English lesson (punctuation marks)

 

How to cook more at home

Food preparation

Safe food preparation

Foodborne illnesses don't just come from restaurants. In fact, they usually come from bad food preparation, serving, and storage at home. Follow the guidelines below to keep your food as safe as possible:

Close up of a chef's hands preparing leafy greensWash hands and surfaces often using hot, soapy water. Wash your hands before and after you handle food or utensils, especially raw meat, poultry, fish, or eggs.

Wash all fruits and vegetables before eating.

Separate raw, cooked, and ready-to-eat foods. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish, or eggs away from other foods to prevent cross-contamination. If possible, use separate cutting boards for these foods. If not, be sure to wash cutting boards carefully with soap between uses.

Cook foods to a safe temperature using a food thermometer. Uncooked or undercooked animal products can be unsafe.

Keep hot foods hot (above 140 degrees) and cold foods cold (below 40 degrees) to prevent bacteria growth. Refrigerate foods within two hours of purchase or preparation (one hour if the temperature is higher than 90 degrees).

When in doubt, throw it out. If you are not sure that food has been prepared, served, or stored properly, throw it out. If food has been left out for more than two hours, throw it out. Eat cooked leftovers within fo ur days.

Healthy cooking

  Healthy eating also involves preparing food to preserve nutrients and prevent disease, as well as paying attention to food production issues.

Healthy cooking

When preparing food, aim to preserve the nutrient value of the food and utilize healthy fats, reasonable portions, and whole foods. Here are a few tips:

Use healthy cooking methods such as steaming, broiling, grilling and roasting. Frying requires adding fat to achieve the desired results and deep-fried foods add considerable fat to the American diet.

Cook foods in as little water and for as short a period of time as possible to preserve all water soluble vitamins (Bs and C).

Use a variety of herbs and spices for additional flavor rather than relying on salt alone.

Avoid packaged or processed foods, which are likely to contain added salt, sugar and fats. Recognize that consuming these foods increases your intake of salt, sugar, and fats considerably (often without knowing specifically what or how much). As we eat more and more processed foods, we eat less of the phytochemicals and nutrients our bod ies need.   

Basics of healthy eating

These 8 practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating and can help you make healthier choices.

The key to a healthy diet is to eat the right amount of calories for how active you are so you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use.

If you eat or drink more than your body needs, you'll put on weight because the energy you do not use is stored as fat. If you eat and drink too little, you'll lose weight.

You should also eat a wide range of foods to make sure you're getting a balanced diet and your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

It's recommended that men have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules).

Most adults in the UK are eating more calories than they need and should eat fewer calories.

1. Base your meals on higher fibre starchy carbohydrates

2. Eat lots of fruit and veg

3. Eat more fish, including a portion of oily fish

4. Cut down on saturated fat and sugar

5. Eat less salt: no more than 6g a day for adults

6. Get active and be a healthy weight

7. Do not get thirsty

8. Do not skip breakfast 

Choosing the best soil

It’s all about the soil

The best soil suitable for vegetables includes lots of compost and organic matter such as composted leaves and ground or shredded, aged bark. Whatever you’re starting with, incorporate enough organic material so that the amended soil is neither sandy nor compacted.

When the mix is right, it will bind together when you squeeze it but breaks apart easily when disturbed. This soil is full of living microorganisms that help feed your plants. Water will be sufficiently retained and yet won’t saturate the soil eith er.

Importance of eating fruits and vegetables

 Why is it important to eat vegetables?

Eating vegetables provides health benefits — people who eat more vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

 

Nutrients

Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, and/or cholesterol.)

Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans.

Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.

Folate (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant should consume adequate folate from foods, and in addition 400 mcg of synthetic folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.

Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.

Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption.

 

Health benefits

As part of an overall healthy diet, eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake.

Eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.

Eating a diet rich in some vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.

Adding vegetables can help increase intake of fiber and potassium, which are important nutrients that many Americans do not get enough o f in their diet.

Growing fruits and vegetables in containers

 GROWING IN CONTAINERS

Many vegetables will happily grow in containers on the patio or balcony. Make sure to choose large containers like wooden planters and half barrels.

Look for large open pots for leafy veg like salads, and deep pots for underground veg like carrots and potatoes. You can grow tomatoes and tender veg directly in growbags too.

Veg container

Here’s my top 5:

Salad

Radishes

Chillies

Beetroot

Tomatoes

Plus fruit bushes are ideal for containers! Here’s my top 5:

Strawberries

Blueberries

Rasp berries

Apple

Cherries

Small garden

 CAN I GROW VEG IN MY SMALL GARDEN?

Short answer: Yes. Fruit, vegetables and herbs can fit into any size garden as long as you have a sunny spot. You don’t need a lot of space and you can even grow crops in containers!

Even small gardens should have space for a little veg plot. I would recommend making separate beds because they are easy to manage and keep on top of weeds. Keep the beds narrow and the rows short.

But if you’re really, really short of space you can add vegetable and fruit plants into flower borders.

This is known as potager, a type of French kitchen garden where edible and ornamental plants are mixed together. It is a little less productive but a great choice for smaller gardens where space is limited.

Choosing what to grow

 

CHOOSING WHAT TO GROW

The first rule of growing your own is to grow things you will actually eat! Write a list of your favourite fruit, veg and herbs.

It’s probably a long list. So cut it down to something manageable by crossing off:

Anything that doesn’t suit your soil type

Anything that needs lots of space if you have a small plot

Anything too tender to grow in your region

Anything you can buy really cheaply – no sense in using valuable space to grow staples

For example, carrots need deep, rich soil to grow well. So if you have shallow sandy soil, cross them off your list and look to surface crops like beetroot instead.

Best tips for growing fruits and vegetables at home

 

                                 

                                  Tips

1. Grow fruits and vegetables that you and your family love to eat.
2. Choose an open, sunny spot.
3. Check your soil type and use containers or raised beds if needed.
4. Always prepare the soil well – remove weeds and stones and dig it over to improve the structure.
5. Improve the soil by digging in compost or leaf mould. Make your own compost!
6. Never sow too early – wait until the soil is warmed up.
7. Plant fast-growing varieties in containers for a speedy harvest.
8. Stagger your sowing by sowing a few seeds every two weeks rather than all at once for a long harvest.
9. Keep everything well-watered, especially during dry spells.
10. Practise crop rotation to prevent building up pests and diseases.

Benefit of homemade food

 

Saves time🍅🕙🕙😉

It might seem like grabbing something to eat at the local supermarket or driving to get take away at the closest restaurant might be a quick solution when you're in a hurry. 

In reality, many times it can be much faster to cook something at home, especially when you plan ahead. There are so many meals that can be made in less than 30 minutes and you will save your petrol or the money you planned on using to grab the food. 

And if you choose a more complex recipe, you can always cook in balk and eat the surplus later in the week or freeze it. 

Benefits of homemade meals

 Saves money

Eating homemade food is usually much cheaper than eating at a restaurant or buying processed foods from the market. 

When we eat at a restaurant, we pay not only for the food, but we also pay for the costs of running that business which includes the light, the water, the building and the staff in addition to the meal we are eating. The same goes for the pre-made or frozen meals at grocery stores. 

Here are some additional ways suggested to save money:

Plan several days of meals. We'll be less likely tempted to eat something else if we have a plan or something already made. 

Make a grocery list and stick to it to avoid buying extra food. 

Save leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer. Once you have a stock of leftovers stored, you can reheat them at a later date when you don't have time to cook.