Pear to Your Health

Did you know that pears are good for your heart health, body weight and blood sugar control?

Adequate fiber intake helps to reduce cholesterol and promote healthy hearts. One medium pear provides 6 grams of fiber. The recommendation for fiber intake is 25 grams a day for women and 38 grams for men. Eating two pears a day provides almost half of the fiber needs for women and one-third for men.

Since a medium size pear only has 100 calories, eating pears can also help manage your body weight. People with diabetes often choose eating lower glycemic index (55 or less) foods as part of their blood sugar control strategy. Pear’s glycemic index is less than 50, and that makes it a good food choice when it comes to blood sugar management.

I love eating French toast for breakfast. So, I thought why not making pear stuffed French toast?!  For the French toast to be infused with the pear flavor, I first used canned pears to make a pear sauce. Yes, canned fruits can be just as nutritious as long as they are packed in 100% of fruit juice to avoid the added sugar from the syrups. I then spread the sauce to the King’s Hawaiian sandwich bread. Don’t be afraid to try other types of bread. I tried French bread, regular white and whole wheat bread and they worked just as well. I do think sweet breads such as the King’s Hawaiian bread adds a special flavor to the French toast.

The pear cucumber cup recipe is a light and refreshing appetizer that take less than ten minutes to make. I used regular packaged coleslaw. All types of slaws will go well with this recipe. The key is to chop the slaw to a very fine consistency using a food processor or by hand. Try different fresh herbs such as basil, rosemary or thyme to create your own flavors. You can also use other fresh vegetables such as zucchini or celery. By the way, don’t throw away those cucumber balls that you scooped up from making the cucumber cups. Those cucumber balls are perfect for making cucumber water or tea . 

Since pears pair well with meats like pork and ham, I got inspired to create a savory and sweet snack. Only five ingredients are needed for this pear and ham puff pastry recipe. Try pairing with other fruits such as apples or peaches, different spices such as clove or nutmeg or replace ham with Prosciutto to suit your own liking.

Love to hear where your creativity takes you with these recipes.

Happy Creating and Eating!