To nosh or not to nosh? That is a good question!
We can be talking about in between meals, like snacking on chips…. or as I call it ‘grazing’ on whatever is around from the time you finish dinner till the time you go to sleep. I don’t care if it’s just picking at leftover salad or vegetables or picking at a piece of chocolate cake… that’s grazing. Below are reasons not to graze….
And I am sure you’ve heard that it’s better to eat every couple of hours right?
RIGHT CHEF!
Well, I’m here to remind you ‘it just ain’t so’. You can believe it if you want to, but I prefer to listen to people that are older and wiser that have told me your stomach needs ‘down time’. That’s why from 7pm at night till you wake up the next morning is so important to give it a rest.
And there’s even better news. If you stop eating, you’ll burn thru that meal you’ve just eaten. And if you eat again in a couple of hours? You’re never gonna give your body time to burn thru fat stored first in your liver and then finally after that… the fat on your body. That’s why you shouldn’t graze.
Surprised?
YES CHEF!
Me too! Saw it on Dr. Oz, and while I don’t believe everything everyone tells me, that just makes too much sense!
I forget the name of the credentialed guest, but I liked what he had to say (paraphrasing here): Limit your oils cause the body stores them as fat. Ok. That’s one good reason to cut down on oils. But even more important? When you pour just a bit of oil into a pan, you’re talking about adding as much as 500 calories to what you’re cooking. And if we weren’t eating all that oil? We’d have those extra calories to waste on actual FOOD and eating! lol
Ok. Ok. So what do you do if you’re going to try to eliminate some of your oils when you cook? How about using broth and poaching things? Or how about cooking in tomato sauce? How about saving your fried food for french fries when you go out? lol
I think I’m going to try that. It makes sense. I mean, I know when I make egg rolls for example, the wonton wrapper has got to fry up. So I pan saute for that. But with everything else? A spray of oil maybe…. I actually bought an inexpensive spray gun at a beauty supply and use it on everything I cook, to direct the oil and use less.
I haven’t used saturated fat, um… I mean butter in years, except occasionally and I can you tell you…. I don’t miss it. And poaching in broth or tomato sauce is another great idea….adding flavor instead of fat.
While we are on the topic of oil, I want to remind you about coconut oil. Not necessarily great to ingest unless you thrive on saturated fat. I use mine to moisturize my face and body (I also use rose hips on my face).
So that’s a new piece of information for some of us…. to NOT cook with Coconut Oil. Use Olive Oil instead, and for high heat, Grapeseed Oil, Walnut Oil or any nut oil for that matter. Someone mentioned today they use Hemp Oil…. for the high burning point.
Don’t be surprised when new information comes out contrary to what they said yesterday. A lot of our foods haven’t been tested. And once they start doing studies and find things out? Opinions change. Here’s another thing I learned today: The FDA is leaving it to the food companies to monitor themselves, and label things properly. And ‘artificial flavors’ hides a myriad of sins. So put that in your pipe and smoke it! lol
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian