Vonnies Health Spot

COOKING HEALTHFULLY IS A COMPONENT OF OVERALL HEALTH

Cooking well and healthfully is as important to good health as all the other components, such as exercise, not smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation and so forth. Nowadays this information applies to men as well as women. All the men I know cook and one way for a guy to lose my respect in an instant is to say he depends on the significant female in his life to feed him and that he would starve without her. I raised two sons and had them help me in the kitchen from a very tender age. They were making cookies at 4 and 5 years old, then by 8 years old they were helping me make meals. They're grown now and do much of the cooking in their own households. I know they don't regret knowing how to cook and neither do their women.

Following are some tips collected from across the United States and published in Backyard Living magazine www.BackyardLivingmagazine.com  to help you on the lifelong road of cooking adventure:

• For more volume in egg whites, let stand in room temperature before beating. Use a glass or metal bowl (not plastic) with a tapered bottom and wide top. (Egg whites expand six times when beaten, so make sure bowl is large enough). C. Liska, Maplewood, Ohio

• Lemon juice may be substituted for vinegar in many salad and vegetable recipes. Just a squeeze makes vegetables taste livelier too! P. Reed, Conyers, Georgia

• Here’s how to keep corn on the cob garden fresh for up to a week. Immediately husk the corn and remove silk. Then, place cobs in zip top plastic bags in between layers of paper towels that you have soaked in cold water. Refrigerate. When ready to cook, remove as many cobs as you need. M. Flory, Elkhart, Indiana

• Make super-fine sugar by whirling granulated sugar in a blender or food processor until powdery. B. Wood, Glenview, Illinois

• Pancakes will brown just beautifully if you add 1 tablespoon of molasses to your butter. L. Gauthier, St. Didace, Quebec

• Melt chocolate squares for recipes right in their wrappers in the microwave oven. (Be sure the wrappers are paper, not foil.) Then, just scrape the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl. N. Mauser, Klingerstown, Pennsylvania

• Whenever I cook cabbage, I put a piece of celery in the kettle to kill the cooking odor. No cabbage smells in the house! E.T. Bangert, Waco, Texas

• Before opening a canned ham, run hot tap water over the container for a few minutes—the ham will slip out easily. P. Steenbock, Shoshoni, Wyoming

• For quick baked potatoes, first cook 3 minutes in the microwave, then 20 minutes at 375F degrees in a conventional oven to crisp the skins. (Remember to pierce the skins before microwaving!) B. Maschke, Young America, Minnesota

• When I mix ground meat with other ingredients, I put the meat and ingredients in a plastic bag and zip it shut. Then, I knead the mixture in the bag. This way, I don’t have to wash either a bowl or my hands afterward. I can also freeze whatever I don’t use right in the bag. H. O’Key, Litchfield, Connecticut

• Dip fresh strawberries into sour cream or yogurt and roll in strawberry-flavored gelatin granules for a tasty treat. A. Krawezyk, North Providence, Rhode Island

• For a refreshing snack, combine 1-1/2 cups orange juice, a peeled banana and a tray of ice cubes in a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy. K. Young, Chico, California

• When celery loses it’s crispness, place it in a pan of cold water along with a sliced raw potato. Let it stand for a while and the celery will again be crunchy. L. White, Akron, Ohio

• For fresh tasting frozen raspberries, thaw one pint of frozen berries in a syrup solution of 2 cups water to 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Drain and use immediately. R. Dyck, Forest, Ontario

• Freeze whole strawberries on a cookie sheet until firm: transfer to heavy plastic bags or 5-quart ice-cream pails for storing. E. Plaster, Cushing, Washington

• If pancake syrup is too sweet to suit you, make a fruit topping for pancakes, waffles, or french toast. Place 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries in small saucepan, mix together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/3 cup water and pour over berries. Cook over medium heat until thick and clear. Sweeten to taste, using artificial sweetener if desired. J. Page, Edenville, Michigan.

• Tie serving-size bunches of asparagus stalks together with kitchen twine and cook, covered, in boiling water for 8–10 minutes. Each bunch can be easily lifted from the water, then just snip the twine and serve. L. Spadoni, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Enjoy!

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Photo credits: Little boys cooking-Olga Solovei; couple in kitchen-Fred Goldstein; guy checking chicken-Phillip Holland.
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.

BRAIN FOOD

Be sure to eat your veggies to stay sharp suggests a study that tracked more than 3,700 men and women and was reported in Environmental Nutrition. Researchers assessed what the participants ate and then tested their mental acuity three years and six years later. The result? Subjects who ate three vegetables daily (particularly the green leafy type) retained their mental abilities 40 percent longer than those who ate less than one veggie a day.

You might like to try the following recipe.

ille_ingr_lechatmachinLAVONNE'S RATATOUILLE

Olive oil (enough to cover bottom of a large frying pan
2 onions, peeled, cut in about ½-inch pieces
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 bell peppers, one red, one green, seeded, cut in about ½-inch pieces
3 or 4 zucchini, cut into 1-inch thick rounds
1 small eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, cut into eighths
¼ teaspoon of thyme*
¼ teaspoon of oregano*
1 bay leaf*
½ cup of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in heavy skillet; sauté onions and garlic gently until they become translucent (about 2 minutes). Add peppers; sauté a few more minutes. Add zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes (adding a little more oil, if necessary); cook about 5 more minutes. Add thyme and oregano. Simmer gently, uncovered, 30 to 40 minutes, until all vegetables are just tender. Add salt and pepper. Baste often; do not scorch. Stir in chopped parsley and top with Parmesan cheese. Place under a broiler for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned around the edges. May be served hot or cold.

*These herbs may be omitted, or added lightly to taste.

Note: Other vegetables may be added. I often use carrots and potatoes in the mix. Also to make it a complete meal, you can add 1-inch chunks tofu or serve ratatouille as a side dish with meat.

This is a very healthy recipe because it contains so many vegetables, which release their juices that turn into a delicious vegetable gravy during cooking. The gentle sautéing also enhances some of the phytochemicals, such as lycopene in the tomatoes. If you include carrots in the recipe, the olive oil helps the digestive system absorb their carotenoids.

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Photo Credits: ingredients for ratatouille-LeChat Machine; cooked ratatouille-Corinne Matusiak

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this weblog is not to dispense medical advice nor in any way is meant to be construed as diagnostic or prescriptive. Always check with your physician before beginning any new program or trying any of the items discussed in the posts that appear on this site.