Did you know that pecans are one truly healthy nut? Or that they pack a ton of flavor and a big health crunch? There’s a lot more to the pecan than what meets the eye, and maybe more than you thought, including:
The pecan contains tons of minerals which are essential to a health body, including calcium, potassium and iron, along with vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6 and C
Pecans also contain flavonoids, which lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease
New research suggests that adding a handful of pecans to a low-fat diet can dramatically lower bad cholesterol
Almost 90% of the fats in pecans are “good” fats, which help maintain good health
Two-thirds of the fats in pecans are the same type found in heart-healthy olive oil
The holidays are quickly approaching, which means that pecan pies will be everywhere. Unfortunately, a huge part of pecan pie is the crust, and many people have transitioned to a gluten-free diet due to allergies and other health-related issues.
But, thanks to the MyRecipesTV channel on YouTube.com, you can have your pecan pie without the crust and without missing out on the quintessential fall pie.
Check out the video to see how quick, simple and easy it is to make!
It’s almost my favorite time of year! No, not Christmas. Halloween! Last night I stopped by Target on the way home from work to pick up a few items. As I turned a corner near the back of the store, I spotted the Halloween merchandise and sprinted straight over, completely ignoring the list of items I needed to purchase.
Like a kid in a candy store, I browsed through aisle after aisle of kitschy costumes, tantalizing treats and spooky decorations. I pushed all the buttons on the animated displays just to hear them, and thoroughly scrutinized each item I was interested in to see if it would make a worthy addition to my already fantastic fall collection.
And, with Halloween coming up, that means that it’s almost harvest-time too! As you might know, harvest usually begins for us in mid- to late November, and it’s definitely an exciting time of year on the farm.
To get you in the spirit of Halloween and the upcoming harvest, check out this recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Crumble from epicurious.com. It’s a little taste of fall with a big pecan crunch, and will definitely get you in the mood to celebration the season.
Join us on Saturday, December 5, 2009, as we kick off the inaugural Sahuarita Pecan Festival at our farm in southern Arizona.
As I’ve mentioned before, there will be plenty of fun for everyone including live music and entertainment, fantastic food and pecan-related dishes, and so much more!
The Sahuarita Pecan Festival already has several sponsors lined up, including Fertizona, San Simone, LaPosada and Splendido. There are still plenty of opportunities left, but they’re going quick!
There are so many benefits of becoming a sponsor at the first ever Sahuarita Pecan Festival:
Increased exposure in the community
Opportunities to connect with up to 10,000 potential customers
Name and logo recognition in Festival materials
Goodwill from being affiliated with a fun, family-oriented event
An opportunity to target the greater Tucson community
I love berries. From tart raspberries to sweet blueberries, tangy blackberries to sugary strawberries, I love them all. And soon, they’ll be gone until next summer.
But lately, I’ve really been on a berry kick. They’re all on sale right now and so ripe that you have to eat them almost immediately, otherwise you end up with a fuzzy pint of something that used to resemble a berry.
And my favorite way to get my daily dose? Mix them, as much as you want, into oatmeal for breakfast. I’m not a huge fan of oatmeal, but it’s such a fantastically filling way to start the day, and the berries just make it that much better.
My favorite combination so far is 1 cup cooked oats (instant or regular), 1/2 cup blueberries, ½ cup raspberries and ¼ cup of freshly toasted pecan halves. The oatmeal mixed with the tartly sweet berries and nutty pecans will get me out of bed, no matter what. And I guarantee if you try it, you’ll actually be excited to get up when the alarm goes off. But if you’re in a real hurry, just use instant oatmeal. Quaker makes a fantastic Cinnamon Pecan flavor that only takes about 1 minute to prepare. Just dump in the berries and you’re all set.
Try it out and then let me know what your favorite combination is!
On Saturday, December 5th, you can see Santa Clause riding around The Green Valley Pecan Farms on one of our fantastic big green tractors at the Sahuarita Pecan Festival. It’s the Green Valley Pecan way to get into the holiday spirit, and we can’t think of a better way to welcome you to our first annual Pecan Festival!
Join in on the fun, and bring the whole family down for a day full of delicious food and fantastic entertainment. And don’t forget to shop around the arts & crafts market for the perfect presents for family and friends.
For more information on the first annual Sahuarita Pecan Festival, visit www.SahuaritaPecanFestival.com.
Picture used under creative commons license from maystore1 via Flickr.
I always seem to get stuck in this rut about what to do for dinner. It feels like almost every day, I’m searching for something new, something to break out of the dinner mold. And it’s not usually the main dish that’s the problem. I most often times find myself asking, “What do I serve with this?”
The problem is that I feel like the plate looks so bare without a nice tasty side dish or vegetable. And whenever I feel like there’s just a little too much white space on a plate, I hop onto Search.MyRecipies.com for the answer to my problem.
Just type “Pecan” in the search field and you will easily come back with 1,000s of recipes from breakfast to lunch, dinner to dessert. My latest find for my side dish dilemma? Cheddar-Pecan Green Bean Casserole. It looks oh so tasty, and it’s filled with cheesy, pecan, green bean goodness.
Just go online and check it out. You’ll thank me and then wonder what you ever did without this site.
I know that I’ve already posted a video on pecan pie. But, this isn’t just any pecan pie. It’s Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, and that’s just fine by me.
photo credit: Veganbaking.net
