Section VI
"Food Preparation," Back to Eden, pp. 747-751 (Jethro Kloss)Many important nutrients are lost to a greater or lesser degree when food is cooked by ordinary methods. In particular, the water-soluble vitamins – B-complex and C – may be largely lost by careless cooking and storage. Vitamin C is the most unstable of all the vitamins and if, by overserving the following rules for cooking, this vitamin can be largely retained, other important nutrients, including iron, will also be preserved in significant amounts. Fortunately, some of our food sources that are highest in vitamin C, the citrus fruits, are best eaten raw. Fruits and vegetables together supply well over 90 percent of our vitamin C.
Follow the practical suggestions listed below in order to retain the most nutrients while cooking your food, and remember the four nutrient robbers are air, water, heat, and light.
- Use as little water as possible during cooking.
- Have the water boiling for about one minute before adding the food.
- Let the water simmer rather than boil vigorously.
- Save the leftover water to use as vegetable stock for gravy or soup.
- Cut vegetables in large, uniform pieces just before cooking. Leave the peeling of skin on when possible. The smaller the pieces being cooked, the larger the area exposed to water, and therefore the greater the vitamin loss will be.
- Use the shortest cooking time possible. Serve vegetables tender and crisp, not soggy and mushy.
- Serve food immediately after preparation. Do not keep it hot for a long time before serving. Plan your meals so that the reheating of food is done as seldom as possible. Cover and refrigerate leftover foods right away.
- Keep cooking vessels tightly covered.
- Cooking by steaming or pressure cooker will preserve about 30 percent more of the vitamins than boiling.
- Do not add [baking] soda to cooking water, because this destroys vitamin C and some of the B-complex vitamins.
- Food that is high in vitamin C should not be cooked in copper or iron vessels.
- Store fresh fruits and vegetables in a refrigerator and prepare them immediately before they are to be used. Do not let them stand in water or remain exposed to air any longer than is necessary.
- Place frozen food directly into boiling water after removing from the freezer. Do not permit the food to thaw first.
- Keep orange juice covered and in the refrigerator. Drink fresh orange juice immediately after squeezing. Do not leave it exposed to the air.
- Apples, sour: baked, medium hot oven, 30 minutes.
- Apples, sweet: baked, medium hot oven, 45 minutes.
- Asparagus, whole: boiled 10-15 minutes.
- Beans, dried: boiled until tender, about 2 to 3 hours.
- Beans, whole: boiled until tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Broccoli: boiled 10 to 15 minutes.
- Carrots, whole: boiled until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Carrots, sliced: boiled until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Cauliflower, pieces: boiled until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Corn on the cob: boiled 6 to 10 minutes.
- Eggplant: baked in hot oven, 30 minutes; or steamed, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Gems / Muffins: quick oven, 375° F for 25 minutes.
- Onions, small: boiled 10 to 15 minutes.
- Onions, large: boiled 20 to 30 minutes.
- Parsnips, whole: boiled 20 to 30 minutes.
- Peas: boiled 10 to 12 minutes.
- Potatoes: boiled 15 to 30 minutes; or baked in hot oven, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Rice, brown: boiled 40 to 50 minutes.
- Rolled oats: direct boiling, 15 minutes; or double boiler, 1 hour.
- Salsify (oyster plant): boiled 2 hours.
- Squash, whole: boiled 10 to 15 minutes.
- Squash, pieces: boiled 8 to 12 minutes.
- String beans, whole: boiled until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Sweet Potatoes, baked: hot oven, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Sweet Potatoes, boiled: 20 to 35 minutes.
- Tomatoes, whole: boiled 10 to 15 minutes.
- Turnips, whole: boiled until tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Turnips, sliced: boiled 15 to 20 minutes.
- Whole grain rolls and biscuits: quick (hot) oven, 20 to 25 minutes.
The best way to cook vegetables is to bake them. Boiling is good if very little water is used and none of the liquid is thrown away. Waterless cooking, casserole baking, and low pressure steam cooking are also good.
When boiling vegetables, put them in just enough boiling water to cook them and don’t overcook them. If there is any water left, save it to add to your soups or broths. The vegetables must boil or simmer continuously after placing them in the water; otherwise they will become water-soaked.
Add sea salt sparingly just before the vegetables are entirely done; if salt is added as they are beginning to cook, it has a tendency to toughen them. Cook vegetables only until they are tender; prolonged cooking destroys the life-giving properties. Do not add fat to the vegetables while they are cooking; add your seasoning just before they are done, and serve them at once.
Never peel or remove the eyes of Irish potatoes before cooking; the life of the potato is in the eyes and the peel. Do not peel any vegetable that can be use without peeling. Carrots, parsnips, salsify (vegetable oysters or oyster plant), rutabagas, and others may be scraped lightly, so as not to lose the minerals that are found just under their skins.
Green vegetables are very desirable during the winter months; if you think them expensive remember that they are far cheaper than the cost of an illness, and when properly prepared they are real medicine.
Canned or frozen vegetables, even if you get a good brand, are not as good as properly prepared fresh vegetables. But they are better than fresh vegetables that are poorly prepared.
All the non-starchy vegetables, such as carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, and parsley, should be eaten raw if they agree with you.
Question: Are we supposed to have fruit for our first meal and cooked vegetables for the second on Day 18?
Answer: Yes… almost lol fruit for the first meal, raw and cooked/steamed/baked veggies for the second! As long as the vegetables are combined correctly and prepared according to those guidelines in the new post, you’re okay. Just ensure that half the vegetables in your second meal are raw, and the other half can be safely eaten properly cooked.
Question: Do we still follow the vegetable and fruit combination guides when boiling and baking them?
Answer: Yes, definitely! Always follow the combining rules. They’re definitely not confined to raw food alone.
Question: How long should we allow fruits and veggies to remain in the fridge? Does it depend on the fruit?
Answer: As long as the fruit/vegetable has the skin on it, it can remain in the fridge until it starts to lose its natural color. When it starts fading/browning, the phytonutrients (which give them their color) are dying. This is the fruit’s enzymes starting to digest itself (rotting), causing fermentation (alcohol)… and that’s when it is no longer deemed fit for human consumption.
Question: How long can we keep leftover boiled/baked fruits and vegetables?
Answer: There are only but few fruits that you can boil/bake without completely losing their nutritional value. So you want to be mindful of that. But to answer your question more directly (focusing more on the boiled/baked vegetable leftovers), I would definitely make cooking a “daily” practice. But if time does not permit this, then one to two days should be a good buffer time to keep leftovers. Foods do not lose much nutritional value when preserved in the fridge. It’s actually when they are re-heated that their nutritional value declines up to 20% faster, compared to the first time they are cooked.
Question: Do we stop medications/supplements/treatments on Day 18?
Answer: There should be no stopping of medications/supplements/treatments until the Checkup Form has been filled, submitted, received, and returned with further instructions.
