On average, 1/3 of the food we buy is thrown away. The average American family throws out almost 1/4 of the fresh fruit and veggies that they buy per year. That's $500 per year for a family of 4!
In this recent article from the New York Times the myth that fruits and vegetables must be fresh to be nutritious is dispelled. The article states that "not only do canned and frozen versions usually cost less and require less preparation, but nutrient value is as good or better and less food is wasted. Fresh produce is often harvested before it is fully ripe and so comes to the consumer with fewer than optimal nutrients. But fruits and vegetables that are canned or frozen are picked at the peak of ripeness. There is more vitamin C in a glass of orange juice made from frozen concentrate than in freshly squeezed juice."
I wanted to tell you all how Dole can help you save money. The FDA has predicted that food prices will rise 6% this year. With frozen fruit just as nutritious as fresh fruit, check out Dole's Frozen Fruit. They have at least 15 varieties that come in resealable bags. You use what you want/need and then put it back in the freezer. No more worrying about when the fruit will spoil or that you paid an exorbitant amount for fresh fruit because it wasn't in season.
For example, Dole Frozen Wildly Nutritious Blend of Mixed Berries has a mix of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, where during the winter in some parts of the country could cost upwards of $10 if bought fresh. But Dole's Frozen Wildly Nutritious Blend costs on average of $3 and is harvested at the peak of the season to ensure taste and nutrition.
The fruit tastes delicious, too. I was able to try the dark sweet cherries, blueberries, whole strawberries, sliced strawberries, mango and pineapple chunks. I made a delicious blueberry smoothie for breakfast one morning and thawed the pineapple and mango to make tropical fruit skewers with a delicious yogurt dipping sauce. The strawberries make an excellent strawberry shortcake - the possibilities are endless!
Dole is excited for you to try their frozen fruit and is offering 1 lucky reader the opportunity to win 5 coupons for FREE Dole frozen fruit as well as a sage color fleece pullover!
To enter, you MUST visit the Dole frozen fruit website here and leave a comment letting me know which frozen variety you like the best or which you'd like to try soon!
Make sure to leave your email address so I can contact the winners.
There are six (6) "extra" ways to enter (each one below gets you one additioanl entry):
1. subscribe to my blog (either via email using the box in the left sidebar or RSS feed). If you already subscribe leave a coment saying you do. If you subscribe by email you MUST confirm your email and activate the subscription.
2. follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/NicolesNickels) and tweet about this giveaway. If you already follow me that's fine, just comment with a link back to the tweet about this giveaway.
3. blog about this giveaway (leave the link in the comment)
4. email 5 people about this giveaway (please cc me on this email - nicolesnickels at gmail dot com and leave a comment saying you sent the email)
5. grab my button for your site (leave the link to where the button is in the comment)
6. add the link to this giveaway on a Mr. Linky about giveaways or on a blog giveaway site, blog carnival or forum or yahoo group (leave link to where you did this in the comment)
You MUST leave a comment answering the question above as your first entry and then additional entries are governed by the terms above. You MUST leave a separate comment for each entry you are able to make. Feed and email subscribers will need to click on to my actual blog to leave a comment. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, 18 years old or over, and the winners will be chosen by random.org. This giveaway will be good until April 15 at 9:00 pm Eastern time and a winner will be announced soon thereafter. If the winner does not respond to my email within 48 hours then I will pick a new winner. Good luck!
