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Sunday, October 22, 2006

Food Glorious Food...

Its a minefield out there. Different tastes being affected by culture, faith, medical restrictions and personal likes and dislikes even fads that come and go.

There is so much written about food. Programmes on television and radio. Articles in newspapers, magazines, books and online.

And yet all we seem to hear about is the lack of knowledge of how to prepare, cook and present food. How the health of population is poor and we're all heading for obesity and medical problems.

Allowing for all the things that I mention in my opening paragraph that a diet is governed by very few rules. Its simple. Eat less, eat well, everything in moderation and if possible a little exercise. Its not an exact science but you learn what is right for you.

I do believe where possible it helps prevent and keep many ailments from happening or will at least stop them getting worse. But I appreciate that things can still go wrong.

I hear "Experts" say that children are no longer being taught or joining Mum in the Kitchen(or today I suppose we have to say both parents)and learning in a fun way or by observation how to cook. Making a cake and scooping out what remained in the bowl or seeing vegetables being peeled and prepared etc...

That parents who are working, come home and get a frozen meal out of the freezer and warm it up in the microwave or whatever, say that they haven't the time.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Many believe that using frozen vegetables isn't healthy, its not true. A packet of frozen veg can go a long way and how easy is it to cook? About 3-5minutes in a pan of boiling water. New potatoes after a quick rinse in water, the same...into a pan and approx 20 minutes later, all ready. As long as you make certain that you top the water up and check a couple of times all is well, there's nothing to do. Fish and chicken can usually be cooked within 25-60 minutes depending on what it is and how big the item is. Most things you can tell are cooked with only a few simple tests but most items come with simple instructions so you can't get it wrong.
If you want to cheat do so. I'm not against anyone taking a simple prepared item of processed food but putting it next to other ingredients.

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An example is illustrated above. That was all ready within 20 minutes. How much does the above meal cost? I would estimate £1.10 but as you are taking a portion out of a packet of vegetables there is still plenty of stuff left to make a good number of meals over the coming weeks. The follow up might be say Strawberries and Ice Cream(again, there will be plenty remaining for other meals or combinations)and I reckon a portion comes in around 21p and I suppose if you want still another course you could have cheese and biscuits which comes in around 25p so that totals out at £1.56(I suppose I should include the cost of energy but what's it cost to have a meal delivered?)Or hop into a car and go to the takeaway? What does a takeaway cost these days? Sometimes, when I watch the advertisements and see what a burger can cost, my meal comes out quite well priced.

Other meals can be simple, something like beans on toast. What will that cost or how long to get ready? You can easily reach for a piece of fruit. And no, you do not have to cut out those little treats that you enjoy.

What you have to remember(and I don't sit there with pen and paper and calculator working it out)is that a Mars Bar has 400 calories for arguments sake and you look at the size and then look at another item such as the meal above or something like a banana. The meal will fill you, but calorie wise it will be less than that Mars Bar. Or if you want a snack or put off, that banana is again lower in calorific value.

Then again, in most cases there is no reason to avoid that chocolate bar, its if you are sitting there and working your way through a selection of such items and eating more calories than your body can burn off.

Your body will burn it off but if you keep doing this day after day it will take longer, if you are taking more in than you use.

I think that some fast food comes in for bad press which it does not deserve and in some cases its acceptable to partake but not every day. And some of it is popular because its a social event.

You are out for a day's shopping and as a family you pop out for a meal or its tagged onto a visit to the cinema or theatre. I remember that film Supersize Me which I have not seen but have heard discussed in depth, well of course if you eat nothing else and eat massive portions every day, you'll put on weight and harm yourself. I saw a film on television showing someone over indulging with all the food many associate with Christmas and thanks to a camera inside his body you should've seen what is classed as good food can do in both damage, added weight and straining of the body's functions.

Perhaps, that social aspect was(allowing for the fact that takeaways)and convenience food is still a relatively new thing the meals at the table with family and friends in the home were once so important. It was also a bonding thing. And yet, it is suggested that rather than frozen meals, the latest popular trend is to go for more chilled meals which in general means that they are probably more healthy, have less preservatives etc...and again many meals and treats are now having yet another ingredient removed because the so called ill informed public has asked for its removal...Hydrogenated Fat.

So is the public as ignorant as we are led to believe and is the media and Government spin actually making matters seem worse than it really is? Did we really need Jamie Oliver and his campaign, it was media driven and certainly tied in with his television career. I have a feeling things would've changed with the general feeling of the population at this time. If anything it just speeded it up.

This is not a lecture BTW just my general take on the food situation and very much prompted by entries on other blogs that I have read recently.

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ooh that looks delicious Gildy, can I come round for Sunday lunch ? !

22 October 2006 at 15:08  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

Sure Curmy ;-)
The original photo was a meal of vegetables, fish and chips but I'm glad that you think that looks ok. I know only too well, if alone its easy to do something simple and we still do that as well.

Most lunchtimes we stick to maybe a salad sandwich, scrambled eggs, beans or whtever. Often on top of a Bird's Eye Potato Waffle. Nothing extravegant.

I love a good breakfast(if up to have one as when I was working)and still see that as the most important meal of the day. Not having to use a lot of energy this usually ends up as a cup of tea or fruit juice and a slice of toast and Marmelade.

And I would not deprive myself necessarily of having the traditional eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms or whatever combination is prepared.

I think what we spend on food is reasonable and we've always eaten this way but I can see cost coming into the equation depending on income, expenses and size of a family.

Especially, if on welfare of some kind. If you are only receiving say £38 per week and you have to pay for utilities and other expenses plus afford food I can see how difficult it could be to survive.

I do appreciate how fortunate I am.

22 October 2006 at 16:22  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gildy, when I first left a message, you'd written no script ! A very interesting subject to write about. Is that chicken in your photo , or turkey ?

22 October 2006 at 18:00  
Blogger Rupe said...

Gildy, are those delicious looking items Yorkshire Puddings??

22 October 2006 at 18:59  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

Curmy, it is chicken and yes, Rupe they are Yorkshire Puddings ;-)

Now, I'd like to take credit for them and say I mixed them and baked them but this comes back to what I say...

Aunt Bessie's 4 minute Yorkshire Puddings(15 in a packet)approx £1.45 and no really bad ingredients in them. When you are only having a couple of traditional dinners perhaps once a week, you were never going to make loads of Yorkshire's as you might've when you are having the family around.

I am sure that you are both great cooks and that's the point when you write something like this though stating a view, I'd hate it to sound as though I am forcing an opinion on people and telling what you know already.

I am lost when I hear how difficult its made out to be to cook a reasonable meal at home. I have seen it but how much is staged?

One person was shown on a series where she had to cut back on what she was spending, the out going expenses were much higher than those coming in and so she attempted to make a meal and did not even know how to peel some type of vegetable.

I think she was in her 20's so it does happen. I am sure that there are plenty of males that are the same.

22 October 2006 at 19:14  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent article. It all makes sense and it's good to read, we often keep our food habits to ourselves as we assume others would not find it interesting. I've stopped (or only occasionally) drinking fizzy drinks for a long while and I'm all the better for it, fruit juice and plain water are good alternatives in my opinion.

22 October 2006 at 19:31  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

Welcome Ja,
I think lots of little changes can actually make big changes such as what you have suggested and if they work that's a bonus. The thing is much of this is common sense, maybe once you learn it, its second nature and you do it without really thinking.

I have never set up a website but I can see the appeal of having blogs dedicated to different subjects...I bet there are quite a number on the subject of food and sharing of recipes and ideas.

The two reasons against drinking lots of fizzy drinks I think were the worry of diabetes and/or teeth being damaged.

But as I said on junk food I suspect that's only if its over done.

22 October 2006 at 20:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gildy, I'm not an excellent cook, I've got no confidence !
That's why OH is dreading retiring, it means he'll be eating at home all the time !

22 October 2006 at 20:26  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the further info, Gildy. Curmy, you're being modest - have all those episodes of Ready Steady Cook not had any impact? ;)

22 October 2006 at 21:35  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

When I was in hospital(is it really 9 years ago)Ready Steady Cook would come on in the ward and the patients would still enjoy watching but were a little sad as they could not eat many of the things being cooked.

22 October 2006 at 22:26  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe the show could be broadcast from different locations, a show from a hospital where the patients could be treated to some of the food would please all involved. I presume it's already run on a fairly low budget, this new feature wouldn't over stretch them much surely.

23 October 2006 at 00:04  
Blogger Rupe said...

Re. Yorkshire puddings...thanks for that info. I am going to try Aunt Bessie's.

23 October 2006 at 11:56  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

23 October 2006 at 12:29  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

Trying to help people in different locations or situations seems a good idea to me and if as I understand RSC is to be axed and they wish to keep a cookery programme on air that could be useful for a wider selection of the viewing public that would work.

Jamie Oliver managed all that publicity on the school meals campaign but another chef from Ireland called Paul Rankin came up with an idea to advise and improve what people in residential homes are given on quality and cost, he did not seek publicity or make a tv series out of it and was practically ignored.

Rupe Aunt Bessie's do a frozen uncooked version but seriously the 4 minute one's which you warm up are quicker and as good, often better because the uncooked one's can stick to the little foil trays that contain them.

Good luck and I hope that you enjoy them...

A friend in the States and another(a pen friend who visited)took the recipe back with her. At that time this product I don't believe available and even today this may not be available there.

Curmy, as I write this your ISP appears to still be down but if you are reading this perhaps its working again.

Your e-mails were getting out but anything sent to you was failing to reach you. :-(

23 October 2006 at 15:01  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks Gildy, I wondered where all my e-mails were !
It seems to be temporarily working again.

23 October 2006 at 22:58  
Blogger Crispin Heath said...

I think your point about families not cooking is a good one. For some reason the meat and two veg tradition has gone out of the window and in some ways I think it must be to do with the increase in the numbers of cook books and cookery shows. There's so much emphasis on mixing ingredients and so on that it seems confusing and also people like Gillian McKeith are out there advocating completely new foods when actually what you've illustrated would be just as good and as you say wouldn't take that much longer than a ready meal. But meat and two veg has gone out of fashion which is ridiculous because it's perfectly balanced. It's all very well cooks sneering at how boring it is, but if that's what people know then let them cook it.

I am lucky that my wife makes a concerted effort to cook fresh food and different food every day, or at least buy it I cook it on occassion. It does take longer. I reckon on average we're cooking for an hour a night, but it means we have massive variety in our diet which means we don't get bored.

She has started making things with my eldest as well. She's found he's much more likely to eat things if he's had a hand in making them, so they make meat balls and beef patties and chicken goujons and pasta sauces and he loves getting his hands in and squishing it all around.

Funnily enough a few of my friends are in the food retail industry and in discussion wih them a few months ago they told me that the average meal preparation time has come down from 47 minutes 30 years ago to just 13 minutes today and that they predict this will fall as low as 7 sad but true.

25 October 2006 at 10:57  
Blogger Paul said...

Good article Gildy, preaching to the converted in my case.

My heart sinks whenever I see that advert for Iceland where pizzas and sausages cost £1 each - not exactly full of goodness are they but cheap and cheerful.

Nathalie loves cooking despite the fact that they only teach it at her school for one term a year. She helps Janis out and sometimes cooks straight from scratch herself - I cook but I grew up in a house where my Dad was the only one allowed in the kitchen on a Sunday like my Grandad before him so a man cooking in the house was normal for me.

25 October 2006 at 12:04  
Blogger The Great Gildersleeve said...

Thanks for that Paul and Six,
I think I may take a look at some more adventurous meals again but as you say the changes can be slight but make such a difference.

I wonder where it was said that all quick food has to be junk.

For starters Oven Chips are not that bad and again you can put so much with the chips on a plate.

A tin of tomatoes can be a terrific addition to any meal.

We can still become ill eating good food but trying to do the right thing cannot be a bad thing.

Anything that helps stop possible future problems has to be good. So should I criticise Jamie Oliver's campaign?

There is a lady(I wish I could remember her name)she has cooked for probably 50 years(is retired)but sometimes the tv and radio industry brings her in and she is wonderful, she tells you of all the "Good" food that they were able to give even during the war years and when food was rationed.

Time may play its part in how people no longer cook for themselves but is it really that tastes have changed.

Do programmes on television give a false impression that children and families no longer do anything together in the kitchen?

When you watch programmes like Trisha or Kyle are these representative of Britain today or just the few who are prepared to go on tv and are unconcerned what they look like and there will always be some who are like that.

Of course families have problems and need help but I do know that there are still parents and familes that care for each other and share their experiences.

25 October 2006 at 15:12  

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