Lizzie Food Tips

Homemade Flavoured Butter

2007-03-21T21:43:00.001+08:00

Nowadays, modern family find very little time at home as most of the time they are tied down at work. Thus, many are looking for quick fix without losing the quality of food and life. One of the things you can consider is to prepare flavouring butter.

You can flavour butter with different herbs and spices as spread or as marinade for barbeque foods on top of meats, fish or vegetables and leave it to melt. Flavoured butters can be made in advance and it can be kept for up to 1 week when chilled and 2 months when frozen, unlike some marinade and paste that can only keep for up to 3 days.

In this post, I will share with you two types of butter marinade.

For Seafood: (~500g fillet, prawns or scallops)

Mix 125g unsalted butter, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 2 finely chopped shallots, pinched of salt and black pepper. Chill the mixture in grease proof paper and form a regular block or cylindrical shape. When it is hardened, cut them up into slices.

For chicken or baked potato: (~1kg)

Mix 125g unsalted butter, 1 tbsp french mustard, 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, 2 tbsp chopped rosemary. Season with salt and black pepper. Chill the mixture in the same way into a regular block and slice them for use.

Lose Weight With Food Scent

2007-03-14T10:37:00.001+08:00

Being able to enjoy eating food is a luxury to most of us. However, sometimes it gets a little harder to control the weight and we are often seeking for the pills that slim us down. The good news here is that it exist so long as your sense of smell is still sensitive.

Research Study has shown that overweight people who take time to sniff their food aromas are able to lose weight. More than 3000 overweight people participated in a trial and were given an inhaler containing the scent of apple, banana or peppermint whenever they felt hungry. This study was performed over a period of six months. The results show that the more frequently the subjects sniffed, the more weight they lose.

This finding means that you can use your scent to reduce your weight, though it may not be suitable for asthmatic conditions or people who lose their sense of smell. The following are some tips recommended to make use of the scent therapy to lose weight.

1) Take Time to sniff your food

Most of us, including me would charge into their meals once settled down while others might be busy chatting, reading or distracted while feeding themselves. There is just no habit to intensely smell the food before eating because most often, we take it for granted that we have smelled the food as we passed by or near to the kitchen. Perhaps, it is time to test it out.

2) Chew your food thoroughly

I have ever heard a friend telling me I should chew at least 10 times on my food to ensure that my food is properly digested. I have tried this once and honestly, I think the food become a little less appetizing to me and I end up speeding up on my food again. Perhaps, I was also rushing for time.

3) Opt for fresh and hot Food

Fresh, hot and unprocessed food typically gives more taste to the meal. The strong food scent would in turn be able to help you by stimulating your olfactory bulb and in turn makes you less hungry and full quite quickly. Needless to say, hot food typically gives more scent than the cold ones.

4) Add a strong herb or spice

As I mentioned in my earlier post on how to reduce your fat intake, strong spice can excite your food and reduce the salt you need to put into the food. In addition, the scent also saturates your sense of smell and thus suppress your appetitie.

5) Bring an apple with you

Green apples are the most hardy and I reccommend you use this fruit to stimulate your sense of smell whenever you feel hungry. If you are working at your desk most of the time, put the apple in front of you and clear away your titbits that is laid infront of your desk. This can help you to more effectively suppress your appetite.

Other related articles

1) Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation

Cucumber Salad Recipe

2007-03-07T11:38:00.001+08:00

Cucumber is well known vine fruit that is used to reduce heat and inflammation. It is full of vitamin C and can be used to apply externally for inflamed, sunburn or eczema skin.

Fresh cucumbers can soothe heart burns or acidic stomach or gastric ulcer (drink 100-150 ml every 2 hours) and may be used in the treatment of gout and arthritis. It is also known as a tonic for kidney.

To motivate you, I have this cucumber recipe you might like to try as an appetizer before or after meals.

1) Clean the cucumber and slice off the skin.
2) Cut them into strips
3) Squeeze the juice from 1 or 2 lemons and add little rice vinegar. You can also use other natural vinegar such as apple cider vinegar. Do not use artificial vinegar.
4) Mix them well, cover the bowl with the wrap and refrigerate it before serving.

When you prepare this salad, you will notice the water is leeching out from the cucumber. You can drink the liquid portion as it is very nutritious as well. It is really cooling and the acidic taste gives the salad the additional zest to the chill.

Excess Breast Milk Uses

2007-03-02T00:14:00.000+08:00

Having excess breast milk? Cracking your head on how to best use the excess breast milk? Or do you throw them away anyway because your baby doesn't want to take them, or finds semi-solid food more interesting. If you thought of offering to your family members, they might be uncomfortable about the idea of drinking your milk.

There are a few ways mothers can use their excess breast milk and that you might consider:-

1) Donate
Consider donating your milk to your neighbours or friends who needs it for their baby because they were not able to give them due to some health reasons or other circumstances. There are some who consider selling them too.

2) Add your milk quietly into food recipe
This idea sounds very cheeky but if you are not uncomfortable in sharing your breast milk with your family members, then the next option may be to add it into your baby's food. You can add it to your biscuits, pastries or even cake. It is really useful way but just make sure that you check your milk supplies first before using it for a meal.

3) Use it for facial wash
Haven't you heard of people using milk as a facial wash. Why not try the breast milk? Perhaps the excess breast milk can be a good excuse to pamper mothers on their face to relieve the tiredness especially after birth.

Interesting article

1) Holistic uses of Breast Milk

Ginseng potency and side effects

2007-02-22T09:33:00.000+08:00

For many generations, ginseng has benefited many and has been passed down. It has helped those who are diabetic and raise energy for those who are easily fatigue. To me, the most interesting thing about ginseng is the aphrodisiac properties and it has been known to delay or even treat impotency.

Ginseng, a libido lifter
Research studies have been done on animals to show that ginseng increases sexual activity and mating behaviour in rats. I used to have this supervisor who gave birth to her third child when she was past her mid forties. She told me once that she takes ginseng regularly and her husband takes tonic almost everyday as well. I guess this must be one of the reasons why they conceived at their age.

Precautions on ginseng
Despite all its benefits, there are some precautions that should be observed, just like any herbs. Some users might experience mild side effects such as diarrhea, headache, palpitations, heavier menstrual flow, insomnia and irritability. During pregnancy or after giving birth, it is not advisable to take ginseng as miscarriage might occur; heavier menstrual flow after birth might mean losing more blood from your body after the child birth.

Do not take ginseng with anti-coagulant medication as it thins the blood and might lead to internal bleeding. Ginseng should not be taken with vasodilator medication as it can over-dilate blood vessels.

Due to ginseng's usefulness, care should be taken to prevent ginseng abuse syndrome (GAS). It is usually caused by users who takes ginseng regularly even when they do not need it. Symptoms include euphoria, hypertension, insomnia, diarrhea, nervousness, rashes or breathlessness. I have a friend who takes them too regularly that she feels sick if she didn't take the ginseng. I suspect she might be experiencing ginseng abuse syndrome. I have noticed that there are some who do not believe in this but I believe in all things that is good, we should always take them in moderation. So take ginseng by all means, but be more mindful of its side effects and take them with care.

How to Reduce the Fat Intake

2007-02-14T10:50:00.000+08:00

It is no secret that taking too much fat is unhealthy. Fast foods are convenient, tempting and more appetizing than the so-called healthy food. Today, I will look into some of the useful methods people do to start a reduced fat diet. Though it may not be fool-proof, but I think it is a less torturous alternative you can consider as a start and move on to a stricter fat diet. Afterall, not many of us have strong mind to resist against our unhealthy palate desires.

1) Consider Low-fat meat or vegetable stock

Soup stocks are very useful to enhance the taste in your dishes. Sometimes, you can prepare in advance and has a storage life of 3 months in a freezer. Using low-fat meat or vegetable stock for cooking or soup is one of the useful way to reduce the fat intake. Typically, some housewives would remove the skin of meat before using it to prepare for the soup stock. Alternatively, you can use lean meat to prepare your stock as well.

2) Refrigerate your fattening soups

If you try cooking chicken curry or even chicken soup, there is always a layer of oil floating on the top. It may taste good but the oil often gets in the way. Thus, I prefer to scoop away the layer of oil before serving. But to make the scooping easier, you can first refrigerate your meat soups or gravies that contains fat. Once it is refrigerated, you can scoop off the hardened fat that rise to the top.

3) Have a large-cut french fries

If you really crave for french fries, order large-cut ones (Note: Not Large Fries in portion!!) as it will have smaller surface area and will not absorb as much oil as smaller-cut fries.

4) Herbs as taste enhancer

Herbs such as mint, basil or coriander are known for its function as a taste enhancer and can make your dishes interesting. If used appropriately, you can reduce the oil used for the dishes as well. It is practically no calories.

5) Give a slippery touch

Sometimes, it is not the flavour of fat, but the slippery, smooth texture you crave. If this is the case, you can include unflavoured gelatin powder to thicken your cold salad dressing. Avocado may be high in fat but you can be sure that it is healthy. Consider avocado in your dressing or as butter spread.

6) Soften your butter

This might sound a little strange but if you soften butter or margarine at room temperature or in microwave before you spread on your bread, you are likely to end up using only one quarter of the fat as compared to when you take it cold. Test it out to see if it is so.

Substitute of sodium salt

2007-02-07T11:55:00.000+08:00

There has been many news about the use of sodium salt. Most of them are negative. I am sure you probably have read, heard or talked about it. You have decided to cut down so that you can live longer with your love ones, or to see your long-awaited grandchildren grow up or even to accomplish the things you have not attained. But cutting down on sodium doesn't seem to be as easy as it seems. Fast foods are convenient, but the sodium in the diet is generourous as well.

Isn't there anyway to reduce the sodium salt intake without sacrificing the taste? I have read some books and found that there is. If YES, then, here it is:-

1) Use more herbs and spices

Pepper and other spices can create the heat sensation. The loss of sodium can be compensated by strong flavours. If you like the intensity of the spices, it may help you slow down with eating and savour on your meals. Strong flavours and aromas such as garlic can also influenece your sense of fullness and add an illusion of thickness to food. Mint, basil, coriander and other fresh herbs can also liven up the simplest dishes so you do not need to put in too much salt.

Research studies show that those who lose their sense of smell tend to overeat, while those who sprinkle their food with aromatic flavouring or sniff scents through an inhaler throughout the day actually eat less and lose weight.

2) Include vinegar or lemon in your diet

Adding vinegar itself can create an intensity to your food. In fact, I found that vinegar help me to control my cravings for high salt potato chips and highly sugared sweets. If you like, you can start your vinegar diet with salad. I found that green apples dressed with natural vinegar taste great on its own. If you detest the taste of vinegar, you may consider using lemon or lime instead. Cucumber slices taste great when dressed with lemon too.

3) Reduce your intake of sugar

There are some similiarities on the effects of salt and sugar and typically, they come together. This is because they make food more palatable and when they are consumed, the body releases trace amounts of opiates that can elevate both mood and satisfaction. Although release in small amounts, these opiated-related food rewards could reinforce a preference for foods that are most associated with these feelings. In some ways, it is a form of addiction. Thus it is quite useful to keep that in mind to reduce the sugar intake while reducing the salt.

4) Cope with your stress

Sometimes, it takes more than food to understand how best to cut down on salt. Stress disrupts a normal eating pattern and this can not only cause a tendency to seek for more palatable salt and sweet foods, but also increase in fat consumption. Learn to listen to your body and find different ways to cut down on negative stress around you. Make time for exercise or walk or even meditation.

5) Don't totally cut down on salt

Just like any other kind of cravings that include smoking, it can be quite dangerous to suddenly cut down from it and highly dependent on your will strength. Try to make this change in salt diet more comfortable for yourself and take it in moderation. Total avoidance to salt may turn tables and cause a higher salt cravings. Also, sodium salt is an essential electrolyte in our body so there is no need to avoid it totally.

Other Related Articles

1) How to reduce salt

Scholar porridge recipe

2007-01-31T09:32:00.000+08:00

To satisfy some of my readers' curiosity on making your very own scholar porridge for the people you care, I have decided to share mine on this blog.

Ingredients: (serving 8)

For the Stock:
400g chicken carcass
400g Pork Big Bone
1 stalk celery, chopped into cubes
8 cloves of crushed garlic
40g of ginger

1) First, boil the water. Then put the chicken bones and pork bones into the boiling water.
(Note: This step is to scald and remove the blood water from the bones.)

2) Then rinse the bones well with cold water and put them aside.

3) Boil another pot of water and add the boiled bones with celery, garlic and ginger.

4) Simmer for 2 hours and add water if neccessary. Filter the soup stock. If you prepare a larger portion of soup stock, you can divide the portions out and store them in the freezer for at least 3 months for future use.

For the marinate:

250 g pork shoulder butt
(or assortment of pork liver, pork intestine)
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp rice wine
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp finely shredded ginger
1/16 tsp white pepper
1 lemon

1) Wash all the meat assortments to rid off the blood. Otherwise, it might give the porridge lightly brown.

2)Put all the marinade ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix them thoroughly. (Marinate the intestine with lemon juice) Cover with the wrap and put them in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 min.

For the congee:

200g rice
soup stock (for 8 servings)
marinated meat (for 8 servings)
water

1) Wash the rice with cold water and drain (~2 to 3 times)

2) Soak the rice for at least 15 min (ideally 1 hour soaking)

3) Boil 2L of water in the pot.

4) Add the soaked rice and the chicken stock (ensure that the rice to water ratio is 1:8 to 1:10)

5) Bring to boil over high heat

6) Cover the pot and leave the lid slightly open

7) Lower the heat to medium-low and stir occasionally to ensure it didn't stick at the base
(Note: Some experts may find stirring unneccesary but as a novice, stirring will help to prevent any disaster to your porridge.)

8) Cook the rice until it thickens to a consistency (~1hr)

9) Add your marinated meat assortment into the porridge and cook further with stirring

10) Once the meat is cooked, the porridge the ready to be served. You can garnish with coriander and century egg.

Interesting Chinese Porridge

2007-01-22T19:22:00.000+08:00

Whenever people mention about eating porridge, one might associate it to a meal that is served when one is unwell. If you think this is where it ends, I can tell you how porridge is more interesting than it seems.

1) The Legend about 'scholar porridge'

Have you heard about the 'scholar congee' legend? It goes like this: during the Qing dynasty, there was a newly appointed imperial scholar met the old imperial censor by chance and invited him to a congee meal. When the new scholar found out that the old censor's son was preparing for the imperial examination, the new scholar told him that the porridge he took is called 'scholar congee'. When the old censor heard this, he was delighted about it. At the end, the old censor's son really top the imperial examination and that how the 'scholar congee' name comes about. If you want to know more about the recipe, it's basically boiled porridge with pork and other pig's assortment like pig's intestine and liver.

2) Healing properties

The reason why it shares the reputation of 'food for the unwell' is probably because it can help to promote digestion and the provide the 'qi' (or energy). It can also aid in absorption of carbohydrates that strengthens the body when most other favourite food suddenly becomes unappetizing.

3) Types of porridge

There are three method of making porridge:

a) Teochew Modern porridge

The simplest method is the modern 'teochew' porridge where the rice is cooked separately in a rice cooker. When served, you'll serve the rice with the clear seafood and vegetable soup. I especially like it with tomato pieces, fish slices and tofu cubes.

b) Teochew Traditional porridge

The other 'teochew' porridge is a traditional method; the porridge is plainly boiled with water. The soup is slightly clear and the individual grains can still be seen. This type of porridge usually goes well with light and fresh side dishes such as steam fish, stir-fry cabbage. Preserved peanuts and salted duck eggs can also give a more interesting taste to the porridge. It may seem simple but when it is eaten with the side dishes, it orchestrates an unusual but simple experience.

c) Cantonese porridge

The third type of cooking porridge is commonly called 'cantonese congee'. The soup is much thicker than teochew porridge as shorter grains (or mixture of long grains with glutinous rice grains) are used and cooked over long 1 to 2 hours with pig big bones or chicken carcass or both. To make the taste more interesting, ginger slices and garlic cloves are added to the boil. If you find this too time consuming, you can use chicken stock solution or stock cubes that is available in supermarket.

From this, the bowl of porridge is often more than meets the eye as the nutrients are stewed into the porridge. Before it is served, it is usually transferred into another saucepan and cooked further with the uncooked pork or the chicken pieces. In addition, the raw egg is also cracked into the porridge promptly before serving. These were done to prevent overcooking of the meat pieces and the egg. Sometimes century egg slice is also added, depending on your preference.

Additional tip:

- To shorten the prepartion time of the cantonese porridge, you can soak the rice overnight.
- You can using the automatic rice cum porridge cooker to cook the porridge easily

4) Additional toppings to the porridge

There are so many toppings that goes well with porridge. To name some, I like it with:-

- Pork or chicken floss toppings,
- Vegemite or bovril,
- Bacon bits,
- Chinese fried dough-sticks (or you tiao),
- Spring onions,
- Fried shallots in oil and light soya sauce,
- Ginger slices,
- Hard boiled century eggs
- Sweet chinese barbeque pork (or ba gua)
- Steam sweet potatoes
- Wolfberries,
- Raisins,
- Steamed gingko,
- Steamed sweet potatoes
- Chopped basil leaves

Related references

1) Congee: Asia's Bowl full of Comfort

2) Cantonese porridge recipes

3) Congee recipe

4) Cantonese Lean Pork Congee recipe

Breakfast is important

2007-01-09T15:10:00.000+08:00

If you think breakfast is only for those retirees, or for those who have the time, I beg to differ. In fact, breakfast goers often make time for their breakfast and they are the ones who benefit from it.

Breakfast can control weight and diabetes
Research studies have shown that breakfast can help control weight and diabetes type II. Dr Mark Pereira and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School had proven that taking breakfast can help to lower obesity and insulin resistance by 35-50%. This is possible because when we sleep through the night, we stop taking food for at least five to six hours. Thus, our sugar level will run low the moment we wake up. This can stimulate our appetite and lower our energy. Skipping your breakfast can also cause extreme hunger and may result in over-eating or over-indulgence for sugary food if not controlled.

Breakfast can improve concentration and performance
Studies shows that children who take their breakfast can concentrate and do better in their tests. Those children that didn't have little attention span towards study and are easily irritable or fatigue. This goes for adults as well.

Eat Well
Since breakfast is the best chance for your body to absorb as much nutrients as possible, choosing the right breakfast is essential. Typical recommendations include fruits, fruit juice and cereals oats. Dr Pereira also did another research that shows the benefits of whole grains over the refined ones. A better breakfast diet should customise to your body needs if you can identify the missing nutrients in your main diet and choose food with lower glycemic index where possible. Also learn to communicate with your body and differentiate between indulgence and nutrient defficiencies.

Enjoy your breakfast.

Apples anti-browning tips

2007-01-08T10:33:00.000+08:00

Do you like the idea of having sliced apples ready to eat in you fridge but do not like to use salt to prevent browning? Want to consider other ways besides rubbing salt to the apples?

There are few other ways to prevent browning. You can use honey, vinegar or lemon juice instead of salt. You can also put the sliced apples into ice water and put them in the fridge to slow down the oxidation process and for great tasting cool fruit. In addition, if you like apple taste on its own, you can scald them with hot water after slicing and transfer them in the fridge. This will cook the exposed outer layer and stop its oxidative nature. Also remember to store them in container with cool water so that it will retain its crispiness.

Enjoy your apples that doesn't brown.

Always wash your apples

2007-01-07T22:04:00.000+08:00

I recently attended a face-to-face talk about the Multi-level Marketing (MLM) business that distributes health products, which includes the detoxifying body supplements. It was interesting when one of the members told me that the unripe apples were soaked in fungicides in a container for weeks until the apples skin were wrinkled. Then, the apples undergo wax treatment, whereby the wrinkled skin also restored its original shape with add on shine due to wax. He even added that I should notice that apples only start rotting from the center and not rot from the outside first.

At first, I didn't quite believe this. But as I did some research myself, I found that there is some truth. There was a research done to determine whether it is necessary to peel the apples.

From the above article, I believe the 'wrinkle' texture is probably due to the brine and nitrogen used for refrigeration storage for 6 months. The article indicates that it is still safe to eat those fungicide-treated apples. Anyway, I do suspect this might be a conspiracy but I was secretly glad that it is still safe to eat the apples so long as you wash the apples thoroughly. I love to eat the apples with the skin so I wouldn't want to exclude that from my diet and peel off the precious skin from the apples.

Personally, I have eaten apples regularly and I saw the benefits outweigh the scary pesticides story. Still the decision is yours to eat with or without the apple skin, but you definitely need to wash your apples thoroughly before storage and eating.

Different types of Apples

2006-12-31T10:47:00.000+08:00

There are really more than apples that meet the eye. Just like there are different race of human kind, there are different community of apples as well. It comes in different colours, cruchiness and even texture. Because of this, different apples are used for certain type of culinary and gastronomic food. Thus, using the correct type of apple is very important to make your recipe a success.

Red Delicious
The skin colour is deep red with a heart shape. It is also mildly sweet in flavour, juicy and crunchy. However recently, many apple lovers are slowly moving away from Red delicious as a more competitive Fuji and Gala due to the mild flavour and texture.

Rome Beauty
As this type of bright red apple would become rich when it is based or sautéed, it is commonly used for cooking. It was also known that Rome Beauty apples has a higher flavonoid content that provides a richness of antioxidants as well.

Gala
Gala apples are typically small. They are heart-shaped, usually red with a portion of yellow-orange on the skin that is thinner than most apples. It also gives a grainy sweet taste and quite resistant to bruising. Great in salads or eating out of hand. As the apple is soft, it is suitable for young toddlers just started taking some solid foods or even those wearing dentures.

Fuji
Fuji apples are usually large, and gives a very crispy and sweet flavour. The skin colour varies from light pink with light yellow highlights to very deep red colour. With recent years, Fuji apple has gain popularity all over, and in US that the apple growing state are also growing Fuji apples to meet their local demands. Its long shelf life (5-6 months in refrigerator) gives apple lovers more reason to have these lovely apples with them. You will also find that it is excellent in salads too.

Braeburn
Its skin colour varies from greenish gold with red sections to nearly solid red. This type of apple is crispy with a nice blend of sweetness and tartness flavour that is aromatic. They are also great as snacks or salads with great quality.

Cameo
Cameo apples gives a rich, sweet taste. Its origin is not certain but it was said that it could be a hybrid between Red Delicious and a Golden Delicious. Its texture is also firm. It has a red stripe over a creamy background. It is one of the top ten most grown apples in Washington and it is great for desserts or snacking as well.

Golden Delicious
The Golden Delicious has yellow skin and it is commonly used for whipping out different types of dishes. The flesh and white and the skin is tender, but prone to bruising thus needs careful storage. It is sweeter than green apples and fragrant even when it is left on the table. Upon cooking, it maintains its riches and shape. It is suitable for salads, applesauce and apple butter.

Granny Smith
The skin is typically bright green, with a light pink blush. Granny Smith apples gives a tart tangy flavour and crisp bit that keeps you refresh when you bite on them and it does not brown as quickly as other types of varieties. It is great for cooking, for snacking or to put into salads as well. I typically enjoy the apple salad dressed with natural vinegar.

Jonagold
Jonagold is a hybrid between Gold Delicious and Jonathan that contributes to its large size, sweetness and a thin skin. The skin colour is yellow-green with a nice blush of red. It is great for cooking or snacking as well.

Jonathan apple
It is medium in size. The Jonathan apples skin is yellow with red blush that is tough. It is sweet and acidic in flavour and it is closely related to Esopus Spitzenburg apple but it was the discovery of this apple, by Jonathan Hasbrouck that eventually the apple was named after him.