Cooking tips - Keep fats to a minimum

Cooking tips - Keep fats to a minimum

Cooking nutritious food is easy. In many cases, your favourite recipes can be modified to make them healthier. Here are some points to make your cooking nutritious and tasty

Keep fats to a minimum
Following are some tips to reduce the intake of excessive fats in your diet. 
1.Use a non-stick cookware to reduce the need for cooking oil. 

2.When a recipe calls for cream, use low fat yoghurt, low fat soy milk or skimmed milk. 

3.Use low fat milk or curd instead of water or oil to knead the atta for making thinner and softer rotis. 

4.When serving meat and fish, use pesto, salsa, chutneys and vinegars in place of sour creams, butter and creamy sauces. 

5.Remove the chicken skin which is high in fat. 

6.Whether cooking or making dressings, use the oils that are lowest in saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol – such as canola oil, corn oil, olive oil, sesame oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil – but use them sparingly because they contain 100 calories per tablespoon. 

7.Stay away from palm oil and palm kernel oil.  Even though they are vegetable oils and have no cholesterol, they are high in saturated fats. 

Sprouting methi seeds

Sprouting methi seeds

As request by many here is the procedure to sprout methi seed.....

Sprouting the methi seeds is simple. Take half a cup of dry methi/fenugreek seeds. Wash well and soak in water for at least 24 to 36 hours. Drain water completely and transfer the content to a colander. Cover with wet cloth. I used a wet kitchen towel. Keep it aside undisturbed. Make sure you keep the cover moist at all times. Within a day or two, you will notice small sprouts shooting out. I left it for two days until the sprouts were 1 cm long.

Half cup of dry methi will yield approximately two cups of sprouted methi.

Eat methi seeds sprouts specially in winters

Eat methi seeds sprouts specially in winters

Fenugreek seeds, specially sprouts are very good for health, not only for diabetics but also for digestive problems including stomach and mouth ulcers. They are specially good for winters, provide warmth.

Fenugreek seeds are used as spice and also as herb.

Eat fenugreek sprouts as a snack, fresh-in-hand, added to sandwiches, salads, juiced with vegetables, mixed with potato salad and other root vegetables; use as a garnish, added to soups, dals, rice and pasta dishes and stir-fries, just before serving.

Fenugreek sprouts are quick and easy to grow, sprouting also reduce its bitterness. Do not cook sprouts as they go mushy.

Rice Vs Roti

 Rice Vs Roti

Do you also think rice(white) is fattening as compared to wheat roti……think again....both rice and wheat have the same calorie content, the difference is in the fibre content, rotis are rich in complex carbohydrates, same is true with multigrain atta (high fibre)…..so u feel full after eating rotis as compared to rice. 
  
You must have seen people telling that they feel lazy after having rice in their lunch or dinner. The intake of rice causes a fast blood sugar spike again due to lack of fibre. That is the reason behind people feeling lethargic after eating rice.

To increase fibre content of rice you can add defatted soya chunks, chicken pieces and vegetables.

Eat,eat and eat healthy, lose weight the right way

Eat,eat and eat healthy, lose weight the right way

Eat 5-6 meals a day, i.e after every 3-4 hrs, when I plan the diets of my client....most of them are surprised??? the very common question they ask is "WILL I LOSE WEIGHT AFTER EATING SO MUCH", yes eating every 3-4hrs increases your metabolism, keeps your stomach full so that you do not overeat in the next meal and also signals the brain........more quality fuel is coming so we need to burn it efficiently. So eat eat n eat eat healthy and lose weight the right way.

Healthy Gifting options

Healthy Gifting options

Celebrations and healthy foods hardly go together…right.

However there are lots of healthy gift ideas, you just need to explore. 

I am not talking about low sugar or sugar free chocolates, sweets which still have high fat content, or low fat cakes that are loaded with sugar! neither of these really help you get healthy….then what are this supposedly healthy gifts? 

Lets have a look

Nuts and dry fruits:- . These are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals & more nutrition.

Fruits: Great nutrition, taste great, and good for your health!

Dark chocolate is healthier, lower in sugar content that regular chocolate, and also has a higher cocoa content, which means fewer simple carbohydrates & more antioxidants.

Herbal tea, green tea, organic tea:- are loaded with antioxidants and have literally no calories by themselves. Green tea has weight loss benefits. So, gifting some nice organic green tea is a great idea.

Gift vouchers or Memberships: Give a gift voucher for a wellness/fitness program or gyms memberships, or to yoga class, or even something fun activity like salsa can also workout to be a great gifting option.

A healthy recipe book - full of ideas to inspire you to cook healthy meals and reach and/or maintain a healthy body weight.

Healthy  nutrition bars:- Nutrition bar can be considered as a healthy gifting  option as they are packed with energy as well as essential nutrients.
 

Thus wishing for good health and wellness of near and dear ones in the coming year.

So now you have  plenty of  healthy gift options. So, go ahead and gift healthy!

All About Carrot Halwa

All About Carrot Halwa 

So the season of bright red carrots is in,reminding you of gajjar ka halwa right.

Many of my clients ask me if they can have carrot halwa n here it is.Carrots brims with beta carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A.

Raw carrots are an excellent source of Vitamin A and potassium; they contain Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid, and magnesium. Whereas, cooked carrots contain four times the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A in the form of protective beta carotene which helps you to see in dim light.

Can you believe it? Halwa for less calories? Regular halwa is usually made with lot of ghee, butter, milk cream which makes the fat and calories shoot up, following modification will help you to reduce the calories and you'll get taste that doesn't show on your waist!

MODIFICATIONS:

•Instead of using cream, whole milk, and evaporated milk, use low fat or tonned or double tonned milk.
•Reduce use of ghee n increase use of milk to maintain the softness
•Add a few raisins so that addition of sugar can be reduced.
•Vit A being a fat soluble vitamin requires some fat for absorption….so a little ghee in halwa will enhance Vit A absorption.

Apart from Vit A from carrot, Milk adds some Calcium and Protein to this dish. Raisins are known to be an antioxidant rich fruit. A little dry fruits will add to proteins n healthy fats in the recipe.
You can have carrot halwa especially in the earlier part of the day a good option is for breakfast……

So go ahead n stock up ur VIT A ……NJOY GAJJAR KA HALWA n most important is not to miss EXERCISE on that day.