Can you prepare a meal made from only fresh whole ingredients? Could you shop only the perimeter of the grocery store? Can you make an entire meal that you purchased from the local farmers market? Prepare a meal for friends of family that was purchased from the farmers market or perimeter of the store. What did you make? What challenges did you face? What did everyone thing? Would you try this again?
I'll begin my comment by letting you in on a little secret, I do not cook. With that being said I looked for an extremely simple recipe, so I decided to play it safe and Roast some Chicken and Potatoes, and I served it up with some Asparagus. I used only ingredients from the perimeter of the store with the exception of Salt, Pepper, and Olive Oil. The shopping experience was just that, an experience. It's not often that I do the grocery shopping and so I would gain the most from this experience I went at it alone. After about five minutes of wondering around the produce section I found asparagus. Whithin the kitchen however I din't have any challenges. I didn't cut myself nor did the fire alarms go off like in movies, always a good sign. The food was not all that horrible actually. The chicken wasn't very moist but it was my first try so it's best not to nit pick all too much. I was pretty proud of myself honestly, and I really did enjoy my afternoon in the kitchen. I'd consider cooking more often, it's not as bad as I thought it was, and the fresh food was a nice reward after slaving away.
ReplyDeleteFor as long as I can remember, my family has always made its best efforts to enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. We exercise regularly, participate in sports and, most importantly, do our best to have a healthy diet. We don’t, however, often eat solely from the food found on the perimeter of the grocery store, so I decided to try it. Luckily, it went great! I started with chicken alfredo pasta: First, I seasoned the chicken breasts and set them to cook in the broiler of the oven. I then boiled Quinoa pasta with a bit of salt as I made the homemade alfredo sauce. Normally alfredo sauce is not healthy, but I substituted heavy cream for skim milk and chicken broth (I know that sounds like an odd combination, but it was actually really good) and regular butter for low-fat butter, and added the fresh garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil and seasonings. Once the pasta was boiled and drained, I added the sauce to the pasta and continued to warm it there. At that point, the chicken was finished so I pulled it out, cut it up and added it to the pasta as well. Instead of leaving it there, I also tossed in fresh spinach and chopped bell peppers. To go with the pasta, I made side salads and garlic toast, all from the fresh ingredients available in the produce section. For dessert, we had different berries with yogurt. All in all, everything came out really well. We will definitely be doing this again sometime!
ReplyDeleteSince my family is Indian we eat a lot of different kinds of vegetables and fruits. My mom always prepares meals that are made with only fresh whole ingredients such vegetables from the farmers market or some from out own backward. Though my family might have a hard time only shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, i think we can still manage. Since a lot of our staple diet is different kinds of beans, wheat, grains and vegetables. I have started to make my own meals for the past few months to change into a healthier lifestyle, so i have created many fresh salads and different varieties of them so that i wont get bored. One meal that i made for my family was a sweet and sour salad, with red beans, and grilled chicken breast. The salad was made from vegetable bought from the farmers market and my mom's own garden. I used lettuce, oranges, carrots, onions, apple vinegar, some olive oil, slices of mango, and some nuts. The grilled chicken breast was seasoned with some salt and pepper. Later, put into a pan with fresh tomato sauce. Some challenges that i faced was the fact that i had to make a meal that everyone in my family would eat. My siblings don't like to eat vegetables, but they like fruits and nuts. My parents like their food to have a little bit of spice to them so i have to make the chicken, with some kind of flavor other than salt and pepper, so I added some tomato sauce. Also added a side of fried bell peppers, for some different color and taste. My family loved it and so now once in a while i cook dinner for my family giving my mom a break.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a cook, and so I was given a simple but fun objective when my family and I went out shopping-- snacks. I was looking around the farmer's market, trying to find something to use in place on unhealthy chips and trail mix, and came across a stand that was selling "fruit jerky". They explained that they essentially dehydrated fruits such as bananas by putting them into an oven and setting it on low, and it made the fruit just as healthy but able to withstand a longer amount of time exposed to the air without developing that unsightly brownish hue. After buying some, I tried to make some of these fruit snacks myself with fruit that we really weren't about to use. After experimenting I realized that depending on the fruit dehydrated, different things could be added into the end product to give it a more delicious taste. My family was reluctant at first to try a banana that, honestly, looked like a sickly pancake, but after they gave it a shot we enjoyed them just as much as we would have if I had put out a bowl of M&M's. I'd say that was a definite success!
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