Nutritious choices made simple®
End-of-summer exercise means different things to different people, of course. For me, the basics are covered in my gym, but I do like to milk the last few days of summer freedom with time spent outside. Outdoor fitness in your town might not look like it does in my area. But no matter where you live, I bet you can find some fun things to do that let you enjoy August’s precious days while also providing good exercise.
As much as you might enjoy smoked foods, you might be wondering about the food safety aspects of smoking foods at home, and whether smoked foods in general should be a regular part of your diet. Here are a few things we think you should know about cooking and eating smoked foods…
I teach nutrition at a local community college and one of my favorite lecture topics is “How to Evaluate News Reports About Food and Nutrition.” After an admittedly dry lecture on scientific method and the various types of scientific studies used in nutrition research, the students usually welcome a chance to talk about some nutrition topic they’ve heard about on TV, Instagram or another communication channel. As you may have noticed, there is no lack of nutrition studies to discuss—the media covers the topic nearly daily. Unfortunately, most times the public is left to fend for themselves when it comes to understanding these reports.
You’ve graduated from college and are headed out on your own. Really on your own, with no meal plan as your food safety net, perhaps no roommate to share the burden of purchasing and preparing food—and if you’ve got a job, it’s likely you won’t be getting regular infusions of cash from the bank of Mom and Dad, either. Congratulations are in order for sure, but it’s also time to test your mettle. One thing you might not have given any thought to yet (and that’s okay), is how to best feed yourself something that is actually nutritious, and not just quick and tasty (looking at you, instant ramen noodles). Now is a good time to learn a few basics so you can eat like the newly minted adult you are.
Maybe you’ve got a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share and have received something you don’t recognize. Maybe you saw something new-to-you at the farmer’s market, or maybe you just want to broaden your culinary horizons and picked up something new in the produce department. Whatever the reason, the question “what in the world do I do with this veggie?” is something most of us grapple with at some point.
With Mother’s Day upon us, there’s a good chance that you’ve been thinking about all that your mother (or grandmother or whomever has or had that role in your life) did for you. As my own mother will soon be celebrating her 95th birthday (and still lives on her own at our family home), I find myself ever grateful to still have her in my life…and to have those kind of good genes in my corner. I also count myself lucky to have learned a lot of things from her, including a few good life lessons that came to me by way of the kitchen. Making fudge, to be exact. Maybe you have a similar tale of life lessons acquired in the kitchen?
Eating with the seasons isn’t a new idea of course—it’s what humans have been doing since our hunter-gatherer days. With the arrival of modern supermarkets, the requirement to eat whatever was growing or available at the moment waned. Now we can eat fresh peas and raspberries year ‘round, and the terms “winter” squash or “summer” squash hold little seasonal meaning when it can be purchased in the opposing season, but that doesn’t mean that seasonal eating is a pointless exercise.
If you’re on social media or the internet much at all, you’ve likely seen the photos of multiple, matching meals in little boxes all lined up on the counter. These images are examples of “meal prepping,” a cooking and eating style that has made the jump from being a trend among fitness fanatics to a popular time-saving tool for us average Joes and Janes. I see the appeal of these photos—such order, symmetry and colorful, considered composition! What I don’t see is the appeal of this style of eating as a weekly practice year-round. Let’s explore this trend and see if we can pull any useful tips from it that might benefit those who cook and eat in a more typical fashion.