I have been told by not unreliable authorities that there was a time early in my life when I loved fruits and vegetables. At some undefined point between then and my first coherent memories, my love affair turned bad. I grew to loathe virtually all of them. If it was grown, I likely hated it….
That’s how The Grown Diaries began two years ago today. And a couple of URL changes later, here it still is. There have been some large lapses between posts, including all of 2006, but the blog itself and the goals behind it remain. I expect to see even more activity here in the coming months.
Word of the day: leguminous
adjective Botany
of, relating to, or denoting plants of the pea family ( Leguminosae). They have seeds in pods, distinctive flowers, and typically root nodules containing symbiotic bacteria able to fix nitrogen.
Despite the old song, I don’t believe beans are a fruit — it’s just harder to find rhymes for vegetable. ;) They are, however, a marvelous source of nutrients, including protein and fiber.
Speaking of nutrients, cooking with dry beans apparently helps their nutritiousness versus canned. It also aids digestion and reduces their, ah, “magical” properties.
Here’s a cool article on “Soaking Beans”, explaining why and how to soak beans. The page is one of a larger Dried Beans collection with all kinds of interesting tidbits, from cooking, to flavoring, to storage.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Please note that “The Grown Diaries” are now hosted at http://www.growndiaries.com — all web forwarding should be happening automagically.
While I don’t mind the taste of yogurt that much, I especially enjoy a vanilla-flavored variety I pick up at Trader Joe’s. Some folks, however, can’t stand it.
Ask MetaFilter has an article up today with lots of great serving suggestions, some of which are applicable to fruits and vegetables you might want to down as well: “How to make yogurt not taste like yogurt”:
I need yogurt recipes! My doctor says I need to eat yogurt, but the smell and taste of it turns my stomach. Is there anything I can do with it to disguise the taste without killing the bacteria?
Thanks to Almost Vegetarian for pointing to fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov, a US government website with a handy calculator right on the front page: “How many fruits & vegetables do you need?” Pop in your age, sex, and physical activity, and get back how many cups of fruits and vegetables you should be consuming. There are also recipes and other tips.
