Until a couple of years ago, I did not touch an avocado.
Something about the texture of it in my mouth turned me off. And the way I saw most people serve guacamole didn't appeal to me either.
When I first started working with a personal trainer about two years ago, he also created a meal plan to help me better structure my eating. One of the things on the meal plan as an option was avocado. And I turned up my nose at it. But my trainer encouraged me to give it a try.
Now, I CRAVE an avocado! I am now the typical millennial who loves a good avocado toast with a runny egg on top for breakfast, or including it into a bowl or slathered on a sandwich. It's such a rich, creamy and delicious addition to a lot of the simple, quick meals that I make at home and on the go for lunch.
A lot of people love avocados, but they are a tricky fruit to keep on hand. It's taken me a little bit of time to figure out how to handle such a precious delicacy (because it can be costly to keep having to go back to the story and buy more sometimes). Here are a few tips that I've found with shopping and storage:
To determine if an avocado is perfectly ripe, give it a gentle squeeze. It should be firm to the touch, yet give way slightly to a gentle squeeze. If the flesh is too easy to squeeze, it's overripe and will probably not last beyond the grocery store front doors. If it is hard to squeeze, it's not ripe yet and needs a couple more days.
To store for immediate use, leave it on the counter top, either in a bowl or a bag and let it naturally ripen.
To store for later use (like a day or so later), store it in a tightly sealed plastic bag or in an air-tight container. This will help it to last up to a week (at least, mine have lasted that long).
Now that you got this fruit on your countertop, what do you do with it? A LOT? What's the purpose? There are a lot of benefits to having avocado included in your diet:
It's a nutrient-rich food: At 64 calories, with about 6 grams of healthy fats, it's a perfect food to include that won't boost your calorie count. And for those on Keto or high-fat diets, this is a delicious way to make sure you stay on track.
It's great for combating heart health and other diseases: Due to the high amount of heart-healthy fats found in avocados, these are often used to help prevent any physical ailments, such as heart disease and cancer. While not a fail-proof way to preventing these diseases, it will help.
It's an aid in losing weight: Because this healthy fat helps to keep you full longer than other forms of fat, it can help curb your hunger, your random snacking and, ultimately, work to help you lose weight.
It's easy to incorporate into your diet: There is more than one way to eat an avocado (put those salsa chips down!). You can add them to salads, soups, stews, bowls (like Buddha or poke bowls), top sandwiches and burgers, include in dips, even add to desserts! And if you do it right, you'll never know!
We about the love of avocados, and that guacamole, so pass it over here, please!
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