Love Your Fat

Good and Bad Fats

Trans Fat is short for “trans fatty acids,” trans fat appears in foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. These are the worst fats for you. Monounsaturated fat is a type of helpful fat that is present in a variety of foods and oils. Saturated fat is a type of fat that is primarily animal-based, and is found in high-fat meats and dairy products. Saturated fats should not be consumed with excess carbohydrates/sugars. Polyunsaturated seed oils are plant-based foods and oils that are often highly processed and inflammatory.

Good Fats (eggs, avocados, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed meats and butter):

  • Help you feel full
  • Improve cholesterol levels
  • Help reduce risk factors of heart disease and stroke
  • May reduce risk of diabetes
  • Help brain function / promote healthy nerve activity
  • Improve vitamin absorption
  • Help fight germs / Immunity
  • Promote cell development

Bad Fats (partially-hydrogenated oils, vegetable & soybean oils found in shelf-stable packaged foods):

  • Raise bad cholesterol LDL
  • Lowers good cholesterol HDL
  • Increase your body’s inflammation & risk factors for heart disease and stroke
  • Build weaker cell walls in all body cells, especially the brain.

Kitchen Skills

Keep Avocados Fresh

  1. Storing avocados in the fridge even while they're still whole keeps them fresh for up to two weeks.
  2. Store the avocado with the pit and coat it with olive oil or lemon juice prior to storing in an airtight container in the fridge.
  3. Storing cut avocado with onion chunks also helps prevent browning.

The Ultimate Guide of How to Use Olive Oil

  • Drizzle it over salad or mix it into salad dressing.
  • Use in marinades or sauces for meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables. Oil penetrates nicely into the first few layers of the food being marinated.
  • Add at the end of cooking for a burst of flavor.
  • Drizzle over cooked pasta or vegetables.
  • Use instead of butter or margarine as a healthful dip for bread.
  • For an easy appetizer, toast baguette slices under the broiler, rub them lightly with a cut clove of garlic, and add a little drizzle of olive oil.
  • Replace butter with olive oil in mashed potatoes or on baked potatoes.
  • Use olive oil in your sauces whisking will help emulsify, or blend, the watery ingredients with the oil in the sauce.
  • Before refrigerating homemade pesto, add a thin layer of fine virgin olive oil on top of the sauce after putting it in a jar so the pesto will keep its green color.

KitchenHC Cooking Lesson Recipe

What's Crackin'? Omelets

MATERIALS NEEDED

  1. Olive Oil
  2. Skillet/ Pan
  3. Spatula
  4. Mixing bowl
  5. Whisk

INGREDIENTS NEEDED

  1. Eggs
  2. Possible Toppings? ()
  1. BEAT eggs, water, salt and pepper in small bowl until blended.
  2. HEAT olive oil in 7 to 10-inch nonstick omelet pan or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. TILT pan to coat bottom. POUR IN egg mixture. Mixture should set immediately at edges.
  3. GENTLY PUSH cooked portions from edges toward the center with inverted turner so that uncooked eggs can reach the hot pan surface. CONTINUE cooking, tilting pan and gently moving cooked portions as needed.
  4. When top surface of eggs is thickened and no visible liquid egg remains, PLACE filling on one side of the omelet. FOLD omelet in half with turner. With a quick flip of the wrist, turn pan and INVERT or SLIDE omelet onto plate. SERVE immediately.

Whitty's Corner