Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category
Chef Paul: Food Safety is on Everyone’s Mind
June 09 2011
With the recent developments in Europe and the Centre for Disease Control’s recent report, everyone is talking about food safety…and as well they should. 
Food safety is an ongoing issue and by this I mean that every day we must be aware and safe when preparing foods. Proper hygiene and food preparation are essential in all kitchens not only in the professional kitchen.
Here in the MealEasy kitchen I have 5 cutting boards: one for vegetables; one for chicken; one for beef; one for pork and one for fish. They’re all different colours as well, and I’ve posted a list of which board is used for which items so if anyone else were to use them, they would know.
While it’s probably not essential that you rush out and get yourself 5 cutting boards, I would suggest a minimum of 3: one for veggies; one for chicken and one for other meats. It might sound crazy but it’s so much more convenient to dedicate your cutting boards to certain tasks; you don’t have to be constantly scrubbing your cutting board because you just cut chicken on it before you chopped the mushrooms.
The other important bit there is SCRUBBING! Not just washing, but scrubbing your cutting boards after every use is essential.
When it comes to vegetables, the best defense against food borne illness is to carefully and properly wash everything before you eat it. This includes the “pre-washed” box of mixed greens you bought at the grocery store. Don’t leave it to chance…thoroughly wash ALL your vegetables.
Here’s a simple guide to food safety:
Cook: Always cook food to the safe internal temperatures. You can check this by using a food thermometer.
Clean: Wash your hands and surfaces often with warm, soapy water and scrub those cutting boards.
Chill: Always refrigerate food and leftovers promptly at 4°C/40°F or below.
Separate: Make sure to always separate your raw foods, such as meat and eggs, from cooked foods and vegetables to avoid cross-contamination.
Just the Flax ma’am
June 07 2011
A few months ago we stopped at a family style restaurant for lunch. We hadn’t been there before but I had read good reviews and heard that they specialized in “healthy meals”. We were on our way back into town from a short road trip and decided to give them a try.
The food and service were both very good and true enough, many menu selections were very “healthy”. One wonderful idea they had here was using flax seed as a condiment. Little shakers of flax seed were on every table. You could liberally add flax seed to any salad or even your main course if you wished.
We’re always concerned about healthy eating and with keeping our food costs down. One of the easiest and most cost effective ways of getting enough Omega 3 is by eating flax seed. If you haven’t tried them, flax seeds have a wonderfully subtle nutty flavour and are about the size of sesame seeds. The benefits of Omega 3 cannot be overstated; it is essential in reducing bad cholesterol (LDL) and promotes bone health, fights diabetes, heart disease and cancer!
The best sources of Omega 3s are from cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel and arctic char. But we know eating salmon everyday is kind of boring and would become quite expensive. That’s where flax seeds come in. Relatively inexpensive, flax seeds are wonderful sprinkled on salads, added to breakfast cereals and even ground up and used in chocolate chip cookies…my daughter loves these. And, you can justify eating more chocolate chip cookies because they’re good for you!!! In moderation of course.
If you haven’t already, I would suggest giving flax seeds a try…your heart will thank you.
It is sooooo convenient….
June 02 2011
That was the answer when we posed the question: “How often do you eat fast food and why?” on our Facebook page.
And it’s true. There’s no denying it. Fast food is exactly that…FAST. And, you don’t have to cook it. How much more convenient can you get?
Yet, no one…not one person replied: “Because it tastes good” or “I like it” or “It’s good for me”. We eat “fast food”, and by fast food we mean your typical “burger and fries”, purely because it is convenient…not because of taste, not because of nutrition but just because it’s easy. Someone did bring up a great point: “It depends on how you define fast food”. Sure the local Asian food shop with its pho or pad thai is much better than the fast food chain. Same goes for the mom and pop pizza joint with their homemade lasagna and slices.
But there is a cost to all this fast food eating, not just monetary but a health cost as well.
That’s why we developed MealEasy. We created MealEasy with the goal of helping people get away from the fast food trap and into their kitchen to create healthful and nutritious meals. Meals that are quick, tasty and good for you.
Yes, it takes time to make food from scratch. Yes, it’s much easier just to pick up a burger and fries special. And yes, you can do without fast foods if you make the commitment!
Most people eat their fast food meals at lunch time because they “don’t have the time” to make a lunch every morning. I say, why not make a casserole on Sunday for dinner and freeze the leftovers and take those for lunch. Add a green salad and you’ve got an affordable and healthy alternative to the pizza slice and pop. And there’s a key word…LEFTOVERS! Is there anything more convenient than a fully cooked meal simply reheated for lunch? Making dinner tonight? Make some extra and you’ve got lunch.
The key is planning…and that’s where MealEasy comes in. We’re all about planning; planning nutritious, healthy and quick meals for everyone in the family. Give it a try.
Chef Paul: Speed Eating
May 31 2011
I eat fast. Always have. I think it started when I was a kid and desperately wanted to go back outside and play hockey with my friends. So, I would wolf down my supper in seconds flat in order to get back to the game.
Once I grew older I continued this unhealthy habit. And then, once I started working in restaurants, eating fast was a must…you basically eat when you can. Because cooks are busy cooking meals for customers at around meal time, we’d often end up eating after service, say 10pm or later (not healthy) or before service at around 4pm…and then be REALLY hungry at the end of the night.
Now that I no longer work in a restaurant setting I eat my meals at home, at suppertime like most folks. It took a bit of getting used to. I would still eat fast…habits like this are hard to break.
Lately however, I’ve been slowing down and the main reason is my daughter. Three year olds DO NOT EAT FAST! In fact, they do very little fast…especially things like cleaning up or getting dressed. I watched her this morning having her breakfast of almond cereal, banana muffin and an apple. She savoured every morsel. She slowly picks apart her muffin eating small mouthfuls at a time. She eats the apple slices in many bites and takes small spoonfuls of cereal.
The benefits of eating slowly are well documented: better digestion because you chew slower…which in turn can lead to weight loss; you feel fuller because you’re digesting slower; you end up saving money because you can make smaller portions for dinner; less indigestion and heartburn; and an overall healthier family life. Spending time around the dinner table, as a family, has such a positive social impact. It’s a time when families and couples can interact without the distractions of their daily lives. No electronic devices beeping at you, no TV blaring and no waiter asking if “everything is OK” while your mouth is full of food (A question I’ve always hated in a restaurant…were they expecting things to be bad? If so, why serve it?).
Now, thanks to the Bee, I’ve learned to slow down my eating and savour both the food and the time we spend together as a family.
Chef Paul: Reading about food…
May 26 2011
I love to read. Next to cooking, reading has to be my favourite pastime.
I sometimes think that reading has almost become obsolete. It seems to me that in today’s age of the information super highway and the sound bite, many people read headlines or quickly scan articles or blogs without actually reading the entire thing…and then pass judgment without reflecting on what they’ve not read. In the age of social media, anyone can post their opinion on any subject without really giving that subject much thought.
I like to read slowly, to devour books and try to grasp the meaning and understand the point of view the author is trying to represent. I may not agree with what the author is saying but I feel it is necessary to try to see things from their perspective and then make up my own mind about it.
I tend to read mostly fiction. I like the idea of escaping into a great novel. Yet recently, I’ve found myself reading a lot more nonfiction, mostly to do with cooking and food. Not just cookbooks but books about where our food comes from and where we are heading as a society as it related to food and food production.
Some of my favourite reads lately are: Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemna” where the author examines what’s at stake when we make our food choices at the grocery store. How what we buy and eat affects our bodies and our planet. Another favourite is “Trauma Farm” by Brian Brett where he chronicles the history of his small organic farm and the perils he faces trying to remain true to his vision. “Animal Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver is an excellent read about her families goal of eating only home grown or at the very least local foods for an entire year. And of course there’s Eric Schlosser’s groundbreaking work “Fast Food Nation” which examines the reality of North America’s obsession with fast food.
While all these preach a similar theme, they all approach their subjects from differing angles. What these books all have in common is the goal to make people think about where their food comes from be it grocery store or local farmer’s market. It’s only by educating ourselves that we can make informed decisions…and what we eat has to be one of the most important decisions we can make.
So, if you’ve got the time and want to learn more about where your food comes from and where it’s going, I strongly suggest you read any of these four titles, they could profoundly affect the way you look at what you eat.
Chef Paul: Feed Me – NOW!
May 17 2011
My wife is out of town for a few days on business. That leaves me alone with our three year old daughter. Our normal week day routine has me bringing our daughter to her daycare in the mornings and my wife picking her up in the afternoons. This gives me time to ride home and start dinner before they get in. Usually, I can have dinner on the table by 5:30 – 5:45 latest.
But, because I have to collect the Bee (that’s what I call my daughter) I don’t have the usual time to get supper ready when I get home. And as anyone with a young one can attest, they NEED to be fed at a regular time to avoid any “meltdowns”. You could have a selections of snacks ready for when they get home…I know this works for older kids but with the Bee, a snack will fill her up before she has dinner and then she’ll be hungry again just before bed…not a good scenario. Besides, I still would not be allowed to prep dinner: “I need someone to play with me”.
So what do I do? I plan!
Yesterday’s supper was spaghetti with meat sauce, one of the Bee’s favourites. Before I left for work in the morning, I placed a large pot filled with salted water on the stove top, measured out the amount of pasta required and made sure the sauce was completely defrosted. When I got home: bring the water to the boil; add pasta; heat the sauce; and when the pasta is cooked, we have dinner! 15 minutes maximum…and very little prep time.
Tonight’s dinner will be stir fry. Everyone knows that the prep is what takes time when making stir fry…the cooking takes about 5 minutes. Therefore, after dropping the Bee off at daycare, I returned home to slice all my vegetables, marinate the tofu and get whatever pans I need ready for when I get home. The veggies and the tofu can sit covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours assuming your vegetables were fresh when you sliced them. Dinner will be on the table in a matter of minutes.
Sure, I know what you’re saying: “but I don’t have time in the morning”…my answer is MAKE TIME! Get up 10 minutes earlier if that’s what you need to do. I’ve always maintained that time is the one thing I’ve got lots of…it’s a question of setting your priorities and organizing yourself. Plan your meals and you’ll find “time is on your side” as the song goes.
Chef Paul: The cost of eating healthy…
May 13 2011
According to a recent study “the cost of feeding two adults and two children a diet that meets the requirements of the Canada Food Guide is $171 a week, down from $187 a week last year.” But when you factor in paying for necessities such as housing and clothing, families with low incomes or on social assistance may have nowhere else to cut their budgets than at food stores. And that’s not right.
Because of government subsidies to Big Agriculture, it is less expensive to buy pre-made unhealthy convenience foods or to buy fast food. Corn crops are subsidized to such an extent that corn sugar in all its guises shows up in almost all products from soda pop to beef feed to batteries!!!
But the true cost of eating healthy is not only felt in the pocketbook but is also in our general health. It’s easy to see the price of a packaged frozen dinner and compare it to the cost of making the same (without the sodium, fat and other additives) meal from scratch, but is that truly an accurate comparison? If you were to factor in the cost to your health; the cost of missed work days because of illness; the cost of diabetes drugs should your unhealthy diet bring you to that point, then it’s obvious that eating healthy is cost effective.
Eating healthy also means eating more vegetarian meals which are usually much less expensive to prepare than the meat and potatoes fare. Eating healthy also means portion control…if you’re going to be a meat and potatoes kind of family then cutting down on the portion sizes will save you money. And as this recent article (http://politicsoftheplate.com/?p=864) we posted on our Facebook page attests, eating local, healthy foods does not cost more than your local grocery store.
So, is the “high cost of eating healthy” just yet another excuse? If you want to make a change in your eating habits you need to make a commitment. Does it mean one less coffee shop visit a week? Does it mean cutting out the digital cable subscription? We need to assess our priorities here…the latest HBO series or good health? You decide!
Chef Paul: You have to try it
May 11 2011
Everyone is different. Everyone’s tastes are different. What one person loves another may hate. Nowhere is this more apparent than with food. Everyone has their opinion about what they like and dislike. And you can’t tell someone they are wrong. That’s what makes us human, the ability to choose.
Anyone who has children will have had this conversation: “I don’t like it.” “Have you tried it?” “No, I don’t like it.” “How do you know if you haven’t tried it?”
While it may be difficult to rationalize with children about how they should try new things, often adults can be just as stubborn. The argument that “it’s good for you” is usually a last resort and most often falls on deaf ears.
Yet, if you are serious about tackling your health and eating more nutritious foods, things have to change. Trying new foods is one of the changes that must be made. So many nutritious and healthy foods are often overlooked because “he won’t like it”. Well, like I say to my 3 year old daughter: “you have to try it.”
Chef Paul: Jackpot!
May 10 2011
We hit the jackpot at this weekend’s market. There were so many greens available: baby beet greens, red mustard greens, lettuce, kale, baby bok choy, spinach and one of my favourites, fiddleheads.
For those of you not familiar with fiddleheads they are the unfurled fronds of a young fern…yep, we’re eating ferns now. Because they cannot be cultivated, fiddleheads are only available for a few weeks every spring and are harvested before the fern unrolls completely. The ostrich fern grows wild in certain parts of North Eastern North America and is the variety most likely to be on tables here. Fiddleheads are an excellent source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 as well as iron and fibre. Imagine a combination of asparagus, broccoli and green beans and you’ll get the flavour of fiddleheads.
We bought one pound of fiddleheads which I’ll store in the fridge submerged in water. I will change the water every few days and this way they should keep for up to a month. Because they grow wild in the forest, it is very important to wash your fiddleheads thoroughly before cooking. To wash them, I usually run cold water over them for a few minutes and try to pick out any larger bits of dirt, submerge them in water and do it again.
It is also recommended that you cook your fiddleheads through completely. Some even go as far as to cook the fiddleheads twice but I’ve never found this necessary. They are a nutritional powerhouse, not only high in Omega 3 and 6 but also an excellent source of potassium, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, protein and antioxidants. Fiddleheads are excellent on their own as a side vegetable or in a quinoa salad for an extra nutritional punch.
They’ll only be here for three weeks at the most so do yourself a favour and seek some out…they truly are a delicacy.
Chef Paul: I am not a vegetarian…
May 06 2011
No one in our household is a vegetarian but we do have meatless meals on a regular basis. We have vegetables with every meal but we also almost always have meat too. Like many non-vegetarians we were initially concerned that we would not get enough protein, mostly because we were “afraid” of tofu. More accurately, none of us liked eating mushy flavourless tofu.
But there are many tricks to making your tofu flavourful and it doesn’t have to be mushy. What I’ve been doing is marinating the tofu I will use in a stir fry before I leave for work in the morning. It takes about 5 minutes to cut it up and make the marinade and then I place it in the refrigerator until I need it. I always buy firm or extra firm tofu for my stir fries. Then when I get home, I strain the tofu reserving the marinade. I heat up a pan and cook the tofu separately until browned and crisp. Meanwhile, I’ll cook the other stir fry ingredients in a wok adding the marinade at the end. I’ll serve the stir fry on either a bed of rice or with noodles and topped with the crispy fried tofu. This is just one of many ways to enjoy tofu.
But tofu isn’t the only source of vegetarian protein…not by any means. Legumes (beans and lentils), nuts and whole grains such as quinoa, one of the best foods you can eat by the way.
So give it a try even if you’re not a vegetarian. Not only meatless Monday’s but maybe even a couple times a week. You’ll save money, feel better and who knows, you might actually end up liking tofu.