FitSugar

How Do You Normally Buy Veggies?

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:00:33 PDT

I love Spring because it means that the fresh produce in my CSA box is going to be more colorful and varied. It's not that I don't love potatoes, beets, and turnips, I just miss seeing green amidst all those hearty root veggies. Regardless of the season, I tend to stick to fresh produce when I eat veggies. I also live in California, which means that I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to what kind of produce I have access to all year round.

How often you cook at home, how close you live to the grocery store, and what time of the year it is can all be determining factors in whether you buy veggies canned, fresh, or frozen. Tell me . . .

Freeze Fruits and Veggies Before They Spoil

FitSugar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:14 PST

In the morning I always make a breakfast smoothie using fresh produce. But sometimes our household goes a little overboard in the amount of produce we buy. Instead of throwing out spoiled fruits and veggies, we freeze our produce to preserve its nutritional content and halt the ripening process. Freezing produce is also a good way to stock up on fruits and veggies that are on sale or going out of season.

If there's an abundant amount of produce in our house, we estimate how much we'll need to last the rest of the week and then freeze the rest. Produce is best frozen when it's perfectly ripe, and it can last in the freezer for up to a year.

To find out how to freeze produce at home,

When it comes to fruit, wash, peel, and dice before freezing. Put the fruit slices onto a cookie sheet and freeze overnight, then transfer the frozen fruit pieces into moisture proof containers. By freezing fruit on a cookie sheet first, you avoid ending up with a massive block of frozen fruit later. Although I freeze fresh fruit as is, you can use sugar to maintain a fruit's flavor, color, and texture if you won't be using it soon after freezing. Lemon juice can also be used to preserve the color of fruits that would normally brown when exposed to air, like apples or pears.

Before freezing vegetables, it's highly recommended that you blanch them first. Blanching halts the action of vegetable enzymes which cause veggies to lose their color, flavor, and texture. Keep in mind that blanching time varies depending on the vegetable, and you want to make sure that veggies are cooled before you freeze them. Frozen veggies can be used in the same way you would use frozen vegetables from the grocery store.

If freezing produce is not for you, find other ways to use ripe fruits and veggies before they spoil like making sauces, stocks, or jams. In the end, we're all better for limiting our waste.

Source: Flickr User Chiot's Run

Canned Veggies vs. Frozen Veggies

FitSugar — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:00:21 PST

Summertime offers an abundance of fresh veggies at lower costs, but now that Winter is on the horizon, the produce aisle isn't exactly overflowing with inexpensive produce. Since your choices are limited (and pricey), opting for canned or frozen veggies may be your only choice, but which is healthier?

Learn which comes out on top in canned veggies vs. frozen veggies when you

Store-bought frozen veggies are usually processed soon after being harvested - at their peak ripeness. The first step of freezing veggies does involve blanching them in hot water or steam to kill bacteria, which breaks down some of the water-soluble vitamins such as B and C. But once the produce is flash-frozen, the rest of the nutrients are locked in. Actually, frozen foods may even be more nutritious than the same fresh veggies that have been sitting out or in the fridge for an extended period of time. That's because fresh produce is often picked before it's had time to fully ripen, which means it has less time to develop all its vitamins and minerals.

Then there are canned veggies. Usually inexpensive, they're also convenient since they have a long shelf life and won't take up any space in your freezer. Many canned veggies unfortunately contain sugar, salt, and other preservatives. They also undergo a heating process, which further decreases their nutritional value.

So if you can't buy fresh veggies and eat them within a few days, frozen veggies are the next best option.

Texas Woman Faces Frog in Frozen Beans

YumSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:30:26 PDT

What's the deal with frozen green beans? Last Fall, a New Zealander discovered a shrunken mouse's head in hers, and, proving we're just as prone to the situation stateside, a Texas woman reportedly opened a bag to find a frog's face staring back at her.

Chasity Erbaugh from Tyler, TX, went to stir butter into her green beans and encountered the whole front end of a frog, spinal cord attached, with its tongue hanging out. Horrified, she notified county health inspectors, who got in touch with the Wal-Mart where she purchased the beans to have the rest of the lot pulled from shelves. Although the county health department filed a complaint with the FDA, it also urged consumers to look closely at their food before eating it. But Erbaugh has lost her confidence with frozen foods. Moving forward, she vows to only buy fresh vegetables, even if the measure is at her expense. "Do you know how much my grocery bill is fixing to go up?" she said.

After hearing about a shopper who - almost literally - got a frog in her throat, are you less likely to buy frozen fruits and vegetables? Do you agree with the health department, which insinuated that the responsibility lies with each diner to ensure he is eating safe food? Have you ever found something that's less than kosher in your frozen produce?

Frozen Spinach Does the Body Good

FitSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:30:00 PST

The canned spinach that made Popeye's muscles go crazy was probably loaded with sodium and ultimately not the best method for eating this super green, leafy veggie.
On the other hand, frozen spinach might just be more nutritious than fresh. The nutritional benefits of spinach start to breakdown after the leafy green is picked. In fact, four days in your crisper can reduce the amount of beneficial nutrients health-boosting carotenoids and the folate (a B vitamin) in spinach. Yep, even if you refrigerate this veggie, it can still lose its nutritional value. For this reason it is a great idea to use frozen spinach. It is generally processed immediately after being picked, locking in the nutrients. This is a great option if fresh spinach is scarce or really expensive. Check out this recipe for Tomatoes Stuffed With Spinach and Ham, which conveniently uses frozen spinach!

Fit's Tip: Remember, it is recommend that you eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables daily - fresh or frozen. So if the fresh produce at the grocery looks old and depleted, experiment with using frozen veggies or fruit. Frozen fruit is a great addition to any smoothie.

Is there a frozen veggie or fruit that you use regularly? Share the details in the comment section below.

Source

Nutrition Myths: True or False

FitSugar — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:30:00 PDT

Short quiz on nutrition myths.

What's Yummy This Week

Susannah Chen — Sat, 26 May 2012 04:35:05 PDT

Dig into Sasha and Malia's favorite mac and cheese.
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From Drumsticks to It's-Its, nostalgic frozen treats you can make at home.
Iconic San Francisco dishes to ring in the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th anniversary.
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Make perfectly grilled vegetables every single time.

What Foods Did You Despise as a Child but Grow to Love as an Adult?

Lauren Hendrickson — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:15:24 PDT

Every child has a food that's an absolute no. It varies by kid; my niece loves everything from asparagus to calamari to brussels sprouts, but she'll turn her nose up at mushrooms every time, no matter how they're prepared.

When I was growing up, I was a pretty adventurous eater, but I despised frozen peas - so much that I made up an elaborate story about them being my doll's favorite thing on the entire planet and got away with passing along my helping to her whenever the vegetable was served at dinner. For most of my life, I continued my disdain of peas of all kinds: frozen, canned, and fresh. Then one Spring, I popped open one of those English pea pods at the farmers market and fell in love. Now, whenever this time of year rolls around, I can't wait to shell fresh peas.

I'm curious to know your stories: what foods did you hate as a kid that you've since learned to love?

Photo: Lauren Hendrickson

Easy Ways to Get More From Your Food Budget

LearnVest — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:15:48 PDT

Go the extra mile with your food budget with these tips from LearnVest.

For years, many people - my husband, mom, sister and even my son - told me to stop wasting so much food.

Throwing away half a piece of chicken here or a handful of grapes there never seemed like such a big deal to me. If I was full or no longer in the mood for that particular food, then I had no problem tossing it.

That is, until I experienced a bad case of sticker shock during a recent trip to the supermarket. The cost of bread, eggs, fish - basically everything I was purchasing - had increased. And, according to the USDA, we can expect prices to rise even higher this year.

As I forked over my money and left with only a handful of bags, I realized just how important it is for me to pay more attention to what I spend on food . . . and to confront how much of it I shove down the garbage disposal.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only one with wasteful ways. In 2010, 33 million tons of food was thrown away, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Obviously, wasted food means wasted money, but figuring out how to make your grocery budget go further can be a challenge.

To keep more food in your fridge (and more money in your pocket), try these expert tips.

1. Ward Against Freezer Burn

Those large bags or packages of frozen veggies or meat come in handy when you have a large family, but "each time you open a bag of frozen food, air gets in and will cause freezer burn within two to three weeks," says consumer saving expert Andrea Woroch. Freezer burn will dry out the meat and make it less tasty. Woroch suggests going small.

Read on for more.

6 Handy Tips For Packing Work Lunches

Emily Co — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:28:28 PDT

Bringing lunch to work every day sure does save more than a few bucks and keeps you healthy at the same time. It's such an easy everyday saving trick, and it's a great option for those trying to cut costs on their daily expenses. Here are a few tips that get me through the week.

Mental Meal Plan: What do you want to eat for the rest of the week? Give it some thought before you make a trip to the grocery store to buy some ingredients. For inspiration, flip through Yum's list of delicious work lunches. While you're grocery shopping, read our savvy tricks for saving money at the supermarket.
Prep on Sunday: Buy all the ingredients you need on Sunday so that you won't have to desperately scramble around the night before. If you're planning on making one dish that you'll be eating all week (such as soup), you can either keep it refrigerated or, depending on what type of dish it is, you can also choose to freeze it in five ziploc packets that you can ration out throughout the week.
Keep It Separate: If you want to keep your lunch fresh, try to keep the pieces separate and assemble it right before you're having lunch. This works best for meals such as salads and sandwiches - soggy bread and vegetables are not appetizing!

Read on for more tips.