The Culinary Affection

The host, Seth LaCroix, discusses his journey into cooking and the importance of healthy eating. He mentions his mother's cooking, which he found to be unappetizing, and how he learned to cook through watching cooking shows. He then talks about the concept of a healthy meal and how it has evolved from the food pyramid to a plate model. He questions the trustworthiness of the government's dietary recommendations and mentions different types of diets. Seth emphasizes the importance of a healthy mindset and long-term goals when it comes to eating. He suggests picturing a desired physical outcome, like a bodybuilder's physique, to guide food choices. He concludes by teasing next week's episode, which will focus on specific dishes to cook on a daily basis. Welcome to this episode of the Culinary Affection. Today, we're talking about the Beginner's Guide to Healthy Cooking and Healthy Eating. I'm your host, Seth LaCroix, home chef and self-taught gastronomic aficionado, where we say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Unless you're a chef, then just turn down the stove. So, my culinary journey began at the young age of just six years old, where my mom taught me the basics of cooking and also how to navigate my way around the kitchen. And boy, let me tell you, was I ever so glad that she did. Not only because it gave me the love for cooking that I have today, but also because, and I really hate to say this, sorry mom, my mom was surprisingly a horrible cook. She was obsessed with healthy eating, and she used to make these gross things like beef tongue, sliced really thick, and baked brussels sprouts on the side, and liver with no onion. When I was growing up, we didn't have the plethora of cooking channels, like the Food Network, or Tastemade, and all those other good cooking channels that I'm so infatuated with today. But we did have cooking shows, like The French Chef, with Julius Tso, and Grand Brier of the Galloping Gourmet, and also Cooking Mexican with Rick Bailey, which I started watching at an early age. So, with the basics that my mom taught me, along with the professional methods I learned by watching TV, I was able to combine the two methods of cooking together and develop my own cooking ability. So, I guess I can say thanks mom. Thank you very much. Today, we can talk about not only how to eat healthy, but also how to cook with flavor, and make what you cook taste really, really good. Where do we start? I guess the best place to start on this culinary journey is to define what is a healthy meal. I know all y'all probably remember back in grade school when the USTA had that food pyramid, you know, the little triangular thing, and it was, what, yellow on top, and green in the middle, and blue at the bottom. I guess the pyramid was just that, a pyramid scheme. If I remember correctly, the bottom of the pyramid was filled with 6 to 11 servings of pure carbs, a ketogenic ultimate nightmare. Luckily, above that, it had 3 to 5 servings of vegetables, and then 2 to 3 servings of fruit, I think, on the next level. And then, of course, you had your proteins, your fats, your oils. And then, at the very, very top, they had sweets at the very triangular point in the pyramid. Of course, if you go to the USDA site today, you'll see that the pyramid has been totally obliterated and replaced with a picture of a plate. Do we even trust the government today? Especially the U.S. government? It seems like people who live in other countries live longer and are healthier than us here in the U.S. But you think about it, there's so many different kinds of diet. You have the Mediterranean diet, the Dunkin' diet, the Paleolithic diet, the South Beach diet, the Atkins diet, and don't even get me started on the different culinary denominations. Flexitarian, pescatarian, vegetarian, carnivore, and believe it or not, the neurodegenerative delay diet, also known as the MIND diet. Mind the Gap. Where do you even start? I always say, when in doubt, just add more butter. By the way, do you know what happens when you eat too many SpaghettiOs? You have a vowel movement. Ooooooh. Seriously though, where do you start? You know, I guess the first place is to eliminate the word diet from your vocabulary, as in dieting to lose weight, and think more in terms of lifestyle. And think more in terms of lifestyle. Healthy eating and healthy cooking all start with a mindset of eating to live, rather than living to eat. In other words, have long-term goals and a mental picture of how we would like our lives to be in the future. And that way, it can dictate the type of food that we put in our mouths today or on a daily basis. You know, I know it sounds a little silly, but try to picture in your mind what a famous bodybuilder, let's say Arnold Schwarzenegger, would like to look in their prime. And then, gear your food choices based on that mental picture. That way, we eat with function and purpose instead of just stuffing our face with whatever we can find that's close by. That would be like eating like a caveman, which is a diet, by the way, and surprisingly a healthy one, too. I digress. Thanks for listening. Join us next week when we'll get into the meat and potatoes of actual dishes you can start to cook on a daily basis. I'm your host, Cecil McCroy, and this has been The Culinary Affection. © transcript Emily Beynon