Showing posts with label healthy food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy food. Show all posts
Nutritious and delicious FOOD
Linguine with White Bean Puttanesca
Ingredients:
6 ounces of whole wheat linguine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
12 pimiento-stuffed olives, sliced
1 tablespoon drained capers, chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can small white beans, rinsed and drained
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions:
1) Cook linguine according to package directions, omitting salt if desired; drain and place in large serving bowl.
2) Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, olives, and capers; simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 6-7 minutes. Add beans and salt; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
3) Pour beans and sauce over linguine, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.
Mixed Melon with Honeyed Ricotta
Ingredients:
2 cups fat-free ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups cubed cantaloupe
4 cups cubed honeydew
4 cups cubed watermelon
¼ cup toasted wheat germ
Health care to all Americans...What's in, what's out in the nation's health plan
Six years ago, candidate Barack Obama stood before Iowa voters and unveiled a plan designed to extend health care to all Americans.
"We can do this," he said with confidence. "The time has come for universal, affordable health care in America."
Three years ago,
President Barack Obama signed into law a plan designed to extend coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people.
"This is what change looks like," he exulted.
Not so fast.
Obama's message now boils down to this: Be patient, not yet, adjust your expectations.
A look at how the scope of Obama's health-care plan has narrowed in recent years:
PUBLIC OPTION? Never mind.
Obama once trumpeted the idea of providing a public option in health care, in essence a government-run plan that would be one of many choices for people seeking affordable care. That idea, popular with liberals but opposed by conservatives and many moderates, never made it into the health-care law. In the quest for a workable compromise, Obama deemed it expendable.
LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE? Buh-bye.
When the president signed his health-care plan into law, it included a proposal to provide basic long-term care insurance at an affordable cost. Before the program ever got off the ground, though, the administration ditched it last spring for fear it would turn into a financial drain. It could take be years before lawmakers to tackle the issue again.
COVERAGE FOR THE NEEDIEST? Not in every state.
The law envisioned millions of the neediest Americans gaining health insurance by enrolling in Medicaid, with coverage starting in January. But the Supreme Court threw a wrench in that plan last year when it gave states the right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion plan. Because of Republican opposition in many states, it looks like nearly 2 in 3 of those who would qualify for new Medicaid coverage may be out of luck because their state lawmakers have not agreed to expand the program.
WHAT ABOUT WORKERS? A longer wait.
The law requires companies with 50 or more workers to offer affordable coverage to full-time employees or risk a series of escalating tax penalties. Originally, that requirement was supposed to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014. But now the administration is pushing that requirement back a year, citing the complexity of the undertaking. Most medium and large business already offer health insurance. Those most likely to be affected by the delay: low-wage workers at hotels, restaurants and stores.
WHAT'S LEFT? Plenty.
Starting next year individuals will be required to carry health insurance or face fines. People who are uninsured will be able to shop for affordable coverage through online marketplaces. Middle-class people who don't have coverage through their jobs will use the marketplace to apply for tax credits to help pay their premiums. Low-income people will be steered to the Medicaid expansion — if their state participates. Insurance companies will be required to accept people regardless of their medical problems. A number of other changes already have taken effect, including a provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26 and a ban on lifetime limits on insurance coverage.
MORE...
Even though some firms won't have to offer insurance next year, workers can still get it.
The sudden delay of a major part of President Obama's historic health-care overhaul is raising questions about other potential problems lurking in the homestretch.
The requirement that many employers provide coverage is just one part of a complex law. But its one-year postponement has taken administration allies and adversaries alike by surprise.
White House officials said Wednesday that the delay was firm and would not be extended after a year - and that the overhaul will still be fully implemented by the time Obama leaves office. But the officials, who were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations on the record and spoke only on condition of anonymity, wouldn't rule out delays or tweaks to other provisions.
The White House action means that some companies that would have offered health insurance next year to avoid fines will not do so now. They're mainly firms with many low-wage workers, such as restaurants, hotels and temporary staffing companies.
The workers, however, will still be able to get coverage. Many may qualify for subsidized insurance through new marketplaces to debut Oct. 1, less than three months away.
The fact that new problems are popping up at this late stage could be a sign of additional troublesome issues ahead. It underscores a recent warning by the Government Accountability Office that the "timely and smooth" rollout of the new insurance markets can't be guaranteed, partly because much of the technology to run them hasn't been fully tested.
The timing of the announcement was also widely mentioned.
"It's understandable that when you announce a change in the law just before the Fourth of July holiday, it raises questions," said Drew Altman, president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "Critics will jump on it and use it as more ammunition against the law."
The foundation is a research group that has closely followed the evolution of the health law since it was signed in 2010.
The development was seen as noteworthy by both critics and allies of the new law.
"We are concerned that the delay further erodes the coverage that was envisioned," said Rich Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association, which has supported the Affordable Care Act.
Just over a week ago, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius officially launched the 100-day countdown to the new insurance markets. Uninsured Americans in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., will be able to shop online for health plans, and most will get government subsidies to pay their premiums for coverage that takes effect Jan. 1.
White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett wrote in her blog that the administration is "on target" to open the new health insurance markets and it's "full steam ahead."
Food and Nutrition
we all need adequate food and nourishment. Food, which is essential for survival and growth of human beings, can also lead us to many health risks if not chosen properly. But, before we discuss its beneficiaries and functions, let us define what is Food and Nutrition?
Food is made up of any substance, composed of carbohydrates, water, proteins, and fats either eaten or drunk by any animal, including humans to give energy or help build up the body for growth.
Nutrition is the process in which you consume food or nourishing liquids, digest and absorb them and use them for health and growth.
Also, Nutrition can be defined as a three-part process i.e. consumption, digestion and circulation of the food. The origin of the word ‘nutrition’ is linked to the Latin words ‘nutritionem and nutrire,’ meaning ‘’a nourishing’’ or ‘’to nourish, suckle.’’
As the saying goes, `we are what we eat, ` good nutrition plays a vital role in our wellbeing, helping to keep the mind and the body fit.
15-Minute Asian Tuna - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe
healthy food tip and recipe
Today's Recipe
If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
Our Quick Broil method of cooking is perfect for preparing seared tuna as tuna tastes best when not cooked through. The combination of tuna, shiitake mushrooms, and seasonings adds a wonderful Asian flavor to your Healthiest Way of Eating.
15-Minute Asian Tuna
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
4 6 oz tuna steaks
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 cup minced scallion
3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1 TBS minced fresh ginger
2 cups thickly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (remove stems)
1 TBS chicken broth
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS chopped cilantro
salt and white pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat the broiler on high and place an all stainless steel skillet (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron pan about 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes to get it very hot.
Press garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out its health-promoting benefits.
Rub tuna with lemon juice and season with a little salt and white pepper. Set aside.
Heat 1 TBS broth in a 10-12 inch stainless steel skillet on the stovetop. Healthy Sauté scallion, garlic, ginger, and mushrooms in broth for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly over medium heat.
Add orange juice and cook for another 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and cilantro.
Using a hot pad, pull out broiler pan and place tuna in hot pan and return pan to broiler. Keep in mind it is cooking rapidly on both sides, so it is done very quickly, usually in 2-3 minutes, depending on thickness.
Place tuna on plates and pour mushroom sauce over each piece. Or you can lay a bed of mushroom sauce on each plate and place tuna on top.
Serves 4
Serve with
Napa Cabbage Salad
Seaweed Rice..
Healthy Food Tip
If shellfish are bottom feeders and contain toxic chemicals, why do you include them among the World's Healthiest Foods?
In The World's Healthiest Foods book and WHFoods website, we have tried to limit the analysis of foods and food benefits to factors that have been documented in peer-reviewed, Western science research studies. I don't believe that's the only way to evaluate food, but it's the approach we were most comfortable with in constructing the list of the World's Healthiest Foods. When we looked at the published research on shellfish, we came to the conclusions that are presented in the book and on the website.
I'm especially concerned at the present time about the potential toxic residues found in virtually all fish and shellfish. But from a Western science research standpoint, there are also some well-documented benefits from shellfish. For example, the mineral selenium — so often deficient in the diet of American adults — is provided by shrimp in a concentration difficult to obtain from many other foods.
One type of shellfish that raises special concerns for me is shrimp. As of 2003, almost 90% of all shrimp consumed in the United States were imported from Asia and Latin America, with China, Vietnam, and Thailand serving as the three top suppliers. These shrimp imports totaled about 1.5 billion pounds! U.S. shrimp farms produce approximately 12 million pounds of shrimp each year, but that amount is less than 1% of the total shrimp imports. This huge imbalance between imported and domestically produced shrimp can be problematic due to problems with contamination in certain Asian fish farming operations and also with lack of sustainable practices on the part of many fish farming operations.
One website I like for identifying high-quality shrimp retailers and shrimp-serving restaurants is the Monterey Bay Aquariums' Seafood Watch. Their website address is: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx. You can use their Seafood Guides and Visit our Restaurant Partners links to locate high-quality fish in the U.S., including shrimp and other commonly eaten shellfish. When it comes to purchasing shellfish — and all types of fish well — I also encourage you to ask your grocers, or fishmongers, or whoever is responsible for providing your fish, as many questions as necessary to get an idea about its overall quality and sustainability.
Scientists Cook Up World’s Healthiest Meal
Scientists have cooked up what they are calling the world’s healthiest meal.
Leatherhead Food Research, an independent research company in the U.K., incorporated 222 food health claims approved by the European Commission to create the healthiest airline meal.
“I thought of the airline meal concept when flying back from Vitafoods in Geneva. I had spent three days talking about health claims and at a round table event I suggested that Leatherhead could make a product with all 222 claims, no problem! It wasn’t that simple, but we did it within one week!” said Leatherhead CEO Dr Paul Berryman in a statement.
The result? A fresh and smoked salmon terrine, a mixed salad with extra virgin olive oil dressing, a high-fiber multigrain roll and a chicken lentil casserole. For dessert, a yogurt custard, paired with spring water and a cranberry, raspberry and elderflower sports drink to wash it down.
The meal also offers a berry meal replacement shake and hot chocolate for melatonin deficiencies while traveling. It’s packed with superfoods that contain energy, vitamins and electrolytes as well as nutrients that help with iron absorption and reduce cholesterol.
“Our airline formula is just an illustration of what we can do. Leatherhead Food Research is ideally placed to help companies make new claims through regulatory advice, product formulation and our state-of-the art human intervention studies,” said Berryman.
Pierogies are the dumpling staple of eastern Europe
Just about every food culture in the world has some form of stuffed dumpling represented. Whether they be boiled or fried, the pot-stickers in Asia, empanadas of Latin America, samosas from India and hand-held meat pies of Great Britain all have one thing in common: they start out with a simple dough and some sort of filling.
Perogies can be made with a number of fillings including, mushroom and cheese, salmon and spinach and even apples and cinnamon. After the perogi are made, the dumplings are dropped into a pot of boiling water. When the perogi are finished cooking, they will rise to the top.
- Kim Kim Foster-Tobin /kkfoster@thestate.com
A simple flour, egg and water combination for the dough;
whatever you can imagine for a filling.
Traditionally, pierogies are filled with one of these
combinations: mashed potatoes, a soft farmers cheese (or cottage cheese) and
fried onion (a combination known as “Russian”); cabbage and fried onion; or a
mixture of cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla and raisins.
When I was in Poland on a culinary tour last summer, we were
served pierogies stuffed with mushrooms and farmers cheese at one sitting. A
restaurant presented pierogies filled with spinach and smoked salmon.
The filling could be any combination of sweet or savory
ingredients that you come up with or even a bit of leftovers from the night
before. I thought since it is apple season, why not apples and cinnamon with a
bit of sugar, a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of nutmeg? Maybe even some
cheese? Put that combination inside of the dough, boil it, as is tradition,
then finish in a frying pan with melted butter and sugar.
When it came time to re-create some recipes for a photograph
for this column, I suggested to my editor that a how-to video for online might
be fun.
I thought the photographer/videographer and I set up in my
kitchen might be nice. I had done a trial run, start to finish working by
myself making two dozen mushroom and cheese pierogies in just over two hours.
Sounds like a lot, but making the filling and then the dough and rolling it out
took very little time. It was the stuffing and sealing the individual dumplings
that took the time.
Maybe if I enlisted a friend or two to help in the
preparation, the process would go faster and you could see how easy the recipe
really is to make.
That idea went over great . . . BUT we’d have to find a
larger space because both the photographer and my editor, practically at the
same time, declared my kitchen too small for such a project.
Soooo . . . thanks to Glenda Wolfe and Anne Postic for the
loan of the kitchen and thanks to my friends Linda Sellers, Tara Felder, Yarley
Steedly and Tracy Glantz for their support doing the chopping and cooking and
filling (and later eating) of the pieorgies on a beautiful Saturday morning.
Here are some tips that I found that make the pierogi
process go faster:
Organization is key. Start with the filling. You want to get
the filling done first, especially if there’s cooking involved so that it can
cool down a bit before being used.
You don’t need fancy kitchen tools. We used our hands to
work the dough. After rolling it out with rolling pins to about one-eighth of
an inch thick, we used plastic cups as cutters to cut out 3-inch discs. And
when it came time to fish the finished dumplings out of the water, a slotted
spoon or bamboo-and-wire strainer works just fine.
The dough making is the easy part, it’s the filling that
takes time. Depending on how many types of pierogies you’ll be making, if you
have the room you can have more than one person making dough. We made three
types of pierogies for the video (a total of about 60 pierogies) so I set up
three dough stations on large cutting boards on the kitchen island. We doubled
the recipe on two stations (for the savory fillings) and a single dough recipe
on the third (for the sweet filling). To fill a pierogi, place a little less
than one tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough disc and fold the
edge over to create a crescent shape. Seal the edges by folding over or crimping
with the tines of a fork.
Put a large pot of water on to boil before you start (or at
least about half-way through the process of) filling the pierogies. You don’t
want to wait for water to boil. OK, I don’t like waiting for water to boil. I’m
impatient. Since we were doing sweet and savory pierogies at the same time, I
set two pots on the stove, one for the sweet, the other for the savory (who
wants mushrooms or salmon floating in their apples-and-cinnamon?).
Enlist the family or friends and the process is faster and
more fun. With six people, we stuffed and sealed about 60 pieorgies in about 30
minutes. Of course we were chatting away and being given direction from our
photographer before noon on a Saturday so we possibly could have moved faster .
. .
When the pierogies float, they’re done. Really. Placed in
boiling water, it only takes a minute for the dumpling to rise and float to the
surface. Work in batches. This ensures that the water remains close to a boil
and that if one of the pierogies bursts open (it happens), you won’t have too
much trouble fishing everything out of the pot.
Fry them? This is up to you. You can serve/eat the pierogies
immediately after boiling or finish by frying (to just brown) in a bit of olive
oil and butter.
Finish them off. Serve savory pierogies with bacon, fried
onion, melted butter or sour cream. Sweet pierogies can be served with a dollop
of whipped cream and a sprinkling of sugar.
Pierogies
makes about 12 pierogies. Recipe can be doubled or tripled
as desired
1 cup flour
1 egg
4 tablespoons cold water
Sift flour on work surface, form a well in the center and
crack egg in center of well. Knead dough by hand, adding water slowly, until
pliable. Roll out dough on a floured surface to about one-eighth inch thick. If
the dough starts to stick to the surface or the rolling pin, add a bit of
flour. Cut out pierogies with a 3-inch cookie cutter (or inverted drinking
glass).
Fill by placing a spoonful of filling in the center of the
dough and fold to create a crescent-shaped pocket, crimping edges with a fork
to seal.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and, in batches of
four at a time, place filled pierogies in boiling water. Remove when they float
to the surface.
Savory pierogies are traditionally served with fried bacon
and melted butter or sour cream. After boiling, they can be sauteed in butter
or oil to just brown.
Mushroom and Cheese filling
filling for two pierogie recipes
8 oz fresh mushrooms, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 oz. farmers cheese (or any semi-soft cheese), diced fine
Fresh thyme, about 1 tablespoon, chopped
Olive oil and butter
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Heat olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan
and saute mushrooms and garlic until soft. Add fresh thyme to mushrooms and
garlic and remove from heat. Add cheese to mushroom mixture and stir to
combine. Taste for seasoning.
Spinach and Smoked Salmon filling
filling for two pierogie recipes
8 oz fresh spinach, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
Olive oil and butter
4 oz smoked salmon, chopped fine
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add fresh spinach and garlic
and saute until just wilted. Add 1 tablespoon butter, stir until butter is
melted, remove pan from heat and add smoked salmon. Mix until combined. Taste
for seasoning.
Apples and Cinnamon filling
filling for one pierogie recipe
2 apples
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (a dash)
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
optional: 1 ounce cheddar cheese, finely grated
4 tablespoons butter
Peel, core and dice apples. Heat butter in a saute pan. Add
diced apples, sugar, cinnamon nutmeg and lemon juice. Saute until apples are
just soft. Remove from heat. If you’re using cheese, add now and mix to
combine.
Optional finish: After pierogies are boiled, heat 4
tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Saute pierogies, about four at a time,
in butter until just browned (the pierogies may puff open in the pan, that’s
OK). Sprinkle with sugar and serve warm.
Fitness: Make exercise habit stick even if you're tired, unmotivated
When you first start a new exercise program or routine, motivation is high and making your workouts a priority is easy. However, it can be hard to stay motivated after the first few sessions when you are tired, sore and/or a better offer comes along.
Everyone knows how important regular exercise is to overall health and well-being. The innumerable health benefits alone should motivate you to stay determined and persist with your program. But when that isn’t enough, here are some ideas for overcoming tiredness and staying motivated.
• First, be organized and prepared for exercise sessions.
There’s nothing worse than planning to work out and not being able to find your shoes, or realizing all your bike shorts are dirty, or that your treadmill is buried under a mound of clothes and has become a hanging rack for towels. Plan ahead, set your gear out and don’t give yourself a reason to skip it.
• Set reward goals for yourself.
Each time you meet a predetermined goal (i.e., exercising five times a week for four weeks or running a 5K) reward yourself. It’s also smart to make rewards relevant to your fitness. For example a sports massage, a session with a personal trainer or some new running shoes will keep you keen and on track.
• Find other like-minded people to enjoy being active.
Research shows that exercisers who train with others are less likely to drop out than those who train alone. Training with family and friends, for instance, can be a rewarding and motivating experience and can deepen relationships further.
• Renew your goals regularly.
Having a purpose for each and every workout makes it all feel much more worthwhile. If you don’t know why you’re doing something, you’ll most likely just go through the motions . I always tell athletes to practice with purpose. Having a goal and renewing it regularly will help ensure that all your practices are purposeful.
• Finally, cross-train, cross-train, cross-train.
Variety is the spice of life and that has never been more true than with your exercise program. Even if you love your power walking, yoga class or your favorite exercise video, don’t be afraid to shake things up now and then. Not only will you keep things fresh mentally and stave off boredom but you’ll also create a more rounded fitness program and your body will reap the benefits as much as your mind.
Salt in Your Food: The Effects on Health
In “Salt, We Misjudged You” (Sunday Review, June 3), Gary Taubes contends that decades of studies have failed to demonstrate that diets high in salt, or sodium, are harmful, and that advocates of restricting salt “essentially rely on the results from a 30-day trial of salt.”
In fact, huge amounts of evidence from animal, clinical, cohort and intervention studies demonstrate that high-sodium diets raise blood pressure, and that higher blood pressure promotes heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease.
Critics of efforts to reduce salt acknowledge that studies show those two relationships, but demand studies that directly link lower salt to lower risk of heart disease. Such studies have now been done.
The 15-year follow-up on the Trials of Hypertension Prevention found a 30 percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events.
As the Institute of Medicine recommended in 2010, it’s high time that the Food and Drug Administration began limiting sodium in packaged and restaurant foods.
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