Pepper family

Speaking Vegetables

Educational Project on Healthy Food for kids: Books on Fruits, Berries, Tea, Honey, Chocolate, Cereals, Herbs & Vegetables with healthy recipes

Since 1999  books on Fruits and Vegetables for kids with Healthy Recipes  were published and distributed in USA, UK, RSA, Russia, Holland and India. The well-deserved popularity of this unique approach to healthy diet is growing ...

Stuffed Pepper

- 5 sweet bell peppers
- 150g cheese
- 150g butter
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 tablespoons parsley
- celeriac, dill (chopped)

Grate the cheese and mix with the butter, garlic and chopped herbs. Cut the tops off the peppers and pour the filling inside . Leave the dish in the fridge for 40 minutes. Cut in half with a sharp knife before serving.

Pepper Family: story for kids

The aubergine led the boy to a green fence with a gate, underneath which “VITA” was written in huge letters.

‘What does Vita mean?' Toby asked.

‘VITA means ‘life' in Latin, so we chose it as the name for our hospital. We vegetables use our vitamins to give people the gift of life.

If someone does not get enough vitamin B, their arms and legs can go numb.

Without vitamin A, people have growth problems and bad vision.

Without vitamin D, children's bones become soft and bent.

Vitamin C keeps you very healthy; without it, you can get scurvy.'

Suddenly, the gate opened and two distinguished gentlemen appeared before the boy, one in a green silk robe, the other in a red one.

‘Let me introduce myself, Toby; I am Bell Pepper,' said the gentleman in the green robe. ‘My brother, Red Chilli Pepper, is the main doctor in our hospital.'

A tiny little creature which looked like a miniature black pea peeked out of Bell Pepper's pocket.

‘ Аnd this is our little brother, Black Pepper. He came to us from faraway India ,' Dr. Bell Pepper said, introducing the tiny thing.

Upon these words, the little creature leapt out of his pocket and onto his shoulder, and bowed gallantly to Toby.

‘You're brothers are so big, and you're so small!' Toby said in amazement.

‘Small, but heroic,' Black Pepper replied proudly. ‘Every house is now full of me, whereas in the past I was more precious than gold.'

‘Still, I can't understand how brothers can look so different: they are bright, but your little black jacket wouldn't even show up on the ground,' Toby pointed out.

‘I don't grow in the ground: I'm a vine, you can find me climbing up tree trunks in damp, tropical rainforests in India . Bell peppers are my brothers by name only, not by origin. We are originally from different families and different continents. I am from India and they are from South America ,' Black Pepper explained.

‘Why do people call you brothers?' Toby said in even greater amazement.

‘People got mixed up, or to be more precise, one very well known person, Christopher Columbus,' Bell Pepper explained. ‘He was sailing to India and arrived in South America . He wanted to bring Indian black pepper back to Europe , but instead he brought red hot chilli peppers and other members of the nightshade family, which you already know.'

‘Yes, I know the tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines,' the boy said.

‘That's right, I'm related to them. We should all be grateful to Christopher Columbus for moving from South America to Europe . When Columbus arrived in South America , he realised that its inhabitants didn't know about salt. They put Indian red salt in their food – it's red hot chilli pepper powder. Just a pinch could flavour a whole barrel of water. The Indians called it “akhi” and valued it highly for making food tasty and adding vitamins to it. In 100g red chilli powder there is a whole gram of vitamin C.

Now it's available throughout the world: in Japan, Bulgaria and Georgia, farmers dry red pepper pods on their roofs.'

‘I don't understand,' Toby confessed. ‘You're a sweet bell pepper, but where is the spicy red pepper which Columbus brought over?'

‘That's my older brother. We'll tell you a story about how we came to serve people, and you'll understand everything.'

Questions and tasks on this story on pepper:

• Which kind of pepper do you eat most in your family?
• Which of the pepper brothers would you most like to be friends with and why?
• Which of the peppers do you think is the most healthy?
• Which of the peppers belong to the nightshade family?
• The teacher divides the children into three groups. The first group are the black peppers, the 2nd group - the red hot chilli peppers and the third, the sweet bell peppers. Each group chooses a leader. Then the children disperse and mix in with one another. When the teacher shouts “stop” everybody stops and stays where they are. Next the leaders give various commands to the members of their group. For example: sit, raise your hands, clap your hands. Each group must obey the commands of their leader only. Anyone who follows the wrong command must leave their group. The most successful group wins.

... This was the first story for kids on pepper's family 'The Pepper Brothers'. The complete series of stories on pepper's family including 'The Red Hot Chilly Pepper', 'How the Chilli Pepper became sweet' and 'The Peppercorn', each with creative tasks and healthy recipes, you will find in the book 'WORLD OF VEGETABLES'.

IN "THE WORLD OF VEGETABLES" each story for kids on healthy food is delivered in an entertaining fairytale representational form and narrates about a particular vegetable, its importance in daily diet, its values. Each story for kids about vegetables concludes with healthy recipies. More about this book for kids >>