Use the power of the season to help you move forward and break out of your winter eating habits.

It is interesting how we remember things. As a nutritionist, my nostalgic thoughts often turn to food. Was food and nutrition simpler back then, I wonder.

It’s that time of year when it seems everything revolves around food. Thanksgiving dinners, savory crispy latkes sizzling for Hanukkah, Christmas parties, baking, Kwanzaa feasts: this season is full of culinary temptation.

I love fall, from the beautiful weather to the change in routines, with schedules a little more ordered and the kids back in school. But with back to school also comes the annual school lunch challenge. Parents and kids have a choice: buy lunch in school or pack a homemade lunch.

Summer is the time for taking advantage of the abundance of available fresh vegetables and fruits. Lightly steamed, prepared raw, sautéed or grilled, vegetables go with anything, anytime. Gobbled up as snacks, blended into smoothies or sliced on top of yogurt, fruit quenches thirst, adds sweetness and tastes delicious.

Despite the meek promise of a cold spring, summer is really coming. While I have barely gotten around to swapping out my winter closet with summer clothes, my mind has been on other signs of the changing seasons lately. Like delicious spring greens, fresh herbs, asparagus pushing up through the spring earth, sweet peas on their way and strawberries calling my name. I’m an Island girl after all, and a farm girl too, so nothing sends spring into summer more than fresh vegetables and fruits at my fingertips.