FSHE-11: Cucumbers: Choosing, Storing, Preparing, and Enjoying

Anna Cason, Sandra Bastin | Mar. 31, 2025 (Minor Revision)

Cucumbers are refreshing and delicious. They support our health by providing hydration, fiber, and some nutrients to our eating patterns. Cucumbers generally fall into three groups: slicing cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, or seedless cucumbers. Consider the points below when choosing, storing, and preparing cucumbers so they can be enjoyed in a variety of ways.

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FSHE-10: Tomato: Choosing, Storing, Preparing, and Enjoying

Anna Cason, Sandra Bastin | Mar. 24, 2025 (Minor Revision)

Tomatoes are nutritious and delicious. They are available fresh, jarred, and canned, meeting budget, preference, and accessibility needs. Tomatoes also support health in many ways. Consider the points below when choosing, storing, and preparing tomatoes to enjoy them in a variety of ways.

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FSHE-7: Broccoli: Choosing, Storing, Preparing, and Enjoying

Anna Cason, Sandra Bastin | Mar. 17, 2025 (Minor Revision)

Broccoli is nutritious and delicious. It is often available fresh and frozen, meeting budget, preference, and accessibility needs. Broccoli supports health in many ways. Consider the points below when choosing, storing, and preparing broccoli so it can be enjoyed in a variety of ways.

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FCS3-334: Home Freezing Basics

Annhall Norris, Sandra Bastin | Feb. 28, 2025 (Minor Revision)

Are you interested in saving time on meal preparation? Do you want to minimize food waste? Would you like to save money by extending the harvest from your garden, prolonging the use of leftovers, or stretching out the shelf life of sale items from the store? If the answer to any or all these questions is “yes,” consider preserving these foods by freezing. Freezing is one of the easiest, most convenient, and least time-consuming methods of preserving foods. Using your home freezer, basic containers, and research-based preparation techniques, you can extend the shelf life of most foods.

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FCS3-104: Lactose Intolerance

Sandra Bastin | Nov. 12, 2024 (Major Revision)

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, the natural sugar found in most dairy products. Lactase, an enzyme our bodies produce, breaks down lactose into simpler units during digestion. Some people do not produce enough lactase or do not produce lactase at all. In this case, the lactose does not get broken down into smaller units. Instead, the lactose is fermented in the colon. This fermentation process often produces common symptoms of lactose intolerance, including bloating, abdominal gas or pain, diarrhea, and nausea.

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FCS3-524: Dietary Supplements: What are They and Who Needs Them

Sandra Bastin | Jul. 1, 2024 (Major Revision)

Choosing the right supplement is not a simple task, but with a little information, you can choose the best daily supplement for you. Traditionally, dietary supplements are products made of one or more essential nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, but they may also include amino acids, botanicals, or herbal ingredients. Supplements come in many forms including capsules, pills, gummies, powders, drinks, and bars.

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FCS3-525: Dietary Supplements: Be an Informed Consumer

Sandra Bastin | Jul. 1, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Vitamins, minerals, and herbal products are commonly referred to as dietary supplements. Botanicals or herbs, amino acids, and probiotics may also fall under the heading of dietary supplements. Sometimes, a health-care professional may recommend supplements to make sure an individual gets enough essential nutrients for the purpose of maintaining or improving health. Let's look at some basic information that will help you be a more informed consumer when choosing dietary supplements.

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FCS3-105: Nonnutritive Sweeteners

Sandra Bastin | Jun. 25, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Sucrose, or table sugar, is one of the most widely used ingredients in the foods we buy. We compare the sweetness of all other sweeteners to sugar, which is classified as a "nutritive sweetener." Nutritive sweeteners not only add flavor to our foods, but they also provide calories from carbohydrates. They are found naturally in some foods, like fruit and milk, and are added to other foods. Other nutritive sweeteners found on ingredient labels include fructose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, honey, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), molasses, invert sugars, concentrated fruit-juice sweeteners, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, and other sugars.

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FCS3-609: Shaking Down on Sodium

Sandra Bastin, Heather Norman-Burgdolf | Mar. 27, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Sodium is an important mineral to the body. It helps keep body fluids in balance, helps the body absorb certain nutrients, aids in muscle performance, and contributes to nerve activity. Excessive sodium in the diet is linked to high blood pressure or hypertension. Hypertension can contribute to diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke.

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FCS1-411: Be a Table Etiquette Superstar!

Sandra Bastin, Debbie Clouthier | Aug. 2, 2023 (Major Revision)

Your resume may get you the interview, but your personal skills will get you the job. One set of personal skills is table manners or etiquette. Etiquette is simply a set of rules to add enjoyment to any meal or social occasion. Table manners play a vital role in making a favorable impression on those around you.