Low Carb Diabetic Diet

With this simple cooking technique, food (e.g. vegetables, fish or meat) is placed on a piece of foil, some liquid (wine, water, stock, lemon juice) is added, and the parcel is then sealed and cooked. It can be done on a barbecue, in the oven or in a steamer. The sealed foil stops any steam or liquid escaping and keeps all the flavor and nutrients inside. Vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkin and corn do not require the addition of a liquid and cook quite nicely without drying.

Vegetable Main Dish Recipes

Healthy Low Carb Diabetic Recipes

This technique is excellent for cooking vegetables, as well as meat or fish with vegetables. Instead of being cooked in a steamer, the food is cooked in a covered saucepan in which there is just enough liquid (water, stock, broth, wine) to steam-cook it, and one cup of liquid is usually sufficient to cook vegetables through. Towards the end of the cooking, you need to keep an eye on the water level and add a little boiling water, if necessary. Food burns very quickly once the liquid has evaporated (and the dishwasher will complain too!). The small quantity of liquid remaining in the pan after cooking can be seasoned with a spice or herb, with a little butter or margarine added, and then be served with the food.

Vegetable Main Dish Recipes

Healthy Low Carb Diabetic Recipes

Steaming is one of my favorite cooking techniques. I enjoy witnessing the transformation of ingredients as they are steamed: vegetables become sharper in

colour, fish looks firm and moist, and meat becomes plump and appetising. Steam cooks food gently, evenly and efficiently, and there is no risk of it burning or drying. Steaming is rapid, but not so rapid as to cause difficulty in controlling the rate at which the food cooks, as can be the case with a microwave oven. Steaming requires the addition of no cooking fat, and under the action of the steam, invisible meat fats melt and fall into the steamer below. Steaming also helps preserve nutrients in the food and is therefore a more healthy cooking method than boiling, where vitamins and minerals are lost in the water. A large steamer allows you to steam an entire meal at the one time. Before you place any food in the steamer, make sure the water in the bottom compartment is boiling. In a covered steamer, a slow boil is sufficient to make enough steam to cook food efficiently. To facilitate the removal from the steamer of fish and other fragile foods once they are cooked, such foods can be placed on a plate or dish in a compartment of the steamer, and the small quantity of liquid that collects on the plate is delicious served with the food. Remember to trim meat of all visible fat before steaming it.

The liquid in a steamer does not impart any flavor to the food it steams, so you may sometimes like to season the food with spices and herbs before cooking it. Alternatively, fish, meat and vegetables can be placed on a bed of herbs or other vegetables, e.g. celery, leeks, parsley, thyme, to acquire a particular seasoning. Steaming is also a gentle and efficient method of reheating food, such as vegetables, pasta, rice and meat.

Steam Greek Fish Recipe

Steam Clams Recipe

There is no such thing as a perfect cooking technique. However, some techniques are preferable to others – for instance, steaming and microwaving are better than boiling and deep-frying. In the next few blogs i will write about several cooking methods along with their advantages and disadvantages.
It must be said that no matter what technique you use, cooked food always loses some of its nutrients. It follows that raw food consumed fresh provides the most nutrients, and raw fruit and vegetables are especially recommended for their outstanding nutrient qualities. However, we do not eat everything in the raw state and it is essential to grasp the fact that we must avoid overcooking food as this destroys much of its goodness, such as the vitamin content, and reduces the density of natural flavours. Vitamins and mineral salts are leached by cooking liquids, and so we need also to avoid cooking food in a liquid that is later discarded. It is best to cook food using a minimum amount of fat or no fat at all. Try brushing the pan with oil rather than pouring it in, and, of course, avoid deep-frying.

Gaining a knowledge of cooking and practising basic techniques regularly – we have plenty of opportunity since many of us cook at least once every day – will instil us with the confidence to cook more spontaneously. And with this solid grounding will come the realisation that techniques are of far greater importance than recipes.

How to steam vegetables?

How to chop onion?

HERBAL TEAS

At home in France we drank lime-blossom tea, which is very pleasant. There are many herbal teas available today and they make a refreshing alternative to tea and coffee.

COFFEE AND TEA

Coffee and tea contain the stimulant caffeine, and it is advisable to avoid drinking too much of them. Coffee and tea drinking is often associated with snacking and this, with the milk and sugar commonly added to the beverages, leads to increased consumption of fat and refined carbohydrate.

Beverage Recipe: Champagne Fruit Punch

Beverage Recipe: Quantity Fruit Punch Recipe

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Too much alcohol is associated with many modern diseases, including cancer. On the other hand, a moderate amount of alcohol intake is compatible with good health, and 40 g is the recommended maximum daily consumption level. The per cent alcohol content on the label of a bottle represents the number of grams of alcohol per 100 ml of that drink: e.g. a 750 ml bottle of wine with 10% alcohol content contains 75 g of alcohol.
SPIRITS: The average 750 ml bottle of spirits contains 300 g of alcohol (40% alcohol content). Two standard brandies, two whiskies, two vodkas or two rums represent the recommended maximum daily consumption.

WINE: My family made their own wine and I was raised with the idea that food and wine go together naturally. Since the recommended maximum daily consumption of wine per person is half a bottle, wine companies would be well advised to look more closely at the marketing of half-bottles.

BEER: Like all alcoholic beverages, beer is to be consumed in moderation. The average 750 ml bottle of beer contains 36 g of alcohol. Beer drinkers are encouraged to try low-alcohol beers. Excellent brewed beers with an alcohol content of 0.9% (7 g alcohol per 750 ml bottle) are now on the market, as are light beers with 2.1% (16 g alcohol per bottle) to 3.3% (25 g alcohol per bottle) alcohol.

Healthy Low Carb Diabetic Food

SWEETENED DRINKS Drinks like cola, cordial, processed fruit juices and flavoured milk are best not introduced to young children at all as these drinks only increase their sugar consumption, which may already be too high. If sweet food and drinks are taken in to the exclusion of well-balanced meals a dietary imbalance may occur, with important foods being overlooked.

Nutrients Needs in Diabetics

Importance of Water for Diabetics

WATER IS INDISPENSABLE.

The average adult needs 2.5 litres of water a day. About half of this comes from the food we eat and half from what we drink. Of all drinks, water is best suited to the human body. We can drink it without the ill effects sometimes felt after drinking coffee, tea, wine and sweet drinks.
MILK When drunk in moderation, milk is an excellent beverage for children, especially as a between-meal drink.

Healthy Low Carb Diabetic Diet

Diabetic Problem