Archive for the ‘Vegetables’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on June 15, 2010
Broccoli is one of those vegetables that can be eaten raw or cooked. When eaten raw people sometimes smother it in dip. While that does not take away from the nutrients of the broccoli itself it somewhat might help in defeating the purpose of eating healthy. But that is fodder for another post.
A common way to cook broccoli is to steam it or boil it. One way to easily steam it is to stand the crowns up like little trees in a dish of shallow water and microwave it for a few seconds. It depends on how much you want it cooked. The less cooked better preserves the nutrients. Boiling it might cook away some of the amazing nutrients that have been attributed to broccoli.
The amazing part of the nutrients of broccoli is that is has so many. It is high in vitamin C, K, A, and is high in fiber. It is believed to have anti cancer properties, such as sulforaphane and indoles which are phytonutrients. This are nutrients found in plants that are thought to be nutrients that might help keep our bodies in check and in balance and not contribute to cancer.
Broccoli has been found to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
It might not smell pleasant while cooking it or after, but that is the sulfur that you smell.
1 cup of steamed broccoli has:
—over 100% of the Daily Value of vitamins C and K
—45% of the Daily Value of vitamin A
—20% of the Daily Value of dietary fiber
—15% of the Daily Value of potassium
—10% of the Daily Value of magnesium
—almost 10% of the Daily Value of protein and calcium
Broccoli has more vitamin C than an orange and more calcium than a glass of milk. It really is a wonder vegetable. Remember frozen CAN be just as good as “fresh”.
Broccoli has been found to help prevent heart disease.
Broccoli. Are you a fan? How do you eat yours?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: broccoli, Calcium, heart disease, phytonutrients, prostate cancer, vitamin C | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 3, 2010
Frozen vegetables can be just as nutritious, if not MORE nutritious, than the vegetables you buy in the produce section. Yup. You read that the right. It says that you might be getting more nutrients from frozen vegetables than “fresh” vegetables. IF you are able to buy your vegetables from a local farmers market, that is where you most likely will get the most nutrient rich vegetables. But be aware. In our area–in and around San Jose–we have farmers markets pretty much every day of the week during the summer and it depends on WHEN the farmer has come to the bay area and when they picked their veggies.
I know that we attended one local market (and we have not been back) that was on a Sunday. And the farmers claimed to have been in the area since Friday, and we saw them at a market on Saturday, and to tell you honestly it showed. They vegetables had to be picked before Friday for them to have come up to the Friday market (and they could have even come to the Thursday or Wednesday Farmers Market). It was the warm season and without refrigeration, the produce was very tired and wilted by Sunday. As I said, my hubby and I have not actually been back to that particular market because the produce was so unappealing. The idea of a farmers market is that you are getting FRESH produce, but when some farmers attend all the markets in the area they might not be that fresh. The items probably were picked at the proper time, but within days they start to lose nutrients and without refrigeration they start to rapidly decay.
With produce from the grocery stores it is often harvested before it even reaches its full nutrient potential, and then once it is picked it might ripen some more but it will not have the full nutrients as it would have had it been picked after it reached its peak. By the time produce travels to the stores and is ready for purchase it has lost a lot of its nutrient value.
The popular length of time I am seeing articles state is two weeks. Vegetables can be picked up to two weeks before it reaches the store. Then . . . it MIGHT not get put out for purchase right away (lets be generous and say it only sits for a day), then often times we buy it and it sits in the fridge for (lets be generous and say it sits for only two days). That is a long time in which the vegetable is losing nutrients. It might still LOOK pretty, but it is not a pack full of goodness as we might hope.
With vegetables that get frozen they are pick at the proper ripeness and blanched, frozen, and/or flash frozen right away so their vitamins and minerals as sealed in. The breakdown of enzymes is halted in the process. Supposedly in 1998 the Federal Drug Administration found that frozen vegetables have basically the same nutrient as fresh. I cannot find anything on a government page confirming that but I can find it on a slew of other pages.
So it is quite possible that the veggies in the grocery stores frozen section have more nutrients than the produce section. Read the labels to check if anything has been added like sugar and/or salt because those are not things you would find in “fresh” veggies so you probably want to avoid them in the frozen ones too.
My plan consists of having fresh veggies, however fresh they are from the store or the local market, within the first two maybe three days of having purchased them. I have frozen veggies in the freezer for when a trip to the store isn’t fitting into the schedule. But it used to be that those frozen veggies would sit and get freezer burned because I thought they weren’t good enough. But now I believe they are good, if not better, so I make sure to employ a rotation exercise, and we eat them in a reasonable amount of time. Ya know when the schedule is tight and getting fresh ones isn’t quiet happening. Then on the next trip to the store we get “fresh” and frozen vegetables to back into the fridge for when the schedule is tight again. I would always rather have some sort of veggie than none at all. And yes, that even means a canned vegetables.
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Farmer's Market San Jose, Farmers Market, FDA, fresh produce, fresh vegetables, frozen produce, Frozen vegetables, nutrients, San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Farmer's market | 14 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 1, 2010
I have never been one to know the season for particular fruits and vegetables. I have never paid attention. I do think one reason for that is is that California has such great weather we can pretty much grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Plus, it could also be that, San Jose and the area in which I have lived has always been very diverse so we always have so many different fruits and vegetables.
Now-a-days it seems like you can get anything in any type of weather. It gets shipped from here or there. If you are interested in eating locally grown food and eating it at the peak of its season this site might help you.
Seasonal Ingredient Map (check it out)
You pick the state and the month and it gives you a list of what fruits and vegetables are in season in that state during that month. I think it is cool. It is especially helpful for people like me who think the grocery store is where things are grown. Ha, ok, I am not THAT bad, but this will help me exercise a bit of caution so that I can buy veggies at the peak of the season. Although, sometimes prices and the selection at the store help with that, huh?
I would like to thank @thegoodmixer for tweeting the website. Thanks, Janet.
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: California exercise, epicurious, food map, Fruits season, San Jose exercise, thegoodmixer, Vegetables Peak Season | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 20, 2010
Some people Tweet what they had for lunch I blog about it! I think I was actually born to the wrong family because I love tortillas. As far as I am concerned you can put ANYTHING in a tortilla and you have a meal. The issue is that most tortillas are made with lard or loads of fat. The ones I used to get are low fat, but made with . . . . . guess? Yup, you got it partially hydrogenated oil. Even though the label says “Og TRANS FAT per serving” it stills has transfat (that’s the partially hydrogenated oil).
I found one without it. Doesn’t taste the same, but it is not bad. The other day I was craving veggies. Lucky me we had a lot in the fridge.
Here is what my lunch looked like
It was a low fat tortilla (98% fat free) with 8 grams of fiber (whoa!), then I filled it with broccoli, asparagus, and mixed greens. I had some cheese in there too! It was so yummy. I need to write about it when I am eating it from now on otherwise I end up wanting it again as I type!
I hear it is asparagus season (at the time of this post), which for us in San Jose, just means it get down to a reasonable price. Because otherwise we have it here all year round. Might not be at its peak, but . . . I like having it all the time. If you don’t know, I love asparagus.
Usually I roast it, but I had chopped it and sauteed it the night before and it workout that we had leftovers, so for this burrito that is what I had used.
So, tell me what do you put in your tortillas? How do you prepare them? Grilled? Micro-waved? Right out of the package? Does anyone make their own? I would love to learn how to do that!!!
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Asparagus, broccoli, fiber, low fat, mixed greens, partially hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated oil, San Jose Workout, tortilla, Trans fat, tweet, Veggie burrito | 14 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 26, 2010
Edamame. I first learned of edamame about 25 years ago. I was working at a mortgage company and one of the secretaries (that’s what they were called back then) introduced us. I can’t even remember where we had it whether it was a restaurant or if she made it, but I have loved it ever since. And that was before I knew it was a complete protein* or that it has isoflavones**.
I like it served warm, salted, and in the pods so you can pop the soybeans out into your mouth. It is fun.
I stopped by sushi restaurant tonight for a friend’s birthday on my way home from my San Carlos Nia class and since I don’t eat sushi I had a whole bowl of edamame. Yum. Perfect for after teaching.
I don’t really think of edamame as low in fat, but I do think of it as high in protein.
A 1/2 cup of in-the-pod edamame is about 75 calories, 7 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber.
I don’t often think of eating them on salads, but when I get a salad that has the soybeans on them, I really like it. Once I had a vegetable dish with them in it. I really liked that, but forget to do it myself. I usually just eat them out of the pods. But there are so many other ways you can eat them. I need to remember to add them to salads or put them in with other vegetables to make a vegetable medley.
Do you like edamame? Do you like it served hot or cold? What do you do with edamame, do you add it to other dishes? Do you have edamame recipes?
Writing about it makes me want more.
*complete protein -contains all eight essential amino acids in appropriate quantity
**isoflavones – antioxidants that are believed to have health benefits
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: antioxidants, complete protein, edamame, edamame recipes, isoflavones, Nia, Nia class, San Carlos Nia | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 3, 2009
I wanted to share this with you just in time for Labor Day. This past summer I went to a barbeque and the hostess had made grilled bell peppers and feta. She had bought the bag of bell peppers that you get from Costco that have the different colors in them.
Well, I brought some home to Hubby and he liked them. Since then we have made them several times but we have been using the green bell peppers.
It is so easy. You just cut the bell peppers so they form a little boat. If they are flat that is ok, it just makes it more possible for the cheese to escape. 🙂 Then you grill them 5 minutes on each side, or if you like them less cooked just grill them on the inside for five minutes.
After you grill them either on the outside for five and the inside for five or just the inside for five you put feta in them. You can put as much as you would like. You can also use blue cheese. It is a litte bit more greasy so it is a little tricky to deal with, but it is good. I prefer the feta.
Then you grill the feta filled boats for five minutes. Yum. Nothing else is needed. No salt, no oil, nothing. And they are so yummy.
Recently we went to a barbeque and started talking about all the ways you can do them and there are a lot of ways. You can get elaborate and makes some pretty yummy concoctions, or you can just keep it simple. It is really good. This is an easy treat that is in a class by itself.
I don’t know if you have a Costco in your area but that is what we have in San Jose and the Bay Area where we get our large quantities.
If you end up trying this and make any variation, let me know how it works out. I would love to hear how different types of cheeses work. Although it is an exercise in will power to not over do it on the cheese. You know how I love cheese!
Posted in Vegetables | Tagged: bell peppers, Costco San Jose, exercise on Labor Day, grilled bell peppers, Grilled peppers, Labor Day, San Jose exercise, San Jose exercise class, San Jose exercise on Labor Day, San Jose Workout | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 11, 2009
Ok, you might know that I love asparagus. And I love it roasted. Well, even though we live in San Jose and seems like we can get great fruits and veggies all year round sometimes we buy asparagus and it is huge. Usually when it is that big in order to get to the good stuff you basically have to cut off a lot of it. Otherwise you are left with really woodsy-impossible-to-chew asparagus. Well, I don’t wanna give up that much of my yummy veggie, so I peel it. I cut off a little bit—like I normally would and then I peel the bottom portion. This does a few things:
1) it enables me to eat more of the vegetable,
2) it gets rid of the hard to chew part,
3) it reveals the soft insides of the stalk
Yay! I don’t have to get rid of half my asparagus.
Yes, I know that I am getting rid of the green, but I leave the top portion. You can try it yourself and see what works for you. Of course, you don’t have to be having roasted asparagus for this to work out, you can do it with whatever method you best enjoy your asparagus.
Posted in Vegetables | Tagged: Asparagus, fruit, roasted, roasted asparagus, San Jose, San Jose work out, Vegetables, veggies, work out method, workout method | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 14, 2009
I love to eat roasted asparagus. I like it when it is really cooked, not burned, but crispy. It is probably past the point of supreme nutrition, but that is my favorite way to eat it. I do like it at its most nutritious, too, boiled until it is tender not soggy. I haven’t always liked asparagus. I believe the way vegetables are cooked now is different than from when I was growing up. Plus, I believe that it is much easier to obtain a fresh vegetable now than when I was growing up.
Apparently the season is from March through August, but we eat it all year round. To me it tastes better during the “Asparagus season”.
One of the reasons I love to eat it roasted is because it is so easy to cook. I rinse it off, then chop off the ends—I don’t do that bend and break thing because holding the entire bunch in one hand and chopping with the other is much faster to me — then I line them up in a pan (I have a jelly roll pan). I sprinkle olive oil on them. I usually use garlic infused olive oil, but sometimes I go for the lemon olive oil. Then I salt them and use whatever spices I feel like, then in they go. I usually cook them at 400 degrees. I let them bake for 15 minutes, then I flip them. And let them go 15 minutes more, but you can take them out at anytime and they are delicious. Sometimes I cook ‘em less, sometimes I cook ‘em more. Depends on my mood and when the rest of the meal is ready.
Nutritional Value per 100 g (3.5 oz) as per USDA Nutrient database
Calories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Carbohydrates . . . . . . . . . .3.88 g
Sugars . . . . . . . . . .1.88 g
Dietary fiber . . . . .2.1 g
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.12 g
Protein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.20 g
In addition Asparagus contains Thiamine (Vit. B1), Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Niacin (Vit. B3), Pantothenic Acid (Vit. B5), Vitamin B6, Folate (Vit. B9), Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, and Manganese.
Seems to me like they are way worth the time and effort it takes to cook them.
What is your favorite way to cook asparagus?
Posted in Vegetables | Tagged: Asparagus, Asparagus Season, boiled, Calcium, calories, carbs, easy to cook, fat, fiber, garlic, growing up, infused oil, Magnesium, nutrition, nutritional, nutritional value, nutritious, olive oil, Potassium, protein, roasted asparagus, spices, USDA, USDA Nutrient Database, Vegetables, Vitamin B, Zinc | 8 Comments »
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