Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Decluttering & Discoveries!

Back in 2017 I posted about clearing clutter & getting giddy.

It’s still true.

Whenever I clear a cluttered pile of STUFF that has been making me a bit crazy, there is a definite lightness, a letting go, a giddiness. Clutter is not healthy, mentally or physically.

I think quite a few people have spent at least some of their time during this pandemic clearing the clutter in their homes. (Maybe also clearing the mental clutter?)

Decluttering can also lead to magical discoveries.

I, as many people know, love to cook. I use recipes, and I use Epicure products, and I make stuff up as I go. I have many, many cookbooks. Some of them I haven’t used yet, and some of them I use so frequently that I’ve memorized some of the recipes.

One of my favorites is BREAD TOMATO GARLIC, by Jill Dupleix.

You saw the picture that goes with this post?

Yeah.  Have you figured it out yet? That would be two copies of the same cookbook.

Quite a while ago I lost track of my copy. I couldn’t remember whether I’d lent it to someone, or to whom I might have lent it. I asked the usual suspects, and nope. I sort of wrote it off and ended up getting a decent used copy off Amazon or HPB.

Yesterday, while delving into the depths of a large plastic tub of miscellany, guess what I found.

Yep. My original copy, with my notes. (Honestly, losing the notes almost bothered me more than losing the book.)

I’ll be keeping both. It is genuinely one of my favorite recipes. Simple is good. (Each recipe in it has 3 primary ingredients, and no more than 4 to 6 supporting players. It’s lovely.)

Declutter something. Even if it’s a one-foot-square space, you’ll feel a difference. You may even make a magical discovery!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Healthy Oils for Cooking

This morning, as I frequently do, I cut a piece of parchment paper for my baking sheet before I laid out breakfast to go into the oven. I thought back to a recent conversation I had with my father about why I use parchment paper. For certain things, it allows me to completely skip using oil or butter when cooking or baking. Yes, there are a lot of very healthy fats & oils that I can use when I’m cooking. Skipping them isn’t a bad idea either on occasion!

Naturally that made me start thinking about the oils I use and why and what the benefits are of each type. My favorites are olive oil, occasionally coconut oil, and, to be honest, butter. I also occasionally use grapeseed oil.

Let’s start with the least obvious: butter. In moderation, butter is not as unhealthy an addition to your diet as various fads (fed by bad science) have led us to believe over the years. Butter contains fat-soluble vitamins, healthy saturated fats, and unlike margarine, will not increase your risk of a heart attack. Also? It’s tasty. My preference is normally for unsalted butter as I like trying to control the amount of sodium in my diet. Sodium is necessary for good health, as I wrote in April, however, too much sodium is a bad idea.

I include coconut oil on the list as it can be a good choice for cooking on occasion, although after I used it almost to the exclusion of everything else (except olive oil) for quite a while, my bad cholesterol numbers were much higher than they should have been. Granted, I did not track everything else that I ate during that time so I don’t know what else in my diet might have contributed. Coconut oil has saturated fats, however, it may be better than certain other sources of the same types of fats. It also provides phytochemicals that are helpful antioxidants. I still like coconut oil and it has some benefits; I simply use it more sparingly now. (I’ve even used it to cook with when my father is having dinner with us. If you’re concerned about the flavor coming through for those who don’t like coconut, don’t be! If he can’t taste the coconut, nobody could. He doesn’t like coconut at all!)

Grapeseed oil is one that many people may not be familiar with. This oil is a byproduct of the winemaking process, and one particular brand I’ve used is a truly odd shade of green, but that’s the natural color. (It’s a really bright green and that takes me by surprise every time I use it!) It has some vitamins (mostly E) and omega-6 fatty acids. Not much research has been done on the health benefits (or problems) for humans, so there isn’t much to say. It has a somewhat different flavor from olive oil, of course, but it’s a nice change when I don’t have or don’t want olive oil for whatever reason.

I’ll close with the oil I use more than anything else: extra virgin olive oil. Antioxidants. Vitamins E & K. Good fats. May fight inflammation and protect against cardiovascular disease. (Also? It’s an excellent oil base for flavored oils, such as garlic olive oil, which is also one of my very favorite oils to cook with!)

What’s your favorite fat or oil to use when you cook?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

p.s. Tonight’s wine is a lovely peach wine concoction from a winery in Wisconsin that I had the opportunity to visit a few months ago. Cheers! :)

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Health Benefits of Herbs & Spices

It may have already become obvious but just in case, here’s a thing about me: I love to cook. I love playing with recipes, and I love preparing (and eating) good food. Even better is when that good food is good for us!

I started writing #winewellnesswednesday posts about the health benefits of some of my favorite ingredients, such as ginger and colorful bell peppers. I then thought I’d do some research on health benefits of herbs & spices, because I enjoy using those in my cooking as well. I found something of an overwhelming amount of information! For this week I’m going to narrow it down to herbs & spices that are believed to combat inflammation, because it is something that many of us deal with regularly, and reducing it will help improve health in multiple ways.

Cinnamon contains antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation. Turmeric contains curcumin, another antioxidant. Ginger can reduce inflammation as well. Cloves, rosemary, sage, and oregano are more spices and herbs that can be beneficial in fighting against inflammation.

So what can you do? Fortunately, whether you love to cook or don’t, it’s easy to add herbs & spices to your menu! Add cinnamon and clove to oatmeal; add oregano to pasta sauces (and it’s probably already in those recipes); toss some ginger in when making a stir fry out of colorful veggies! Cheers! :) Here's to your health...