In almost every family or group of friends there's at least one person who seems determined to make everyone else eat more. “Oh go on have another one”, “just one more”, “look there's still some left in the pan” are all phrases you might hear from your local Food Pusher. Not wanting to make a fuss, or forced by politeness and guilt you accept that second portion, have a bit more of the cake, or take a last potato. You continue eating well beyond what is necessary or healthy and also beyond what you want to eat.

 

 

The Food Pusher dynamic is an odd one. It should be easy to say no, I've had enough. You've tried everything, you're feeling full, you've had a lovely meal, so why is the pressure from the Pusher so often effective?

Food often defines our relationships and we all have rituals associated with food. By saying no you are changing these rituals, which can in turn unsettle our relationships.

However Food Pushers rarely give up by themselves. If you take that extra piece of cake this time, then you'll be expected to take it next time. If the pushing strategies work on one occasion, food will be pushed on you again.

If you want this to stop, at some point you need to take control. Simply saying “no thanks” can be ineffective. One strategy is to graciously accept the food, but explain that you're full now and would love to take a piece home. This often satisfies the Pusher, whilst avoiding the need for you to eat more. Another idea is to thank your host for the gorgeous food, but tell them you're full and if you eat more you'll be uncomfortable – very few Food Pushers will push so much that they want you to actually feel uncomfortable.

I've been guilty of Food Pushing in the past. I can't stand wasting food and if we have people over for dinner, I'd much prefer them to eat the food up, than have to throw some out. I'd find myself saying “just have that last piece” to everyone, until I could see my guests undoing their top belts and groaning under the strain of too much food.

When I thought about this I realised that wasn't fair. I was... Read More...

I get a vegetable box delivered each week. It's a combination of in-season produce and while I'm pretty good at getting through the vegetables, just sometimes I end up with a lot of one particular ingredient.

This week it happened with that most unglamorous of vegetables, the swede. I like swede, but it's not a vegetable I use often and apart from mixing with potato and making into a mash, I never really know what else to do with them.

With four swedes leftover from the last two veg boxes, I put a shout-out on Twitter for help.

 

 

The responses included @lambsearshoney suggestion to turn them into home-made chips, much like this idea. Alternatively @lemonpi referred me to these spicy fritters, while @Glebe2037 recommended roasting the swedes and then making them into soup.

 

It strikes me that this trio of ideas - roasting the vegetable, turning it into soup, or making fritters - is a great list for dealing with most excess vegetable. Almost any vegetable can be grated, mixed with egg, flour, herbs and spices and formed into fritters. Most vegetables can be made into soup, while everything except for leafy greens can be tossed in a bit of olive oil and roasted in the oven.

 

As I mentioned yesterday, because of recent busyness I've been spending less time in the kitchen. To make sure we're still eating well I've taken advantage of the time I've had to cook big batches of food, enough to last a couple of days and leave leftovers for the freezer.

After a week of stuffing containers, all higgledy-piggledy into the freezer, it became rather ridiculous. In fact containers started falling out every time I opened the door. Which shamed me into finally sorting out the freezer.

As you can see ours is not a large freezer. And yet, it's still possible for the space to become disorganised and for containers to get lost down the back. Which means food is missed, ingredients don't get used and I end up having to throw food out - a waste.

So I pulled every container out the freezer, worked out what it was (not always easy), consolidated and organised all the food.  Most importantly, I also labelled everything with a marker pen.

 

I now have a freezer which is useful, rather than being a source of frustration.  I know what's in there and can take full advantage of the meals and ingredients in our weekly eating.

 

Over the last few weeks I've been cooking in fits and starts. I've had a few days where I've cooked up a storm, filling the freezer with soup, meals and snacks. And then in between those days of cooking activity we've lived off the leftovers.

I've boosted meals up by serving with salad or steamed vegetables, added toppings to make them more interesting and rotated the meals so we don't get bored. However the pattern has been one of filling the freezer, emptying it and then re-filling it with new food.

This way of preparing meals is suiting my current schedule. My partner and I are both having long days, and neither of us has the inclination to cook every night. However our weekends are clear and I'm trying to make the most of the time I do have in the kitchen to crank out a few meals at a time.

This is one way I cope with eating well during a busy period. Even though our days are long, we're still eating good food.

Eating well when you're busy takes a bit of extra effort, focus and organisation. Three things which are obviously hard to find when your schedule is full. However, if you can eat healthy meals you'll be better equipped to manage the busy period.

And at the moment, the strategy which is working for me, is to make the most of the cooking time I do have.