Super Fruit Strawberry

Over the weekend I can say I (or rather we), successfully seasoned and grilled burgers to perfection. Watch out Zips cafe, there's a new chef in town! I seasoned and Nolan grilled some extraordinarily delicious burgers. Unfortunately, I cannot say these were some fancy healthy turkey burgers...we decided to go for the big fat juicy red meat burgers. After gorging on red meat, we made up for it with with a healthy dessert--strawberry shortcake. Only 72 calories in 1 piece of angel food cake, and we all know that fruit is always a healthy choice. 

I'd have to say that strawberries are my favorite fruit and during the summer there is nothing like a big bowl of strawberries to snack on. Besides their bright red color and sweet taste, strawberries are one of the best sources of Vitamin C (but also contain fiber, potassium, and folate). Vitamin C is an antioxidant that promotes immunity, lessens (not prevents, as many people seem to confuse as they pop those vitamin C pills when feeling sick) cold symptoms, and helps your body to use iron. Not only an antioxidant, strawberries contain phytonutrients that may help prevent cancer and heart disease. On top of all that goodness, there are just 36 calories in 10 strawberries! With all that in mind here are some ways to enjoy the superfruit strawberry: 

• Strawberry fruit smoothie
• Top off a spinach salad with strawberries and your favorite nut
• Strawberry and cucumber salad with fresh mint (one of my new favorites!)
• Dark chocolate covered strawberries
• A plain fresh strawberry

Enough about strawberries. The second week of orientation began and this weeks mission: MYSTERY SHOP. We are assigned 10 hospitals in Ohio and Indiana that we must go to, eat, and evaluate the food and service. So far, 1 down-9 more to go. This week is going to consist of a lot of eating. But, with 10 free meals handed to me, I guess I can't complain too much.