Fruits and Vegetables

[digitS']

I remember NyBoy talking about his love of Fruit Loops and I suggested that this could actually be looped so that a person could really be eating some fruit for breakfast. Just put real fruit in your cereal bowl first, then the amount of cereal you think that you must have can be poured on the fruit.

The bowl is full but couldn't you put another serving of fruit on top? You know, just to hold the cereal down while the milk is poured. Fruit Loops were not denied to the loopie person who so appreciates them. No, they may have been limited some because you have the fruit sitting right there on the counter beside the bowl and some logistics are required so that none is left behind ... as the bowl is carried off to the table.

Lunch and dinner: you have taken the time to clean and cut up all those vegetables on the cutting board. What are you gonna do now, wait another hour before you can eat because there is that much more time required for some of your favorite (Sunday) recipes? You're hungry!

There's rice in the rice cooker. Stir-fry! Oil in the pan, veggies, stir stir stir, splash in some broth from the fridge, your favorite sauce, spoon on the rice. Done!

Mentioned before, @canesisters complained about not liking the smell of ramen noodles. Okay. There are different brands and ingredients making up different noodles. Sure, they can go under or in your stir-fries. They can also be prepared pretty much as "directed" with just a little extra thought about getting some good veggies in with them . And, all that salt and stuff included? You might just want to toss 50-100% in the trash.

We have been using "instant soup" noodles, lately. Packaging must be more expensive coming in that ridiculously thin plastic bowl but, at least, that can go straight into recycling. (Of course, you may also want only half of the noodles with all those veggies on the cutting board. Break off what you want, slap a piece of tape over the cover - into the fridge with the bowl for next time.)

Veggies in a pot of boiling water (broth, or both), your favorite seasonings, give it a minute, then in go the noodles. Now, don't go eating that out of the pot! Those starchy noodles are mostly for calories so you will have enough energy to take out your favorite bowl and wash it later. Better clean the cutting board first while your "bowl of noodles" are cooling a bit.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Talking about Pumpkin Bisque in the squash & pumpkin thread reinforced the mention of broth, above.

I've said it before on TEG, a bone doesn't leave this house unboiled.

Often, what is in the pot of water with the bone(s) are just the simplest things. Limited to two or three chunks of vegetables.

You've got broth. Besides stir-fry mentioned above, casseroles and soup. Soup is so easy if you already have broth. Attention to the vegetables on the cutting board, again. With any starchy something - noodles or otherwise. Or, go with some starchy vegetables - carrots, potatoes.

Take the starchy something and make it a primary ingredient. Maybe some cheese ... put it in the oven as a casserole. People at dinner will think that you are a chef .

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

squash soup has always sounded good to me but we've never made it nor have i ever had it that i recall. still just reading along makes me hungry for lunch.

 

[digitS']

@flowerbug , I have been very tempted to use a pumpkin as a soup tureen.

I'm not intending to use the pumpkin for soup but only for something special to sit in the middle of the table. Just cleaning out the seeds. Maybe start off with putting hot water in it before the soup so it doesn't pull too much heat out of the soup.

Why not? Usually, I have a surplus of Jack o'lantern pumpkins. It's not as tho I dislike the flavor; it's just that there is so little of it.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug , I have been very tempted to use a pumpkin as a soup tureen.

I'm not intending to use the pumpkin for soup but only for something special to sit in the middle of the table. Just cleaning out the seeds. Maybe start off with putting hot water in it before the soup so it doesn't pull too much heat out of the soup.

Why not? Usually, I have a surplus of Jack o'lantern pumpkins. It's not as tho I dislike the flavor; it's just that there is so little of it.

Steve

that is a very complicated table setting, but it sounds ok to me for a fall thing if you'd want to do it that ways.

to me the primary purpose of pumpkins would be the production of pumpkin seeds. those are really nice snacks.

 

[Zeedman]

to me the primary purpose of pumpkins would be the production of pumpkin seeds. those are really nice snacks.

You are reminding me that it has been quite a few years since I last grew naked-seeded pumpkins. I grew a lot of them in 2012; besides eating them raw, I really enjoyed adding them to things, like bread, or ground up as part of hot cereal. That seed supply lasted for years. I threw a jar of saved "Little Greenseed" into the freezer (from Long Island Seed Project. It was throwing some off-types & needed further selection - a project which I put off until I had time to do the hand pollination required. Guess I've got time for that now.

Some of the smaller pumpkins were thin shelled & nearly solid seed inside, I hope I can stabilize those traits. I'll contact LISP first, to see if they have refined the strain since then... but given that they state "Caution: like most our what we make available, expect odd shapes and varied seed quality", that is doubtful.

 

[Marie2020]

squash soup has always sounded good to me but we've never made it nor have i ever had it that i recall. still just reading along makes me hungry for lunch.

Squash added to any kind of soup is truely delicious

 

[Marie2020]

You are reminding me that it has been quite a few years since I last grew naked-seeded pumpkins. I grew a lot of them in 2012; besides eating them raw, I really enjoyed adding them to things, like bread, or ground up as part of hot cereal. That seed supply lasted for years. I threw a jar of saved "Little Greenseed" from Long Island Seed Project, which was throwing some off-types & needed further selection - a project which I put off until I had time to do the hand pollination required. Guess I've got time for that now.

Some of the smaller pumpkins were thin shelled & nearly solid seed inside, I hope I can stabilize those traits. I'll contact LISP first, to see if they have refined the strain since then... but given that they state "Caution: like most our what we make available, expect odd shapes and varied seed quality", that is doubtful.

Will have to look up a recipe to bake pumkin into a bread

 

[digitS']

@Marie2020 ,

This is the recipe that I have used for a dessert pumpkin bread: LINK . It shows up on a number of websites. It's named for the pumpkin festival at Half Moon Bay near San Francisco.

Honestly, all that cinnamon and nutmeg with the 4 eggs elevates even my bland Jack o'lantern pumpkins to something tasty .

Steve

 

[AMKuska]

I remember NyBoy talking about his love of Fruit Loops

My kids just discovered fruit loops for the first time today. I bought some because my son is hosting his very first sleep over and his friend has allergies--so I got that cereal because I know for a fact it won't cause him any more harm than a sugar rush.

I had to tell my son to stop after his third bowl, and then my daughter (who hates sweet things I might add) went absolutely bonkers for it and had two bowls and then kept carrying off the box to hide and eat from.

O.O

Probably won't ever buy it again but holy cow. I had to buy another box because the two kids pillaged an entire box in one day.