Cookware Gallery
Archive for October, 2010
Back to the Future
Is November too late to begin jotting down those New Year’s Resolutions? Most Personal Development gurus recommend an earlier start but even so, most of us have valuable year-long data to use.
As Twenty-Ten draws to a close the results of our resolutions of last December are known. How did we score? The most frequently cited New Year’s Resolutions include:
- Quit smoking
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Enjoy life more
- Quit drinking
- Get organized
- Get out of debt
- Spend more time with family
…all good, yet 98% of New Year’s resolutions fail to materialize. Reasons for returning to old habits are many but to cite Personal Development gurus again, the most frequent reason for failure is not ‘weakness’ or ‘commitment’. No, resolutions fail because we don’t change our reward system.
Resolutions that succeed aren’t concerned with ‘not’ doing something; change is really about finding ways to experience and achieve greater joy. When joy is the experience and the focus, the outcome (discarding old habits) takes care of itself. Change is always about the journey, not the outcome.
Of frequently cited resolutions (above) several can be accomplished with one sitting. For example, resolve to eat one healthy hot meal a day—preferably with your family. What can this accomplish?
Stop focusing on ‘diet’ and still lose weight.
Who likes to start a diet? The day before you start you worry about how deprived you’ll be and the day after you flog yourself over transgressions. Instead, start the process of eating better and losing weight with a focus of en-joying just one healthy hot meal each day.
Spend more time with your family.
Sharing a meal with family affords time for talking and sharing daily events with each other. It places a priority on spending time with and en-joying each other’s company.
Nourish yourself.
Arranging your life so you can eat one hot meal a day (even if it’s scrabled eggs or steamed veggies) nourishes you. When you don’t give yourself some well deserved time and attention then food (generally sweets, treats and unhealthy, unbalanced quick eats) can become your reward. En-joying a balanced hot meal feeds body, mind and success.
Show that you matter.
Healthy hot meals are a basic bodily necessity, not a luxury. You’re worth the kindness and value that comes with real food once a day. You deserve the main course so en-joy the reward.
Develop a fun relationship with food and cooking.
When we bought our stainless steel cookware set, we began experimenting with different cooking techniques and recipes, unusual tastes, textures, fresh and nourishing foods, baking stove top instead of oven-baked treats, preparing healthy well-balanced meals instead of boxed, canned and/or frozen entrees. We found en-joyment in fresh organic and range-free foods when (or because) we changed both reward (joy) and tool (cookware).
Appreciate a balanced hot meal each day and see for yourself what happens.
btw: the little prefix ‘en‘ means “to create” or “bring into being“–it’s a verb. So to enjoy something isn’t experienced while waiting on the couch for joy to come. You must first create it, prepare it like a hot meal, or pass forward with a change in cooking tools. The beauty of joy expressed, of course, is that joy comes back to you ten-fold.
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive
Proper Care for Cookware
As any chef knows, the only thing more important to a dish’s taste than the ingredients is the tools used to cook with. If you are using subpar pots and pans, food will stick or burn to the bottom, or cook unevenly or even absorb the taint of metallic leaching, especially with acidic foods. Results are inconsistent and often undesirable.
Nowadays there’s no excuse not to have a quality cookware set; the internet offers extraordinary value, especially for the durable quality and versatility of stainless steel cookware.
When it comes to cookware care and maintenance, ease of use is the kitchen standard. Nonstick stainless steel cookware is dishwasher safe and will continue to look like new after every wash. Use a de-spotter to avoid water spotting. Spots do no harm, but part of the beauty of Stainless Steel is it’s reflective sheen.
Hand washing and towel dry is a breeze with non-stick stainless steel. Sponge or soft synthetic pad easily removes light residues (cloudiness on the cooking surface) that may form over time. Stainless Steel polish, applied occasionally (every 3 months or so) renews the inner and outer satin or mirror finish.
Ease of Care and Cleaning is only part of the value of Stainless Steel. But more importantly, unmatched cooking performance, durability and chemically inert non-toxic cooking assure a lifetime to appreciate and value so many more cooking benefits and healthy lifestyle advantages. Affordability is a good measure of value, but true value goes beyond price and usability. Real value lasts a lifetime.
Will the Kids Notice?
Try it and see…but don’t tell the kids it’s cauliflower. From a fresh organic crown of cauliflower, cut and steam the florets until tender–including a length of stem . Once cooked, cut off stem then mash florets until smooth. (TIP: melt a dollop of brisk cheese on each cooked stem—a tasty finger-food appetizer).
Add a shake of salt & pepper (light on the butter if you must)…again, don’t tell the kids.
Mashed Cauliflower looks and smells much like mashed potatoes, similar in taste, texture, nutrient rich, with one important difference; cauliflower avoids the glycemic onslaught of potato. Baking a potato destroys the cell wall (which would otherwise inhibit rapid absorption of starch by our body). Without this natural defense, starchy carbohydrates are immediately and suddenly absorbed causing harmful spikes in blood sugar.
Compare the Glycemic Load of these four cooked vegetables (eGL—a measure of a food’s effect on blood-sugar levels):
eGL = 29 > potato
eGL = 8 > butternut squash
eGL = 1 > cauliflower
eGL = 0 > carrot
…glycemic Load (eGL) and glycemic Index (Gi) are related but different measures of a body’s blood sugar response to various foods. The Gi of an 8 oz baked potato is 95—extremely high.
What’s the harm? In an effort to manage the sudden blood sugar shock, a body releases an intense insulin bolus. There are many side effects to excessive spikes of insulin levels in the blood—a few to consider:
- Physical agitation, anxiety, stress, headaches (especially in children)
- Cravings for sweets and more empty carbohydrates–a vicious spiral
- Increased cortisol levels in the brain (“…cortisol is an acid bath for young brain cells”—Dr. Lee Polus)
- Mental Distractedness and Shortened Attention Span. ADHD/ADH or ‘hyperactivity’ isn’t a disease but symptoms of a young body trying to cope with the modern cocktail: toxin & chemical allergies combined with excessive daily sugar/carbohydrate-induced insulin spikes. Most physicians refuse to treat ADHD/ADH with Ritalin or other drugs because it’s now recognized as external etiology. See Carbohydrate Addicted Kids by Drs. Richard and Rachael Heller, MDs.)
Mollify the glycemic eruptions of potatoes by doing simple things:
> small servings combined with other vegetables, fruits and grains rich in fiber
> real lemonade is an antidote that naturally slows carbohydrate absorption
> include the potato skin—it’s nature’s own self-contained glycemic moderator
> explore alternatives—cauliflower for example
> use unrefined whole health sweeteners too
Mashed Cauliflower…will your kids notice?
Our boys did…but surprise surprise–they really liked it.
Will your kids notice the difference in the way they feel? Absolutely! Especially when whole carbohydrates are served with a balance meal (40% natural carbohydrate, 30% protein, 30% fat).
Treat the body to foods it has naturally adapted to over eons. Today’s highly processed boxed, canned & frozen foods just can’t help us experience real, sustainable, joyful health and vigor.
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive
The Ubiquitous Potato
Pound for pound, potatoes are the most cost-effective choice for our nutritional dollar. Long growing season, easily stored, relatively long shelf life, menu variety—the potato serves us well.
The United Nations declared 2008 International Year of the Potato to focus attention on this special food staple as a dietary boon to world population while achieving food security and eradicating poverty. High Praise for a humble Irish Tuber.
Here in America, National Potato Month is September. Many of us may still have 5 lbs or so in an open bin awaiting a quick side dish for dinner tonight. Let’s explore some basic menu options this month using waterless cooking and waterless cookware methods but first—
A Few Notable Facts:
- Henry Spalding planted the first Idaho potatoes in 1837
- Today, the average American consumes 140 pounds of potatoes annually (200 lbs in Germany)
- One in Ten potatoes grown in America ends up as French Fries (over 200 million tons)
- Americans spend more on potato chips annually than on Presidential year elections (local, city, county, state and national election dollars combined)
- A potato is 80% water; of the remaining fiber, 35% is carbohydrate.
- A potato skin holds roughly 50% of the tuber’s nutrients, fiber and critical trace minerals; the skin naturally mitigates carbohydrate absorption–without the skin, a tuber can be very harsh (see Not So Yum below).
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt once complained his fried potatoes were too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. Chef George Crum, in a fit of spite, sliced some potatoes paper thin, fried them in hot oil, added a sprinkle of salt and sent them back. Vanderbilt loved his “Saratoga Crunch Chips” and the rest is history.
A small baked potato contains 760 milligrams of potassium, nearly twice as much as a banana. Great for those potassium deficient head aches following a night of imbibing. A word of caution though before baking a potato to cure the morning-after:
Not So Yum: …an 8 ounce baked potato has a glycemic index of 95. It would take 118 grams of processed sugar to have the same impact on a body’s blood sugar level as a baked potato. Understand the equivalency this way: an 8 oz baked potato necessitates the same glycemic response as digesting 29-1/2 teaspoons of sugar. Not good for the body—especially not good for tens of millions of Americans with diabetic issues, or the 1-in-4 children diagnosed today with Type II diabetes. (French Fries are even worse.)
Moderation is a sound and healthy practice. Let’s refine our understanding of how best to retain the good & moderate the not-so-good of America’s favorite veggie. Potato based Soups are a great way. For example, a basic Leek and Potato Soup Video Recipe featuring Chef Leslie Newton.
Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive.
Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle
It’s no secret that eating a balanced diet (40% natural whole carbohydrate, 30% protein, 30% fat) and living an active lifestyle greatly improves physical health and mental well-being.
More and more health-conscious consumers are transforming their lifestyles to include nutritional as well as appetizing menus rich in whole grains, local organic produce and drug-free (non-CAFO) meats.
These consumers are also eliminating one-by-one the litany of toxic chemicals entering their homes–from cleaning solutions to skin care products, pesticides to Teflon-treated clothing and carpets. It’s no coincidence; what is healthy is also earth-friendly.
“One-by-One” is a very practical phrase and a doable process for change. ‘Cold Turkey’ cessation works for a few, but most of us take small steps, minor yet meaningful course changes from the habitual. Step-by-step change helps reorient or refine our aim and sustain our thrust towards a new and invigorating future.
As you may suspect of this Blog, we believe waterless cookware represents a small but meaningful change with an undeniably brighter future. In an odd twist of expectation, a new set of waterless pots and pans actually nudges families into discovering (or rediscovering) the truer tastes of food by way of cooking conditions that retain and preserve flavors, aromas, textures and complex nutrients–the truer values in real food.
There’s a bonus with waterless cookware: not only do we seek and experience healthier nutrient rich menus, but we also eliminate toxic hazards present in other cookwares–from synthetic fume and erosion to metallic leaching of softer cooking surfaces (aluminum or cast iron for example).
Consider non toxic waterless cookware sets the next time you notice rust on your seasoned cast iron or flaking Teflon or chipped ceramic. There has never been (nor is there now) a more chemically inert, thermally responsive pot or pan than 5-ply #t304 Stainless Steel–the easiest, friendliest and most nutritious cooking option you can chose.
Healthy change, one-by-one, small steps, little by little, inevitably succeeds. You’ll hear a similar refrain in this short video featuring Birke Baehr, an 11 year old with an engaging message about change: “What’s Wrong With Our Food System”
Waterless Cookware Review – August 2010
Trees are turning, as are the pages of the blog. But let’s not lose sight of the good news of our summer season past.
Cooking tips, Cookware insights, Recipes, comments—all are archived on the blog. Use the ‘search’ feature by keyword for topics of interest (top right corner of blog) or use our convenient reviews—monthly summaries of our most popular articles and links to complete posts.
August’s review includes a variety of topics—cooking rice to searing meats, sauté & basic stir fry to exotic fajitas—oodles of waterless cooking tips and recipes. We hope you enjoy looking back because current & yet to come posts rely on past tips & tidbits for perspective and how-to’s.
Aug 28 Black Rice—the New Brown: …for the ultimate in flavor and nutrition
Aug 27 Monday Mornings: …always a story behind the numbers and these numbers ought to give us pause.
Aug 23 Saute—Sear in the Flavor: …the nature of Stainless Steel offers an ideal cooking surface for sauté.
Aug 19 Stir Fry Basics: … cookware fundamentals and a basic recipe
Aug 17 Rice—the long and the short: …if your rice isn’t turning out the way you want, it isn’t you. The type of rice you use determines outcome—clumpy or fluffy kernels.
Aug 15 Summer Fajitas: …links to a variety of flavorful recipes—latin, cajun, greek—and a video on making flat bread from scratch—perfect for grilling. Retire the old burger & dog and experience a scrumptious backyard change in attitude and latitude.
Aug 11 Debunking the Bunk: …in response to a Chef’s unschooled & tasteless opinions about cooking and nutrition.
Aug 10 Is Waterless Cooking Really Waterless? …Yes, & No. A brief chat about Pasta and Waterless Cooking
Aug 4 Waterless Revival: …why the waterless buzz? …old news is good news for a healthy change.
Aug 2 Waterless Cooking—Corn on the Cob: …retain the natural nutrient value of fresh corn; don’t boil it away.
Aug 1 Searing Meats: …easy, practical tips for the perfect sear every time.
July Previous Waterless Cookware Review(s)
For Quality Stainless Steel Waterless Cookware > Cook healthy, eat honestly, and thrive
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