Cooking Archives - Indulgent Aging

Cooking Humor

Not a Food Blog

September 4, 2018

I can guarantee that I will not be writing a food blog. Why is that you say when they are so popular? Because I rarely use a recipe and never cook exactly the same thing twice.

Am I a bad cook? Do I hate cooking? No to both of those questions.

Rebel Cooking

I love to eat and I love to cook. But as with most other things, I have to do it my way. Rebel cooking if you will.

I have dozens of cookbooks and I love reading through them and looking at all the recipes. I also read tons of food blogs myself and I appreciate their beautiful photos and their willingness to test their recipes until they get them just right.

Cooking By The Seat Of Your Pants

Me, I fly by the seat of my pants. Once I read enough recipes to decide what I want to make I start making whatever I’ve chosen with my own twists. The only caveat to that is if I am baking. I am more apt to follow a recipe when that happens.

Chopping Knives — Photo by Val Vesa on Unsplash

Weekend Food Chopping And Audiobooks

I do try most weeks to prepare my food for the week on Sunday. I bring my cutting board to the table, turn on my Bluetooth headphones and audiobook and chop way. It’s very relaxing!

I usually make a soup and/or casserole, some kind of salad, hard-boiled eggs and chopped veggies to eat with dips or hummus and to top my green salads.

Tomato Soup. Food for the soul. — Photo by Heather Schwartz on Unsplash

Favorite Soup

I can tell you one of my favorites. Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup. Yum-me! Here is my version for the Instant Pot

1 chopped leek
3 stalks celery chopped
1 tsp. of chopped garlic
2 tbsp. butter or olive oil
1 large can of chopped tomatoes
3 cups of water
1 tsp. of chicken stock base
2-3 tablespoons of fresh basil
1 cup half and half

I take the butter and melt it in my instant pot on the Saute setting. I add the chopped leek, celery and garlic and let it soften and brown a bit. Then I add the tomatoes, water, and chicken base, seal the lid and change the Instant Pot setting from Saute to Pressure Cook.

Instant Pot for food — insta pot | by Robert Couse-Baker on Flickr

I set the time for 8 minutes and do a quick release when it is finished cooking. Once it is safe to open the lid, I stir in the half and half and the fresh basil and Bob’s your uncle.

So good! Sometimes if I have extra veggies like spinach or zucchini I will add those to the pot before I seal the lid and then use my Cuisinart stick blender to mix it up (carefully because it’s HOT) once I add the half and half.

What do you like to cook up on the weekends?

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Cooking Health

Grab Walnuts for Your Health

July 11, 2016

A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition suggests that consuming 1-2 servings of walnuts per week (1/4 cup per serving) was associated with reduced risk of developing impairments in physical function, which helps enable older women to maintain independence throughout the aging process.

Diet Quality Improved With Walnuts

Diet quality traits most associated with reduced rates of incident physical impairment were a higher intake of fruits and vegetables; lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fat, and sodium; and moderate alcohol intake. Among food components, the strongest relations were found for increased intakes of oranges, orange juice, apples, pears, romaine or leaf lettuce, and walnuts.

The Study

“There’s a lot of research that looks at specific health conditions in aging, but less attention to research on quality of life and ability to maintain independence with aging,” said Dr. Francine Grodstein, ScD, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “The simple message from this study is that eating an overall healthy diet, including certain foods, such as walnuts and other whole foods, may help women with the ability to do key everyday tasks as they age, like carrying groceries or dressing.”

The researchers looked at data from 54,762 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, which tracked women for over 30 years. Between 1992 and 2008, the women were asked questions about their physical function, including their ability to perform basic activities of daily living.

Walnuts Unique Among Nuts

“These results add to the large body of evidence that outlines the many benefits of a healthy diet for women. Additional research is needed to better understand how diet and lifestyle choices can help maintain our health and well-being as we age,” said Dr. Grodstein.

Walnuts are unique among nuts in that they are primarily composed of polyunsaturated fat (13 grams per ounce), which includes alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid. They are the only nut to contain a significant amount of ALA with 2.5 grams per one ounce serving.