Fresh blueberries from our garden
It’s blueberry season! We harvested our first blueberries yesterday off of one of our blueberry bushes. We have three blueberry bushes – all different kinds. Though honestly, I’m not enough of an aficionado yet to really tell the difference, other than I chose them to supposedly ripen at different times. But it looks like two are going to ripen pretty close together. That’s okay though because if there is one fruit that is universally adored in our house, it is blueberries. Cameron, my 18 month old loves blueberries! He’s been eating them frozen straight out of the freezer for a while (a healthy way to deal with his teething), but he loves fresh even more.
Blueberries are a nutrient powerhouse. They are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese. One cup of the delicious berries has 84 calories and 3.6 grams of fiber. One cup also provides 24% of the daily value of vitamin C, 36% of the daily value of vitamin K and 25% of the daily value of manganese. The deep, dark color of blueberries lets you know that they are chock full of antioxidants.
Besides being delicious and nutritious, there are other reasons you should add blueberries to your diet:
- May help reduce cholesterol
- Boost brain power and improves memory
- Prevent urinary tract infections
- Relieve constipation
- Ward off eye problems such as glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration
Fresh blueberries can be enjoyed in numerous ways. Personally I love to mix a heaping of blueberries in a bowl of yogurt or top my cereal with them. I also freeze them to add to my morning smoothie rather than use ice. My husband actually loves to drink a tall glass of soymilk with blueberries in it. I rarely bake with fresh blueberries – usually there aren’t enough left for baking! But of course blueberry muffins are a favorite – I’ve been playing with a few different recipes to come up with the perfect blueberry power muffin. I’ll post it once I have it perfected. For a special treat though, Cooking Light has one of the best blueberry pound cake recipes I’ve ever had.
What are your favorite ways to eat blueberries?
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