Good little article from INC.com.

http://m.inc.com/?incid=48261

May 14, 2013|4 Comments
Simple steamed vegetables are one of the reasons I love eating in Japan. I mean, let’s be honest, I probably like steamed vegetables more than most, but I enjoy them exponentially more in Japan. Somehow, many of the things I love about traveling there are summed up in this simple preparation. I’d often receive a sampling of seasonal produce as part of a combination lunch, the vegetables arriving at the table beautifully arranged in the bamboo basket they were steamed in. I’d work my way through a rainbow of vibrant, tender potatoes, squash, mushrooms, broccoli rabe, and the like, sometimes adding a pinch of zesty shichimi togarashi, but more often than not, a casual toss of a few grains of salt would be all. Each time, a vibrant, satisfying reminder of just how good vegetables can be when prepared simply with care and intent. After this past trip, my cheap, tri-level bamboo steamer was promptly dusted upon my arrival home, and put into proper rotation. The thing that never ceases to surprise me is the speed even the most hearty chunks of root vegetables or squash become tender – ten minutes, often less.

Bamboo steamers are easy to come by, and relatively inexpensive. The one downside is they take up a good amount of storage space, not much more than a big pot, but still. The steamers are available in a range of diameters, and are made of interlocking trays intended for stacking on atop of the other. Placed above simmering water, the steam from the water rises through the trays and cooks the food. It’s a simple premise that works astoundingly well. I use three trays, but you can certainly go up or down a level.

A few things I’ve learned:

- While steaming with water is most common, I’ve also played around using miso broth, vegetable broth, vegetable dashi, or tea in place of water. Each imparts a different scent and flavor to the vegetables. More times than not though, I use water.

- Arrange your slowest cooking vegetables in the bottom basket, working up to the quickest. Another time saver is to get your densest, slowest cooking vegetables started in in the bottom tray, while you prep the quicker cooking vegetables for the mid and top baskets. Place the lid on whatever basket is on top at the time.

- Some people line their steamers with cabbage leaves or parchment. I don’t bother, placing the vegetables directly on the steamer instead. I like how it seems to keep the steam circulating. A quick scrub with hot water and the rough side of a sponge makes clean-up simple.

So, less of a recipe, and more of a reminder today of how good the most basic preparations can be. -h

Steaming Vegetables
HS: This is how I put together a sample of steamed vegetables. I use a three-tiered bamboo steamer, the sort that is available in most culinary shops.

a sampling of seasonal vegetables
flaky sea salt

to finish: good olive oil, a few drops of toasted sesame oil, or shallot oil

equipment: a bamboo basket steamer, preferably three levels. And, your steamer needs to fit inside your cooking skillet.

Wash your vegetables well, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. I tend to leave peels on, but it is a personal preference. Arrange them, in a single layer, in steamer trays according to needed cooking time. For example:

Bottom tray: equal-sized chunks of slower-cooking vegetables. For example: sweet potato, potato, winter squash, beets. These usually cook through in about ten minutes.

Middle-tray: equal sized pieces of broccoli, cauliflower

Top-tray/last minute: asparagus, fava beans (inner pods), snap peas

Bring an inch of water to a simmer in a skillet large enough to accommodate the diameter of your steamer. The water should not be so high that it makes contact with the vegetables when the steamer is placed in the skillet – do a quick test if needed, and remove some water if needed.

The goal here is to have your vegetables perfectly cooked and ready to serve just before you sit down. And, ideally, all of the vegetables finish cooking at the same time. Here’s how you do it. Roughly ten minutes before you’re ready to serve, place the slow-cooking, bottom tray vegetables over the simmering water, covered. Let them steam there until they’re about 2/3 cooked, about 6-7 minutes. Test, and cut into any root vegetables toward the end to make sure they’re going to be cooked through. The mid tray only needs 3-4 minutes, so add that next, moving the lid up a level. And the top tray vegetables, like snap peas and asparagus, just need a kiss of steam to brighten, barely a minute. Add that last. Or if you only have two baskets, add these to the broccoli/cauliflower basket to finish. You’ll have to make slight adjustments based on the sizes of your vegetables, but this is the general idea. Cook them until they’re bright, just tender, and taste good to you.

I like to quickly arrange the steamed vegetable, nested, in one basket to serve along with a drizzle of good oil – toasted sesame, shallot, olive oil, herb, etc. With a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

Serves 4.

Prep time: 5 min – Cook time: 10 min

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/steaming-vegetables-recipe.html

by Alexander Heyne

There are a number of reasons why many of us fail to take control of our health.

Everything from time, lack of quality information, and motivation play a roll in our success or failure.

But there’s another set of lesser-known reasons why you aren’t as healthy as you’d like: the thoughts in your head.

Below I’ve profiled the top seven bad mental habits I see over and over, and how you can fix them.

#1 The belief that success is left to a special few

Some people seem to have this concept that people who end up really successful, healthy, and happy, are just the lucky few.

When you ask them how Mozart, Tiger woods, or top sports athletes are born, they’ll tell you something like “Oh it’s just their genetics, they were born that way.”

Say you have the goal of wanting to go from 50 pounds overweight, to fitness model. There are numerous dramatic stories like this on the internet.

But what if your mind is constantly telling you “Oh those people are just unique. They are the 1% who have willpower and discipline like no other human being.”

Chances are you won’t even do anything, right? You won’t get started.

Now what if I told you that I met someone who achieved the goal you want to achieve. And what if that person told me “Nope, I wasn’t born special, I just learned what I had to do, and spent 1-2 hours every day for two years doing it.”

Suddenly your mind expands and you begin to wonder: “Hmm, if an ordinary person can do it, maybe I can too.”

In fact, there have been numerous books on the subject, such as Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World Class Performers From Everyone Else and The Talent Code.

The conclusions of both books?

In the vast majority of cases, talent is created and forged every day, not born. This is as true for Mozart as it is for Tiger woods.

My point is this: it’s important to know that the people who succeed at changing their health, building a business, or improving their personal life are not special – they just take committed action.

#2 Thinking that your life, and thus your success, health and relationships are all outside of your control

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from The Alchemist and goes something along the lines of this:

The greatest lie in the world is that, at some point, your life is run by factors out of your control.

You can always change.

It’s sort of like another saying: you can’t control what happens to you in life, but you can control your response.

This is extremely apparent today, where people are losing their jobs left and right. The vast majority of people end up complaining and saying, “There was nothing I could do.” Really? Nothing?

You couldn’t have been pro-actively meeting people, or bringing new ideas to the table, or taking on larger responsibilities to make yourself more indispensible?

The same is true of your health: some people act as if they are powerless to the food industry, or can’t fight their genetics.

“Oh, heart disease and cancer run in my family.” And apparently that’s all the justification we need to go eat junk food every day.

There are two ways to look at your health.

The first sounds a lot like this: “Oh, everything causes Cancer these days! Forget it, I’m just going to eat what I want.”

The second sounds like this: “My health is a priority and I’m going to do whatever it takes to figure out how to get healthy.”

You could read hours worth of success stories, of people who successfully reversed their genetic predispositions to obesity, heart disease, or cancer.

Just look at Jack Lalanne – one of the most famous health icons of the 21st century. Lalanne’s dad died young from a heart attack, but Lalanne lived to be 96 years old – and if you saw videos of him in his 90’s, he looked to be about 75.

The more you believe that you are incapable of change, the less likely you are actually going to take the action you need to improve your life.

#3 Thinking that sticking to a diet is all a matter of willpower

This whole laziness / willpower thing has unfortunately become the default belief in the health industry.

People that are unhealthy or overweight are viewed as lacking “willpower,” and those who are healthy are viewed as having lots of it.

I think that laziness is mostly a myth. It’s not that you can’t stick to a diet because you’re lazy, it’s because you have bad habits.

Habits happen automatically. That’s why we feel powerless against them.

One of the most important things I tell clients when I work with them is that it’s not a matter of willpower – it’s a matter of turning small changes into big habits.

For any of you who have tried fighting sweet cravings, you know that willpower is a weak soldier to fight the battle.

It’s pretty much impossible, and there’s a good body of research showing that sugar cravings function a lot like drug addictions and even affect the same receptors in the brain.

Would you ever tell a drug addict to just “fight” the cravings?

No, of course not! That’s why I challenge you to not view dieting as a willpower game – you will almost inevitably lose.

Instead, imagine if you picked one bad habit – and spent 30 days re-wiring yourself. Imagine what your health and life would look like after 12 of those (one year)?

#4 Trusting some new health expert on blind faith, rather than testing out the advice

It seems like every year there’s a new M.D. proposing some huge diet solution that will help save humanity.

Right now it’s the Wheat Belly diet. Diets aside, there are obviously some really good ones, and some really bad ones. But there are very few that endure and last.

For whatever reason, the health industry is filled with people who think they’ve “cracked the code” and at which point, the know-it-all hat comes on.

A friend of mine recently lost 50 pounds doing nutrisystem – so he began preaching the gospel of nutrisystem (despite the fact that a year later, he regained 60 pounds).

People seem to forget that there is one system that really works for everyone: experimentation.

Ignore the M.D. credential on most diet books. Ignore the rave reviews. Ignore all the junk and advertising.

If Dr. Zee has a new program that’s supposed to help people with arthritis, and you’ve got arthritis, try it and see what happens long term!

If Dr. Zoo has a “revolutionary, break-through” program for combating sugar cravings, just try it out before you begin preaching the gospel.

If Dr. Zed has a newly scientifically verified program for combating allergies… just try It out and see if it works for you!

If Dr. Zoy has a program guaranteed to make you healthier – get a blood test before and after and see the proof.

Once upon a time, I used to believe that there really was one universal human diet. But after having worked with so many people, I’ve realized that people respond very differently to the exact same foods, diets, or programs.

So, start experimenting! Don’t put your faith in the latest fad, or even someone with credentials. People still have beliefs and opinions – regardless of the M.D. next to their name. Trust results.

Read the rest here: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-7-bad-habits-of-highly-unhealthy-people/

by Markham Heid

Go big or go home. Setting the bar high when it comes to weight loss could help you drop more pounds, finds surprising research in the Journal of Health Psychology.

A Dutch survey of overweight and obese dieters found people who aimed to lose more than 10 percent of their total body weight shed more pounds than those who targeted a 5- to 10-percent drop. Also—contrary to some popular weight-loss beliefs—dieters who set more-ambitious goals were no more likely to feel discouraged by their results than people who chose modest targets, the study shows.

While trying to lose weight, you’re probably pursuing other important life goals like earning a promotion at work, making time for friends, or being a better parent or partner, says study coauthor Emely de Vet, Ph.D., of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. If you set a timid weight-loss goal, you’re telling yourself you don’t need to work very hard to be successful, and so you’re less likely to divert resources like time and energy away from those other activities, de Vet says.

But when you aim high, you signal to yourself that more effort will be needed to reach your goals, and so you’re more likely to focus time and energy on losing weight, she adds.

http://news.menshealth.com/the-weight-loss-goal-you-should-set/2013/05/04/