There are so many ways to use fresh peaches!

The arrival of fresh peaches in the grocery store and farm stands is something that always makes me smile.  Sure, there are canned peaches and frozen peaches.  For me, however, there is no comparison: the taste of fresh peaches is best!

It was fresh peaches that caused me to fall in love with food and gardening. When I was four, my great-grandmother, using her mixture of English and Hungarian, invited me to pick a ripe peach from her garden.  I didn’t know it until nearly four decades later, but that experience would lead me to become a registered dietitian, start Food Coach, and it still grounds my philosophy about food and eating today.

7 ways to use fresh peaches

1) Besides eating your peaches by themselves, consider pairing them up with other foods to give your day a healthy and sweet boost:

2) Slice a peach and add it to plain yogurt for a sweet and healthy treat.

3) Use them in a salad in place of tomatoes. (Here’s a great bean salad that uses peaches.)

4) Enjoy a sweet and spicy taste by adding peaches to salsa.

5) Substitute peaches in almost any recipe that calls for mangos.

6) Have a fragrant and delicious breakfast by adding peach slices to warm oatmeal.

7) Add thin slices to a peanut butter (or nut butter) sandwich in place of jam or jelly.

Peach nutrition

Yes, you can still eat peaches if you are counting calories or carbohydrates to manage your blood sugars!  A medium fresh peach, which is about the size of a tennis ball, has just 60 calories and about 14 grams of carbohydrate. Eating the skin and the flesh gives you 2 grams of fiber, so don’t peel them if possible.

How to tell when a peach is ripe

There are over 700 varieties of peaches, so the color is not a good indication of ripeness. The Georgia Peach Council recommends avoiding buying rock-hard peaches and choosing ones that yield slightly to gentle pressure along the seam of the peach. Another method recommended by some sources is to search for peaches that have a light peach scent near the stem.

Once you get your peaches home, the council also suggests keeping them on the counter until they are at the stage of ripeness you prefer. Then refrigerate them and eat them within a day or so.

Looking for other simple ways to eat healthier, lose weight or have a healthier gut?

 Start by instantly downloading your free guide, “5 Secrets to Successfully Changing How You Eat” by clicking here.

Then get more personalized help related to your eating habits or health by booking your free discovery call. We can talk about what you want to accomplish and see if working with me would be helpful to you.