Food Made Easy

Healthy foods, new diet fads, nutrition based on scientific experiments and food with a conscience is now edging quick home cooked meals off the best-seller book shelf at local book sellers. With top chefs, celebrities and amateur chefs turn overnight success stories all vying for our attention (and our money). There simply has not been more choice in what food to consume, or knowledge to obtain about the food we eat. Food made easy can include a variety of choices about food we buy, create and consume but we need to be mindful of the ways in which it can contribute to stress about doing what everyone else is doing. Time is the enemy in the kitchen, but grab an apron, sharpen that knife and prepare for the latest in foodie news scoring high on the taste scale but also high in the blood pressure scale. Simplify your culinary creations, or opt out altogether with a local caterer.

A mindful mouthful

Much of the song and dance in the news about food features an appreciation of food that has a minimal impact on the environment thereby earning a sustainable tick by green-conscious individuals. Growing your own produce, opting for spray-free and locally grown food has breathed new life into farmer’s markets and an array of food shows, stalls and festivals popping up around the country. On offer? Local fare with a twist, simple dishes you can create from home and armloads of cookbooks hosting glossy photographs of chefs in rustic locales creating masterpieces from common household staples. They propose food made easy, something to impress your dinner guests with, a school lunchbox packed with healthy options that appeal to the picky child and food that you can whip up when you get back from a hectic day at the office. Many of the food-writers blogging about their travel food finds, latest health kicks and green smoothies packed with super foods (whatever that means) shout out how beneficial they are to your health, make you live longer, sleep better, age slower and all other magical concoctions you can imagine.

Whether you buy into the fashion of food, have jumped aboard the gluten free, organic, lactose free, sugar and starch free wagons heading into the celebrity endorsed sunset or just see these as passing fads, we all appreciate that in a time-pressed world, having simple food options is a concept that certainly appeals. Whether you are cooking for one, for a family of four or a dozen dinner guests, most people want to feed their troops with healthy, delicious food that is packed with nutrients and flavour.

Pretty food

Mixing nettles, wild leaves, flowers and herbs into your salads, exchanging meat for vegetables are being popularised in the media and taken up by both the avid food connoisseur and the culinary adventurer alike. While being aware of where you food comes from, what is in your food and what health benefits your food gives you are important to consider, equally important is maintaining an approach to food that doesn’t border on obsession. Food for passion rather than food for fashion is the tag we strive for. While we pride ourselves in mastering food with the wow-factor, with presentation being among or priorities on the catering check-list, we always keep our egos in check and know that being fanatical about food can in some cases be harmful. In fact, some proponents of food for health suggest that participation in several days of fasting, and detox are good for your system.

If counting calories and stepping on the scales are activities you like to do to control your energy intake and weight measurement, then by all means, continue. Just remember that fresh is always best and supporting local growers by buying local produce are recommended. Being creative and trying new foods can be exciting and you only learn by making mistakes, so be adventurous. Food made easy should not introduce more stress into your day. Really, enjoying food with others, being aware of the food process and how you can contribute to minimising the quantity of food that gets wasted are all positive ambitions.

If you want some help in creating a food masterpiece that both incorporates local food sourcing and is always dressed to impress then give us a call to work with your ideas. The ultimate in food made easy is simply done by calling in the caterers.