s/o Canned Veggies

[creekland]

From the "dinner" thread, canned veggies came up.  As usual, it got me curious...

 

Anonymous voting, of course.  Only asking about YOU, not your family members.  It's too complicated when asking about everyone.

 

NOT condemning anyone for their choices, so would prefer this be kept fun and/or informational rather than cupcake or crockpot"ish."

 

I used an online list for types of canned veggies (using the food categories for veggies, not the botany categories).  If I missed anything, feel free to let me know.

 

We're a mainly fresh or frozen family (frozen from our garden or the store pending which type), but we do use canned mushrooms and used to use canned tomatoes before I started freezing ours.

 

I like veggies with some crunch left in them, so canned usually doesn't appeal at all.  Canned asparagus is on my list of "worst foods invented."   :lol:   (But I still love you if you think it's great... we might just prefer to eat out if getting together!)

 

ETA:  That last question really is "like" and has no bearing on whether you actually use it or not.  I don't mind canned corn, tomatoes, other beans, etc, so voted appropriately even though we rarely use some of them.

Edited April 9, 2016 by creekland

[kiana]

Right now your poll is kicking me out if I don't vote there's *something* that I can't stand, so maybe there should be a none option?

[Rosie_0801]

Me too. I clicked 'other' since there was no none.

 

 

Tinned peas and potatoes remind me of my grandmother. My brain is split between feeling nostalgic prestige and knowing they are abominations.  :laugh:

[Pawz4me]

I voted "other" for veggies I can't stand so it would let me submit.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Pawz4me

[creekland]

Right now your poll is kicking me out if I don't vote there's *something* that I can't stand, so maybe there should be a none option?

 

Fixed.  Thanks!

 

Anyone who has already voted can delete their vote to redo it.

[creekland]

Tinned peas and potatoes remind me of my grandmother. My brain is split between feeling nostalgic prestige and knowing they are abominations.  :laugh:

 

My youngest and I had quite a few conversations this past spring break about how so much of what we learned (about) as a kid are simply right even if we can't explain why.   :coolgleamA:

 

It really is interesting how humans tend to revert to that.  (Oodles of studies show that brands we used/ate as a kid are ones adults choose, etc, and how kids often grow up with similar mannerisms to their parents even if they disliked what their parents did.)

 

His current goal is to convert folks to being healthier and choosing more planet-friendly methods for things.  Naturally, he's finding resistance - hence - our conversations about human nature (and more than one way of looking at things).

[retiredHSmom]

I admit to being a little flummoxed by the internet-wide hatred of canned food.  Canning was invented to give us a way to preserve food so that it could be eaten out of season.  Without canned (and frozen) food those of us living in the more Northern states would be going many months without fruit and veggies each year.  I understand that canned veggies are lacking the crunch of fresh but I am so confused by the many many people who are convinced they are nutritionally inferior.  Yes, I know that some enzymes are killed by heat but most of us are cooking at least some of our fresh veggies.  

 

From an environmental point of view, the transportation of fresh fruits and veggies to out of season sites had got to be far worse than the energy used to can local in-season veggies for out-of-season use. to me, it is a great pridefulness that we as a culture are so convinced that we should have access to any fruit and vegetable we want at any time of year.  It is unsustainable in the long run.

 

With all that bing said the only canned veggies I use are canned green beans (my kids can't stand the squeak of the fresh ones against their teeth), canned diced tomatoes and canned beans (pinto, black, kidney, garbanzo)

 

[Carrie12345]

Mostly fresh over here, but there are usually some frozen and canned in the house, and I dry things once in a while.

 

I don't personally eat many frozen vegetables, but several people in my house love brussel sprouts, and they tend to be cheaper (and their preferred size) frozen.  I keep some peas, diced peppers, and maybe some mixed veg to add to eggs, stir fries, etc. when I'm pressed for time or out of fresh.

 

We do keep canned corn, green beans, chickpeas, pintos, and sometimes potatoes (my kids hate canned potatoes) and maybe a few other things in our emergency food storage.  The intent is always to rotate, but we don't eat them frequently enough (except the chickpeas) for that to work out in the long run.  They get donated a few months before their best by date and replenished.

[Night Elf]

I hate spinoffs of my own posts. It makes me feel stupid. I like canned goods. I was raised on them. Frozen is not good for me. They're hard and crispy. I'm used to the soft veggies from a can. If that makes me a bad cook than so be it. My family seems happy enough. I've learned to cook what my family eats. That's what's important to me. I see it as what is on the table, not how it gets there.

[creekland]

I admit to being a little flummoxed by the internet-wide hatred of canned food. ...  I understand that canned veggies are lacking the crunch of fresh...  

 

For me it's total taste and texture.  Canned veggies hardly ever taste the same and only have the same texture if frozen or fresh are cooked longer than we cook them for.

 

Corn and tomatoes come the closest.

 

Mushrooms taste different, but I like canned shrooms in recipes or on pizza.  (I also like fresh when they're sauteed or marinated.)

 

Dried beans taste better and have a texture I prefer, but canned beans are easier to use as a side dish, esp when deciding what to eat last minute.

[creekland]

I hate spinoffs of my own posts. It makes me feel stupid. I like canned goods. I was raised on them. Frozen is not good for me. They're hard and crispy. I'm used to the soft veggies from a can. If that makes me a bad cook than so be it. My family seems happy enough. I've learned to cook what my family eats. That's what's important to me. I see it as what is on the table, not how it gets there.

 

No intent whatsoever to make you feel inferior... sorry!

 

To me, this is 100% a taste and texture preference and there is no "right" choice.  It certainly doesn't make you a bad cook!!!  The fact that you cook would elevate you over me many nights.  ;)

 

I like crispy/crunchy apples.  A good friend of mine likes hers soft and considers those I like to be "not ripe yet."  We still get along great.  It's not even close to a friendship ender.

[Guest]

I do make some distinction in my mind between factory canned and canned at home from my own garden veggies. I would ultimately prefer if I could can enough tomatoes, green beans and corn to last until the next harvest, but it doesn't work out this way. I also can pickles, relish and jalapeño peppers and these condiments hve been lasting me until the next harvest which makes me very happy!

 

I agree with Tania upthread, that shipping fruits and vegetables all over the globe such that there is no longer a "season" to them bothers me. There are some fruits and veggies I simply cannot buy out of season because it bothers me to consider where it's coming from and how it possibly made the journey. January strawberries should not be a thing (where I live).

[marbel]

I am not a huge fan of most canned vegetables, simply because of taste and texture.   The exception is green beans!  For some reason I love them. But my family does not, so I rarely buy t hem.

 

I use canned corn in a few recipes.

 

I don't have any general hatred for canned food, though.  I use canned tomato products, canned dried-type beans all the time. 

 

Oh, well, I love canned pumpkin. Give me a can of pumpkin over a fresh one to cook any day.  But that is a fruit, not a vegetable, so... never mind. :-)

[Bluegoat]

I don't generally eat canned.  I do fresh or frozen sometimes, especially this time of year.  I do prefer canned corn to frozen.

 

I have a kid of nostalgia for canned peas, they really remind me of my grandmother.  But I don't really like them.

[happypamama]

I haven't eaten most canned veggies in years, so I don't know if I like them or not. I make/eat lots of fresh or frozen veggies though.

 

I do use canned tomatoes, some canned beans, sometimes canned pumpkin, occasionally canned olives, occasionally canned artichokes, and once in a while canned mushrooms (although I like fresh mushrooms and buy several packs of them every week). I buy canned corn at Thanksgiving to make my husband's grandmother's corn pudding recipe. If we are counting jarred items along with canned, I regularly keep on hand and use jarred olives, artichokes, spaghetti sauce, and red peppers.

Edited April 9, 2016 by happypamama

[cjzimmer1]

I don't consider canned store vegetables and home canned vegetables to even be in the same category.  I eat very few things from metal cans because to me they all taste like metal cans.  Not something I particularly enjoy.  However, I grew up with a mom who home canned or froze every vegetable we ate and most of our fruit too.  Between my dad and grandparents, they raised most of meat.  My mom did however buy white bread from the store.  My taste preferences line up with with I was raised on with the exception of white bread - can't stand the stuff, give me whole wheat, whole grain any day. 

 

Now between home canned and frozen veggies, I still prefer frozen but again that's what we ate most of as a kid.  I only buy frozen veggies but I do can my tomatoes and salsa.  I will buy the canned products if I run out but I prefer my own.

 

I suspect some of it depends on how you were raised and if you liked that as a kid and stuck with it or hated it (like my white bread) and sought out alternatives.

[Chris in VA]

I grew up on mostly canned veggies. I have that "bitter" gene, so vegetables in general taste better to me when raw--salads, for example, are much more to my taste than, say, canned green beans. But I now know you can roast veggies, so that is one of my favorite ways to eat them, and I eat far more than I did as a child.

 

We use canned beans, tomatoes, pumpkin (occasionally) and corn. I don't really think of beans and corn as veggies, but they are in your poll.

 

I use a lot of frozen veg for dh and dd. I can't stand peas and carrots in anything, no matter the form, but I buy them frozen and just serve to others.

 

I do think there's a difference in taste and maybe nutrition (less salt, for sure, and no additives) between home-canned and commercially canned.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Chris in VA

[kiana]

For some reason the only veggies that I like out of cans are corn, beans, tomatoes, and mushrooms. I do have a lot of cans of green beans (they were 50/can a while back) that I use as emergency meal fixins, and tomatoes and mushrooms mostly go as ingredients.

 

I live off frozen veggies (probably 2 lbs a day for just me). I don't mind fresh but around here they're more expensive and more likely to go off. 

[Wheres Toto]

We use canned corn, canned beans and canned tomatoes. 

 

Fresh for anything eaten raw and things that are affordable, like broccoli.  Dh makes fresh asparagus with mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto that is amazing!  I can't stand mushy asparagus.

 

Frozen for mixed vegetables that are eaten cooked.

[KungFuPanda]

I hate spinoffs of my own posts. It makes me feel stupid. I like canned goods. I was raised on them. Frozen is not good for me. They're hard and crispy. I'm used to the soft veggies from a can. If that makes me a bad cook than so be it. My family seems happy enough. I've learned to cook what my family eats. That's what's important to me. I see it as what is on the table, not how it gets there.

I just read that. Backpedaling aside, it was a little harsh.

[marbel]

It really bothers me when people express disgust at something another person likes.   It's not just food.

 

"Ooh, I'd never get carpet! Carpet is disgusting!"

 

"Meat?  I don't know how anyone can eat that, so revolting."

 

"You wear shoes in the house?  That's gross." 

 

It's OK to like any food, and OK to not like any food.  I've always taught my kids not to call any food "weird" or "disgusting" or any other pejorative term.  It's OK to express preferences, of course, but not to be insulting toward people who might enjoy a particular food. 

 

I remember my sister telling me that her daughter came home from college with a liking for hummus.  "Oooh, garbanzo beans, ick, so weird!"  Hearing that from a 55-year-old woman... smh.  So juvenile.

 

 

[JustEm]

Canned food to me tastes and feels awful aside from canned beans and tomatoes. I don't use canned beans because dried are cheaper and taste better, although I don't mind the taste of canned beans. Canned tomatoes are just easier to use and for the things I use them in I don't feel the flavor is lacking. Everything else is either fresh or frozen

[City Mouse]

It all depends on the vegetable. Some I prefer from a can such as green beans. Others I prefer frozen or fresh such as corn. Still others, like asperagus, I will only want if fresh. Fresh vegetables are very limited where I live unless I wast to drive an hour away, and we have such a short growing season that it is not easy to grow much, but I love homegrown tomatoes.

[Baseball mom]

I was raised on canned food and that is mostly what we eat now.

[Farrar]

We do 90% fresh. We eat a lot of salads as our veggie side - easily customized for pickier eaters. I think cucumbers are my kids' favorite veggies and they're one of mine too and I can't imagine canned cucumbers. Ew. We eat a lot of asparagus and green beans too. Both are easy to find year round of decent quality. Ditto onions and peppers.

 

I don't mind frozen if it's going in a soup or stew or stir fry or something along those lines so I keep a few things frozen like corn, green peas, a couple of mixed veggie mixes, for when I'm in a pinch. I have fresh frozen pink eye and cream 40 peas that I parboiled and froze myself. Those are good straight up. Because... mmm.... field peas.

 

For canned, I only do tomatoes and beans. However, I will admit that we all like canned green beans. They remind me of how my grandmother made them. Every once in awhile I cook them such that they'll taste that way, but the canned are a pretty good mock up. Still, we almost never have them.

 

ETA: Oh, and canned pumpkin. We keep and use canned pumpkin. But in baking. I didn't think of that...

Edited April 9, 2016 by Farrar

[SparklyUnicorn]

I only buy canned beans or tomato products.  I grew up on canned veggies.  They aren't nearly as good as fresh or frozen.  My mother hated vegetables though so for her vegetables were an afterthought.  She'd mostly push them around on her plate to make it appear she was eating them to put on a good show for us, but she really hated them. 

 

 

 

 

[MyLittleBears]

We do mostly fresh and fermented veggies. Love these! I like to keep some frozen vegetables for occasion we ran out and did't have time to go to the store. In the past we have actually canned our own tomatoes.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Canned asparagus is probably one of the most vile canned veggies (or spinach...that's putrid canned too).  I only ever tried canned asparagus growing up so I thought asparagus was pretty yucky.  So when I visited my now husband in Germany his mother brought out a big plate of asparagus and I thought oh great this is going to be hard to choke down.  Nooo.  It was fresh asparagus and it was soooo good.  It's one of my favorite vegetables.  But not canned.  Canned it's just slimy nastiness.

 

 

[barnwife]

The most commonly purchased canned veggies around here are garbanzos (for hummus) and tomatoes. I don't even look at the others. The texture and taste of frozen ones is far superior imo. So that's what I get if I am not getting fresh.

I aspire to making fresh veggies every night. Reality though is I am not a meal planner. And if I am honest, don't particularly enjoy cooking. Cooking frozen veggies is so much easier that that's often what we eat.

The exceptions are baby carrots, spinach, and asparagus (bought in season here only). Those are always fresh.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I definitely use frozen because in the winter vegetables can get extremely expensive around here. 

[Cinder]

We mostly eat fresh veg, especially now that most kinds are available year-round. I do regularly buy canned tomatoes, beans (red, black, white) and corn. For frozen, mainly pearl onions, but occasionally broccoli and green beans. Other canned items we like/use: applesauce, pumpkin puree, cranberry sauce, green chiles. I don't use dried veg/mushrooms because I don't like the texture.

[Ananda]

Generally we prefer our vegetables fresh or frozen.  I do buy some things canned.  We go through tons of canned beans, although I consider them "protein" not vegetable.  We use a lot of canned tomatoes as well.  Olives & pickled things are always canned.  I do sometimes buy canned beets or three bean salad.  We join a CSA so that provides us with fresh, organic, locally grown produce in the summer & fall.  We supplement lightly with fresh/frozen.  

 

What I buy fresh versus frozen is complicated.  We eat a lot of raw vegetables, those are almost always bough fresh.  Garlic, ginger, basil, cilantro always fresh, sometimes other herbs as well. Root vegetables (potatoes, onions, beets, carrots) always fresh.  Usually frozen: peas, greens, green beans, stirfry blends, broccoli, cauliflower.  Most other things go back & forth based on seasons.  

[KarenC]

I despise mushy vegetables.  Beans are the only canned vegetable that I will eat.  

[Bluegoat]

I do use canned tomatoes too, and beans like kidney beans.  Though I don't consider them veg.

 

One of the big reasons I don't use some types of canned that I don't mind the taste of. like green beans, is that I worry about the plastics in the can.

[Junie]

I'm kind of late to this thread, but to me there is a huge difference between canned vegetables from the store and home-canned vegetables from the garden.

 

ETA:  I don't can, unfortunately, but I have relatives who do.  

Edited April 9, 2016 by Junie

[heartlikealion]

Ah, this is hard for me to answer as my general feelings are "canned, eww." lol But I like canned for specific items. Chick peas, diced potatoes (fried for breakfast burritos), black beans (throw in salads), and a couple other things sometimes (navy beans, black eyed peas, hominy) which might be thrown in a soup or something. Also red beans for red beans and rice. I don't know how many of those count as veggies. 

 

Mostly I seek out frozen. Some fresh (baby carrots, broccoli or cauliflower at times).

[BlsdMama]

From the "dinner" thread, canned veggies came up.  As usual, it got me curious...

 

Anonymous voting, of course.  Only asking about YOU, not your family members.  It's too complicated when asking about everyone.

 

NOT condemning anyone for their choices, so would prefer this be kept fun and/or informational rather than cupcake or crockpot"ish."

 

I used an online list for types of canned veggies (using the food categories for veggies, not the botany categories).  If I missed anything, feel free to let me know.

 

We're a mainly fresh or frozen family (frozen from our garden or the store pending which type), but we do use canned mushrooms and used to use canned tomatoes before I started freezing ours.

 

I like veggies with some crunch left in them, so canned usually doesn't appeal at all.  Canned asparagus is on my list of "worst foods invented."   :lol:   (But I still love you if you think it's great... we might just prefer to eat out if getting together!)

 

ETA:  That last question really is "like" and has no bearing on whether you actually use it or not.  I don't mind canned corn, tomatoes, other beans, etc, so voted appropriately even though we rarely use some of them.

 

 

I grew up with a dinner that looked like this:

 

Cook meat

Mashed potatoes

One can of fruit

One can of vegetables

Milk

 

 

That was dinner though the ingredients varied every night.

 

 

BPA in cans freaks me out.

 

We can our own tomatoes and eat those until I run out.  

We actually eat very little canned, but I am down to one fridge currently.  I have two freezers. Generally we eat fresh the first week and frozen the second between bi-weekly grocery trips. :D

[greenbeanmama]

Canned food tastes so different than the fesh/frozen that I'm used to. I think it's mostly a texture thing though. Since my children are okay with fresh veggies but won't even eat freash cooked vegetabless, I think I'd have mutiny on my hands if I tried canned veggies.

 

I do use canned tomato products (sauce, paste, etc), and canned beans (pinto, black, refried -NOT green beans). Oh! And black olives and artichokes. I do keep a few cans of fruit on hand, to use in a pinch, but that's probably once a year at most.

[The Girls' Mom]

I like veggies all ways :)  I grew up on canned or fresh that had been cooked until they were mush.  A whole new world opened up as an adult and I found out that green beans could be crunchy.  I still love, love, love canned peas and corn.

 

I cannot choke down canned greens or asparagus though.  Bleh.  

 

I can our own green beans when I am able and sometimes tomatoes.  

 

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

Generally, I prefer our veggies fresh or frozen.  Frozen is almost as good as fresh a lot of the times.

 

I really dislike dried vegetables.  I definitely don't like to eat them in a dried state, and in a re-hydrated state they taste funny.  Though, I do use dried onion, celery and red bell pepper when I make my homemade yellow rice, so I guess there is an exception!  

 

The canned vegetables that I like are corn, beets, tomatoes and I forgot to vote for "other beans".  Not on the list and my "other" vote is for canned sweet potatoes.  For some reason I really like those!  

 

Though, now that I think about it, I failed miserably in the poll.  I very much like dried beans and think them far superior to canned beans. When I think of dried vegetables I think more of things like MRE's and stew veggies, mushrooms and those really unfortunate soup kits with chunks of dried veggies in them.  Maybe I don't really think of dried beans as a vegetable.  They're more of a starchy/protein component of a meal than a vegetable.  

[creekland]

I like veggies all ways :)  I grew up on canned or fresh that had been cooked until they were mush.  A whole new world opened up as an adult and I found out that green beans could be crunchy.  I still love, love, love canned peas and corn.

 

I cannot choke down canned greens or asparagus though.  Bleh.  

 

I can our own green beans when I am able and sometimes tomatoes.  

 

Hubby is like you.  He grew up with that mushy texture and still likes it with some things (like peas).  However,  I corrupted him and switched him over to the crunchy side so he now prefers crunchy for all things even though he still likes the flavors of the other.  I think he draws the line at canned asparagus, but he still likes canned greens of all sort.  I keep some around for when he's fixing his lunches and I'm at school.

[Zinnia]

I like all vegetables, too. Fennel took years to grow on me, but now I like that, too.

 

I like canned beets just as much as fresh ones, which seems crazy to some people, but they are both good, so there you go.

 

I don't like a lot of vegetables frozen (like broccoli or English peas). But I eat some of every category.

[SKL]

I don't have a problem with any "form" of veggies.  I most regularly use fresh.  Sometimes frozen.  Canned is third.  I don't think canned is the devil, but it doesn't fit our lifestyle well.

 

The reason I prefer fresh is that it is more flexible to use, in my experience.

 

I will admit that we don't eat a lot of veggies.  We are more likely to eat fruit (also fresh).

[Mbelle]

I like veggies pretty much any way they come, but there are few I only like certain ways.  For me carrots need to be fresh.  Having said that I do buy the big bag of mixed veggies from Costco.  I use them in stir fry, chicken soup and shepherds pie for example.

 

I love cucumbers straight from the vine. So delicious!

[Zinnia]

I, too, can't imagine canned cucumbers, but I do love pickles, so maybe.

 

[Annie G]

Dh and I grew up in the south and our veggies were always served 'well cooked'.   So fresh, frozen or canned green beans still ended up being cooked on the stove for quite a while.  So for green beans we just go with canned unless it's summer and I can get them fresh. 

 

I freeze all the corn we eat (our farmer lives a few miles from here) except I buy about six bags a year of Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn for soups. 

 

We usually make two trips by car to Georgia every year and each time bring back 25-30 pounds of frozen zipper peas, butter peas, butter beans, lima beans, and black eyed peas to keep in our freezer.  Sometimes family members visit and they bring us frozen peas. 

 

We do eat canned beans for chili but if I'm making pintos and cornbread for dinner I cook them from dried.  

 

Canned tomatoes for sauce, chili, etc. 

 

Asparagus, zucchini, bell peppers, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, broccoli are bought fresh.  I don't like any of these frozen except broccoli.  

 

Here's where I'm a weirdo...we like canned Leseur peas. Every single one of us. 

 

Nothing against canned foods- there are just some veggies I like better fresh. Asparagus canned isn't at all like fresh but it took us years to get my dad to eat fresh. He'd grown up on canned and that was how he thought asparagus should be. Now he grows his own and has changed his preference. 

 

 

 

 

[regentrude]

I love fresh veggies. I occasionally use frozen corn, peas or asparagus.

The only things from cans I ever use are tomatoes (to use in sauce) and garbanzo beans.

 

I hate mushy vegetables. They have to be crunchy. I despise the texture of canned veggies.

Edited April 10, 2016 by regentrude

[meena]

I really don't like canned veggies, except green beans being my one exception. I'm weird in that I love, LOVE the taste and texture of canned green beans. I guess it comes from eating them frequently as a kid. I've learned to like fresh and frozen ones, as well as learning to like them lightly cooked rather than cooked to a mush and seasoned with onions and bacon grease.

 

I also prefer canned tomatoes for recipes. It's not practical to expect to find perfectly ripe tomatoes year-round. Canning preserves them at their best to enjoy all year.

[skimomma]

I prefer fresh but live in the frozen north so have to be cool with many forms of food if I want to eat anything other than cabbage and potatoes for 8 months of the year.  I can, dehydrate, and freeze as much as I can store each year.  I rarely buy pre-canned or frozen foods because we try to eat local as much as possible and I have a strict food budget.  But I like many factory canned foods well enough to eat them without complaint when necessary.  We are currently in the doldrums of the food year.  We still have canned tomatoes and some frozen green beans.  All else is gone.  The stored winter squash, cabbages, carrots, and rutabagas all got finished up within the last few weeks.  It is three months until we can get fresh produce locally.  I don't even start the garden until June.  So we will resort to factory canned and frozen as well as shipped-in fresh from who-knows-where. 

[Alice]

I grew up hating pretty much all veggies. As I got older I started to eat them more but I much prefer them raw or very slightly cooked. I think it's a texture thing for me. I don't really like canned veggies but I see it more as a reflection of my own pickiness than anything inferior about the canned veggies. 

 

We eat a lot of beans (one child is a vegetarian so it's his main source of protein) and I mostly get the canned ones. We do canned tomatoes since neither dh or I like tomatoes on their own and I only get them to use in sauce or chili or soup or something. I buy peas, corn and spinach frozen and occasionally other frozen veggies but most everything else is fresh.