Strir Frys... good or bad

Hooked

Hey all, can I please get a bit of feedback on the following?

I love eating a stir fry with low fat noodles made with 1 pork chop/OR chicken breast/ OR piece of steak - and 10 (yes 10) types of veg. Cooked with extra virgin olive oil. Is this a "healthy" option?

FYI
I eat porridge for brekkie with a spoonful of jam.
Bring an apple, orange and grapes to work as small meals every day with 2L water (drink 4L on my run days). I have dinner (mostly stir frys) at 1pm every day and run every second evening... my 2010 new years resolution. No eating after 6 usually! If I get "snacky" it's usually peanut butter on yeast free soda bread...

So is the stir fry (and the frequency of it) good for me? Pros? Cons?

Cheers all...

brainyneuron

Isn't extra virgin olive oil the one you're only supposed to use in salads? It shouln't be heated i think? Not sure tho. Maybe u should use noraml olive oil or sunflower/rapeseed oil instead?
Love stir frys too, they're a great way of getting loads of veggies in! I don't eat them every day tho, I would usually alternate meals and have stirfrys about 3 times a wk and on the other days, potatoes or basmati rice with tofu/fish/meat + veg or omlettes etc. Try and vary you're dinners cos other wise you'll get bored pretty quickly!

WildBoots

Coconut oil is the best for frying, it doesn't denature like other oils at high temps. Olive oils are best consumed over a salad unheated.

A spoonful of agave syrup or even raw honey would be better in the porridge, add some berries to make it really healthy!

Mellor

It depends,
I make, what I consider, very healthy stir frys.
I pre-grill the meat.
I swap out noodles for beansprouts or buk choy (or similar) boiled
I use a tiny amount of spray canola oil for the pan, and lightly do the other veg.
Don't use sauce from jars, but use chilli flakes, chopped chilli, tabasco, vinegar, smal bit of soy and simialr things (not all together btw)

But, frying pieces of steak, in oil, with some veg and a jar of sauce and rice or noodles, can vary depending oh the amount of noodles, and the type of sauce. Some sauces have almost 200 cals per serve

Hooked

Cheers all... I'll have a look around le supermarche for alternatives in the "oil" department. Coconut / Rapeseed Oil? Never really thought of the olive oil alternatives. Honey in porridge. mmm... Will try it Monday morning.

I don't add a "sauce" to the stir fry, just the meat and veg with boiled noodles. So I guess the oil is the only "variable" that may need changing.

I do vary it up a little, but as Saturday is my "treat day" and Sunday is nearly always a roast dinner - I just find it easy to eat 3, maybe 4 stir frys Mon to Fry-day. Badum Tish!

Thanks again for the advice one and all.

menoscemo

In general, the types of stir frys you are talking about i.e. a lean meat and loads of veg are very healthy. I wouldn't worry too much about the type of oil just don't use too much. Extra virgin olive oil does not react well to high temperatures. It is more a waste than anything to fry with it (it is gorgeous and you should taste it so put it on your salads/toast etc.)

Contrary to popular belief it is actually possible to fry with olive oil, you just have to keep the heat quite low.

rubadub

Hooked wrote: »

I don't add a "sauce" to the stir fry, just the meat and veg with boiled noodles. So I guess the oil is the only "variable" that may need changing.

The worst thing in there is the noodles, even if low fat. I would just add more veg, or the beansprouts as mentioned.

I think it is only the extra virgin olive oils which react badly. You can get mild flavoured olive oils. I fry in coconut oil or lard these days. I did some pork chops in a stir fry recently, I cut off most of the fat and fried it first, this released the fat into the pan, I then threw out the spent fat and fried in leftover fat.

ali85

Have you tried the low fat cooking sprays? They are brilliant. I think the one I use is that "1 cal" one. They have different flavour ones too... I have the butter and the olive oil one.

Also for a bit of sauce try some of the sharwoods soy sauces. Theres ones that have flavourings in them already like chilli and garlic. I usually bung them in or some worchester sauce... yum!

mike65

Who cares? are you eating them every day? I doubt it, so tuck in. You'll be a long time dead.

emeraldstar

mike65 wrote: »

Who cares? are you eating them every day? I doubt it, so tuck in. You'll be a long time dead.

Apparently he is

WildBoots

menoscemo wrote: »

In general, the types of stir frys you are talking about i.e. a lean meat and loads of veg are very healthy. I wouldn't worry too much about the type of oil just don't use too much. Extra virgin olive oil does not react well to high temperatures. It is more a waste than anything to fry with it (it is gorgeous and you should taste it so put it on your salads/toast etc.)

Contrary to popular belief it is actually possible to fry with olive oil, you just have to keep the heat quite low.

Ah yes, you can fry with olive oil, you're right, just not extra virgin olive oil! Still though, with a proper stir fry you'll be using a very hot pan/wok so maybe that might be a bit too hot? Do you know what the "safe" temp for frying with olive oil is by any chance?

WildBoots

mike65 wrote: »

Who cares? are you eating them every day? I doubt it, so tuck in. You'll be a long time dead.

And you'll be a short time alive once the arteries start to clog up!

menoscemo

WildBoots wrote: »

Ah yes, you can fry with olive oil, you're right, just not extra virgin olive oil! Still though, with a proper stir fry you'll be using a very hot pan/wok so maybe that might be a bit too hot? Do you know what the "safe" temp for frying with olive oil is by any chance?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point

as you can see, Olive oils can actually resist higher temperatures than what you recommended;)

WildBoots

menoscemo wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point

as you can see, Olive oils can actually resist higher temperatures than what you recommended;)

"Researchers found that participants in a study who consumed the most olive oil tended to have healthier diets than those who consumed the least amount of olive oil. Participants who had the highest consumption of olive oil consumed less cereal and baked goods but more eggs and vegetables, and had a higher vitamin intake than those who consumed the least amount of olive oil.
Researchers concluded that olive oil is a major contributing factor to the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet".
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition September 2003;57 Suppl 1:S2-7



However:

This study reinforces the value of olive oil in promoting health as part of the Mediterranean diet. While olive oil can and should be a healthy part of your diet, what most people do not appreciate is that olive oil should not be used to cook with.
Olive oil is primarily a monounsaturated fat. This means that it has one double bond in its fatty acid structure. The problem with olive oil is its overabundance of oleic acid, which creates an imbalance on the cellular level that can inhibit prostaglandin production, which can increase the risk of breast cancer and heart disease.
So if you plan on using a fat to cook with, your clear choice is coconut oil. Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid which is a proven antiviral and immune system builder.




This is why I cook with coconut oil!

jam_mac_jam

WildBoots wrote: »

And you'll be a short time alive once the arteries start to clog up!

Hardly from a stir fry, you use very little oil