Almanac for Homemakers

Cooking Fresh Vegetables "Remove bruised, wilted, yellowed, or tough portions from fresh vegetables. Trim sparingly to avoid excessive loss of food and nutrients." It's summer time! That means that a lot of fresh produce is in season. You should be able to buy and keep fresh produce now for cooking rather than getting items canned. You might even save money on buying fresh now! Save getting canned items for fall and winter time. Try to buy veggies that you are planning to cook within a few days. Don't leave them to rot on your countertop or in your fridge. Here are some cooking tips from our Almanac: 1. Wash all vegetables before cooking. Especially leafy greens. They grow in the dirt so chances are you are going to find dirt. You can see in our Homemaker Heroine in the picture of the day! She is washing in a colander and lifting from the water, letting the dirty water to pour out. 2. To ensure the best flavor and textur...

Good Tips for Buying Canned Fruit "Buy canned fruits according to grade if possible." If there is one thing about this almanac is that they really like to talk about canned food. We discussed canned vegetables here. Which by the way, the deadline to submit your grievances to the USDA is coming up next month. We discussed canned and frozen vegetables here. We talked about can sizes here. And I got so tired of writing about canned foods that I wrote about something else here! So here we go again. Another post about cans. The higher the grade, the better quality in size, shape, and color. It doesn't have anything to do with the nutritional value. So all the labels of fancy just mean that it is or was more appealing looking. So don't fall for the entire Grade A and Fancy labeling. It's all just a marking tactic. These guidelines were developed by the USDA. For good reason too! You wouldn't want spoil...

Consider Container Sizes When You Shop  "When you shop for canned or frozen vegetables, you may want to know the container size in order to relate the contents to the number of servings of cooked vegetables you will get." This is pretty self explanatory. BUT In the age of Grocery Delivery or Pick Up, you might want to know these tips so you don't accidentally order something bigger or smaller than what you need.   There are 8oz cans Picnic - 10.5 to 12 oz No. 303 - 16 to 17 oz   No. 2 - 20 oz No. 2.5 - 29oz No. 3 - 46 oz  For you Math Whizzes out there, skip these next couple of lines. 8oz is equal to 1 cup in the U.S. So you can go from there to determine the size you need based on the amount canned. Right? There are way more sizes and terms out there for canned foods. But for Homemaking, it makes sense to only list what you would find in a regular grocery store. Unless you are shopping at Costco. Then I would...

Shop to Avoid Leftover Vegetables "Wouldn't it be great to avoid those containers of leftover food that tend to build up in a refrigerator? Here is the scoop. Leftovers are inevitable! I actually like to make extra just to torment my family with "Leftover Night". Their cries tell me that they love it. Another way to save money on this is to j ust go out to your garden and pick some flowers when you get a little hungry. But Really If you want to save some money on veggies here are some tips: 1/2 cup is the standard size of vegetable serving for an adult. 1/4 cup for kids. You can typically judge this amount from looking at your produce, but certain veggies change when you cook them. Take for instance spinach. This leafy green reduces a lot when cooked. You also only want to cook the leaves and not the stems (stems get chewy) So you will have some waste associated with your prep. Other veggies like legumes w...

Pointers about Buying Vegetables "Vegetables are low in calories and a number of them rank high in vitamins and minerals." We have talked some about vegetables in this blog before In February, we talked about Grades of Canned and Frozen Veggies. In April, we talked specifically about Asparagus. Today is about fresh veggies and their healthy traits. Vitamin A Most Dark Green and Deep Yellow vegetables are great sources of this vitamin. It is a good idea to include carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, and other dark leafy greens or squash into your meals. These vegetables are also great sources of other vitamins that we need everyday. Protein Usually when we think of protein we think of meat. But stop and think where our meat source got their protein rich meat. Many vegetables are substantial protein sources. Some of the most popular are dry legumes. Beans and peas are outstanding sources of protein. Low Calorie Raw vegetables are...

Reminder: It's Time to Dig the Vegetable Garden "As a housewife, you already know the cost of food. One way you can save, and usually have better quality too, is by raising some of your own in a vegetable garden." Let me stop you right there Almanac. There is nothing about having your own garden that "saves" you anything. It takes time, prep, work, and constant attention. AND The money that you need to fund this entire operation. Especially if you want to protect your garden from animals and bugs. I had one garden one year and that was almost enough. I was gone from my home for a weekend and the entire thing died! You guys want a vegetable garden JUST GO RIGHT AHEAD! I will stop at the store and pick up my produce that is made by professional farmers. Support my local farmer at the Co-Op. Now I really do have to admit that my garden produced some amazing produce. I had basil, tomatoes, and gre...

Check Quality Grades of Vegetables You Buy "Many canned and frozen vegetables are sold under quality grades established and maintained by consumer and marketing experts of the United States Department of Agriculture." Here is my tip on the subject: If you can't buy fresh buy it frozen. This is because the fruit or veg is frozen when the item was ripe. The flash freezing technique prevents moisture loss so it tastes better than the canned variety. Canned vegetables are cooked or blanched before the canning process. Canned foods also have some type of filler like water, oil, or syrup. So you lose some of the freshness of the product. I found a USDA pamphlet on canned and frozen grading that was published in 1969. READ IT HERE! Basically there are Grades A, B, & C A is best B is ok C is trash "Fancy" is also a term used for Grade A products. You just thought it was fancy marketing! EXTRA FANCY This is the best ...