Food of the Day *Ginger*

Ginger or ginger root is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family (Zingiberaceae). Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal. The distantly related dicots in the Asarumgenus have the common name wild ginger because of their similar taste.

Ginger cultivation began in South Asia and has since spread to East Africa and the Caribbean.^[2]

Food of the Day *Spinach*

I picked spinach today because it is a great source of fiber and vitamins.  

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular-based, very variable in size from about 2–30 cm long and 1–15 cm broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, yellow-green, 3–4 mm diameter, maturing into a small, hard, dry, lumpyfruit cluster 5–10 mm across containing several seeds.

Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled. It is a rich source ofvitamin A (and especially high in lutein), vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B₂, calcium,potassium, vitamin B₆, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. Recently, opioid peptides calledrubiscolins have also been found in spinach.

Polyglutamyl folate (vitamin B₉ or folic acid) is a vital constituent of cells, and spinach is a good source of folic acid. Boiling spinach can more than halve the level of folate left in the spinach, but microwaving does not affect folate content. Vitamin B₉ was first isolated from spinach in 1941.

Iron

Spinach, along with other green leafy vegetables, is considered to be rich in iron. For example, the United States Department of Agriculture states that a 180-g serving of boiled spinach contains 6.43 mg of iron, whereas a 170-g ground hamburger patty contains at most 4.42 mg. However, spinach contains iron absorption-inhibiting substances, including high levels of oxalate, which can bind to the iron to form ferrous oxalate and render much of the iron in spinach unusable by the body. In addition to preventing absorption and use, high levels of oxalates remove iron from the body. But some studies have found that the addition of oxalic acid to the diet may improve iron absorption in rats over a diet with spinach without additional oxalic acid.

Calcium

Spinach also has a high calcium content. However, the oxalate content in spinach also binds with calcium, decreasing its absorption. Calcium and zinc also limit iron absorption.^[15] The calcium in spinach is the least bioavailable of calcium sources.^[16] By way of comparison, the human body can absorb about half of the calcium present in broccoli, yet only around 5% of the calcium in spinach.^[Wikipedia]

Food of the Day *Corn*

Maize (/ˈmeɪz/ mayz; Zea mays subsp. mays, from Spanish: maíz after Taíno mahiz), known in some English-speaking countries as corn, is a largegrain plant domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain the grain, which are seeds called kernels. Maize kernels are often used in cooking as a starch.

Most historians believe corn was domesticated in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico.^[1] The Olmec and Mayans cultivated it in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica, cooked, ground or processed through nixtamalization. Beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of theAmericas.^[2] The region developed a trade network based on surplus and varieties of maize crops. After European contact with the Americas in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, explorers and traders carried maize back to Europe and introduced it to other countries. Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are usually grown for human consumption, while field cornvarieties are used for animal feed and as chemical feedstocks.

Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas,^[3] with 332 million metric tons grown annually in the United States alone. Approximately 40% of the crop — 130 million tons — is used for corn ethanol.^[4] Genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009.^[5]

Today is....

National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day

Five Food Finds about Chocolate & Peanut Candies

1. The original  chocolate covered peanut candy are Goobers first sold in 1925. The word “Goober” was a common slang word for peanut.

2. Peanut M & M’s were not introduced until 1954. They were tan until 1960 when colors were first introduced.(yellow, green, & red)

3 Rapper, Eminem’s original stage name was M & M, his name was eventually changed for obvious trademark issues.

4. The initials M & M stand for the Forrest Mars from Mars Candies and Bruce Murrie from Hershey Chocolates.

5. In 1976 red M & M’s were replaced with orange. The red dye(red #2) was ruled to be a potential carcinogen. Red did not return until 1987.

Daily Quote:

“M & M’s, the chocolates that melt in your mouth nor in your hand” first used in 1954

Extra: It is said that M & M’s were tan in color for decades because if they DID melt in your hand it would not show

Food of the Day Asparagus

Asparagus

Asparagus is a herbaceous, perennial plant growing to 100–150 centimetres (39–59 in) tall, with stout stems with much-branched feathery foliage. The "leaves" are in fact needle-like cladodes (modified stems) in the axils of scale leaves; they are 6–32 mm (0.24–1.26 in) long and 1 mm (0.039 in) broad, and clustered 4–15 together. The root system is adventitious and the root type is fasciculated. The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, 4.5–6.5 mm (0.18–0.26 in) long, with sixtepals partially fused together at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, but sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm diameter, which is poisonous to humans.^[5]

Plants native to the western coasts of Europe (from northern Spain north to Ireland, Great Britain, and northwest Germany) are treated as Asparagus officinalis subsp. The British polished the pipe of the asparagus and tossed off the remainders.prostratus (Dumort.) Corb., distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only 30–70 cm (12–28 in) high, and shorter cladodes 2–18 mm (0.079–0.709 in) long.^[2][6] It is treated as a distinct species, Asparagus prostratus Dumort, by some authors.^[7][8] A remarkable adaptation is the edible asparagus, while in the Macaronesian Islands several species, (A. umbellatus, A. scoparius, etc.), are preserved the original form, a leafy vine; in the Mediterranean, the asparagus genus has evolved into thorny species.