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About MeI grew up in a family where we ate A LOT of meat and potatoes . We had roast beef with roasted potatoes, turkey with mashed potatoes, ham with scalloped potatoes and steak with baked potatoes... without fail. We would never have mashed potatoes with a honey glazed ham. Ever. Seriously. But when I moved away to university I discovered sushi, alfalfa sprouts on sandwiches, authentic Mexican cuisine and of course, Ramen noodles. Then I had the amazing experience of becoming a flight attendant and I discovered, literally, a whole new world of culinary delights like kimchi, spaetzle, Kir Royale, okonomiyaki, and the most delicious Indian curries I had ever tasted. My senses were awakened and I fell in love with food and I fell in love with cooking. It was a slow process, learning bit by bit and largely by trial and error. Since then I have explored the tastes and flavours of cuisines from around the world. I love that our community embraces international food and that many items are readily available at the local supermarket. Join me and experience the endless culinary possibilities and LOVE GOOD FOOD!
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My Philosophy |
I believe in cooking with simple ingredients that are readily available in your local market. I love recipes that are easy and adaptable so that you can use the food you have on hand. A recipe calls for green beans and you don't have any? no problem, use the broccoli you already have instead! I also like making my own sauces and salad dressing - I believe that reducing the amount of preservatives, sugar, and salt in our diets is key, and commercial sauces and dressings are loaded with them. Like everything in life, balance is key. When you have a basis of healthy meals you can treat yourself to a decadent entree, a glass of wine - or four!, even dessert once in awhile, It's all about balance - so enjoy!.
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Love Good Food |
Good food is real food and good food should be simple and delicious. Often people are so busy they don't have time to prepare fresh and healthy meals so they resort to packaged meals, fast food and expensive restaurant dinners. The problem with that is that packaged and processed foods can hide loads of sugar, sodium, fat and preservatives. Eating healthy is still a mystery for many people, but it shouldn't be, Learning to read food labels and taking the time to scan the nutrition lists at fast food restaurants should help you navigate the healthy choices from the not-so-healthy when you're eating out. If you are trapped in this cycle I hope to inspire you to make the time to start cooking more often. It's rewarding to serve a delicious meal to friends and family and has the added benefit of good health,
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Diet after diet |
I had tried oodles of diets over the years trying to achieve my goal weight, (I can't even begin to list them all!) My weight yo-yoed up and down as one diet after another worked short-term yet failed in the long run. On their own these diets can be quite successful. The reason they failed for me was a combination of many factors; the diets weren't realistic to maintain long-term, they were too restrictive, they were expensive, the food choices were too limited, the weekly meetings/consultations were hard to schedule with my crazy calendar or the diet was just plain unsatisfying. In most cases I wasn't disciplined enough to follow all of the rules and I had no self-control when presented with a box of donuts in the lunchroom, a heaping plate of wings and nachos with friends, or the buffet table at a pot-luck dinner loaded with all of my favourites.
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The missing ingredient |
I finally realized that the secret to my weight management was portion control. I was shocked to discover that I had no clue how many calories I was actually consuming. I also discovered that there is a balance between the amount of carbohydrates, fat and protein your body needs. Once you tap into this balance your body will metabolize the food you eat in an efficient way. This balance also explains why ultra-low fat, no carb, and high protein diets aren't healthy long term. I will help to demystify this balance and show you how to create delicious healthy meals.
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