COOKING FOR YOUR HEALTH

Eating Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

One of the top trends today for healthy eating is consuming fresh fruit and vegetables and not much meat. Some people eat primarily fresh fruits, grains and vegetable with occasional pieces of meat for protein. They have a diet low in fat and high in fiber. Consumers that follow this plan are less likely to develop hypertension, diabetes and cancer. Many studies show this is a healthy way to eat. People are looking for foods to eat with health benefits when dining out and cooking at home. Many consumers are interested in cancer preventing fruits and vegetable. They are looking at the ingredients in foods like calcium in yogurt and anti oxidants in some vegetables.

More consumers are buying food from local farm markets and farms. They are aware that sustainable food is often better grown locally. It does not have to travel miles to get to your supermarket or table. Some consumers are growing their own vegetables in the garden during warm weather months. Shopping for seasonal fruits and vegetables in season is another trend many consumers and restaurants have started. They cook recipes based around the seasonal fruits, vegetables and dairy items in the region.

Busier Life Styles More Convenience

Consumers are busy but still want healthy food that is convenient. Restaurants and supermarkets are addressing this issue by providing healthier choices for consumer to buy. Many supermarket and even some restaurants are hiring dietitians to consult with on what food items to eat. The dietitians combine the convenience factor with good sound nutrition. Some supermarket even have a dietitian for shoppers to consult on special diets or who give lectures and meet with customers.

Organic food is sold now in regular supermarkets. Slowly it is becoming more mainstream to eat organic fruits, vegetable, grains, meats, and other items. Local farm markets sell organic produce that consumers can buy. Even some restaurants cook with only organic products. Diets like the Mediterranean diet have given organic food
some great press. There are many more farm markets in 2008 than there were ten years ago. Another trend is there is more concern over food safety. The food scare this year with tomatoes and peppers make consumer more aware of washing fruits and vegetables as very important. It is also important to know where products are grown and how they are handled for safety.

Consumers busy lifestyle and interest in food and dieting has created personal chef services for consumers with
the necessary income. Some restaurants have meal delivery and many diet companies will deliver food items they manufacture to your home. Companies like Atkins, NutraSystem, and Zone Gourmet are a few of these companies Consumer want to know more about where the food they eat comes from and how it is packaged and made. Food with probiotics again like yogurt are becoming popular with consumers because they help digestion.

There are more whole grain products available for consumers to eat. Breads now have a wide choice of whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, oatmeal, and sunflower There are some new grains on the market like quinoa, millet and amaranth. More consumers are reading labels on food looking at the sodium, sugar and fat content of products than ever before. Alternative sweeteners like stevia are on the market and bottled water is popular because it offers less calories and a more healthy drink with less sugar.

There are several oils for healthy cooking. One of the best is olive oil. It has a high smoke point and does not break down quickly as some other types of oils do. When cooking with olive oil it will not lose its health benefits so it is a good oil to use in salad dressings and for cooking with. Extra virgin olive is the best in terms of nutritional value and health benefits. It is good for your heart too.

There are different types of olive oil extra virgin is the best and the least processed from the first pressing of olives. The next type is virgin olive oil which is from the second pressing of olives. Pure olive oil goes through processing and refining and extra light undergoes the most processing of all of the kinds.

When looking for a healthy oil to cook with look at the type of fats it has. Monosaturated fats reduce the level of what is known as bad cholesterol. The oils that have a high level of this fat are olive oil, canola oil and peanut oil. Poly unsaturated fats with omega 3 and 6 are considered healthy fats too. These oils are corn, soybean, safflower, and grapeseed. Other good choices for cooking are walnut and flaxseed oil. If you are going to do cooking that requires high heat choose peanut or sunflower oil for searing and frying. Oils that are good for baking, sautéing and stir frying are grapeseed, safflower or sunflower oil.

Olive oil is rich in vitamins like E which is a powerful anti oxidant. Store the oil in a bottle made of dark glass or a stainless steel container. The container should be air tight because the oil reacts with air and becomes rancid. Olive oil has many uses like drizzling it on salad and bread, using it to make homemade condiments, brushing it on meat and poultry, adding it to soup and stews, on potatoes and vegetables. The flavor is very good.

Instead of sautéing your vegetables you might want to steam them then add olive oil or another cooking oil for flavor. Broiling, grilling, roasting, and baking meat brushed with oil is healthier than frying and sautéing. You can buy a brush and put your favorite oil in a small dish then brush it on meats, fish and poultry quickly just before cooking. You can drizzle oil on vegetables, rice and pasta dishes.

Canola oil is another healthy oil for cooking. It is easy to find on most supermarket shelves. It is low in sauturated fats produced from canola plants not rapeseed plants. Store canola oil in a cool dark place when not using it. It is good for frying as the flavor does not overpower the food fried. It goes well in salad dressings and mixes well with other ingredients. It does not separate so the salad dressing or sauce remains consistent. It is healthy oil to be used in baking. Instead of using butter on bread pour your favorite healthy oil on it. When you bake substitute oil for butter you reduce fat about 25 percent.

Healthier cooking is all about how cooking light can improve your health without producing boring or unattractive food. Today, more emphasis is being put on reducing our calorie intake and eating foods that are better for us. In order to achieve this we need to look at cooking lighter which need not be difficult.

To start cooking lighter substitute your regular high calorie or overly fatty ingredients with their lighter alternatives. There are many alternatives to the staple food ingredients we are used to using. Choose those ingredients that are low in trans fats and lower in calories.

Dressings are particularly high in all the wrong things so try a low fat mayonnaise or fat free ranch dressing in your sandwiches. Avoid using foods coated in oil, many types of tinned fish are now packed in water rather than oils, this significantly reduces your calorie intake.

Whenever you have a choice, opt for 100% whole grain as the first ingredient in the bread, muffins, rolls, and other such goods like pasta and rice you choose. Do not be fooled for bread that just looks brown; if it has enriched bleach flour as one of the main ingredients, then it is definitely not whole grain. Whole grain breads will not just be higher in fiber and lower in fat, they are also healthier for your heart and are proven to help protect against some diseases too. How’s that for cooking light?

Change the oil you cook with. Olive oil is expensive but is ideal. Try using smaller amounts, you will often find your food tastes better. If you cannot afford olive oil, canola is a good alternative which won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

If you are into baking, try using Splenda, a no calorie sweetener instead of sugar and try unsweetened apple sauce instead of vegetable oil. Line your baking pans with no fat cooking spray instead of butter and use semi sweet or preferably dark chocolate.

No matter what fad diet comes on to the scene it is always good practice to follow low fat cooking recipes in general. You can find a lot of great-tasting meals that are easy to prepare and that are cost-effective. Many of us are so used to low fat cooking that we know some of the recipes by heart.

Since I am one of those fans of the low fat recipes I will share some basic hints and tricks that can lower the amount of fatty foods in your diet. You won’t miss a thing with these low fat cooking tips and you will find your waistline thanking you in a few weeks. These easy tips are affordable and you will be surprised how small details really add up.

Cooking spray is a staple of any low fat cooking regimen. You can find cooking spray in a variety of flavors and they add no fat to your meal project at all. Using these sprays instead of butter and oils will drastically reduce the amount of fat in any meal that you create.

I love to use olive oil flavored cooking spray when grilling chicken. You can create a low fat cooking recipe for chicken Parmesan that you never thought possible. Since Italian tomato sauce is naturally low in fat it makes and ideal element in many of the recipes. Add some pasta and fat-free cheese to the mix and you have a delightful Italian meal that is packed with vitamins and protein.

Fish is another staple of the low fat cooking kitchen. You can make great dishes in no time at all when working with fish. Just grab some foil and put flounder in the center. Spray with butter flavored cooking spray and add your favorite vegetables. Bake the whole concoction in the oven and that’s all there is to it.

Low fat cooking doesn’t just involve fish and chicken. There are plenty of red meats that you can use in your recipes as well. Most of the leaner cuts do tend to be a littler tougher than their fatty counterparts but this can easily be addressed with a good tenderizer.

Remember to add some flavor and spice with great condiments like lemon and honey as well as peppers and seasonings. Your low fat cooking recipes can be very enjoyable. In fact, you may not even realize that you are missing any fatty calories at all.

Cooking is an act of preparing food by heat application. It is a great combination of cooking techniques and tools. It needs right selection and measurement of ingredients to improve flavor and digestibility of food. The person who is going to cook should have sufficient skill of cooking.

Cooking normally changes flavor, texture, appearance and nutritional properties of food. People generally learn cooking from their parents or grandparents while some people do their own with help of cookery books or cooking shows. Best cook gives an experience of cafeteria or restaurant at home. Here are some tips to cook delicious as well as healthy food.

Whenever you’re going to start cooking food, collect all essential ingredients at one place.

You can buy a potato ricer for mashed potatoes and give a beautiful look to your kitchen.

Preheat the oven at the time of baking steaks because a really hot oven will blister just outer part of the meat and keep the juices in.

Use salad spinner to prepare soggy lettuce. These are quite expensive but works well.

Use drinkable wine to cook certain foods.

Whenever you’re using a roasting pan apply some olive oil on the surface.

Hand blender can be used to puree the soup.

Mushrooms should be wiped off with a piece of cloth instead of washing under a tap.

Check the size of roasting pan before preparing meal.

You can use carrots to sweeten your sauces.

You may want to learn how to cook better so you can impress a boy friend or girl friend. There is always room to learn new skills when it comes to cooking. This article will look at a few simple cooking tips to help you along the way.

For domestic cooking, a tandoor is not really convenient but the meat dishes can be reproduced on a barbeque or in the oven. Furthermore, in times of hot weather, when cooking on the stove and turning on the oven adds to the heat, a slow cooker provides a good alternative.

Cooking Tip #1 - When cooking meats of any kind, there is no sauce like a sauce made from the meat trimmings and bones of the meat itself.

Cooking Tip #2 - By taking the time to properly treating your pans, you will enjoy cooking much more and increase the life of your investment.

Cooking Tip #3 - A secret to cooking well lies in combining complimentary foods, where one ingredient actually enhances the flavor of the other.

Cooking Tip #4 - It is not necessary to brown meat before slow cooking, but it gives more depth of flavor in the food and removes some of the fat, especially in pork, lamb and sausages.

Cooking Tip #5 - To ensure even cooking when roasting a whole tenderloin, the small end should be tucked up and tied or trimmed for other use.

Cooking Tip #6 - India offers some of the more familiar mix Indian dishes, including the popular tandoori-style of cooking. This will enhance the taste and the aroma of your cooking. Any recipe from India is worth cooking for the aroma alone.

Cooking Tip #7 - When considering taking a cooking class it is important to find a class that will be of the most benefit to you.

Cooking Tip #8 - Using a Crock Pot

Crock Pot recipes tend to be ones which are a bit different than the usual recipes that require stovetop or oven cooking. You can tenderize tough meat by cooking it in a crock pot to save a bad piece of meat.

Due to the fact that slow cookers like a crock pot are simple, safe and require no attention while cooking, people who use it enjoy the time-saving convenience it provides. For those who are not concerned about cooking in aluminum the West Bend Versatility 6-quart Oval Slow Cooker will work well to cook meats.

If you want to save additional time in the evenings, try cooking in a Crock pot.

You’ll find hundreds of cooking tips and recipes using whole grains, and more specialty whole grains (with cooking charts), and nutritional information on many web sites. Any whole grains can be cooked in a pot just as you would cook white rice, but they take longer and will use more liquid.

What’s the secret to having fun cooking? Is there a magic bullet that solves all the problems in the kitchen? Maybe, Maybe not. However, two undisputable elements of fun cooking are speed and quality. In other words, making fast cooking great, makes cooking fun!

Having fun cooking is the key to being able to cook dinner every day for your family even after a long day at work. That fun feeling will get you the accolades for a great dinner, which will in turn make cooking even more fun.

So how do we make fast cooking great? You start by breaking down the elements of cooking. We can do this by looking at cooking as a three-part process:

1. Preparation

2. Execution

3. Serving/Cleaning

Typically, the focus is on the execution. Do you have a great recipe? How much time do I cook the meat for? However all great chef’s know that it’s the preparation that is the key to making fast cooking great. In addition, planning for the serving/cleaning helps the experience remain fun after everyone is fed.

Before you begin to cook for your family, make sure you plan your menus before going to buy groceries. After you have a plan, think about what ingredients have the quality and convenience that will help you in the process of making fast cooking great. Thinking about this in the preparation process will help you whip out great food fast.

In future entries we will focus on some of the things you need to keep in mind to make sure you get the quality and convenience in your ingredients that will really make a difference for you in the kitchen. Until then have fun making fast cooking great.