[size=150]SUBSTITUTE[/size]
Gremolata is an Italian condiment that people often use instead of salt and pepper. It’s made from equal parts lemon zest, garlic and parsley.
[size=150]PRESERVATIVES[/size]
Not all wines, beers and spirits are vegan. Preservatives, colorings and additional flavors can be derived from animal ingredients, so look for a vegan or vegetarian label before purchasing.
[size=150]CASSIA[/size]
What many people think is cinnamon is actually a spice called cassia. Cassia has a very similar flavor and scent to cinnamon, but is a darker, deeper shade of red
[size=150]SOY SAUCE[/size]
There are different national and regional versions of soy sauce. China’s soy sauce, for example, is typically made from soybeans with minute amounts of other grains, while Japanese soy sauce relies heavily on roasted wheat
[size=150]Blackberries and Raspberries[/size]
the plant itself was important for medicinal uses long before the fruit-raspberry leaf tea is one common use.
in 45 A.D. the raspberry fruit were called “ida,” probably after the mountain they were found growing on.[size=150]Blueberries[/size]
are becoming more popular than ever—over 1500 new products containing blueberries were introduced last year!!!
have more antioxidants than most other fruits and vegetables?[size=150]Cranberries[/size]
cranberries’ growing popularity began in the 1960s with the promotion of cranberry juice and cranberry juice blends.
the estimated value of cranberries grown in the United States is several hundred million dollars.
[size=150]Peaches[/size]
“free-stone” peach just refers to how the flesh of the peach separates from the pit.
most peaches are cultivated by grafting different combinations of rootstocks to scions.
[size=150]Strawberries[/size]
are not really a fruit or a berry but the enlarged receptacle of the flower?
were first cultivated back in the 16th and 17th centuries!
[size=150]Apples[/size]
Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since lat least 6500 B.C.
7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
The apple contains:80 to 85 per cent of water , approximately 5 per cent of protein or nitrogenous material,
10 to 15 per cent of carbonaceous matter, including starch and sugar, 1 to 1.5 per cent of acids and salts.
A medium apple is about 80 calories.
Apples contain Vitamin C as well as many other antioxidants. Apples are also a good source of fiber.An apple’s 3 g of fiber help you meet your fiber goal of 20 g to 30 g daily.
China produces more apples than any other country.
About 50% of apples grown in the United States are sold fresh, and 50% are processed into apple juice, apple sauce or dehydrated apple products.
Some of the popular varieties of apples are Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala apples, Fuji apples, Granny Smith, Rome, Empire, Idared, etc.
Apples are best eaten with the peel since most of the fiber and antioxidants are found in the apple’s peel.
Green Apples – Good for strong bones and teeth, aids in vision, anti cancer properties.
Yellow Apples – Good for heart and eyes, immune system, reduce risk of some cancers.
Red Apples – Good for heart, Memory function, lower risk of some cancers and to maintain urinary tract health.
The apple is the official state fruit of Rhode Island, New York, Washington, and West Virginia.
[size=150]Apricot[/size]
In Latin, apricot means “precious” .
Greek mythology experts believe apricots are the “golden apples” of Hesperides — the fruit Hercules was ordered to pick in the eleventh of his twelve labors.
Apricots originally came from China. This golden fruit has been around for more than 4,000 years.
About 95 percent of the apricots grown in the U.S. come from California.
The fruit, ranging in a size between 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm in diameter, has high fiber content very low calorie content.
Dreaming of apricots, in English folklore, is said to be good luck.
The first commercially produced apricots were grown south of San Francisco in 1792.
In one ounce apricots contain enough beta carotene to supply 20 percent of your daily vitamin A requirements. Due to their high fiber to volume ratio, dried apricots are sometimes used to relieve constipation or induce diarrhea. Effects can be felt after eating as few as three.
Dried apricots are an excellent source of potassium, as well as a good source of iron, Vitamin C and calcium.
In Europe, apricots were long considered an aphrodisiac, and were used in this context in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as an inducer of childbirth, as depicted in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi.
[size=150]Lemon[/size]
Lemon trees grow to be about 10 to 20 ft tall and are sparsely covered with foliage.
High in vitamin C, lemons prevent scurvy, a disease that causes bleeding gums, loose teeth and aching joints.
It has been traditional to serve fish with a slice of lemon since the Middle Ages, when people believed that the fruit’s juice would dissolve any bones accidentally swallowed.
Adding a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to fresh cut fruit or a fruit salad will keep fruits like apples and pears from going brown and add that extra nutritional zip.
The Romans used lemons to keep moths from eating their clothing.
A quick rub of lemon in the armpits helps to combat the unpleasant smell.
A medium lemon is about 60 g, and contains 15 calories, of which contains 5 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber and 4 g sugars.
About one-fourth of the worlds lemons are grown in the United States, mostly in California.
Lemon juice helps digestion, making sure that the liver rids itself of any impurities, which is essential to losing weight and keeping off excess weight.
For whiter fingernails and to get rid of fingernail stains, soak your fingernails in fresh squeezed lemon juice for about five minutes.
[size=150]Avocado[/size]
The avocado is also called an Alligator Pear because of its pear-like shape and green skin.
There are about 7,000 avocado groves in California; the average size is around 10 acres.
The Aztec word for avocado was ahuacatl, which means “testicle tree”.
One tree can produce between 150 and 500 avocados per year.
The avocado is widely considered a vegetable, since it is commonly used in salads.
Avocados are a great source for omega- 3 fatty acids, antioxidants, Vitamin E, Vitamin K and fiber.
The fruit ripens only after it is plucked out from the tree.
Avocados can weigh from 1 ounce to up to 4 pounds each.
The most common avocado types are: Bacon, Fuerte, Gwen, Hass, Pinkerton, Reed, and Zutano.
The fruit is rich in oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that helps in bringing down the cholesterol level.
Avocado is considered a complete food, with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, calories and fiber with no cholesterol and no sodium.
[size=150]Chestnuts[/size]
Displayed at right is the color deep chestnut, also known as deep Indian red. This is the color called chestnut in Crayola crayons. This color was also produced in a special limited edition in which it was called Vermont maple syrup.
At the request of educators worried that children (mistakenly) believed the name represented the skin color of Native Americans, Crayola changed the name of their crayon color Indian Red to Chestnut in 1999.
They are high in complex carbohydrates, contain high quality protein comparable to eggs, are gluten free, cholesterol free, and are very low in fat (1-2% while other nuts can be over 50% fat)
The American chestnut, formerly one of the dominant trees of the eastern United States, has been almost wiped out by chestnut blight; it was an important economic resource not only for the nuts which were sold across North America, even by streetside vendors, but also for timber and tannin.
Chestnuts , including the chinkapins, are a genus of eight or nine species of trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the nuts produced by these trees. Most are tall trees to 30-40 m tall, but some species (the chinkapins) are shrubby.
[size=150]Beets[/size]
Beets were an important plant for both the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Red beets get their color from a pigment called “betalain.” Betalain is also responsible for the red color of bougainvillea and amaranth.
Sugar beets are about 20% sugar while beets or beetroot are usually no more than 10% sugar.
Beets are sometimes used to make homemade wine.
Beet offers invaluable nutritional benefits. Beet is the source for potassium, fiber and folate.
While the sweet beet root has some of the minerals in its greens to a lesser degree, it is also a remarkable source of choline, folic acid, iodine, manganese, organic sodium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates in the form of natural digestible sugars.
[size=150]Sugar[/size]
The word sugar originates from the Sanskirt word Sharkara which means sugar or pebble.
Sugar is one of the oldest cooking ingredients, dating back to 326 BC.
The average American consumes 175 pounds of sugar per year. That is 300,000 calories per year, 800 calories per day. In Canada, a person eats on average 46 kilos of sugar a year.
Sugar comes from two sources: sugar cane (grass) that grows in stalks in sugar
cane fields and beets (root) that grow underground.
Sugar is used to slow down the setting of cement.
Sure’ and ‘Sugar’ are the only two words in the English language that are spelt ‘su’ and pronounced ‘sh’. … ‘.
Sugar has 4 kcalories of energy in every gram – about 20 kcalories in a teaspoon of sugar.
Sugar is an important source of carbohydrate—the body’s main energy supply.
When refined, sugar has no more fiber, vitamins or minerals. It contains neither proteins or lipids
[size=150]Vitamin[/size]
Vitamin A was given the first letter of the alphabet, as it was the first to be discovered.
Vitamin C It helps slow down or prevent cell damage. Vitamin C is an antioxidant but is also vital for the production of collagen and enhances iron absorption.
The word “ascorbic,” as in ascorbic acid (the name for Vitamin C), means “no scurvy”.
Vitamin B6 is found in a wide variety of foods including fortified cereals, beans, meat, poultry, fish, and some fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin D (Ergosterol) helps to build bones and teeth, strengthens the nervous system, and assists in normal blood clotting.
Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, neutralizing cell-damaging free radicals in the body.
Vitamin E also protects the skin from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.
It has been proven that cancer is a deficiency disease caused by the lack of Vitamin B17 (Laetrile).
[size=150]Spinach[/size]
Spinach is native to central and southwestern Asia.
Spinach was the favorite vegetable of Catherine de Medici, a historical figure in the 16th century.
Spinach is considered to be a rich source of iron.Spinach also has a high calcium content.
Spinach is a rich source of vitamin A (and lutein), vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids.
Researchers have identified at least 13 different flavonoid compounds in spinach that function as antioxidants and as anti-cancer agents.
Spinach is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol.
California produces 74 percent of the fresh spinach grown in the United States.
There are three types of spinach available in U.S. supermarkets: savoy (curly leaf), flat
(smooth leaf) and semi-savoy (slightly curly leaves).
[size=150]Cabbage
[/size]
The plant is also called head cabbage or heading cabbage, and in Scotland a bowkail, from its rounded shape.
The cultivated cabbage is derived from a leafy plant called the wild mustard plant, native to the Mediterranean region, where it is common along the seacoast.
The largest cabbage dish ever made was on 19 December 2008 in the Macedonian city of Prilep, with 80,191 sarmas (cabbage rolls) weighing 544 kg (1,221 lbs).
Cabbage is: Low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, High in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin A, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron and Magnesium.
Histidine, a compound found in cabbage regulates the T-cells of the immune system. This is essential in the treatment of allergies and other illnesses caused due to a weak immune system.
Cabbage is a source of Vitamin A which your body needs for healthy skin and eyes.
Drinking juiced cabbage is known to assist in curing stomach and intestinal ulcers.
To keep red cabbage red, try adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to the cooking water.
[size=150]Popcorn[/size]
The oldest ears of corn were found in the Bat Caves in western central Mexico.
In 1885, the American Charles Cretors invented the popcorn machine.
Popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the air.
The world’s largest popcorn ball, as measured by th Guiness Book of World Records is 12 feet in diameter, containing 2,000 pounds of popcorn, 40,000 pounds of sugar, 280 gallons of corn syrup, and 400 gallons of water.
Popcorn is low in calories as compared to other snacks. A cup of air-popped popcorn would have 31 calories and a cup of oil-popped only 55 per cup.
The largest popcorn festival is the Marion Popcorn Festival.
January 30th is National Popcorn Day in US.
Popcorn has more protein than any other cereal grain.
Popcorn has more iron than eggs, peanuts, spinach, or roast beef!
Researches has proven that the ancestors of most Native American tribes enjoyed popcorn even before the birth of Christ.
Popcorn needs between 13.5-14% moisture to pop.