You need to help me test my book. It requires that you have some interest in cooking and eating better, you are willing to try new things, you love great food, you have a sense of humor, and you share my perverse desire to see your name in print! It also requires a bit of a lifestyle commitment on your part. By commitment I mean you make time to PREP once a week.
My commitment to you is a healthier eating lifestyle, the opportunity to lose a few pounds, a cut in your grocery budget, fun cooking tricks, and a whole lot of great recipes that will impress your friends.
The most important point of this book is to learn to eat differently. There’s a million diets out there, 3 meals, 8 meals, every twelve minutes, never sit down, never stand up, never eat after 8:00, the cauliflower diet, the cheese diet, fast, don’t fast, blah, blah, blah. Eat. Take a walk. Have a martini. (Preferably not at the same time.) Eat well and have fun doing it. You may realize you knew how to do it all along.
Along with sharing company secrets, I’m going to show you how to make smarter choices when you shop, how to stretch your food dollars by using every last ingredient, how to create awesome healthful preservative free dishes, how to stock your freezer, and most importantly, how to store weekly meals and plan meals months in advance. This ain’t no 30 minute Rachel Ray tuna casserole with pretzels. This is Grandma’s lamb stuffed squash and cumin roasted tomatoes. Oh yeah, in 30 minutes.
The secret to great food is in the PREP. Once you develop the stocks, bases, sauces, oils, and techniques, cooking is (heh heh) a cake-walk. Most restaurants have stocks, basic sauces, infused oils, roasted and toasted herbs and spices on hand at all times. Think about it. Who would wait 4 hours for a bowl of spaghetti while they make marinara?!
You also can’t deny the difference in the texture and essence of homemade stocks rather than the salty, chemical, flavor of canned stock. Don’t get me wrong, bouillon has its place (um…somewhere), but given the opportunity to use fresh rich stock, why wouldn’t you?
I’m also going to try to take the fright out of shopping. Whole foods, organic, farm raised, free- range, free-trade, vegan, macrobiotic, steroids, sulfites, eat green; avoid chemicals, sodium, preservatives, and anything with eyes. AHHHHHH!
As you have probably figured out by the name of this cookbook, I’m not so concerned with being politically correct. I am concerned about your health, the environment, flavor, fun, and making cooking work with your lifestyle. Do you really need another book scolding you? How about a book that shows you that what you’re doing is probably ok, just do it better and a little less of it. It’s all moderation guys.
Sorry. You gotta’ move. I hate exercise too, but you have to do it. Hate the gym? Play with your kids. Don’t have kids? Take the stairs. Broke up with your boyfriend? Have a quart of ice cream. (KIDDING!) Have a cookie; take a walk, is it possible you should have dumped him long ago anyways? Can’t fight exercise guys. Ya’ gotta do it. Ya’ gotta move. No matter what I feed you it’ll go to your butt if you don’t or for you men, your gut.
SO LET’S GET STARTED!!!
There are certain food items and equipment every kitchen should and shouldn’t have. Let start with the “shouldn’t haves”.
I have a vegetarian friend who is easily 20lbs overweight and although insists he eats healthy, has the worst diet in the world. Raman noodles, canned soups, sugar in his tea, in his juice,in his cereal, (go to
www.caloriecount.com/sugarfacts) energy drinks loaded with caffeine. His justification? “It’s my only meal of the day…” WHAT???!!!
Go through your fridge and pantry and clear out the things you haven’t used in the past 3 months. I know that many of those soups, cereals, salt substitutes, frozen pizzas, diet dinners and waffles, have shelf lives of 22 years. But lose them! Take them to a food bank, feed the birds, just get them out of your cupboards. (You have to wonder, if they stay so long in your closet how long do they stay in your body?!) Besides sticking to your butt, these things can kill you. Read the package. Check the sodium, sugar, and preservative content. Don’t panic, i’ll replace them with new fun, tasty, stuff.
As far as shouldn’t haves in kitchen equipment, I probably wouldn’t own a Acme slicer, dicer, chopper, omelet maker, but I guess if you use it often, keep it. Otherwise, off to Good Will it goes and invest in a good knife, a food processor, a heavy 16 inch sauté pan or skillet, and a wood, not plastic, not rubber, not polypoo-poo-ate cutting board. These items are worth every cent. Here’s some shopping links.
http://www.henckel.com/ http://www.restaurantsuppliers.com/Must have pantry basics:
Non stick cooking spray
Not stick baking Spray
Kosher salt
Whole black peppercorns
White pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Good blended oil, (canola & olive)
Light vegetable oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Cider Vinegar
Bay Leaves
All-Purpose Flour Cornstarch
Fine Cornmeal
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Vanilla
Honey
Must have refrigerator basics:
Eggs
Unsalted butter ( I know margarine is better for you, but ick!)
Plain yogurt
Tofu
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Good parmesan, asiago, or Romano
A good mustard, a good chili sauce, a good organic mayo
Must have fresh veggies, herbs:
Onions, red, white and yellow
Leeks
Tomatoes, any! They are so so good for you!
Celery
Carrots
Whole Garlic
Parsley, preferably flat leaf
Any fresh herbs, basil, sage, rosemary, tarragon, lavender, thyme, oregano, etc.
Other stuff to have around:
Any kind of fresh fruit or fruit juices, even frozen or canned, just no added sugar
Hot and cold cereals (you don’t need to eat twigs but watch for added sugar and salt)
Natural cheeses, not processed, (3grams or less of fat per serving)
Whole canned tomatoes
Dried beans
Frozen peas or any frozen vegetable without cream or cheese sauce
Lentils, grains,
Rice (various types)
Pasta (various types)
Tortillas, Corn or flour
Peanut butter
Assorted dried herbs and spices including
cinnamon, all-spice, whole nutmeg, turmeric,
coriander,cardomon seed, fennel seed, celery seed,
mustard seed, sweet and hot paprika’s, saffron
Assorted nuts and dried fruit including
Pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, brown and golden raisins, cranraisins, apricots
Of course there are a million items that are nice to have at your fingertips, hazelnut oil, walnut oil, champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar, and on and on. Stock up on good stuff, but be careful, watch for preservatives, added sugars, high sodium, and bad fat.
Chocolate. You must have a chunk of chocolate. Good chocolate. Dark, bittersweet, semi-sweet.
I'm going to give you some great sweet and snack ideas, but until then, enjoy your OCCASIONAL ice cream, pudding, cookie or chips. This is what I call the FAKE-OUT. Enjoy your treats this way....
Portion yourself. Put your treats in a small bowl before you sit down in front of the T.V. don't take the bag, the container, the package to the couch with you. You'll eat less and slower.
My weakness? Lays potato chips. I can finish a full bag while watching The Biggest Loser. I opt for homemade popcorn with Parmesean cheese instead of salt and butter. Sometimes melt a 1oz cube of dark chocolate in a small bowl and make my own fondue-ish thing. I dunk a sliced green apple in it. It gives me crunch and sweet, and I stop after one apple. Yum.
If you have a FAKE-OUT, have a 'must have', or if there's anything you can't live without, or would just like to share an eating secret, post a comment and we'll share it!
COMING SOON- Stocking STOCK
