Cooking & Baking Tips: Healthy Fats, Grain Prep & Substitutes

Mastering the kitchen involves understanding healthy fat profiles, variety-specific grain preparation, and safe food handling techniques.

Sweets

What Are Refined Sugars?

When planning a healthy diet, it's important to pay attention to sugar, a major staple that provides carbohydrate nutrients. Some sugar, especially the type called refined, cause a rapid rise in blood sugar that could raise your risk of diabetes and other chronic problems.

Read more →
Stevia

How Is Stevia Processed?

Stevia is a South American herb that has been used for hundreds of years as a sweetener. It contains compounds called glycosides -- or more specifically, steviosides -- that produce the intensely sweet taste, but provide no calories.

Read more →
Fresh baked pastries

Hydrogenated Oil Definition

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), trans fatty acids are also called hydrogenated fats. When you add hydrogen to liquid vegetable oil (a process called hydrogenation) and then add pressure, it results in a more solid fat, like what is found in a can of Crisco.

Read more →
Thai food gourmet steamed chicken with rice ,in wood background.

Chicken and Rice Nutrition

Chicken and rice may be any dish that primarily consists of these two ingredients. However, it usually refers specifically to a dish of baked chicken and rice topped with cream of mushroom soup. This particular chicken and rice dish is commonly served as a casserole.

Read more →

Brown Rice Dangers

Beyond differences in color, the differences between brown rice and white rice largely arise from the manufacturing process. While the outer shell, or hull, of rice grains is removed to make brown rice edible, white rice is produced by further removing the bran and germ layers, then polishing the grain.

Read more →
dry brown rice

Digestion of Brown Rice

Brown rice, a very popular food source, can play an important role in your everyday digestion. Brown rice is what is known as a fiber, and a diet made up of high levels of fiber comes with numerous benefits, a few of which help improve your digestive system.

Read more →
Cooked Brown Rice side view

How to Ferment Brown Rice

Fermenting rice before eating it removes phytic acid and introduces the beneficial gut bacteria which help extract more calories from what we eat. For both gains, brown rice is better than white rice because it still has the nutritious bran and germ since milling and processing only removes the indigestible husk.

Read more →

Nutrition of Roasting Vegetables in Olive Oil

Roasting vegetables in olive oil enriches the flavor, lending a smoky sweetness or tender texture. While the use of olive oil bumps up the fat content of vegetables, it is mostly good fat -- and the nutritional value of this dish makes it a wise choice for many meal plans.

Read more →
Frosting the cake

How to Soften Cake Icing

Cake icing is excellent for piped or drizzled cake decorations, but you may have to soften the icing to use it as a crumb coat or if you need it to flow more quickly from your decorating bag.

Read more →
white sugar in a bowl

Is Sugar Bad for Diverticulitis?

Diverticulitis is a serious disorder of the bowels that causes pockets to form along the walls of the large intestine. The pouches bubble out, much like a weak spot on a tire, and become inflamed. When your condition worsens, you may experience diarrhea, bloating, abdominal tenderness and bleeding from your rectum.

Read more →

How to Freeze a Cake Before Icing

If your homemade cakes taste delicious but end up looking like a hot mess after your attempt at frosting, it may be time to take some icing cues from the pros. One of the tricks of having your cake appear as if a professional chef baked it is to freeze it before adding the icing.

Read more →
Buckwheat

How to Toast Buckwheat

Although buckwheat was quite popular in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, its popularity has declined in recent decades.

Read more →
Traditional egyptian tea karkade and helba

Is Fenugreek Seed Tea Safe to Drink?

Fenugreek, a kitchen spice and primary ingredient in pickles, is an ancient herb. Egyptian texts attest to its use as early as 1500 B.C. Fenugreek seeds, sometimes taken in the form of a tea, have traditionally been used to treat digestive disorders and menstrual cramps.

Read more →
Italian macaroni in a dish

How to Cook Elbow Macaroni in Milk

Cooking noodles in milk pulls the pasta's starch out into the liquid, thus creating a thick sauce. Add shredded cheese to elbow macaroni cooked in milk and you will create macaroni and cheese. Several creamy pasta recipes also call for elbow macaroni cooked in milk.

Read more →
Shrimp on ice

How Do I Know If Frozen Shrimp Is Spoiled?

Shrimp are highly perishable and require cautious handling when purchasing, storing and cooking to prevent foodborne illness. Store shrimp immediately in the freezer when you return from the supermarket unless you plan to cook them within 24 hours.

Read more →
Happy family baking Christmas cookies at home

Swerve Sugar Alternative Information

In light of an obesity epidemic in the United States, manufacturers are rushing to create new products to meet consumer demands for products that will help fight weight gain. Artificial sweeteners have become popular with consumers, and polyols are among the newest types of sugar replacers.

Read more →
Various kinds of sugar

Does Eating Sugar Dehydrate You?

Sugar can dehydrate you if it gets to very high levels in your blood. This can happen if you are a diabetic, take certain medications or have an infection or certain organ diseases. If your kidneys start producing more urine to try to eliminate the sugar and you lose enough fluid, dehydration can result.

Read more →
Bran and raisin muffins

Can You Eat Wheat Bran Like Oatmeal?

Wheat bran is a high-fiber food that you can add to baked goods or sprinkle over soups and cereals. While you might sprinkle wheat bran over cooked oatmeal, cooking it like oatmeal will result in an unpalatable, chewy mush. Choose other uses for wheat bran, however, as it is a highly nutritious addition to any diet.

Read more →