Potato

Where To Store Some Produce May Surprise You

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

Ready Nutrition  May 29 2014

fruit+veggies

There are some foods that absolutely need refrigeration, and some that are better off stored outside of your fridge.

Do not refrigerate (unless cut):

Potatoes: Refrigeration makes the starches in potatoes turn to sugar – which is not a good thing, as it changes the flavor and makes the skin darken.

Onions: Separate them from the potatoes (they don’t play well together – potatoes can make onions rot) and store them where there is plenty of air circulation (no sealed bags or containers)

Garlic: Like onions, they prefer air circulation.

Tomatoes: Store them on the counter – they will turn mealy and dull in the refrigerator.

Avocado: Store on the counter until they are ripe.

Melon: Leave them on your counter to ripen and sweeten  properly. The antioxidants in watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew prefer room temperature.

Stone fruits: Place peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, cherries, and similar fruits on the counter, stem side down, to ripen. Once they start to get soft, move them to the refrigerator.

Papaya: These will not ripen in the refrigerator – keep them on the counter, and turn them occasionally so they ripen evenly. Once the skin turns yellow-orange and the fruit starts to soften, move them to the fridge.

Peppers: Store on the counter.

Store these fruits at room temperature until ripe: Guava, kiwi, apricots, mangoes, nectarines, passion fruit, pears, persimmons, and starfruit

Always refrigerate these foods:

Berries: All fresh berries are highly perishable and should be stored in the refrigerator in a container that allows air to circulate. Don’t wash berries until you are ready to use them – moisture will decrease their shelf life.

Grapes: Store in the refrigerator in a perforated bag, and don’t wash them until you are ready to use or eat them.

Pineapple: Despite its tough exterior, pineapples are quite delicate and bruise easily. If left on the counter more than a day or two, they will begin to ferment, and the acidity will increase. Refrigerate the whole pineapple in a perforated plastic bag until you are ready to cut it. After cutting, store in the fridge in an air-tight container.

Figs: Refrigerate in a plastic bag.

These items can go be stored either in the refrigerator or at room temperature – it is a matter of your preference: 

  • Apples
  • Clementines
  • Grapefruit
  • Kumquats
  • Lemons
  • Limes
  • Oranges
  • Pomegranates
  • and Tangerines

Sources:

Lizzie Bennet ~ The Humble Potato Is Not As Humble As You Think

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

ReadyNutrition  May 7 2014

potatoesGrownInPotsWidely available, cheap, and in some form usually eaten by even the most picky eaters, potatoes are a staple in most households. As well as coming in many varieties, with subtle colour and flavour differences, they have the added benefit of being very filling, something that will be very useful if/when food supplies are restricted. Potatoes are easy to grow, even a large tub on a patio will produce a useful crop.

There are a few other things going for the humble tater. A single large potato contains potassium, magnesium,copper,iron vitamin C and almost all the B vitamins as well as resistant starch, a substance that has many health benefits. Resistant starch is proven to lower blood sugar levels and have a positive effect on insulin production. It reduces the appetite and has major benefits for the digestive system. Anything that can help maintain good health in a situation when there may not be access to doctors should be considered a crucial part of our diet.

There have been accounts of people living on nothing but potatoes for a considerable time. This is not something I would advocate, but the results were very interesting including weight loss of over 20 pounds in a 60 day period. You can read about Chris Voigt of the Washington Potato Commission here. Continue reading →

Breeding The Nutrition Out Of Our Food

~ admin ~ 1 Comment

Zen-Haven May 27 2013

We like the idea that food can be the answer to our ills, that if we eat nutritious foods we won’t need medicine or supplements. We have valued this notion for a long, long time. The Greek physician Hippocrates proclaimed nearly 2,500 years ago:

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Today, medical experts concur. If we heap our plates with fresh fruits and vegetables, they tell us, we will come closer to optimum health.

This health directive needs to be revised. If we want to get maximum health benefits from fruits and vegetables, we must choose the right varieties. Studies published within the past 15 years show that much of our produce is relatively low in phytonutrients, which are the compounds with the potential to reduce the risk of four of our modern scourges: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia.

The loss of these beneficial nutrients did not begin 50 or 100 years ago, as many assume. Unwittingly, we have been stripping phytonutrients from our diet since we stopped foraging for wild plants some 10,000 years ago and became farmers.

These insights have been made possible by new technology that has allowed researchers to compare the phytonutrient content of wild plants with the produce in our supermarkets. The results are startling.

Wild dandelions, once a springtime treat for Native Americans, have seven times more phytonutrients than spinach, which we consider a “superfood.” A purple potato native to Peru has 28 times more cancer-fighting anthocyanins than common russet potatoes. One species of apple has a staggering 100 times more phytonutrients than the Golden Delicious displayed in our supermarkets.

Continue reading →