By AUDREY WILSON
By AUDREY WILSON
The University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcan baseball team has a few more home games before the end of its season.
We have attended every home game because our dear friends have a grandson playing outfield for the team. We usually sit just above the team and watch with interest as they place a handful of sunflower seeds in their mouths and methodically spit out the seeds as they eat them. Some of us eat them one at a time and I am afraid of trying to put a handful of seeds in my mouth for fear of swallowing or choking on it.
Sunflower seeds are a nutritious snack, loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and are a great source of vitamin E, the fat-soluble antioxidant, neutralizes free radicals and is a great anti-inflammatory.
The vitamin E also protects the skin from ultraviolet radiation and when applied topically, prevents UV damage, not only important on a sunny day, but also an overcast one.
The magnesium in sunflower seeds work with the calcium to make strong bones, which helps when a batter makes a slide.
The magnesium also helps prevent calcium from rushing into the nerve cells and activating them and the blood vessels and muscles. So to the coach and assistant coaches, sunflower seeds are good for their nerves. There is also tryptophan and choline. The tryptophan reduces stress and anxiety and the choline helps increase brain function and improve memory. For catchers, those minerals are great.
The selenium helps repair damaged cells and the antioxidant enzymes, “glutathione peroxidase” help to detoxify the liver, not that any of the team drinks.
If you purchase sunflower seeds at the natural or health food stores here in town, they would contain no salt. Many of the packaged ones are too salty, even the reduced sodium ones. But the baseball team sweats out the sodium so a little more than necessary sodium might be OK for them.
I buy raw shelled sunflower seeds from the bins at the health foods store, toss them in simple sugar and roast them in a baking pan over a low, 300-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the seeds are dry and crunchy. I scatter them on a salad or just grab a handful for snacks.
All you need is 1/4 cup a day, which is only 4 tablespoons. One tablespoon in your morning cereal, another tablespoon on your salad at lunch and maybe on your dinner salad and in your bread and you have had all the sunflower seeds you need.
If you don’t want to make a mess with the spent shells (the field and stands usually have sunflower seeds) here is a recipe for granola to get your daily sunflower seed needs.
Granola Makes 8 cups
Mix together in a large bowl:
4 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups sunflower seeds*
Melt:
1 stick butter
Add:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pour over oats and nuts and mix well. Bake in 150 degree oven for one hour, turning every 15 minutes. Bake another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, add:
2 cups raisins or dried cranberries or blueberries
Fill in clean container with a good seal.
*Raw hulled sunflower seeds are available in bins at the health food stores.
Small Bites
Sunflower has been grown for 5,000 years by Native Americans. The Spanish brought them back to Spain and now the top producers of sunflower seeds at Russia, Peru, Argentina, Spain, France and China.
Foodie Bites
The HCC’s Culinary Arts Program will be having their annual Hilo Culinary Classic Show on Friday at the HCC Cafeteria. Please purchase tickets to check out the talents of the students as they stay up all night to complete their dishes.
Three of the top 10 coffees of the year, according to the Roasters’ Guild of Specialty Coffee Association of America, come from Ka‘u: Will and Grace Tabios of The Rising Sun; Lorie Obra of Rusty’s Hawaiian, and Francis and Trinidad Marques of Ali‘i Hawaiian Hula Hands Coffee.
Congratulations!
You can taste these award-winning Ka‘u coffees at the 4th annual Ka‘u Coffee Festival, being held in Pahala on May 5-6 and May 12-13. Check out www. kaucoffeefest.com or call 929-9550 for more information.
Tickets are still available for The Rotary Club of South Hilo’s Hilo Huli, held at Coconut Island on May 6 from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 and can be obtained from any member of the club.
Limited tickets are now available for the very popular Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce’s Mystery Dine Around on Thursday, May 24. This year, the event starts and ends at Hilo Yacht Club. I imagine tickets will sell like hotcakes as those attending last year just raved about it!
Call the Chamber office at 935-7178 for tickets.
Update on Kefir
I received an email from Sandy. She lives at an elevation of 1,500 feet and needs to allow her kefir to sit at room temperature for two days. She said the Farberware hand-held strainer, with 1/2-inch oval holds that she purchased at Walmart make for “excellent straining of the cultured mixture. I couldn’t culture without it.”
Welcome all visitors here for Merrie Monarch festivities!
Please feel free to e-mail me at wilson.audrey@hawaiiantel.net if you have a question. Bon appetit until next week.