By Guest Writer Penny Mohney of Penny’s Tomatoes

Due to an increasing awareness of nutritional issues, salsas have become the best selling condiments in North America.

This is largely because they are low in cholesterol, fat, and calories and because they provide a great way to add flavor to even the dullest of dishes.

Salsas are traditionally spicy and vegetable based and can be cooked or uncooked.

There are as many variations of salsa as there are of Spaghetti Sauce so you might have to do a little experimenting. Tomato salsas are great with chicken or beef but you might want to try a mango based salsa over fish tacos or even pork tenderloin.

A sweet Pineapple based salsa goes Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Having a husband as a chef and my self an agriculturist we were doomed to be a health-conscious couple.

While my interest has always been eating right and growing the fruits and vegetables I consume without pesticides my husband’s viewpoint on healthy living has not always matched mine.

My husband just recently discovered that healthy food and long life seem to go together and doing so is worth the effort.

Years of working at pizza restaurants, and eating fast food has resurfaced as a fat covered blob of health problems such as high blood pressure and high triglycerides. So eating right and understanding the concept of “super food’ has become important.

Tomatoes recently have become very important to men’s health. But it was not always been that way. The ancestor of the modern day tomato was no bigger than a marble and grew thousand of years ago in the Andean Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As the previous blog covered seed saving and seed tape there still exists a time-tested concept that every gardener knows.

You start out with good quality plants you end up with good quality produce.

This is a simple concept that is sometimes forgotten but is easily solved through proper choice of seeds to save.

Mother Nature has developed a beautiful system, which only chooses the perfect seeds. This process in a sense is natural selection or in this case human selection. We pick the most beautiful fruit that is prefect in every way for our salads, sandwiches, and sauces. This process can even be observed by the non-gardener by just watching people in the produce section sniff, squeeze, knock, and roll the produce.

We the hunters and gathers are looking for Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Last summer, headlines everywhere blazed about a salmonella scare that was supposedly connected to tomatoes.

Many stores and restaurants stopped carrying our favorite fruit for a while, severely hurting the tomato industry.

As Michelle Fabio pointed out here last year, ” a report from the University of Georgia estimates that the salmonella scare of this past summer cost Georgia’s economy approximately $25.7 million—and that is just one state.”

Later, the FDA changed their position and said the outbreak was actually caused by jalapeño peppers.

However, this doesn’t mean that Read the rest of this entry »

Article By Vanessa Richins
Photo By ChiotsRun.com

Yes, tomatoes are spectacular indeed.

In addition to all the other health benefits they provide, a new study suggests that tomatoes could be a weight loss weapon.

It’s no secret that tomatoes should be part of a healthy diet already.

They’re full of vitamins, mineral, fiber and antioxidants. Tomatoes (especially when cooked) are a key source of lycopene, an antioxidant that has been shown to fight a number of health conditions. Tomatoes are also low in calories, a plus for any dieter.

However, the tomato may be poised to become a star in the weight loss world.

In this study, subjects were Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

One complaint from people about why they don’t eat healthier is that it’s cheaper to eat convenience and fast foods.

Depending on your area, this may be true on the surface.

However, over a lifetime, choosing fresh foods and their derivatives will likely be much cheaper.

One example comes from the recent debut of a new dietary supplement. These pills contain a concentrated dose of the superstar lycopene. As we’ve chronicled here before, lycopene has many health benefits, including fighting cancer, wrinkles, Read the rest of this entry »