miércoles, 5 de diciembre de 2012

LOVE ;)

One summer, I was in Boston and I've met a really lovely family: Adrienne, Andrew and Sammy. I've learnt a lot with them. Adrienne loves cooking and I love it too, so imagine... fun ;)

She gave me some recipes, she used the slow-cooker... I want to share a recipe she gave me: Chicken Adobo. Try it! so tasty!

"Total Time: | Makes: 4 to 6 servings
The ingredients that go into a Filipino adobo, and their proportions, depend on where you’re from or how your mother or grandmother made it—it’s a source of heated debate—but at the dish’s core, it’s really meat or seafood that’s braised in a vinegary sauce. This easy, mild version cooks onions, chicken, soy sauce, and vinegar in a slow cooker, and takes advantage of bone-in chicken thighs’ extra flavor from the bones. The onions absorb the savory sauce, and all that’s needed to complete the meal is a pile of steamed rice to soak everything up.
INGREDIENTS
  • 4 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
  • 4 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 1 (5-inch) piece fresh ginger, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Steamed rice, for serving.
  1. Place the onions, garlic, ginger, and bay leaf in an even layer in the slow cooker.
  2. Remove and discard the skin from the chicken. Arrange the chicken in an even layer on top of the onion mixture.
  3. Whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and pepper together in a medium bowl and pour it over the chicken.
  4. Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and falling off the bone, about 4 to 5 hours on high or low. Remove and discard the ginger pieces and bay leaf. Serve with steamed rice.

This post goes with all my love to Adrienne, Andrew and Samicito ;);)

ENJOY YOUR MEAL!

FIBER - WATER



In another post I mentioned you need to drink ABUNDANT WATER if you want FIBER “works” properly, controlling your intestinal transit. So, if you suffer constipation, try plentiful water besides rich-fiber food.

These recommendations are useful for people without kidney or cardiovascular problems. Ask your doctor if you have some of them, you'll need an individual plan.

Fiber provides you benefits in other way: cardiovascular problems PREVENTION. In the actual post I want to show you what about fiber effects and why – these benefits and effects are checked in different consistent studies, beside from people close to me and my own experience.

First of all, fiber is composed of substances that your gut cannot absorb; this is one of the reasons of fiber effect: these substances follow your “gut route”, this is why it helps you to “clear” your bowel.

Secondly, another fiber’s quality is the capacity to retain water. This characteristic increases the volume of your intestinal content and it produces peristalsis (gut movement), in the same time. So, it’s like if your bowel content slips inside the gut, because of the water (the water makes it easier). This is also why fiber helps you to “clear” your gut.  

It doesn’t mean that you have to eat too much fiber! It produces gas and there are some gastrointestinal diseases in which it’s not recommended to eat fiber, for example. In Catalan or in Spanish there is a saying: “tot en excés és dolent” (Catalan) or “todo en exceso es malo” (Spanish). This means that it doesn’t matter what but everything harm you if you take it too much. You know??

Fiber is like a net where some substances can “be kidnapped” in it. If some of these substances “hook” in it, they won’t be absorbed. So this is useful if we are talking about cholesterol, for example (this fact makes fiber practical in cardiovascular diseases prevention); it’s not as positive if we are talking about some minerals, for example. Again “todo en exceso es malo”.

Some rich-fiber food are whole-grain cereals and bread, vegetables, fruits. You knew it, I’m sure!
About quantities: WHO recommends to eat about 20-30 gr. of fiber/day. A well-balanced diet, nutrition, provides you these amounts.
A medium kiwi supplies you 10 gr., approximately. 100 gr. of lentils offers you about 10 gr. too. 100 gr. of spinach = 6 gr. 100 gr. of artichoke = around 10 gr. And don’t forget that NUTS and DRIED FRUIT are also plenty of fiber!

This is an orientation, ok? If you want a specific list, let me know!

SALUT! (that means “health” in Catalan, the meaning is like “bests”).


If you are interested, you can take a look at the link. It’s about some fiber research studies. I could not check all of them but I know Pubmed is a reliable website. Besides, in medicine degree I had a really professional teacher (who I love!) who taught me what a trustworthy study has to contain: first of all people that participate in the study has to be chosen at random, much better if they are a lot of people and if more than one specialized centers do the same study (multicentre research). The link:
http://scholar.google.es/scholar?q=pubmed+fibra+dietetica+cardiovascular&hl=es&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=3bCzUJCBFsGl0QWe1IHwAQ&ved=0CCwQgQMwAA.

Be understanding with my English, please! It’s not my first language and I’m not use to explain that stuff in English. I will appreciate if you want to send me an email with suggestionsJ.