Coloring Each Season with Healthy Food

 

What is your favorite food? While some dishes are enjoyable year round, there are a few seasonal treats that we crave in certain months. For instance, with autumn comes a taste for turkey and pie, especially apple and pumpkin. Winter seems to taunt us all year long with reminders of sweet cookies and hot cocoa. Spring is alive with fruits and vegetables that are coming into season, and summer is the time to grill meats and eat cold treats – like Popsicles.

Regardless of what season we are in, crave-worthy foods find ways into our homes. But we don’t reach for them because of taste alone; these are the foods that color each season. Baskets of jams in winter and bowls of fruit in spring become colorful, edible kitchen décor. But no food colors a kitchen better than fruits and vegetables.

Delectable greens, vibrant berries, plump tree fruits and unearthed veggies add color to each season while sparing us room in our waistlines.

Take a journey with us through each season, reviewing the tantalizing treats that come into our homes each year.

Summer

On a hot summer day, you probably find yourself cooling off in the kitchen. With a berrylicious ice pop in hand, you can treat yourself to a low-calorie, colorful treat.

In a recently released cookbook, “Vibrant Foods” author and photographer Kimberly Hasselbrink features “Summer Berry-Coconut Milk Ice Pops.” Add a splash of color to your freezer and bear the heat with this healthy sweet.

Fall

The rich colors of fall are best found in nature. One type of fruit has colors to match the many autumn hues. Harvested between August and November, a vast variety of apples line grocery stores each year. Pies, sauces, and salad accoutrements are all places where apples appear during this colorful season.

Winter

Winter blues seem to strike in the earliest months of the year. During this time, it’s tempting to let holiday sweets carryover into daily diets, but cutting out these cravings is easy with colorful, homemade soups. Tomato bisque, broccoli-cheddar soup and hearty stews are recipes that add splashes of color to this dreary time of year.

Spring

When the earth comes alive again with thawing temperatures and spring rains, fruits and vegetables begin to appear again. Bringing color into the home and shedding the holiday pounds is simple with green leafy vegetables. In addition to making salads, begin using lettuces to cook and present food. By adding lettuce to sandwiches and garnishing main dishes with the edible green, you can sneak in the vitamins and cancer-fighting qualities while adding a burst of green to every meal.

Food is a part of our daily lives no matter what season we are in. Enjoy rich colors, textures and flavors that complement each season.

Which foods do you like to eat in summer, fall, winter and spring? Share which treats infuse your kitchen with color and add health to your life.

Read more Segmation blog posts about color theory:

Food Never Looked So Good

Thanksgiving Scenes Influence Art

The Stories Behind Holiday Colors

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Leaf Art in your Backyard

Fallen leafs lay on the green grass, sprinkling it with colorful accents. They add a freshness to the autumn season — and here’s a way they can have the same effect on you. Have you ever thought about ways to use leafs as decorations in your home?

In many parts of the world, fall is in full swing. It’s a good time to bring the festive season inside your home. In addition to scented candles (like pumpkin pie and cranberry spice), you can add accents around your home to fully appreciate the comfort this season offers. The best part is, you can find these creative touches in your own backyard or on a stroll around the neighborhood.

All you need:

• Walking shoes
• Newspaper
• Glue

1. As you enjoy the crisp weather outside, pick up the beautiful leafs that catch your attention. It’s a good idea to collect a number of them and store them between the pages of a newspaper. Place a number of pages on top of the page that is folded over the leafs. This will gently flatten the leafs and won’t allow them to curl or crack as they dry.
2. Let the leaves dry between the newspaper pages for a couple of weeks. This presses them into their permanent flat shape and keeps the texture in tact so they have the vein quality leafs have naturally.
3. When the leafs have been successfully flatten between the pages of the newspaper, brush on a thin layer of glue like Mod Podge. This is an all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish.  Let it dry completely before brushing a thin layer on the other side. Then repeat this step by applying a second layer.

Once your leaf creation if fully dry it will be flexible, durable and colorful. Now you can apply your own creativity. Will you hang your leaf art? Scatter them in visible areas? Create a collage with them? The choice is up to you.

Here’s one suggestion: Scatter them around your computer station. You can string some together and drape them over the monitor if you’d like. This way, on the chilly fall days yet to come, you can cozy up with an online art program, like Segmation – Paint by numbers, and explore the artist inside you while enjoying the artistic and festive surroundings you’ve created.

Don’t forget your hot cocoa or warm tea.

Image made available by OregonDOT on Flickr through Creative Common License.

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