Vegetable Eating

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Homeowners are starting to grow their own vegetables instead of just the traditional flowers to pretty up their landscape.  Many places you look these days you can see hot peppers, tomatoes, peaches, berries, peas, and a bunch of other fruits and vegetables.  This is happening for two reasons, one is to save money and another is to help ensure that the food they’re eating is safe.

These days you can’t look at the news without reading something about genetically modified foods, contaminated foods, and a bunch of other scary things.  Food prices, especially fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, can have scary prices as well.  Many people are turning to grow when their own vegetables and fruits in the hopes that they can not only save money but make the food that their family is eating healthier.

For many people it goes beyond just the traditional type of Garden.  In flower beds that once had daisies, roses and tulips you can now find broccoli and cabbage plants.  Some people are using fruit trees and edible plants as fences, which is helping to serve another purpose.  Some are replacing hedges with raspberry bushes or using towering stalks of corn to help screen their backyard.  Many people are more than happy to go back to the old days when people sustained themselves with food that they grew themselves.

Our society has become too complacent with just depending on big businesses, big farms, and the government to be responsible for feeding us.  With the bad turn that the economy is taking as well as the environment, and let’s not forget that state of the health of the nation, people are rethinking this.  Many people are finding a special satisfaction in growing their own food and being responsible for their own nutrition.

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I really like this guy. I know a lot of people probably find him a bit offensive but he is entertaining. So he has a bit to say about out of season produce. Read about it here, Gordon Ramsey Produce Comment.

Its good to know that someone out there cares about Fresh Veggies!

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A…B….C…D…now we are headed to Z! We are now on our last installment of our series in Vegetables A to Z —common veggies for the family. Are your children enjoying their veggies? It is all a matter of knowing the common ones available and learning the different ways to present it.

Vegetables A to Z (Part 9 — T to Z)

Tomato — This vegetable is one of the most versatile ones when it comes to how it is added to a dish. It can either be in dried, canned, fresh or pureed. It is very high in anti-oxidants and can be sautéed, fried, baked, grilled, made into a sauce or added to a salad.

Turnips — The root of a the turnip plant which is a cousin of the cabbage, it is usually harvested when they are young for their mild, delicately sweet flavor. It can be sautéed, stir-fried, steamed, grilled or boiled and mashed. The green tops of this root crop are also edible and good boiled, sautéed, steamed or stir-fried.

Watercress — A member of the mustard family, it grows in cool running water. It has small, crisp, dark green leaves which slightly bitter and has a peppery taste. Use in salads, sandwiches in replacement of lettuce and use as garnish.

Yam — Although they are often confused for sweet potatoes, true yams are much sweeter. Its size can be as small as your typical medium potato that is about a third of a pound in weight or as large as a huge 7-foot, 120-pounder.

Zucchini — One of the really popular and prolific summer squashes, it is cylindrical in shape, on the average around 6-8 inches long but there can grow to about 6-8 inches in diameter with a length of 2 feet! It can be steamed, grilled, sautéed, stir-fried, deep-fried or baked.

That is it for our series on Vegetables A to Z, folks! Use this list to give your kids the variety that they need in their diet and see them go, grow and glow!

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S — Singular Sensation! The S vegetables are here to stay veggie lovers! From summer to snow…there is a lot in here you will get to know in our quest to give you vegetables A to Z – the common vegetables for your family.

Vegetables A to Z (Part 8 — the S vegetables!)

Shallots — This vegetable is from the onion family but it looks so much more like the garlic than the onion. The taste though is definitely onion though milder and a tad bit sweeter. Use shallots in the same way that you would use onions.

Snow Peas — Peas that are tiny and are eaten with the pod. Tastes sweet and are used in stir-fry cooking and are added raw to salads.

Spinach — This vegetable gained notoriety with the rise of popularity of the cartoon character pop-eye. Loaded with vitamins and minerals it can give your health a good boost. Can be sautéed, steamed, used as filling for pastry and pasta and is best eaten raw in salads.

Squash — Members of the gourd family, it is generally grouped into two. The summer squash varieties are usually covered with a thin skin which is also edible. The winter squash varieties have a hard thick skin and seeds and have much firmer flesh which requires a longer cooking time. Can be sautéed, steamed, pureed and made into soup and even made into a pie filling.

Sweet potato — A root crop belonging to the morning glory family, this vegetable is very good in sautéed dishes, stews, pies and even eaten plain. The flesh ranges from white to pale yellow to orange in color and some varieties replace potatoes in a dish.

Those are the S vegetables. There are still more to come in the last installment of Vegetables A to Z. Stay tuned!

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Hello veggie lovers! How are you doing in the quest to making your kids eat a healthier diet? This is the seventh installment of the series Vegetables A to Z, the common vegetables available for you and your family.

Vegetables A to Z (Part 7 — the R vegetables)

Radicchio — This is a pretty ruby-red vegetable that is a member of the chicory family. It is usually in the form of a loosely-leafed round head like that of the butterhead lettuce and is found among the salad greens and is used as such. Though it has a slightly bitter taste, this vegetable holds well when used as a wrap akin to that of a tortilla wrap.

Radishes — This root vegetable has colors that are as varied as the rainbow. It can go from white to green to red to purple to black and many other shades in between. Its size can also go from teenee-tiny half-inch ones to huge ones that are 2 feet long and the shape from round to oblong to carrot-like. Can be added to soups, stews but are best eaten raw.

Rhubarb — A member of the buckwheat family, the only portion of this vegetable that is actually edible is the stalk. Its colors vary from pinkish almost pale red to bright cherry red. Cooked down with quite a lot of sugar, it makes a delicious sauce or jam and even a yummy pie filling.

Rutabaga — A cousin of the turnip and a cabbage-family member which is prized for its ROOT and not head is this vegetable. It has a pale yellow skin and a sweet yellow flesh and can be prepared in all the ways a turnip can be prepared.

This is a bit of a limited lot but they are packed with vitamins and minerals and is a good way to expand the tastes of your children from the usual carrots and peas. Stay tuned for more vegetables A to Z!

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Hello veggie lovers! Wanna know how to remove onion breath? Read on! This is the sixth installment of the series Vegetables A to Z, the common vegetables available for you and your family.

Vegetables A to Z ( Part 6 — the P vegetables)

Parsley — After eating the pungent onion, you can take a bite of parsley to counter it. This vegetable is a peppery but fresh-flavored herb. Can be used in salads, soups and stews, it is not only a flavoring but a decorative garnish.

Peppers — A bowl of the different colors of this vegetable makes for a good dinner table centerpiece. Aside from their decorative properties, the peppers — green, red, yellow, orange, purple and black are a mean source of vitamins and minerals. Can be eaten raw, sautéed, broiled, baked, grilled and added to stews.

Potato — The once-thought-of lowly potato, food for the masses, is now second most consumed food in the U.S.A., trailing closely behind milk and milk products.An average American consumes around 120 pounds of potatoes a year, roughly 365 pieces or a spud a day. That’s a lot of spuds! It can be roasted, baked, boiled, steamed, sautéed, grilled and best known in their mashed and fried forms. For a healthier version of the highly-popular French fries, try baking them instead. Same crispy goodness, lesser calories and fat content.

Pumpkin — A cousin to the squash, this sweet member of the gourd family is a popular during Halloween as a ghoulishly decorative piece in a home’s horror theme. The flavor though is anything but scary. It is sweet and has a creamy texture. Best known as the star ingredient of pumpkin pie which is a staple during Thanksgiving…it is available fresh or canned.

Palatable P vegetables — powerhouse of nutrients! Get your kids eating them and see those pale faces glow! Stay tuned for more Vegetables A to Z!

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Hello veggie lovers! This is the fifth installment of the series Vegetables A to Z, the common vegetables available for you and your family.

Leeks — A cousin to both onion and garlic, it is milder in flavor than both its famous cousins. Used in soups, stews and salads for its fragrance.

Lemon grass — Now popular due to the Thai influence in cooking, this grass very fragrant. Can be used in soups and sautéed dishes.

Lentil beans — A small legume that is usually used as a meat substitute, these beans are added to soups, stews, salads and can be eaten whole or pureed.

Lettuce, red or green — The most popular ingredient in salads, this vegetable is usually classified into four general classifications: butterhead, crisphead, leaf and romaine.

Mushrooms — Probably the most versatile among the vegetables, there are thousands of varieties of this fungus, as well as a variety of colors, shapes and sizes and a wide range of prices. Most popular would be the button mushrooms which can be used as an ingredient of appetizers, soups, salads and entrees.

Mustard Greens — A peppery flavored vegetable that is cousin to the brussels sprouts and broccoli, it is popular as a side dish when cooked with ham or bacon as flavoring.

Okra — A tapered, oblong-shaped pod that is loaded with seeds, this vegetable is usually eaten steamed, sautéed or added to lots of Southern dishes, the most popular of which is gumbo.

Onions — This vegetable can always give you a reason to cry. Literally. Other than that though, it is the last third of the holy trinity of the vegetables mentioned in the other articles. Eaten fresh or roasted, grilled or sautéed, it can be added to salads, soups and stews. This vegetable is the most basic of all.

There you have it.  Stay tuned next time on how to counter the unique smell of onion breath on the next installment of Vegetables A to Z!

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Hello veggie lovers! This is the fourth installment of the series Vegetables A to Z, the common vegetables available for you and your family.

Vegetables A to Z ( Part 4 — E to K)

Eggplant — Technically a fruit from the berry family, this yummy food is usually cylindrical-shaped or even pear-shaped and can be as small as a tennis ball to as big as a small person’s forearm. It can vary from white to green to very dark purple. It can be sautéed, steamed, roasted and fried.

Garlic — Prized for its medicinal properties, this pungent bulb makes food smell better. It is available fresh, bottled or in powder form.

Green beans — Belonging to the legume family, the green beans have long and slender pods with little seeds inside. Very good in soups, stews or even just plainly cooked by steaming or grilling.

Green onions — Green onions or scallions, as some people call them, are young onion plants whose bulbs have not yet developed. It is a pungent vegetable that is good as topping for soups and stews but is also good in salads.

Green peas — Also called garden peas or sweet peas, these little peas are usually bright green and sweet and crunchy.

Jicama — Sometimes called the Mexican potato, this edible root has brown skin and white insides that are utterly yummy. Good added in sautéed dishes….it is best eaten raw in salads.

Kale — A member of the cabbage family. This deep green vegetable, however, does not form a head. Can be added to salads, soups and stews.

Kidney beans — One of the popular kinds of beans, kids know it as one of the main ingredients in chili con carne. This is by far one of the most consumed beans of all time. It is full-bodied in flavor. The white variety is called cannellini beans. Can be found about 99% of the time either canned or dried.

Have you found success in getting your kids to eat vegetables yet? Stay tuned for more vegetables A to Z!

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Here is another installment of vegetables A to Z — the C veggies! Getting your kids to eat them should be much easier than the other groups. The C vegetables are such a Charming and Colorful bunch. Ha ha ha.

Vegetables A to Z (part 3 — the C vegetables)

Cabbage — The HEAD of the cabbage family (get it? hahaha). It is certainly one of the biggest if not THE biggest with the record holder being 124 lbs! It is also one of the most varied of the vegetables with some of the members of this family being cone-shaped, round, flat, loose-leafed or compact, curly-leafed or plain. It is also varied with regard to colors – ranging from red to white to bright green. Can be eaten raw or steamed or sautéed.

Carrots — One of the most vibrantly-colored of all vegetables. Its bright orange hue makes it attractive to children. Can be eaten raw, sautéed, stewed, roasted, steamed and even baked as one of the ingredients of a cake.

Cauliflower — Considered to be a demure member of the cabbage family for its resemblance to a tight bride’s bouquet, it also comes in pretty colors of white, purple and green. Can be eaten raw, steamed, baked, broiled and roasted.

Celery — Used in the olden times as herbal medicine to counter colds, flu, poor digestion and as tonic and stimulant, this aromatic vegetable is one of the “holy trinity” of basic cooking for stews, sauces, soups and stocks, the other two being carrots and onions. Celery can be eaten raw too.

Chard (Swiss & red) — A cousin of the cabbage, it has green crinkly leaves which can be cooked as part of your stews and sautéed dishes.

Chickpeas — A buff-colored legume, it is used in stews, soups and salads. Also called garbanzo beans, they are available fresh, canned or dried.

Chile peppers — Thanks to Christopher Columbus, this pungent vegetable is clearly one of the most colorful of all. They range from yellow, to green, to red —even going to the purple and black end of the spectrum. They also vary in the intensity of their heat. There is an unspoken rule in the Asian countries that the smaller the chili, the more potent the power.

Chives — This vegetable is from the onion and leek family and they have a very mild onion-y taste. They provide fragrance to any dish and is best added at the very end of the cooking time.

Corn — Corn will always be a hit with kids. Mostly loved when eaten off the cobb, it is versatile enough to be added to soups, salads, stews and roasts. It is available fresh, canned or dried.

Cucumber — Another hit with the kids are cucumbers. They can vary in size from the 2-inch pickle variety to the 2-foot long English variety.

Have fun in giving your kids the nutrients they need with these colorful C vegetables. Stay tuned for more vegetables A to Z!

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