I am an official ambassador for Dole Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and I’m excited to share with you some yummy, wholesome recipes plus info on how to get some FREE samples right here in the Twin Cities! Dole provided me with compensation for my time, but as always, all opinions in this post below are mine.
It’s Minnesota State Fair time, which means 12 days of every type of imaginable deep-fried and on-a-stick decadence. If you’re like me, there are no better reasons to go to the fair than Pronto Pups, Roasted Corn and Sweet Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cookies!
However, while I LOVE the Fair and enjoying many of their 40 new foods this year, I know I won’t feel my best after visiting, and will need some extra help getting back on track with healthful habits.
That’s why I’m so glad one of the world’s largest providers of fresh fruits and vegetables is coming to the Twin Cities this week to challenge Minnesotans to adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle in 2015! PLUS, Minnesotans will even have a chance to receive six months of fresh produce and a dream wellness vacation in California!
Dole’s Get Up and Grow! North American Tour visits Minneapolis September 2-6 as part of a summer-long expedition by Dole to make the world a happier, healthier place. One of three brightly covered Tour caravans will stop at supermarkets and public events throughout Minneapolis, offering tasty recipe and product samples, a do-it-yourself smoothie bar, free giveaways for the kids and adults and other surprises celebrating the fun, flavor and health benefits of fruits and vegetables.
The Get Up and Grow Tour Caravan is a wrapped van and trailer with kitchen and sampling tent that offers free recipe samples, a DIY smoothie bar, free giveaways for the kids, expert nutritional advice by our resident RD or produce expert and other surprises.
- Visitors can also create their own customizable, interactive pledge that gives them the chance to receive wellness rewards like free DOLE fresh produce, Fitbits® and a wellness getaway in California.
- Visitors can sample a variety of fruit, vegetable and salad recipes created for Get Up and Grow! – ranging from the Banana and Blue, Breakfast Smoothie, Power Punch Smoothie andSpinach-Avocado Hummus to the Grilled Banana Parfait, Southwestern Gazpacho, Caesar’s Bounty Salad and Charred Summer Salad, which has been proclaimed 2015’s “Official Salad of Summer.”
Check out some of the ways I love to eat my fruits and veggies, and encourage my family to do the same:
- Oatmeal. One of my breakfast standards is homemade oatmeal with berries (such as DOLE blueberries), DOLE bananas, milk, nuts, peanut butter, and a sprinkle of brown sugar. There are so many flavor combinations you can create with natural, wholesome ingredients!
- Snack trays. I like to fill a muffin pan with different small-sized snacks for my kids including cheese, crackers, berries, bananas, carrots, etc.
- Fruit pizzas. So many ways to make a yummy dessert fruit pizza! Here’s a colorful one from Dole.
- Peanut butter and bananas on toast. A simple favorite from childhood – it still tastes great! Also can just make as a sandwich.
- Frozen bananas dipped in chocolate. Peel and freeze DOLE bananas, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips, dip the bananas in the melted chocolate and then if you wish, dip in nuts or sprinkles. Place on a tray lined with waxed paper and serve immediately – or wrap individually and freeze up to 2 weeks! Here’s a full recipe for Chocolate Covered Banana Pops.
- Fruit slices with fruit dip. Slice up some DOLE strawberries, grapes, melon balls – anything you like – and dip them in your own homemade fruit dip! I love fruit dips made with cream cheese like this recipe.
Get some more inspiration by visiting Dole Get Up and Grow! Caravan this week in the Twin Cities area!
Scheduled Get Up and Grow Tour stops available to the public this week include the following.
- Wednesday, September 2 from 12pm to 3pm: Family Fresh at 110 West 4th Street, New Richmond, WI 54017
- Thursday, September 3 from 10am to 1pm: Family Fresh at 2351 Coulee Rd., Hudson, WI 54016
- Thursday, September 3 from 3pm to 6pm: Family Fresh at 303 South Main St., River Falls, WI 54022
- Friday, September 4 from 10am to 1pm: Family Fresh at 115 Elm Street, Farmington, MN 55024
- Friday, September 4 from 3pm to 6pm: Cub Foods at 10520 France St. South, Bloomington, MN 55431
- Saturday, September 5 from 10am to 1pm: Cub Foods at 5301 36th Ave., Crystal, MN 55422
- Saturday, September 5 from 3pm to 6pm: Cub Foods at 4445 Nathan Lane, Plymouth, MN 55442
- Sunday, September 6 10am to 1pm: Cub Foods at 7053 10th St., N, Oakdale, MN 55128
- Sunday, September 6 at 3pm to 6pm: Cub Foods at 2390 White Bear Ave N., Maplewood, MN 55109
At each Tour stop, visitors can also create and submit their own Get Up and Grow! Healthy Living Pledge as part of a nationwide movement toward a healthier, plant-based diet in 2015 and beyond. All pledge-takers who sign up for the Dole Nutrition Newsletter will be emailed a regular stream of health and nutrition tips from the Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI) to help them reach their pledge goal.
It’s easy and fun to live healthier in 2015 (and now you can be healthy even after indulging at the Fair!)!!!