Grilling – Another Great Option for Healthy Eating

Atlanta Personal Chefs love to grill!  Grilling is tasty, low-fat, and with a gas grill, relatively easy to clean up afterwards.  With various options including citrus marinades, cedar plank fish, grilled veggies, or even fruit, the grill never gets boring.  Keep these tips in mind to maximize your grilling experience:

• Marinade!  Not only do marinades add tastiness and tenderness to grilled meats, they are also a key component to reducing cancer causing agents which can form on meats when they become charred.  This happens when fat from the meat drips and causes flare ups, which temporarily overheat the food on the grill, causing charring.  When this does happen, be sure to cut off the charred part of the meats so they are not ingested.
• Variety!  Think outside of the box and past your meat-only tendencies.  Corn on the cob, sliced peppers, onions, and pineapple all make for great grilled treats.  I continue to come across recipes for grilled pound cake with grilled peaches, but have yet to give it a try myself.
• Herbs and Spices!  Using herbs and spices such as sage, thyme, basil, and oregano is a health-friendly way to infuse great flavors into your meats without adding unnecessary calories.  Using herb and spice rubs is also an effective way to reduce the formation of those cancer-causing substances mentioned earlier.
• Choose Lean Meats:  When you’re grilling, the heat of the grill will naturally bring out the best in taste and tenderness of your meats.  A lean cut will taste great on the grill, and your body will thank you as well.  If you do have a piece of fatty meat, be sure to cut off any excess before you take it to the grill.
• Maximize the grill:  Understand that all surfaces on your grill don’t heat evenly.  Cooking wisely, you’ll utilize the right heat zones to control the speed of cooking and the temperature of your grill surfaces.  Areas closest to the source will be the hottest, and those further away, or elevated, will be cooler, and are often ideal for your more tender items, like your vegetables.

Atlanta Personal Chef Service loves to incorporate grilling into the diets of our clients.  For those clients who have easy access to a grill, we’ll prepare great grilled dishes that are healthy for you as well.  

Personal Chefs keep Kitchens Safe: Reducing Bacteria in Sponges

The kitchen sponge is one of the most germ-ridden items in the whole kitchen.  Sponges come into contact with tons of different bacteria throughout the day.  From cleaning countertops to washing off cutting boards and knives used to cut raw chicken, if sponges aren’t properly maintained, the germs in them could cause stomach irritation to those at home.

Over 86% of sponges in U.S. homes contain either yeast and mold, coliform bacteria, or Staph bacteria.  Because sponges contact so many different types of bacteria and food residue, bacteria can easily grow and multiply.  Their cracks and crevices make it easy for items to get inside the sponge and get trapped.

So what’s the best way to keep your kitchen sponge bacteria free?  While some recommend soaking it in bleach or lemon juice, the way proven to kill the most bacteria is to microwave your sponge for one minute each day after using.  This alone will kill a significant portion of the potentially hazardous bacteria.  Running the sponge through the dishwasher is another bacteria-killing option.  If you don’t want to go through the hassle, you can use kitchen dish cloths and toss the used ones in the laundry at the end of each day.  Regardless of which method you use, ensure that you’re not leaving wet sponges or clothes on the countertops at night.

While the chances are that your kitchen won’t get you sick, some people are extremely sensitive to those bacteria found in poorly sanitized kitchens.  At Atlanta Personal Chef Service, all of our chefs are professionally trained in kitchen sanitation.  We’ll always keep the kitchen clean, so you’ll never have to worry.  Have a question about keeping your kitchen germ-free?  Feel free to contact us.

Personal Chefs will help you eat more fish – But not too much!

Fish is a welcome addition to your weekly diet, when, like so many folks, your main protein staples are chicken and beef.  Not only are chicken and beef most readily available in restaurants, they are both simple to prepare.  But the benefits of incorporating fish into your regular diet are numerous, and for these reasons, everyone should eat fish, in moderation.

Seared Salmon over Citrus Quinoa with Snap Peas

Fish provide a rich source of protein.  While fish may or may not be less fatty than certain cuts of beef or chicken, they contain healthy fats that will also help lower your cholesterol.  Curious about Omega-3 Fatty Acids?  Many people will take Omega-3 supplements to improve heart health, but why not just incorporate fish into your regular diet?  This is an essential fatty acid for your body to have and a prolonged lack of it could cause health issues.  Many cultures rely heavily on fish, and fish is often associated with longevity.

The only real concern with eating fish is the high levels of mercury that some fish contain.  The FDA recommends that children and pregnant women eat no more than two servings of fish per week, since very high levels of mercury can eventually cause kidney and brain damage.  Among the fish low in mercury are oysters, scallops, clams, salmon, and whitefish.  Some higher in mercury include grouper, sea bass, and tuna. 

As with most things in life, fish should be consumed in moderation.  Atlanta Personal Chef Service recommends incorporating fish into their client’s weekly diets.  While individual preferences vary, our chefs are skilled at preparing tasty dishes ranging from scallops to salmon, shrimp to clams, and more.  Remember, we’ll repeat the meals you love, but if you’re not crazy about it, we’re constantly researching recipes to find the ones that match both your tastes and your bodies’ nutritional needs.  Check out some of our sample menus here.

Bringing Families Back to the Dinner Table

At Atlanta Personal Chef Service, we know how important family dinners are. And we truly hope that others realize it as well. Family dinners are more than just a “nice tradition” but a necessity for strong family bonds. According to a study done, teens who frequently eat dinner with their families have a leg-up in being successful in life. Let me elaborate.

According to the study, done at Columbia University, which compared adolescents who ate dinner with their families 0-2 times per week to adolescents who ate with their families 5-7 times per week, those who ate infrequently with their families were:

· Three times more likely to have used marijuana
· Two and a half times more likely to use tobacco
· One and a half times more likely to use alcohol

The survey actually reveals that teens, in fact, prefer to eat dinner with their families. 84% of teens prefer to have dinner with their families, and of that group that prefers to eat with their families, 92% prefer to eat dinner together 5-7 times per week. When teens are not eating dinner with their families, they frequently report: eating dinner at home by themselves, eating at a friend’s house, eating fast-food, or skipping dinner altogether.

Family dinners also predict a teen’s academic performance. According to the study, teens who eat 5-7 meals per week with their families are more than seven times as likely to receive mostly A’s and B’s than they are to receive mostly C’s and below. If a teen eats less than 3 family meals each week, they are twice as likely to get poor grades at school.

The study surveyed over 1000 teens and 500 parents and aimed at identifying risk factors for teen substance abuse, poor academic performance, and other risk factors. At Atlanta Personal Chef Service, our chefs eliminate busy parents’ excuses for not eating dinner together as a family. Family dinners are not something to be taken lightly, especially when it comes to raising healthy, successful children. If you feel you’re tight on time, or cooking is simply not your strong suit, but you don’t want to sacrifice family dinners any more, please reach out to Atlanta Personal Chef Service. We’re here to serve you.