Blueberries: So Good for Bodies, Hearts, and Souls

Summer season in the Northern Hemisphere gives us the good life! Fresh fruits and vegetables. So many we can't keep up. And weather is our friend. We can get outside for our walks, even if we have to go during cool, morning hours. And there's peace and calm we can find somewhere in a quiet nook either outside or inside. 

Ahh. But even better. We have blueberries! I remember harvesting blueberries with my daughter in Gainesville, Florida. At the little, unkempt blueberry farm with scraggly bushes, we were given buckets. The blueberries grew on shrubs six or seven feet tall, and the branches drooped with so much fruit.

"Grab a branch between two hands and strip the berries down into the buckets." Our buckets to filled quickly, and at home that day we made jam, cakes, and pies. We froze some and ate many fresh blueberries on cereal, in salads, and just by themselves. 

So today as I made the blueberry pie you see pictured I am reminded of that time in Gainesville. After this pie is set, I'm sending some to a housebound friend. The recipe for this delicious, fresh blueberry pie is below. And don't forget blueberries are one of the best foods you can eat, loaded with nutrients. Good for your body and your soul.

 

Blueberry Pie (with or without crust)

Let's talk crust: You can make this dish with or without a crust. You can make the crust yourself from your favorite recipe, but since I'm interested in making your cooking life simple, easy, and healthy, you can buy a ready-made crust. That's what I do. Nowadays they make pretty healthy crust. To be sure, read the label before you buy. If you decide not to use a crust, this recipe is so good all you need to go with it, if you feel you need anything, is a scoop of ice milk or frozen yogurt, and a graham cracker. And you can use it on whole grain toast at breakfast. Hmm. That's good!

Now for the Blueberry Pie:
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh or defrosted blueberries
Juice of one lemon
Zest from the juiced lemon
1/2 cup sugar, or less
2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1/4 cup flour
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the blueberries in a large bowl. Place the lemon in a microwave for about 30 seconds. (This makes it easier to squeeze.) Cut the lemon in half and squeeze, adding the juice to a small bowl. Add the sugar and cornstarch or flour to the juice. Stir together until they are well blended. 

Add the sugar-lemon juice mixture to the blueberries and gently fold in until well mixed. Pour the blueberries into the unbaked pie shell or, without the crust, into a baking dish about the size of a pie plate. Place uncovered in the preheated oven and immediately turn down the heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 45-50 minutes, remove and let the ingredients set so the blueberry juice is firm.

Serve with ice milk or frozen yogurt. You could even put some vanilla low-fat yogurt on top. Or serve with whole grain toast at breakfast. Enjoy!

Finding Peace in Our Frantic Lives

In the past few days, maybe even weeks, scraps of paper have landed on every level surface in my home. They're my tasks, things that need to be done as I work on setting up this blog with a new host (Let me know how your like it.) and on getting word out about the just-published book, Even You Can Be Healthy! Frankly I wasn't paying attention to my own health.

I tried to eat a balanced diet with mostly vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans, low-fat dairy, and lean meats. No sodas. (I've never kept sodas in my house. Too much sugar.) And I go to the gym three mornings a week for about an hour of not-too-vigorous exercise. 

Sounds like a healthy life, doesn't it?

Wrong. I was allowing myself to get frantic with so many unfinished tasks. Finally, I reminded myself of the remedy that was there all the time. Meditation. Quiet time. Silence. I just had to take the time and do it!

I began to sit for 10 to 20 minutes in a quiet place, sometimes inside, sometimes outside. When I was quiet, I could listen to the sounds all around: the air conditioner humming, the birds chattering, lawn mowers roaring, the refrigerator cycling on and off. And when I heard those sounds, I didn't hear the nagging in my head, the urge to add to the lists on the scraps of paper. 

And since I was calm, my dear cat Elizabeth, climbed in my lap and went to sleep. Now that's calm.

You're too busy, too worn-out, and can't think about being healthy

That sounds like a lot of us, doesn't it? But if you regularly take even a few moments out of your frantic life, you'll see results very soon.

Try walking. You can walk from where you park your car at the end of the parking lot to your office, classroom, grocery story, or shopping mall. You didn't notice that much, did you? If you can't walk, try wall push ups.

Try chilling. You're at your desk and the papers are piled up in front of you. They're a mess and you're on edge. Try closing your eyes for ten seconds, breathing deeply, imagining that you're breathing out all that clutter in your mind. Easy. Right?

You're exhausted at the end of the day and can't even think about cooking. What you want to do is stop on the way home and pick up something at the drive-through. Try resisting the urge to grab a quick fix that's usually over salted and high in fat. Instead when you get home, take out a carton of flavored low-fat or fat-free yogurt or a small carton of flavored low-fat or fat-free milk and drink it while you're sitting down. Then, when you've got some energy back, take out some nutritious leftovers or stir-up a Super Easy recipe like the one below. Add an apple or other fruit of your choice and you're on your way to a strong, vital, healthy life!

Toasted Cheese with Tomato Slice

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 teaspoons lite mayonnaise

2 slices whole grain bread

2 slices reduced-fat cheese such as mozzarella or Swiss

2 slices from a large tomato, if available

Method

Cover cookie sheet or toaster oven tray with aluminum foil. Spread lite mayonnaise onto each of two bread slices. Place cheese and then tomato on each slice of bread. Put the cookie sheet into the oven or the tray into a toaster oven. Toast until the cheese begins to melt and the bread turns brown. Remove with a spatula onto plates.