loving your body
Loving to Cook
Serving up the basics with a sharp knife
By Mark Arellano and Camilla Mortensen
Is it possible to have a healthy kitchen if you lack time and money? UO graduate student Kim Mikkelsen thinks so. With the right utensils and tools, healthy cooking is a snap.
Mikkelsen grew up in a rural area of Denmark where self-sustainability is key and people eat organically produced foods. “It’s important to eat organically. I know it can be difficult for some people supporting themselves, but to strive for a healthy intake of food is important,” Mikkelsen said.
If you aren’t planning to go to Scandinavia for your sustainable foods, try Sundance Natural Foods, an organic and mostly locally grown products store. Owner Gavin McComas has many things to say about the essential basics of healthy cooking and eating. “Growing sprouts is healthy and they’re very important to eat,” McComas said. “For people on the go, like students, pastas, soups and rice are ideal because their cooking time is not time consuming.”
And, of course, there are many great fruits and vegetables that you can incorporate into healthy and fun meals. Squashes, red onions and purple cabbages are good ingredients to put into dishes to add flavor and zest. Beans, oats and grains are also simple and delicious items that are fast and easy to cook up and serve.
Hartwick’s, located in the Fifth Street Public Market, is one place to go for utensils for cooking that healthy food. Mikkelsen is very keen on good kitchen items to prepare and cook his food in. “Good pans and utensils equate to good food. You should feel good in your own kitchen,” he said. “If you don’t have a sharp knife, that’s depressing.”
Store owner Lisa Hartwick stocks a dazzling array of kitchenware so there’s lots to choose from. Go for quality; with one good pot and one good pan you can easily put together a healthy meal. Follow the same principle for knives. With a good chef’s knife, paring knife and bread knife, you are well on your way. Spending a little more money at the outset will help you save later, when you don’t have to keep replacing cheap knives and bad pans.
Hartwick’s also offers solutions for the byproducts of your cooking, like a compost pail. It’s a little silver bucket that sits by your sink. You toss in the food scraps, and the filter keeps the smells away until you’re ready to take the organic matter outside to compost for your garden. Outfitting your kitchen with these foods and tools keeps your body happy and shows your love — for you and for the planet.
loving your body 2008
Healthy Substance Abuse Wining and dining your way to a healthy heart
Healthy Food On the Run Fast but not costly to your body
Mantra for Stress Relief Calm down the monkey mind!
Come On, Feel the Noise Plug and play
Clean Up and Rub It In! Yummy smells from Fridays at the Farm
Loving to Cook Serving up the basics with a sharp knife
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519