Slooooooowwwww eating
For our collective birthdays, I asked my parents if they would buy the Lion and me a Turkish Grill. I have been coveting Turkish Grills for years, and now that we have a patio area for it, we finally got one.
For those of you unfamiliar with Turkish Grills, they are basically big beautiful brass hibachi. We got ours from Lee Valley, because I love Lee Valley as much as I love the look of Turkish Grills. So, to purchase a Turkish Grill from Lee Valley makes it all that much sweeter.
Anyway, I’ll get to the point of this post, which is slow cooking. Almost every night since setting up our grill, we have cooked on it. The Lion calls them Cook Your Own Friggin’ Food nights.
As many as five of us gather around the grill and cook veggies and marinated meats, and melt fancy cheeses onto French breads. Heck, we even got down and dirty the other night and cooked your basic chicken lips and other floor scrap wieners.
And I am finally losing weight! You see, I am really good during the day for portion control, but dinner is my downfall. But, I am eating way less on Cook Your Own Friggin’ Food nights. Not because it doesn’t taste good. It’s delicious! No, it’s because we are eating very slowly.
I put one small piece of meat and one or two veggie pieces on the grill and I wait until they are cooked. Then I eat them. Then, and only then, I put the next piece of meat and accompanying veggies on to cook. As a result, my body has time to register the first consumption of food, such that by the time I finish eating the second round, I am full!
I am probably eating at least half of what I was before. Yet I don’t feel deprived in anyway. And I am totally involved in my meal, because if I don’t watch it carefully on the grill it will burst into flames! And with all the effort that went into cooking it, I then sit and savour the food while eating it.
Compare this to grabbing a heaping plate full from the pots in the kitchen, then sitting down in front of the TV, and mindlessly forking in the food, and swallowing without ever really paying attention.
Of course, this will only work for a couple of months out of the year, because that’s about all the enjoyable (read warm) weather we get here in Canada. If you don’t believe me, check out the map. Quebec is pretty far north! Not quite polar bear country, but awfully darn close!
But, I will enjoy these slow enjoyable dinners while I can. And maybe once we have to move back indoors again, I will think of a way to continue this mindful way of eating.
Do you just fork in the food while your mind is elsewhere?
Cook Your Own Friggin’ Food dinners last at least thirty minutes, if not longer. How long does it generally take you to eat a meal?
My portions are always too big because I love the taste of food and I eat until my brain says stop which of course is about half a plate too late.
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I’d eat more, I think. It would just take longer.
I generally scarf down my food pretty fast. Karen eats a much smaller portion of the meal than I do and I’m usually done before her.
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I’m a big fan of slow eating AND slow food. G and I both cook most of our meals in Greece, and we do a lot of grilling. We don’t watch TV when we eat, and we try to savor every bite. This usually means we’re cooking for at least an hour and eating for at least half-an-hour. Fortunately, our schedule in Greece allows for 2 hours for meals. But I’m discovering it’s not the same here in the States.
Good on you for these wonderful meals with the Turkish Grill, the lost weight, and the pure enjoyment you’re getting out of both.
Chania Girl’s last blog post..Footsteps in the Dark
Always cook meals, never eat fast food (oh okay, about once a year). Love slow cooking anything. I’m a moderate eater i.e. somewhere in-between. That Turkish grill is a beautiful item. Is it handmade? Cookig al fresco is fab. Enjoy! I friggin mean it.
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Slow cooking and eating sounds like a great way to spend some fun times with family and friends. I usually try to eat in small portions but if I get too hungry or am having a dish I love, control goes out of the window.
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An swiss alternative for those cold days it’s the Founde. You can make it as light or fatty as you want. I’ve used it with lean chicken and it works quite alright
Mike - today, even though we ate inside, I actually finished AFTER the Lion and the Little Lion. I think this is a first. I concentrated on eating teeny tiny bites. Too be honest, I think part of the reason why I also eat less grilling my own food is because my attention span is extremely short, and I can’t be bothered cooking anymore food
Chania Girl - okay, you had me at ‘meals in Greece’. Sigh. I think you hit upon a key point though. Our over scheduled North American life style means from start to finish our meals need to be fast. So, unless we plan ahead and make good food ahead of time, we are grabbing not so good food on the run. Sunday afternoon, the Lion grilled up several meals worth of meat. So, tonight, which is soccer practice night for the Little Lion, was cooked some potatoes and carrots. Now if we can only stay this organized!
Paisley - we order take out only under duress. All our meals are home cooked. Our downfall is eating in front of the TV. No, my downfall is eating in front of the TV. The Lion and the Little Lion seem to be able to divide their attention between the show and the food. But, tonight I found a solution. Watch a show in French, which means I understand only 1% of it, leaving far more time for slowly savouring my food.
Avani - I try to space out my eating over the day (small portions more often) so that I am not starving by the time I get home. Doesn’t always work though. Ya, and that control thing is a struggle *grin* We have had several family and friends events around the grill and it is a wonderful way to spend the evening.
Miguel - that’s too funny. That’s exactly how I describe our Turkish Grill eating. I call it an Outdoor Fondue. I love fondue, but for some reason we only do it once a year at most. Okay, come this Fall I will make a committment to more fondues.
There’s no reason why you can’t translate the basic concept of the grill to preparing and eating your meals indoors. Eating slowly and consciously just take a little discipline and now that you’ve discovered the joys of doing it, you should be able to continue to do it even when the grill gets packed up for the winter. Bon chance!
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Sounds fabulous - from beginning to end.
For the freezing months, you may want to consider a raclette grill. Not as cool as your Turkish Grill, but it’s still fun on the interactive scale.
Oh - and I love Lee Valley too!
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They should call it the Slim Fast grill. Do they market this thing for the portion control factor? You should pitch your marketing angle to them and maybe they will give you some sort of indoor version!
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Oh this sounds so good and so French…I am reading a devastating book about eating and the food industry in the United States…many things I knew but now understand - I eat nearly all my meals alone and I over eat when I have company because I want the meal to last and the company to be there longer.
This sounds lovely…I miss the kids most at meal times…we all loved to play with our food
Thank you again for you lovely writing on my blog…the 4 posts got a tremendous number of new readers - so Thank you for the beautiful writing and for participating.
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Laurie - well, the problem with a raclette grill is that the Lion is quite a snob when it comes to food, and apparently the raclette grill is not a REAL raclette. Mind you, he has yet to show me what is real raclette. But, maybe if it rename it to Inside Grill he might accept it
Bumbles - no it is not marketed for portion control. However, one of the reasons I love Lee Valley is that each item in the catalogue has a little fun write up about it. I should write to them and suggest this new spin.
Patricia - very Turkish I am assuming
And you are welcome for the story contribution. Like I said, it was fun writing it.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Slooooooowwwww eating
That looks yummy. Like camping out, every night! Except that you aren’t on a camp cot swatting mosquitos instead of sleeping all night…
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Hmm - this is just the thing I need.
(Figured I’d better finally come and leave a comment, after tweeting you about it…)
I don’t like gas grills at all (plus, I’ve been told by the missus that I’m not very good with them!) - but charcoal, I can do that.
We bought one of those $20 hibachis for beach days and I have more fun on that.
Maybe this is the one for me.
The best thing I like about slow cooking on these things is that you get to have an extra glass of wine or an extra pint
Brett Legree’s last blog post..seemingly random thoughts on a rainy tuesday evening.
Brett - yes, you could have an extra glass of wine except I put the poor Lion on a strict wine purchasing budget.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Slooooooowwwww eating
Ack! A wine purchasing budget, oh no…
(*whine*)
I’ll have to bring a few bottles with me, I see
Brett Legree’s last blog post..seemingly random thoughts on a rainy tuesday evening.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Slooooooowwwww eating
Panther,
And that explains why I liked the Lion from the get-go!
He reminds me, of me
Brett Legree’s last blog post..seemingly random thoughts on a rainy tuesday evening.
Some times I get ravenously hungry at work, so I always bring a snack. A few weeks ago, I started keeping the snacks in my car rather than in my desk drawer. And my car is parked about an eighth of a mile away (halfway around a track). This keeps me from reaching for the snacks until I’m sure I’m actually hungry, and not just bored or tense.
I suppose this has nothing to do with cooking and eating small portions, except maybe that they both involve delayed gratification.
BTW, I awarded your blog the “One Lovely Blog Award”
Please visit my link to receive it:
http://square–peg.blogspot.com/2009/06/one-lovely-blog-award.html
Thanks!
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Wow, never heard of those Turkish grills Panther, but want want want one now.
I’m a shoveller, I’m ashamed to say, but it’s usually because a. there is a child doing somthing dangerous nearby and I need to finish before she has me racing her to A&E or b. there are hungry eyes coveting my meal and I’m I don’t polish it off his fork will sneak over and pinch something!
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That looks exactly like our fire! Which we use for parties - we didn’t get a grill with it so haven’t used it for cooking. They are great! (it is so warm and beautiful with a big fire in it) - R
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