I don’t know about you but one of the things about the B plan that is challenging for me is the lack of beneficial fruits to choose from. Let’s see… we got cranberries, plums, pineapple, watermelon, and grapes for B secretors… lucky nonnies get several more. That’s not a whole lot of choices for us secretin’ folks and many of those fruits are available fresh only seasonally for those living in temperate climates.

So I have been looking at easy, doable ways of increasing my bene fruit consumption and am beginning with… the cranberry. Being one of only 3 fruits native to the United States (blueberries and the Concord grape being the other two), cranberries are chock full of antioxidants that neutralize free radicals. And the cranberry is listed as a super-beneficial in some of the BTD health library series. A super-beneficial did you say? Hey… even better!

Little round ruby of a fruit that freezes so well when fresh… I always stock up on organic raw cranberries during the winter season. However… this year the fresh organic berries that were available in my neighborhood were pitiful… almost half of the bags were filled with rotten berries. So I didn’t stock up like usual. I am looking for a small organic grower for next season that will ship fresh by the pound but have yet to find one.

In the meantime… I am taking the advice of a dear friend and adding a splash of unsweetened cranberry juice to my drinking water in the mornings. I am not a juice person, mind you, so drinking a large glass of sweetened cranberry juice loaded with sugar is so distasteful to me. I know… I know… there are many cran juices out there sweetened with white grape juice… but have you ever tasted just white grape juice before? I have. It tastes just like sugar water. Blech! But… the unsweetened juice with water… heaven…. Adds a crisp tartness to the water that is not too sour. And the color… oh the color!!! It makes me so happy to drink a beverage of such a shimmering shade of transparent red. I smile just thinking about it.

So… give it a whirl! Perhaps it will make your heart sing, too.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw Jill’s recipe posting of the "No tomato Tomato Sauce" that is listed in recipe base and just had to try it. Oh, B secretors… rejoice!! It really DOES taste like tomato sauce. Granted… I’ve been off tomatoes for so long that I have just a vague memory of what real tomato sauce actually tastes like. But this sauce is gooood. And made from a base of carrots, beets and sautéed onions. Excellent. Even the tomato eaters in my household enjoyed it. I decided to give it a whirl because I had a hankering for eggplant parmagiano, and basil or cilantro pesto just doesn’t cut it when it comes to eggplant… my usual Italian sauce standbys. I was tempted briefly to try an alfredo sauce with the eggplant but thought I’d search for a better substitution. I’m so glad I did.

And this sauce is easy!! Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil, steam the beets and carrots, put in a blender/food processor with a little water (I use the steam water from the veggies) plus some lemon juice and spices and voilá!! A richly hued jewel-toned beauty of a sauce… in a striking magenta. Everyone commented on the color. OK… perhaps I went a little heavy on the beets but they’re beneficial, right? Gotta work those in when you can.

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of hiking in the snow. Now that may not sound pleasurable to you… especially in March… but it was a lovely experience. Just as I began to climb the cañon, snow began to fall… in those distinct crystalline, symmetrical shapes landing on the surface of my jacket. Each one similar in shape and size but unique and separate. I watched them land and sparkle for a few seconds against my arm and then quickly melt. I looked out across the cañon as the snow floated from the sky… giving shape and volume to the space between the cañon walls… each little flake mapping out its own journey through the space. And the feeling in the cañon when the snow falls is one of my favorite experiences… subdued, full, the almost soundless sound of snow falling. I enjoy experiencing the cañon in all its many moods.

Even though it snowed last week… and will again…the breath of Spring is noticeable in the cool air.

And today… I saw a Robin perched outside my kitchen window…