I need to eat more fruit, but I don't like fruit. Except berries. Blueberries, especially. I love blueberry anything. In fact I just had some blueberry sauce (made with Splenda instead of sugar) on a bowl of Breyer's Cal Smart ice cream.

Heaven

But! I'm not really experienced when it comes to using berries for different things. Can you give me some suggestions on how to incorportate more berries into my diet?

I'd much appreciate it. I have no idea how to squeeze these little nutrition-packed gems into my life!

I love berries in oatmeal. Blueberries too are my favourite, although strawberries and raspberries work well too.

Raw baby spinach with raspberries, blueberries or strawberries with a low fat/non fat balsamic dressing.

Just as they are straight from the box, or even better, frozen, takes ages to eat, and really nice!

Mixed with other fruit, like apples, and baked with a low fat crumble topping made with oats.

In a fruit salad.

Sometimes I mix cut up strawberries with a teaspoon of maple syrup and top with fat free greek style yoghurt, that works with blueberries too (our foreign strawberries often need some help in the flavour department)

Mixed with yoghurt and skimmed milk and whizzed into a smoothie, if you use it you can add some protein powder.

Does that help??

I'm a berry addict, my dh calls me "the bear" as I live on berries, oatmeal and honey!!

kykaree,

great suggestions! I LOVE blueberries!

Linda, you can also bake berries into practically anything. Have you tried blackberries? I bought them on a whim the other day, and they were so good!

I think you can also buy some berries dried...I thought I saw cranberries at Superstore the other day.

Yes, it does, thank you so much.

Or should I say thanks, bear, lol.

Oh yes, I love blackberries. And raspberries, etc. Blueberries are, of course, my favorite. But I love other berries, too.

What a weenie I am. Here I've been trying to get more fruit in my diet and I even buy it at the store, but it sits and rots until I have to throw it away, I just can't eat the stuff. And this whole time I've always loved berries and my silly butt forgot completely about them.

I can't believe the price of frozen blueberries, though. Kroger had them for $7.99 a bag and that was ON SALE.

Frozen berries can be very cheap at Trader Joe's. I thaw them and use in oatmeal, any hot cereal and mixed with yogurt.

You can also bake with them.

I don't buy fresh one off-season--I am concerned about high levels of pesticides in imported fruit (especially Chilean).

Most of our berries are imported, except for a couple of months, and I don't think I have ever seen English blueberries. I presume they exist, but I've only ever seen Spanish, South African and South American. We do get raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, but not for very long.

I adore berries, I am just so grateful they are good for me, I like them almost as much as chocolate, and used to eat them even before I was doing the whole healthy lifestyle thing.

Like others, I'll stir berries (bluberries being my favorite) into oatmeal, I make parfaits by layering berries with vanilla yogurt, I dip strawberries in dark chocolate melted with a tiny bit of shortening (makes it harden) and enjoy in moderation. I also stir them into my pancake batter and warm them with a little reduced calorie syrup to pour over the pancakes. Oh, and I love sliced strawberries sprinkled with a little equal and served over angel food cake. I serve them plain with fat free Cool Whip. I also like to make fruit salads - berries, chopped apple, pineapple, and mandarin oranges all mixed up with a little bit of equal.

We have a blueberry/blackberry farm that isn't far from us. At the end of every school year I take the kids down to pick baskets full. The are so cheap since you pick them yourself, I know they are at their freshest, and the kids have a blast - they eat as many right of the bushes as they put in their baskets! The farmers are a little old couple and they encourage everyone to sample as they go (they grow without pesticides, obviously).

Wonderful suggestions everyone, thank you!

I had a couple of overripe bananas and made some 'lite' banana muffins last night, so I'll probably have one for breakfast in the morning. A little more fruit there. I really wish I could learn to love fruit, but most of it grosses me out. Or it has to be disguised with something. Like apples - I don't like apples plain but I love them dipped in peanut butter or melted caramel. And all that does is add needless calories. So I need to learn to eat the stuff as is.

I'm going to start tossing berries into my oatmeal or onto my cold cereal in the morning. I have a bag of frozen peaches. I like those sometimes sprinkled with a little sweetener.

I’ve never understood people who don’t like fruit. What’s not to like? Fruit is nature’s candy. Anyway, whoever said there’s no accounting for taste really knew what he was talking about.

I second the smoothie idea! I buy organic frozen berry mix at Trader Joe’s (raspberries, blueberries and blackberries), frozen strawberries, a banana, some Silk soy “yogurt”, soymilk, and a splash or orange juice and blend it up. So yummy! Now I’m thinking I may need to try some frozen peaches, hadn’t even thought of that.

I don't know what it is, I just don't like the stuff. Unless it's watermelon or canteloupe. Or any type of melon, really. I'm just not into things like apples, pears, oranges, etc. But I love melon and berries. So I can't really claim that I "hate" fruit, because some of it I do like.

i definitely think the american fruit market is in need of some refreshing...im so sick of the same 4 fruits: apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes... i went to malaysia once and they have such lovely exotic fruits such as mangosteen (MY FAVORITE FRUIT ON THE PLANET!!!!), rambutan, and starfruit... the only one ive seen here reasonably priced is starfruit. If exotic fruits were sold at a reasonable price in the US, i would definitely be much more of a fruit lover!

Sprinkle halved strawbs with just a little balsamic vinegar to bring out the taste. Mmm.

one of my most recent favorite things to make is.. i take some berries (any kind you like).. then i put some FF plain yogurt (or french vanilla) and blend it together in my magic bullet.. mmmmm so yummy

I completely agree with you. I went to Indonesia for two weeks and their fruit was unbelievable..not to mention their coffee and tea. I had fresh pineapple, watermelon, and papayas for breakfast along with fried rice and it was amazing. I really liked the rambutan.