Monday Morsels #8 - Food Edition

March Already?

Goodness!!

Diet Canada Dry

Green Tea Ginger Ale

I love this. 

I'd never seen it before and was looking for something to replace my Diet A&W rootbeer (which is my absolute most favorite drink) since WalMart was sold out of it for Super Bowl Sunday.  I've never been one to just drink Ginger Ale for the heck of it.  You know, since I was a kid, it's been a bit like medicine for me. But I was drawn to the label.  It's a very attractive label and I'd never seen it before.  What the heck.  I'll give it a try. 

I'd say it's more like a sparkling Green Tea than the Ginger Ale, though the taste is there.

And I love that it comes in diet, just because I can't do concentrated sugars.

No calories.  No carbs. No fat.

Effervescent Ginger Ale

"enlightened by blissfully bubbling, green tea antioxidant goodness"

Did you know the avocado is a fruit? 

Whatever food group it belongs in, I love them.  They're most often seen all smashed up and mixed with other things.  Me?  I love them just as they come from the peeling.  Maybe add some ranch dressing to them.  And they're great on sandwiches.

They're pretty easy to find this time of year.  Their taste is a bit different from the ones bought during the summer months.  Why?  I don't have a clue, but I have noticed the difference.

Once cut, they've got to be eaten soon.  I bought a little 'avocado saver' at the grocery store recently but it was a disappointment and it went the way of other misrepresented kitchen gadgets.

They're high in monounsaturated fat- the kind that helps lower LDL (bad) and increase HDL (good) cholesterol.

•One-fifth of a medium avocado, or about one ounce, has 50 calories and

contributes nearly 20 beneficial nutrients to the diet.

•Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

 Phytonutrients are thought to help prevent many chronic diseases.

•Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including 4% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, 4% vitamin C, 8% folate, 4% fiber, 2% iron, 4% potassium, with 81 micrograms of lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene.

•Avocados act as a "nutrient booster" by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients,

 such as alpha- and beta-carotene as well as lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit.

If you're really ambitious, you can even try rooting one of the seeds.  I've done it in years past and they make an attractive plant for the kitchen.

Is there anybody who doesn't like sweet potatoes?

I love them and have found so many ways to fix them.  My favorite is the old-fashioned, plain baked sweet potato.  (My dad tells a story about wrapping a baked sweet potato in a piece of paper and carrying it to school for his lunch)

Sweet potatoes provide more calories, minerals and vitamin A than a white potato but contain less protein.

They're also high in antioxidants (beta carotene which might protect against some cancers, macular degeneration and heart disease.)

Sweet potato pie is also a traditional favourite dish in southern U.S. cuisine. (But I don't care for it or pumpkin pie unless I can cover it with whipped cream or cool whip.  :)

Sweet potatoes slices are fried in bacon drippings and eaten with the bacon on toast. This is a traditional autumn breakfast food in rural Kentucky.

Baked sweet potatoes are sometimes offered in restaurants as an alternative to baked potatoes. They are often topped with brown sugar and butter. In Dominican Republic, sweet potato is enjoyed for breakfast. In China, sweet potatoes are often baked in a large iron drum and sold as street food during winter.

Sweet potato fries or chips are another common preparation, and are made by julienning and deep frying sweet potatoes, in the fashion of French fried potatoes.

Sweet potato greens are a common side dish in Taiwanese cuisine, often boiled or sautéed and served with a garlic and soy sauce mixture, or simply salted before serving. They, as well as dishes featuring the sweet potato root, are commonly found at bento (POJ: piān-tong) restaurants, .

(Information for this post and photos from Wikipedia)