Another little note:

Over dinner with a nurse-nutritionist friend, we were discussing fresh foods. We were talking about carrots because I love to eat a lot of them for snacks (carrot sticks with hummous dip, oh yeah!). She mentioned how much more beneficial it is to eat carrots with something with a little fat such as butter, fried fish or in stir-fries.

Vitamin A is much better absorbed by the body if eaten with a little oil. I forgot to ask, but perhaps this has something to do with Vitamin A being an oil-soluble vitamin. This means it is stored longer in the body such as in fatty tissues and the liver. Other oil-soluble vitamins are D, E and K.

Mmmm... carrots - makes me want to cook some beef stew.