The Fruit of the Land

One of the perks of visiting Florida in the springtime is that luscious fruits are ready for the picking! Of course strawberries are ripe this time of year. But best of all have been the oranges, grapefruits and loquats.

We stayed with friends of Sam’s near Dundee, FL. They live in the middle of an orange grove with a few grapefruit trees mixed in for good measure. While we had seen other orange groves heavily laden with fruit, the trees in this area had already been picked. I was informed that any of the oranges still on the tree would be going to waste. So, I spent a few minutes gleaning the oranges from these trees. They weren’t the prettiest oranges but I was sure they would taste fine.

      

 

 

 

 

 

I had 3 grocery bags full of oranges and grapefruits. I planned on making some juice from them since I wouldn’t be able to eat them all. After washing and cutting in half I put the juicer to work.

The juice isn’t as sweet as I’ve gotten from Louisiana oranges but it is still better than anything you can buy in the grocery store.

The next treat was a loquat tree right on our campsite at Ortona Lock Corp of Engineer Campground near Lake Okeechobee. I didn’t know it was anything you could eat till I saw that all the campground workers would stop every time they came by this site. Loquat has to be one of the best fruits I’ve ever tasted! The grackles love them too. I’m going to have to figure a way to pick the ones higher up before they get them all.

Healthy Granola Recipe

This has been a favorite of mine since hitting the road. It’s easy to make, tastes good and is good for you.

Basic Recipe:

4 cups whole rolled oats

1 cup slice almonds

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups chopped dried fruit or raisins

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix oats, nuts, coconut together and spread in a roasting pan or cookie sheet with an lip. Heat olive oil and honey till thin enough to pour; drizzle over mixture in pan; stir until well coated. Bake for 45 – 60 minutes until browned, stirring every 15 minutes. Add dried fruit after slightly cooled. Store in plastic bags or containers.

I usually eat this combined with plain yogurt and seasonal fruit – such as strawberries, peaches or blueberries. It tastes great and gives me that full feeling all the way to lunch.

This is an easy recipe to play around with and make it your own. You can add sesame seeds, sunflower, pumpkin or flax seed or whatever. Seems I never make it the same way twice. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!