Winter Squash

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• Winter Squash

Network for a Healthy California
Tulare County Office of Education
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Varieties of Winter Squash

• Acorn Banana
• Butternut Spaghetti
• Turban Pumpkin
• Hubbard Carnival

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Reasons to Eat Winter Squash

• A ½ cup cooked of these winter squash provides
• An excellent source of vitamin A
• A good source of vitamin C
• A good source of fiber

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Reasons to Eat Winter Squash

• A good source of potassium
• A good source of magnesium, thiamin, and vitamin
  B6
• A source of iron

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What is Iron?

• Iron is a mineral that helps move
• oxygen from the lungs to the
• rest of the body.
• Iron carries oxygen throughout your body so cells
  can produce energy.
• When your iron levels are low, you may feel tired
  or weak.
• Iron also helps keep red blood cells healthy and
  helps the body fight infections.

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Botanical Facts

• Squash are gourds of
• the Cucurbita (q-kurr-bit-ah) genus.

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Varieties Winter and Summer

• Winter squash are not grown or harvested in
  winter, but picked when fully ripe and feature a
  hard shell (rind) with thick skin you can not eat
  and a hollow seed cavity with fully developed
  seeds.
• The thick shell allows it to be stored for
  several months and eaten in the winter.

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Have you ever tried pumpkin soup?
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A Taste of Squash History
Squash are one of the oldest cultivated crops in
the Western Hemisphere.
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A Taste of Squash History

• Squash were originally cultivated for their
  seeds, as early varieties did not contain much
  flesh and were very bitter.
• How would you describe a bitter taste?

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A Taste of Squash History
Winter squash first migrated to Europe from Peru
by Spanish explorer Francisco Pizzaro.
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Plant Parts We Can Eat ?

• Squash plants have many edible parts including
  the fruits, leaves, tendrils, flowers, and seeds.

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Plant Parts We Can Eat
The seeds are eaten whole, toasted, ground into
paste, or pressed for oil. Shoots, leaves, and
tendrils are eaten as greens. Blossoms are used
for cooking and decoration.
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Plant Parts We Can Eat
Some plants have edible fruit but poisonous
leaves like tomatoes. The fruit is perfectly ok
to eat!
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National School Lunch WeekMarch 4-8
Write in a journal what you ate for lunch at
school and at home for two weeks. Write down
only what you ate, not what was served. Which
is healthier, lunch you ate at home or at school?

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Quiz

• Iron is a mineral that helps move _____from the
  lungs to the rest of the body.
• Oxygen
• 2. Winter squash grow best in the _______.
• Summer
• 3. Squash were originally cultivated for their
  _______.
• Seeds
• Squash have many parts you can eat. True or
  False?
• True
• Francisco Pizzaro invented pizza. True or False?
• False

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Tasting TrioPumpkin Parfait

• Ingredients
• 1. 1 can (29 oz) 100 pumpkin
• 2. 1 container (32 oz) low-fat or fat-free
  vanilla
• yogurt
• 3. 1 quart-sized bag ( 3 cups) mini wheat cereal
• Preparation
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the canned
  pumpkin and yogurt.
• 2. Gently break up the cereal to use as a
  topping.
• 3. Make your parfaits, starting with the pumpkin
• mixture, then topping it with the cereal.
•  

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• HOW I FELT ABOUT THIS RECIPE
• Loved it It was okay Didnt
  like it

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You are AWESOME!

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