There is a push right now in Hamilton to eat local and as Hamiltonians we should certainly do that. We have a lot of growers in our area who work very hard at making good, fresh food available to us. Not only is it healthy but delicious but ours because it is grown right here. Please support our local farmers. There are events going on this month in Hamilton that the local farmers are putting on to help be informed.
Having said that, there is an event happening on April 25, 2010 that hopes to make people realize that cooking local food can be enjoyable and delicious. There is going to be people competing to make the most delicious and appetizing food for us. Not only will it be informative but very entertaining as well. We will see local kids, aspiring chefs and celebrities show us how we should prepare that locally grown produce to it’s best deliciousness (if that’s not a word you get the idea). We will see people like radio personality Jason Farr (Talk 820) and Managing Editor Mark Cripps (Hamilton Community Newspapers) who relish competing against each other and besting each other at whenever possible. This is the kind of thing we can look forward to. We will also be able to find out about many local businesses, including food producers, display their wares and bring us up to date on what we can buy in this area at the Trade Show that is happening at the same time. And to top it off, The Salvation Army will be there collecting food/money for the local food bank. A silent auction will be held with all the money going to The Salvation Army to be used locally. Do you agree that this will be an awesome event? It’s happening at The Grand Olympia, 660 Barton Street, Stoney Creek from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Check it out at www.culinarychallenge.ca.
CULINARY CHALLENGES AND EAT LOCAL CAN WORK TOGETHER
February 10th, 2010DIET OR NOT TO DIET, IS THAT THE QUESTION?
August 24th, 2009What is it that makes us want to diet? Lose weight, gain weight, eat more healthy, or some other reason? If losing or gaining weight is the reason then how best to accomplish this? There are many ways to go but there are two ways that I want to look at here. The first is counting calories and the second is high protein, low carbohydrates. Both of these weight-loss programs can be effective but which you choose depends on how you eat and whether you can change your eating habits to accomplish your goal. Is calorie counting a healthier option than a high protein diet?
Let’s quickly look at how you eat now. Do you eat whatever you want whenever you want? Do you eat high protein now because “you don’t like vegetables”? Are you on a high carbohydrate diet maybe because you have a major “sweet tooth” or are you a self-confessed “chocoholic”? Do you eat lots of “fast food” because you can’t cook or don’t have the time to cook? Do you “live to eat” or “eat to live”? The last choice we are going to talk about in this article - are you a vegetarian?
To make any diet successful you have to have a goal in mind before choosing the best route to take. No matter what the ultimate goal, part of that goal must include eating healthy for your own well-being. If you are conscientiously making a choice to be vegetarian, you must decide which kind of vegetarian you are choosing. Some vegetarians just give up the so-called red meats such as beef, veal, and pork but will eat fowl and fish. Others give up all meat but will eat fish. Others give up all meat and fish. No matter what kind of diet you choose it is necessary if you want to eat healthy to include protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fat. The amounts of protein and carbohydrates will depend on the purpose of the diet. Fiber is a necessity for proper health and isn’t really related to losing or gaining weight. Low fat is a good thing but some fat daily is a necessity.
So, the real answer is choosing a diet that has the kind of foods that you most enjoy eating. The key to sticking to any diet is not feeling too deprived. No matter what the diet, there are foods you enjoy that you won’t be able to have or have in limited amounts. No matter what the diet, if losing weight is the objective carbohydrates are going to have to be limited as opposed to a weight gain result where carbohydrates have to be increased. Either way the other food groups have to be part of the diet to eat healthy and be healthy. As usual you need to consult a physician before starting a diet and regular checkups during the diet.
COOKING F-U-N, REALLY?
April 28th, 2009
It is my belief that those who think that cooking cannot be fun, either haven’t really tried it OR haven’t tried the right recipes. What is more fun to me is to make things with ingredients I really like. That’s what I suggest to people who think they don’t know how to cook OR that cooking isn’t fun. If you “aren’t much of a cook” (not my words but likely yours) try looking through a recipe book and find a recipe that you think you could make. Start easy at first. Make the recipe as is to see what it should look and taste like. The fun comes when you start varying a recipe to suit your tastes. Please NEVER not make a recipe because you don’t like one or more of the ingredients. Substitute the ingredient(s) with something you like and as best you can the colour of what you are leaving out. For example, I hate onions of any kind. So I usually substitute onions with peppers and/or celery. If the recipe calls for peppers and celery I just add more for the extra volume. If it’s only one ingredient that you don’t like and you don’t know what to substitute in its place, leave it out. If a recipe calls for a meat you don’t eat or don’t like, substitute for a meat you do eat. If you don’t eat meat substitute the meat for a protein you eat. For instance, Tofu is a good substitute for meat but so is fish or nuts. If a recipe calls for ground beef and you would rather have chicken or turkey, by all means use ground chicken or turkey in the recipe. If you don’t eat any meat but eat fish, substitute ground meat for a chopped fish. Like haddock, sole or red snapper. If you don’t eat meat or fish, substitute the ground meat with chopped tofu or a nut like almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts. You’ll be surprised how good it is. When it comes to cooking DO YOUR OWN THING, it really is as simple as that. If you need help with this, let me know by e-mail or by phone and I would be more than happy to help that way. This is with cooking only. When it comes to baking, it’s not quite so simple but doable with some ingredients.
HEALTHY COOKING EASY? WHAT UP WITH THAT!
April 22nd, 2009
There is a couple of misconceptions with cooking. Firstly, good cooking takes time and secondly, healthy cooking isn’t easy. There are certainly dishes that take some time to make and there are also complicated dishes that aren’t very easy but there are lots of dishes that can be 30 minutes or less that are healthy. Another misconception is that if you eat healthy you will lose weight. Unfortunately that isn’t true (to my great dismay), you can overeat with healthy food the way you can overeat with unhealthy food. But even if you overeat healthy food, you are still better off than if you overeat unhealthy food. You notice I haven’t specifically mentioned fastfood because even though it is very unhealthy it’s not the only unhealthy food. All of that canned/frozen meals you can buy in the grocery store can be unhealthy too. A rule of thumb when looking to buy already prepared food/meals from the canned food aisle or the freezer/refrigerator section of your grocery store. Look at the ingredients list, if you can’t pronounce some of the ingredients them don’t put them into your stomach. There is also a lot of salt/sodium in these products. If you must use some of these products use low sodium or no salt added products. Now back to the easy healthy part. Here is an example of the easy part - a pasta sauce can be very quick and easy. Like this one. Cook the pasta according to package directions and while that’s cooking put a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan that has been on medium heat for a few minutes. Let the oil heat for a minute (never use high heat unless you’re just boiling a liquid) and add a couple of cloves of minced or sliced garlic (more if you really like garlic) – if you use the jarred minced garlic then 1 teaspoon per clove - and let cook for a minute (don’t overcook, when garlic burns it ruins the whole dish). Add 4 or 5 fresh chopped basil leaves, salt and pepper to taste, zest and juice from half a lemon and cook for another minute. Remove from heat add a ladle of the pasta water and the drained pasta and stir well. Add a good handful of grated parmesan cheese and serve. This sauce will take about the time it takes to cook the pasta in the boiling water. If you boil the water in a kettle it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes and when the water is put into a pot and put on the burner it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to come to a boil. Add a good handful of salt to the water (never add any oil to the water it isn’t necessary and you want the starch of the pasta to help the sauce stick to the pasta) and add whatever pasta strikes your fancy. Most pasta will not take more than 10 minutes to cook and the sauce shouldn’t take more time than that to make. Try this and tell me it isn’t delicious. The more fresh ingredients used the more healthy the food, like lemons, basil, garlic, fresh ground pepper, kosher or sea salt from this recipe. You can also add some fish like shrimp or scallops with the garlic and they will be cooked by the time the sauce is finished. You can’t get easier, quicker or healthier. This is just one example, there are many others. I am going to issue a challenge to anyone that is interested, if you still think cooking can’t be easy, let me prove you wrong and you won’t have to pay for my services.
Cooking Is Fun and Easy
April 6th, 2009Welcome to our new blog.