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We’re thinking about living a healthy life (again) now that New Year’s Day will be here shortly. Can a kitchen be designed that actively contributes to, and encourages, healthy eating? I’m not (entirely) sure, but here’s how I would approach the design, plus a few tips on healthy eating.
Below, a Blanco sink
SINK AREA
Design in two sinks including one prep sink to encourage easy access for prepping fruits and veggies Have colanders near the sink to drain fresh fruits/veggies Have a cutting board near the sink and/or trash for prep work Add a filtered cold water tap to encourage you and your family to drink water Keep the salad spinner nearby
COOKING APPLIANCES & METHODS
Have steam baskets or a portable steamer easily accessible to encourage cooking steamed vegetables Alternatively, design a steam oven into the kitchen to cook vegetables, meat and fish in a healthy manner Add a grill pan to the cooktop, a portable electric grill, or design a built in grill into a new kitchen as a tasty, healthy, cooking method Have on hand an electric rotisserie or a built in rotisserie in the wall or oven for [...]
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Ekokook is designed for people who want to reduce their ecological footprint to the bare minimum by producing green energy, reducing energy consumption and properly managing their waste. This green kitchen turns everyday waste into a new reusable source of energy, where each drop of water that fell on the roof or came from a tap should be used to the maximum instead of going straight down the drain, that every watt of wind and solar power produced by the house should be valorized on the spot.
Here is how Faltazi describes this endeavour: Ekokook is about implementing a comprehensive prospective research project for eco-friendly habitat in the real world, the Faltazi Lab. We are trying to answer the question of how to introduce ecological projects into the home. How to upgrade existing housing without Advocating complete reconstruction. The obvious responses are those that use non-structural elements of living space (doors, windows, equipments …), which can be mass-produced industrially and are simple to install. We focus on the material interfaces between habitat and external resources. Each wall, each balcony, each window, each door, each shutter can serve as a support for an eco-system. Each [...]
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Initially introduced in the United States in 2003 by Cook-N-Dine, the premium stainless steel, teppan cooking surfaces by CDS have been re-examined recently by the scrutinizing eyes of their inventor and patent-holder, Mr. Paul Schacht. To suit the demanding American customer even better, all built-in teppanyaki grill models have received a major technical makeover, resulting in improved heating element size, which led to almost double the actual hot cooking surface. These new models are already rolling out for the Holiday Season 2009.
The intriguing teppanyaki cooking style makes for effortless delicious, healthy eats. The secret is the intense heat of the solid 304 stainless steel surface that seals in all the juices on contact. Paired with its patented sink-down-in-the-center feature when on, a CDS teppanyaki grill can replace bulky pans and woks, and perfectly complements any traditional barbeque grill, while freeing up storage space and doubling as additional work top when not in use for cooking. Main features include:
- Worldwide patented feature: center bows down slightly when on to keep the fine juices in place; reverts back to flat when switched off – Accurate temperature control from gentle 120°F up to 430°F, even [...]
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Year-over-year percentage decline in shipments of major appliances for June 2009, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Vendors shipped about 5.7 million units in June 2009, down from 8 million units a year earlier. Air conditioners were especially hard hit, with annualized shipments sinking 60 percent. The cool, wet late spring/early summer hurt AC sales, but even where the mercury rose, many homeowners decided to forgo air conditioning to save on energy costs, according to this recent article in The New York Times.
If you’re not willing to sweat it out all summer, the slumping shipment figures could mean even deeper discounts on air conditioners, and you might find it easier to hire a top contractor to install a central-air system.
Read the special report on cooling in the July 2009 issue of Consumer Reports, and check out the free buyer’s guide to air conditioners (ratings and central-air brand-reliability information available to subscribers).—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook
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Nice and compact
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I’m crazy about sink accessories! In my new home, I have this one small built-in cutting board, and it’s so incredibly useful to have 
You’re hearing it more and more…the kitchen is the new living room. The drum beat is getting louder. I think we were shocked by the financial