How to Pick the Best Watermelon
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on the fighting of the old, but on the building of the new.”
— SocratesThese past several days have been such a whirlwind of events and changes that I’m not even sure how to process it all yet… let alone talk about it. It’s all stuff I’m not quite ready to share on here - and it’s not bad - it’s just…...a lot. Forgive my vagueness. I almost didn’t bring it up at all, but this recent news has thrown me for such a loop that I needed to take a small break from this space with a sign hanging that says “away on vacation” - I’ve been mentally gliding on a flamingo floaty device in a large pool in the middle of Palm Springs to cope.I'm a person that is constantly in the "go-go-go" mind set, so admitting that I needed a complete break was hard; it's like I was admitting defeat or something. Is this a woman thing? I can laugh through the worst scenarios - but allowing myself to cry is something much harder. I feel so much is expected of us women now a days - sometimes we don't give ourselves a second to process our feelings. It's almost like pausing is a sign of weakness. And I don't know why, but I feel that online/on social media can be a very, very loud place to be…and I so craved a long pause and pure quiet.And watermelon.
This post idea has been brewing for a while and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s another one of those “educational posts” (remember when I talked about good fat vs bad fat?) and I hope this one changes your life. Lol, no but really.It wasn’t until I worked at Whole Foods for a while that I learned how to pick out the best produce - I’d hover over the produce guys laying out the fresh fruit + veggies and ask for samples of almost everything and they’d let me sample and show me how to pick the best stuff. I’m sure I was annoying... but they didn’t seem to mind.Here’s what I’ve learned from them and from my experience:
HOW TO PICK THE BEST WATERMELON:
1. Choose a watermelon that feels heavy. Don’t knock on your watermelon to see if it sounds hollow. It’s not gonna tell you anything.2. Do not pick a watermelon with a big yellow spot. Try to find one that doesn’t have a yellow spot at all, or at least the smallest yellow spot possible. This is ironically called “the sun spot” - but it’s actually the spot where the sun didn’t touch the watermelon at all because it didn’t get rotated by the farmer. It’s the spot where it just sat in the dirt.3. Pick one free from bruising, cuts or blemishes and one that isn’t HUGE (ie don't pick the biggest one you can find). Shoot for a medium sized one - those tend to be the best.4. Ask your produce guy to cut the watermelon in half for you before you buy it so you can see the inside. Pick a watermelon free of cracking on the inside - this can mean it’s pithy and dry. They’ll wrap the watermelon halves up for you real quick if it looks like a good one.5. I know picking a watermelon is such a crapshoot - so after you’ve followed tips 1-3, use tip #4 as much as you can. There are so many grocers and farmers at markets that will do this for us and it’s such a life saver.
MY FAVORITE WAY TO EAT WATERMELON:
With a squeeze of lime and sprinkle of kosher salt.Cut up into cubes and frozen. (It’s like a weird popsicle and so refreshing on a hot day!)Watermelon salad: Cut watermelon up into bite sized pieces and toss with freshly cut strawberries, goat cheese and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Heaven.Love you friends. xo
WHY IS THIS GOOD FOR ME?
watermelon - is full of beta-carotene which helps our skin and bone health. It also helps us keep our eyes strong and working and prevents macular degeneration (aka losing our eyesight). It's also helps lower our blood pressure by allowing our blood vessels to expand thus increasing blood flow. Watermelon also acts as a great hydrating food (think nature's sweet alkalizing water) and acts as a diuretic - which is a big yay for me. Anyone else out there experience constipation while pregnant? Ya, super fun huh? ;)
