What’s in my Pantry: Blueberries

One of the best parts about summer to me is all the delicious summer fruits! Watermelon, strawberries, peaches, and blueberries! I love them all, but my personal favorite, and the one that can be found most frequently in my refrigerator, are blueberries. I ALWAYS have blueberries of some sort in the house. In the summer I have fresh blueberries from the local farmer’s market and when they’re not in season I buy frozen ones.

What’s so great about blueberries?

Well, besides the obvious fact that they are delicious and can be used in many ways (some of which I will talk about below), they are also highly nutritious and good for you! Blueberries are packed full of antioxidants. In fact, they are ranked as one of the highest in antioxidants out of all fruits. Antioxidants are good! They help to combat free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals are bad! They form when certain molecules react with oxygen, a process called oxidation. Free radicals can cause all sorts of damage to cellular structures and DNA, so consuming foods rich in antioxidants is important to help combat them.

Many studies indicate that blueberries are beneficial for the nervous system and brain health. They are a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, and manganese.

What to do with blueberries?

Besides just grabbing a handful and eating them, there are so many ways you can get a daily dose of bluberries in your diet! Luckily, blueberries freeze really well without losing their nutrient content. I like to either freeze fresh blueberries or buy some that are already frozen to use in smoothies! When I am on top of my meal planning/prepping I like making little smoothie freezer bags that I can easily throw into a blender for a quick snack or breakfast.

This particular one has blueberries, banana slices, and spinach. I can pour this whole bag straight into the blender, add some liquid (coconut water, apple juice, or whatever) and it’s good to go.

The other way I usually eat my blueberries is on top of oatmeal almost every morning. You could also add blueberries to cereal, mixed in some yogurt, on top of a salad, or in some muffins! 😉

Now don’t you want to run out and get you some blueberries! You know you do.

Thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley

 

July Favorites

1. Birkenstocks

I finally gave in and bought myself a pair of Birks, and I’m so happy I did! They are super comfortable and actually don’t make my feet look gigantic like I thought they would.

2. Lil Piglet Paper Clips

I bought these from The Container Store a while ago, but I love how cute they are and find myself using them multiple times a week at my desk at home.

3. Which Wich

I’ve been to Which Wich in the past but always forgot about it when trying to decide where to eat around town. A new one just opened up where I work and I’ve been there for lunch more times than I really should have! But there pepperoni wich is awesome!

4. Watermelon

The watermelons were everywhere at the Farmer’s Market each time I went this month and of course I got one!

5. Slingshot Coffee

Let me just go ahead and say, I don’t like black coffee. I never have. If you read my WIAW’s, you know I always add extra cream to my coffee. Well, this coffee is delicious black. It needs nothing. And I don’t even really like iced coffee, but I love this stuff! And it’s local, which makes it even better!

6. Escazu Chocolate

Speaking of local, this brand houses it’s factory in downtown Raleigh! I picked up one of their bars at Whole Foods and it was so good! I have Videri chocolates too because I went to tour their factory (also local!!), but I have resisted the urge to eat all the chocolates in the house, so I haven’t yet tried the bars I got from there…but I’m sure they’ll end up on my August Favorites list!

7. Bubblegum Lip Scrub from Lush

This stuff is addicting. It smells so good and actually does help my constantly chapped lips. It’s hard to not continuously lather this stuff all over my lips though!

8. Annelore’s German Bakery

Since my friends David and Rachel introduced me to this bakery (which I’ve seen before at the Farmer’s Market, yet never purchased from), I’ve been going on the weekends if I’m not working, to stock up on their apple strudels so I can have them for breakfast during the week. The pastry is perfectly baked and the filling isn’t too sweet, yet so fulfilling!

Thanks for reading!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

My Weekend in Pictures, 7/4-7/6

So, this is a somewhat sad compilation of photos from my weekend, however, I thought I’d update everyone on my life because I can. 🙂

The sky was being patriotic.

I made bruschetta burgers for the Fourth of July and paired it with some blue corn chips and creamy spinach dip for a red, white, and blue themed dinner.  My burger recipe will be up sometime in the near future is up now, so go check it out!

I drank some of the only type of beer I like: Lambic.  Nom.

I then went on a lot of adventures with Gabi and Michael.

On Saturday, we went to the NC Farmer’s Market and I had some fried shrimp from the N.C. Seafood Restaurant for lunch.  I miss having seafood whenever I want it.

 After the farmers market, we went to the flea market, where I bought Gabi a treat from the Bone Appetit Bakery.  She loved it!  I also got myself some Chocolate Pecan fudge, but you better believe I devoured that!  Actually, I just lied.  I didn’t…I still have a quarter of the bar left, I just never took a photo of it.

We also went Geocaching!

Sunday, I spent the majority of my day in the kitchen.  I cut up my watermelon, tried my hand at making French macarons (which turned out very well!!), and made, um, I guess I’ll call it ‘watermelon water.’

I hope everyone had an awesome Independence Day weekend, and I hope you have an equally awesome work week this week.

Stay tuned for my bruschetta burger recipe and my successful macaron attempt and recipe later this week!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda