I love cooking. Being a mom I always try to look for new recipe for my family. Its rather boring to have same dishes every day. So I opt for variety and diversion. Last night I cooked lamb chop with mash potatoes and stuffed eggs, and yellow watermelon for dessert. Yum... my hubby and daughter love them.
My lamb chop is a hit and I didn’t even use any oil. No oil at all, they were grilled. I realise one thing though, its so much easy to do western dishes compared to our local ones. And I also realise western dishes require less oil whilst our local delicacies are not delicious without oil, huhu. Oily food is so not healthy. But nevertheless, I still cook with oil, cant help it, its part of our daily consumption I must say. And mash potatoes do require some butter which is fat of course but I go with the fact that moderation is important. And my family is important. I am responsible for what I serve on the dinner table. If I do cook with oil, I opted for unsaturated oil these days. I am becoming more concern of health and healthy living so I try my best to go for unsaturated oil for a change. And I must remind myself I should start exercising again!
Saturated fat can go havoc on your blood cholesterol level, and mine is already on a higher side which could be quiet scary. Its definitely not easy to stay healthy unfortunately so I try to do what I can and not to worsen the situation. Although it can be hard at times, we have lunch outside every single day and its not easy to control what you eat, sigh...............
Well, here are some explanation on these fats and oils. Worth reading....
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol. Saturated fat is found mostly in foods from animals and some plants. Foods from animals include beef, beef fat, veal, lamb, poultry fat, butter, cream, milk, cheeses and other dairy products made from whole and 2 percent milk. Foods from plants that contain saturated fat include coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil (often called tropical oils), and cocoa butter.
So not all saturated fat are from animals, some come from plants as well. Therefore, must use polyunsatured and monounsaturated fats as much as possible.
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the two unsaturated fats. They're found mainly in many fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants. Some examples of foods that contain these fats include salmon, trout, herring, avocados, olives, walnuts and liquid vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, canola, olive and sunflower.
So for cooking better use oils from plants such as Corn (this is what I am using for cooking for now) or sunflower or olive oil and not from palm or coconut which is saturated fat. I notice most cooking oils in Brunei are palm and coconut oil from Malaysia. And these oils are saturated fat! What is awesome about the corn or sunflower oil is that this oil may help lower your blood cholesterol level when you use them in place of saturated and trans fats.
Although I must say these oils are much more expensive than the palm or coconut oil so I sense that its not easy for people to buy these oils which is such a pity.
Apart from using sensibly on the cooking oils, I am also interested to mention below tips recommended by the American Heart Association. Very useful tips!
Choose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole-grain, high-fiber foods, and fat-free and low-fat dairy most often.
Keep total fat intake between 25 and 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils most often.
Use naturally occurring, unhydrogenated vegetable oils such as canola, safflower, sunflower or olive oil most often.
Look for processed foods made with unhydrogenated oil rather than partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated vegetable oils or saturated fat.
Use soft margarine as a substitute for butter, and choose soft margarines (liquid or tub varieties) over harder stick forms. Look for ”0 g trans fat” on the Nutrition Facts label.
French fries, doughnuts, cookies, crackers, muffins, pies and cakes are examples of foods that are high in trans fat. Don't eat them often.
Limit commercially fried foods and baked goods made with shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Not only are these foods very high in fat, but that fat is also likely to be very hydrogenated, meaning a lot of trans fat.
Limited fried fast food. Commercial shortening and deep-frying fats will continue to be made by hydrogenation and will contain saturated fat and trans fat.
Better safe than sorry guys!
My lamb chop is a hit and I didn’t even use any oil. No oil at all, they were grilled. I realise one thing though, its so much easy to do western dishes compared to our local ones. And I also realise western dishes require less oil whilst our local delicacies are not delicious without oil, huhu. Oily food is so not healthy. But nevertheless, I still cook with oil, cant help it, its part of our daily consumption I must say. And mash potatoes do require some butter which is fat of course but I go with the fact that moderation is important. And my family is important. I am responsible for what I serve on the dinner table. If I do cook with oil, I opted for unsaturated oil these days. I am becoming more concern of health and healthy living so I try my best to go for unsaturated oil for a change. And I must remind myself I should start exercising again!
Saturated fat can go havoc on your blood cholesterol level, and mine is already on a higher side which could be quiet scary. Its definitely not easy to stay healthy unfortunately so I try to do what I can and not to worsen the situation. Although it can be hard at times, we have lunch outside every single day and its not easy to control what you eat, sigh...............
Well, here are some explanation on these fats and oils. Worth reading....
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol. Saturated fat is found mostly in foods from animals and some plants. Foods from animals include beef, beef fat, veal, lamb, poultry fat, butter, cream, milk, cheeses and other dairy products made from whole and 2 percent milk. Foods from plants that contain saturated fat include coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil (often called tropical oils), and cocoa butter.
So not all saturated fat are from animals, some come from plants as well. Therefore, must use polyunsatured and monounsaturated fats as much as possible.
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the two unsaturated fats. They're found mainly in many fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants. Some examples of foods that contain these fats include salmon, trout, herring, avocados, olives, walnuts and liquid vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, canola, olive and sunflower.
So for cooking better use oils from plants such as Corn (this is what I am using for cooking for now) or sunflower or olive oil and not from palm or coconut which is saturated fat. I notice most cooking oils in Brunei are palm and coconut oil from Malaysia. And these oils are saturated fat! What is awesome about the corn or sunflower oil is that this oil may help lower your blood cholesterol level when you use them in place of saturated and trans fats.
Although I must say these oils are much more expensive than the palm or coconut oil so I sense that its not easy for people to buy these oils which is such a pity.
Apart from using sensibly on the cooking oils, I am also interested to mention below tips recommended by the American Heart Association. Very useful tips!
Choose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole-grain, high-fiber foods, and fat-free and low-fat dairy most often.
Keep total fat intake between 25 and 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils most often.
Use naturally occurring, unhydrogenated vegetable oils such as canola, safflower, sunflower or olive oil most often.
Look for processed foods made with unhydrogenated oil rather than partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated vegetable oils or saturated fat.
Use soft margarine as a substitute for butter, and choose soft margarines (liquid or tub varieties) over harder stick forms. Look for ”0 g trans fat” on the Nutrition Facts label.
French fries, doughnuts, cookies, crackers, muffins, pies and cakes are examples of foods that are high in trans fat. Don't eat them often.
Limit commercially fried foods and baked goods made with shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Not only are these foods very high in fat, but that fat is also likely to be very hydrogenated, meaning a lot of trans fat.
Limited fried fast food. Commercial shortening and deep-frying fats will continue to be made by hydrogenation and will contain saturated fat and trans fat.
Better safe than sorry guys!
