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Fried green tomatoes and fried zucchini – our green dinner |
This isn’t your typical Mommy Blog, so our loyal readers probably have no idea what we usually eat for dinner. However, sometimes living green is eating green.
There are many things you can do to eat green:
- Eat local – A lot of the carbon that goes into producing food is in the transportation. Also, when food has to be prepared to travel long distances, it is more likely that farmers will add coatings to protect the food or the food will be of a strain that has been bred to not spoil quickly during handling. Local food has probably been picked more recently, so has more nutrients and usually tastes better!
- Eat organic – Organic food is better for you, because fewer pesticides have been used on the plants. It’s also better for the environment and for the people who grew the food. When you buy organic food you are voting with your wallet. You are saying that you don’t want these chemicals used on our earth, washing into our water supplies or making the farm workers sick.
- Grow Your Own – If you grow your own food you know exactly what chemicals were used on the ground and on the plants. You know what you have planted and you know how recently it was picked – hopefully the same day!
- Eat more vegetables and less meat – There is a lot less carbon released growing vegetables than raising animals to eat. In fact, while growing, plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen (although not enough to offset the amount of carbon expended on a large industrial farm raising the food).
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Green tomatoes and zucchini from our garden |
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Garden zucchini being julienned for frying |
So tonight we picked zucchini and green tomatoes from our garden and fried them up! I sliced the tomatoes and I cut the zucchini into french-fried shape (julienne), dipped them in milk and then in Italian style panko bread crumbs. I sprinkled with a little salt and fried them on the cast-iron frying pan until they were browned. They cooled on a paper towel (gasp, I do use them occasionally) on a cooling rack and we ate!
What did you eat for dinner tonight?
Last night we had an oriental chicken salad. The lettuce, cucumbers, and green peppers were from our garden. We have planned our garden so we have fresh vegetables from Spring through at least October. We compost and don’t use insecticides or chemical fertilizers. So far this year, we have had broccoli, peas, yellow squash, okra, cucumbers, onions, and peppers. I can’t wait for the first green beans and tomatoes.