What 'good' food advice doesn't 'work' for you...
...in achieving your personal goals. I don't mean silly adviice like being terrified of carbohydrates and fats of any kind. But 'good' advice like keeping a garden. It sounds lovely, but frankly, as a single person, I think nutritionally I get more variety by buying my produce, rather than the inevitably more limited supply provided by a plot. The one year I had a garden the summer squash took over and I don't even really like summer squash. Yes, I could give it away but that defeats the economic purpose of gardening since I have to buy the stuff I really want. Plus, I'd rather spend my time running around outside than bent over in dirt.
For some, larger families I see the value, especially to educate kids about where food comes from, but not for me...ditto on buying in bulk from Costco. I'd rather regularly have fresh stuff and stocking up seems to encourage over-consumption.
What good food advice (advice that seems reasonable) somehow doesn't work for all of you?
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25 Comments:
HeartofGlass - I agree with you on the garden, I think some people just get more enjoyment out of it than I do. I have cut back to a few annuals I really like (tomatoes and basil) and more perennials (herbs and strawberries) that seem to grow with little help from me. I havent' stopped gardening entirely, just scaled back to what's more reasonable for me.
Regarding advice (and this falls in the carbs/fats category) how about when someone tells you about an "eat all you want" kind of diet. I'm thinking of a friend who was on weight watchers and passed a plate of soggy mushrooms stuffed with light processed cheese and cheerfully said, "You could eat the whole plate" if you wanted to ... who would want to? I'd rather have a few bites of good quality full-fat real cheese than any light processed cheese-like product.
SSMom at 8:41AM on 06/26/08
I'm terrible about freezing things. I buy it in multiples on sale, throw it in the freezer, and immediately forget my good intentions only to peer at it through the ice buildup 6 months later and wonder what it once was. My freezer functions more as a morgue for old food than the thrifty tool it's meant to be.
moibec at 9:28AM on 06/26/08
One piece of kitchen advice I've heard a lot is "don't buy unitaskers." While I recognize that this is good advice in general, I am glad to have ignored it when investing in my breadmaker and yogurt maker, two appliances I use once or twice a week, more often than my "multitasking" KitchenAid.
If I made yogurt without the (small, easy to tuck away in a corner of my tiny kitchen) machine, I would spend a lot more time assembling and disassembling the pans, towels, etc. I'd need to set up, and I wouldn't be sure of the temperature throughout the incubation. If I didn't have a breadmaker, I can guarantee I wouldn't bake all my bread at home, saving money and avoiding additives.
It's good advice in general, just oughtn't be followed slavishly - like most advice I suppose.
producestories at 9:30AM on 06/26/08
"Shop the aisles" of a supermarket. This is advice that simply won't work for me. Yes, there are wonderful, valuable items to be purchased by shopping the aisles but how the heck am I going to be reminded that I need toothpicks if I don't do my usual serpentine pass down all the aisles?
Re: Freezing - try this. Keep a sharpie taped to the door of the freezer or at least very nearby. When you freeze something label and date the bag. We recently roasted a large pork roast and then really didn't need it. Cuban Sandwiches are a huge thing around here and I thought it would be great to slice the pork thinly, and if we wanted Cubans, we already have the pork. I labeled, dated and weighed each small ziplock, then put them all in a large ziplock. The next time you're stuck for a recipe item, you may be able to whip something out of your freezer!
Freezing stuff is really a good idea but you have to use it. We bought mangoes from Costco and I didn't want them to go to waste. I peeled and seeded them, then threw them in a ziplock in the freezer. One night my BF was making a sauce for grilled pork and he added too much heat (probably chipotle). He asked what he could use to cut down on the heat. I grabbed the bag of mangoes, told him to dice one or two halves very small, then puree two halves to bulk up the sauce. It worked like a charm and tasted great.
If I hear one more time that "chocolate and fried foods don't give you pimples," I'm going to scream. Both of those items give me pimples which comprises a large part of why I don't eat either of them.
When a person wants to lose weight, the very last thing anyone should tell them is "eat till you're full." When you're overeating to begin with, it takes a lot to make you full! Instead, a measurement works so much better. It gives the diner a visual idea of portion size. The "Six small meals a day" thing doesn't work for me either. If I ate six small meals a day, I'd be doing nothing but eating. Breakfast - snack - Lunch - snack - Dinner works so much better for me.
chiff0nade at 10:22AM on 06/26/08
Eat breakfast.
I usually have a banana and a cup of tea about 9:30, after I've been up a couple of hours.
If I eat a big breakfast when I first get up, I'm hungry all day. I don't WHY that is, but it's true for me.
Brownie at 10:41AM on 06/26/08
@chiff0nade, "...how the heck am I going to be reminded that I need toothpicks if I don't do my usual serpentine pass down all the aisles?.."
I answered that question for myself by sitting down a couple of times and compiling a list of practically everything I buy at a supermarket. I've printed that out and keep it handy in the kitchen inside a plastic sleeve. Just before I head to the store I spend a couple minutes with the "list" and write out the items to buy on this trip. I'm a visual kinda guy and this master list has saved me tons of heartache and probably as much money. Did I mention how much time I don't waste in the market and how infrequently I don't have to double back to get something I forgot? The trick is making the first list. It helps to have your list configured in the same order that your favorite store is layed out.
czken at 11:09AM on 06/26/08
"Don't eat past 6, 7, whatever o'clock."
Sometimes life just doesn't work that way. I don't eat right before bed because then I can't sleep, but sometimes dinner is at 7 and sometimes it's at 9:30. It doesn't matter to me -- I think that as long as you watch your portions, eat balanced meals with plenty of veggies and fruit and stay active, you'll stay healthy and keep the extra pounds at bay.
CookiePie at 11:55AM on 06/26/08
That you shouldn't keep your spices for longer than 6 months.
I mean, I try to use up my spices within 6 months, but I have a lot of them. I tend to buy some higher end spices too... and it seems like such a waste of money to throw a bottle away before it's empty.
caviarandcodfish at 12:08PM on 06/26/08
i always heard growing up that you should stop eating at a certain time of day, mule hockey! i dont eat just before i go to sleep but if you're hungry there is probably a reason, and i mean hungry not just bored with the munchies! And SSMom I agree COMPLETELY! eat the real thing and just a regular portion, get your body used to good food in a "normal" portion size, the weight will go!
huneybumper at 12:22PM on 06/26/08
@czken - I always shop with a list but I do my serpentine pass to be reminded of some things (like toothpicks) that don't get used every day or might have been omitted from the list.
(Puffs out chest) I'm proud to say I'm not an impulse buyer. I don't grab a bunch of crap because it's there. It's that lightbulb memory jog I'm looking for when I browse the aisles. It's also a way to see what new products are out there.
Some of my friends call me "the infamous list" because if I need more than 3 things, I make a list. If someone asks me what they need to make something and I get past three items they don't have, the next thing I say is, "Get a pen."
chiff0nade at 2:21PM on 06/26/08
"It is all about calories in vs. calories out." I've tried many ways to approach my dieting by using this formula, but it is so much more complicated in that. How many times, for instance, have I gone to the gym 5 days a week, only to come home starving, and see the scale not move an inch. Dieting and being healthy is really about finding a lifestyle that works for you. When I say lifestyle, I mean one where you don't feel the need to overeat (you aren't stressed, you don't rely on food for anything beyond fuel), you love exercise, and you nourish yourself with foods that make you feel good and full.
Elizabeth (from yummydietfood.com)
yummydietfood at 3:27PM on 06/26/08
The 100-mile diet. It's great in theory but completely impractical for many regions of the country. Our diets wouldn't be as varied and some of us would be missing out on some very important things like wine!
RachelQ at 3:45PM on 06/26/08
Mine is the whole "precise measuring" in baking rule. If every recipe for a baked good only worked because you used exactly 4 ounces of flour and 1 ounce of butter and x amount of this, why would we have so many recipes for exactly the same thing?
As long as I'm not worried about being able to recreate something exactly, I bake the same way I cook - I read a bunch of recipes, measure some stuff (more-or-less) and improvise. It's not a wedding cake, it's not a cure for cancer, it's just a batch of cookies!
cyberroo at 4:06PM on 06/26/08
Cooking twice as much of something so that you'll be able to base meals on leftovers. Never works for me.
aharste at 5:25PM on 06/26/08
No disrespect intended but I don't think the "cooking is an art, baking is a science" advice pertains to switching out walnuts for pecans. There are definitely chemical reactions that need to take place for baking to work. A knowledge of what's going to react with what else is why baking recipes are generally more than just "guidelines."
Don't get me wrong - the world won't get rocked if someone adds two cups of chocolate chips to something instead of one cup but the leavening agents (acid? non acid?) and flour types (bread? cake? A/P?) generally have a great deal to do with the success of a baking recipe.
I wouldn't write off that baking/science rule just yet.
chiff0nade at 5:55PM on 06/26/08
I hate "calories in, calories out" so much. Nothing is ever that simple but so many want to boil everything down to that simple. All that does is make it worse. People react differently. That's part of why there's so many different medications. It's not "med in, illness out" by any stretch. Those who make those statements haven't had to deal as others have. I saw a 15 year-old girl who's always been skinny lecturing on how easy it is to be that way and bemoaning that everyone should be able to do it. I told her to come back in 15 years and try again. I used to be her.
The one I can't seem to do is make everything on a weekend for the rest of the week or even the entire month. I'd love to be that organized and have it be that easy, but I'm usually the one missing at least one key ingredient to every possible recipe. By the time I get it the other ingredients have gone bad. I think that's a big part of why I became a foodie, so I could figure out how to improvise. I do love finding something in the freezer from a big meal I did portion out.
Challenging myself to "Eat Local" though has opened up my diet immensely. I'd been limited by what the supermarket was willing to let me have. Now I shop farmers markets and stands. I've been amazed at the bounty I never even knew existed let alone nearly at my fingertips. However, I'm not militant about it. I do allow spices and other treats but I am much more conscientious about where they are sourced from so there is the least suffering from my choices as there can be (Fair Trade/Organic helps). And, eating seasonally has become delightful and part of the passage through life.
@producestories -- Hee, talk about not local, I think you've convinced me to get a yogurt maker. I want to make coconut milk yogurt. I've been reading about all the health benefits of pro-biotics and I'm floored. Have any suggestions?
@caviarandcodfish -- Some places, especially co-ops, allow buying spices in bulk so you can buy only what you need rather than a set sized bottle. This saves a lot of money too even though it seems expensive per unit (spices are light and used sparingly). Also, old spices can be composted or even used to control things such as keeping cats out of parts of the garden you wished they'd stay out of...
Sieseye at 7:52PM on 06/26/08
Composting--I really would like to, but haven't acquired a compost bin. Then, in my small yard with close neighbors, where can I put it where it won't offend?
beth1 at 8:38PM on 06/26/08
@Sieseye - coconut milk yogurt is a GREAT idea - yum! I have just been reading about the health benefits of coconut oil (and all the fats from coconut) and it's quite amazing. I bought a Salton YM9 yogurt maker for around $20 + shipping from Amazon, but for some reason it's no longer available. I'm guessing they all work about the same, though. Homemade yogurt is so terrific - it's so hard to find non-dairy yogurt without sweeteners and thickeners added.
(I am also with you on eating local - rather than feel restricted when I eat seasonal produce from my greenmarket, I feel like I have a lot more options than when I shop at the grocery store full of fruits and vegetables from all over the world, because I know it's all going to be fresh and tasty.)
producestories at 9:04PM on 06/26/08
@beth1 -- a good composting bin should avoid most issues of offensive. A worm composting system is also really good and lets one compost more than just plant foods. It's the meats, fats, dairy, breads that bring bad odors and pests. I had an open hole I put my coffee grounds, crushed egg shells, veggie and fruit scraps in and then when it was full I covered it with the dirt from the new hole. By the time it was full I could scoop out the old hole of it's wonderful deep, rich, dark compost and have another hole. The natural local worms loved it and there was no smell or pests. The neighbors never even knew and it was only a few feet from the kitchen door. However, you can even get kitchen composters these days either with worms or charcoal filters.
@producestories -- seems we found each other at the exactly correct time. :) Twenty dollars sounds very reasonable. I found a recipe for the coconut milk yogurt a couple days ago. There's a bit of political commentary at the top but just skim it down to the recipe parts to see what she did and the probiotic culture starter she used and what other people suggest in the comments. I too want to eat more but the prices are pretty high for the good stuff and I don't want HFCS (or corn thickeners...) at all nor to be too sweet (also not pucker sour but it's much easier to add a sprinkle of sugar or swirl of honey or agave...). This way I can use local (or in the case of coconut, at least organic). I also like supporting my neighbors (and the security of having local food). Growing raspberries a half world away often means displacing the food those in that country eat. There's nothing like a local strawberry. I just discovered green garlic a few weeks ago and what a delight. I bet it would be good with a homemade plain coconut milk yogurt.
Sieseye at 9:43PM on 06/26/08
@Sieseye - Not to hijack the thread (too late), but I think you can skip the heating up step from this Ron Paul supporter's recipe. I just preheat my yogurt maker for a couple of minutes, then add my starter (I use 1/2 cup of my previous batch or commercial yogurt, but you can get dried yogurt starter), and mix it well into room-temperature soymilk. Then it goes into the yogurt maker overnight. So easy!
When using dairy milk, you have to heat it to 110 degrees to kill an enzyme that prevents it from thickening, but with nut and soy milks, you can just mix and culture. I'm not sure why she'd need to heat up canned coconut milk to kill bacteria, since canned anything has been heated up already to kill bacteria - same with e.g. soymillk in a tetrapak.
@beth1 - There may be a community compost organization near you who will take your food waste. The NYC one sells the compost they make, but they also use it for parks and other public areas. I had tremendous guilt about throwing away my vegetable scraps, etc., until I found out about the compost folks - I just save my compostables in plastic bags in the freezer and drop them off once a week. Obviously it's not the solution for everyone, but it's a great option if you can find a local organization.
producestories at 10:36PM on 06/26/08
@producestories -- Thanks for that advice. That's exactly what I was hoping for. I think some people just do what they've always done because they don't know why they've always done it to begin with. The pork roast story woke me up from that. I really like to understand the why of everything.
I also meant to tell you about one of the best pieces of advice I read from some chef (who I can't even remember now). He said to gather up all your kitchen stuff and put it in a box. Then whatever you take out of the box to actually use goes back in your drawers or on your shelves. Whatever is left in the box after 30 days (or time you specify) goes away. That's how you end up with just what you really use in your kitchen.
I do like though that she showed us how to do it without a yogurt maker. I despise recipes that tell me to use whatever gadget I don't have. I'd much prefer to find out if I even like the recipe before I go for the gadget.
Sieseye at 10:58PM on 06/26/08
@caviar, tossing spices after six months doesn't make sense, since most are harvested once a year, anyway. The spices you buy now and the ones you buy in six months may very well be from the same harvest.
As far as my own personal "it doesn't work" it's the idea of trying to eat a balanced diet every day. My diet is well balanced, but it's balanced over a few days or a week. Or more. One day might be veggie heavy, another might be more of a carnivore day.
If I had to stick to the formula -- x ounces of protein, x servings of veggies, etc., it would drive me mad. Some days I just want a big steak or burger. Other days it might be pasta with tomato sauce, with hunks of bread, while another might be mostly fruits and veggies.
That's just the way I eat. Might not work for everyone.
I'm also very erratic as far as breakfast and lunch. Some days I'll eat both, sometimes just one meal at whatever time I feel like, and other days I might not eat until dinner. Sometimes I just graze, particularly on fruit.
dbcurrie at 12:54AM on 06/27/08
@sieseye--I didn't realize I could compost in a hole! Well, there's a lot about gardening that I don't know. Every compost site/instruction page seemed to want to sell me a big compost bin that could be turned, aerated, and kept moist. Could you post more detailed instructions or provide a resource for me to consult? Thanks ever so!
@moibec--I used to "lose" food in the freezer all the time, too. When I moved last year, I had so much forgotten food in the freezer it was embarrassing and of course wasteful bc some of it was too old and freezer-burned to give to others. So in my new home, I created a checklist of items in the freezer. I'm not taking a complete inventory, like I will NOT forget that I have ice cream(s), but I might forget that container of chicken enchiladas I made or the pint of bolognese waaaaay in the back. I take a look at the checklist when I'm planning meals or feeling a little peckish.
I've never understood the "dried beans get old" thing. I mean they're dried and hard and they are going to require some amount of soaking and boiling. What's it matter if they were this year's beans or last? And how are you supposed to know?
wookie at 11:10AM on 06/27/08
@wookie--I didn't know you could compost in a hole either! I found this article about it: http://www.lewisgardens.com/compost.htm
RedSquirrel at 2:00PM on 06/27/08
@RedSquirrel -- Thank you! I didn't have anything to share on hole composting as I just did it and it worked, so I was going to have to go looking. Thanks for finding that. I'd say it sounds more difficult than it is. I only bothered to turn mine a few times and if it did have a smell I put a light layer of dirt on top as that negated the odor which went away quickly anyway. My hole was about 3 feet long and two feet wide and a foot or so deep. I'd fill one end then the other. One of the lovely things was getting some volunteer potato plants growing on the edges one year.
@wookie (and whoever else is interested) -- Here's a National Geographic Article on red wriggler worm composting inside in your kitchen. It can be done outside too although some precautions need to be done for the freezes but this is good for apartment dwellers too.
Here's another four page bit on various home composting systems from Oprah's Earth Day show last April which has nice visuals and a link to explore more at the end.
Just to make a couple points. I'd stay away from those barrel ones that turn. They get too heavy and are too hard to empty. Also, home composters do not get hot enough to compost those bio-degradable plastics. Those have to go to special facilities to be broken down.
Sieseye at 3:11PM on 06/27/08