It’s great to buy fruit and vegetables in season. Right now we’re eating heaps of sweet corn. It’s so easy to cook: three minutes per cob (husk on) in the microwave. My son and I munch ours straight off the cob but my husband loves his smeared with butter and salt. He’s succumbed to skinny milk, cup-cake sized steak, couscous and lentils so I figure he’s allowed the odd indulgence!

Corn gets its rich yellow colour from the family of phytochemicals (natural plant chemicals) called carotenoids. Yellow, orange, red and dark green vegetables such as spinach, carrots, tomatoes and pumpkin get their colour from carotenoids. Corn is especially high in two carotenoids – lutein and zeazanthin. The macular region of the eye has a high concentration of these substances which implies that they play an important role in keeping our eyes healthy. It’s thought that they protect against light-induced damage to the eye and help prevent macular degeneration, cataracts and other eye problems.

I knew it would happen eventually: my eight-year-old is finally asking for sandwiches. Not just any sandwich, mind you, it has to be avocado and tomato. Perhaps it’s all the activity of the past week on holiday at Whakatane and Lake Rotoma. We’ve been boogie boarding at the beach, water skiing, biscuiting, kayaking, swimming and jumping off scarily high rocks into the lake – fun! All that water and sunshine sure stimulates the appetite but I think the recent call for avocado and tomato sandwiches is just an age thing.

The last day of 2009 – New Year’s Eve and the inevitable new year’s resolutions. In anticipation that some of us will wake up tomorrow resolving to eat less, drink less, grouch less, exercise more, give more, chill out more – at least for a couple of days – here’s a muesli recipe to start you off on your new resolutely healthy day!

It’s so easy to make: just chuck it all in a big oven tray and bake for 20 minutes, then toss in some dried fruit. I like to use cranberries and dried apricots because they look pretty, plus my nephew and niece don’t like raisins and I usually give them a container full to eat while it’s fresh. You can use any ingredients you like but I like to use health-foodie stuff that my family wouldn’t normally touch such as linseeds, wheat germ and oat bran. The batch I made this week uses whole linseeds but you will likely absorb more nutrients from ground linseeds.

Yoghurt, oats, nuts – do you find it hard to eat these super-health foods? Tired of porridge for breakfast? Husband hates yoghurt? Here’s one solution – Swiss muesli. It tastes delicious and is so easy to make. The amounts are just a guideline. You can use more or less of each ingredient to get the taste and texture you like best.

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup apple juice

1 cup water

1 apple, chopped (leave skin on)

1/2 cup almonds, chopped