Chef Paul: Certain Vegetables and Fruits
March 18 2011
In 2007, Canada’s Food Guide upped their recommended amounts for servings of vegetables and fruits to between 7 to 10 daily…don’t worry, that’s a combined total.
It still seems like a lot.
When you consider that a serving is equal to one medium sized fruit, ½ grapefruit, 1 cup of fruit salad, ¼ cup dried fruit, ½ cup 100% fruit juice, ½ cup of cooked or raw vegetables, 1 cup salad greens, and ½ cup 100% vegetable juice, it can be difficult to get that many fruits or vegetables into your diet; difficult, but not impossible.
The key is, again, to plan ahead. If you plan to have a least two portions of fruit with your breakfast, say a banana and maybe some berries with your cereal; and then make sure to bring a green salad, a side vegetable or some carrot sticks for a snack and at least 1 whole fruit for lunch, you’re already at 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
With dinner, serve at least two side vegetables or one side and a salad and voila! You’ve reached your target of 7 servings…of course this is your minimum target. Have some fruit for dessert and between meal snacks and you easily attain the recommended amounts.
We North Americans have a diet which consists primarily of meat and potatoes. Now I LOVE me some meat and potatoes but I do know that eating my full share of fruits and veggies helps me maintain my health and gives me plenty of energy to deal with my soon to be three year old…and trust me, you NEED energy for that. As I sit here at my desk, I’ve got 2 oranges and a banana in front of me…okay, make that 1 orange (it was just sweet and tart enough) and one banana. In our staff fridge, I’ve got my yogourt (local organic) and wild blueberries (also local), my spinach salad (local organic) and some arugula (also… yeah, you get the idea) that will find its way into my gnocchi. I purposely packed myself a vegetarian lunch today because I planned on burgers for dinner…and usually we have fries (baked potato wedges) with our burgers and we don’t have salad, though we probably should. (I think I just guilted myself into making a side salad now)
For breakfast, I had steel cut oats and an apple (along with OJ, toast and a coffee). Therefore, adding up my totals for today, I have 8 servings of mostly fruit with some veggies…not bad.
Once you get into the habit of planning out your meals, achieving the recommended amounts isn’t really that hard…you just have to plan.
P.S. Here’s a quick update on our garden. The seeds have begun to sprout already! It’s only been 6 days since my wife planted them but they are well underway. I’ll take some photos this weekend to share with you.
Chef Paul: Cost of Food
March 15 2011
Everybody is talking about the cost of food these days…or more specifically, how to save money on food bills.
The average North American spends about 15% of their household budget on food. That’s a big chunk of change. Recent reports indicate that the price of food will NOT be going down anytime soon…if ever. So, how do we cope with higher food costs?
There are many ways my family is dealing with this food price hike. This past weekend, my wife purchased several seeds which we’ll be starting under our grow lights which sit on a shelf I built in the basement…tall enough that the cat can’t reach it. We’ve got some Swiss chard, basil, lettuces, beets, carrots, beans, tomatoes, zucchini and probably a few more I’m forgetting. Once they’ve germinated and reached a certain height, we’ll be able to transplant them outside. Now, I realize not everyone has grow lights or enough outdoor space for a larger garden, but you’d be amazed at how little space you need to grow some vegetables. You could even consider transforming your front yard to garden space…who says it has to be all grass?
We purchased our home in mid March about 10 years ago and after having lived in apartments for 20 years before this, I remember thinking “I’ll have to buy a lawn mower now”. We were both shocked come spring as the snow melted to discover that our entire front yard was planted perennials and not grass! My wife then quickly purchased some gardening books and visited the local gardening store to learn how to cope with this. The front yard then became her domain while I was relegated to the back yard (self imposed)…and because the backyard was dominated by a HUGE garage (torn down last spring…FINALLY) and a massive red maple tree, there was little opportunity for grass let alone vegetables to grow.
A few years on now and a major backyard reno later (the tree is still there but the garage has been replaced by a much smaller shed), we’ve built ourselves several garden boxes and transplanted about half of the front yard with vegetables. Now amongst our rose bushes and lilacs are beautiful Swiss chard, vibrant green basil and even a few broccolis.
Yes, we’re lucky enough to have the space to plant vegetables but there are many ways to grow veggies indoors as well as in confined areas…don’t let apartment dwelling stop you from growing some of your own food.
Now, growing your own vegetables is not the only way to save money on food costs. Planning your weekly meals ahead of time is a must. If you go to the grocery store or farmer’s market with a list and (here’s the important bit) STICK TO THAT LIST, you’ll definitely save money. Don’t believe me? How many times have you had to head back to the grocery store to pick up that red pepper you forgot only to leave with $20 less in your wallet? And it wasn’t all spent on really expensive red peppers either. We plan out all our weekly meals and buy foods accordingly. We’ll go through our fridge, freezer and pantry area and make sure we’re planning meals that use up any items we already have before purchasing more.
We also try to buy everything we can from the farmer’s market. When it comes to vegetables it is very important to buy fresh even if the cost is a little bit more. When we buy our $2 head of lettuce at the farmer’s market, we know it will last a week. Often, especially in winter months, you might pay less for a head of lettuce at the grocery store but you end up throwing half of it out…is that really saving you money? The closer it’s grown to your home, the longer it will last and the cheaper it becomes in the long run.
Chef Paul: The Skinny On Fat
March 09 2011
A few years ago the weight loss blogs and healthy eating proponents were all reciting the same mantra…Eat low fat! Soon, many big food companies jumped on the band wagon because this is what people wanted…low fat foods and even “fat-free” products.
Today, we are learning more and more about how fats are absorbed and their relationship with our cholesterol levels. We’re learning about good fats. In fact, we’re learning that WE NEED FATS IN OUR DIET! Fats help our bodies with nutrient absorption and maintaining cell membrane activity, among other essential tasks.
You may be surprised to read that not all fats are created equal. The good fats such as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats help to lower cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol) and increase the good HDL cholesterol. Monounsaturated fats are found is such items as whole nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds, etc) as well as in avocados, olive oil and canola oil. Polyunsaturated fats are found in cold water fish (salmon, trout, mackerel, and arctic char) and in flaxseed and soy.
From my limited understanding, it’s not simply a case of reducing your fat intake to lower your cholesterol, but a question of your ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterols.
What we need to do is limit our intake of saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats are found mainly in animal products such as red meat, butter etc.
Trans fats are pure evil! They were “developed” as scientists began hydrogenating oils so that they could deal better with the food production process. Trans fats are found in many prepackaged convenience foods and fast food items. They have little to no redeeming nutritional value and are in fact quite harmful to our bodies.
Now, I’m not a dietitian or a nutritionist but I do know about food and cooking, and from what I’ve learnt, I think simply reducing our intake of animal products or using “low fat” dairy products and avoiding all trans fats like the plague will definitely help with high cholesterol. But don’t take my word for it, talk to your doctor, nutritionist, naturo-path or dietitian and find out what’s best for you.
Make informed choices at the grocery store… and remember, just because it’s labeled “low fat” doesn’t mean it’s better for you.
Chef Paul – The Importance Of Bees
March 07 2011
With spring right around the corner, (it is right? Any day now, correct?) my thoughts, like those of many others, turns to the birds and the bees.
No! Not like that…I think about pollination and the startling fact that 40% of our honeybee population is dying off each year. I know what you’re thinking…”Good! Then I won’t get stung. Besides, I’m allergic.”
But what many of us don’t realize is the VERY important fact that without bees our whole ecosystem and more specifically our food system suffers irreparable damage. In fact, roughly 30% of our food gets brought into the world by honeybee pollination.
Bees don’t just make honey: from apples to lemons, much of the food we eat may disappear with the bees. Even milk and beef production could be threatened: guess what makes the plants that feed the cows? Our friend the honeybee.
And that’s not all, bees add $15 billion to the annual US economy, and their loss will have a devastating impact on food production and food prices.
So what’s happening? What’s killing off all the bees? Mounting scientific evidence suggests agricultural pesticides are one of the culprits. Here is yet another example where large scale industrial farming is damaging our future.
So what can we do about it?
Plenty.
Firstly, you can contact your local member of government and express your concern over the disappearance of the honeybee and the prevalence of pesticides in our agricultural system.
You could plant a bee friendly habitat in your garden or windowsill with pollen- and nectar-rich flowering plants like sunflowers, berries, gourds, and most herbs.
You could reduce your usage of insecticides and herbicides around the home. They may get rid of pests, but they can also harm “non-target” insects such as honeybees.
You can support your local beekeepers, and producers of rare honey. Learn about honey varieties in your area.
And most importantly, you can BUY LOCAL ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS! I cannot stress the importance of this enough. We need change and we need to make it happen…and we can do it by supporting our local farmers and buying their products.
Just another blant! (Blog rant)
Dorothy Kato: Would You See These Ten Typical Beliefs About Diabetes ?
February 28 2011
This guest blog post is brought to you by Dorothy Kato:
Below are 10 of the most well-known truth and lies and facts that you need to know.
Misconception 1: Overeating Sugar Causes Diabetes.
What makes diabetes happen? The reasons usually are not totally understood. What exactly is known is that simply overeating sugar is not likely to cause diabetes. Instead, diabetes begins when something disrupts your own body’s capability to turn foods into energy.
To know what goes on when you’ve got diabetes, keep these things in your
mind: Your system reduces most of what food you’re eating into glucose, a form of sugar necessary to power your cells. A hormone called insulin is created inside the pancreas. Insulin helps cells in your body use glucose for fuel.
Listed here are the most frequent kinds of diabetes and what researchers know about:
* Type 1 diabetes takes place when the pancreas cannot make insulin.
* Diabetes type 2 happens when the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin, the insulin doesn’t work properly, or both.
* Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnancy in certain women.
Misconception 2: You can find A lot of Rules in the Diabetes Diet.
For those who have diabetes, you will have to plan meals. However the general principal is not hard: Following a “diabetes diet” means choosing food that may work together with your activities and any medications to help keep your blood sugar as near to normalcy as it can be.
Misconception 3: Carbohydrates Can be harmful for Diabetes
Actually, carbohydrates are great for diabetes. They make up the foundation of a normal diabetes diet.
Carbohydrates possess the greatest influence on blood sugar, and that’s why you are required to observe the number of carbohydrates you consume when following a diabetes diet.
Misconception 4: Protein is superior to Carbohydrates for Diabetes.
The major problem is the fact that many foods abundant in protein, for example meat, can be stuffed with fats. Overeating those fats increases your risk of coronary disease. Inside a diabetes diet, protein should account for about 15% to 20% of the total calories you take in every day.
Misconception 5: You’ll be able to Adjust Your Diabetes Drugs to “Cover”
Anything you Eat.
If you are using insulin for your diabetes, you could possibly learn to adjust the quantity and type you take to complement the quantity of what you eat. But this does not mean you can eat just as much as you desire, then just use more drugs to stabilize your blood glucose levels level.
Misconception 6: You will need to Quit Your preferred Foods.
There isn’t any reason to quit your preferred foods on the diabetes diet.
Misconception 7: You must Quit Desserts when you have Diabetes.
Not the case! It is possible to develop many methods for including desserts inside a diabetes diet. For example:
* Use low calorie sweeteners in desserts.
* Scale back on the quantity of dessert. For instance, rather than two scoops of soft ice cream, have one. Or share a dessert with a friend.
Misconception 8: Low calorie sweeteners Are Dangerous if you have Diabetes.
Low calorie sweeteners tend to be sweeter compared to the equivalent level of sugar, therefore it takes a reduced amount of them to receive the same sweetness present in sugar. This could cause eating fewer calories than when you use sugar.
Misconception 9: You should Eat Special Diabetic Meals.
The real difference from a diabetes diet as well as your family’s “normal”
weight loss program is this: For those who have diabetes, you’ll want to monitor everything you eat a little more closely. Including the total of calories you take in and the amounts and varieties of carbohydrates, fats, and protein you consume.
Misconception 10: Diet Foods Are the most useful Options for Diabetes.
Just because a meal is defined as a “diet” food does not always mean it’s a better option for those who have diabetes. In reality, “diet” foods could be expensive and no better than foods found in the “regular” areas of the supermarket, or foods you prepare yourself.
And You? Still looking over this article? Move out and enjoy your daily diet!
The author: Dorothy B. Kato is currently writing for the menus for diabetics web site, her personal hobby blog that shares ideas to help individuals to prevent/manage diabetes and help spread the comprehension on healthy eating.
Chef Paul: Eating Out, Eating In
February 25 2011
We don’t go out for dinner very often.
We quite enjoy eating out but as a couple with a 3 year old we either end up at “family style” restaurants or having to hire a baby sitter…and that adds $$$ to the meal. So, when we do go out, we make sure to do our research first. What I look for is a restaurant where I’ll get good value for my dollar. I don’t want to go to a restaurant with $30 mains and feel I did not get that level of food or service that that price point warrants. I often feel I could cook the same meal better at home, and at a much lower cost. I’d rather go some place where I know my $15 main course will be worth $15; where the service is good and where I feel comfortable. I’ve dined in and worked at some of the finer restaurants around so I am quite picky when it comes to dining out…but I also love it when someone else cooks for me for a change.
Because we don’t eat out all that much and because we love to socialize, we tend to host dinner parties fairly often. I love trying out new ideas on guests and will often spend a few weeks planning and testing certain dishes. In fact, the weeks leading up to this past Thanksgiving I worked on perfecting my brine recipe for the bird by testing it on roast chicken suppers for three consecutive Sundays.
That’s how many of the MealEasy recipes were developed. Testing and retesting different food combinations until we got something we were proud to put on the site.
Chef Paul: Facebook, Answers to your questions
February 23 2011
Today I will try to answer recent questions that were submitted to me on our facebook page.
- How to keep bread fresh:
We buy local artisanal bread from our farmer’s market and the best way to preserve it, we’ve found, is to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. We usually buy about 3 loaves for the week and wrap them all up and then put two in the freezer (oh boy…here he goes on about his freezer again!). I always try to stay ahead of the game and take a loaf out just as we’re finishing one up. That way I don’t have to defrost it in the oven (which tends to make it too crusty). The bread we buy is from a wonderful French bakery that makes all organic breads…they also have the best croissants and pain-au-chocolat around!
- We were also asked how to get kids involved in the kitchen without endangering them.
While it’s true that kitchens have a lot of things that can harm an adult let alone a child: from heat, hot oil, knives and even can lids; I think you still need to get your kids involved. The best and only solution is to work with them. Start by showing them very basic things such as how a knife works (which is the sharp side), how a peeler works etc. They will slowly build confidence and want to do things on their own in no time. We’ve found the best way to get our little one involved is by doing simple tasks such as putting the toppings on the pizza, or mixing the flour and other ingredients for muffins or cookies. Easy, not too dangerous tasks such as those will make both the parents and the child more comfortable in the kitchen.
- How do I stop oil from splashing out of the pan?
Oil splashing out of pans is a result of moisture hitting a hot oil. You’ll never be able to completely eliminate splashes from the pan but the best way to reduce the amount of splashing is to dry off any moist ingredients before adding them to the pan. Use paper towel to pat dry any meat, fish or tofu. When it comes to items that have been marinating, place them in the pan gently, try not to drop them from a height…and stand back. As for bacon…well, make sure you’re wearing a shirt.
If you have any other questions about tips, tricks or techniques please post them on our Facebook page, comment here on the blog or contact us via the chat option on our home page. I look forward to hearing from you.
It’s always a question of time
February 17 2011
“We never seem to have enough time.”
At least that’s what most people say. I always think that it’s one of the few things I have lots of. (HA!)
But when I am pressed for time, I look for things that will make my life easier. For example, tonight, my wife has an engagement she must attend and therefore won’t be home for dinner. So it’s up to me to collect our little one from daycare and then make us dinner before someone has a “meltdown” (That would be my daughter, not me). In anticipation of needing to make dinner as fast as possible, I planned on spaghetti for tonight. The sauce is defrosted, the water is in a pot and on the stove, the colander is in the sink and the pasta is measured out.
This may seems like small potatoes but now when I get home and NEED to have dinner ready in 10 minutes, I can do it. It took me a whole 5 minutes this morning to organize things for dinner and now all I have to do is turn on the stove and wait for the pasta to cook as I am reheating the sauce. Toddler tantrum avoided!
This just shows the importance of planning.
On Monday evening we had pork chops with white beans. I like to use dried beans rather than canned so I must plan ahead if I want the family to eat at a decent hour. Hence, I soaked the beans on Sunday night and then on Monday morning before heading to work, while showering, getting our daughter ready etc, I had time to cook the beans. I drained them, let them cool and then placed them in the refrigerator.
Once I got home on Monday evening, all I had to do was turn the oven on, sauté the pork chops and then reheat the beans. As the pork chops cooked, I had plenty of time to add whatever vegetables I wanted to the beans as they reheated. I had some leftover roasted carrots and beets from Sunday’s meal which I chopped up and added to the beans as well as some wonderful fresh spinach one of the local farmers gave me…dinner in 20 minutes!
How? Because I planned ahead.
Chef Paul: February Food
February 11 2011
It’s tough this time of year.
Winter seems to be dragging on, you don’t get enough outdoor exercise and, if like me you live in a cold climate, there just isn’t much choice at the Farmer’s Market. As I mentioned before, we like to get most of our groceries from the local farmer’s market. But right now it’s root vegetables, root vegetables and more root vegetables. Now, I love me a good sweet potato stew and a roasted beet salad but still my body needs some green vegetables. There are some “end of season” Brussels sprouts available as well as some curly kale, but I long for the early days of spring when asparagus arrives.
So, this time of year we end up getting more from the grocery store than we normally do. Be it lettuce, broccoli or citrus fruit, sometimes we’ve just got to succumb and buy non-local. I stress here that these are my family’s choices. I am not condemning anyone who buys exclusively from the grocery store by any means…it’s just that we feel it’s very important to know where our food comes from. And yes, we have visited most of the farms we buy from…there’s even an organic Upick farm a couple hours away, my daughter loves it there.
Regardless of where you buy your vegetables and fruit, proper storage and care of the product is a must. Over on our facebook page, we were asked recently for tips regarding vegetable storage. Now, while not all vegetables are the same and you’ll never get two chefs to agree on anything let alone how to store vegetables, here are my two cents.
Storage Tips:
For the aforementioned root vegetables, I find it best to store potatoes and other tubers below room temperature, say between 4C and 8C in a dark well ventilated area (optimally a cold storage area if you can). Otherwise, you can store potatoes in a paper bag at room temperature for about a week or two as long as it’s dark and well ventilated (a cupboard works fine). We almost never keep potatoes in the refrigerator because this will release their starch and make them taste…well, starchy. I say almost never because new potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator as can Yukon gold or other yellow flesh, less starchy potatoes, for up to two weeks or so.
Carrots and their like, I store in the refrigerator in a well ventilated compartment or container. As for leafy greens, I ALWAYS wash and spin them dry as soon as I return from the market. I then place them in resealable containers with a towel (or paper towel) above and below the product to absorb any moisture. The two keys to this are buying fresh and spinning as dry as you can. We’ll talk about other vegetables as they come into season.
The best tip I can pass along is “buy local” whenever possible. It’s amazing how much longer the head of lettuce I buy at the farmer’s market lasts when compared to the “box ‘o’ greens” you get from the supermarket that has gone brown and wilted by the time you get home. Same goes for any vegetable; the closer you are to the farm the less it has travelled, the fresher the ingredient …longer it will last. Believe it or not, those lettuce greens from South America don’t fly here first class. They get picked well before their peek ripeness and “ripen” on their slow boat from Caracas. You may scoff at the price of buying local organic veggies but when you consider how much rotting lettuce you end up tossing out that extra $0.50 doesn’t seem like too much.
I’ll address other tip topics in future blog posts so stay…posted (couldn’t resist that one).
Chef Paul: Food Inc.
February 08 2011
If you haven’t seen Food Inc. I strongly recommend that you do.
The film explores the relationship between the food we eat and how we grow and buy that food.
As someone who reads this blog you are obviously concerned about what goes into your food and into your body. It’s obvious from watching this film that our governments are not interested in helping us out when it comes to nutrition. They’re much more interested in money and keeping the big food companies happy than in the average consumer. How else can we explain the lack of oversight and continuous changing of the rules to help these large food conglomerates reap profits?
The shocking and deplorable state of large scale farming is exposed for what it is; a money making machine with little regard for the health or wellbeing of either their products or their customers.
It all seems a bit overwhelming. How can we as individuals even begin to change things when even our governments seem powerless in the face of these Goliaths? The answer is simple. We must start to cook more at home and end our reliance on convenience foods and fast foods. If you really truly saw what goes into a lot of the “products” in the grocery store and fast food joints out there you’d be appalled. Many of these “foods” are “created” with the goal of filling you up and then leaving you hungry again in no time when, hopefully, you’ll go back and have another of their “products”.
People need to become more aware of the food they eat, where it comes from and how it is prepared or farmed. It’s up to us to make the effort and make choices that are both healthy for us and for future generations. We can’t wait for the government and food lobbies to make changes…it has to begin at home.