A High Calcium Beverage for Your "Coffee" Break
It surprised me when I first learned that blackstrap molasses is actually high in calcium. The molasses is a byproduct of sugar production, filtered out after sugar cane is cooked. A lot of the mineral residues from the sugar cane plant, such as calcium and iron, become concentrated in blackstrap molasses.
It's a tasty, high-mineral food. It's also high in sugar, so it needs to be used sparingly. It also has a rather strong flavor. However, some people enjoy that and use it instead of coffee as a drink in the morning. You can use a teaspoon or more in hot water and it will look like coffee because of its dark brown color. Try it some morning when you want a sweet, dark drink that looks like coffee and has a little bit of the roasted flavor of coffee. Or you can use it as a sweetener in a delicious grain coffee substitute, which you can find at your health food store.
Calcium Surprise
WOULD YOU BELIEVE: Tofu is a high calcium food!
SOME FACTS: Tofu, a product made from soybeans, is not only a good no-cholesterol substitute for meat, but it is also unusually high in calcium. It becomes a high-calcium food because in the manufacturing of tofu, calcium chloride is used. (Tofu prepared without it doesn't have the same high calcium content.)
The result is that a 4½-ounce portion of tofu contains approximately 258 mg. of calcium which is close to the 297 mg. of calcium in 8 ounces of milk. This means that ounce-for-ounce tofu has more calcium.
As good as this sounds, tofu does have some drawbacks. As indicated above, absorption is a factor, and it appears that the absorbability of calcium from tofu (0.31) is similar to that of milk (0.32). In addition, like milk, it is high in protein, which can cause some urinary calcium loss, and it's also high in fat. Tofu ranges from 4.7 to 9.9 grams of fat for 4 ounces. This is still less than the 15 to 21 grams of fat in a hamburger patty, and is comparable or less than the 8.1 grams in a glass of whole milk.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
• Use tofu as a substitute for meat in any dish.
• Try the "tofu nugget" recipe on page 335 as a side dish or sandwich filler.
It's a tasty, high-mineral food. It's also high in sugar, so it needs to be used sparingly. It also has a rather strong flavor. However, some people enjoy that and use it instead of coffee as a drink in the morning. You can use a teaspoon or more in hot water and it will look like coffee because of its dark brown color. Try it some morning when you want a sweet, dark drink that looks like coffee and has a little bit of the roasted flavor of coffee. Or you can use it as a sweetener in a delicious grain coffee substitute, which you can find at your health food store.
Calcium Surprise
WOULD YOU BELIEVE: Tofu is a high calcium food!
SOME FACTS: Tofu, a product made from soybeans, is not only a good no-cholesterol substitute for meat, but it is also unusually high in calcium. It becomes a high-calcium food because in the manufacturing of tofu, calcium chloride is used. (Tofu prepared without it doesn't have the same high calcium content.)
The result is that a 4½-ounce portion of tofu contains approximately 258 mg. of calcium which is close to the 297 mg. of calcium in 8 ounces of milk. This means that ounce-for-ounce tofu has more calcium.
As good as this sounds, tofu does have some drawbacks. As indicated above, absorption is a factor, and it appears that the absorbability of calcium from tofu (0.31) is similar to that of milk (0.32). In addition, like milk, it is high in protein, which can cause some urinary calcium loss, and it's also high in fat. Tofu ranges from 4.7 to 9.9 grams of fat for 4 ounces. This is still less than the 15 to 21 grams of fat in a hamburger patty, and is comparable or less than the 8.1 grams in a glass of whole milk.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
• Use tofu as a substitute for meat in any dish.
• Try the "tofu nugget" recipe on page 335 as a side dish or sandwich filler.
Sauté Without Oil
WOULD YOU BELIEVE: A one-cup serving of vegetables sautéed in oil can be as high as 8.4 grams of fat per cup or 42% fat by calories. SOME FACTS: Usually, people sauté their vegetables in oil. (This is also called frying.) Unfortunately, sautéing with oil causes the fat to seep into the vegetables, and your High EMI dish slides all the way down to the low end of the EMI scale. Frying in oil is never necessary. It always adds calories to any meal. A better solution is to learn how to cook without oil.One way is to use a nonstick skillet and simply sauté your foods in water. The small amount of water keeps the vegetables from sticking to the pan and will cook the vegetables nicely.
If you want to add some flavor, simply sauté in vegetable broth. You can use a vegetarian powder to mix with water, or simply use a low-fat canned vegetable broth, which can be found in any supermarket.
Another flavorful sauté sauce is wine or sherry. Cooking wines are delicious and you can experiment with other wines as well.
One way to make foods especially tasty is to sauté onions and/or garlic in vegetable broth first until they are slightly translucent and then add other vegetables to complete the sautéing process. In this way, you can get a delicious vegetable stir-fry without adding oil. You've already been using this method in some of the preceding recipes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Now try the following to see how delicious a vegetable stir-fry can be.
Vegetable Stir Fry
1 can Mushrooms or ¼ cup dry shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 med. Carrot, sliced diagonally
2 stalks Broccoli, diagonally sliced
2 stalks Celery, Diagonally sliced
1½ Round onion, sliced into thin crescents
1 piece Ginger, crushed
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1½ Tbsp. Corn starch
¼C Water
Seasoning:
1 Tbsp. Oyster sauce(vegetarian)
1 tsp. Soy sauce
1C Stock
Heat pan. Sauté ginger, garlic, and onion in water, remove from pan. Add seasonings and cook 2 minutes. Add stock, mushrooms, carrot, broccoli, and celery and cook until vegetables are crisp and tender. Make a paste with corn starch and water to thicken the gravy. Makes 4 to 6 portions. (1 portion = 59.4 calories, 0.3 grams fat, 19% protein, 77% carbohydrates, 5% fat)
If you want to add some flavor, simply sauté in vegetable broth. You can use a vegetarian powder to mix with water, or simply use a low-fat canned vegetable broth, which can be found in any supermarket.
Another flavorful sauté sauce is wine or sherry. Cooking wines are delicious and you can experiment with other wines as well.
One way to make foods especially tasty is to sauté onions and/or garlic in vegetable broth first until they are slightly translucent and then add other vegetables to complete the sautéing process. In this way, you can get a delicious vegetable stir-fry without adding oil. You've already been using this method in some of the preceding recipes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Now try the following to see how delicious a vegetable stir-fry can be.
Vegetable Stir Fry
1 can Mushrooms or ¼ cup dry shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 med. Carrot, sliced diagonally
2 stalks Broccoli, diagonally sliced
2 stalks Celery, Diagonally sliced
1½ Round onion, sliced into thin crescents
1 piece Ginger, crushed
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1½ Tbsp. Corn starch
¼C Water
Seasoning:
1 Tbsp. Oyster sauce(vegetarian)
1 tsp. Soy sauce
1C Stock
Heat pan. Sauté ginger, garlic, and onion in water, remove from pan. Add seasonings and cook 2 minutes. Add stock, mushrooms, carrot, broccoli, and celery and cook until vegetables are crisp and tender. Make a paste with corn starch and water to thicken the gravy. Makes 4 to 6 portions. (1 portion = 59.4 calories, 0.3 grams fat, 19% protein, 77% carbohydrates, 5% fat)
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