Tag: foods

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From Kitchen Notes to a Recipe Blog Readers Can Trust

From Kitchen Notes to a Recipe Blog Readers Can Trust

A recipe often begins as a scribble on a flour-dusted page: a handful of herbs, an oven temperature, or a note to add more lemon next time. Turning that idea into a recipe other people can cook takes a little more care. Clear measurements, repeatable testing, and honest descriptions help readers get good results—and make a personal collection of favorite dishes useful well beyond your own kitchen.

Start With a Dish You Know Well

The best first recipe to write down is one you have cooked more than once. Familiarity helps you notice what matters: how finely the onion should be chopped, what the mixture looks like before it goes into the oven, and which steps can happen while something else cooks. A dish you know also gives you a reliable starting point for testing changes.

Write down the ingredients as you use them, not from memory afterward. Include quantities, preparation details, and the order in which they go into the pan. “One onion” may be enough for your household, but a more useful note might specify a medium onion, finely diced. Record the pan size and heat level, too. These small details can make a recipe easier to repeat.

Test Before You Publish

A recipe that tastes good once may still need refining. Cook it again, following your written directions as if you were a new reader. If you find yourself relying on an unrecorded instinct—adding water until the sauce looks right, for example—note what that looks like or give a range to guide others.

Change only one or two things at a time when testing. If a loaf is dense, adjusting the flour and the liquid together makes it harder to know what helped. Keep a simple kitchen log with the date, ingredient amounts, cooking time, and result. The next attempt can then build on useful information rather than guesswork.

Pay attention to the difference between a precise instruction and a helpful cue. “Bake for 25 minutes” is a starting point; “bake until the edges are golden and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs” gives readers a way to judge doneness in ovens that run differently.

Write Steps That Reduce Guesswork

Put the ingredients in the order they are used, and group them when a recipe has distinct parts, such as a sauce and a filling. Use familiar measurements and state whether ingredients are packed, sifted, drained, or at room temperature when that detail affects the outcome. For foods that need safe handling, include practical guidance such as cooking poultry to a safe internal temperature and refrigerating leftovers promptly.

Keep each instruction focused on one action where possible. “Warm the oil, add the garlic, and cook until fragrant” is clearer than a paragraph that combines chopping, frying, seasoning, and simmering. Mention visual and sensory cues alongside times, since ingredient size, cookware, and appliances can all affect cooking speed.

  • Give a yield: State how many servings the dish makes, or how many portions it produces.
  • Explain preparation: Clarify whether vegetables are peeled, chopped, or measured after cooking.
  • Offer substitutions carefully: Note changes that you have tested, and explain when they may affect texture or flavor.
  • Include storage advice: Say how to refrigerate or freeze leftovers and how to reheat them.

Make the Recipe Easy to Find and Use

A useful recipe page answers readers’ questions without making them search through a long story. A short introduction can explain what the dish tastes like, when you serve it, or what makes the method distinctive. Then make the recipe details easy to scan, with clear headings for ingredients, preparation, cooking time, and serving suggestions.

If you publish recipes online, basic search guidance can help the right readers discover them. The iCopify blog covers topics such as SEO and publishing, which can help food writers understand how online content is found. Apply that knowledge without letting keywords take over: an accurate title, a direct description, and useful answers to common cooking questions are better for readers than repeated search phrases.

Use Photos to Clarify, Not Just Decorate

A photograph can show the texture of a finished dish, the color of a properly browned crust, or how a serving should look. Natural light near a window often gives food a clear, appealing appearance. Keep the setting simple enough that the dish remains the focus, and consider adding a process photo when a visual step—such as shaping dough—is difficult to describe.

Good photos take practice, but food creators do not have to handle every task alone. A freelance marketplace such as Osdire spans services including food photography, graphic design, and writing. If you hire help, agree on the deliverables and style in advance, and make sure the final images accurately represent the recipe readers will make.

Keep Improving the Collection

After publishing, pay attention to the questions people ask and the points where they get stuck. If several readers wonder whether a sauce can be made ahead, add a tested answer. If a substitution changes the result, explain that clearly. Updating a recipe with better instructions is part of caring for it, just as adjusting seasoning is part of cooking.

A trustworthy recipe is not simply a list of ingredients. It is a record of a dish that has been tested, explained, and made easier for someone else to enjoy. Whether you are preserving family favorites or sharing new experiments, careful notes and reader-focused directions turn kitchen knowledge into something people can return to—and cook with confidence.

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The best healthy foods to eat for breakfast

The best healthy foods to eat for breakfast

It helps you regulate your appetite, prevent blood sugar swings and fills you up on all the essential nutrients to start your day off right.

Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day for good reason. It helps you regulate your appetite, prevent blood sugar swings and fills you up on all the essential nutrients to start your day off right.

If you’re looking for healthy breakfast foods, experts say to avoid sugary cereals at the grocery store, fresh pastries from the corner coffee shop and easy grab-n-go options at your favorite bodega. They may be luring you into a tasty trap laced with high amounts of added sugars, calories, refined grains and unhealthy saturated fats.

Regularly consuming these unhealthy ingredients can lead to weight gain and increased risks for high cholesterol, diabetes, chronic inflammation and heart disease.

To make breakfast as healthy as possible, look for the same good foods to eat that you’d have for lunch or dinner, including vegetables, nuts and seeds and some dairy foods, for instance.

Think about those categories as you plan your breakfast. The following superstar food choices can help get you started:

— Avocados.

— Blackberries and blueberries.

— Buckwheat.

— Coffee.

— Eggs.

— Ground hemp, chia or flax seeds.

— Healthy leftovers.

— Leafy greens.

— Mushrooms.

— Nut butters.

— Oat bran.

— Plain Greek yogurt.

— Prunes.

— Steel-cut oatmeal or oat bran.

— Tofu.

— Walnuts.

— Whole-grain bread.

[READ: Heart-Healthy Soups.]

Avocados

Also known as “alligator pears,” avocados provide heart-healthy unsaturated fat that’s often missing from typical Western diets. The fruits are packed with lots of potassium, folate and vitamins E, C, A and K, as well as fiber, which promotes gut health and helps control blood sugar. But that’s not all.

“Avocados also contain the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, which may help to protect our eyes from harmful light waves (i.e., the blue light from our computer screens) that can harm our vision,” says Gabrielle Gambino, a registered dietitian with Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.

That means you get extra protection for your eyes with avocados.

A whole medium avocado contains:

— Calories:240.

— Fat:22 grams (15 grams of monounsaturated fat, 4 grams of polyunsaturated fat and 3 grams of saturated fat).

— Fiber:10 grams.

— Protein:3 grams.

Low in sodium and free of cholesterol, these superfoods are also versatile and widely available. Avocados are available year-round and can be purchased fresh in the produce section or frozen in the freezer aisle of the grocery store.

As versatile and yummy as avocados are, be mindful of how much you’re consuming if you live with kidney disease, cautions Anna Chew, a registered dietitian and vice president of nutrition services at Fresenius Kidney Care in San Diego. They’re high in potassium, and those with kidney disease may have trouble keeping their potassium levels balanced if eating them too much.

Here are a few breakfast ideas with avocados:

— Avocado chunks in a morning omelet.

— Mashing avocado and spreading it on toast. You can also combine mashed avocado with white beans to spread it on the toast, says Samantha Cassetty, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a partner with California Walnuts and Sunsweet Growers who’s based in New York City.

— Blending avocado in a green smoothie with kale, bananas, milk and a little honey.

[READ: Healthy Carbs to Eat.]

Blackberries and blueberries

Not to be fooled by their size, these small but mighty fruits pack a powerful nutritional punch with their high fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese and potassium content.

Blackberries andblueberries are also loaded with antioxidants that support body function at a cellular level. Some of these antioxidants include lutein and zeaxanthin carotenoids, which can promote eye health, and resveratrol, which has been a growing research area of interest for its potential anti-aging and anti-cancer effects.

One cup (5.2 ounces) of fresh blueberries contains:

— Calories:84.

— Fat:0.5 grams.

— Carbohydrates:21.4 grams (including 3.6 grams of fiber and 14.7 grams of natural sugars).

— Protein:1.1 gram.

— Potassium:114 milligrams.

— Vitamin C:14 milligrams.

— Manganese:0.6 milligrams

— Vitamin K:29 micrograms.

One cup (5.1 ounces) of fresh blackberries contains:

— Calories:62.

— Fat:0.7 grams.

— Carbohydrates:14.7 grams (including 7.6 grams of fiber and 7 grams of natural sugars).

— Protein:2 grams.

— Potassium:233 milligrams.

— Vitamin A:310 milligrams.

— Vitamin C:30 milligrams.

Enjoy either berry in a hot or cold cereal, yogurt, a morning smoothie or in whole-grain pancakes or muffins.

“Cooked blackberries make a delicious syrup. Just put them in a little water and bring them to a boil. Try to stick to about a cup of blackberries per serving,” says Dana Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

As you use fruits and vegetables for your healthy breakfasts, don’t forget that you also can use frozen produce, Cassetty says. This is useful when a certain produce item isn’t in season or you can’t find it fresh. Frozen fruits and veggies are just as healthy as their fresh counterparts. Plus, they’re more budget-friendly, Cassetty adds. Look for frozen versions that don’t have added sugars or salt.

Buckwheat

Whole-grain carbohydrates help fuel the brain for the morning, and buckwheat is brimming with healthy carbs and other important nutrients. Buckwheat seeds come from flowering plants that are then ground into small pieces that can be enjoyed in the form of hot cereal or as a powder for baking flour.

“Buckwheat is a high-fiber, gluten-free alternative to white [refined] flour. Buckwheat is also a good source of magnesium and B vitamins like thiamine, folate and niacin,” says Kristin Gustashaw, an advanced clinical dietitian with Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

A quarter cup (45 grams) of buckwheat contains:

— Calories:154.

— Fat:1.5 grams.

— Carbohydrates:32.3 grams (including 4.5 grams of fiber).

— Protein:6 grams.

— Iron:1 milligram.

— Potassium:207 milligrams.

The grain has a nutty, sometimes bitter taste, but the flavor is more palatable when it’s roasted or combined with other ingredients. For example:

— Mix buckwheat with other whole-grain flours (such as whole-wheat or brown rice) to make flavorful pancakes or muffins.

— Cook a mixture of buckwheat cereal with brown rice or quinoa for a hot porridge.

Top buckwheat dishes with sweet or savory toppings, such as chopped nuts, fresh or dried fruit and a little honey, or top with shredded cheese, chicken chunks and balsamic vinegar or a drizzle of olive oil.

Coffee

Coffee is sometimes villainized as a morning vice but the truth is, it can be a healthy addition to your breakfast if you’re not adding a lot of extra ingredients to it.

“It could be the healthiest bad behavior out there,” Cassetty says.

Coffee may help improve short- and long-term memory, according to several studies. Plus, the caffeine in coffee is a stimulant, so it can help you feel more focused and alert. Of course, you don’t want to overdo that. If you’re new to drinking coffee, start with one cup to see how it affects you before working up to a max of four cups a day. Cut your coffee intake by lunchtime to avoid any effects by the evening.

Don’t worry if you have to stick to decaf as the health benefits are similar to regular coffee, minus the caffeine.

If you add a lot of sugar, syrups or milks to coffee, that can cut down on the beverage’s health effects, Cassetty cautions. Aim for no more than 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar (4 to 8 grams) if you don’t want to drink it black. This includes reading the labels of any products you use in coffee to check for sugar amounts.

[SEE: Healthy Meals You Can Make in 10 Minutes.]

Eggs

Eggs are nutrient-dense and high in all of the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, that keep your hunger at bay and provide fuel for your musclesand organs early in the day.

“Amino acids also support optimal brain signaling and hormone regulation. In general, high protein foods maximize blood sugar control, particularly if we pair them with carbohydrate-rich items in our first meal of the day, such as eggs and whole-wheat toast,” Gambino says.

One large egg contains:

— Calories:72.

— Fat:5 grams.

— Carbohydrates:Less than one gram.

— Protein:6 grams.

Eggs are also rich in minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium; vitamins, such as B and D vitamins; and other nutrients, such as lutein and zeaxanthin. Stick with hard-boiled or poached eggs instead of frying them, which is less healthy.

Here are a few ways to enjoy eggs at breakfast time:

— On top of an avocado half or oatmeal.

— Cooked into an omelet with eggs and veggies.

— Add one or two extra egg whites when cooking two eggs, to add protein and keep you fuller longer.

— Make egg salad avocado toast, which involves mashing an avocado and mixing in a hard-boiled egg before you spread it on whole-grain toast, suggests Chew.

Ground seeds

One of the best foods to eat in the morning is ground seeds, particularly ground hemp, chia or flaxseeds.

“Seeds are excellent sources of plant-based protein, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium,” Gustashaw says.

One tablespoon of ground flaxseed, for example, contains:

— Calories: 37.

— Fat:3 grams of healthy unsaturated fat.

— Carbohydrates:2 grams (including 2 grams of fiber).

— Protein:1.3 grams.

— Magnesium:27 micrograms.

— Calcium:18 milligrams.

— Lutein and zeaxanthin:45 micrograms.

Gustashaw recommends adding ground seeds to:

— Yogurt.

— Hot cereals.

— Avocado toast.

— Whole-grain pancake or muffin batter.

— Fruit.

Healthy leftovers

If you favor savory breakfasts, leftovers from a nutritious dinner the night before make a healthy choice. Whether it’s baked salmon with quinoa and broccoli, a vegetable stir-fry and brown rice or roasted chicken and sautéed spinach and roasted sweet potatoes, you can give these meals a second life by enjoying them the next morning.

“There’s no wrong time to eat certain foods,” Gustashaw says. “If a food is packed full of nutrition, breakfast is a good time to eat it and it will give you a powerful start to your day.” Chew is also a fan of being adventurous and eating foods that are not traditional to breakfast.

Gustashaw also advises repurposing leftovers to make interesting new breakfast dishes. Options include turning last night’s roasted vegetables into an omelet or wrapping it in a whole-grain tortilla for an on-the-go meal.

Leafy greens

When you think of breakfast, you may not immediately think of leafy greens. But leafy greens can actually make for an easy addition to your breakfast, and you can easily slip them into other foods you’re eating.

Some examples of leafy greens to add to your breakfast include:

— Arugula.

— Kale.

— Romaine lettuce.

— Spinach.

Leafy greens provide benefits like folate, lutein and vitamins A and C. Greens also may help protect your brain, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Neurology. Over an average 4 ½ year period in the study, a daily serving of leafy greens protected memory and cognitive abilities comparable to people 11 years younger.

Here are a few ways to add leafy greens to your morning meals:

— Add a fistful to an omelet.

— Add a cup of spinach or kale to a smoothie.

— Place arugula on top of avocado toast, Cassetty suggests.

Mushrooms

You don’t have to wait until dinner to eat mushrooms. These delicious fungi are high in fiber and are a rich source of plant-based protein, but they’re also good for the gut — they can act as prebiotics that fuel good bacteria in the GI tract. That helps promote good gut health and improve blood sugar control.

A cup of raw chopped portabella mushrooms contains lots of phosphorus, potassium, folate and calcium as well as:

— Calories:80.

— Fat:0.3 grams.

— Carbohydrates:3 grams (including 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of natural sugar).

— Protein:2 grams.

Add raw mushrooms to a smoothie for an extra nutrition boost and a taste you’ll hardly notice. Or sauté mushrooms to add a savory flavor and texture to an omelet.

Nut butters

Nut butters are made of ground peanuts or ground tree nuts — such as almonds, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts and walnuts. While they’re a staple of lunch and snacks, nut butters are perfect for breakfast too, whether on your whole-grain toast or mixed into a smoothie, oatmeal or whole-grain pancake mix.

A nut butter’s superpower comes from its main ingredients (nuts or peanuts), which are associated with lower body mass and reduced risks for developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. They’re rich in protein and fiber, which keep you full, plus lots of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.

Two tablespoons of almond butter, for instance, contains:

— Calories:200.

— Fat: 18 grams (including 2 grams of saturated fat and 16 of grams unsaturated fat)

— Carbohydrates:6 grams (including 3 grams of fiber and 2 grams of sugar).

— Protein:7 grams.

— Calcium:111 milligrams .

However, it’s important not to overdo it due to their high fat content. Plus, nut butter’s health benefits can be derailed quickly if it includes unhealthy ingredients like sugar. Nut butters are good for you when consumed in moderation; a serving size is 2 tablespoons.

“You want to avoid nut butters made with added sugar and palm or fractionated oils. It’s easy to spot them because those are usually the nut butters that are pre-stirred,” Hunnes says. “Look for the ones you have to mix.”

Oatmeal or oat bran

Steel-cut oats are whole oat kernels, or oat groats, that have been chopped into smaller pieces. They’re packed with beneficial fiber (about 5 grams in a quarter cup of dry oats), namely beta-glucan. That’s a type of fiber found in barley, oats, mushrooms and several other foods.

“It provides sustained, stable energy from complex carbs. That’s important in the morning, so you’ll feel fuller longer and you won’t get an energy crash an hour after eating,” Gambino says. “Beta-glucan also improves cholesterol levels, helping to clear the arteries of potential plaques that could otherwise lead to complications down the road.”

Another oat choice: oat bran, the oat groats’ outer shell.

“Oat bran is awesome for people who don’t like the texture of oatmeal (flattened, steamed oat groats) or steel-cut oats. And for the same amount of calories, you get double the potassium, phosphorus and magnesium; a third more calcium and thiamin; and about 40{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} more iron than you would in steel-cut oatmeal,” Gustashaw says.

A 3.5-ounce serving of cooked oat bran contains:

— Calories:40.

— Protein:3 grams.

— Fiber:3 grams.

Both oat bran and steel-cut oats are a good base for all kinds of sweet or savory flavors. If you don’t have steel-cut oats or oat bran, you also can use regular oatmeal for similar benefits. Just steer clear of instant oatmeal already prepared with sugar. Cassetty has seen instant single-serve packages of oatmeal with 14 grams of sugar, similar to that in a small candy bar. “I’d rather see someone add a teaspoon of sweetener than eat something that has more sugar than a small candy bar,” she says.

Overnight oats that combine blueberries, steel-cut oatmeal, plain Greek yogurt and walnuts are a terrific way to combine several healthy breakfast foods, Chew says. The fiber this breakfast provides can help lower your risk for stroke, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure, she adds. Try adding cinnamon and nutmeg to boost flavors.

Plain Greek yogurt

Yogurt is heated milk that gets combined with two types of “good” bacteria and then is left to ferment for a few hours. During that time, milk sugars change into lactic acid, which is thicker than milk and has a sharp flavor. This dairy product is a creamy, protein- and calcium-rich breakfast staple for many people.

Try to avoid yogurt with added sugars. Instead, go for plain Greek yogurt, a strained, thicker type of yogurt that’s higher in protein with less sugar than the regular variety. Packed with calcium, potassium and probiotics, Greek yogurt is a versatile and nutritious choice that promotes good gut health and helps control your appetite.

A half a cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt contains:

— Calories:60.

— Fat:0.3 grams of fat.

— Carbohydrates:4 grams (including 3 grams of natural sugar).

— Protein:10 grams.

— Calcium:111 milligrams.

Enjoy Greek yogurt with fruit, nuts, honey or ground seeds mixed into it. Or, add a dollop of Greek yogurt as you scramble eggs or make whole-grain pancakes or muffins.

Prunes

Prunes are due for an image makeover. While sometimes overlooked, nutrition experts hail them for their health benefits, including at breakfast time. A 2022 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that five to six prunes eaten daily by postmenopausal women helped to preserve bone mass and reduce fracture risk.

— Calories (four prunes):90.

— Fat:0 grams.

— Carbohydrates:24 grams.

— Protein:10 grams.

— Calcium:20 milligrams.

— Potassium: 280 milligrams.

Even though it’s just 2{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} of our recommended daily calcium intake, the calcium contained in prunes is important as 40{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} of Americans don’t get their recommended intake of calcium through the foods they eat, according to Oregon State University.

Consider adding prunes with your other healthy breakfast choices, such as in oatmeal dishes. Or, sprinkle them over whole-grain toast with nut butter. You also can enjoy them as a pre-breakfast workout snack.

Tofu

Tofu is a thick, flavorless product of soybean curds that takes on the flavors of other foods and spices you pair with it. It comes in crumbles or blocks that are soft, medium firm or firm, and its texture makes it a popular substitute for eggs or meat.

Tofu is a great breakfast food because it’s a rich source of plant-based protein to help keep you full in the morning, and it contains many other nutrients such as folate (a B vitamin), choline (an essential nutrient) and minerals such as zinc, potassium, phosphorus and selenium.

A 3.5-ounce serving of firm tofu also contains:

— Calories:78.

— Fat:4 grams.

— Carbohydrates:3 grams (including 1 gram of fiber).

— Protein:9 grams.

— Calcium:200 milligrams.

To incorporate tofu into a healthy breakfast, cut it into small chunks and add it to vegetables for a veggie scramble. Or, add it to a breakfast burrito or smoothies, Hunnes says.

Walnuts

In addition to nut butters, a simple handful of nuts will add crunch, flavor and nutrients to your breakfast.

Walnuts in particular will help give your cardiovascular system a healthy start in the morning. The nuts are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which are powerhouses for the heart and blood vessels. Daily walnut consumption also may help improve your mental health and well-being, according to a trial focused on academic stress that was published in the journal Nutrients.

An ounce of walnuts contains:

— Calories:185.

— Fat:18.5 grams (1.7 grams saturated fat, 13.4 polyunsaturated fat and 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat).

— Carbohydrates:3.9 grams (including 2 grams of fiber).

— Protein:4.3 grams.

— Calcium:28 milligrams.

— Potassium:125 milligrams

Walnuts are also loaded with vitamin E, folate and magnesium. A few ways to enjoy walnuts in the morning include:

— Baking them with a little honey for a sweet, crunchy yogurt topping.

— Adding them to overnight oats, smoothie bowls and yogurt parfaits.

— Grabbing a handful to take with you for an easy morning snack.

Whole-grain bread

Whole grains are those that haven’t been refined to remove the outer shell (bran) or nutrient-rich germ (or embryo) inside the grain.

Examples of whole grains include:

— Bulgur.

— Oat.

— Quinoa.

— Rye.

— Whole-wheat.

— Farro.

— Teff.

Made into breads, whole grainsare handy breakfast foods that are portable and easy to prepare. They’re also full of nutrients such as fiber, protein and B vitamins.

One slice of whole-wheat bread contains:

— Calories:78.

— Fat:1 gram.

— Carbohydrates:14.3 grams (including 1.2 grams of fiber and 1.8 grams of sugar).

— Protein:3 grams.

— Calcium:40 milligrams.

For a nutritious breakfast, pair a slice or two of whole-grain bread with an egg, half an avocado, nut butter or a slice of your favorite cheese.

To get the healthiest whole-grain breads, you’ll have to read the ingredient label.

“Make sure each grain has the word ‘whole’ next to it,” Hunnes advises. “And watch out for added sugars. Go for the bread with four grams (or fewer) added sugars per slice. That’s still one teaspoon of sugar, but it’s better than 8 grams or more that are common in bread.”

Some final tips on breakfast planning

As you plan your breakfast, aim for a balance of protein, fat and fiber. Envision a plate that can be filled with these suggested serving sizes and items as shared by Chew:

— 3 to 5 ounces of protein, or about the size of your palm.

— A half-cup of fruits and veggies, or the size of your cupped hand.

— One cup of bread or grains, which is about the size of your closed fist.

When you can, try to enjoy local and seasonal produce for a nutrient-packed healthy treat, Chew advises.

More from U.S. News

Heart-Healthy Breakfast Ideas for a Busy Morning

The Best Heart-Healthy Snacks

8 High-Protein Breakfasts That Keep You Full

The Best Healthy Foods to Eat for Breakfast originally appeared on usnews.com

Update 04/21/23: This piece was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.

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Stop Cooking These 10 Foods in Your Instant Pot ASAP

Stop Cooking These 10 Foods in Your Instant Pot ASAP

If you own an Instant Pot, you know how convenient it is when it comes to cutting down the time it takes to cook food, all through the magic of heat and steam. But while Instant Pot has kitchen prowess, it can’t cook everything safely. And for some foods, you may find the results inferior to more traditional cooking methods like using a stovetop or air fryer. 

Steer clear of these 10 items and dishes you shouldn’t try to cook in your classic Instant Pot. And for more cooking tips, check out nine cooking hacks that actually work, why you might be ruining your chef’s knife and the top slow cooker mistakes to avoid. 

Crunchy, crispy food

Unless you’ve purchased a specialty model, your Instant Pot is not a pressure fryer and isn’t designed for the higher temperatures needed to heat cooking oil for something like crispy fried chicken. Of course, an Instant Pot is perfect for a dish like carnitas, but to get the final crisp on the meat, after you remove the meat from the Instant Pot, transfer to a skillet and brown for a few minutes or on a baking sheet to crisp up in a hot oven. (However, if you’re looking for an air fryer that will get your food nice and crispy, you can check out our tested picks for the best air fryers of 2023). 

Dairy

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Just like in a slow cooker, most dairy products such as cheese, milk and sour cream will curdle in an Instant Pot, no matter if you use the pressure cooking setting or the slow cooking setting. Add these ingredients after the dish cooks or avoid making the recipe in the Instant Pot altogether. 

There are two exceptions. One is when you’re making yogurt, and that’s only if you use a recipe specifically for an Instant Pot. The other is if you’re making a cheesecake, and again, only if you’re following an Instant Pot recipe.

Pasta

While you technically can cook pasta in an Instant Pot, it may come out gummy or unevenly cooked. Honestly, unless you don’t have the option, boiling the pasta in a pot on a stovetop is just as fast and easy and will yield consistently better cooked pasta.

Two recipes at once

Cooking a roast with potatoes and carrots is a time-honored recipe, right? Not in this case. Don’t try to cook a main dish with a side dish in your Instant Pot. They may fit in the pot together, but each food will need its own cooking time. Cooking items together will inevitably result in a dry or mushy mess.

Cakes

You aren’t really baking a cake in an Instant Pot, you’re steaming it. The cake will be moist — which works for something like bread pudding — but you won’t get a nice crust on the cake or the chewy edges that everyone fights over with baked brownies. However, if you do need to throw something together for a potluck or quick family dessert, you can get a moist sponge in half an hour or so, excluding prep time.

Foods for canning

Canning, the art of cooking and sealing foods in jars, is often done in a pressure cooker. So, it may seem like a good idea to make a batch of jams, pickles or jellies in your Instant Pot. Don’t do it. 

With an Instant Pot, you’re not able to monitor the temperature of what you’re canning as you would with a regular pressure cooker. With canning, cooking and sealing the food correctly is key. Improper cooking and sealing can lead to bacteria growth that can cause food poisoning.

While you want to avoid canning with an Instant Pot, some of the newer models (like the Duo Plus) do have a sterilize setting that lets you clean baby bottles and kitchen items like jars and utensils.

Rare or medium-rare meats

A pressure cooker is not a barbecue. An Instant Pot does great with tougher cuts of meat — which the pressure cooker can easily break down — but not so good with ones that are best eaten medium-rare, like a steak. Save those for the grill.

Yellow and red lentils

We love lentils, but not all of them can be cooked in an Instant Pot. Brown and green lentils can hold up to pressure cooking, but the more delicate yellow and red versions turn to mush because they cook so quickly. Unless you’re purposely making lentil soup or dhal, stick to cooking red and yellow lentils on the stove to preserve their texture and shape.

Sous-vide

Don’t try this trendy method of cooking with most Instant Pots models. The Instant Pot Max is an exception because it gives you the ability to accurately control the cooking temperature. If you don’t own an Instant Pot that has that level of control, you are better off using an Instant Pot attachment to do your sous-vide cooking, if you are really set on using your pressure cooker this way.

Seafood

In general, seafood such as fish, oysters, shrimp, muscles and clams are just too delicate for pressure cooking and slow cooking modes. They are foods that are meant to be cooked quickly at just the right temperature, which is hard to do with an Instant Pot. A few seconds too long or at the wrong temperature and you can end up with mush or rubbery lumps.

Besides, fish, shellfish and crustaceans are easily cooked with other methods, so breaking out the Instant Pot for them won’t guarantee better results as it can for tougher meats.

The only exception is octopus and squid. Pressure cooking these tough creatures can make them tender while keeping the meat juicy. Just be sure to find a recipe that is specifically for the Instant Pot.

More kitchen and household recommendations

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Power Foods For Diabetes: 6 Kitchen Ingredients You Need To Know About

Power Foods For Diabetes: 6 Kitchen Ingredients You Need To Know About

Large drugs can acquire a toll on our immunity and overall well being. Running ailments like diabetic issues by food stuff is one of the finest approaches to go about it. And you never have to go also significantly scouting for the apt food items. They are ideal there in your kitchen area, and most of them you are already consuming regularly. It would be good to know about these meals so that you make sure to make them a element of your frequent diabetic issues food plan. You’ll be astonished to come across out how some of these foodstuff are regarded as very best for controlling blood sugar levels.  

Also browse: Diabetic issues Diet plan: This Refreshing Tomato Juice May Support Handle Diabetic issues Way too

Here’re 6 Frequent Kitchen Substances That Are Fantastic For Diabetes 

1. Fenugreek Seeds 

Popularly identified as ‘methi dana’ in India, fenugreek seeds are just one of the most proposed meals for diabetes diet program. They are extremely capable of decreasing large blood sugar stages. While methi dana can be used in many recipes to make scrumptious foods, drinking methi water each morning is the most effective way to management diabetes. Know far more about it here. 

 2. Nuts 

Abundant in omega-3 fatty acids, nuts are a reduced glycaemic index foodstuff, perfect for a diabetes eating plan. They have important oils that can keep a check out on swelling, blood sugar degrees and even cholesterol stages. You must have a handful of nuts every single day.  

3. Cinnamon 

Cinnamon (or dalchini) not only provides a solid pungent and slightly sweet style to your food stuff, it also can help raise insulin sensitivity inside of the entire body. Given that insulin is largely responsible for managing blood sugar, this spice is a good choice to include to a diabetes diet. Moreover building Indian curries and biryanis with this spice, you can also grind the spice to make powder and sprinkle it on smoothies, salads, fruits and oatmeal. 

Also examine: 5 Khichdi Recipes That Could Help Regulate Blood Sugar Level

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 Enrich you diet with wholesome food items to manage diabetic issues. Graphic Credit rating: iStock

4. Turmeric 

Turmeric is a superfood in the truest perception. It is recognised to enhance wellbeing in lots of approaches. Here’s why it is also encouraged for diabetics: It is higher in anti-oxidants, lowers blood sugar, and aids struggle infection. Turmeric milk (haldi doodh) is revered as the elixir of good health and fitness and assists regulate diabetes as well. This is how you can make it. 

5. Bitter Gourd 

Get made use of to the bitter flavor of karela for the reason that it is a person of the greatest foodstuff for diabetic issues. The vegetable has compounds like charantin, which is identified for its blood glucose-lowering attribute. You can either consume karela sabzis or make juice out of it and drink it each morning on an vacant stomach. 

6. Ginger 

We all adore adrak in our food and drinks, primarily chai. And it really is a great behavior to include things like this widespread nevertheless flexible spice in our eating plan. In accordance to dietitian Kanupreet Arora Narang, “Ginger aids in blood glucose homeostasis, running blood sugar amount.” You can have adrak wali chai each individual day, or even improved – kadha. And we are absolutely sure you are by now introducing ginger to your each day foods. 

Control diabetic issues normally with these daily food items things and reside a healthy lifestyle. 

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Identities: Hesitation to try new cultural foods is disrespectful

Identities: Hesitation to try new cultural foods is disrespectful
“​​Food was an unspoken language between us, experienced come to symbolize our return to each individual other, our bonding, our widespread ground” – Michelle Zauner, “Crying in H Mart”

My mates and I have a running joke that I am obsessed with food items. I wrote about it in my reporting course as my beat. I definitely only go out if there is a food stuff market place or a new restaurant. My revenue is largely invested on foods. I even did my ultimate presentation in an Asian American encounters course on foodstuff and identification. 

I surely am the foodie good friend. 

Some of it could be because I’m a Taurus — but the the greater part of it has to do with the way food stuff delivers me local community and ties me to my Filipino American id. 

I am a next-generation Filipino American who grew up in an higher-center-course community in the Midwest. Though I was privileged in lots of techniques, the loneliness of being a single of the only people today of coloration in my community contributed to several of the insecurities I now encounter. Nonetheless, a single of the points that often manufactured me very pleased of my culture was foodstuff. 

Food was the gateway that transported me into the crowded streets of Manila exactly where my moms and dads grew up. Foods permits me to connect with my loved ones when I battle to understand and have an understanding of my mom’s native tongue. Although I truly feel insecure about not realizing Tagalog, I am happy of recognizing the smells, spices and flavors of all the Filipino dishes. 

I also grew up surrounding myself with various foodstuff. My mother and father cherished going to diverse dining places, this sort of as Korean barbeque and Ethiopian food items, which authorized me to have a refined palette where by I can uncover commonalities with men and women in school. 

However, the hesitation to depict my lifestyle will come as no shock to a good deal of Asian People. There is a widespread experience for a good deal of Asian kids expanding up of bringing their ethnic foodstuff to the lunch desk and then being on the acquiring finish of microaggressive reviews. Just one time in 2nd quality, a female mentioned my food stuff tasted negative simply because it smelled bad. As a result of experiences like this, several Asian young children have developed to find out that their food, and for that reason identification, wasn’t welcome in the lunchroom. This can contribute to why quite a few Asian People are fast to stray away from their culture and stick to whiteness. It typically usually takes a great deal of time for Asian Us citizens to embrace their culture and stand up for them selves. 

As a sophomore in college or university, I am striving to provide a flavor of dwelling to D.C. by means of foods. I crave the sourness of sinigang: a sour, savory Filipino stew composed of your selection of meat or seafood, tamarind and different vegetables. 

Even though I’d like to share this passion with many others, lots of of my peers grew up in diverse cultures and environments. They are brief to reject new food items from different cultures, and I can see the judgment in their eyes. 

Striving people’s foods is, in essence, respecting their tradition. It’s allowing you to consider a action into their residence, their beliefs and their way of living. The trepidation and judgment of someone’s ethnic food stuff is an extension of your reluctance to get to know someone’s tradition.

Meals, particularly in Asian culture, is a unifying tool intended to serve as a sixth enjoy language. Like the Zauner quote at the best of this piece, lots of Asian individuals hardly ever proclaim their like, but relatively display it via functions of company this sort of as making ready and feeding us foodstuff. It’s deeply embedded in our society. Even so, when food is made available to anyone and they show a slight hesitation or grimace at the sight of the food stuff, it is incredibly disrespectful. It reverts us again into that lunchroom. It hurts our love language. 

Asian food stuff is only eaten in Western culture when People in america tokenize the product or service and colonize it into their tradition. Foodstuff these kinds of as sushi, ramen and even poké have little by little been stripped of their taste to cater to the palettes of white people. 

Our food items is not an aesthetic that can suit your style buds. It is a life style. It is its very own respiration lifestyle that does not and must not healthy into white supremacy criteria. So, your willingness to immerse your self and test various food items that are not presently shoved into the box of Western lifestyle is one particular action nearer to respecting my lifestyle. 

The only way that people are able to just take away these judgmental behaviors and attitude is by getting additional receptive to trying various food items. Just after all, this is a figured out actions. It is sitting in a cafe and listening to folks of shade when they are telling you to try out their favored dish as a child developing up. It’s making them come to feel observed and validated. It’s creating them come to feel listened to. And if you do not like the foods, at least you can say you attempted it. 

Genesis Magpayo is a sophomore in the College of Interaction and University of Public Affairs and a columnist for the Eagle. This short article was edited by Jelinda Montes, Alexis Bernstein and Nina Heller. Copy editing performed by Isabelle Kravis, Sarah Clayton, Natasha LaChac, Leta Lattin and Luna Jinks.

gmagpayo@theeagleonline.com

Additional from The Eagle

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26 Irish foods you need to try in Ireland | Food/Recipes

26 Irish foods you need to try in Ireland | Food/Recipes

There’s a lot more to Irish cuisine than stout and spuds, although both should be high on your must-try list when visiting the island of Ireland.

That rich green patchwork that greets the eye as your plane descends produces some of the world’s finest beef, lamb and dairy, while the gray-blue waters that froth against its shoreline are alive with fish and shellfish.

Seafood

Meat dishes

Bread, butter and cheese

The majestic spud

Treats and snacks

Guilty pleasures and old-school classics

Drinks