Kitchen Tools That Help You Stay Healthy

With the word ‘fitness’ we usually think about healthy food and exercise. Most of us know about healthy foods that can help you achieve fitness but do you know that using kitchen tools effectively can also go a long way in keeping you healthy. This article gives an overview of kitchen tools that help in cutting calories and fat for a healthier you.

 

In India today, our food portions are all distorted. Many of us are unsure of how much we should be eating and many of us don't really know what a "normal" portion is. It is really easy to overeat in today's society with restaurants often serving twice the recommended amount.

                               

 

 

Standard silverware spoons/tablespoons, plates, cups and bowls are not accurate for measurement because they all differ in size. And just "eyeballing" a portion can cause us to underestimate — especially in our own favor. Studies have shown that up to 80 percent of people underestimate what they are eating by as much as 40 percent.

Take the guesswork out of portion control by investing in some (or all) of these handy kitchen tools. Each of these tools will help you stay on track by being honest with yourself, leading to a healthier eating habits and will help you  eat the correct amount of food, insuring you don't under or overeat.

Measuring Cups: Invest in measuring cups to help you portion out servings. Wet and dry ingredients, however, have different volume measurements, so they require different measuring cups for accuracy.

Measuring Spoons: Use measuring spoons for oils and fats such as butter, salad oil etc. It helps in limiting the intake of calories in the recipe thus keeping you fit and trim.

 

Small Glasses and Cups:

                            

When it comes to glasses, researchers found that individuals pour more juice into short wide glasses versus tall narrow ones. Remember that when pouring juice or cocktail choose a taller, narrower glass but for water, choose the biggest goblet you can find. Many people mistake thirst for hunger, so staying hydrated can help you avoid needless snacking. These small glasses and cups can also be used to serve puddings, kheers, sweet lassi and desserts like custards, chocolate mousse etc. They look pretty and satisfy your sugar craving—but you control the calories, thus maintaining good health.

Food Scale:

Portion control is an easy way to watch your waistline without depriving yourself of the foods you love. Use the food scale to measure out meals and keep on track Thus, a food scale is an invaluable tool to accurately measure how much you are eating.

Portion Control Plates:

To make portion control even easier, one should invest in portion control plates, which are plates that have areas sectioned off for each food group such as cereal, vegetables, and pulses/meat group. These plates are a valuable tool in helping people limit portion sizes for each food group. There are also different types of portion control plates for people with different dietary and caloric needs such as diabetics and children.

Nine Inch Plate:

In the last few decades, the average dinner plate size has grown from 8 1⁄2 inches to 12 inches! Make sure your dinner plate is closer to 9 inches—about the size of today’s salad plate. Studies show that the bigger your plate, the more likely you are to load it up with food but you'll eat less if you eat from a smaller plate.  So, switch to smaller size plate or salad plate for your meals if you want to stay trim and slim!

 

Besides the tools for portion control, there are several other tools/gadgets that help you slash calories and fat and keep extra pounds away. They are:

Immersion Blender or Hand Mixer:

The hand mixer  lets you whip up smoothies, milkshakes, lassi etc and purée soups right in the pot- A ‘get-thin’ trick, since we know that having low-calorie soup (with no fat) before a meal helps you eat less. Thus, blending cooked vegetables or beans to add bulk without extra fat calories is a cinch with this handheld blender.

Steamer:

The steamer is great for cooking vegetables without adding oil—and for keeping most of the nutrients. This can also steam fish and Indian preparations like idlis and dhoklas. Best way to slash calories is to own a steamer in your kitchen.

 Oil Mister/ Sprayer:

Cut out unnecessary fat from your diet by using the Oil mister/sprayer. The tool gives you precise control over how much oil is used. Instead of drowning your cooking pan in excess oil, the mister will simply coat it in a fine spray, which is all you need! Fill it with oil you use for cooking at home- sunflower, ricebran, olive oil etc, and it will save you "significant calories." For example, every tablespoon of oil has 135 calories but with a mister, you can cover the whole bottom of a pan with just a teaspoon of oil that has 45 calories!

Herb Mill:

Cutting fresh herbs can be messier than measuring out dried. The herb mill is a great tool for measuring out dried herbs. Why use fresh herbs? They give amazing flavor to food, so you can skip extra salt that causes bloating.

Grater:

                                                

The grater is a very handy tool for grating cheese—you end up using less, thus restricting fat and excess calories. It’s also handy for grating small amounts of chocolate when needed. You can also grate carrots, potato, radish, lemons etc

Handheld Chopper:

The handheld chopper makes it easy to chop veggies—no more excuses for not getting your five-plus slimming fruits and veggies a day. Unlike a food processor, it will also chop nuts without turning them into paste.

Kitchen Scissors:

   

Invest in a good pair of kitchen scissors and keep them sharp. They make it easy to cut the fat off chicken, trim vegetables, cut pizza, and snip herbs. The flavor of herbs, more than makes up for what’s not going in your food—like butter and salt. 

Reusable Lunch Containers:

 

Sandwiches get boring fast. Use reusable storage containers to bring your lunch to work -- every day. Bring salads in them or fresh cut-up fruit so you won't be tempted by the vending machine. Freeze leftovers and pull them out of the freezer at a later date so you're not eating the same thing two days in a row. Say goodbye to greasy lunches and calorie-laden snacks and hello to a healthier, slimmer you!

Non-Stick Cookware:

                           

 

Quality cookware often plays a vital role in cooking food that is healthy, hygienic and also tastier. Non-stick cookware is gaining a lot of  popularity due to the demand for oil-free and low-calorie food in one’s daily routine. These are definitely expensive, but we could rely on them. Non-stick pans allow you to cook with little to no oil, which is essential for cutting fat from your diet. If you have to douse your pans with tons of oil or butter just to prevent food from sticking, you are already adding tons of fat that’s unnecessary and unhealthy.

Kitchen Knives:

     

Any smart weight loss program will call for plenty of vegetables, and a sharp knife will make all that cutting, chopping, and slicing much easier. Make sure you have a chef's knife, a slicer, and a paring/utility knife, plus a sharpener (dull knives make preparation work far less enjoyable). Armed with these, you can fill your containers full of cut veggies for easy snacking and to keep on hand as a healthy base for sauces, soups, curries and stews.

Food Processor:

                                   

    

 

Food processors are similar to blenders in many ways. The primary difference is that food processors use interchangeable blades and disks (attachments) instead of a fixed blade. Also, their bowls are wider and shorter, a more appropriate shape for the solid or semi-solid foods usually worked in a food processor

Food processors normally have multiple functions, depending on the placement and type of attachment or blade. These functions normally consist of:

• Slicing/chopping vegetables
• Grinding items such as nuts, seeds (e.g. spices), meat, or dried fruit
• Shredding or grating cheese or vegetables
• Pureeing
• Mixing and kneading dough

Thus, it becomes easy to have low calorie nutritious foodstuffs like salads, soups etc without spending a lot of time in its preparation. Also, since dough kneading is possible, intake of chappati/ roti can be increased.

Convection Oven:

              

A convection oven uses a fan to distribute heat evenly as your food bakes, and it comes in especially handy for low-fat bakery recipes.It can proof dough, bake cookies, cakes, pies, muffins and heat/reheat prepared foods in less time.

Juicer:

Although consumption of whole fruits is much better than taking fruit juice, yet many people go ahead and buy this tool so that they could have fresh juice as and when they want rather than depend on commercially available tinned or canned juices which have high percent of sugar in it.

 

Conclusion:

Now you may be thinking that this list is long. There could be many more tools/ gadgets that could have been added here, but not every piece of equipment is necessary for everyone—unless you cook all the time. Then, the investment will be well-worth it in the long run because you’ll save so much money cooking that the equipment will more than pay for itself even in the short-run.

Best Foods For Beating Summer In India

Soft Drinks

Summer, is that time of the year when cotton clothes, airconditioners, cool drinks and chilled foods is seen everywhere and used by everyone. It is during this time of the year when we all have to be very careful about our food intake.

The temperatures in India during summer are always soaring very high but we can beat the heat to some extent if we watch what we are eating or drinking, i.e. include or avoid certain foods in our daily diet. That's because summer brings with it certain seasonal challenges.

Summer is a time when one feels like eating less which can lead to many problems like heat strokes, dehydration etc. 

Youngsters also take cola drinks at frequent intervals in order to beat the heat, but one should not forget that these drinks consist of high sugar levels that make them put on weight.

Symptoms of Dehydration

In summers, the body gets badly dehydrated and the dryness leads to skin that is wrinkle prone, less elastic and allergic to various problems. So its a good idea to keep the skin and body hydrated by consuming moisture rich fruits and vegetables and lots of water and other coolants.

 Foods To Be Included

Melons

Many fruits and vegetables such as watermelon,
muskmelon, cucumber, gourds, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables etc have high moisture content in them. 

Regular intake of these fruits& vegetables during the hot summer months will definitely keep you cool and refreshed. 

Bottle Gourd

We should not only eat plenty of green leafy vegetables like spinach, fenugreek, lettuce, cabbage, mint etc, but also sprouts, cucumbers, bottle gourds, ridge gourds, ash gourds, amla, mushroom, tomatoes and fluids such as plain water, fresh juices (unsweetened), lassi (unsweetened), lemon juice with a bit of honey, tender coconut water, green tea, herbal tea, vegetable juice, etc.These are not only refreshing but also nutritious and keep you cool and filling.

Water is the best fluid that can be freely taken. We often forget to drink enough water due to our daily routine but we should ensure to drink 1-2 litres of water a day to prevent dehydration due to heat in summer. So do not dry out as heat wave can wring you out before you know it!

Green Vegetables

Coconut Water

Drinking Water To Keep Hydrated

Foods To Be Avoided

Fried Fatty Foods

Avoid foods that increase the thirst and body weight during summer because excess body weight can be more uncomfortable in summer.

Foods like high fat foods, fried foods, fatty meats, sugary eats like chocolates or beverages like alcohol, caffeine, tea, coffee, and cigarettes that deplete water from the body should be avoided as much as possible. 

Spicy Food

Also, one should minimize the intake of spicy, hot and extremely salty foods as they affect the skin adversely.

Eggs

Certain protein rich foods like eggs, chicken should be avoided since it increases the metabolic heat production thus increasing the water loss leading to dehydration.

Some More Coolants

Other than the more common coolants such as buttermilk or lassi, coconut water and fruit juices, there are a range of other excellent summer coolants that we can have to keep ourselves cool and hydrated in summer. They are ragi, kokum, thandai, rose, panna, mogra sherbets, barley water with a dash of lime and little sugar, jaljira, lemonade, sattu etc.

Kokam sherbet

Kokum: (Mangosteen)

Kokam, which resembles a small, dark purple plum, is the fruit of a tropical evergreen tree (Garcinia indica) that grows only in India. Kokam is used in India as a souring agent like tamarind or amchur. 

Kokum sherbet is used as a coolant. Big glasses of kokam sharbat (a cold beverage) are drunk to counteract the blazing heat, to prevent dehydration, loss of nutrients, improve digestion and appetite.  It regulates the cardiovascular system, cleanses the blood and fights infections. 

Thandai

Thandai 

People should drink 'thandai' a milk-based drink made of almonds, 
khus khus ( poppy seeds ) fennel seeds, tulsi seeds, musk melon seeds, rose petals and peppercorns. Most of the ingredients used in the making of thandai are coolants and have a soothing effect on the intestine. It is very filling and healthy.

Sattu Drink

Sattu

Sattu is often called as poor man's diet. Sattu can be a very palatable delicacy for all. It is generally extracted from barley, gram or wheat and is easily available.It provides energy instantaneously, checks heat strokes, quenches thirst and raises tolerance to beat the heat. Make a sherbet of sattu, fresh lemon juice, rock salt and roasted jeera.

 

Aam Panna

Aam Panna

A traditional preparation of roasted or boiled raw mangoes. It helps in digestion and provides energy instantly. It prevents heat strokes, dehydration and dryness of mouth and tongue.

Jaljeera

Jaljeera

A super summer drink consisting of a blend of ingredients like cumin powder and mint as the main ingredients, keeps one refreshed and cool in the hot weather. It also aids in digestion and other related problems like colic pain, flatulence etc. It boosts the appetite and helps in bad breath.

Word of Caution

Food spoils very easily in hot weather, so it's very important that we avoid eating outside food especially if we are not sure whether the hygiene has been taken care of while preparing it.This happens frequently with fruit juice, where vendors tend to add partially spoiled fruit to the juice.

Also, going out on an empty stomach would increase the chances of dehydration and heat stroke. So, make it a point to eat light meals at frequent intervals as they would not only provide us energy but also the essential salts which would keep the body hydrated. Besides, going out on empty stomach would surely tempt you, when hungry, to step by a food stall on the road side which could call for an invitation to infection.

Keep yourself well hydrated in summer and stay cool and refreshed!