Dates

These are sweet delicious fruits with much added minerals and energy to help you stay fit and healthy.They go by the scientific name of Phoenix dactylifera.

The date fruit is a ”drupe” in which its outer fleshy part(exocarp and mesocarp) surround a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside.

Ripe dates range from golden-yellow,amber,bright red to deep brown depending on the cultivar type.

Nutritional benefits of dates

This fruit has moderate levels of  B-complex group of vitamins as well as vitamin K.These vitamins help the body metabolize carbohydrates,proteins and fats.Vitamin K is essential for many coagulant factors in the body as well as in bone metabolism.

Dates are high in Potassium which is an important component of cell and body fluids that help regulate heart rate and blood pressure.

They are also rich in Vitamin A which is known to have anti-oxidant properties and is essential for vision.

The fruit is also high in dietary fibre and anti-oxidants known as tannins which are known to posses anti-infective,anti-inflammatory and anti-haemorragic(prevent easy bleeding tendencies)  properties.

Date Crispies(by Jean Pare)

Ingredients

Butter(or hard margarine)	15ml
Chopped pitted dates	125ml
Granulated Sugar	60ml
Large egg,fork-beaten	1
Crisp rice cereals	375ml
Salted roasted sunflower seeds	60ml

Procedure

Melt butter in small sauce pan on medium.Add next 3 ingredients.Cook for about 3 minutes,stirring constantly until thickened.Remove from heat.

Add cereal and sunflower seeds.Stir.Let stand for about 10minutes until cool enough to handle.Shape into 1 inch balls.Makes 18 crispies.

NB

Coat hands lightly with cooking spray to prevent date mixture from sticking to them while forming into balls.

Cooking spray is a spray form of an oil as a lubricant, lecithin as an emulsifier and a propellant such as food grade alcohol.