I Quit Sugar for Life (15 page)

CLEVER TIP: I always re-use my zip-locks. I wash in soapy water, turn inside out and stick them to my kitchen window to dry. Genius!

THIS FINAL CODE IS A CULMINATION OF MOST OF THE STUFF THAT’S COME BEFORE IT.
Cooking empowers us to live how we want to live,
unencumbered by addiction and low-brow choices. It enables wellness. Author and food activist Michael Pollan says, ‘Not cooking breeds helplessness, dependence and
ignorance.’

The way we cook can empower us even further. These simple techniques, which we’ll be using throughout the recipe section of this book, ensure we waste less and maximise
dense nutrition. They allow us to live well with less restriction and more flow. And without sugar.

There’s often no need to go out and buy special equipment. Work with what you’ve got. That said, if you do wish to invest in a few bits of equipment, I recommend the
following:

▶
An electric slow cooker
These things are super-cheap. It doesn’t have to be a big one (mine is a 4.5-litre model, and
easily makes 6-8 portions). Make sure you get one with a timer though. Sadly, I didn’t!

▶
A stick blender or ‘stab-mixer’
These are sold individually or as part of a blender ensemble.

▶
A high-powered blender
Expensive, but key to making green smoothies. I use mine every day.

▶
BPA-free freezer containers
I explain further over on page 50.

Why? Because it ticks off so many Wellness Code boxes. Slow-cooking preserves enzymes in meat and vegetables because we cook at low temperatures and it extracts the cartilage,
marrow and minerals (denser nutrition!). It demands the use of economical cuts of meat that can be otherwise discarded – shanks, neck, shins, cheeks and chuck – as these are the best
cuts to slow-cook. Plus, because this ‘slow ’n’ low’ approach extracts so much flavour from any meat used, you can use less of it, ‘fleshing’ things out with
cheap veggies and starches.

Why an electric slow cooker?
First, it’s the ultimate one-step, one-pot wonder. You just chuck everything in and press a button.
Second, it uses about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb and about one-third the CO
₂
of an oven. And, since you leave it on during the day, it’s using power from the
grid at a low-demand time.

If you don’t have a slow cooker,
you can use a heavy-based casserole pot instead. Or a cast-iron casserole on the stovetop or in the oven. You’ll
need to add extra liquid (about double) if you do, and reduce the cooking time from 8 hours (on low) or 4 hours (on high) to 1–2 hours.

The recipes in this book are designed to be one-pot wonders with three steps or less in as many cases as possible. I actively encourage you to cheat further:

▶
Use your blender as a mixing bowl.
Do any grating, whipping or pureeing first, then add the remaining ingredients directly
into the blender to stir with a spoon or lightly blend.

▶
Cook pasta and rice in your sauce
to save pots. I realise this is hardly elegant, but for midweek meals, why not? A 1:1
pasta-to-sauce ratio is best (1:2 rice-to-sauce). Add more if your sauce is particularly chunky. Cook for the same time as you would normally.

▶
Use an overproof pan.
Sometimes dishes require sautéing on the stovetop
then
placing in a new dish
then
placing under a grill or in the oven for browning. Streamline things by cooking in an ovenproof pan or casserole dish and transferring the one dish around the kitchen.

▶
Use a double steamer.
Or a steaming colander over a saucepan, and boil your starchy vegetables, or even your casserole or
soup, on the bottom while steaming your greens up top. Just watch it doesn’t boil over.

The average Australian tosses out 20% of their weekly shop. The waste kills me. The claim that many of us can’t afford good food also kills me when the painfully obvious
thing to do is to cut costs by cutting waste. Catch my simple drift? For leftover ideas, flick to Brilliant Leftovers, page 187.

LET’S TRY THIS

COOKING WITH A SLOW COOKER

A few things to bear in mind:

▶
Cook in bulk.
Slow cookers work best when filled to two-thirds of capacity. If that’s more than you need, freeze the
leftovers.

▶
The order matters.
Put your densest veggies on the bottom. Place your meat on top of the veggies. Sauces over the top of that.
Soft veg, like courgettes and peas, should be added in the last 30 minutes. Ditto dairy and seafood.

▶
Don’t check on the pot once it’s started cooking.
You’ll only extend the cooking time if you lift the lid and
let moisture and heat escape. If you have to open it (to add ingredients), whack it on high for 20 minutes.

▶
And if the final product is too runny,
just add a tablespoon or two of arrowroot, cornflour or chia seeds to thicken it out. Or
reserve some of the juices and use as a lovely, rich stock in other dishes.

▶
Skip the pre-brown step when slow-cooking.
It does add extra caramelisation, but I find enough flavour is drawn from the
slow-cooking itself.

HONESTLY, MY GO-TO ADVICE WHEN ANYONE ASKS ME TO SHARE THE SMARTEST THING I DO: BULK-BUY ’N’ FREEZE.

I buy up when a product is in season (when it’s cheap and abundant), prepare it in bulk (saving time) and then freeze it ready to use later. Besides the obvious
environmental and economic savings, there’s this:

A FULL FREEZER IS MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT THAN AN EMPTY ONE.

Why? Because solids freeze at a lower temperature than air, requiring less electricity.

LET’S TRY THIS

FRIDGE SURPRISE

Open your fridge and see what’s in there. Create a meal around what you find. The ultimate challenge: not to buy anything extra. Use substitutes if you have to. Draw on
your freezer stash. If you happen to love the result, feel free to share it with me on instagram (@_sarahwilson_) with the hashtag #fridgesurprise.

Use cookbooks or recipe apps that list things based on the ingredient (I love Stephanie Alexander’s
The Cook’s Companion
for this). If you have two
aubergines, look up recipes that are aubergine-based.

BULK-BUY ’N’ FREEZE

Buy up the following in large amounts when they’re in season:

▶
Avocados
. Purée with coconut water and/or coconut cream and a little lime juice. Freeze in ice-lolly moulds to eat as
lollies or to pop out and blend with some extra greens to make a nutritious smoothie. Feel free to replace the lime with raw cacao for a choc version.

▶
Lemons and limes.
Juice and freeze in ice-cube trays ready for smoothies.

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Onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes
. Dice and freeze ready for soups and casseroles.

▶
Courgettes.
Dice and freeze, as above, or grate and freeze in ice-cube trays ready to pop out and use to ‘dense
out’ meat dishes, omelettes or soup.

▶
Kale, Swiss chard, broccoli.
Par-Cook ’n’ Freeze as per page 51. You can also purée them and freeze in
ice-cube trays ready to pop into smoothies.

▶
Cauliflower.
Par-Cook ’n’ Freeze or grate raw (to make cauliflower ‘rice’) and freeze ready to make
Cauliflower ‘Fried Rice’ (
here
) or my cauliflower pizza base (
here
).

▶
Beetroot.
Par-Cook ’n’ Freeze as per page 51.

▶
Pumpkin and sweet potato.
Again Par-Cook ’n’ Freeze, purée (as per page 51) ready to bulk out meals and to
make Sweet Potato Casserole (
here
) and Snickery Pumpkin Mud Smoothie (
here
).

▶
Mince.
Make a batch of mince into meatballs or patties and freeze, uncooked, ready to make my Deconstructed Hamburger (see
here
).

▶
Egg Whites.
Freeze each white in an ice-cube tray. Then transfer to a freezer container. Make sure you thaw them completely
before using – they’ll beat better at room temperature.

▶
Egg Yolks.
Gelation causes the yolks to thicken, becoming too gluggy to use when frozen, so whisk ⅛ teaspoon salt or
1½ teaspoons rice malt syrup per 4 yolks.

▶
Bacon.
It can be a chore to fry up if you’re only using it for flavouring (as I often do). Dice and cook a pack in one
go, ready to crumble on top of soups or add to eggs.

▶
Fresh herbs.
See
here
.

▶
Whole berries
. Place in the freezer ready for smoothies (no need to use ice).

▶
Nuts and seeds
. Store in the freezer. They keep fresher this way and won’t go rancid. Better still, activate them and
then freeze.

KNOW HOW LONG TO FREEZE YOUR FOOD

As far as food safety is concerned, freezing food for any length of time is safe. However, flavour and visuals can be compromised.

▶
Meat soups:
2 months.

▶
Vegetable soups:
3 months.

▶
Par-Cooked ’n’ Frozen vegetables:
3–6 months. Generally they don’t need to be defrosted prior to
cooking, although some leafy green vegetables are much easier to separate if defrosted a little bit first.