Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

In August last year I (and some guest bloggers) wrote a series of posts called 31 Days to a Better Diet. The month was focussed on daily tasks. Each designed to help you get your health back on track, through making a simple, small-scale change to what you ate. _While I’m not going to repeat the intensity of daily posts, I thought it might be relevant and useful to re-visit some of that information. This time though giving you …

Read more 13 August, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating and Fruit

Yesterday I blogged about the problem with Fruit Roll-ups , as a snack and a source of fruit (they’re not). So what options does that leave, for those fussy non-fruit eaters out there? It can be hard to get some kids (and also some adults) to eat fruit, with complaints ranging from taste, through to fruits too messy. However, fruit is an important part of a healthy diet – it gives us vitamin C, valuable fibre, potassium, as well as …

Read more 23 September, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

The weather is warm, I’ve had asparagus in my last two vegetable deliveries, the jasmine is smelling gorgeous and the magpies have gone feral . . . yup, spring is definitely upon us. After a winter of inactivity, eating a bit too much, colds and viruses, spring is the time when everyone re-concentrates on their health. There’s also the thought of summer clothes (and exposing a bit of flesh) encouraging you to lose those few kilos put on over winter. …

Read more 05 October, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables and Easier eating

Another topic I’m frequently asked about is frozen vegetables: is there any point in eating them? h3. Why do we eat vegetables? We eat vegetables for many reasons. They contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that we need, and can’t get from other foods. Vegies are also high in fibre, which is important for bowel health. Without vegetables in your diet, you’re likely to be deficient in key nutrients and missing out on important antioxidants. Diets low in vegetables are …

Read more 06 October, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

A friend just pointed me to this great post on one of the SMH blogs called, Chew On This. It’s Paula Goodyer’s blog – she’s the Herald’s health writer – and this is the start of the post: bq. When it comes to attitudes towards food and health, it’s the “you-only-live-once” mentality that really gets to me – "Hey, you only live once, so bring on the bacon, uncork another bottle, and add more cream. It’s a mindset that says …

Read more 06 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

A report from the Herald, about a school in Surry Hills with an organic canteen! bq. The inner-city school’s 250 pupils can choose from a lunch list that looks like any other healthy canteen menu, except that it is all organic. Even the snacks such as potato chips, popcorn, fruit bars and licorice straps are certified organic. Hewitt’s motto is “naughty, nutritious, healthy and delicious”. The canteen serves sandwiches, pies, spaghetti bolognaise, hokkien noodles with vegetables, as well as wraps …

Read more 15 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

I’ve just come across a great post (from Shaping Youth) which discusses the battles that occur over school lunches. While you might want to pack a healthy lunch, your kids are more likely to want what everyone else has. In Australia this probably equates to a vegemite sandwich, a packet of chips, a popper and maybe a “healthy” muesli bar, but this is not a balanced, nutritious lunch. Pester power is a strong force and it’s hard to resist. Nobody …

Read more 15 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

Some lovely suggestions from Connie Evers at Nutrition for Kids – 25 ways to use five nutrient packed foods: walnuts, blueberries, yoghurt, salmon and tomatoes.

Read more 29 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

I arrived at the Nutrition for Kids website via a link from the excellent Shaping Youth blog and I’m loving it. The homepage is mainly advertising for Connie Evers books and teaching resources, but the back copies of their newsletter are a gold mine – full of excellent information, resources and links. I’ve been happily clicking, downloading and subscribing away. There is a weekly report on new research, as well as lots of useful links.

Read more 29 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating and Snacks

Great little post from Dietgirl about the munchies. Are you a person that walks in the door from work, opens the fridge straight away and starts pilfering around for food? It’s been hours since lunch, you’re not sure what you’re looking for, you just want something. Those cubes of cheese, few olives, spoonfuls of dip and handfuls of crackers can really add up kilojoule-wise and if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s these habits you need to question. If it’s …

Read more 23 February, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

Good advice from Bill Granger this week on how to feed fussy eaters. In response to a question, he suggests: bq. Feeding young children can be trying at the best of times, but with these challenges please don’t let her fussy eating get the better of you. All children go through periods of not eating different foods and wanting only starchy carbohydrates. It is natural for children, or all of us, especially when we’re tired, to go for carbs because …

Read more 21 March, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

Nutritionists and dieticians often emphasise the importance of not eating dinner in front of the TV. I frequently encourage clients to switch off and have their dinner at the table, at least a few times a week. Paula Goodyer has just posted about why this is important. Eating together and away from the goggle-box allows the whole family to talk to each other and connect. However, more than that, it’s all about food associations: bq. Just as going to the …

Read more 06 June, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

Today I’ve posted a whole lot of information about carbohydrates * different kilojoule values * the different GIs * is brown rice better * does white rice have any value? Underneath all these however, is the fundamental issue of what makes up a healthy, well-balanced diet. h3. Should you be eating carbohydrates? As I’ve stated before, I don’t believe you need to forego all potatoes, bread, pasta, rice and other grain based foods. There is a place for carbohydrates …

Read more 07 June, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating and Lunch

Kids were back to school this week and Good Living had some lunchbox ideas from Bill Granger – mountain bread wraps with hummous, a Greek-style pasta salad, along with a simple Chinese rice salad. All the recipes are easy to make and have a nice balance of protein, low GI carbohydrates and vegetables. Simply add some fruit, a yoghurt and a bottle of water and you’ve got a healthy lunchbox. There are also some cute ideas for sparking up kids’ …

Read more 03 February, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

Here in Australia more and more people are living by themselves. Whether by choice or necessity, the traditional nuclear family is no longer everybody’s reality. As Chew On This points out, cooking for one can present challenges. Many people living by themselves can’t be bothered making a proper dinner and end up grazing on whatever comes to hand. Others, however, actually eat better by themselves, when they don’t have to make allowances for another’s likes and dislikes. If you’re in …

Read more 13 February, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating, Dinners and Lunch

Mid-week meals can be tricky. If you’re late home or tired, then putting together a meal that’s quick, easy, healthy and tasty can be a big-ask. A while ago I posed the question what’s your perfect mid-week meal? Two themes that came through the responses were, pre-preparing meals on the weekend (which could then be frozen and re-heated), and making use of leftovers. Last week I had a few meals which illustrate both of these scenarios. For starters, I did …

Read more 25 June, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

I liked this post from the latest GI News. It outlines basic tips on how to lower the GI of your meals, but also includes a photo comparison of a high and low GI breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a great way of showing that lowering the GI of your diet does not mean radically changing what you eat. For most people, a few tweaks to your current diet will do it.

Read more 02 July, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

A very happy new year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the year ahead. Over the last week I’ve been working on the Summer edition of An Honest Kitchen. The vast majority of recipe work was completed well before Christmas and now I’m down to the notes and details. Working out which recipes can be kept, either in the fridge or freezer. Can another recipe be made with goats’ milk yoghurt, instead of …

Read more 12 January, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating, Dinners, Winter and Vegan

Among the ingredients I find immensely useful in the kitchen are a group I’ve named the Flavour Boosters. These ingredients add huge amounts of taste, richness and / or complexity to a dish. And they do this without requiring complicated or long-winded cooking. They make cooking easier, because you can count on them to make your dinner interesting and tasty. Mid week, when I want good food fast, I rely heavily on these ingredients. They add heaps of flavour, …

Read more 13 January, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating

The other Flavour Booster I’m going to talk about this week is shoyu. If you have a copy of the winter An Honest Kitchen you will spot a few different uses of shoyu. And if you’ve looked back through the recipes on this blog, again you’ll see shoyu cropping up all over the place. Shoyu is my not-so-secret ingredient. It’s something I use often, and in a wide variety of dishes. My use of shoyu is not limited to Japanese, …

Read more 14 January, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables and Easier eating

Last week I wrote about one category of ingredients I use on a regular basis – the Flavour Boosters. This week, to continue my series on the ingredients I use most often I’ll be blogging about Easy Vegetables. I spend a lot of time talking to people about vegetables in general. It’s one of my most frequent, and also most favourite, topics. Getting people to consume those daily five serves is a big part of my work. A frequent …

Read more 19 January, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Easier eating and Grains

Kicking off Q & A Thursday this week is a question from Mallika of Quick Indian Cooking: is avoiding carbohydrates at dinner a sensible strategy for weight loss? I’m finding it interesting how many Q&A Thursday questions are centred around carbohydrates. In the past weeks the carbohydrate focussed topics I’ve covered include the GI of different foods, winter carb-loading, whether rice is a bad food to eat and brown rice vs white rice. h3. Carbohydrate containing foods There are a …

Read more 05 July, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables and Easier eating

In January I started a series on the ingredients I use regularly. I wrote about Flavour Boosters and two of my favourite Easy Vegetables. Today I’m continuing the Easy Vegetables theme. I’m a big fan of fresh vegetables. The range, the smell and taste, the possibilities that are opened up when you have fresh produce, are all characteristics that give me pleasure and excitement. Despite this I don’t eat fresh all the time. Sometimes I don’t have time or energy …

Read more 10 February, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Easier eating and Fruit

Just recently I’ve started subscribing to a weekly fruit and vegetable box. It’s a CSA scheme, where you don’t get any choice. Instead, each Monday a box of in-season fruit and vegetables, grown within 5 hours of Sydney, is delivered. I’m loving it. The produce is fresh, each week I’m getting something new and there have even been some surprises in the box – produce I’ve never tasted. But making the best use of a vegetable box, is a …

Read more 02 March, 2010