Sunday, January 22, 2012

I have a dilemma...

It's not really "my" dilemma, because it doesn't actually require much action on my part. It's probably more in the category of "things that make you go hmmm". (Who was that? Arsenio Hall? What happened to him, anyway?)

Here's the thing. I enjoy cooking shows and blogs. I read The Pioneer Woman's blog, and thoroughly enjoy it. I have watched some of her Food Network shows. Same for Iron Chef and Chopped and Next Iron Chef and Cupcake Wars. I'm not a big fan of Paula Deen, but I have occasionally watched The Barefoot Contessa. Watching these shows isn't my problem. It's the way they all cook.
Home from the farmers market... wowzers, look at those colors!

Now I know it's all delicious. Duh. Butter. Cream. More butter. Cups of sugar. What's not to like? But knowing all the information I do about health and food and saturated fat, I can't do it. I can't take one of their recipes and make it as it's written. Even if I really, really want to, I just can't. It's the same thing that happened after I discovered the ridiculous calories that the hard shell of chocolate added to my dipped Dairy Queen cone. I go to Dairy Queen, I've had a great week of nutrition and exercise, and I start to order... and I can't do it. Ask my kids - they think I'm nuts. Ignorance was, truly, bliss.

I have a little bit of an issue with Paula Deen's keeping her diabetes to herself while hawking her mo' butter recipes, but hey, no one makes people cook that way. It just seems like an odd thing, I guess. 
Oh my, lobster! And yes, we did have butter with that beauty!

The good news is, after many years of cooking lighter and healthier, I can convert almost any recipe to a more healthy version. Sure, I use butter. Just less of it, and use healthier canola or olive oil, or fruit puree. I know sometimes you need half and half, so I use the fat free version. Light sour cream. Light cream cheese. 1% milk. Lowfat buttermilk. 2% cheese. Lean proteins. When I make veggies I put a little good Irish butter in at the very end, which adds tons of flavor with very little extra calories and fat.
Delicious and low fat buttermilk pancakes. A little butter and sugar in the recipe, so you don't need it on the top!

I make regular food. I use a ton of a homemade 50-50 olive oil/canola oil mix. I eat eggs. I use whipping cream when necessary. I'm not a fanatic. But when it comes to making something for my family, I just can't get past the nutritional knowledge I have accumulated over the years. I'd probably be happier without the internal pressure... Probably have a higher bad cholesterol number, too. 
Oh, my... seared tuna steaks. Too delicious for words!

I really admire these chefs/cooks' talent, and thoroughly enjoy watching them, reading The Food Network Magazine, and cheering them on in the competitions. I just can't emulate them in good conscience.
This is my husband's. It is definitely not mine, especially that huge sucker. Sorry... I just can't do oysters!

3 comments:

Graham said...

Moderation, everything in moderation....even real good for you food can be bad for you if you have too much.

Did you know at the old fruit packing companies in Brevard and Indian River counties they used to put fresh orange juice through their drinking fountians for their employees....they had to stop because it was thining their blood and even small cuts were hard to stop the bleeding. Imagine that orange juice bad for you....

Jennings said...

Haha, I remember having fresh juice at our packing house... it was amazing! I do eat all those "bad" things from time to time. But it's cooking like that ALL the time that I just can't do. I think I enjoy a good dessert more when I don't have it all the time. Although I really can't get past the dipped cone thing for some reason!

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