My Meals

We have added a third section to the program called My Meals. Create recipes for your meal in My Recipes and save them. If you want to include cooked vegetables such as boiled spinach, add this as  a recipe too. And if you want a drink such as cup of tea, create a recipe for tea.

Now go to My Meals and add the recipes to create the meal. Save it and look at the nutritional information which shows the nutrients that are needed for a meal which can supply 30% of your daily intake. Remember that we eat throughout the day, so a meal is only a guideline but it can show if the meal is high in fat, sugar and salt and if you could improve any of the nutritional value by changing your recipes.

Here is the link to the resource mealanalysis which is a short introduction to help you get started.

Guild of Food Writers Awards

 I went to the Guild of Food Writers Awards last night, 25th June 2009, and watched as a massive range of food writers and journalists won awards. Makes you realise what a huge amount of people are involved in the food industry, and it frustrates me how little schools and the curriculum appreciate the job opportunities.
The award for a young writer was won by Justin Gruss from Dorset, who is still at school and won himself a laptop. A great start to a young man who hopes to write a cook book and go on to greater things.
Heston won the best food book, and I managed to get through the crush of excited people waiting to congratulate him. He was genuinely surprised to win this award, and it is amazing that he can manage to run restaurants, do TV programs and write such a huge amount of material. Kitchen Chemistry is a book and CD on my website which has some fascinating science to use in the classroom.

Blogs had their own awards and the winner was Tim Hayward for his blog on The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth

School Meals Nutritional Analysis

From September 2009, the schools meals served in secondary and special schools will have to meet nutritional standards. It is easy to check that primary school meals meet the criteria, but secondary schools are much more complicated. You can see the support that is offered if you visit the School Food Trust website. We, at the Nutrition Program are taking a simpler approach. We are adding a menu analysis to our program which will meet the criteria for the School Food Trust nutritional standards.

You can see the details on this link. BUT there are problems with all the data that can be analysed.

1. Food labels show fibre, but it is AOAC fibre not NSP fibre as required by the Trust.
2. Many modern food products do not have data on calcium, vitamins and zinc content, so these nutrients cannot be calculated until such information is supplied. However, being able to see if the meal is healthy is a good thing and you will be able to do this through our program.

As ever, I believe that things should be kept simple – so you can put one meal in, see the results and then make it more healthier if needed. This helps all cooks with their planning – get one thing right and then progress.

30 user school account.

We have recently removed the student, individual and 30 user student account.

The reason is we have decided to invest a lot of money in improving the Nutrition Program to ensure we get the most out of the latest technologies as well as keeping the program up to date with ingredients and nutritional data, therefore it is no longer economical for us to sell the small user accounts. Subjects such as Science, PSHE, Sport and Catering can use the program for their qualifications which could help share the subscription cost.

To view the current subscription options, please click here.

Tea with Marguerite Patten

Marguerite Patten signing books

Marguerite Patten’s Cookery in Colour was my first cookery book and I used it for all my cooking exams in the 1960’s. Yesterday I visited her at her home and got it signed. Marguerite is as busy as ever, and at 93 years old, she regularly contributes to BBC discussion programs on current food issues. We talked about the challenges of cooking in war time, and all the changes in equipment and ingredients that came during the following years.

Marguerite gave me a copy of A Century of British Cooking, since I want to write a memoir of teaching in London schools in the 1970s and 80s. She has written an astonishing 170 books, which makes my 60 titles seem like a starter. Marguerite worked on the launch of the new pressure cookers which saved fuel in the 1950s – interesting how many things are becoming topical today. She demonstrated the Kenwood Chef when it was invented, and promoted many of the food initiatives in the 50s and 60s – using more wholemeal flour, the soft margarines for cake making.

We talked of offal – Awful Offal my students called it- and remembered stuffed hearts, liver and bacon, and grilled kidneys. Marguerite is involved with many of today’s food initiatives, and believes that food should be well cooked and delicious. We sat down to a tea of smoked salmon sandwiches and asparagus rolled in brown bread with cream cheese, followed by homemade fruit cake.

Marguerite is an inspiration to anyone wanting to learn to cook, or write about food. So optimistic, generous and hard working, with a database of stories and memories. Long may she continue to share her memories and sensible opinions on the food we eat. And I hope soon to take her to Bills in Lewes to see the wonderful displays of fresh, local, seasonal ingredients that she is so passionate about. Jenny Ridgwell