Food – Memories — What Veggies?

The majority of the time, my family just did not seem to get enough vegetables into our diets. Growing up in a meat and potato environment, we really did not think about anything green. My mom was a really good cook but since dad liked his meat and potatoes, which was what comprised the majority of our meals, that is what we ate. Mom used to make “grease gravy” and it really tasted good on our meat and potatoes. The only time we really had any vegetables that I can remember was when the corn-on-the-cob showed up on our plates. YUM! But that was often swamped with butter!

Now, as an adult, I enjoy the variety of flavors that I find in different foods. In fact, I was really surprised to find how many different vegetables and grains were out there. I am very thankful for God’s abundant variety of foods.

I remember when I first decided to become a vegan and saw pictures on vegan food cans and packets showing meat just like mom used to make and it looked so good. My first thought was that it would be easy being vegan replacing the meat with all the products available. Though it may be a good replacement initially for some when changing their diet, unfortunately it was not agreeable to my family’s taste buds and many meals were discarded. Soon I learned about seasoning foods and to make most of my meals from scratch. No one has the same taste buds; so I learned to take a recipe and trim it to the taste of my family. Praise the Lord for the skill to do that! Yes, it took practice and is still a work in progress.

God has provided so many varieties of vegetables to choose from and innumerable ways they can be prepared. There are many different seasonings available to add to our enjoyment of different foods. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 

Veggie Gravy

Ingredients

2 cups tomatoes, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

¼ cup flour

½-1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

¼ cup water

Process

Simmer tomatoes with onion and celery 5-10 minutes. Mix flour and water and add slowly to tomato mixture, stirring constantly over low heat until thickened and add seasonings—remember to season it to your taste buds! This is great over hot baked potatoes, toast, or anything else requiring gravy.