PUMPKIN

SIDEKICKS:

carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, orange bell peppers

TRY TO EAT:

1/2 cup most days

WHY PUMPKIN?

Most nutritionally valuable foods. Inexpensive, easy to put in recipes, high in fiber and low in calories

Packs an abundance of disease fighting nutrients, most important is the synergistic combination of carotenoids. A 1/2 cups serving of pumpkin gives you more than two times recommended daily dietary intake of alpha carotene and 100 percent recommended daily dietary goal of beta carotene.

QUICK CAROTENOID BOOSTS

Sliced orange, red bell pepper, peeled baby carrots, fresh or dried apricots or prunes, a slice of cantaloupe or watermelon, slice of mango, or persimmon. FUN: Haagen Dazs mango sorbet (Very good, I've tried it!)

ALPHA CAROTENE ALL STARS

Pumpkin (cooked 1 cup) 11.7 mg

Carrots (cooked 1 cup) 6.6 mg

Butternut Squash (cooked 1 cup) 2.3 mg

Orange bell pepper (1 cup) .3 mg

Collards (cooked 1 cup) .2 mg

BETA CAROTENE ALL STARS

(All below are 1 cup cooked servings)

Sweet Potato 23 mg

Pumpkin 17 mg

Carrots 13 mg

Spinach 11.3 mg

Butternut Squash 9.4 mg

WHEN BUYING PUMPKIN

Since pumpkin is only fresh in the fall, you can buy it in the can all year long. Canned pumpkin is actually more nutritious (except for the seeds)

Make sure you buy canned pumpkin puree, not pie pumpkin

**At only 83 calories a cup, it offers more than 400 percent recommended alpha carotene and close to 300 percent beta carotene recommendation as well as almost half of the iron requirement for adult men and postmenopausal women.

Other winter squash is full of beneficial carotenes. Butternut squash is full of flavor and great for soups

Look for winter squash that is HARD, STEM ON, DULL SKIN, DEEP RICH COLOR

IDEAS

Cooked carrots are easy to make and kids usually will love the sweet flavor. (cooked have more nutritional benefit)

Pumpkin seeds are a great plant based source of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. I will add them to my blueberries and yogurt everyday with my walnuts...yummy.

Sweet potatoes are always good. Microwave them for a quick meal addition (5 minutes)

Slice them to make sweet potato fries, spray them with olive oil and back for 20 minutes at 400 degrees

WILL POST SOME GOOD RECIPES SOON!