry boxes for today only are $10.00 off! Come get them while you can!

Spooky Berries



Here is an image of our SPOOKY BERRIES! A yummy halloween treat! Chocolate covered strawberries dipped in white and dark chocolate, coated in delicious reeses peices candy!


and for those of you that don't like peanut butter..........

 

The Masquerade Bouquet! YUM!

What did you snack on during hurricane Sandy?

Now that hurricane Sandy has left the CT area, CT can now start clean up and recovery. Luckily, some parts of CT weren't hit as bad as other places (though many lost power). Fruit Occasions would like to keep those that were less fortunate, especially our friends down by the shoreline in our hearts and minds.

Sometimes weather events can be a little fun. You get to snuggle up with a blanket and those you love and make some good food, read a good book, or relax in the candle light. 

SO tell us, what comfort food kept you comfortable during the hurricane? 

We had a stock pile in our fridge of Fruit Occasion's monkey bites! Dark chocolate covered bananas rolled in almonds. They were delicious! 

Here is our Banana Bonanza which has monkey bites in white &dark chocolate, with coconuts and the tradtional almonds! YUMMMMMM!

 

Hurricane Sandy may have destroyed our power, but she will never destroy our appetites!

 

"Happiness Peaks at 7-8 Fruit Servings a Day"

 There is a new study that has been published by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that eating 7-8 fruit/ vegetable servings a day may make you happier. As we all know there is a lot of speculation with studies (the way they are conducted, how results are determined, what they mean...etc). According this article though, there is a strong strong correlation between emotional well being and what you put into your body. And the good news is, it;s Fruits and vegetables... which is what we serve here at Fruit Occasions!

 

"Using data covering 80,000 randomly selected British individuals along with seven accepted measures of well-being, they found that happiness and mental health rise in proportion to the number of daily servings of fruit and vegetables, peaking at 7-8 servings of 2.8 ounces each. ...

....Even after isolating confounding variables, it was found that individuals consuming at least 7 servings a day were 2.7 percent happier than those who eat almost no fruit and vegetables."

So here is our question: Does eating more fruits and 

vegetables make you happier?........ 

                    Or are people that are happier more likely to 

eat more fruits and vegetables?

Let us know what you think! You can get your start on eating more fruits and veggies by ordering a fruit bouquet from Fruit Occasions. Go to Fruitful Treats to see our wide selection of yummy fruit arrangements. (Don't forget to take a look at our Halloween ones!)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/happiness-peaks-at-7-8-servings-of-fruits-and-vegetables-per-day-study-2012-10#ixzz2AQRq3HCV

ELECTION 2012! Elect your favorite BERRY!

Whats your favorite berry!? Leave a comment to vote for your top  berry candidate! The Berry with the most votes will get added to Fruit Occasion's Box of Berried Treasures!

Gentifcally modified apples that don't brown? WHat do you think?

Genetically modified foods, its such a hot debate right now. Corn, papayas, zuchinni, tomatoes are all foods that have been genetically modified, with now apples joining their ranks. 

Okaganan Specialty Fruits Inc., has developed genetically modified  granny smith apples and golden deliciousapples that don't brown.

This is a hot debate because of the bad repuation that GM foods has gained. Many people say they don't agree with GM-ing foods because it "isn't natural" or because there  are "untested effects" that could spring up in the future.

The truth is, if some plants wre not GM-ed, they would not be able to meet the hefty supply and demand of todays market.

For example, in the 1990's Hawaii's papya industry came to the verge of collapse when the deadly papya ringspot virus broke out and wiped out most of the papya crops. During the crisis a papya crop that was genetically engineered to be resistant to the virus. The papya industry recovered but nearly 80% of the papayas that came from Hawaii were genetically modified after that.

 Imagine how bad this would be for something like corn and soy beans. Whether Americans like to admit it or not, corn and say is in nearly EVERYTHING. Corn syrup is a cheaper alternative to sugar, and soy lecithen is an emulsifier that can be found almost on every grocery label. Whether this is the way it should be or not, one thing everyone must admit is if the corn and soybean supply was interupted for some reason, prices of food would sky rocket, people would sadly lose their jobs, and the economy would take a turn for the worst.

The apples that have been recently genetically engineered not to turn brown don't turn brown because their genes have been altered to stop of the melanin process. Cells in the apple's flesh that are exposed to oxygen oxidize and from a pigement called melanin. When the action that prevents cellular cascade making the cells create melanin stops, they don't turn brown.

The question is should apples be a GM food? What should be the basis for genetically modifying a crop? Should it be for aestethic reasons like not turning brown or being rounder? Or should it be something like what happened to the papaya crops, to evade extinction from a virus?

We at Fruit Occasions work with fruits all day long and take proud in our work. Leave a comment and let us know what you think about genetically modified crops.

Think twice about going seedless!

When most people go fruit shopping, they scavenge the produce aisle looking to seedless grapes, seedless watermelon, seedless everything! Not so fast there! By discarding the seeds or buying seedless fruits, you know you could be cheating your body out of amazing vitamins and nutrients?

Grape seeds may be as small as a character written on your keyboard, and who would think that they would have any benefit? Believe it or not... they do!

The beneficial components of grape seeds are called proanthocyanidins (if thats not a mouthfull!). Proanthocyanidins have been researched since the 1950's and are shown to contain powerful antioxidants that helpfight cancer and lower high blood pressure and cholesterol. They also are good for the vascular system because they have been shown to strengthen the walls of blood vessels preventing varicose veins and bruising.

"Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst, trend watcher and creator of supermarketguru.com, said in a statement. "As an antioxidant, proanthocyanidins have been shown to be 20 times more potent than vitamin C, and 50 times more potent than vitamin E...."Because of their anti-inflammatory action, proanthocyanidins might be used in treating asthma and emphysema, arthritis, joint damage and swelling, and may even reduce the severity of allergies."

(Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2012/10/06/Grape-seeds-help-heart-health-delay-aging/UPI-35741349581956/#ixzz28dFpHYzv)

Next time you think about spitting those seeds out, you should reconsider!  Drinking 100% grape juice, eating fresh grapes (with seeds and all), and taking grape seed extract can help you get a dose of those awesome phoanthocyanidins!

Benefits of our Apple Pie Smoothie

And our Smoothie of the month issss: Apple Pie Smoothie! YUM!

We have told you about our new awesome line of smoothies, and today we are going to talk a little bit about the benefits of our Apple Pie Smoothie. Our Apple Pie Smoothie contains apples, apple juice, cinnamon, honey, and some banana. Lets talk about the benefits of apples and cinnamon in this post!

Apples: Where to begin! Apples have so many great health benefits. To begin, their water content is around 85%, which means that they helps alleviate immediate and cellular level thirst. Naturally anti toxic, apples help aid in digestion in several ways, one way is by reactivating the beneficial bacteria that live in our digestive systems. They work as diuretics and laxatives. "Studies indicate that eating apples daily will help reduce skin diseases, arthritis, and various lung and asthma problems; European research shows that apple pectin binds with radioactive residues and removes them from the body, along with lead, mercury, and other toxic heavy metals (Onstad, Diane)". Another great thing you will love about apples is that they are fat blockers! The pectin in apples help limit the amount of fat our adipose (fat cells) can absorb by forming a type of barrier!

Cinnamon: Cinnamon is an awesome spice that has proven to be a beneficial part of any diet. Cinnamon has  been proven to aid in the lowering of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and also has shown to help type 2 diabetics by lowering blood sugar and helping increase natural insulin production. It also has anti fungal properties and candida (natural bacteria in our bodies that leads to oral thrush and yeast infections when overgrown) has been shown to not be able to live in a cinnamon environment. Cinnamon also is great for the blood! It has a natural anti clotting effect, and has been shown to help reduce the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.

These are only  A FEW health benefits for both apples and cinnamon, and boy do they make an excellent pair not just for your taste buds, but for your body too!

Come on in to FRUIT OCCASIONS AND TRY OUR APPLE PIE SMOOTHIE TODAY!

Fruit will make you more beautiful with a healthy glow

We already know that fruits and vegetables are really good for you. Most people know they are good for you, but most people don't know "how" they are good for you. This is the purpose of our blog, to let you know how. Get this though, not only are they good for you, they help you look more attractive!

A new study released by the University of St. Andrews in the UK shows that eating fruits and veggies helps make your skin glow.... thus giving you a much more attractive appearance!

Carotenoids are what is responsible for this glow. Carotenoids are the red, yellow and orange pigments found in fruits and vegetables. For example, lycopene is the carotenoid found in tomatoes, red peppers, and WATERMELON that gives them their rich red color. (Lycopene has also been shown to help fight against cancer!). Leafy green vegetables like the Kale that we use here at fruitful treats contains tons of beta carotene which is the yellow pigment carotenoid.  These carotnoids depoist under the skin giving it health benefits, along with giving that fresh healthy glow.

According to the study, a controlled experiment was done where students increased their fruit portions (avoiding UV  and sun light), and recorded the results. 

"Skin tone becomes attractive with as little as three additional portions a day

You do not have to gorge yourself with lots of fruits and vegetables for a long period of time. Adding just two extra portions had a noticeable effect on attractiveness within a period of six weeks.

To be precise, eating additional 2.91 portions per day would make you look healthy. Eating additional 3.3 portions of fruits and vegetables would make you look attractive.

On average, one portion of fruit or vegetable is equivalent to 80g. For example, one apple, banana or orange will count as one portion."

These are all fruits you can get here at Fruit Occasions! Come and get it for that wonderful healthy glow!

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035415_foods_skin_health_beauty.html#ixzz22zRp5llr

Health Benefits of Cantaloupe!

Cantaloupe, its not just tasty... its good for your body!!!

Whatever your goal is, whether it is to be healthy, lose a little weight, or maintain a balance, one delicious fruit that is tasty and good for you is cantaloupe!

Cantaloupe is sold in most grocery stores. It's bright orange properties are definitely appealing, but most people don't know whats really in their cantaloupe.

• Vitamin A and C- Cantaloupe is loaded and packed with vitamin A and C. These two vitamins are said to help reduce the rsik of breast cancer because of their antioxidant properties. These vitamins help your body flush out free radicals which can make you sick. Also, the vitamin C can help boost your immune system! Vitamin A is also responsible for giving your skin a nice glow, so cantaloupe helps keep your skin and face glowing healthily!

• Fiber-  Cantaloupe  contains a lot of fiber. This is good for weight loss and people who are dieting. Fiber digests slowly which in turn keeps you full longer. If you eat high fiber foods your a lot less likely to snack in between meals, and more likely to stay full for a longer time. Fiber also helps maintain digestive health as well.

• Water- Cantaloupe contains a lot of water which is important to stay hydrated. Your skin becomes dry, and you may see some lines and wrinkles when you are dehydrated. Cantaloupe's high water content is a perfect hydrate to help your body feel its best, and look its best. Being hydrated helps your skin glow, and keeps your skin healthy. (Just like vitamin A!)

• Low Calories-  Cantaloupe is a low caloric food, meaning you can eat lots of it with out breaching your calorie "budget". Whether your doing a weight watchers program, or a diet of your own, the low caloric content of cantaloupe is a plus. 

Next time you eat cantaloupe, think of all the wonderful things it is doing for you! It is helping fight cancer, it is keeping you hydrated, it is keeping your skin looking pretty, it is helping your body fight free radicals, annndd it is helping your digestive system with all of it's good fiber!

 Next time your in the grocery store and see a cantaloupe, don't under estimate it's benefits! Finally, a food that tastes good AND IS GOOD for you!

 

Here at Fruit Occasions we sell all kinds of delicious arrangements that are loaded with ripe, orange, cantaloupe! Come try some today!

The Truth About Kale

Some people like it, some people hate it, but the truth is.... Kale  is one of the most beneficial, nutrient packed foods out there!

When you look at this leafy, dark green leaf vegetable you may not realize how much it is actually packin, lets take a look at what your getting out of your kale serving!

• One cup of Kale contains only 35 calories. Not half a cup, not 1/4 of a cup, but one whole cup! You'll never go hungry when dieting again if you include Kale in your diet!
• One cup of Kale = 5g of fiber. Fiber is important an necessary in your diet not just to keep your pipes clean, but keep your cholesterol in check! A high fiber diet prevents bile salts from being reabsorbed by your digestive tract into your blood stream, in return lowering your cholesterol levels. 
• Calcium and B6! One cup of Kale= 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6!
• It contains minerals including tons of magnesium, copper, potassium, manganese, phosphorous and iron. people who are low in  iron and or are anemic, kale is a great way to increase your iron intake. Eating kale is better then taking iron pills because the kale absorbs much easier!
• 1 cup of kale= 200% of daily vitamin C requirement! Forget the orange juice! Eat some kale! Kale soup when your sick will help boost your immune system along with giving you all of the nutrients and minerals that orange juice doesn't.
• 1 Cup of kale = 180% of vitamin A daily recommended intake.
• 1,020% of daily recommended vitamin K intake is what you will find in one cup of Kale!  Vitamins A and K are two powerful anti-oxidants that help rid your body of free radicals. If you would like to learn about free radicals, anti oxidants, and what they actually are... go read our post What are anti oxidants and free radicals?
• Kale has  other nutrients and minerals including lutein which promotes eye health. 

Kale can be prepared several different ways. It can be eaten raw, it can be chopped and added to salad, it can be steamed, boiled, added to soup, blended and so on! Be aware though that if you over cook Kale or boil it, you lose a lot of the nutrients in it. Many people don't know this but this goes with most vegetables. Most vegetables offer the most nutrients when eaten raw. When they are overcooked, they lose a lot of the nutrients and minerals. Vegetables that are boiled lose a lot of the nutrients into the water, so if you boil Kale or any vegetable, be sure to consume or use the water in another dish!

Here at Fruit Occasions we use Kale in our Dream in Green smoothie ( a customer favorite!), and in our Fruit Arrangements!

Next time you see kale, think about all of it's rich health benefits! Come on in to try the Dream in Green Smoothie!

WHAT ARE ANTI -OXIDANTS?

Everywhere you go in this day and age, you see it and it hear it everywhere. Plastered all over drink labels, on commercials, and all over the net you see "Loaded and packed with anti oxidants!!!". Since the recent health kick springing up there are all these new popular drinks that are marketed as being packed with strong anti oxidants. Acai berry mixes, specialized sports and diet drinks, and goji berry drinks (to name a few) are all marketed as being packed with strong antioxidants and line  the shelves at food stores. The truth is you don't need to spend tons of money for a 12 oz acai beverage to get a boost of antioxidants. 

Before getting into antioxidants.... lets talk about what that even means. The word is thrown around every where, all over labels and television. Your told you need them and they help fight free radicals. They are "healthy". But what does this mean? Antioxidant? Free radicals? Many people are pressured by the media to consume but most don't even really know what it means, why its good, or why you need it. We are here to break it down for you, and explain a much simpler, less expensive way to get your dose of antioxidants!

What is an antioxidant and free radical?  From the way it sounds, you'd think its something that prevents you from rusting! The key word here is oxidize. Without getting into deep chemistry and the transfer of electrons, the best example of oxidation is when you see iron turn to rust. When your bicycle chain starts to turn brown, its because the iron that the chain is made up of, on a atomic level, is LOSING electrons. All atoms (that make up the world, including ourselves) are made up 3 basic parts: neutrons, protons, and electrons. In order for that atom to stay stable... there is a certain number of each. When that atom LOSES an electron, it is oxidized and becomes unstable. Because it LOST an electron... it tries to start grabbing at other atoms' electrons to re stabilize it. This is what a free radical is. When free radicals in our body start breaking up cells to get their electrons it can cause much damage and disease. Anti oxidant rich food help prevent this process, and help re-stabilize these cells. 

Oxidants develop within our bodies from natural processes including metabolism, aerobic respiration, and inflammation. We also get them from outside sources including radiation ( X-rays), sunlight and tanning,(UV rays) smoking, drinking alcohol, strenuous exercise,  and other environmental factors. Oxidation of various elements in our body systems cause organ damage and diseases. For example, the oxidation of lipo protien in the blood has been studied and shown to cause heart disease. Off all organs, the brain is the most at risk for oxidation damage due to it's high metabolism. 

Anti oxidants are essentially vitamins and minerals that prevent the oxidation process. While yes, there are fruits and vegetables that contain anti oxidants than others.. you can get a healthy dose of antioxidants from simpler fruits that you probably eat on a regular basis. Strawberries and granny smith apples are two fruits that are rich in anti oxidants. Who says you need to buy that expensive acai drink! Just eat some strawberries. Nuts are also rich in antioxidants, especially pecans. Another food to be shown rich in anti oxidants is dark chocolate! YUM!

Strawberries, Granny Smith Apples, and Pecans are all fruits and nuts that you find here at fruitful treats. So next time your order that box of Dark chocolate covered strawberries... think of all those great antioxidants your taking in! The aren't just delicious.. but also good for you!

Strawberries May Protect You From UV Rays!

One of the great things about summer time is the constant shining sun. Its warm and we can enjoy the outdoors, the sun is out longer... so there is more time in our day to be outside! The one negative thing about this is that the sun gives off harmful ultra violet rays. UV rays are waves of the radiation that the sun emits. Our Earth has a great barrier or blocker to absorb most of these UV rays so they are less harmful to us humans, its called the Ozone layer. Unfortunately, with all the carbon dioxide emissions that have been released into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, the ozone layer has been greatly depleted. This is why taking protective measures against exposure (like wearing sun block) is so important. Several years ago spf 10 sun block was considered okay now health experts recommend spf 30 or more! 

One would never think, but eating strawberries can help protect against those cancer causing UV rays according to a new study.

"Italian researchers from the Universita Politecnica delle Marche added strawberry extracts to human skill cells and exposed them to UV light (the equivalent to 90 minutes of midday summer sun in the French Riviera)...

Researchers found that the strawberry extract, especially at a concentration of 0.5mg/ml, displayed photoprotective properties in skin cells exposed to UV radiation, according to a statement...

Strawberry extracts also increased cell survival and viability, by decreasing the DNA damage to skin cells when compared with control cells. "

You can click this link to take a look at the whole article.

Strawberries are just simply amazing! They are packed with vitamin C, which helps support the immune system, they are packed and loaded with free radical fighting antioxidants (take a look at  our anti oxidant post!), and now they even help protect your cells from UV ray damage!