Strawberries

On Monday nights, we indulge.  It’s dessert night at our house, following a one hour scripture lesson by my 9 year old.  Literally an hour!  If I were in charge of the lesson, it would be a 3 minute discussion about a scripture story, but Erica loves the bossy side of teaching.  She insists each week to being in charge. And she is good at being bossy. No one can talk unless she calls on you.  So as we patiently wait for her lesson to conclude, and our thoughts are on the dessert that awaits us.

And hooray for spring, because it’s STRAWBERRY SEASON!!

Did you know that:

• 1 cup of strawberries has 100% of the daily value for Vitamin C!!

And, so I can kill 2 birds with one stone (study for my Nutrition test next week, AND make a blog post out of it)… Here is what you should know about Vitamin C

• Vitamin C is water soluble (which means we need to eat it everyday because we can’t store it)
• Vitamin C has antioxidant properties (meaning it helps to stabilize free radicals.. which ages you)
• It regenerates oxidized vitamin E
• It reduces formations of nitroasmines in stomach
• Assists with collagen synthesis
• Enhances immune function
• Assists in the synthesis of hormones, neurotransmitters, and DNA
• Enhances iron absorption
• Assists with carnitine synthesis (fat metabolism)
• A deficiency in Vitamin C causes scurvy (bleeding gums, loose teeth, weakness, hemorrhaging of hair follicles, poor wound healing, swollen ankles, diarrhea, bone pain and fractures, depression, and anemia…very rare in developed countries.. although there was a case of a college student in the US getting scurvy!)
• Also known as ascorbic acid.
• Has been shown to have preventative effects in Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, cataracts, gout, hypertension, asthma.
• Best food sources: Fruits and vegetables.

Too much information?  I know, and there are about 15 vitamins or minerals I need to know all that information for!… I’m making flash cards to memorize it all.

So clearly, as the picture indicates, our dessert on Monday was strawberry shortcakes.  My kids LOVE these.  We use angel food cake cups because they are lower in sugar than pound cakes or cups.  We pile on the strawberries, and we don’t have to worry about their vitamin C intake for the day!

Post note:  I need to apologize that I am not responding to your emails promptly.  For the next four weeks, (or 9 years) things are a little hectic.  So I will respond… just not right away)

Did I mention only 1 cup of strawberries has

49 calories, 1 gram protein, 12 grams carbs, 149% or 89.4 mg of Vitamin C, 3 grams fiber, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol

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