A reader asked me for recipes to cook children's food so I have decided to add a new label "Children's menu" where I will post recipes which most children love. It will include local and western food and I hope you will enjoy cooking them for your precious darlings. I have not figured out how to put stars on the recipes to indicate the relevant age groups so if anyone knows how to do this please teach me. We will start off with Baked Banana and Bacon roll.
Most of the recipes here are suitable for children above 1 year old although they may be filed under other labels. You should teach your children to eat everything as far as possible unless they have problems like allergies or food intolerance.
You should never give children cold drinks with their food. The stomach needs to be warm in order to digest the food and cold drinks will dampen the heat in the stomach making it difficult to digest and absorb the food. It is best to offer soup which has additional nutrients as well as being warm. If you do not have any soup and your child needs a drink with his/her meal, offer warm water instead.
Showing posts with label introduction and general information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label introduction and general information. Show all posts
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The Balanced Chinese Diet
When we talk about eating a balanced diet, we immediately think of the nutritional values such as vitamins, proteins, minerals etc. Those of us who are weight conscious will consider the amount of calories per serving and even to the extent of cutting out certain food in order to stay slim but not necessarily healthy. This type of diet focuses on western diet even though we may cook it the Chinese way.
Differences between Chinese and Western diets
Firstly, Chinese diets not only help weight loss but are also to treat or prevent ailments.
Secondly, in Chinese diets, the foods focus on certain essential aspects, which are their flavours, energies, movements and organic actions.
The five flavours
• Pungent food induce perspiration and promote energy circulation
• Sweet food slow down the acute symptoms and neutralize the effects of other food
• Sour food can obstruct the movements
• Bitter food can reduce body heat and dry excessive body fluids
• Salty food softens hardness in the body
In addition, some foods have a light flavour or little taste therefore cannot be classed according to the five flavours, and are referred to as light. An example is white fungus.
The five energies
• Cold
• Hot
• Warm
• Cool
• Neutral
The energies refer to what the food does in the body – whether they generate hot or cold sensations and not the temperature of the food. Different energies act on the human body in different ways that is important for good health. In addition, the Chinese also classify the body into hot and cold types. Therefore, a person with a cold physical constitution should eat more hot or warm energy food and the opposite for a person with a hot constitution
The movements of food
• To move inward means to move from outside towards the inside; so these food ease bowel movements and abdominal swelling
• To move outward means to move inside towards outside so these foods induce perspiration and reduce fever
• To move upwards means to move from the lower region towards the upper region so these foods can relieve diarrhea, prolapse uterus and hemorrhoids
• To move downwards means to move from the upper region towards the lower region so these foods can relieve vomiting, asthma and hiccups
Two additional characteristics are associated with the movements, namely, glossy and obstructive. Glossy food facilitates the movements whereas obstructive food slows down the movements.
The movements of food are also related to the flavours and energies of the food. Generally, warm and hot food with a pungent and sweet flavour tend to move upwards or outwards and cold and cool food with a salty, sour or bitter flavour tend to move downwards or inwards.
The common and organic action of food
Organic action of food refers to specific internal organs on which the food will act. The Chinese focus on ten internal organs for dietary treatment.
• Lungs
• Heart
• Stomach
• Small intestines
• Large intestines
• Spleen
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Bladder
• Gall bladder
Generally, when the flavour and energy are relatively simple it acts on one organ only. When a food has more than one energy or flavour it can act or two or more organs. This is just a general principle because food with one flavour and one energy may act upon one or two organs and conversely food with more than two or more energies and flavours may only act on one organ.
Initially it can be very confusing trying to understand all these aspects of Chinese diets but with use it becomes easier to remember and a pleasure to cook the various types of food for better health. I strongly believe in combining both western and eastern practices in order to stay healthy.
Differences between Chinese and Western diets
Firstly, Chinese diets not only help weight loss but are also to treat or prevent ailments.
Secondly, in Chinese diets, the foods focus on certain essential aspects, which are their flavours, energies, movements and organic actions.
The five flavours
• Pungent food induce perspiration and promote energy circulation
• Sweet food slow down the acute symptoms and neutralize the effects of other food
• Sour food can obstruct the movements
• Bitter food can reduce body heat and dry excessive body fluids
• Salty food softens hardness in the body
In addition, some foods have a light flavour or little taste therefore cannot be classed according to the five flavours, and are referred to as light. An example is white fungus.
The five energies
• Cold
• Hot
• Warm
• Cool
• Neutral
The energies refer to what the food does in the body – whether they generate hot or cold sensations and not the temperature of the food. Different energies act on the human body in different ways that is important for good health. In addition, the Chinese also classify the body into hot and cold types. Therefore, a person with a cold physical constitution should eat more hot or warm energy food and the opposite for a person with a hot constitution
The movements of food
• To move inward means to move from outside towards the inside; so these food ease bowel movements and abdominal swelling
• To move outward means to move inside towards outside so these foods induce perspiration and reduce fever
• To move upwards means to move from the lower region towards the upper region so these foods can relieve diarrhea, prolapse uterus and hemorrhoids
• To move downwards means to move from the upper region towards the lower region so these foods can relieve vomiting, asthma and hiccups
Two additional characteristics are associated with the movements, namely, glossy and obstructive. Glossy food facilitates the movements whereas obstructive food slows down the movements.
The movements of food are also related to the flavours and energies of the food. Generally, warm and hot food with a pungent and sweet flavour tend to move upwards or outwards and cold and cool food with a salty, sour or bitter flavour tend to move downwards or inwards.
The common and organic action of food
Organic action of food refers to specific internal organs on which the food will act. The Chinese focus on ten internal organs for dietary treatment.
• Lungs
• Heart
• Stomach
• Small intestines
• Large intestines
• Spleen
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Bladder
• Gall bladder
Generally, when the flavour and energy are relatively simple it acts on one organ only. When a food has more than one energy or flavour it can act or two or more organs. This is just a general principle because food with one flavour and one energy may act upon one or two organs and conversely food with more than two or more energies and flavours may only act on one organ.
Initially it can be very confusing trying to understand all these aspects of Chinese diets but with use it becomes easier to remember and a pleasure to cook the various types of food for better health. I strongly believe in combining both western and eastern practices in order to stay healthy.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Eating the right food after childbirth
Most Eastern cultures believe that your body is cold after delivery therefore you should avoid cooling or cold food but eat a lot of yang or ‘heaty’ food to warm the body up. However, if you are normally a yang person, eating too much ‘heaty’ food may cause rashes and fever. In this case it would be better to reduce the amount of ‘heaty’ food and eat more neutral food. If you are normally a Yin person, you should not have any problems eating ‘heaty’ food
Wherever you are in the world, everyone will try and tell you what to eat and if possible how to eat it. The most important thing to do is follow your own body's needs.
Just remember the following pointers:
1. If you are breast feeding whatever you eat will be transferred to your baby via your breast milk therefore it is important that you eat a balanced diet so that your baby will get the right nutrients for optimum growth and development.
2. Some food does cause the baby to become 'windy' or have loose stools. If you find that your baby is suddenly quite unsettled, try and think of what you ate during the last 12 hours. Avoid that food for a few days and then try again. If the same happens again, then you should avoid that particular food for a while and re-introduce it into your diet by taking a very small amount and see how baby reacts then slowly increase the amount so that baby gets used to the food.
3. You may find that your appetite is slightly low especially during the first week. This is normal as your body is readjusting to its non-pregnant state both physically and mentally therefore it is better to have small frequent meals instead of the normal 3 big meals a day.
4. You need to drink plenty of fluids in order to make sufficient breast milk and if you are forbidden to drink water, you can get the amount of fluid from other sources such as soup or confinement tea.
Food to avoid during the first 10 days
Ginger : Delays healing of wounds and increase risk of jaundice in baby. Substitute with peppercorn or garlic.
Fish : Causes foul smelling lochia or discharge.
Getting ready
The aim of all Traditional Asian confinement diet is to prevent ailments arising during old age, therefore all the recommended foods to be consumed are more of a preventive measure rather than treatment. If you plan to go with the traditional confinement diet, it is best to get some of the dry ingredients about two to three weeks before your due date, just in case baby decides to come early. On average, if you do practice what is recommended, the cost for a traditional Chinese confinement diet could easily be about RM 1000.00 ++ just for the food only.
Wherever you are in the world, everyone will try and tell you what to eat and if possible how to eat it. The most important thing to do is follow your own body's needs.
Just remember the following pointers:
1. If you are breast feeding whatever you eat will be transferred to your baby via your breast milk therefore it is important that you eat a balanced diet so that your baby will get the right nutrients for optimum growth and development.
2. Some food does cause the baby to become 'windy' or have loose stools. If you find that your baby is suddenly quite unsettled, try and think of what you ate during the last 12 hours. Avoid that food for a few days and then try again. If the same happens again, then you should avoid that particular food for a while and re-introduce it into your diet by taking a very small amount and see how baby reacts then slowly increase the amount so that baby gets used to the food.
3. You may find that your appetite is slightly low especially during the first week. This is normal as your body is readjusting to its non-pregnant state both physically and mentally therefore it is better to have small frequent meals instead of the normal 3 big meals a day.
4. You need to drink plenty of fluids in order to make sufficient breast milk and if you are forbidden to drink water, you can get the amount of fluid from other sources such as soup or confinement tea.
Food to avoid during the first 10 days
Ginger : Delays healing of wounds and increase risk of jaundice in baby. Substitute with peppercorn or garlic.
Fish : Causes foul smelling lochia or discharge.
Getting ready
The aim of all Traditional Asian confinement diet is to prevent ailments arising during old age, therefore all the recommended foods to be consumed are more of a preventive measure rather than treatment. If you plan to go with the traditional confinement diet, it is best to get some of the dry ingredients about two to three weeks before your due date, just in case baby decides to come early. On average, if you do practice what is recommended, the cost for a traditional Chinese confinement diet could easily be about RM 1000.00 ++ just for the food only.
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