Build The Perfect Meal By Using Fresh Citrus Fruit

You probably already know that the American Heart Association recommends four to five servings of fruit daily. That can seem like a lot, and you may be struggling with just how to eat more fresh fruit each day. Our recommendation is to think outside the box – that is, the snack box.

It can be hard to think of fruit as fitting into your main meals (except maybe for breakfast, when fresh-squeezed orange or grapefruit juice is often considered a must). After all, a piece of fresh fruit, packed with flavor and nutritional benefits, can be viewed as the perfect guilt-free snack. In season now, fresh citrus fruit (the kind found in gift baskets and assorted fruit baskets and boxes offered at HaleGroves.com) is an ideal alternative to common, empty-calorie snack foods like cookies and snack cakes, fast food, and other “quick fixes” found throughout most people’s hectic daily routine, and is usually far more satisfying.

But it’s easy to add fresh citrus fruit and assorted fruit combinations to your main meals, as well. Here are a few ideas for preparing a fresh fruit menu you can enjoy throughout the day:

Breakfast

When you think about including fresh citrus fruit at mealtimes, breakfast is probably the first meal that springs to mind (and not just because it’s the first meal of the day). After all, who doesn’t love a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice or grapefruit juice with their breakfast and brunch foods? Then there’s the whole fruit, which is packed with fiber – half a fresh Ruby Red Grapefruit, alone or with a slice of whole wheat toast, is a great way to start the day because its rich supply of vitamins and minerals give you the energy and nutrients you need to get through your day.

So, instead of a greasy breakfast sandwich from your local fast-food place, start your day with refreshing grapefruit or fresh citrus oranges…their high Vitamin C content will load you up with energy, while the high fiber will give you a full feeling that will help curb the desire for mid-morning snacks.

• Recipe Idea: Hale Groves Sumo Citrus Greek Yogurt

Lunch

Citrus fruit goes beyond breakfast, and lunchtime is another right time for fresh citrus fruit. The midday meal is all-too-often a time to indulge in unhealthy, energy-sapping fast food, starchy snacks like potato chips, and sugar-laden snack cakes. By replacing such foods with healthy and citrus fruit, you can keep your body hydrated and full of energy. Fresh citrus fruit also makes you feel fuller than junk foods, so you stay more alert and can go longer between meals; the vitamins and minerals in fresh citrus fruit give you a longer-lasting boost than caffeine or sugar, so you won’t find yourself crashing in the middle of the afternoon.

A salad made of fresh dark greens tossed with fresh apples, pears, Honeybells and Ruby Red Grapefruit and drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette is great for keeping you going throughout the afternoon. If you’re used to eating a heavier lunch, try adding a serving of fruit as an appetizer. The rich fiber will help you fill up quickly, so that you’re not as hungry for the less healthy foods that may follow.

• Recipe Idea: Hale Groves Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Dinner

You might look forward to a delicious and filling dinner at the end of the day. But many health experts recommend you eat your biggest meal in the middle of the day and stick with a lighter meal in the evenings, as overeating at dinnertime can lead to a feeling of drowsiness that encourages time in front of the TV over exercise, focusing on unhealthy foods, late-night snacking and poor sleep. You may be able to avoid all this when you finish your day’s meals with delightful fresh citrus fruit.

Fresh citrus fruit (like you find in citrus fruit gift baskets and citrus boxes) makes an amazing appetizer or salad before your main meal. The fresh fruit tastes will cleanse your palate for the meal to come, while the fiber-rich pulp will help fill you up in a way that’s healthy and good for you. You can even incorporate fresh fruit into your main entrée, fitting in more healthy fruit servings and focusing less on meats and grains, both of which our bodies need, but in smaller quantities.

• Recipe Idea: Hale Groves Grilled Mini Honeybell Chicken

Dessert

Do you like to follow up your evening meal with a little something sweet? Fresh fruit qualifies, and in fact is often the star of many dessert recipes.

Skipping dessert is often one of the first changes a person looking to lose weight will do, but including a small, healthy (at least moderately) dessert in your meal plan once a day can help you stay on track with your healthy eating goals because it will help keep you from feeling deprived. This trick is not to let the sugar content get away from you…a half-cup serving of vanilla frozen yogurt topped with Tangerine sections, pears poached with vanilla, and baked apples with cinnamon all taste decadent, but won’t pile on the calories.

• Recipe Idea: Hale Groves Easy Baked Apples

Late Night Snack

Don’t sacrifice health for the sake of going to bed on a full stomach! Late-night snacking can cause even the most well-intentioned dieters to slip, after a hard day when it’s too late at night to fix a proper meal. But replacing dinner leftovers or other unhealthy late night snack foods with fresh citrus fruit is actually a fairly easy swap, and it will help you sleep better and stay on track with your eating plan. Doing so will also help increase the likelihood that you’ll feel better in the morning, find it easier to wake up, and do so with a more settled constitution. You also won’t have to feel guilty about indulging in unhealthy late-night snacks!

• Recipe Idea: Hale Groves Grapefruit Green Smoothie

So to sum up…if you want to lose weight, increase your vitality, and help extend your longevity, fresh citrus and other fruits offer a delicious solution to your New Year’s resolution. Experiment with easy, delicious ways to add more fruit to your diet and you’ll be feeling better in no time!

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