Maui Avocado! WOW!

Aloha from Ireland...huh?

Okay, so maybe just greetings from the Emerald Island, where this post is being transmitted.  Besides my lingering jetlag, my confusuion stems from my desire to be back on Maui...and the size of this amazing avocado. 

I could have called this post:

THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER AVOCADO!!

And these babies were killer - killer tasting, that is.  I love Maui avocados even more than the California-grown Hass variety, which before encountering the above monster, were once my favorite.

I don't think you really can see from the above pic what I am talking about.  Maybe this photo will help demonstrate the size of this beast.  And while size is good, the taste is even better.

Is that a Maui avocado, or are you just happy to see me?

All of these fun and delicious recollections have moved me to reprint one of my favorite posts.  Please enjoy:

VIVA AVOCADO!

As much as I love eating avocados today, it's hard to imagine that I didn't taste my first one until I was well into my twenties. I grew up in a small town in a small New England state. Our foods of choice leaned more toward clam cakes and chowder than tacos and enchiladas. Avocado? I hadn't a clue what one was.
And don't even get me going about guacomole. Guaca...huh?


I understand that the avocado existed when I was growing up Back East, and they may even have been available at the local grocery store where my mother shopped. But mom never purchased one, never brought one of those green-skinned babies home. Believe it or not, I did not know WHAT an avocado WAS until I relocated to sunny California in the mid-80's. And even then, I wasn't sure what to do with one or how to eat it.

Today, avocados seem more popular and prevalent in everyday cuisine. In most restaurants you can find them chopped atop salads, sliced in between sandwiches, and, in its most popular form, as guacamole, that amazing green nacho-chip-dipping-taste-sensation.

While your mouth is watering, consider these interesting facts about the avocado:

• a member of the berry family, avocado is a fruit, not vegetable
• the Aztecs named it after the word, ahuacatl, which meant "testicle," because of its shape
• they have been around since 900 A.D.
•  they have been grown in North America since 1856
•  also known as the alligator pear, Jamaicans call them pears

(for more fascinating information about the avocado, visit this site)

Most of you by now have tasted avocados, but if you still are like I was, back in the day, you should give them a try. You don't know what you are missing. But do you know the best way to cut one open? Here's a video that will help:



Hey, next time you have that chip loaded with guac, happily remind yourself that besides enjoying a delicious snack, you are also getting:

• 10 grams of dietary fiber
•  more potassium than one banana
• vitamins E and B
• 10 grams of the good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated)

RED FLAG!

While very healthy for you, avocados are also high in calories and fats. The good news: these are the good fats--monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These are heart-healthy fats and help lower LDL (bad cholesterol).

The bad news, for those counting calories or watching their weight, is that an average size avocado has around 300 calories--so tread carefully. I know that I can eat one all by myself, diced, with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Try it! In moderation.

It's hard to imagine that I spent half my life deprived of the succulent taste of avocado. Maybe that's why I've spent the last twenty-five years eating more than my share, trying to make up for lost time.

You should too!

Always remember that you can watch hundreds of self-help videos about health and nutrition, and any number of other topics, at livelife365.com.

Until next time...

peace,

Mike

How to Make Tasty Guac!

I love Mexican food!

I am originally from New England, Back East, Red Sox and Yankee Country.  We have harsh winters and humid summers, eat clam chowder, both white and red, and have that “Faggahettabbbouttitt!” attitude.  Italian food and the best pizza around can be found there, but Mexican food?  Like the guy said: Faggahettabbbouttitt!”

When I moved out to California in the eighties, I didn’t know an avocado from and apricot, and had only sampled a handful of Mexican classics, sadly mostly from a fast food chain with a bell on its façade.  I never tasted guacamole until I was well into my twenties.

Today, having lived on the West Coast for over half my adult life, and for decades being a rock’s toss from our amigos to the south of the boarder, I not only am familiar with Mexican cuisine, but nosh on it as often as three times weekly.

One of my favorite dipping snacks, right there alongside spicy salsa, is guacamole.  The best part about this delicious, avocado-rich dip is how simple it is to make.  Watch for yourself:

Take four ripe avocados, dice them up, add half a chopped white onion, a chopped tomato, without the seeds, handful of chopped cilantro, finely diced radish, diced jalapeno, depending on how hot you like it, squeeze of lime, salt and pepper to taste, and you have yourself a fresh, delicious, fast snack.

I may be an east coaster at heart, but as the years go by I am more and more a west coaster who embraces the cultures and tastes of the land—like Mexican food, especially avocado-laden foods like guacamole.

Next time you’re in the produce aisle of your grocery store and see one of those rough, green, odd-looking hand grenade things, grab a few, along with onion, tomato and the rest of the gang, and make yourself some guac.

You’ll be glad you did.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike