Three Great Power foods

Have you ever wondered which foods are the best for your heath and body? Well Atlanta Personal Chef Service has done the research for you and we came up with a simple list of some powerful food that you should integrate daily or weekly in your diet.

1. Eggs (over easy): Surprised? Some people think that eggs are bad for you due to high fat (cholesterol) contained in the yolk. They may be right depending on the how the eggs are cooked. The yolk must be running in order to be healthy for you. Eggs contain great vitamin amounts of B12, A, D, E and F. It also has many minerals such as folate, iron, zinc, and phosphorous. All this in one egg that contains 70 calories. Many physiologist recommend eggs for people that suffer from depression and anxiety. Eggs are great source of protein as well. You will feel less hungry eating fewer calories.

2. Spinach: It is basically a multivitamin in a single vegetable. It contains great amounts of vitamins C, K, A. B6, B2, and E. It also has magnesium, manganese, potassium, folate, Iron, Copper and other minerals. No wonder Popeye (the cartoon) eats spinach in order to become strong. This is a great vegetable that you should eat weekly at a minimum.

3. Salmon: It has great amounts of omega 3, vitamins B12 and D. Fish in general are very good for your heath. Some researchers even relate fish to slowing down the ageing process.

Atlanta Personal Chef Service cares about your health. Give us a try. We do weekly meals, dinner parties, cooking lessons, cocktail parties and other services. Contact us and I’m sure you will not regret it. Every day we serve families in Atlanta, Marietta, Vinnings, Decatur, Dunwoody, Buckhead, Roswell and other cities.

Three Simple steps to Keep/Maintain a Healthy Brain

The brain is the most important organ of the human body and of all animals as well. In fact, the brain is so important that Doctors only declare when someone is dead when their brains are no longer working or considered “dead.” The brain is the pilot. It’s where all commands takes place. A person can live with an arm or a leg, but no one can live without a brain. Being the most important of all human organs, it would be wise to treat the brain with such importance.

Atlanta Personal Chef Service is here once again to teach you simple steps, so that you can maintain a healthy brain now as we age.

1. Exercise: Exercise should be of no surprise. Every study about maintaining a great heath, exercising is always one the most important things anyone can do. According to Laura Baker (Associate Professor of Internal Medicine-geriatrics at the Wake Forest University of Medicine in North Caroline), “Most studies find a lower risk of dementia over time for people who exercise or are lifelong exercisers versus those who don’t. If you are sedentary, blood doesn’t get to the far reaches of those small vessels. These are the areas that support the kind of executive function that’s vulnerable to aging.” What is great about exercising is that it improves your heath in many levels, including stress, blood flow, cholesterol and many more.

2. Keep an eye on your blood pressure. People that have high blood pressure have higher risk of having strokes (when the blood supply gets cut off, thus affecting the levels of oxygen that reaches your brain, which causes brain tissue to die). A few ways to lower the blood pressure is by exercising, maintaining healthy diet and medication if necessary.

3. Use your brains: Many studies have shown that there is lower risk of Alzheimer’s symptoms and dementia in people that have higher education, read books, work on professional occupations, and are involved with activities that stimulate the brain (puzzles, playing games, attend classes).

Other steps that it’s proven to help, but researchers are not 100% yet: Sleep, eating fish, drinking coffee, berries, and Vitamin D.

Atlanta Personal Chef Service is to help you maintain healthy diet, while eating tasty foods. Everyday our private chefs are cooking meals around Atlanta, Buckhead, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Vinnings, and Roswell. We keep up with the latest in heath and always informing our clients. Try us out and I’m sure you will not regret it. Contact us!

How and Where to Buy Fresh Fish in Atlanta

As personal chefs here in Atlanta, we’re cooking fish on a weekly basis--if not more frequently. Its uber-important that we serve fresh and tasty fish to our clients. If you’re going to pay more for fish, make sure you get a great tasting fish by following these simple tips for purchasing fish.

First, only buy fish from a store that sells a high-volume of fish, thus helping to ensure that no fish stays on their shelves longer than a day or two maximum. When you approach the fish counter, it should, in no instance, smell like a briny waterfront. We recommend purchasing fish at Whole Foods, which has various locations around Atlanta. There are plenty of other suitable stores in the area as well, just make sure they are receiving fresh shipments daily.

When selecting the actual fish, it too should have no discernible fishy odor. Second, take a look at the eyes. If the eyes are cloudy looking, the fish has been sitting too long and should not be purchased. Make sure the skin of the fish looks bright and shiny--it should look a bit metallic. If the skin has lost its luster, don’t purchase it. Lastly, look for red gills, and move away from any fish with dark red or reddish brown gills, which indicates an old fish.

When selecting a fillet the fish should be moist, with a watery coating, but nothing that looks white or milky. This is a signal to steer clear. Also, touch the fillet to test for firmness and resilience. Your fingerprint should disappear on a good fillet. Of course, your fillet shouldn’t smell weird or fishy either.

Atlanta Personal Chef Service cooks fish frequently for both weekday meals and for dinner parties. Since we have a working relationship with the area Whole Foods, we always order our seafood in advance to ensure fresh fish, and enough of it. We special order the best cuts of the fish for fillets, so our servings are uniform, will cook evenly, and will look beautiful on the plate. You can easily pay well over $20 per pound for fresh fish, so make sure you know how to pick what will be the tastiest and freshest option. Fish is so versatile and so tasty, we hope this article provides you with the guidance you need to enjoy that fresh fish fillet!
Pictured below is seared halibut in a beurre blanc sauce served over homemade ravioli, which was served at a recent dinner party. For more information on our dinner party or weekly meal services, click here.

Seared Halibut served over Haricot Verts and Shrimp Ravioli