# Who Likes Canned Spinach and Canned Carrots?



## Corey123 (May 17, 2008)

I'm watching Paula Deen who is cooking with her son Bobby. And he openly admitted to eating canned spinich!!

These two canned veggies, I placed in the same category with saurkraut - three of the most horrible and repulsive foods that I will never touch!!

If the carrots or spinich aren't fresh or frozen, they will not be used or eaten by me!


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## suzyQ3 (May 17, 2008)

Call me a food snob, but the thought of canned veggies in general turn my stomach. I will admit, though, to having no first-hand experience with canned spinach, and I plan to keep it that way.

BTW, after checking out some of Paula Deen's cookbooks at the bookstore, I decided that they were not for me. She uses way too many canned and processed foods. Again, call me a food snob, but her recipes seem stuck in a time warp. Anyone who's claim to fame hinges on, for example, a cake (gooey cake) that relies on a boxed cake mix -- with butter, cream cheese, and a pound of powdered sugar for good measure -- just doesn't qualify, IMO, as chef. I want fresh ingredients that I can taste, not a pile of sweetened, fatty stuff.

/rant.


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## JGDean (May 17, 2008)

Canned beans are OK but I really prefer to soak and cook them. Canned asparagus is the worst!


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## suzyQ3 (May 17, 2008)

JGDean said:


> Canned beans are OK but I really prefer to soak and cook them. Canned asparagus is the worst!



I use canned beans (kidney, pinto, garbanzo, etc.) when I don't have the time to use dried. But they aren't veggies. I don't like canned green beans, though.


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## Constance (May 17, 2008)

I love the gooey butter cakes, as does everyone else I know. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it.
I also love canned asparagus spears...I eat'em right out of the can. And I much prefer canned green beans to frozen ones.
I like most canned vegetables, actually, although canned spinach isn't one of them.


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## suzyQ3 (May 17, 2008)

Constance said:


> I love the gooey butter cakes, as does everyone else I know. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it.
> I also love canned asparagus spears...I eat'em right out of the can. And I much prefer canned green beans to frozen ones.
> I like most canned vegetables, actually, although canned spinach isn't one of them.



Each to his own.


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## JGDean (May 17, 2008)

*Duh*



suzyQ3 said:


> I use canned beans (kidney, pinto, garbanzo, etc.) when I don't have the time to use dried. But they aren't veggies. I don't like canned green beans, though.


 
You're right. Beans are not vagetables.


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## pacanis (May 17, 2008)

I like canned spinach. I just started making fresh spinach so haven't opened a can in quite a while, but it's in the cupboard if I need it. I _much_ prefer it over frozen. I haven't had frozen spinach yet that wasn't salty or bitter, but that was quite a few years ago that I swore never to buy frozen again.
Canned veggies have their place if you can't get to the store all the time to buy fresh..... that will last a while.


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## Barb L. (May 17, 2008)

Constance said:


> I love the gooey butter cakes, as does everyone else I know. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it.
> I also love canned asparagus spears...I eat'em right out of the can. And I much prefer canned green beans to frozen ones.
> I like most canned vegetables, actually, although canned spinach isn't one of them.



I am with Connie on this one, love fresh but canned are used many days.  Loved canned asparagus- cold too !  No spinach here any way cooked - just fresh !     Like Paula Deen too - have two cookbooks -


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## Corey123 (May 17, 2008)

suzyQ3 said:


> Call me a food snob, but the thought of canned veggies in general turn my stomach. I will admit, though, to having no first-hand experience with canned spinach, and I plan to keep it that way.
> 
> BTW, after checking out some of Paula Deen's cookbooks at the bookstore, I decided that they were not for me. She uses way too many canned and processed foods. Again, call me a food snob, but her recipes seem stuck in a time warp. Anyone who's claim to fame hinges on, for example, a cake (gooey cake) that relies on a boxed cake mix -- with butter, cream cheese, and a pound of powdered sugar for good measure -- just doesn't qualify, IMO, as chef. I want fresh ingredients that I can taste, not a pile of sweetened, fatty stuff.
> 
> /rant.


 


Another bonified fond user of canned veggies is Sandra Lee. She relies on them heavily, hence the name of her cooking show Semi-Homemade Cooking. 

But it's not the canned veggies that urk me. I get so ticked off to no end when I see her using INSTANT GRAVY MIXES!! I mean, come on, how much trouble is it just to make homemade gravy?! Imagine the ridiculous amount of salt that's in that stuff!!

As for Paula, we can say that she never met a stick of butter that she din't like. That's how myself and my sisters started baking at home - with box cake mixes and instant ready-to-spread frosting. As a boy, I was ALWAYS in the kitchen because I was aways fastinated about cooking, intrigued and in awe!! My brothers would all take to the outide activities while I was in the kitchen cooking!

My first homemade cake was a pound cake, and even though it fell a little, it still tasted good, and each time I did it, it got beter and better! But as for canned veggies, the only ones that I use are corn, cream-style corn, peas, green beans and mixed veggies.

These also make great soups and stews as well as veggies for pot roast!


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## pdswife (May 17, 2008)

While I LOVE fresh veggies much more...
I will eat canned
corn
peas
spinach
and beans...

Canned carrots NO WAY!

And as a side note... I really don't like frozen veggies at all.


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## mcnerd (May 17, 2008)

Corey123 said:


> IThese two canned veggies, I placed in the same category with saurkraut - three of the most horrible and repulsive foods that I will never touch!!


I hope everyone keeps hating them because maybe the price for them will stay LOW and allow me to buy MORE MORE MORE!!!

Admittedly fresh is always better, but its not always available but the canned versions are and I love them.  Even canned PEAS (a canning disaster) are worth having as long as something else is mixed to hide the taste and texture.

Sauerkraut is the best!

Long live canned veggies!


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## Robo410 (May 17, 2008)

I can certainly use canned beans in a pinch, and even canned green beans are edible imo. Canned corn can be used in some recipes.  Canned tomatoes are a staple item in my pantry.  Jarred (not canned ) asparagus can be used in a salad, but even tired imported "fresh" is better peeled and blanched for that purpose. Fresh greens are in evidence  at my supermarket all the time and are so much better than canned.  Frozen chopped spinach is a useful staple for some dips and reipes.


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## MexicoKaren (May 17, 2008)

This is similar to the "food snobbery" thread which has been around for a few days. I think each of us finds his or her own comfort level with cooking ingredients. I really don't like the chemical taste of cake mixes and haven't used one for about 40 years. But I do get a kick out of Paula Deen (when I'm in the states and can watch her). I get irked at all the processed foods on the "semi-homemade" program, but I still think that any kind of cooking at home is preferable to going out and getting fast food every night, like my old next-door neighbors. My hubby loves canned spinach and canned green beans - I don't care for them much. But in a pinch, I'll use a can of "Ensaladas Verduras" (salad vegetables consisting of corn, green beans, peas, diced potatoes and diced carrots) and add it to mixed greens, maybe some chopped ham, hard-boiled eggs, diced red onions, sliced olives - whatever else I have, with a honey-mustard dressing I make myself.  Makes a pretty good quick cold dinner. The strange thing is, that alot of people who use processed products (Cool Whip, gravy mixes, etc) don't realize that it is not much more difficult to use the real thing, and it tastes SO much better. They just don't know how to do it, and no one has ever taught them.That's one of the things this board can do for its members - in a friendly and non-critical way. OK, I'll climb down off my soap box now.


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## babetoo (May 17, 2008)

i use canned green beans for green bean cassro. cause that is what my family likes, usually only for holiday meals.

love canned beans, specially small white beans. good size for 1 to 2 people. use in white chili always. 

thats it. all the rest of fresh or frozen. i like frozen spinach and aspargus. corn , okra, use frozen carrots in stews and soups, if don't have fresh. 

everything has a place and time.

babe


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## LadyCook61 (May 17, 2008)

suzyQ3 said:


> I use canned beans (kidney, pinto, garbanzo, etc.) when I don't have the time to use dried. But they aren't veggies. I don't like canned green beans, though.


 
I like the canned legumes, I usually rinse them before use. I don't care for the canned veggies.


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## kadesma (May 17, 2008)

I don't care for canned spinach but have used it, you like it..That's great...Remember that each of us love foods, but each of us are different...I would never eat duck,rabbit,venison, but I'd not fault you for doing so..That would be rude and unkind..We need to remember when we post here that we are not sitting face to face so cannot tell how someone is feeling..Be kind and post your thoughts and ideas, but with the other persons feelings considered...

kadesma


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## quicksilver (May 17, 2008)

*Canned asparagus spears, baby beets, artichoke hearts for salads and antipasto, red kidney beans for chili, Le Sueur brand peas 'cause the dog and I love them, canned tomato paste, puree and crushed, black olives and green chilies. *
*Bottled red cabbage, saurkraut, mushrooms, 4 brothers alfredo, green olives, pepper rings.*
*Then I have canned tuna, chopped clams, whole clams, chicken and beef broth, evaporated milk*
*And for my neice and the dog and me two family size cans of SpaghettiOs. O M G !!! So sue me.*
*Never had canned spinach or carrots in the can though.*


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## Katie H (May 17, 2008)

I've  seen canned spinach and canned carrots on the market  shelves but never had them.  I thought Popeye was the  only one who ate canned  spinach.  I usually opt  for  fresh  or frozen  of most foods.


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## Nancy Jane (May 17, 2008)

Ummm, are you all being mean about canned things?  They can save your life and dinner in a pinch.  No, they aren't the end all and be all, but they can save the day.  Put your noses in the cupboard and your jaws in the, well, whatever.


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## Katie H (May 17, 2008)

As  an addendum to my previous comment, for many years I was highly allergic to cooked/processed carrots.  Been  that way since an infant.  When my parents introduced strained to carrots to me as a baby, I had a violent  reaction.  Nearly died when in college after eating a meal that included cooked carrots.   All  through childhood and  most of my adult life I had some serious  reaction to anything other than fresh carrots.  I steered clear of them.   Couldn't eat carrot cake, picked carrots out of soups/stews, etc.  When "vegetable medley" was on a restaurant menu as a side  dish, didn't order it.

My daddy, a doctor,  concluded that something in the cooking/heating process altered the carrots and  caused my body to react negatively.

It's only been in recent years that I've been able to venture eating cooked or canned carrots.  I only eat small bits and have been "lucky" so far.  I really like the sweetness of cooked carrots.  Especially with a beef or pork roast.


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## MexicoKaren (May 17, 2008)

Katie, I think Popeye had a profound effect on my generation of kids (grew up in the 50s). For those who remember (Babe?), there was a cartoon prior to every movie, especially on Saturday afternoon matinees, which I never missed. I think Popeye and Bugs Bunny had all of us kids eating spinach and carrots. My mom used to serve canned spinach with a little vinegar sprinkled on it. We ate it all up!


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## Maverick2272 (May 17, 2008)

I use canned corn (sweet and creamed), canned carrots, canned green beans, and canned mixed veggies at times. Just depends on what I am making and budgetary concerns at the time. Of course I prefer the fresh, but to me the canned stuff has its place especially in quick stews and soups or a fast meal, etc.
I won't touch canned peas, spinach, asparagus, or most of the other stuff.


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## Maverick2272 (May 17, 2008)

Katie E said:


> As  an addendum to my previous comment, for many years I was highly allergic to cooked/processed carrots.  Been  that way since an infant.  When my parents introduced strained to carrots to me as a baby, I had a violent  reaction.  Nearly died when in college after eating a meal that included cooked carrots.   All  through childhood and  most of my adult life I had some serious  reaction to anything other than fresh carrots.  I steered clear of them.   Couldn't eat carrot cake, picked carrots out of soups/stews, etc.  When "vegetable medley" was on a restaurant menu as a side  dish, didn't order it.
> 
> My daddy, a doctor,  concluded that something in the cooking/heating process altered the carrots and  caused my body to react negatively.
> 
> It's only been in recent years that I've been able to venture eating cooked or canned carrots.  I only eat small bits and have been "lucky" so far.  I really like the sweetness of cooked carrots.  Especially with a beef or pork roast.



That is wild, I think I have only heard of a couple of others that have the same problem though not the same veggie.

I can't imagine not being able to eat my baby carrots in brown sugar and butter!!


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## texasgirl (May 17, 2008)

kadesma said:


> I don't care for canned spinach but have used it, you like it..That's great...Remember that each of us love foods, but each of us are different...I would never eat duck,rabbit,venison, but I'd not fault you for doing so..That would be rude and unkind..We need to remember when we post here that we are not sitting face to face so cannot tell how someone is feeling..Be kind and post your thoughts and ideas, but with the other persons feelings considered...
> 
> kadesma


 
AMEN!!!!!

I'm not going to say a word. Well, other than what I just put!!


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## Mama (May 18, 2008)

suzyQ3 said:


> ...call me a food snob, but her recipes seem stuck in a time warp. Anyone who's claim to fame hinges on, for example, a cake (gooey cake) that relies on a boxed cake mix -- with butter, cream cheese, and a pound of powdered sugar for good measure -- just doesn't qualify, IMO, as chef. I want fresh ingredients that I can taste, not a pile of sweetened, fatty stuff.


 
That gooey butter cake and those time warp recipes have made her worth $20 million!


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## suzyQ3 (May 18, 2008)

I've just now read through the posts that followed a couple of mine yesterday. My impression is that some posters took exception to my opinion regarding the majority of canned veggies and of PD's talent as a chef. I spoke my mind without attacking anyone at all. Wasn't that the point of this thread and the forums in general? 

I'm sure that I love many foods and am partial to some professional cooks that others dislike. Doesn't bother me a bit. That's what makes life interesting, IMO.


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## GrillingFool (May 18, 2008)

It doesn't matter to me... if the carrots are cooked, I generally will not eat them.
Unless they are SO cooked they have no taste, or are in really small pieces.
Canned spinach is just bitter. Don't like it either.

RAW, baby, RAW is the way to go, LOL!

Although I prefer canned green beans.


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## Barbara (May 18, 2008)

Canned beans - yes
frozen vegies - peas, corn, green beans (trader Joe's) spinach when I'm making dip otherwise fresh.

When we lived in Oregon my mother bought canned Santiam greeen beans and they were decent. Times have changed though and I may not feel that way if I had them today.


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## Corey123 (May 18, 2008)

mcnerd said:


> I hope everyone keeps hating them because maybe the price for them will stay LOW and allow me to buy MORE MORE MORE!!!
> 
> Admittedly fresh is always better, but its not always available but the canned versions are and I love them. Even canned PEAS (a canning disaster) are worth having as long as something else is mixed to hide the taste and texture.
> 
> ...


 


Even if there was a little bit of saurkraut left in the pot and you wanted it, you'd get no argument from me. You can have it!


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## MexicoKaren (May 18, 2008)

I once canned two dozen quarts of sauerkraut - the house smelled for days, because it has to ferment in a crock. NO ONE in the family would eat it except me, and I ended up giving most of it to some German neighbors who loved it.


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## suziquzie (May 18, 2008)

canned sauerkraut or corn is about all I buy for veggies. 

Funny story about the spinach....
My Dad is from Chester, IL, home of Popeye. They have a statue, festival and everything. 
Alton Brown stopped there on his trip up the Mississippi, I was so tickled because I knew exactly where everything he was talking about was!!!! Called Dad and everything. 
Anyway they stopped at the park on the river where the statue is, and Alton hands the french guy a can of spinach, in honor of Popeye, and they all dig in. The facial expressions of them eating said spinach was just priceless!!!! I thought the french guy was going to hurl right on Popeye!!!  I'm sure many of you saw it, but I have to say that's got to be some of the funniest blurb of tv I've ever seen!!! 

BTW,  I've never tried canned spinach. I think I won't bother!


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## Jeff G. (May 18, 2008)

I like canned spinach.  Heat, a little vinegar upon serving....


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## kitchenelf (May 18, 2008)

There's lots of canned veggies I like - spinach is ok with a bit of vinegar.  I don't think I've ever had canned carrots though.  Canned sweet peas are a great memory from childhood.  Canned green beans, canned corn, and oh, canned potatoes are GREAT if you fry them with your fried chicken - coat them with your chicken flour/seasoning and fry them right alongside - YUM!

This is a personal preference kind of thread where there are no right or wrong answers.

I cannot eat frozen green beans or frozen carrots - not even in soup - they taste very odd!


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## middie (May 18, 2008)

I used to like canned spinach. Never liked fresh or frozen.
Never like carrots canned, fresh or frozen.

I like canned green beans, corn, and potatoes
though I much prefer fresh potatoes.


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## Uncle Bob (May 18, 2008)

*


			
				Corey said:
			
		


Who Likes Canned Spinach and Canned Carrots? 

Click to expand...

 
Not I.......*


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## jpmcgrew (May 18, 2008)

Of course I prefer fresh over canned but as kid we grew up with mostly canned because thats what was available. Where I live it's hard to get anything more than the basics in fresh vegetables. I do like canned beets. green beans, corn, all the regular beans, tomatoes in all forms, mushrooms, baked beans, spinach and so on. I don't care for carrots or potatoes.Actually I love canned spinach and fresh but the canned I eat will eat all by it's self juice and all with some lemon and butter heated kind of like a soup. So sue me. Another thought is canned and frozen retain more vitamins even though cooked because it has not been shipped and held a long time were they start to lose their nutrition. Canned spinach is a comfort food for me.


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## quicksilver (May 18, 2008)

*I'm noticing.... with vinegar. I never heard of this. It must be a midwest thing. Even fresh cooked I've never heard of this.*
*What we grew up on seems to be the commonality here. And hard times seem to be had by all. Now veggies are global and year round. When someone tells you they ate corn in december, and not from a can, you gotta know they're too young to remember when you had to.*


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## MexicoKaren (May 18, 2008)

Quicksilver, you are so right. It seems to me that when I was a kid, the produce department at the grocery store had pretty slim pickings in winter - potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, rutabagas, turnips...no tomatoes, no lettuce, no strawberries. We used to get oranges and grapefruit from Florida around Christmas time. What a treat! My mom made lots of coleslaw, grated carrot salad, jello salad with canned fruit. We got a freezer in 1954 when I was 10 years old, and we got introduced to frozen vegetables. WOW!


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## kitchenelf (May 18, 2008)

jpmcgrew said:


> So sue me.



Before I go to all the trouble could you please send me your investment portfolio and your tax returns for the past 7 years?  

The vinegar on spinach is a very common thing - also for collard greens.  I don't know if it's a midwest thing or a southern thing or simply a "spinach thing"   And to top it off a lot of people will toss in a few sliced hot chili peppers OR you can buy vinegar with whole chili peppers in them and use that.


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## kadesma (May 19, 2008)

kitchenelf said:


> Before I go to all the trouble could you please send me your investment portfolio and your tax returns for the past 7 years?
> 
> The vinegar on spinach is a very common thing - also for collard greens.  I don't know if it's a midwest thing or a southern thing or simply a "spinach thing"   And to top it off a lot of people will toss in a few sliced hot chili peppers OR you can buy vinegar with whole chili peppers in them and use that.


I think the vinegar thing with spinach, came about because we are not going to run to the store in the dead of winter to get a lemon, but how many of us run out of vinegar?  Spinach with butter and vinegar...Yummers. My mom and mother in law both use to use canned spinach when they made their home made raviolis, saved them an hour in the putting together process that way...

kadesma


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## Mama (May 19, 2008)

It's definately a southern thing!


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## pacanis (May 19, 2008)

I had a friend that used to live in TX tell me about the vinegar thing, though I don't know where he picked it up. It's OK for a changeup, but I much prefer plain old butter on canned spinach.


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## Jeff G. (May 19, 2008)

I use vinegar on many greens.  Cooked cabbage, Brussel sprouts, Spinach, most other cooked "greens".  Usually apple cider vinegar, but red wine works well and for a different flavor, balsalmic vinegar adds an entirely different level of flavor. 

Adding acid can also lessen the need for salt.  If you think a cooked green needs more salt, try a little vinegar first.


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## kitchenelf (May 19, 2008)

pacanis said:


> I had a friend that used to live in TX tell me about the vinegar thing, though I don't know where he picked it up. It's OK for a changeup, but I much prefer plain old butter on canned spinach.



Funny thing is I've never heard of putting butter on spinach  or greens of any kind.  A bit of vegetable oil or I prefer light olive oil and beef broth maybe, but never butter - ok, and maybe some fat back in the "olden" days!


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## Jeff G. (May 19, 2008)

kitchenelf said:


> Funny thing is I've never heard of putting butter on spinach  or greens of any kind.  A bit of vegetable oil or I prefer light olive oil and beef broth maybe, but never butter - ok, and maybe some fat back in the "olden" days!



Believe it or not.. Cracker Barrel has a descent turnip greens and fat back side dish..


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## pacanis (May 19, 2008)

I don't think mom knew what olive oil was.....Not that there's anything wrong with that 
I grew up having butter on all my veggies. And rice and noodles and potatoes....


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## pacanis (May 19, 2008)

Jeff G. said:


> Believe it or not.. Cracker Barrel has a descent turnip greens and fat back side dish..


 
My sister and BIL eat there all the time, but I'll bet that's one thing they haven't had 
Although...... we did go to Bob Evan's a few weeks ago and my sister ordered *grits*!  Now where on earth did she get that from?! 
You'd have to know my sister....


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## Mama (May 19, 2008)

Jeff G. said:


> Believe it or not.. Cracker Barrel has a descent turnip greens and fat back side dish..


 
They have a great pepper vinegar to put on those greens too!


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## Caine (May 20, 2008)

All we ever had growing up was either fresh vegetables in season, or canned vegetables, including carrots and spinach, out of season. WE had an old Kelvinator refrigerator with a freezer about the same size as our milk box, so there was very little room for Birdseye stuff once the weeek's meat was stashed in there.  What difference does it make whether your grandma canned fresh vegetables in mason jars or professionals canned them in tin cans? 

In fact, I prefer canned peas to frozen peas any day. The color of canned peas may be a little off, but frozen peas have the consistency of BBs.


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## babetoo (May 20, 2008)

Caine said:


> All we ever had growing up was either fresh vegetables in season, or canned vegetables, including carrots and spinach, out of season. WE had an old Kelvinator refrigerator with a freezer about the same size as our milk box, so there was very little room for Birdseye stuff once the weeek's meat was stashed in there. What difference does it make whether your grandma canned fresh vegetables in mason jars or professionals canned them in tin cans?
> 
> In fact, I prefer canned peas to frozen peas any day. The color of canned peas may be a little off, but frozen peas have the consistency of BBs.


 

you are on my wave length, frozen peas are just awful. i love the tiny tiny lasure  peas the best , love em with purple onion and a little mayo, with soda crackers. a great snack. 

babe


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## Loprraine (May 20, 2008)

I haven't had canned carrots since my Grandmother died 33 years ago.  She used to cook them for two hours.


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## Michael in FtW (May 22, 2008)

We all have preferences about what we like, what we would prefer, etc ... but I think it is a little disingenuous to try to suggest that someone who enjoys "canned spinach" is inferior in any way. 

Paula and I grew up in Albany, GA at the same time (3rd-5th grades) ... neither of us came from rich families, and she and I share the experience of being a single parent with two hungry boys to feed - on a very limited budget. Sometimes - canned veggies were the only way to make the food budget work (4-5 cans/$1). 

So - for some of us - canned spinach is "comfort" food. My sons - same ages as Paula's sons - also eat canned spinach from time to time ... although they can both now afford fresh or frozen. 

There are all kinds of ways to "improve" the flavor of canned stuff ... I still sometimes do what Mom used to do - chop up a slice of bacon and saute it, add a can of drained canned spinach ... I'm back in Mom's kitchen in about 1954. Sometimes I make a roux of bacon grease and flour - and make creamed canned spinach. I can also make creamed canned peas with a small bit of butter ... a little brown sugar and butter - you can make glazed canned carrots.

*DiscussCooking* is a site for all cooks - of all levels - of all budgets ... not just for folks who can afford the 1-5 Star Restaurant prime ingredients. It's easy to make fresh ingredients taste good - it's a challenge to make something out of a can taste appealing.


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## lyndalou (May 22, 2008)

Michael, you have hit the nail on the head, as usual. I grew up in Northern New York and we had canned veggies almost exclusively. It's what was available and we liked them. I still use some of them and also some frozen veg's. The sauerkraut I buy comes in a vacuum packed bag and is very good, I think. BTY we always put vinegar on the spinach, not sure where my mother got that idea, but we were as far from Southern as you can get.


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## MexicoKaren (May 22, 2008)

> I think it is a little disingenuous to try to suggest that someone who enjoys "canned spinach" is inferior in any way.




Thanks, Michael. as lyndalou said, yours is often the voice of moderation and reason. The diversity and tolerance we find on this board is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.


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## suzyQ3 (May 22, 2008)

_We all have preferences about what we like, what we would prefer, etc ... but I think it is a little disingenuous to try to suggest that someone who enjoys "canned spinach" is inferior in any way.
_ 
I hope no one did that because I don't think it's disingenuous; I think it's rude. It's fine to express your opinion about a food or cookware or a method of cooking, but it's not okay, IMO, to do so in a way that demeans others' choices.  I've seen some pretty contentious  "discussions"  veer in that direction quite quickly because some people are so wedded to their own ways.  

I do think, though, that it's perfectly appropriate to critique a celebrity chef's approach to cooking, whether that critique be positive or negative.


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## jpmcgrew (May 22, 2008)

Those that look down on canned food need to read the history of canned food. It really changed the world. People did not have access to all the fruits and vegetables year round with many developing serious nutritional deficiencies such as scurvy.Once canned products were available people got to try other types of food that would not have survived the trip were they fresh.  With gas prices these days we may at some point not be able to get fresh everything. Then one may appreciate that humble can of vegetables.Nothing needed to keep canned food no freezer no freezer burn an a long, long shelf life. So there!


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## jpmcgrew (May 22, 2008)

bumping, I know there are still many opinions


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## luvs (May 22, 2008)

oh, canned veggies aren't that dagnabbin yucky. i like canned peas 'specially. canned taters, carrot, & spinach, yeah, i avoid them just cause thier texture is soggy, others i'm fine with.


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## Katie H (May 22, 2008)

As has been said earlier and by others, fresh IS always better, but that's not always available.  I use canned goods when fresh or frozen aren't available.   Believe it or not, frozen isn't something I can get my hands on.

Having said that,  I am just now beginning to be able to eat "processed" carrots.  (See my earlier comment about an allergic reaction.)  So far, so good.

Haven't tried canned spinach but,  in the spirit of experimentation,  I'm going to buy some the next time I'm in the market to see what it's about.  Gonna see what it's like.  Have a feeling it's inexpensive enough that, if I don't care for it, it can be deep 6'd.


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## luvs (May 22, 2008)

Loprraine said:


> I haven't had canned carrots since my Grandmother died 33 years ago. She used to cook them for two hours.


 
that's cute, cooking them 2 hours.. gotta love Grammas.


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## pacanis (May 22, 2008)

Opinions? 

This thread has certainly diversified from the two canned veggies mentioned in the title, but you (and Michael) have hit the nail on the head.  Some, not all, people seem to forget that tastes and means vary.
My opinion reading the various comments, is that this thread could easily be linked with the food snobs thread.  As could some others.

While I try to buy fresh, like I said, it just doesn't last long enough for me inbetween trips to the store.  Both canned and frozen have their place. As does, as one forum member recently put it, "crap in a box". I love "crap in a box".  I most likely have the butter and milk on hand to turn "crap in a box" into "crap" on my plate.  I don't see anything wrong with convenience to turn out a quick and easy meal.  There's a time and place for everything and convenience has its place, as does stopping at Starbucks as opposed to brewing your own Joe.


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## expatgirl (May 27, 2008)

Crap in a box and canned veggies are usually (not always but usually) high in sodium---my kids are so tired of me saying that stuff tastes too salty----when you switch to a lower sodium diet( which means recommended daily allowance for sodium are HALF what is posted on the label) processed food and a lot of fast food are almost inedible or they become to taste that way after cutting back-----I don't have a choice----I had to switch to lower sodium in my diet...and I'm not allowed caffeine either---double whammy...if I have a coke or a regular coffee my heart jumps around for about 30 minutes---not worth the caffeine rush


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