So while at the Central Market yesterday looking for a few select items like meat and sweet potatoes for the dogs, carrots for us along with some potatoes ect. Our friends , my husband and myself ran across some delish looking eggplant! Deep purple almost no flaw eggplants! They had one which was hug 20 "bushel" package. Needless to say we jumped on that and split the $5 cost.  Now I have a good 10 eggplant to figure out what to do with! So would love some recipe ideas from you lovely folks!

Here are some good fact about this great plant!

How to Select and Store
Choose eggplants that are firm and heavy for their size. Their skin should be
smooth and shiny, and their color, whether it be purple, white or green, should
be vivid. They should be free of discoloration, scars, and bruises, which
usually indicate that the flesh beneath has become damaged and possibly decayed.

The stem and cap, on either end of the eggplant, should be bright green in
color. As you would with other fruits and vegetables, avoid purchasing eggplant
that has been waxed. To test for the ripeness of an eggplant, gently press the
skin with the pad of your thumb. If it springs back, the eggplant is ripe, while
if an indentation remains, it is not.
Although they look hardy, eggplants are actually very perishable and care
should be taken in their storage. Eggplants are sensitive to both heat and cold
and should ideally be stored at around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees
Celsius). Do not cut eggplant before you store it as it perishes quickly once
its skin has been punctured or its inner flesh exposed.
Place uncut and unwashed eggplant in a plastic bag and store in the
refrigerator crisper where it will keep for a few days. If it is too large for
the crisper, do not try to force it in; this will damage the skin and cause the
eggplant to spoil and decay. Instead, place it on a shelf within the
refrigerator.
If you purchase eggplant that is wrapped in plastic film, remove it as soon
as possible since it will inhibit the eggplant from breathing and degrade its
freshness.

today, there are dozens of foods we fool ourselves into thinking are healthful
when in truth they do nothing but pad our hips and arteries. Here are 9 of the
worst offenders on your grocery store shelves.
1. Yogurt
It starts out as good stuff. Fat aside, there's the calcium
and protein you find in all milk products, along with probiotics, which make it
easier to digest for those with lactose issues. The only problem is that
straight yogurt can be pretty bitter, so manufacturers load the stuff with sugar
and masquerade those carbs as fruit in an effort to make the whole thing more
palatable. Have a look at most flavored yogurt and you'll find the second
ingredient to be sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. One container of Yoplait®
Original Strawberry has 170 calories, with 5 grams of protein and 33 grams of
carbohydrates, 27 of which are sugar. Oddly enough, these are the exact same
nutrition facts for Yoplait's other, less healthy-sounding flavors, including
Key Lime Pie and White Chocolate Raspberry.

Solution:
Buy plain yogurt and flavor it yourself. You'd be amazed at how far a handful of
raspberries or a tablespoon of honey will go to cut the bitter taste.

2. Wheat Bread
Whole-grain wheat is better for you than refined wheat. By keeping
the bran and germ, you maintain the naturally occurring nutrients and fiber.
But, for some reason, manufacturers constantly come up with new ways to lead you
back to the refined stuff. One of their latest tricks is to refer to refined
flour as "wheat flour" because, obviously, it's made of wheat. But just because
it's wheat-based doesn't mean it's not refined. The distracted shopper can
mistake this label for "whole wheat flour" and throw it in his cart. Another
loaf of cruddy, refined, fiberless bread has a new home.


Solution: Slow down when you read the label. That word
"whole" is an important one.


3. Chicken
Just because you made the switch from red meat doesn't mean
you're in the clear. Three ounces of raw chicken breast, meat only, has 93
calories, 19.5 grams of protein, and 1.2 grams of fat. Three ounces of dark meat
(wings, thighs, and legs), meat only, has 105 calories, 18 grams of protein, and
3.6 grams of fat. It may not seem like much, but it adds up.


Solution: Go for the breast, and while you're at it,
ditch the skin. It's nothing but fat


4. Frozen or Canned Fruit
Any food swimming in juice or "light syrup" isn't good for you.
Furthermore, most canned fruit is peeled, meaning you're being robbed of a
valuable source of fiber. Frozen fruit is a little trickier. Freezing preserves
the fruit itself, but some manufacturers add sugar during the freezing process
to preserve color and taste.

Solution: Read that
ingredients list! You want it to say fruit, water—and that's it.


5. Canned Vegetables
"What?!" you declare. "There's light syrup in canned string
beans too?!" Nope—actually, they add salt to preserve this produce. A half-cup
serving of canned string beans has approximately 300 to 400 milligrams of
sodium.

Solution: Many companies offer "no salt added"
options. If you can't find one to your liking, go frozen instead—many of these
don't contain salt. Or better yet, buy what's fresh and in season.


6. Peanut Butter
Grind up peanuts, maybe add a little salt. How hard is it to
make that taste good?

Apparently, it's so difficult that many companies
feel compelled to add sugar or high-fructose corn syrup into the mix. Why? I
don't know. Some manufacturers, such as Skippy®, are up front enough to admit
this and call their product "Peanut Butter Spread," but many others still refer
to this sugary concoction as good old "peanut butter."


Solution: Read the label. (There's a theme emerging
here.) Considering real peanut butter has one ingredient—two ingredients, max—it
shouldn't be too hard to figure it out.

7. Juice
The range in the nutritional value of store-bought juices is massive.
On one end, you have "fruit drinks" with barely any actual juice in them. On the
other end, you have fresh-squeezed, 100% preservative-free juices like Odwalla®
and Naked Juice®. But no matter which you choose, it's important to remember
that it's never going to be as healthy as whole fruit. And if you're trying to
lose weight, it's a flat-out bad idea.

First off, it's been stripped of
fiber, so you absorb it faster, which makes it more likely to induce blood sugar
spikes. Secondly, you consume it faster and it's less filling, so you're more
likely to drink more.

There are a few instances when juice is okay. For
example, a home juicer can make predominately veggie-based drinks that are
loaded with vitamins and minerals and lower in calories. If you're using this as
part of a supervised juice fast, or you're trying to target a particular
nutrient while concurrently not trying to lose weight, go for it.
Otherwise, it's simply not worth it.

Solution: If you
must buy it, go fresh-squeezed, but you're usually better off just skipping it
entirely.


8. Canned Soup
As is also the case with canned veggies, you're entering a
sodium minefield. Half a cup of Campbell's® Chicken Noodle Soup has about 37% of
the recommended daily allowance—and who eats half a cup?


Solution: Read those labels carefully. Most companies
make low-sodium versions.


9. Fat-Free Salad Dressing
Dressing by definition is supposed to be fatty, and thus,
highly caloric. You use a little bit of it, and in doing so, you get a healthy
hit of the fats you need for a nutritionally balanced diet. Unfortunately,
people prefer to buy fat-free versions so they can drown their greens while
avoiding excess fat. Nothing's free. All this stuff does is replace the fat with
carbs and salt, so you've basically gone from pouring a little healthy
unsaturated fat on your salad to dumping on a pile of sugar.


Solution: Make your own salad dressing. One part
vinegar and one part olive oil with a blob of Dijon mustard makes an awesome
vinaigrette. And here's another trick: Make your salad in a sealable container,
add a tiny bit of dressing, and shake it up. It'll coat so much more than
tossing will.

And finally, make that salad with romaine lettuce,
spinach, or some other nutrient-rich leafy green. As far as we're concerned,
nutrient-poor iceberg lettuce should have gone the way of the South Dakota Diet
Plate.


Note: Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily
values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

By Denis Faye