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Steaming vs. Boiling vs. Microwave

Dr. Weil explored the nutritional value of steaming vs. boiling vs. microwaving in his syndicated column this week. Here are some of his remarks:

“Steaming using little energy, creates a minimum of mess, and does the least damage to the nutrients in vegetables.”

He says he boils hardier veggies like corn, beets, and potatoes, but I don’t know why. He knows that boiling veggies results in some nutrient loss into the cooking water. I steam these things and they do just fine.

Now here’s what I found really interesting:
“A study published in the November 2003 issue of Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli cooked in the microwave lost up to 97% of its antioxidant content, but lost only 11% when it was steamed. Another study showed that spinach cooked in the microwave retained nearly all its folate but lost about 77% of this nutrient when cooking on the stove.”

Some day I’d like to do a study on “infused vegetables” as they’re cooking in Glorious One-Pot Meals. My hunch is that they retain nutrients similar to steaming since it’s a similar process.

De-chlorinated Water

Sears Kenmore Whole House Water FilterThis weekend my handy husband installed a de-chlorinating water filter that covers the entire house. He spliced it in where the water supply enters the house, which was exactly what I wanted, since I’m most concerned about the bathtubs and showers. After much research, the best one he found was a Kenmore from Sears with the Taste and Odor filter insert.

Our municipal water supplies are heavily chlorinated to kill off pathogens and keep us healthy. Our bodies, however, don’t really do well with chlorine or other halogen atoms (floride, bromide), and when I came back from my Natural Health Professional certification course (CNHP — yep, I’ve got some new letters after my name!) earlier this month, I got the bee in my bonnet to clear the chlorine out of our house.

Brita water pitcherWe were already removing the chlorine from our drinking water with a variety of filters from the Brita Water Pitcher on the counter to the filter cartridge in the refrigerator door to the Nikken filter next to the kitchen sink, but the bathrooms were still a problem.

Although chlorine will evaporate from standing water, when that water is hot, like in a steamy shower, the chlorine becomes vapors, which you then inhale and basically steep in during a long shower. I knew already that when I filled up the tub for the kids’ baths, the room smelled like the public pool. It’s one thing to swim in COLD chlorinated water; it’s another to breathe in the hot fumes daily.

It’s amazing the difference I can see in our water quality from the tap! It looks clear and smells clean. I’m happy and relieved.


Hayfever remedies

Spring has sprung here in the Queen City of the Plains. The trees are blooming beautifully, and right on cue, I’m sneezing uncontrollably.

It’s that unbearable tickle inside the nose or the back of the throat, the itchy eyes, the foggy thought processes… Yep. Hayfever season has begun.

In my arsenal against hayfever, I employ a variety of methods. At the foundation, is, you guessed it, Sinus Rinse. This clears away the allergen particles so they can’t bother me. Always at night, to clean out the debris from the day, but sometimes during the day as well, depending on how I’m suffering.

Ionic Air PurifierMy house remains a sanctuary with the help of two Sharper Image Quadra Ionic air purifiers. Yes, I know, Consumer Reports has asserted that these expensive things are worthless. All I can say is that there is a HUGE difference for me during hayfever season if we have them turned on. It means that I can sit in my house and not reach for a tissue every 5 minutes. When I find myself sneezing over and over in the house, that’s when I make my husband wipe off the collection blades and refresh the machine. (yeah, that’s his job. Why? Because I have other jobs, like the laundry, food shopping, meal prep, etc.)

So, this is the one time that I can think of where I strenuously disagree with Consumer Reports. Our air purifiers definitely work and make a difference in the air quality in our house. As such, they make a huge difference in my life. We think they’ve been worth every penny.

Castor Oil Packs for Bursitis

My mother has been complaining mightily about the pain caused by the bursitis in her hip joint. For nearly three months she hasn’t had a pain-free night and during the days has had difficulty walking.

I suggested she do a castor oil pack on the hip. So yesterday, she bought some castor oil and soaked a flannel or small rag with it. Then she placed it on the hip and the sciatic nerve and wrapped plastic wrap around her body to hold it in place and keep it from leaking. For 30-40 minutes she lay with a heating pad on top of the castor oil pack. She did this two separate times during the day.

This morning she called me excitedly. “I slept through the night because I had no pain in my hip!” she exclaimed. Today she feels pain-free for the first time in months. “Will it last?” she wondered.

I don’t know how long it will last, but castor oil packs are great for pulling out inflammation and the toxicity that occurs when fluid builds up where it shouldn’t in the body. Her physical therapist is addressing the cause of the bursitis, but she can now find relief with the castor oil packs and cut down on the Advil. I’m very pleased for her.

Castor oil, of course, has many other uses: a dietary aid, a laxative, etc. It’s an old-fashioned remedy that still has value today.

Coconut Macaroons: a recipe review

So I made the chocolate chip coconut macaroons from the recipe I shared in my last post.

Coconut MacaroonsActually, my cousin made them first. She was very excited: she even went out and bought parchment paper! But she called me doubtfully while pulling them out of the oven. “I don’t think I did this right,” she mumbled. “They’re not chewy like macaroons are supposed to be.”

Oh, no, I assured her. They’re not supposed to be chewy! These are “light and airy” macaroons, not the typical chewy-cakey-sticky-heavy macaroons.

Oh, she considered, crunching away. “Maybe I did it right then. But the smaller cookies turned out better than the larger, fist-sized balls.”

She’s right: the optimum size for these cookies is one teaspoon-full (from your flatware set). I also decreased the amount of coconut slightly, from 5 1/3 cups to 5 cups, so that the batter wasn’t quite so dry. When I folded in the coconut and chocolate chips, I added the coconut cup by cup and made sure to fully coat all the coconut flakes with the egg white mixture so that it would all be sticky.

She really blew me away when she told me she beat the eggs by hand. Wow! I used an electric hand mixer and it still took a while to get those egg whites to stand in peaks!

Realize that it still might seem like the cookies are not completely binding when you drop the teaspoon-fulls onto the baking sheet, but they will meld together in the oven and produce a cookie that has a lot of air thoroughout, giving it a delightful crunch and lightness.

As I’ve said before, these macaroons get rave reviews at dinner parties, and I completely agree. The only downside is that it is easy to get carried away and not realize how many you are eating! They are utterly delicious!