Thursday, August 26, 2010

Let them eat cake…

First Blog


I am just ending two years of having a stall at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market. Along with a friend we have been baking and selling bread and cheesecake and donating all our earnings to charities that help children in developing countries. The thing that might surprise people is that I am a dietitian selling…. Horrors!…. bread made with white flour AND cheesecake! If you know me and my philosophy about food and eating, that would not surprise you but for those of you that don't, I will explain! I do absolutely believe in healthy eating and healthy whole grain foods and I eat that way most of the time and I feed my family that way. But, there is always room for foods that have less nutritional value like cheesecake! Would I recommend eating cheesecake every day? No. It is a treat and a special indulgence and should be enjoyed in moderation. But we should not feel guilty about enjoying delicious food that happens to be full of fat and sugar occasionally! And how about that bread we made? We made a delicious foccacia bread with all kinds of toppings that included fresh veggies, and premium cheeses and our home made pesto. That too, is a bread that I would not recommend eating every day. It was mostly white flour (organic Saskatchewan flour, mind you) and the toppings boosted the fat content of the bread significantly. Why didn't we use all whole wheat flour? Because this bread tastes better with mostly white flour. We found that the more whole wheat flour we used, the more pronounced and strong the bread tasted and the less you could taste all the delicious toppings we added. So, for this bread, we felt that white flour was best.

So, as far as eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight, I don't promote 'diets' or a dieting attitude where you have lists of foods you can eat and can't eat. A piece of cheesecake or focaccia bread occasionally is not the cause of overweight. It matters more what you are eating over the long haul and most importantly, what matters is your relationship with food and eating. Check out my group classes and workshops at www.thefoodmentor.ca

If you make it to the Farmer' Market and are craving some foccacia bread, you can find my bread now carried by another vendor: Michelle from Wild Serendipity Foods (www.wildserendipity.com). Bon appétit!