In 2024, Integrate The Steamed Cuisine Lifestyle Into Your Life!

Are you reading and hearing about new year resolutions everywhere? I’m sure. And I heard very good ones out there, very inspiring stuff. Now, finding the ones you like and deciding the one you are willing to spend more time during your day to actually keep, is another question. If like me you are a super busy mom, ,potentially homeschooling and cooking from scratch every day, these resolution would better be bringing a ton of power into your life to even bother. And even if you are a very busy non-mom, by the way. Better be good, worth your time, Right?

Now, with all this choice and these great suggestions out there, why would I add up to the overwhelm of stuff you could do to improve your life and the life, health and wellness of your family?

Here is the short answer, and I am here to admit, not original: Mine is different! You will judge from the article below if that new habit may be worth your time because it has the potential of adding a ton of power into your life. Ready, set, go!

Adopting the Steamed Cuisine Lifestyle is a Different Type of Resolution

Meanwhile, that’s true.

Yes I’d love to tell you – while not being a physician nor your physician – to spend more time outside, practice deep breathing to lower your stress levels, and track your vitamin D3 levels. All of these seem pretty easy to keep track of. However, these only commit you and not your other family members!

Adopting the Steamed Cuisine Lifestyle or starting to use a great steam cooker like the Vitaliseur that I use ( and honestly I would not use any other one), would only improve your health and facilitate your daily cooking routine – at least in the long term. Such resolution would commit not only you but people that eat at your table, and serve your and their health and palate. So it’s probably something you want to read about first and see if that’s something you’d like to try. It’s for sure a different type of resolution!

But let’s start with exploring what it is, or more accurately, what it is to me!

What is the Steamed Cuisine Lifestyle

I don’t want to pretend I am the creator of a new movement, that would be presumptuous, because it’s NOT the case. Although steamed cooking is big and getting bigger in my country, I would venture that’s the case mostly because the French are much more into cooking their own food. Besides, the green movement has made people very toxicity conscious: toxic products, toxic fats, pollutants etc. It’s also because the steam cooker I use, which was invented a little over 30 years ago, is truly revolutionary.

Cancer Surgeon converted to Steamed Cuisine in Five Minutes

The Vitaliseur (or vitalizer, because its cooking looks like it gives life (vita) to the food it cooks, but let’s lean on that later) was invented in the 1980s by André Cocard, a French engineer that sought inspiration from Asian steam cookers and middle eastern couscous cookers.. His creativity and mastery resulted in a fantastic cooking tool he originally called the “VapOK” (as in vapeur, for steam, and OK). His stainless steel steam cooker was efficient with regard to the speed at which it was cooking food, especially if compared to very high temperature pressure pressurized steam cookers claiming to cook fast – albeit at a much higher, much more nutrient destructive temperature. The VapOK was remarkable with regard to its results and the taste of foods that came out. Marion Kaplan worked alongside him and started manufacturing it under the name Vitaliseur in the 1980s.

All it took to convert my own father, a time-starved surgeon and professor of nutrition, to his new nutritional lifestyle, was five minutes: André Cocard knew of his interest for nutrition and its influence on cancer patients. He offered to cook lunch for him. And so he did, but with a caveat my dad didn’t know before it happened: he made every food my father hated the most. Being polite and a good sport, my father tried them all, one after the other, and to his surprise, and he actually liked all steamed foods he tried!

Busy Mom of Six Sold on Taste, Digestibility and Efficiency

Selling the new cooking tool to my mom wasn’t hard either. Beyond the taste and color of the food, the easiness on her digestive system, the speed and ease to use as a mom of six kids would have done the trick!

I have blurry memory of the time, since I was around Seven years old. But I don’t remember ever being very picky with any foods my mom cooked with it from that moment on.

The Steamed Cuisine Lifestyle brings clean nutritious eating to your fingertips

It is a a magic wand but almost. All the food prep you really need to do is anticipating approximately what you will eat this week when you do your grocery shopping. If you have some go-to meals, you usually know food combinations and shop accordingly.

To-go meals keep adding up over time and the years and I love that, it diversifies. ! Eventually kids start having different ideas and create their own stuff. It’s gratifying.

Customize Your Own Steamed Meal Plan Type

Everyone has their own style of meal making ! Depending on the habits you learned and what you added along the way, it evolves. I can give you an idea of my own steamed cuisine lifestyle on a week day. Other people using a steam cooker probably have a different way of using it!

My meal system usually consists in filling my kids demanding stomach ( meaning they constantly demand food…) – pretty basic! So I provide large portions of green vegetables. As filler, I vary between root vegetables and ancient nutritious grains Then I provide animal or vegetable proteins. I won’t talk about sourcing because everyone is different, whether on account of being health conscious or because of their budget.

My Routine

With that model, I usually start by thawing protein if needed, then turn on the cooker and cook the grain in it, while I cut the vegetables at hand, then steam the vegetables, transfer in a skillet and dress it while the protein also cooks in the steam cooker. I rely on carrots and tomatoes as appetizers and snacks, and fruits as desert as a general rule. Yes my kids do like it, as I did, growing up. That’s how I never had a problem giving it to them instead of store bought deserts. If you look at the price an ingredients of those, I chose raw fruit, hands down.

EVERY protein can be cooked here. Not everyone likes it this way and that’s okay. It could grow on you later. And It took some time for some loved ones to like it. What helped them at least trying was the practicality: it’s made so fast, and the grill is not ready that quick.

Personally, I use the grill with moderation, to avoid the burned elements like benzopyrenes that are also proven carcinogens and occur DNA damage. We do grill but try to grill at lower temperature, which also results in meat that is more tender, generally speaking.

The Steamed Cuisine Lifestyle Is A Clean and Nutrient Dense Way to Eat

Why am I such a staunch advocate of the Vitaliseur? Four words: Cleanliness, Nutrient density, Digestion, Speed.

The steam in this cooking tool does not go above 95°C/202°F. That ensures that nutrients, particularly vitamins and nutrients , plant hormones that are heat sensitive, are preserved. You can tell by the color of the food, it’s scent, its flavor, its texture. Trying is believing ! But how does it work?

How is steamed food More Nutrient Dense?

First, it cooks quickly, thereby destroying minimal amounts of nutrients. Second, it get rids of destructive enzymes, bacteria, toxic agents. Finally it does not wash out nutrients. Now let’s get into more detail.

It is a quick Cooking Method

The speed ensures that it is not cooked too long, which also participates to nutrient and fiber preservation. Cooking too long breaks down fibers, which is what makes foods softer so your jaw won’t have to do it’s job – although chewing thoroughly would ease our digestion! .Breaking down fibers raises blood sugar, more fibers lower blood sugar. Overcooked foods tend to ferment and create bloating. Heat sensitive nutrients like Vitamin C will degrade and disappear at high temperature. Vibrant colors demonstrate nutrient density, and steam cooking performs excellently on that.

It preserves nutrient density by It getting rid of destructive enzymes

In an interview with Vitaliseur manufacturer Marion Kaplan, French Professor Marc Henry ( professor of molecular biology in Strasbourg, France) explains that when “when you cut off broccoli (or other plants) from their roots of pick them, the enzymes that would enable ripening start destroying it. This is a natural process”. He explains that in a pressure cooker, you start to cook vegetables cold ( you turn on the fire with the vegetables in the pot) which reactivates these destructive enzymes. Then high heat destroys even more through high very temperature.

Getting Rid of Destructive Enzymes

The Vitaliseur steam cooker’s gentle steam reaches a temperature high enough (202°F at the heart of the vegetable) to destroy such destructive enzymes by a king of blanching in steam, or searing : The way you use this cooker, you start putting vegetables onto the sieve once the tank water is boiling hot and steaming abundantly. The foods cooking on the sieve are “seared” hot, like when we sear meat. This is how it destroys bad enzymes and bacteria while it rehydrates foods rather than water saturating them.

Blanching food

I personally use the steam cooker to blanch foods, in a way, even if I don’t cook them fully in the Vitaliseur: I place the vegetables one minute in the sieve in a hot steam cooker. Then I transfer them out onto a skillet to mix them with other ingredients.

I also blanch meat, fish or seafood 2-3 minutes in the hot steam cooker, then finish cooking them in a skillet. This is useful when meat fish and seafood need to cook in the sauce more than usual and adopt more of the sauce’s taste. One example with fajitas: I steam the chicken two minutes in the steam cooker. Then I transfer into the skillet with spices, salt and oil, and vegetables. That way, I am sure the harmful bacteria have been destroyed and some of the toxins as well, albeit not all.

Something I have not yet tried is to blanch vegetables one minute before freezing them. My research on the Vitaliseur led me to believe it was a possibility. So I will try and see how it goes. So far, I only like to freeze bell peppers myself, but I haven’t enjoyed the taste of broccoli I froze. May be blanching with the steam cooker will change that.

It does not wash out nutrients

The rounded top ensures that the gentle steam (202°F/95°F) turning abundantly under the lid either gently escapes through the lid or condensates and streams back down to the tank. Condensation water streams down along the sides of the lid into the sieve. It continues down into the tank through the large holes of the sieve that efficiently evacuate water and toxins. This way, it does not fall onto the food you are cooking ( which would just displace the toxins elsewhere) and it avoids washing out nutrients.

My father has that helpful image about the usefulness of a second sieve. If one child pees in bed, on which level of the bunkbed will you let him sleep? In the same way, do not let toxins contaminate the foods that are below: one sieve is enough.

Moreover, at 202°F; the temperature is high enough to kill the harmful enzymes, bacteria and pesticides. As for the condensation water, it does not fall back onto the foods from the top of the lid, hence no water saturation and washing out of water soluble nutrients occur. If it would, water would destroy water soluble nutrient, trace minerals and salts in your foods.

It is Cleansing

Gentle steam is like a sauna, it makes your food sweat. Fatty foods will sweat out fats, which is great when you want less inflammatory fats and toxins that are in these fats – since toxins are lipophile and fat soluble. When it comes to pesticides, the manufacturer had tests done very early onward to test pesticides and results found that some pesticides were eliminated from the foods cooked in it.

Cooking fast, again, creates less danger for the healthy nutrients you want to keep! Also, a lot of the pesticides will sweat-exit. I assume that like our own human sweat when you go to a steam room rids some traces of heavy metals, so does steaming ! Of course, with no possibility to test such assertion scientifically, the manufacturer does not affirm nor condone a statement that the Vitaliseur purifies your foods from heavy metals. She warns to always be mindful of the origins and quality of your foods, as do I. However, studies from a decade ago concluded that many toxines including heavy metals exit our body more through sweat than other detoxification pathways. By extension, it is fair to assume some degree of excretion of metals could be occuring.

So it’s not to say ALL toxicity gets out, nor that your conventionally grown food will suddenly become organic, but to budget sensitive people it is certainly a weight off the shoulders..

In short, it’s an ideal cooking method, whether you are a crunchy toxicity sensitive nutrient density prioritizing mom, or a mom on a budget that wants cleaner foods that have some nutrients left in it. AND it’s quick, so it’s WIN WIN WIN!

Most things can be steamed but not everything has to be

Why do I call it steamed cuisine a lifestyle ? Because I do steam many many things, even some bread and cakes, custards and crustless quiches. However, I still do some grilling (while trying not to burn!). I still boil my pasta (ancient grain or gluten free if I can to avoid modern wheat. Occasionally I do use an instant pot – but for yogurt fermentation or bone broth only!

I do love raw foods are they are most nutrient dense. I have been learning much about fermented foods too. But I do love how using an efficient steam cooker makes my life as a mom easier. I love that I can improvise dinner in 30 min (20 if grain is cooked already) if I come home late. Grilling a meal in the summer easily doubles the time. Mostly, I love how it tastes, and how easy it was to make my whole family, littles and big, love vegetables.

If I was adopting this cooking method now, I would add it as an ally supporting all my other heathy foods endeavors! And it is a mom-free-time support tool!

Bringing the Lifestyle to a New Country

Over thirty years after my parents were so easily convinced to adopt steam cooking, no family member is missing his own Vitaliseur. More, both my parents keep actively advocating for it in their respective health and wellness activities.

A market for Healthy, Quick and Easy

I have been living in the United States for over thirteen years now. The least you can say is that there are markets for health and wellness “how-tos” and products all around. Meanwhile health doesn’t seem to improve. As a foreigner, I see a big gap, and I do believe it’s outsourcing cooking.

As a marketer, making being health easy and comfortable is the winning bet, isn’t it? Or is it a lie? I don’t think it always is, but I recognize healthy products that replace foods you can make yourself are costly. Especially as mom of five. And I find they don’t replace the meal experience. So, preferably, I’ll keep a few of these in mind as the exception to the rule. The rule being, I make my own at home.

However, there is no denying it, there is a need for an easy way to eat healthy, clean, homemade foods. Many people are thinking it’s too hard and time consuming to cook the way they were taught – my mom did feel this way – or learn to cook. May be because they feel you have to be a restaurant level cook to make delicious meals? Or that having all ingredients at home would make their healthy meals more expensive than eating out?

Not All Cooking Methods are Difficult

Here is the kicker: it is NOT hard to cook, especially with a steam cooker. I personally believe it’s probably the easiest tool to learn to cook at home with, even if you don’t know how. And may be all you need is… a blog to inspire you a few meals to make yourself so you learn that way before you start creating your own?

Let’s ask ourselves honestly: if cooking was so difficult, would there be so many restaurants around ? Granted, many don’t make healthy foods. But with healthier ingredients, making the same food at home could be much much healthier. Now, do we want to take the level of food a level or two up?

I’m Here To Show You

My 2024 resolution is to do my best to show you how you can use a steam cooker like mine. I hope to show how to successfully eat healthy meal every single day, even if you make your to-go meal for work or school. To-go meals are what I’d make for myself as a student. Remember, I’ll been using steam cooking long enough to have applied it to family and single student, traveler life.

Along the way, I hope my audience will suggest a few meals or type of meals to make with a steam cooker, so I can show them how I would go around making it, cooking differently or going around food restrictions.

Learn a New Skill

Note that if cooking isn’t as hard as we are told, learning a new skill is hard, at least emotionally. That is why I am using the blog and youtube as platform to “teach” this.. So readers can take their time organizing to make whatever they want, whenever they have the time. Take it one meal at a time. On the ones that inspire you, you are welcome to leave a comment. That will help me provide more of what you are looking for, which is more satisfying for everyone!

My wish for you in 2024, is that you’ll learn something from what I write. That it perhaps inspires you, that you may take a step that improves your health. Steam cooking does help make flavorful, color- and nutrient dense meals with great texture and that are much easier on our digestive systems.

If you do get inspiration from this, please share with people you know that may be interested. That will help me grow and inspire more. That’s why I do this. If my blog makes it to 2025; if I manage to post 90 or so more recipes and how-to posts this year, that will be also thanks to you!

Happy New Year!

Find recipes for meals made with the steam cooker:

• Warm up with a smooth Zucchini Leek Soup
• Fill up your kids stomach with my kids favorite Mediterranean Tuna Salad
• An easy meal but also healthy and popular with kids, the Pasta and Pesto
• Subscribe to my newsletter and get three exclusive steamed cakes recipes !