Fruit-Natural Summer Sweets

• Versatile Fruit Drinks
• Beautiful Breakfasts
• Anytime Fruit Salad
• Tasty Tips

Finally, sweets so healthy and good for you that you can enjoy them guilt-free. We’re talking about bright, fragrant, yummy fruit of course! Yet with all they have going for them, most of us still aren’t eating the recommended 4 servings a day. Take advantage of summer’s bounty to do your body a favour and fill up on fruit.

Start your day with a great eye-opener, homemade 100% natural juice. Combine your favourite fruit with a liquid (milk, soymilk, yogurt, juice) in the blender. Add a bit of honey, maple syrup, wheat germ, etc. as the spirit moves you. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy, or pour into moulds and freeze to make the kids nutritious popsicles. For snazzy cocktails, add a shot of alcohol (rum, vodka, champagne). A swizzle stick brochette of ground cherries and litchis makes a fun garnish.

Try our pink panther, a refreshing strawberry-raspberry drink.

Some tasty combinations:

• Raspberries, watermelon, plain yogurt and milk.
• Mango, pineapple, plain soymilk and a little grated ginger.
• Cantaloupe, apricot, vanilla yogurt and milk.
• Blueberries, banana and orange juice.
• Blackberries, peach, honey and vanilla soymilk.

For a starter, have a glass of real juice, homemade or commercial (give fruit punches, nectars and cocktails a pass—they're loaded with sugar). Then sprinkle fruit throughout the meal: in oatmeal or cereal, on pancakes or waffles, etc. Breakfast never looked so good or packed so much flavour and nutrition!

Try our up ‘n at ‘em fruity cottage cheese, a tasty combo of cottage cheese, fruit, honey and toasted almonds.

Bright breakfast ideas:

• A half grapefruit sprinkled with cinnamon and a little sugar and lightly broiled.
• A plain waffle topped with cottage cheese, blueberries and sliced strawberries, with a bit of maple syrup drizzled over top.
• A multigrain bagel topped with cream cheese and sliced pear.
• A dish of yogurt mixed with sliced banana and lightly sprinkled with brown sugar. Delicious broiled.
• Raisin bread topped with cheese and apple slices.

Fruit salad, a quick and easy way to boost fruit consumption, is equally good as part of a balanced breakfast, a tasty snack or a refreshing dessert. Make a really large amount of fruit salad each week; your family will enjoy it. Mango, papaya and star fruit add an exotic touch as does fresh grated ginger, while wedges of blanched lemon or lime add citrus zing. Sweeten fruit salads naturally with a little honey or maple syrup and flavour with a little ground cinnamon or nutmeg.

Try out peppery two melon fruit cup, a refreshing cantaloupe-honeydew salad with maple syrup.

• Toss some frozen berries and a bit of sugar in the blender or food processor for a quick sherbet.
• Put strawberries, cranberries or diced fruit in ice cube trays, fill with water and freeze. Then jazz up drinks with these colourful fruit cubes.
• Combine strawberries with a bit of sugar and a little lemon juice in the food processor for a quick coulis that turns angel food cake and vanilla ice cream into a heavenly dessert!
• Freeze whole seedless grapes and serve them frozen as snacks. Unique and refreshing!

• Salad Meals : Summer Freshness At Its Best!
• Five-star Salads
• It's time for...cruciferous and leafy vegetables
• Olives - an Ancient Staple, a Modern Delight
• A festival of colour is yours with squash !
• Cool Summer Soups
• Vegetable Coulis and Purées
• Asparagus on the Barbecue?
• Sweet Corn - Summer's Parting Gift!