3 Simple Ways to Enjoy Garden Picks' Food Selection

Confession: My family is a bunch of food monsters. We love munching! Our love for food must have been greatly influenced by the abundance of food choices in Singapore. It does make a lot of difference when you live in a country where people's national past time is eating, right? Right!

Although we tend to indulge on calorie-overloaded and fat-laden foods occasionally, I do make an effort to feed my family healthier food choices on a daily basis. I am responsible for our weekly menu and I ensure that us parents and the kids get our two serving of fruits and vegetables a day. Even when we are out and about exploring, you'll see me carrying a food container filled with fruits and nuts for us to munch when the hunger pang strikes. That's how we keep the doctor away and I am happy to report that all of us are in pink of health as of this writing. G did have a bacterial TB scare last month, but his series of laboratory tests turned out negative. Phew! What a great relief!

I have to say, the struggle in maintaining a healthy lifestyle is real. With all the temptations we are presented with everyday, it is quite challenging to say no to delicious yet unhealthy food so I make a conscious effort to buy organic fruits and vegetables whenever we go on our weekly family trip to the supermarket. My only gripe is, organic food burns a hole in our pockets that's why I only buy selectively. We don't consume organic food exclusively (yet) but we are slowly transitioning there.

It is a joy to discover a dried fruits and nuts company like Garden Picks whose mission is to provide wholesome and high quality products with guaranteed freshness when you received them at your doorstep. Needless to say they are a lot cheaper too compared to the ones sold at the supermarket.

Here are 3 ways to enjoy your Garden Picks shopping loot which I like to call happiness in a box:

1) Breakfast in bed

On weekends, our family likes to sleep in and wake up into a wholesome breakfast in bed. With Garden Picks' Granola variants and Black Chia Seeds, it is so easy to prepare a delicious spread for your love ones.

Last weekend, here's what I served: Greek yogurt with fresh fruits, chia seeds, and granola.

What you'll need:
1 cup of Greek yogurt ( I like natural flavour but you can opt for honey flavoured ones if you like it sweater)
1 cup of fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon of Garden Picks' Black Chia Seeds
1 cup of Garden Picks' Superfood Granola with Quinoa

Simply scoop your Greek yogurt in a serving bowl and top it with with granola, chia seeds and fresh blueberries. All prepared in less than 5 minutes! Served with fresh cherries or strawberries and flowers and your love ones are in for a yummy, healthy and happy treat!

2) Post work-out for you and post-playground snacks for your kids

I normally take a brisk walk in the park whilst G rides the bicycle or play in the playground on weekend mornings. Greek yogurt with banana, strawberries and granola is our favourite snacks after our morning exercise.

What you'll need:
1 cup of strawberries cut into halves
1 or 2 ripe bananas cut into coins
1 cup of Garden Picks' Black Forest Granola
1 tablespoon of Garden Picks' Black Chia Seeds

Simply scoop Greek yogurt in a serving bowl and top it with chia seeds (for G's serving, I hide the chia seeds underneath the banana coins), banana coins, heart-shaped strawberries, and Black Forest Granola.

Garden Picks' Black Forest Granola consists of toasted oats mixed with chocolate buttons (a major hit for G), coconut chips, tangy cranberries, honey and vanilla essence.

Serve with a flower and lots of love!

3) Salad for breakfast, lunch or dinner for your husband

I have been incorporating superfood like chia seeds and quinoa into my husbands diet to help him lose weight and have a healthier eating habit as he has history of HBP.

Chia seeds are great source omega-3 fatty acids, which help to raise HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol that helps protect against heart attack and stroke). These tiny seeds are also rich in antioxidants and full of fiber, magnesium, zinc, iron and calcium.

Quinoa, also a power food and an excellent wheat-free alternative to starchy grains, though often mistaken as grain but is actually a seed from a vegetable related to Swiss chard, spinach and beets. Quinoa is high in protein with nine essential amino acids, it is not fattening and it is a smart carb, meaning complex carbohydrate with a low glycemic index, so it won’t spike your blood sugar.

So far, my hubby loves my salad creations with the two "super-seeds". This one is my latest creation using Garden Picks' Organic Tri-Colour Quinoa. I have friends over at Facebook and Instagram asking for my recipe so I decided to share it here.

Bon appétit!

For more mouth-watering food preparations, follow @sweetmemoirs on Instagram.

This morning's breakfast in bed made more awesome by @gardenpicks Superfood Granola with quinoa and Black Chia Seeds. . . . #SMfoodstyling #simple #simplicity #keepitsimple #beautiful #art #lessismore #simpleandpure #negativespace #whitespace #abmlifeiscolorful #makeitblissful #theeverygirl #acolorstory #abeautifulmess

A photo posted by CherrySC (Ph🌎Sg) (@sweetmemoirs) on May 20, 2016 at 8:42pm PDT

Disclaimer: Garden Picks sent us a box of happiness for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received. The ideas, opinions, food preparations, and yummy photos are all intellectual property of Sweet Memoirs.