A healthy snack

It has been a busy week for the Hubs and I; We purchased a new car, well new to us, that is! We are still apartment hunting and have been following new leads every time one pops up, still to no avail! So the housing situation has not yet changed... It can be a bit depressing at times, the stress of deciding which house or car will be right for us, if it will be too expensive or not enough yard space or enough room for guests! So a good way to combat the stress of the last few weeks I try to keep up my strength with healthy, tasty food! Today I just wanted to highlight a little snack we had the other day, it was so delicious and really very healthy to boot!

You probably recognize the little quail's eggs in the top corner, I love adding these little gems as a great protein source to light meals. They are so easy to make; boil them for 4 minutes, peel and eat! I also got a bunch of organic cherry tomatoes from our local organic shop, which I sliced in half and drizzled with olive oil, and then sprinkled with salt and pepper. The dollops of green are a green pea hummus that I recently found which is both soy and dairy free! Yay! 

Tomatoes are a wonderful little treat, a member of the nightshade family it is thought to have originated in Mexico. Now it is grown all over the world - the tomato itself is a very nutrient-rich vegetable/fruit. I say "vegetable/fruit" because apparently it can be interchangeable! It is technically a fruit in that it has seeds: it is a "ripened flower ovary that has seeds"* which makes it a fruit, yet nutritionally it is often considered a vegetable.

Nutritionally this is a very special fruit, containing high amounts of antioxidants, as well as Vitamins C, A, K, Potassium and iron!  Vitamin A is important for eye/vision health and keeping up a healhty immune system. Vitamin K is needed by the body to synthesize proteins needed for the blood to properly coagulate, it also works to bind calcium in the bones. Potassium is an electrolyte that is linked to better bone health, decreased risk of stroke, and decreased heart disease. It is a nutrient that is needed by the body for the proper function of our cells, tissues and organs. Lycopene in tomatoes helps with lowering LDL cholesterol (this is commonly called the "bad cholesterol" because it tends to collect in arteries and can cause heart and other health problems). Tomatoes are also high in fiber, which is great for many things including your gut health. 

Drizzled with a little organic olive oil and your snack is complete! Healthy, filling and delicious! Here I really wanted to highlight how nutritious tomatoes are, often an underrated "vegetable/fruit" oft tossed into sauces where their flavour is lost... Once in a while remember the tomato! Something healthy to eat raw and really reap the health benefits of it! Oh and go for the vine ripened ones, so many tomatoes found in shops are picked too early and have zero flavour! A fresh off the vine fruit tastes unlike anything else!

*https://www.britannica.com/story/is-a-tomato-a-fruit-or-a-vegetable