Beyond Beeton» Foodie Weight Loss

The truth about the supermarket and what you can do about it

Rachel — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:20:46 +0000

There is something incredibly dreary about every supermarket ever known.

As soon as you walk into one your heart sinks and you become a grumpy trolley shuffler, unless you're one of those crazy basket people that goes to the supermarket at 6am after a brisk jog (in which case you should go away and eat a carrot now and leave us all alone), or you're 2 years old, in which case it is your god given right to chuck a giant tantrum.

photo credit: jumer

The traffic inside most supermarkets is just as bad as roads in any modern city. The same women who can't manage to reverse without an oops or two are let loose here on far more dangerous vehicles without a licence.

You'll find those horrid perky athletic types in the supermarket too - jogging on the spot while contemplating whether they want 5 packets of lean cuisine spaghetti low-fat extra-goo or the smooshed up packets of tofu burgers with added tar that are on special this week.

There's always at least one newlywed couple - arms around each other, romantically deciding whether they should have a bright yellow packet of tacos or frozen lasagne for dinner tonight.

The aisles are set up like one of those awful hedge mazes that landscape architects think are "charming" and "quaint" but there is nothing at all quaint about an entire aisle of noodles served with varying kinds of sludge in styrofoam cups. This aisle is a particularly dangerous one and must be avoided at all costs, lest you accidentally tarnish your ears with the existential rubbish that can only be emitted from first year arts students.

When you run away to safer ground you find yourself surrounded by last year's apples, floury and tasteless. Or maybe they're the potatoes? It is hard to tell.

photo credit: Lab2112

A fact about supermarkets that you should know:

'Fresh' fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves can actually be around a year old when you buy them. The Sydney Morning Herald bought apples from Australia's major supermarkets and sent them to the Sydney Postharvest Laboratory for testing. The tests revealed that the apples were up to ten months old.

Despite common misconception, apples are not grown year round in Australia. In order to meet the year-round demand, supermarkets purchase apples from growers during the short season and then keep them in cold storage. While the cool temperatures can help the apples last longer, it has a negative effect on the quality and flavour of the apple.

So what can you do if you want to eat produce that is actually fresh, full of flavour and nutrients?

photo credit: tanguero (BLOCK, rinse, repeat)

The answer is simple. You need to embrace the slow food movement and buy nearly everything from organic happylands where everyone wears hemp, talks about ecosystems and sustainability and smiles a lot.

The hippies have got it right. The birds sing and frolic as you stroll along at farmers markets or at those wonderful greengrocers that actually source fresh produce. I promise you will taste the difference. Nobody will smack you in the shins with a trolley. You will be able to identify everything on the stands and if you can't, a friendly person over the age of 12 will be able to explain it to you.

So how much extra should you pay for fresh? Almost nothing at all. Sure, the prices look more per kilo but somehow my basket, laden with fresh goodies, costs less than the equivalent from the supermarket.

photo credit: Indiana shutterbug

Fresh lasts longer too, so you won't need to resort to stringy lettuce or frozen peas at the end of the week. Is it any wonder that most kids don't like vegies? Get them to choose the fresh veg from the stands and see what happens next. You can thank me later.

If you can find a quality butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer or farmers market and wholefoods store you will come out ahead financially and have the knowledge that you're supporting your community, your own health and the environment too.

If you haven't got access to a fresh market, have you considered starting your own or a community garden?

How can neon lights and plastic wrapped in more plastic compete with that?

4 cookbooks and recipe collections I couldn’t do without

Rachel — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:57:14 +0000

I admit it, I have a small problem. Cookbooks and cooking magazines have overflown out of the kitchen, out of the bookcases and all over the house. To make things even sillier, I don't often strictly follow a recipe. I love to tweak, adjust, be inspired. I often read them in bed, imagining flavours and textures and smells. It is a guilty pleasure I'm unlikely to give up.

However, when it comes down to it - these are the best. The favourites with sauce spatters, smears of chocolate and well turned pages. These are the classics that will endure and will be passed on.

My favourite cookbooks

1. The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen by Stephanie Alexander

My younger sister was horrified to see that there aren't any recipe pictures but this book focuses squarely on the basics, fundamentals and classic recipes with little time for frou frou. It is an excellent resource on almost every food one can imagine, a seasonal guide, buying guide and more all in one.

This is the one I always recommend as a starter book for those moving out of home for the first time. This is the solid foundation to build a lifetime of cooking upon.

2. David Thompson's Thai Food

Fabulous, inspiring, challenging, aromatic. David starts with the basics and hammers you with them - stressing freshness and a thorough understanding of Thai food. This is another fabulous resource book with detailed explanations of thai ingredients and methods. If you're looking for pretty cupcake pictures you won't find them here. The text and sheer volume of information is the star.

3. Gourmet Traveller magazines and website

Besides the useful news and events (even though they are solidly eastern-states focussed) they share a great collection of recipes from the very basic to the challenging.

Different to the more pedestrian and commercial offerings from some other cooking magazines, Gourmet Traveller offers an inspired menu and reviews of great places to eat out.

4. My grandmother's index card recipe collection

A family heirloom, childhood memory and guide to a dizzying array of mostly sweet treats all in one.

I've previously written about cooking and eating as a child and I can't stress enough how amazing the gift of cooking and enjoying food is. My grandmother's recipe collection includes jewelled jam drop biscuits, home-made chutneys, casseroles, puddings and more.

While these are the most used sources of recipe ideas in my house, I don't restrict myself. I also happily browse the web and my bookshelves for inspiration and recipes.

I tend to particularly seek out recipes from Claudia Roden, Georgio Locatelli, Bill Granger, Maggie Beer and the venerable Stephanie Alexander.

While I have serious respect for the work he's done to encourage kids (and adults) to eat "real food" I'm not Jamie Oliver's biggest fan and I can usually happily ignore Nigella Lawson's (particularly savoury) options.

For more great suggestions on how to build your cookbook library, you can also check out the wonderful tips from Cake and Commerce.

I'd love to hear which cookbooks are your favourites - share them in the comments below or catch me on twitter.

Speedy mini post: Vietnamese Prawn Salad

Rachel — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:29:34 +0000

I recently mentioned Emma Knowles' Vietnamese Prawn Salad recipe which was posted at Gourmet Traveller.

Vietnamese Prawn Salad

I made it for dinner last night, with a few changes to reduce the calorie content.

Firstly, I used snow peas instead of snake beans, because the snow peas looked great at the local greengrocer whereas the beans looked a bit tired.

To cut down the fat I didn't fry the prawns - I bought extra-large boiled prawns to go with the cold salad. I just peeled and de-veined them (leaving the tails on). I used more prawns than the recipe specified - prawns are low-cal and low-fat and 4 per person just didn't seem enough.

Coles now stocks palm sugar in my local supermarket (in the asian foods aisle, right on the top shelf) but you can use brown sugar instead.

If you like the look of this, you can click through to get the recipe for Vietnamese Prawn Salad.

Leftovers magic:

While I was fiddling about with the vermicelli and prawns I also peeled some prawns completely and wrapped them into some rice paper rolls with finely sliced cucumber, cooked and rinced vermicelli, coriander, vietnamese mint and thai basil. They were delicious eaten immediately, dipped into hoisin sauce.

Easy low fat dessert: Turkish yoghurt cake

Rachel — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:18:04 +0000

This easy recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law along with a huge supply of lemons. I believe she pinched the recipe from the venerable Claudia Roden.

photo credit: Bucket of Lemons

This cake is made from very basic fridge/pantry items so you won't be trekking all over for exotic ingredients.

It also has the advantage of being light and indulgent without being high in fat. If you make it to serve 8 people, one slice is less than 4.5g fat, which means you could safely enjoy seconds.

The taste is reminiscent of a baked cheesecake and it is very popular in our house!

Ingredients

4 large eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
3 TB plain flour
400g strained Greek yoghurt
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Beat egg yolks with sugar to a thick, pale cream.

Beat in flour, then yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, until thoroughly combined.

Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold into yoghurt mixture.

Pour into a round, non-stick 23cm baking tin greased with butter.

Bake 50-55 minutes until the top is brown. The cake will puff up like a souffle and then subside.

We tend to serve this with fresh berries but you could certainly eat it plain or drizzle with a little citrus/sugar syrup.