Chef Paul’s Best of … Food Books
December 20 2012
As the end of the year approaches, we are inundated with anyone and everyone’s “Best of” lists. From movies, to TV shows, to books and twitter feeds, it’s endless. Well, here’s my “Best of Food” books which I’ve read this year, and I hope you take the time to find out more about them, or better yet, read them!
When it comes to nonfiction, I tend to stick to food related books such as cook books or food and farming books. One of the books I quite enjoyed this past year was Joel Salatin’s Folks, This Ain’t Normal which focuses on the sustainability of our food system. It’s very much along the same lines as Michael Pollen’s must read “Omnivore’s Dilemma” but more farm focused.
As for cook books, this year’s stand out titles for me were “Bouchon Bakery” which is every bit as beautiful a book as “Bouchon” and “The French Laundry”, two previous cookbooks by Thomas Keller. Though a bit advanced for most home cooks, the book is worth it for the photos alone.
Two other cookbooks I quite enjoyed were “Preservation Kitchen” by Paul Virant and Kate Leahy as well as “Foraged Flavor” by Tama Matsuoka Wong, Eddy Leroux and Daniel Boulud.
As for other cooking related reads from this past year, I highly recommend “Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer” which I referred to quite a bit during the development our new “Anti-Oxidant Plus” Meal Plan that we will be releasing in the New Year. The book focuses on foods that help prevent and fight off cancer and cancerous cells.
Those are the best of food related books that I read this past year. Bon appétit and happy reading.
If you would like to create Your Own Personalized Recipe eBook, visit www.mealeasy.com/erecipes and get yours today!
Tips to Prevent Holiday Excess
December 13 2012
Attending lots of holiday parties this season?
Here are some helpful tips to prevent overeating this time of year.
The holidays bring to mind parties and large, festive meals full of delicious food. It can be easy to overeat during the holiday season, but there are ways to avoid overindulging while still enjoying yourself. Changing certain eating habits can make a big difference in calorie consumption without dampening the holiday spirit.
Step 1
Have a plan to avoid overindulging in holiday goodies. Bring healthy, low-calorie snacks like fruit to work to avoid snacking on high-fat snacks that coworkers bring in. If you fill up on low-calorie foods, you are less likely to overeat or eat large portions of high-calorie foods. Before attending a party where you know food (and fatty food, especially) will be in abundance, eat some nutritious snacks.
Step 2
Drink a glass of water before a holiday party or meal; this will help you feel full and reduce overeating. Drinking water throughout the day will also help keep you feeling full, making it less likely you will reach for excess goodies. Keeping a water bottle nearby is a good reminder to keep drinking water. And while at the party, instead of drinking soda or eggnog, ask for a glass of water. Sip on it constantly throughout the party so your stomach is always slightly full. In addition, it will save you the extra calories since carbonated beverages like soda and holiday drinks like eggnog are full of empty calories.
Step 3
Choose moderate portions of only the foods you like best during a meal, and only eat dessert if it is one you really like. Do not worry about hurting anyone’s feelings if you do not eat her food; if you really feel bad about not eating something; place a small portion of it on your plate. Reach for a small sized plate for your potluck or buffet dinner. By filling up the smaller plate, you will feel as if you are eating much more than you actually are.
Step 4
Eat slowly during meals. It takes time for your body to signal that it is full, and eating too quickly can lead to overeating. Being mindful of what you are eating allows you to slow down and savor the food. The slower you eat, the more time your brain has to trigger the feeling of being full. You can easily overeat if you eat an entire plate of food in just a few minutes. If you take 30 minutes or longer to eat the same amount of food, your brain will signal the full reflex before you have a chance to overeat.
Step 5
Don’t skip meals. As tempting as it can be to skip a meal or two before the large Christmas meal, this is a bad idea. Waiting to eat will trigger the starving reflex in your body, causing you to want to overeat. If you eat healthy, regular meals throughout the day, you are much less likely to overeat at the Christmas meal. Snacks throughout the day, such as vegetables and healthy nuts, will also help prevent overeating at mealtime.
Step 6
Focus on the reason for the gathering. Start up conversations with loved ones or friends and take the time to be present and engaged. The holidays are all about sharing good times with others; taking the focus off the food can discourage eating when you are not really hungry anymore.
Get Organized!
December 03 2012
Do you experience anxiety at 2pm, 3pm or 4pm trying to remember what you have in the cupboards and on the shelves of your fridge?
If so, here’s some advice from Chef Paul:
Get organized and have fun in your kitchen!
• Take stock of your pots and pans. Get rid of those you don’t use, stack them in a deep drawer, or hang them from the ceiling.
• Clean out your fridge and store similar items in baskets, drawers and containers that keep items organized.
• Store pantry items in see-through containers that allow quick access with a glance.
• Clean out that junk drawer and vow to stop stuffing it full of “junk”!
Getting organized will save you time in the kitchen and give you more time to do the things you love.
Save Time with MealEasy
November 27 2012
There are many time saving advantages with MealEasy.
Here’s just a few:
- Shop with confidence; no need to rush around looking for ingredients
- Plan meals ahead to ensure you get a balanced diet
- Less trips to the store for a “missing ingredient”
- Involve all family members in meal planning so there’s only one meal to prepare at dinner time and everyone loves it
- Freeze home cooked meals for a later date, rather than relying on factory made, processed frozen dinners
- Categorized grocery list for a quick and stress-free trip through the grocery aisles
- No need to wait in long lines to pay for ordinary, unhealthy meals at a restaurant
Happy Thanksgiving – Let’s Talk Turkey
November 22 2012
For many cooks, turkey dinner can be fraught with peril and the added pressure of family expectations.
Whether you’re a seasoned Thanksgiving chef, or a newbie in the kitchen, these tips can help eliminate the stress associated with prepping your meal’s centerpiece.
Get it Right
Allot 1 to 1.5 lbs of turkey per person. Make sure your turkey is big enough for leftovers! There’s nothing more satisfying than a turkey sandwich for lunch the next day.
Ready your bird for the oven by following the National Turkey Federation guideline on thawing: for every 4 1/2 pounds of frozen turkey, thaw for 24-hours in the refrigerator.
Prepare Ahead
Get busy and brine your bird! Brining adds so much flavor and texture to the meat. Prepare as much as you can ahead of time. Some side dishes can be made a couple of days ahead and reheated for dinner. Don’t be afraid to ask a guest to bring a dish to your dinner, it will save you time and make your guest feel great for bringing a family favorite. Remember, there’s only so much space in an oven, so schedule cooking accordingly to ensure everything is ready at mealtime.
Work Smart
Keep a clean work area and make sure your knives are sharp. There are two chef’s adages that come to mind: “you are more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife than a sharp knife”; and, “If your work area is a mess, you’ll create a mess”.
You don’t need to be Julia Child to master the art of turkey. By maintaining your kitchen tools and preparing ahead, you can make Turkey Day successful and stress-free.
Vegetarian Meals You Can Trust
November 19 2012
Finding new vegetarian meal ideas that provide nutritional value and great taste is easy with MealEasy.
MealEasy provides affordable healthy vegetarian meal plans and ensures you have the best vegetarian food complete with all the necessary nutrients and protein. You don’t have to eat meat in order to consume adequate levels of protein; however, careful attention must be paid to ensure you consume the proper amounts of alternate protein sources. MealEasy takes the guess work out of protein amounts.
Understanding meal planning
So, what exactly is a meal plan?
A meal plan is a prepared schedule of your meals for a few days in advance, or even weeks in advance. One of the best ways to make sure that you eat healthy meals throughout the week is to have a plan in place. That way, you can purchase all the necessary ingredients ahead of time, and avoid purchasing unneeded groceries that end up going to waste. In addition, putting meal plans together in advance makes it easier to make certain that you’re eating well-balanced meals with optimum nutrition, rather than trying to figure it out on the fly. Finally, a meal plan can help you spend your time more wisely, since you will be able to get through the grocery store more quickly and won’t have to spend time each evening trying to figure out what to make for dinner.
Make every day a banquet
With MealEasy, it is simple to create a balanced meal plan that is healthy, delicious, and will please all of the people in your family. Select from a wide range of meals available to create personalized vegetarian meal plans. MealEasy will automatically generate shopping lists so you can be sure to be well stocked with all of the ingredients required to prepare your meals.
MealEasy features delicious recipes that span many cuisines; including Japanese, American, Italian, and more. Having access to such variety in creating your meal plans will keep your family from falling into the rut of preparing the same tired recipes again and again.
Visit www.mealeasy.com to learn more about their healthy meal plans. Take advantage of the option to sign up for a 3-month membership to explore the full range of recipes and meal plans available, as well as experience how simple MealEasy can make meal planning.
Salmon, Kale and White Beans Dinner
November 14 2012
Prepare to Eat Smart!
Plan ahead for a weekly balanced diet to ensure you’re getting the right amount of daily calories and nutrients to stick with your weight control goal and healthy lifestyle.
In this video, Chef Paul Routhier shows us how easy it is to make a delicious and healthy dish with Cod, Kale and White Beans.
For a Chef designed meal plan that includes an automated grocery list from more than 2000 detailed recipes that include calorie count and nutritional information, visit http://www.mealeasy.com
Like MealEasy on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/mealeasy
Follow MealEasy on Twitter – https://twitter.com/mealeasy
Put Family First – Eat Together
November 05 2012
We live in a hectic time.
For parents with young children, it can be very stressful rushing to after-school activities, often stopping to quickly grab a fast meal somewhere on the road. Home cooking has become an uncommon occurrence in millions of American kitchens now that grocery store shelves are packed with convenience meals, and kids crave the junk food that fast food companies directly market to them.
Families spend less time eating together than they did a generation ago. According to a national poll conducted by RGA Communications in 1995, only one-third of U.S. families said they “usually have their evening meal together on a daily basis”. Continue reading
Confessions of a Chipaholic
September 14 2012
Hello, my name is Paul and I’m a chipaholic.
For years I have indulged in ½ a bag a day habit. I would sit in front of the TV and crunch my way through a bag of BBQ chips like it was nothing. We’re talking about the big bags here…200g. I often didn’t even realize I was doing it. I’d awake from my TV induced haze to find my chest covered in chip crumbs, an empty bag on the floor next to the couch.
Breaking this habit was hard, I kid you not. The first step was simple yet so tough…don’t buy any chips. As long as they aren’t in the house, I will not eat them. If I know that there’s a bag in here somewhere, I will find it and I will eat it…all of it!
So step one: never buy chips. It’s been hard. I have broken this rule a few times and recently, after about 2 years of only buying and eating chips occasionally, I have found that I no longer can consume a 1/2 bag or more in one sitting. I feel kind of ill after eating just a few. The same goes for pop.
Trust me, I still have those night time cravings but I’ve tried to replace them with other healthier snack foods. We now try to have a container of carrot sticks in our fridge at all times; simple and convenient. We try to make dips such as hummus and red pepper dip. We make kale chips and eat unsalted popcorn instead of potato chips.
It’s that time of year
August 23 2012
Summer is coming to an end and that means that the school year is about to begin.
If you have school aged children, then you’re already fretting about school lunches. What do you make that’s healthy, nutritious and that they’ll actually eat. The last bit is sometimes the hardest.
This article brings up an excellent point: “If you want them to eat it, don’t pack the stuff they don’t like,” says Joanne Saab, a registered dietitian who works in pediatric nutrition at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton. “They will not eat it if you’re not there.”
I’m a big fan of leftovers for lunches; there’s nothing easier than packing up what’s left from last night’s dinner. But I do understand that for a lot of kids leftovers just don’t cut it. The MealEasy meal planner has many simple, nutritious and kid friendly lunch suggestions; everything from sandwiches to pasta salads to soups.
Try out some new ideas for lunches before the kids head back to school, either as a meal at home or as small samples to see if your kids might enjoy these items in their lunches. And remember to include some fruit and some vegetables in the lunch…and most importantly, if they’re not going to eat it then don’t give it to them.