Natural Foods Cooking Classes
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 Balanced Breakfasts
March 18, 2009
12pm & 6pm
Learn
to cook nourishing meals that are easy to prepare and taste
delicious! Recipes focus on seasonal vegetables and foods
rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. All classes
are hands-on so you can learn just how fun and simple healthy cooking
can be! View class information and details.
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Guided Health Food
Store Tour
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 Vitamin Cottage:
April Date: TBA
A guided and educational tour, offering detailed explanations
of the nutritional benefits of foods and demystifying many
food-fictions. Learn how to shop for fresh seasonal produce,
read nutrition labels, select home and body care products,
get money saving tips for shopping, and so much more.
View class information and details. |
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Welcome to Nourishing News, a free monthly newsletter designed to help you live life more deliciously!
Thanks for reading! As always, if you like this newsletter, please forward it to anyone you think will enjoy or benefit from it.
Yours in health, Debbie Sarfati, HHC |
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The Whole Scoop |
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Making Food
Go Further: The Art of Freezing
One of the best ways to save money is to make sure
that you don't waste any of the food that you buy! I can't tell you how often I hear from
clients that they were so proud of themselves for buying a ton of fresh food.....but
then watched it "die" in their refrigerator as the week went on. Or, when they
finally remembered they had bought it, the food was already past it's time. The
right intention was there, but....
We waste food in a number
of ways, such as:
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Letting
food spoil in our fridge
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Buying
more than we can use
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Not
using up leftovers
- Not
keeping track of what we purchased and when it needs to be used by
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Cooking
large portions and not eating leftovers
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Bringing
leftovers home from restaurants and not eating them
Freezing Food
Freezing is a great way to use up food....and make
good use of food you've already bought or cooked. I was never personally much
of a "freezer" myself, until last year. When my friend Pamela was pregnant, it
became very real to her that after the baby was born, she'd have far less time
and energy to prepare healthy home-cooked meals. So, into her kitchen the two
of us went! For months (literally) we'd cook extra portions of the meals we
were preparing, with the intention that some of it would be frozen for a meal (or
meals) at a later date.
Pamela bought an extra freezer for the garage, and
by the time baby Ella was born, the fridge was piled high with casseroles,
soups, meats, healthy treats, etc. It was terrific! And it got me thinking.....what
if I did that for myself on a regular basis? What if I "doubled" certain recipes
I was making, planning in advance that I'd freeze them for another meal? I did
it...and I love it. It has come in so handy so many times.
By
freezing, you can save all sorts of leftovers and meals that would otherwise
have to be thrown away. You can freeze almost anything. Here are just a few
ideas:
Meat: You can store meat in
a freezer for up to three months, typically. Wrap in individual portion
sizes, date, and freeze. I do this for cooked meats when I have a lot of
leftovers (think: turkey from Thanksgiving) or uncooked meats that I
bought a lot of (for example, if organic chicken breasts are on sale).
Bread or Baked Goods: Bread is great to
freeze to prevent it going moldy before you can get through the whole
loaf. I bake my own bread, slice it, and put parchment paper between each
slice before I freeze it. Because I don't eat a lot of bread, this is a
great option for me.
I do the same for healthy muffins or cookies that I
bake. I never feel the need to quickly finish the whole batch of cookies (for
example)....I put a few in a small ziplock bag (usually 4) and freeze them. Every
now and then when I want a treat I take a bag out to defrost. I do the same for
muffins, except once they are cooled they can all be thrown in one large
freezer bag. I've never had a problem with them sticking together.
Cheese/Dairy: I don't eat much
cheese, so if I realize it's been opened for several days and is likely to
go bad soon, I send it to the freezer! Freezing can affect cheese's
texture, but if you will be using it for cooking this won't matter too
much. I also will freeze sticks of butter because, again, I don't use them
very frequently.
Fruit and vegetables: To freeze vegetables,
blanch them and plunge into ice cold water then freeze. Fruit that has
been frozen can go a bit mushy but it's still fine for baking and smoothies.
Broths or Wine: Rather than opening a
box of broth or a bottle of wine every time you need a splash for cooking,
save any leftovers in ice cube trays and just pop one or two into your
dish when required.
Soups: Cook meals such as
soups, stews and chilli and freeze in one or two serving portions. These
will likely come in handy for evenings when you're too tired to cook....or
the weather is bad and you don't want to leave the house!
Casseroles/Quiches: I make breakfast quiches with eggs and veggies and freeze those in
individual portions for no-fuss breakfast variety. I've also done the same
for dinner casseroles, making several casseroles in 2-4 serving dishes.
Herbs: All
fresh herbs can be frozen, of course, and used at a later date. My
preference is to make something from
the herbs first....then freeze it. For example, when basil is abounding in
the summer, I make large batches of pesto and free it in ½ cup containers.
Nothing like pulling one out in the middle of winter...yum!
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Healthy Bites
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This Month's Pick: Collard Greens
Collard greens are big, round flat gray-green leaves
that encircle thick, inedible stalks. Collards are rather mild all year round,
but they become even sweeter after they've been exposed to frost.
Their
deceptively leather-like leaves become nicely tender after cooking. Collards
hold more of their volume when cooking than other more delicate greens. Some say they taste milder
than mustard greens or kale.
Collard greens can be steamed, braised or sautéed and used in any recipe you would normally add cooked greens, like spinach.
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Food For Thought |
Client Spotlight-A New World of Food
I
just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying this new world of food. So
many positive things have come from it! First, I'm trying things at Whole
Foods that I always wanted to try but was too intimidated or clueless. I'm
learning to cook intuitively instead of being bound by a recipe. I dusted
off the Cuisinart and am finally putting it to good use. Mark is
downright amazed that I produced something that was not only edible but actually tasted
good (red lentil stew!). And speaking of tasting good, the stew and the steamed kale salad taste way better than anything I could buy on campus.
So to boil it down:
-- I've gained much-needed excitement & adventure in my food.
-- I've become more self-reliant in providing myself with healthful food, the most basic of necessities, earning respect not only from Mark but from myself.
-- I'm economically healthier by actually using the once-forgotten
appliances/utensils in my kitchen and not buying as many meals out.
-- I feel more in touch with my food and therefore myself.
-- As if all that wasn't enough, I'm protecting my health too!
Thank you, Debbie! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
K.C.
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