The Cost of Not Eating in Season - Part Two

The Cost of Not Eating in Season - Part Two

In part one, I got you started on the real cost of not eating in season. I also gave you the reason for eating local food, told you how to avoid Frankenfoods, and the fact that you buy local and in season, you get the best nutrition out of your food. This time, I will tell you about taste, the fun attached to expectation, the pleasure of tasting fresh and ripe food and explain that fresh food does not have to be expensive. I hope you enjoy my take on healthy and fresh food. Bon Appetit!

Taste

If you buy these kinds of imported foods you are taking the risk of losing appreciation for taste. You agree with me that produce out of season does not taste the same as freshly picked food still warm from the sun, right? So why agree to be disappointed? It is always best to enjoy your food in season.

Expectation

If you think about it, don’t you have a certain pleasure in knowing that the tomato or strawberry season is coming and a slight sadness by knowing we are reaching the end of that season? But then we get excited about what the new season will bring us, and so goes the cycle of seasonal foods. This expectation is what makes you salivate in advance and brings back memories of culinary pleasures. When we always get what we want when we want it, we lose those most precious pleasures, expectation and excitement… and we get bored with our food. Not only is the food boring, but also your palate gets bored with so much sameness. Wake up that palate of yours by eating freshly picked food with its taste bud-sparkling flavors.

Eating Fresh Again

This will take a little extra work but, like the commercial says, aren’t you worth it? For example, when I grate fresh carrots in my gluten-free Exotic Carrot Cake, it means that not only is it better for you, but that it’s moister than if I used pre-grated juiceless carrots. And it makes you like my cake even more.

Cheap IS Good

So, for your next lunch break I suggest you grate one fresh local or organic carrot at 30 cents each (I even suggest you chop up those beautiful greens and add them to your carrot salad. They’re full of chlorophyll), drizzle a little olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper and voila! You have yourself a healthy side dish for less than fifty cents, instead of paying two dollars or more for a product that has been sitting in that showcase for God knows how long. Enjoyed with 3 ounces of ham or smoked turkey and a glass of water, you have a healthy and satisfying lunch that’s better for you and cheaper for your wallet. What’s to think about? Go fresh! It’s time again to pull out those long forgotten brown bags or insulated lunch containers to bring cheap, home-prepared lunches. I don’t like to use the word “cheap”, because in this modern society it implies lower quality, which in my opinion is a wrong perception. We need to reverse that perception. Cheap or frugal should not be politically incorrect words. Cheap is GOOD for our budget, and we should give it more respect. If we went back to the idea of bringing lunch from home, our lunch would be only two to three dollars instead of costing us eight to ten dollars. What’s not to like?

Chef Alain’s Recipe

Galettes aux Patates Douces. Sweet Potato Pancakes

Here’s another simple but tasty recipe for breakfast… and it’s loaded with vitamins. Please notice I kept the sugar amount to a minimum, since the sweet potatoes are already what they are: sweet.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 25 min

Cost per person: $0.82

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or GF flour

1 Tbsp organic raw sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

In another bowl:

3/4 cup milk or alternative milk (almond, soy or coconut)

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sweet potato puree, fresh or canned organic

To cook:

1 Tbsp butter or olive or coconut oil

Top with real organic maple syrup

PROCEDURE

1. For fresh sweet potatoes: Peel and cube one large or two small sweet potatoes; cook in boiling salted water until tender; mash with a fork until smooth. For canned: simply measure it out.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients while stirring. Let rest for a few minutes.

3. Heat up your skillet on medium heat and add 1 Tbsp butter or coconut oil to the skillet.

4. When it sizzles, add ¼ cup batter to the skillet and cook about 2 minutes on each side. Be careful they don't burn--sweet potatoes burn easily.

- Chef’s Tip 1: For my GFCF friends, use your favorite GF flour blend instead of regular flour. Replace butter with oil and milk with almond, soy or coconut milk. This recipe is not paleo.

- Chef’s Tip 2: This is a good use of leftover baked sweet potatoes. Just scoop the flesh out of the skins and mash.

This recipe is from my book, Healthy French Cuisine for Less Than $10/Day.

Chef Alain Braux Bio

Chef Alain Braux is an award-winning Executive Chef and Nutrition Therapist. He’s also an Amazon.com best-selling and award-winning food and health author. Chef Braux is also a food and health consultant, a speaker and panelist on food allergies, Paleo and anti-GMO issues.

Chef Alain is the co-host on the podcast, the Low Carb Paleo Show and the food and health contributor to the Low Carb Magazine, Hip4Kids Magazine, Healthy Organic Women Stuffed Pepper, CNN iReports and Food Solutions Magazine.

Chef Braux is an expert in food allergies diets and the author of multiple award-winning food and health books: “GMO 101. A Practical Guide”, “Paleo French Cuisine”, “Living Gluten and Dairy-Free with French Gourmet Food”,“Healthy French Cuisine for Less Than $10/Day” and “How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food”

Chef Braux is the Executive Chef and Culinary Nutritionistat A Votre Santé – To Your Health Nutritional Services, a health food consulting private practice. Chef Braux provides customized food plans for a wide assortment of food allergies: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free, Paleo, Vegetarian and Vegan. He has helped clients with Celiac, Autism, ADD/ADHD, Diabetes, Crohns’ disease, IBS and other diseases. Chef Braux is also an expert in GMO issues.

See my Media Page or you can also find him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.