How to choose a good melon!

It’s Monday and It’s Melon season!! Last week I went Berry Happy. This week, I decided to find out how melons stack up melons

Since I did a pound measurement for each of the berries, I decided that was a fair way to measure melons as well. Weight is a much more accurate measure than a cup or a slice.

How do melons weigh in on nutrition: And how do you choose a good one?

Because I like watermelons the best, let’s start with them:

watermelon One pound has 138 calories, .6 g fat and 506 mg Potassium, 34 g carbohydrate, 1.8 g fiber and 28 g sugar, and 2.8 g protein. They come in with a good amount of vitamins too with daily values of Vitamin A 51%, Vitamin C 61%, Vitamin B-6 10%, Magnesium 11% Calcium 3% and Iron 6%. Wow for a great sweet treat, they are really good for you!

When you are purchasing a watermelon, look for one that is nice and green, there should also be a creamy yellow spot on the bottom. If it is all green it probably hasn’t had enough time to ripen. It should sound the same as thumping your chest and it should feel heavy for it’s size.

Cantaloupes are my second favorite, coming in with 158 calories per pound and .8 g of fat. 72 mg of sodium and a whopping 1,211 mg of potassium. (a medium banana has 442) 37 g carbs and 4.1 fiber, with 35 g sugar and 3.8 g protein. And Cantaloupe is a great source for vitamins with 306% Vitamin A, 277% Vitamin C, 15% Vitamin B-6 and 13% magnesium, 4% Calcuim and 5% Iron. Now that is good for you!

I have found the best tasting cantaloupe are firm and slightly oval, Beige with very little green if any, they are heavy for their size and when you smell the end it smells really good. Google says a sweet slightly musky scent. I just think it smells like a good cantaloupe. A really good cantaloupe is a very close second to watermelon on my favorites list.

Honeydew melons are also wonderful when you get a good one and they come in with 162 calories a pound, .7 g fat and 81 mg sodium. Also an excellent choice for getting the potassium you need with 1036 mg. They have 41 g carbs 3.7 g fiber and 37 g sugar with 2.4 g protein. They are a little less heavy weight in the vitamin A with only 4% however, they have 136% Daily value of Vitamin C, 15% B-6, Magnesium 11%, calcium 2% and Iron 3%.

I think Honeydew’s are a little trickier to find a good one so I googled that as well and found a site with tons of information, if you want to read more, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/pick-good-honeydew-melon-74359.html.

Basically it says a honeydew should be cream colored or yellow with no green on the rind. It should be Heavy for it’s size and smell fresh and slightly fruity. The rind should never be shiny but a dull color and firm, but not rock hard. I read that a honeydew won’t ripen if picked before it is mature that is why there should be no green on the rind, so it’s best to buy local fruit that has been allowed to ripen and doesn’t have to be shipped very far.

With summer melons on the table you get a fantastic dessert that ads a lot of vitamins and minerals. Yummm!! Even the kids won’t miss the ice cream!

I know there are other melons out there, what is your favorite and why?