Jackfruit

Today Alicia tried a new fruit - jackfruit! I thought she'd dislike it because of its strong flavour and smell but she ate it with relish! In fact, she liked it better than her favourite longan and watermelon... she kept picking out the jackfruit from the bowl and pushing aside the rest of the fruits... :D

It's really funny but I've never bothered to even stop to ponder what the nutritional benefits of jackfruit are when I pop jackfruit into my mouth all these years!

Here's what I gathered about the health benefits of eating jackfruit (from http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/jack_fruit.html):

Health benefits of jack fruit

• The fruit is made of soft, easily digestible flesh (bulbs) with simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly.

• Jack-fruit is rich in dietary fiber, which makes it a good bulk laxative. The fiber content helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time and as well as binding to cancer causing chemicals in the colon.

• Fresh fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin-A, which has powerful antioxidant properties and is essential for vision. Vitamin A is also required for maintaining integrity of mucus membranes and skin and to boost immunity. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin-A known to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

• It is also rich in antioxidant flavonoids like β-carotene and lutein. These antioxidants are found to be protective against colon, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic cancers.

• It is one of the rare fruit that is rich in B-complex group of vitamins. It contains very good amounts of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), niacin, riboflavin and folic acid.

• Jack fruit is also good source of antioxidant vitamin-C. Consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful free radicals.
  
• Fresh fruit is a good source of potassium, magnesium, manganese and iron. Potassium in an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure.

Watermelons!

Alicia used to dislike watermelons when she was younger. She always gave me the disgusted look while spitting it out. Somehow recently she has decided that she likes it and when I fed her some the day before yesterday, she kept coming back for more. Even though today's watermelon wasn't as sweet as the other batch I bought two days ago, she still ate it happily.

That's one more fruit to add to the list (and grocery bag)! :)

Here's what I gathered about the nutritional value of watermelons (from http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/nutrition-watermelon.php):

• Watermelon is rich in carotenoids. Some of the carotenoids in watermelon include lycopene, phytofluene, phytoene, beta-carotene, lutein, and neurosporene. Lycopene makes up the majority of the carotenoids in watermelon. The carotenoid content varies depending on the variety of the watermelon. Depending on the variety, carotenoid content in red fleshed watermelon varies from 37 – 121 mg/kg fresh weight, where as lycopene varies from 35 – 112 mg/kg fresh weight.
• Carotenoids have antioxidant activity, free-radical scavenging property. Several researches have reported an association between dietary lycopene consumption and lower incidence in diseases such as prostate and oral cancers. Lycopene may also help reduce risks of cardiovascular disease.
• Watermelon seeds are excellent sources of protein (both essential and non-essential amino acids) and oil. Watermelon seed is about 35% protein, 50% oil, and 5% dietary fiber.
• Watermelon seed is also rich in micro- and macro-nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorous, zinc etc

Strawberry Moment

We've tried feeding Alicia strawberries for months without success - she even rejected the super sweet ones! The first time she decided that she'd sink her teeth into one and swallow it (that's quite a crucial point), was at Cameron - which we affectionately refer to it the "Strawberry Land". Perhaps she was inspired to try it since she was involved in the strawberry plucking at EQ Strawberry Farm.

Here she is, self-feeding fruit and oh, look out for the strawberry ball we bought for her from Cameron! She loves to kick and throw it about!

Some information about strawberries (from http://www.organicfacts.net/nutrition-facts/fruits/nutritional-value-of-cherry-and-strawberry.html):

Nutrition Facts and Information about Strawberry:

Strawberry is an excellent source of potassium and magnesium. It contains very good amount of phosphorous, sodium, calcium, copper and manganese. Strawberry is a good source of iron.
Vitamin Content: Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C. Infact they have more vitamin C than citrus fruit. Strawberry is also a good source of folate, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin K.

Calorie Content of Strawberry:

Strawberries contain 32 calories/100g, which are mostly carbohydrates. They are a very good source of dietary fiber and iodine. Strawberries also contain an array of beneficial phytonutrients, including flavonoids, anthocyanidins and ellagic acid.

Health Benefits of Strawberry:

Strawberries have numberous medicinal properties includings its ability to lower the risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract due to presence of Vitamin C. Strawberry is an excellent anti-oxidant. It is also packed with flavonoids; these flavonoids help keep bad cholesterol from damaging artery walls. Strawberries can significantly decrease blood pressure, which may reduce the risk of heart disease. Strawberries are found to enhance memory function and reduce rheumatoid arthritis.

Sinfully Sumptuous

Food. Glorious food. Sinfully sumptuous.

I found the motivation to climb 73 storeys yesterday (twice up the 30 floors plus another 13 up to my unit) instead of my usual 60 before I cooked dinner. Must be the guilt that was building up even before I had dinner.

Here's the food that made my hubby sing my praises continuously!

Spaghetti with home-made sauce:

Home-made cream of mushroom soup with home-made garlic bread sticks:

A closer view!

While waiting for her porridge to be cooked, Alicia had some spaghetti and garlic bread sticks too! :D

To be honest, this is my maiden attempt at making home-made sauce (for adult consumption), creamy soup and garlic bread sticks. I came up with the recipe for the home-made spaghetti sauce and the garlic bread sticks on my own. The recipe for the mushroom soup is from Brenda's blog :) and you can view my adaptation of the recipe here.