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Cooking Hints
I would like to first thank you for developing Healthy Body Calculator. I think it's great way of giving a clear picture of what my health levels are.
I know that I am extremely obese for my size, but what worries me even more that my eating habits are going to reflect on my children. I originally came from Europe where cooking high fat foods are the standards. Even though my children are perfectly proportioned; they already have slightly increased cholesterol levels. When I lived in Europe walking is a way of transportation for your daily activities. Therefore, even though I never had to exercise per say, I was always fit. After we got married and I had my children I decided to go back to college and continue my education. It took up so much of my time that between raising my children and school I had no personal time to maintain my fitness. I also had a back injury in 1985 that is still part of my life. In addition to that I was born with a hip disability that they operated on when I was only 4 and limited my hip movement ability. I have been trying numerous diets and exercise programs, but I had always failed. It is totally frustrating to know that I accomplished so much in my life, but that something that should be so simple and natural as healthy eating and living, I can not even begin to master. I am totally confused as to what to do. I would like to change the life style of my family, but I just don't know how. I don't know what to cook and how to cook to make everyone still eat, but eat healthy. I also have a great time restraint on my hands when the meals got to be quick ( most of the time that is when pizza and McDonald's come in ). Please let me know if you can help me find a way to learn how to change our life style. I am totally desperate. I love my children and my husband so very much and I am afraid that these unhealthy habits will cause them harm. Thank you for your time to read this letter. You're welcome. If you chose to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week, use Your Nutrition Facts calories and fat grams to guide you in making healthy food choices.
Actually healthy eating and living takes time management and effort to change your food intake and exercise regularly. Your children will follow start with yourself and your healthy role modeling. If you only make 1 meal, you all eat healthy. You're probably doing better than you think. Healthy cooking starts with reducing the fat and sugar in recipes. Use your regular recipes, but start out by cutting the fat in half. If a recipe calls for cream, use evaporated skim milk. If a recipe calls for a whole egg, use 2 egg whites. You may want to check out some reduced fat cookbooks at your local library or bookstore to get some ideas on how to reduce the fat from your regular recipes. Pizza doesn't have to be high fat if you make your own starting with a prepared crust that is not cheese filled. Use Canadian bacon or ham instead of pepperoni or sausage and limit even low fat cheese on top. Also, olives contain mostly fat. A vegetarian pizza with Canadian bacon or ham and no extra cheese is a lower fat alternative to order for delivery. Fast food doesn't have to be a high fat alternative. Select burgers with lettuce and tomato, but without added cheese, bacon or special sauces. Choose broiled chicken rather than breaded and fried. Add a fresh salad (don't add croutons, bacon bits and cheese toppings) and milk instead of French fries and a soda. Next, serve yourself smaller portions. Have you read my eating habits topic? If you need assistance with reducing the fat in your recipes and menus, contact a Registered Dietitian. I was looking to find the difference between icing sugar and confection sugar as a member of my family cannot use icing sugar in cooking. Thank-you for your time and help.
Confectioner's sugar is called icing sugar in Britain and sucre glace in France. As such they are the same.
What happens if the styrofoam container, within which I'm heating my food, has melted a bit? I was microwaving some soup and when it came out, a ring of "melted" styrofoam, where the grease/oil was floating, appeared. I had a bit of the soup, then got scared. Should I be? Thanks for your attention.
Would recommend throwing it out as styrofoam is a petroleum product and a known carcinogen. I also checked your question out with some food scientists and microbiologists.
Next time heat the soup in a glass container or plastic coffee cup I have a recipe that calls for 3 cups of cut up chicken breast. How many ounces of boneless chicken breasts should I buy? I find I frequently have trouble with recipes, which call for one measure, but the grocery store sells in another measure. Could you post some equivalents?
Generally, a chicken breast weighing 4 ounces raw (boneless and skinless) is the same as 3 ounces cooked and measures about 3/4 cup per breast. So 3 cups of cut up chicken breast would depend on whether the recipe calls for raw or cooked chicken. The number of servings in the recipe would give you a clue as to the number of chicken breasts to buy. If the recipe serves 4 people, one ingredient should be 4 chicken breasts
I usually steam fresh vegetables for approx. 10-20 minutes, depending on what I am cooking, then serve them. Do they loose nutrients if they are steamed then refrigerated for a day or two and microwave to heat before serving? This seems to me that the vegetables are being over cooked or twice cooked.
Steaming is great to retain vegetables, but the cooking time seems long. Cook the vegetables over boiling water then test after 5 minutes with a fork. The fork should penetrate the vegetable, but is should still feel crisp. Why not cook only the amount you need for a meal?
If you do have vegetables left over, cover them tightly and refrigerate. Then re-heat in a microwave only to serving temperature (140 degrees). Vitamin loss, especially C, increases with air, temperature, water and time. So the less of each, the better. Less water (steamer) and shorter time (5 minutes) are better. Is there any harm in eating microwave foods daily? Do you have any information on the effects of a microwave?
Microwave cooking of food is not harmful, based on current research. In fact, microwaves preserve more of the vitamins and minerals in food because the food's exposure to heat and water is shorter than with conventional cooking methods.
Microwaves cause the water molecules in food to vibrate rapidly. It is this vibration that gives off heat, which cooks the food. What initially scared consumers about using microwaves was the warning on the door about radiation if the door was open. All microwaves have a safety mechanism that prevents you from operating the oven with the door open. The only person who should not use a microwave oven is someone who has a heart pacemaker implanted. The microwave could disrupt the electrical impulses produced by the pacemaker. What is the best way to prepare a two pound round steak to preserve the flavor and nutrients?
Round steak is a less tender cut of meat and is usually cooked until well done. A two-pound round steak should be cooked at least two hours. Most meat should be cooked from 300 to 325 degrees. Shrinkage and flavor of the meat is best when cooked at a lower temperature for a longer time.
Also, it is usually cooked in a liquid like water, broth or tomatoes. Meat is a good source of protein, iron, vitamin B12, niacin and some trace minerals. Most of these vitamins are retained during cooking. Any vitamin such as niacin that may be lost from the meat would be preserved if you made gravy with the drippings. Is it important to cook spaghetti sauce for eight hours?
It is not necessary to cook spaghetti sauce for eight hours. I know Italians who do cook their sauce all day and I know Italians who cook their sauce only to serving temperature. Prolonged heat and extended cooking destroys the vitamin C in tomatoes. You only need to heat spaghetti sauce to serving temperature. Refrigerating the sauce overnight does allow the spices to more fully season the sauce.
I grow lots of zucchini every summer. Does it have any nutritional value? I cook it in recipes for soup, cakes and bread.
Zucchini is low in calories (19 per cup) and is comparable to other low calorie vegetables in protein (1.5 grams), fat (0 grams) and carbohydrate (3.8 grams). One cup is a significant source of vitamin C and a good source of magnesium and thiamin. Zucchini also contains iron, phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 , folacin and vitamin A.
So to answer your question, yes, zucchini does have nutritional value and when included in recipes, zucchini adds vitamins and minerals. Remember not to over cook it as a vegetable. Don't add too much water or use too high a heat. Both these cooking methods destroy significant amounts of vitamin C. Does an apple pie, after baking, still contain all the nutrients of the fresh apples that went into it?
Apples are a significant source of vitamin C, a moderate sources of potassium and low in most everything else. The peel does add significant fiber. A pie crust of flour, shortening and salt adds thiamin, riboflavin and niacin if it is made from enriched or whole-wheat flour. When making a crust, you can reduce the salt or leave it out completely to reduce the sodium content.
The vitamin C in the apples (7.8 milligrams) would be the only nutrient effected by baking a pie. Since the raw apples cook in the pie, some of the vitamin C lost during cooking one hour at 400 degrees would remain in the pie. Potassium is a mineral, like calcium. It is not lost in cooking. Your apple pie should have the majority of nutrients of the fresh apples that went into it. One slice of apple pie is a significant source of thiamin and niacin and contains less than 10% iron, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin C and phosphorus. |
