Make Your Summer Last Longer!

I love spring and summer for the freshest and most delicious, seasonal vegetables and fruits. First we get spring vegetables, then the madness of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries … It’s a great time to experiment in the kitchen and try new flavors. Unfortunately, these seasons last a few months, and then we have to deal with fall and winter. Autumn offers lots of valuable produce (pumpkin, beetroot, carrots, plums, pears). In winter, our diet should still be rich in fruit and vegetables, but how to do it when access to them is difficult or even impossible? I have prepared a few tips for you that will help you make summer last longer in the kitchen even during the cold winter season! 🙂

 

Frozen foods – should you give them up?

The first tip is to prepare homemade frozen food that you will be able to use later. We can freeze almost all fruit and vegetables, except for those with a high water content (tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, melon). It is worth preparing fruit and vegetable mixtures in smaller packages, which will then be perfect for preparing a quick smoothie, soup or vegetable stew.

You’ve probably heard claims that freezing reduces the content of vitamins and minerals in the product. It’s true, vitamin C is mostly lost. Nevertheless, it is not worth giving up frozen fruit and vegetables, especially in the period when access to fresh products is difficult. If the diet is varied, we will provide ourselves with the right amount of nutrients. What about ready-made frozen food? We can often find, for example, ready-made frozen vegetables in the pan. In this case, the most important information will always be on the label, and more precisely on the composition of the product (you can read more about food labels HERE). Check if the manufacturer has added unnecessary saturated fat or other unhealthy additives.

 

 

Fermented pickles – a healthy trend

You’ve probably noticed the fermented products trend that has been around for some time. In addition to traditional cucumbers and cabbage, today we can also find lacto-fermented beets, cauliflower, radishes, and even … pickled fruit! Lacto-fermentation is a long-known process that allows you to extend the shelf life of products in a natural way. Fermented pickles are especially beneficial for our intestinal microbiota, and its condition translates into the health of the whole organism. I wrote about the pickling process HERE. If you have not eaten pickled products so far, it is worth including them in your diet in small steps and gradually increasing their amount to avoid undesirable symptoms from the digestive system.

You can include fermented pickles in lots of dishes. Lacto-fermented vegetables can be an addition to everyday meals (bread, salads, meats and fish), they can be the basis of a salad or soup (like cucumber soup or borscht). On my blog (HERE) you will find a recipe for baked fish with the addition of fermented cucumbers and radishes. Perhaps you will like fermented beetroot or cabbage juice? You can drink it every day to support your immunity.

 

Preserves – healthy sweets in jars

Compotes, jams, mousses are another way to preserve the taste of summer fruit, which we can then enjoy on cold days. The best choice are homemade preserves with ingredients selected only by us. Fortunately, more and more preserves with good ingredients and a limited content of added sugars appear on store shelves, too.

For those of you who cannot afford to prepare jams yourself, I recommend sugar-free jams from my shop HERE. Three delicious flavors await you: peach, blackcurrant and strawberry. If you like sweet breakfasts such as oatmeal, millet porridge, fritters and pancakes, this fruity topping will be just perfect.

 

It is worth taking care of proper, healthy nutrition all year round, although it may not always be easy. It’s a good idea to check how to easily deal with the lack of access to fresh fruit and vegetables and the solutions are frozen meals, fermented pickles and fruit preserves. I hope you will find these solutions useful and stay healthy all year round 🙂