Post Valentine's Day Food

Valentine's Day chocolate and candies are delicious. But the extra pounds you can put on from them is not.  To recover you might exercise or go on a water diet.

Delicious sweet peppers on a bed of butter lettuce grown by QV Farms,
Loxahatchee, Fla.
Copyright 2015 by Helen A Lockey

But you'd be better off eating some Florida grown vegetables like the ones from QV Farms in Loxahatchee.

I absolutely adore their sweet peppers, pictured above, and eat as many as I can before the end of the growing season in April or May depending on the year.

You can purchase these peppers at the Sunday morning Palm Beach Gardens Green Market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. And when you go, say, "Hi," to farmer Jon from me.

Grin Real Nature GFruit Soursop In Glass, Miami, Fla.

The new super-food soursop or guanabana now comes in glass. This is significant because until recently the only choice was frozen, sugar added products. “No one has it like this,” said Alan Melillo of Grin Real Nature GFruit, lifting up a glass bottle, from the shelf behind him, at the 18^th Americas Food & Beverage Show in Miami Beach, last year.

Glass jarred, fresh soursop from Grin Real Nature GFruit,
at 18th Americas Food & Beverage Show, Miami, Fla.
Copyright 2014 by Helen A Lockey

His product is preservative-free, low pasteurized, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free and sugar-free.

GFruit packs the soursop with its seeds to extend its freshness. “Keeping the authenticity of the stuff is very important to us,” Melillo said with a smile, adding that soursop bruises easily.

The low pasteurization method ensures the fruit retains as many of its health benefits as possible like vitamin C & B, Thiamin and Riboflavin.

And in keeping with the idea of benefits, “Growers are part of the company. They are shareholders,” said Melillo.

Soursop has a delicious tart yet sweet flavor similar to pineapple mixed with a slight bit of musk.

From left to right: Sabrina Ruz, Alan Melillo and Felix Bobe of
Grin Real Nature GFruit, 18th Americas Food & Beverage
Show, Miami, Fla.
Copyright 2014 by Helen A Lockey

Grin Real Nature GFruit soursop/guanabana/graviola is available at seven Florida stores according to their website. If you live outside of Florida do not despair because GFruit can be shipped to anywhere in the world from their website https://grinrealnature.com/products/gfruit/

NOTE: You have to refrigerate opened jars and eat the fruit within 10 days because there are no preservatives.