Eating Healthy- Steaming

Steaming is another healthy way of cooking food. It eliminates the use of fats or oils. Furthermore, with steaming you do not lose or breakdown much of the nutritious contents of food.


I have been trying to steam for a long time now, and only just this year have I gotten really into it. This started when one of the Asian food stores near where we live opened. I saw this beautiful bamboo steamer. It was a two-decker, about 7 -8 inches in diameter. I have been wanting to steam veggies and I have seen some of the Chinese restaurants that my family have been to use a bamboo steamer, especially when serving dim sum. So, instead of buying an aluminum or stainless steel steamer, I opted to buy a bamboo steamer. The price was a bit high for that size, I paid $22.95 plus tax.


I started cooking pork siomai and small pork dumplings. They were great! Unfortunately, I can only cook enough for my husband, daughter, and I. When we entertained, I wanted to steam more. Needless to say, there was a long wait for the seconds and thirds that my husband's family and some guests patiently waited for. I have decided since then that I needed a bigger one, which is why I got a much bigger bamboo steamer from San Francisco's Chinatown. I actually paid half the price of what I paid for the small one. Tell you how much they jack up prices when you are farther from the city.


I have been using the big steamer to steam "puto" (Filipino rice cakes), dumplings, siomais, vegetables, and fish. In this section, I will share with you my steamer recipes. Enjoy!





Steamed Fish with Ginger and Rice Wine

Ingredients:

2 pcs medium size fresh or frozen fillet fish (cod or catfish)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp rice wine

1/2 cup ginger (sliced in julienne)

1/2 cup scallions (green onion leaves)

Aluminum foil to wrap fish.

Instructions:

In a shallow tray, place 2 pieces of fresh or frozen fillet fish (cod or catfish). Rub on ground pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder top and bottom. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix soy sauce and rice wind.

Place water in a wok or boiler and bring it to a boil. The water should reach only midway.

Get a foil and place the fish and pour in the soy sauce and rice wine mixture. Note: use one foil per fish.

Drop the ginger and scallion on top of the fish before wrapping the foil. Close the foil and place inside the bamboo steamer.

Steam for 10 minutes or until done.

Serve with steamed rice or noodles.

Eating Healthy- Grilling

Grilling has come a long way. No longer is it just done outdoors, using charcoals, and under sweltering heat. Grilling can also be done indoors, which is a welcome news to people who would love to grill, but do not have the outdoor space to do it. Grilling indoors makes it possible to grill your favorite dish 365 day a year, whatever the weather is-- rain or shine, even during the icy weather...much more during those gloomy types of weather.


A meat grilled is much more healthier than deep-fried. The tastes just do not compare. You can benefit more, health-wise, when you grill instead of fry. In some cases, grilling is even better than broiling or baking.


Here are some samples of healthy grilled dishes. Enjoy!

Grilled Pork

Grilled pork with A-1 Sauce. Grilled indoors using a cast-iron griller I bought from Williams & Sonoma. Caveat: the house can be filled with smoke even when the range hood is in full blast. The solution...see below- a smokeless griller.

Grilled Pork with Satay Sauce. Grilled indoors using a smokeless grilling pan I bought from a Korean store.



Grilled Vegetables



Grilled Zucchini and Aubergines (eggplants).

Eating Healthy- Snacks

Snacks are as important as the three main meals of the day. Snacking in between meals can ensure that you have enough fuel to go on for the rest of the day, or at least for the next two hours. For me, it is like clockwork. I need to eat something every two hours or else I will feel the wrath of my belly...lol.

Snacks should not be as heavy as the main meals, and should still be healthy. That means NO junk food! I snack on celery sticks, pears, peaches, carrots or a granola bar. Check on the labels to make sure you are snacking on something that is healthy. Avoid anything high in sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrate and fat. Avoid trans fat at all cost. Eat moderately, which means do not eat a bag of celery sticks instead of just a cup. In other words, know your limits.

Here is a collection of my favorite snack recipes that you can enjoy all through out the day.

Turkey or Ham Spirals

1 big (12-inch diameter) whole wheat burrito wrap
2 Tbsps. low-fat mayonnaise
2 pcs. lettuce leaves (remove the middle part that is hard to chew)
6 pcs. thinly sliced turkey or Ham (Oscar Mayer's has 0% carbohydrate, no sodium, and 0% cholesterol)
3 slices of provolone cheese (choose 0% carbohydrate and 0% cholesterol)

(Yields 7-8 bite-size pieces)




Place the burrito wrap on a clean flat surface (a chopping block will do). Spread mayonnaise thinly all over the wrap. Make sure that the top edge has mayonnaise to serve as a "glue" to keep the spirals from unraveling.




Place the lettuce leaves. Line them up at the center. Add the turkey (or ham) and line them up on top of the lettuce leaves. Add the cheese and line them on top of the turkey (or ham).




Roll the wrap away from you. Cut into bite-size (1-inch) pieces.

Eating Healthy- Cous-Cous

Cous-Cous with Vegetables and Ground Pork

1 1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. butter (use Smart Choice or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)
1 cup uncooked cous-cous (all-wheat)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup tomato, chopped
2 cups mushroom, chopped
2 cups broccoli
2 cups ground pork (fried- remove fat/oil)
2 tsps. Mrs. Dash seasoning

Boil water and butter. Add cous-cous and cook for 3-5 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Loosen the grains using a fork. Set aside.

Add olive oil in a pan and heat. Add garlic and onion and cook until golden yellow. Add tomato, mushroom, and broccoli and saute for 5 minutes. Add ground pork and allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add the cous-cous, mix, and cook for 3 minutes. Add Mrs. Dash seasoning to taste. Serve as a side dish with baked chicken, steamed fish, or eat it on its own.


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Every year I establish a list of what to improve on...you know the infamous New Year's Resolutions. One of the top ones on my list of resolutions is losing weight. Unfortunately, this has been on my list for the past errr...say four years? Every year, I promised to myself to lose weight; however, every year I just end up with a yo-yo diet. One time I lost 10 pounds, but only to regain them during the holidays. In other words, I was back to square one during by New Year's eve. It's a vicious cycle that have been going on for almost 15 years now.

Ever since I got pregnant with my daughter, who is turning 15 in a month or so, I have never lost the weight that I have gained. A friend of my used to say that my water-retention never left me. It was meant to be a joke that we used to laugh at; however, it stopped being funny when it started affecting my health. It was funny back then, but the health implications aren't funny at all.

Stress was a major contributor in my weight gain. My family and I went through a lot of challenges these past few years. On top of that, I often missed my meals and when I ate, I ate a lot...I mean A LOT! When I was depressed or sad. I ate, when I was happy...I ate, when I was stressed out from work...I ate. Pretty soon I ballooned into a size 18!

I compensated the lack of sleep (I work very early and stay up late due to my work) by eating; however, I started noticing that even just standing up would make me dizzy. I thought to myself...there is something wrong; however, I was still in denial. Then, just recently, after being diagnosed with anemia that is when I decided to put my foot down.

My family is my inspiration. Besides, I figured that I will do my family some good if I take charge of our everyday meals. After all, if it is good for me, it would be good enough for them too. Since then, my husband and daughter have also been losing weight. I have been dieting and exercising. My blood tests have improved greatly. I would not have done it without the help and support of my family, my doctor, and my spiritual strength coming from above.

In this section "Eating Healthy" I will post my healthy recipes and include some photos. Hopefully, I can inspire you to eat healthy too!

Japanese Cooking

I am trying to learn to cook Japanese cuisine lately. Ever since my daughter got into this J-Rock thing and started liking all Japanese, requests for me to cook Japanese food keep on coming from her and my husband.

In one of our few trips a year to Japan Center in San Francisco (to buy Jessica's manga books, J-Rock CDs, my Japanese videos and some kitchen gadgets, tools and organizers), I have decided to introduce donburi to my husband and daughter. Since then, donburi became a regular in our menu, at least once or twice a month.

Donburi is one of my favorite Japanese meals, which I came to love when I visited Japan in Fall of 1991. According to cookingcute.com donburi is- "A “rice bowl dish” consisting of some form of protein and vegetables simmered together and then served over rice, usually in an oversized bowl (also called a donburi). Types of donburi include oyakodon (chicken, egg, and onion), katsudon (breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets, onion, and egg), tendon (tempura shrimp and vegetables), gyudon (beef and onion), and unadon (eel)." Being allergic to shell foods, it was tough for me to find anything in sushi bars, etc. I was growing tired of the usual California roll or tonkatsu. It was freezing cold and I needed something really warm that is not a noodle soup. Luckily, in one of the restaurants we went to in Narita, the waitress showed me a picture of katsudon. Since then, I was hooked, and now after I introduced it to them, my husband and daughter too!

What I like about Japanese Cooking

Japanese cooking is not too laborious and eliminates the use of too much oil. They may fry some items, especially when making tempura; however, many of the Japanese cuisines are not too greasy, which you often find in Chinese cuisines. Most recipes are simple and easy to follow.

Traditional Japanese diet one of the healthiest in the world. Tofu, miso, sushi, green tea, and soba are now familiar to many people outside of Japan.

I have been trying to eat healthy lately; therefore, I try not to eat out as much because a lot of food out there are not healthy. Not only am I trying to lose weight, but I was also trying to do this to lower my blood sugar (I am borderline diabetic), help treat my anemia and asthma. The good thing about homecooking is that anything that I cook that is good for me will also be good for my husband and daughter.

Learning to Make Sushi

Many people think sushi means raw fish. Sushi is cold cooked rice dressed with vinegar that is shaped into bite-sized pieces and topped with raw or cooked fish, or formed into a roll with fish, egg, or vegetables and wrapped in seaweed.

Ingredients:

Small bamboo mat(makisu) for preparing sushi
Dry seaweed sheets(nori)
Bowl of water to which 1 Tablespoon vinegar has been added
Wasabi (dried horseradish powder)
Strips of avocado, cucumber, carrot, or other vegetable
Cooked shrimp or crab meat (or frozen imitation crabmeat, thawed)

Procedure:

Place a sheet of nori (dry seaweed), shiny side down, on the makisu (bamboo mat).
Wet your right hand (or left hand, if you are left-handed) in the bowl of vinegar water, and use it to scoop up a ball of rice.
Spread the rice out in an even layer on one side of the nori.
Sprinkle a line of wasabi (horseradish powder) down the center of the rice.
Arrange the strips of vegetables and seafood over the line of wasabi.
Using the mat to support the nori, lift one end of the mat to gently roll the nori over the rice and other ingredients.
Use gentle pressure to compact the rice and other ingredients so that they hold together.
Continue rolling until a long cylinder is formed, completely encased in nori.
Carefully slice through the nori and other ingredients to make the bites of sushi.
Serve immediately so the nori will still be crispy.