Fruit & More

As a kid growing up more then forty years ago, I did not have a wide culinary palate when it came to fruits. I can remember eating bananas, oranges, applesauce, canned  fruit cocktail, canned pineapples, canned mandarin oranges, canned peaches, and strawberries on rare holidays. I can remember my grandparents and great aunt drinking prune juice and always trying to get me to have some, I vividly remember NOT liking it and saying I will never drink this or eat a prune. There was not much more that was available back then or perhaps the cost was the reason I was not exposed to much else growing up with a divorced mom?

It seems in the blink of an eye that my fruit culinary palate has expanded a great deal and I am continually seeing new types of fruits and fruit products in the store. In 2007 I had surgery and my Mom who moved in 2001 to Tucson, AZ came back to Illinois to stay at my house and take care of me for seven weeks. While my Mom was here she bought a container of Prunes and said I could have some if I wanted to? This made me recall my statement when I was younger about never eating one. Imagine my surprise when I read on the container that bite size prunes are dried plums, how did I not know this before? Perhaps it was because my grandfather never told me as a teenager when I would be at the grocery store with him and my grandmother shopping for plums that they are the same thing? I tried the prunes my Mom bought and I really liked them, I have been eating prunes since then. I have used prunes in my baking since then as well.

A few weeks ago I saw a coupon for prunes with some extras. The coupon was for Mariani Enhanced Wellness Plum Support made with Glucosamine, Vitamins B6, B12, E And Iron along with other Vitamins. Being allergic to Shellfish I can't take the traditional form of Glucosamine so I was very happy to find out they use a vegetable source. As a prune lover of the last few years I was excited to try a product with all these added supplements and see if it works. I have been eating these everyday and the amount on the package indicates it is about 10% of the daily amount for Glucosamine and my joints are feeling better. The taste is not any different then other dried pitted prunes, but the texture is, the texture on these is much better. This is a great way to get some extra fiber& potassium  into your diet by having 3-4 a day and keeping your GI tract working well.