Space Food

Spacey Food: Menu News

May 2017

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2017/05/15/salad-days-on-the-iss/

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/lunar-martian-greenhouses-designed-to-mimic-those-on-earth

August 2015

Grown from Non-GMO Seeds/Lettuce in Space (w/ oil & vinegar ;)

First space-grown vegetables eaten in space / Earth @VeggiesOutofThisWorld

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Beginning w/ a pillow packet, seeds and ready-to-grow system

The astronauts use "extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar" over their "Outredgeous" variety lettuce

"The farther and longer humans go away from Earth, the greater the need to be able to grow plants for food, atmosphere recycling and psychological benefits,” NASA scientist Gioia Massa said in a statement.

"In the early days of the Veggie experiment almost three years ago, Massa said that simply having plants around the space module made astronauts feel more at home.

"Based upon anecdotal evidence, crews report that having plants around was very comforting...” Massa said. “You could also think of plants as pets. The crew just likes to nurture them."

Thank you Science Team Leader, Gioia Massa !

Floating Tortillas

Astro Sandra Magnus:

Catch a Flying Tortillas and Create a Tortilla-wrapped Meal

To build a tortilla you have to take the food from the packaging and transfer it to the surface of the tortilla, have it stick there, and then set down the food package on the duct tape that is on the table (for the purpose of holding things put when you set them there) and then grab your tortilla and eat it. It is a testament to how much we enjoy tortillas that we routinely go through this whole careful process of spooning things out of packages, slowly moving them on our spoon over to the tortilla, and spreading the food out over the surface, rather than just sticking our spoon in the package and bringing it to our mouths - a much easier endeavor!

So what do we put on tortillas and why are they important? Well, even with a 16-day menu and personal preference food thrown in, the food can get monotonous. But on a tortilla you can, for example, take a pouch of black beans, add some cheddar cheese spread, and some hot sauce or salsa, and presto, a whole new taste! I have put applesauce with peanut butter on a tortilla, beef enchiladas with tomatoes and artichokes (one of our dehydrated vegetable dishes) with salsa on one, tuna with mayo and mustard as another experiment, vanilla pudding with strawberries (it turns out the waffles are better as a base for fruits and puddings than the tortillas are), just to name a few. My crew mates are equally inventive. My favorite thing though, is to just heat the cheddar cheese spread, put it on the tortilla and add some salsa. You end up with a space cheese quesadilla. This is a trick I learned from Peggy Whitson when I was here visiting on my first mission (and you can be sure I planned ahead and brought lots of cheddar cheese spread).

http://www.cnet.com/news/houston-we-have-a-tortilla-problem/

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Hey Kids, wonder about taste buds in space?

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Taste-in-space-TLA-FINAL.pdf

https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/591741main_Food-For-Thought.pdf

Tomatoesphere

Your school can help prep tomatoes for a space ride to Mars

http://tomatosphere.org/faq

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/744.html

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160932710000487

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Got to Have a 'big bag of condiments

BBQ sauce... garlic paste, pesto paste, sun-dried tomato paste, ginger paste and a variety of mustards, mayo, horseradish, and sweet and sour paste. I also have some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, black olives and sun-dried tomatoes...