Are you a healthy cook?
As I prepare myself to write this, I already feel ridiculous. So, I've convinced myself that if you take the time and the care to make homemade things, the food can't really be THAT bad for you. I never eat breakfast, I usually eat a really light lunch and I look forward to cooking myself, my boyfriend or friends and family a tasty dinner on most nights. I'll make fettucini alfredo or roasted garlic mashed potatoes with some kind of meat and homemade bread. I know that alfrado sauce is like, a heart attack on a place, but I've forced myself to believe that good, homemade food is acceptable and even- gasp! Healthy. Are all of you healthy home cooks who closely monitor how much butter, cream and other tasty no-no's you put in your food, or do you say the hell with it and make whatever you want when you're going through the trouble of cooking from scratch?
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16 Comments:
I would consider myself a mostly-healthy cook. I'm 36 and am 5 lbs heavier than I was in high school I've made it my goal to lose those 5lbs, so I really try to lighten up things where I can. For instance, I just made the overnight mac and cheese recipe and subbed half whole milk and half 1% cottage cheese for the heavy cream. Don't get me wrong, I will throw caution to the wind in fine restaurants, but I just feel too guilty about cooking that way at home.
The thing that hurts me the most is cutting out roux. :(
GumbeauxGal at 11:47PM on 02/27/08
I like your thinking! Yes, I do indulge in the good-tasting stuff, but I also use a lot of ingredients that are supposed to be good for you. A lot of olive oil, for instance.
And I'm a firm believer in moderation. And variety. One meal might be heavy on the carbs, another might be heavy on red meat, and the next might be a veggie delight. Overall, I think it strikes a good enough balance. A particular meal might be out of whack, but if you look at a week or a month, it's probably fine.
And I love veggies. There is at least one veggie at every meal, usually more.
And we eat a wide variety of foods. That's one of the things I think about when I'm considering what to make next. We had beef today, turkey before, pork before, fish before, chicken before. Lamb is probably next on the agenda.
And I also tend to rotate through cuisines in the same way, so the spices and herbs and sides and cooking styles will vary.
And I do think that I'm better off cooking from scratch instead of relying all sorts of processed foods.
I salt my food when I'm cooking, which some people find frightening, but since I don't use a lot of processed foods, we're not getting sodium from those sources. We probably consume less sodium that a household that doesn't "add" salt.
So yeah, I'm pretty confident that we're eating pretty well, overall.
dbcurrie at 11:50PM on 02/27/08
GumbeauxGal, how IN THE WORLD did you cut out making roux? I don't think I could do it. The more time I spend on this site, the more and more I realize I have absolutely no concept of what's good for you and what's bad for you. Roux is bad? I'm in a whole lot of trouble.
PumpkinBear at 1:05AM on 02/28/08
I cook extremely healthy food for myself (and my roommates) to eat on a regular basis, but if I'm throwing a dinner party or bringing food to a potluck, all health concerns go out the window! In these situations, my primary concern is to impress the other people at the party (which sounds silly when I write it, but it's definitely true! I'm competitive!) by creating an incredibly delicious and beautiful dish.
I've struggled with weight and food issues since I was about 12, so cooking for myself is always a challenge (even though I love to cook), trying to balance healthiness with sanity (aka, deprivation). I'm in a slightly overweight phase right now, which is definitely hard to get used to. Losing 40 pounds through various unhealthy methods, then gaining back 50+ of them by eating healthy foods (all over the past 5 years) definitely has had an impact on my diet and the way I look at food. Even though I don't think that I look good, the encouragement of my friends brought me closer to understanding the true meaning of being healthy.
ChristineB at 1:40AM on 02/28/08
I believe I am a healthy cook. I may never be "skinny" but I work out 5x/week and if I have to settle for a good heart and brute strength, well that's fine with me.
I use olive oil and lower fat meats whenever possible. I incorporate veggies into most meals and dishes, both for the health benefits and the bulk that would otherwise be taken up by additional meat or fat. I use butter sparingly and ONLY when its flavor can truly be tasted. I back off sugar on most things except baking recipes where the chemical reaction between sugar and other ingredients is dependent on its quantity. I use part WW flour and in more tender baked goods, I use WW pastry flour.
We ran out of olive oil one day and my BF said, "That's the second bottle we've gone through since you and I got together." I said, "Wow...I'm sorry." He shook his head and said, "A bottle of olive oil used to last me two years - because I used butter for everything!" So I consider that an up statistic.
I'm glad research has pointed to using tasty, full-fat products (like butter) sparingly vs. using something fake (like margarine). I always found that if I ate a "diet" product, I never felt satisfied. I found I needed more of the diet product to get half of the satisfaction of eating a full fat product so I learned to enjoy full fat products in much smaller quantities. This, too, is a method of "healthy cooking."
chiff0nade at 8:55AM on 02/28/08
I'm a mostly healthy cook. Not so much by design, but more because of the food I enjoy. I do love the occasional bacon cheeseburger or disgustingly rich mashed potatoes, but for the most part my basic home diet is largely the one I grew up with - whole grains, pasta, vegetables, beans, fruits, olive oil, and some dairy. I could live in rice and beans. Other than on toast or corn, I don't use much butter (though I do slather it on when I use it).
chisai at 9:21AM on 02/28/08
I consider myself a healthy cook. Mostly, I try to incorporate "super" foods that will make me feel amazing. For me, this means a lot of veggies, beans, oilve oil and whole grains, as well as some leans cuts of meat. I always eat breakfast, snacks and a substantial lunch and dinner. I work out 5 times a week. All of these things mean "healthy" to me. That said, I make my own ice cream (loaded with egg yolks and cream) and other decadent foods on the weekend. It's all about balance and moderation.
bitchincamero at 10:16AM on 02/28/08
Definitely! I do bake a ton, so that doesn't help, but other than that we cook very healthfully in our house. Last night it was roasted broccoli, mushrooms and tofu with a garlic-soy marinade over a Kashi mixed whole-grain pilaf, and that's pretty typical. We both really love vegetables, hearty grains, fish, and other healthy fare, so it doesn't feel like a chore at all.
Having said that, we're both food obsessed -- and I make my living with it (I'm the food editor at a women's magazine) -- so we do eat out a lot and we do enjoy our indulgences (as much as I love tofu, sometimes I MUST have a steak). But I'm a firm believer that if you eat well most of the time, watch your portions, drink a ton of water and get lots of exercise, you can have those indulgences and not worry about it.
CookiePie at 10:26AM on 02/28/08
I find it so funny that we almost all believe we're healthy cooks! I think I am too! For one thing my partner is a fitness fanatic who's really into maintaining his six pack abs! So he freaks if I use butter or lard when cooking. If I do it's always less than the recommended because when you don't regularly use butter, a little goes a long way flavor wise. Generally it's whole grains every day for breakfast, olive oil, tons of veggies, and lean protein sources! I'm fine with that really and I only indulge in making rich desserts for company so that I can scratch my baking itch and make sure there is nothing left over.
That said, I know I have a real sweet tooth so will indulge in a cookie or dark chocolate some days, and right now there is ultra premium homemade blood orange ice cream in my freezer at home which I might have a spoonful of after dinner. But I enjoy making dinner for the two of us and he is always so delighted with the results that I just don't make anything that I think he wouldn't enjoy eating. We both work out at least 5 days a week, so I'm confident that I'm in good health, but at 42 I'm just not as super strict as he is (neither do I have six pack abs!).
Otabenga at 2:42PM on 02/28/08
I think people tend to forget that even though homemade food can be fattening, artery clogging stuff (like alfredo sauce) but it is still infinatly healthier then store-bought sauce, which is full of preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup.
AlBee at 2:55PM on 02/28/08
I'd say you'd be much healthier eating a balanced diet and trying to eat a decent breakfast and lunch, then watching your portions for dinner. It seems to be a universal rule that breakfast is good for you so I'd be more careful with that than whether you have cream in your dinner.
I tend to try and stay easy on the butter and cheese at home and then enjoy a really nice meal out once a week on a Saturday. I think the rule of filling the plate up with veggies then having a small piece of protein and some carbs works. Sometimes its not obvious, if its a pile of veggies mixed with quinoa and beans, but you know what I mean.
jennywenny at 7:17PM on 02/28/08
I think it really depends on what "healthy" means. Michael Pollan's credo on the cover of "In Defense of Food", "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much" tends to be my philosophy. I prepare as many whole seasonal, local food as possible, and I don't count fat grams or calories.
Since nutrition science is always coming up with some new fad they want to push, I ignore it all and pay attention to what my body needs at the time. I do eat sweets, but I eat very small portions of them, occasionally. I don't sit down with a pint of ice cream, but I certainly won't turn down a couple spoonfuls.
There is recent evidence to suggest that the process of removing fat from dairy products has carcinogenic effects, so we've switched to whole fat dairy where we can. We just don't overindulge in it. I also use butter, olive and coconut oils as my main cooking fats.
So, I've made conscious decisions based on strong evidence, and then don't worry about it. But I know lots of people would think what I eat can't possibly be healthy. I feel good, and am within about 10 lbs of optimal weight. I just need to get more exercise. Thanks for the question.
FigswithBri at 7:53PM on 02/28/08
I think I generally cook pretty healthy food but I do like dessert and will usually have some kind of dessert almost every night. Because it is usually homemade I tell myself it's "ok"
If I am cooking for a party or event or just guests I will cook what I want without being concerned about the healthiness of it. That being said I think most of what I like is pretty healthy and I stay away from the really "bad" stuff automatically..except for dessert. I am going to try a Devil Dog cake I found on epicurious this weekend!
mrsmoosie at 8:19PM on 02/28/08
Well .... I eat my own cooking and I'm damn healthy?
srhcb at 8:44PM on 02/28/08
Hey PumpkinBear, I just tend not to cook the roux-based dishes very often. Sad, I know. :(
Since roux is flour + butter or oil, I'll be better off if I do not eat it as often as I want to. I do not think it is all that bad in moderation. KWIM? Trust me, I haven't given up roux entirely. I just don't cook gumbo and etoufee every week!! :)
GumbeauxGal at 10:40PM on 02/29/08
Mrsmoosie, OMG I cannot tell my hubby, a New Englander, about your Devil Dog Cake or he will force me to make it and eat it with him! (And I will bet it would taste delicious!)
I'm a Louisiana girl and didn't know what he meant when he first mentioned a 'devil dog'!
GumbeauxGal at 10:42PM on 02/29/08