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Pineapples are a symbol of hospitality. Legend has it that during Christopher Columbus’ second voyage of discovery, when he landed on Guadeloupe Island, he and the crew were given pineapples by the native population. What a fabulous welcome! Here at Family Private Care, we cherish this idea and it is the main reason we feature a pineapple in our logo.

While our hospitality certainly extends to all of our families, it also welcomes other industry professionals. The more we can work together to help educate, serve and care for our growing senior population, the greater impact we can have.

Recently, our good friend, Dara McMillan of My Accessable Home, sent us her monthly newsletter. We thought it had such yummy ideas and fun facts that we wanted to share some of it with you.

McMillan says, “One of the best things about summer is the selection of fruits and vegetables that are available to us. It’s an easy time to eat a little more healthy when you can grill up your favorite meal using fruits and veggies. And, one of my most favorite fruits to grill is the pineapple.”

She brought to our attention some of the amazing facts about pineapples. Check these out:
• A pineapple is the result of many flowers whose fruitlets have joined around the core.
• Pineapples contain bromelain, an enzyme that reduces inflammation and may help arthritis pain.
• They are also a good source of Vitamin C, which helps strengthen the immune system.
• One cup of pineapple has only 70-85 calories and plenty of healthy fiber, “Pineapple is a good source of dietary fiber, which is important for digestive health. One cup contains 2.3 g of dietary fiber, which is 9 percent of the daily value. (source)
• To make your pineapple softer and juicier, keep it at room temperature for one or two days before cutting into it.
• Some of the largest pineapple crops are in Hawaii, which produces 500,000 tons of the fruit each year.
• Hawaii and Central America tends to produce the freshest quality of pineapple.
As Dara pointed out, grilling fruits is one of the joys of summer. Here is a recipe she shared to get you started:
Grilled Pineapple Shrimp Kebobs

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh (or bottled) minced ginger
1 TBSP cider or rice vinegar
1 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp five spice powder (optional)
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 lb large shrimp, peeled
2 large sweet red peppers, cut into bite-sized pieces
12 pearl onions, fresh (or frozen) and peeled
1-8 oz package whole mushrooms, cleaned
2 cups fresh pineapple cut into chunks
vegetable cooking spray

Directions:
1. Combine the first eight ingredients into a ziploc bag, then add shrimp. Marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
2. Remove shrimp from marinade. Place marinade in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and set it aside for basting.
3. Preheat grill to medium-high. Spray cooking spray and then thread vegetables, pineapple and shrimp onto skewers. If you are using wooden skewers, soak in water 30 min to prevent burning on the grill.
4. Place kebobs on grill, covered, over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes per side until done, basting with the reserved marinade.
5. Drizzle remaining marinade over kabobs. Serve with brown rice.

Enjoy!

Thanks, Dara, for the great information and yummy recipe. Let’s keep up the creative ways to stay healthy.