31 August 2009

Profile of a Healthy Eater: Amanda

I’m giving you one more profile this week as a bonus. This one belongs to Amanda, who seems to love soup as much as I do.

What’s the best thing about healthy eating? Feeling in control and smart about making active choices that will make me feel better now, and for years to come.
Do you give your eating a label (e.g., vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, high raw, etc.)? I eat everything, but I like to focus on low calorie veggies that I can eat a lot of, and then supplement with proteins and use fats more as a flavoring agent. Meat isn’t mandatory, but it often adds protein and texture that’s hard to duplicate with veggies.
Favorite method of cooking and why? Grilling and pan searing. I like it to be quick, and it snows too much to use my grill year round.
Favorite versatile herb/spice? I use a ton of cilantro in the summer on both fruits and veggies, and lots of lemon and garlic in the winter months.
Best healthy sweet treat? Bites of dark chocolate and coconut popsicles in the summer; diced apples cooked with cinnamon, raisins, and honey in the fall. Pop the apple stuff in a pan and cover, cooking on low while you prep and eat your meal, and violia, it’s soft and delish and just like apple pie without the crust when you’re ready for dessert! Top it with some oats and brown sugar if you need to jazz it up even more.
Your go-to five-minute meal? Hearty soup! I make tons of fresh soups out of leftovers from big meals or big hauls from the farmer’s market, then I freeze in meal sized portions. I also make and freeze healthy dinner rolls with dill or carrot or pumpkin in the mix and defrost a couple of those in the toaster oven while the soup is defrosting. A great lunchtime soup I always have on hand is Thai Tomato. SO GOOD!
“Healthy” food you avoid like the plague? I can’t think of anything I don’t/won’t eat—if I do avoid something its always due to cost or availability reasons not because of taste.
Who’s the person in your life that is the most baffled by how you eat? I’m pretty flexible and good in the kitchen, I’ve never served/prepared anyone something they didn’t enjoy, and I don’t carry any restrictions to public dining scenarios like restaurants or group gatherings. I plan ahead and make a situation work. One of the best things to do to avoid looking fussy is to bring a healthy dish with enough for everyone and pass it off as a shared platter. I think it’s off putting when people bring their own meal, or don’t eat at all (ie, they ate before the event) when going to a restaurant or other group dining event.
What’s your healthy power/comfort food (the one food you know will get you through the day)? I love baby spinach or baby greens. I can always make them into something that satisfies. If I need to go really bare bones, I could get by on skim milk, tons of water and giant dishes of greens.
If you could change anything about your diet, what would it be? I wish food wasn’t such an emotional experience. Eating makes me happy, and I truly love “inventing” new stuff in the kitchen-it’s instant gratification and stress relief, but even healthy food is a whole lot more calorically dense than knitting or doing yoga :)