Ellie Krieger: Food is Your Friend
CBN.com In Ellie’s world, no ingredient is off-limits. She says the minute someone tells her she can’t have something, suddently she wants it 10 times more. Ellie says a lot of foods frequently found on people’s banned lists can make food taste really good. Most people think the words luscious and healthy can’t be used in the same sentence.
“I can hardly blame them since many foods billed as ‘good for you’ are either boring – dry broiled fish and plain steamed vegetables – or a lame replica of what we really want,” says Ellie.
She says food gives pleasure, helps you unwind, brings you together with friends and family, and is one of life’s great joys. But food can also provoke feelings of guilt, stress, and frustration.
Instead of forbidding use of certain food items, Ellie came up with the Usually-Sometimes-Rarely philosophy for all of her recipes.
Usually foods are the backbone of each recipe and the cornerstone of a healthy diet: colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, beans, nuts, low-fat dairy, and healthy oils.
Sometimes foods are more refined, like regular pasta, white flour, sugar or some cuts of red meat. “They are not the healthiest, but boy, can they make a meal more crave-able,” says Ellie.
Rarely foods are off limits to most nutritionists, like butter, full-fat cheese, bacon, and cream. Ellie uses these rarely foods strategically so you get the most flavor punch out of them but the recipe is still healthy.
She says that her philosophy is not a diet plan at all. “DIET is a four-letter word,” she says. “People either diet and avoid eating certain foods then binge eat. This allows you to get off the horrible diet roller coaster and have a peaceful relationship with food.”
She says the same old way of eating often means quantity over quality.
“It makes us a slave to our taste buds at the expense of our bodies,” says Ellie. “When we try to be virtuous, we are so dissatisfied and deprived that we are bound to burst into overindulgence. Maybe worst of all, we often eat so mindlessly that even our taste buds don’t have their moment, so we leave the table stuffed but not content.”
Ellie’s recipes prove to the world that cooking healthy food can be quick, easy, and most of all delicious. Ellie’s recipes are fast and simple and are designed to help you live and eat well, no matter how busy or stressful your life may be. Filling your kitchen with fresh, real ingredients is the starting point. Fresh vegetables, ripe berries, creamy yogurt, tangy buttermilk, and heady spices are just a few.
“You will have the highest quality convenience food at your fingertips so you can whip up a delightful meal even on the busiest days,” she says.
As a true lover of food and a registered dietitian, Ellie says to get people to eat well, don’t say a word about health. “Just cook fantastic food for them. It just happens to be good for them, too.”
Ellie graduated with a Masters degree in Nutrition from Columbia University. She did her undergraduate work at Cornell University and was an adjunct professor at New York University in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health.
