02072009

IF YOU COOK IT THEY WILL COME

I find that half my battle is defending my food choices, especially when I'm out eating with family and friends. Its mostly:

Why are you eating that
Why don't you eat this
Why can't you eat this
Why are you doing that

I just shrug it off as being misinformed or the lack of knowledge and exposure to other systems. You see like many of my friends I grew up eating just about anything that was put on my plate by my parents, no if, then's, or buts. My parents grew up with the typical American food pyramid

So rice, pasta, noodles, potato's, breads, etc, were a staple of my adolescent eating habits. That carried over to elementary school. You stood in the lunch line waiting to choose from pizza, pasta, hamburgers, tacos, sloppy joes and many other poor choice food items.

So I can't get frustrated at them or angry since most people don't know "better" or alternatives. I feel that if you know more then others its your responsibility to inform and educate. If we are all crabs in a barrel, might as well be the crab helping others out of it then the one keeping them in!

This leads me to if you make it they will come. I know through a little education and example many eyes can be opened to a healthier means of dieting and food consumption. A little education goes a long way. The way I do this is by answering all types of questions when we eat out about my reasons for eating what I eat and why its better then the deep fried twinkie your eating. Not good or bad, but what works for me and what doesn't. Heck if I could eat twinkies all day, and pass a fitness and health test, then I'd go to town.

I also share my knowledge by cooking home cooked meals and inviting people over. Half the time the comments are "Wow this is really good". For the most part they don't even know what goes into preparing a meal, but most of us know when something tastes good and when it doesn't. I feel if you educate and show that food can be healthy, nutritious and taste amazing, people are more willing to try new things.

A by product of cooking my own meals is when I bring food to work, people can smell it in the office and are naturally drawn to me, with questions of "What is that, how did you make it, can i have some".

If at the end of dinner/lunch one other person at the table tried something new, and liked en ought to incorporate it in their food system, then good work has been done, and the fight against obesity and bad food habits in America continues on.


ROB CAN COOK

White Chicken Chili Stew

Cook time: 27 min. & makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, sliced or diced (3/4 to a cup)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 tbs chili powder
6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (you could also make your own chicken broth)
1 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (if you cooking for yourself take these out, if you cooking for friends and family leave them in, but take them out of your own serving bowl)
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
2-3 carrots, cut bias into 1 inch pieces (1 cup)
2-3 celery stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (1 cup)
1 or 2 chipotle in adobo sauce, sliced
1/2 rotisserie chicken, skinned and shredded into large pieces
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado
salt to taste

Directions
Hat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder and 2 teaspoons salt and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, potato, corn, carrots, celery, and chipotle and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir to break up the potato and thicken the broth slightly.

Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, to heat and thicken, about 10 minutes. Cut up the avocado (place on top) and stir in the cilantro before serving.

Not only does this taste amazing, its filling, and holds just about everything you need to keep you engine running strong! Enjoy

-Rob