That's my little brother William on the cover with me!

If  your parents are thinking you should learn to be food savvy  - here is the thing I have co-wrtten a book for parents  with my mother.  My mother looks at the serious things ( nutrition, self esteem, eating too much junk food, food skills etc )  - I bring her back to earth so she remembers how kids think and operate…Together we have something that is really realistic!

 Life love food kids is a book is about a couple of journeys…

 There is my mother’s food journey – from when she was a little girl to now. It’s about what happens when childhood memories, the science of nutrition and the teaching of cooking get mixed up with family and life. 

 My part in her journey is about me getting ready to leave home and wanting to know enough about food so that I can look after myself. 

My favorite saying is ‘a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step’. This is really true about food – each time I have learnt a fact or how to do something has been a step towards my independence.

I think the lessons from our differing perspectives will help your parent to  help you travel along the same path as I have. It feels good to know I know enough about food to take good care of myself. 

Claire

PS – it will be on sale in about 4 weeks – watch this space!

Just had to share that I have done my first half marathon… as you probably know I love sport but this is the first time i have tried this sort of thing and it feels GREAT to have done it!! ( I’m not showing you a photo cos I looked so hot and sweaty!!)

This really tests my new 20/20 tricks…… 20/20 food and 20/20 move!  I’ve  had such good feedback on my blog with my 20/20 trick that I have thought up another related to moving… ( not that the marathon was only 20%  more than usual  - it’s amazing what you think about on a long run!!??)

20/20 food = take 20% more fruit and vegetables and 20% less everything else.

20/20 move = move 20% more and spend 20% less time sitting on your butt!!

What do you think????

Saturday night and I had 10 girls over for dinner so I decided a roast of beef is the way to go because once I worked out how long to cook it for all I have to do is shove it in the oven and let it go.

No effort by me so I could relax with my friends… We  watched the All Blacks beat France in the Rugby World Cup – I was so impressed with  my cooking buddy Richard Kahui  - a star of the game!!! (he’s the All Black I did a series of cooking programs with on the Small Blacks)

Timing was the key for my meal  - and the only bit I had to pay attention was is weighing the meat (or reading the label to see what it weighs) and doing a quick bit of maths. My roast was a topside cut, it weighed 1.2kg and I like it rare, but I think some of my friends will prefer it medium so I  cooked it at 160^oC  for  1 hour and 15 minutes then rested it for 10 minutes before I cut it.  Here’s the link to get detailed roasting info . There is a chart which shows you  how long and how hot  - but relax – this was a doddle!!

I knew my vegetables (a mix of potatoes, gold kumara (sweet potato), yams, onions and peppers)  were going to take around 45 minutes to cook so I added them 45 minutes before the end of cooking. I didn’t muck around with  hot green vegetables or gravy (which is seriously easy but I wanted something a little different) so I just served the meat on a bed of leafy greens and drizzled it with some quince dressing which was totally yummy!

For starters I offered a choice of stuffed mushrooms (with pesto, a slice of tomato and  camembert cheese) or crustini topped with avocado and smoked salmon.

I wanted to honor the French  so I made  some creme brulee - but they knocked us out of the Rugby World Cup last time so I didn’t want to honor them too much!!! The creme brulees tasted stunning, I served them with fresh strawberries and they were perfect.

So all in all – a dinner for 10 was easy – I got into the kitchen at about 4.30 and had the food totally sorted, the table set and all under control before any of my friends arrived. My advice if you are cooking for a crowd – pick simple and easy food (like roast beef)  that you can prepare in advance and take attention to your timing.

PS:  I really want to help my Canadian friends because the All Blacks verse Canada  this coming  Saturday night – and you might be in trouble on the Rugby field – so this is my way of keeping you out of trouble in the kitchen!!! So for special Beef Canada help follow this… there is a short  little video that gives you a few valuable tips…

hey it’s so easy  - hadn’t thougth about  the size of your fist or the smaller plates tips before but all makes good sense to me….. give these a go…

• Drink water before a meal.   I certainly know if I drink water before or with a meal I feel like eating a little less

• Avoid food portions larger than your fist. -  easy to remember this one – its often not what you eat – but how much

• Eat off smaller plates- playing mind tricks will work!

• Eat before grocery shopping – hahaha I KNOW this is a good idea!

• Choose a checkout line without a candy display – yep remove the temptation!?

If you want more tips the following link has some really cool things you can do… ( without  much effort !!)  I love their line – eat well, move more!! I think I might make that my motto!!

Eat Well and Move More Tip Sheet  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/downloads/tips.pdf

PS: MOVE MORE…  take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator/lift – if you made this your policy just imagine what a difference it would cumulatively make…. I want to stay fit and look good –  stairs are for me!!

Last week I was in Wellington for filming on Good Morning to show some easy recipes kids can make form Who’s Cooking Tonight? … apart from when I said I  like to chop it in, chuck it up ( when I meant chop it up chuck it in???!!!) the interview went well – have a look at how I  make my honey roasted beef and vegie salad – it is so so yummy!

At the risk of nagging… if you live in New Zealand and you go to school can you please vote for Who’s Cooking Tonight???!!!! – need a bit of help to stay ahead of a sheep , a dog and a hole…. how sad it that!!? so if you like that you have seen… vote here ( you will go in the draw to win $500 for you and $500 for your school library)

Thanks  … and be sure to give me some feedback about new ideas that you have…  I’m starting to collect recipes for a new book …

WOW… Who’s Cooking Tonight? is one of five  finalists in the non-fiction category of the highly prestigious NZ Post Children’s Book Award.This award is for books which present well-authenticated data, with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and style

This is amazing- we  don’t think there has been a food book to make this before so that makes it even more special and I THINK I am the youngest author!!??! Sorry to blow my trumpet – but this is a biggie!!

There is an a category of Children’s Choice – so please please please vote for the book!  vote on line (Thanks!!)

Girlfriend magazine has named the young NZ list  - Young, Awesome and Kiwi As!!! – and guess what …  I am on it! Along with cool names like Shannon Ryan, Gin Wigmore, Brooke Fraser and Maria Tutaia – they say we are successful, inspiring young Kiwis who are remarkable and doing this country proud in their unique way!!!  How cool is that!???