My Love-Hate Relationship with Brussels Sprouts

I can't remember when I first decided that I liked Brussels sprouts. As a child, I ate very few vegetables, only corn (and that's a grain anyway), and carrots - raw and cooked from fresh - but would not eat them from a can. With an Irish Mom, there were potatoes at every meal, but potatoes are tubers, not technically a vegetable. Other than that you might get me to eat a green or yellow waxed bean here and there, but only on a good day (unless I happened to be snitching from Mr Beaudry's garden).

You couldn't pay me to eat peas (blech) and the smell of them to this day still gags me, the same with tomatoes. Fresh, canned, in a BLT - nope. I don't think I ever saw fresh broccoli, cauliflower or Brussel sprouts on the table while growing up.

I don't know precisely when my love of these vegetables hit me over the head, but I now eat broccoli, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts every day. It's a good thing my taste buds grew up because the diet I'm following requires a lot of vegetables and I've dropped 30 lbs so far and 40 points from my total cholesterol. I couldn't have done it if I were falling back on eating habits of yore (which is what caused the weight gain and high cholesterol in the first place).

Back to the Brussels sprouts. It's easier for me to buy them frozen because fresh Brussels sprouts should be eaten within a few days, and frozen I can keep on hand (In theory. Keep reading). I've tried growing them in my garden but that's one thing I haven't been able to master yet, but it's on my to-do list to research further and have another go at it.

I'm beginning to wonder if real farmers in this country have a problem growing them as well because there seems to be a shortage of frozen Brussels sprouts in my area. Every time I've gone to WalMart lately there are either none to be found or one lonely package shivering in the back, hoping not to be discovered and ripped from its chilly home. On the rare occasion that I find that the shelf has been restocked, I'll grab several packages, making sure to leave at least one for some other poor shopper who also suffers from Brussels sprouts withdrawal. This isn't a one-time occurrence, it's been happening for months.

So what's the deal with Brussels sprouts availability? I'm hoping my readers will check the stocks in their local stores and report back on whether it's a local phenomenon or a world-wide crisis. I need as much input as possible in order to make contingency plans.

Source: Personal opinion
(who else would write about Brussels sprouts)