{"id":5373,"date":"2013-09-18T12:06:15","date_gmt":"2013-09-18T11:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jameswhelanbutchers.com\/info\/?p=5373"},"modified":"2014-08-06T15:46:03","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T14:46:03","slug":"misplaced-worry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jameswhelanbutchers.com\/info\/5373\/misplaced-worry\/","title":{"rendered":"James Whelan Butchers: Misplaced Worry"},"content":{"rendered":"

We worry far too much.\u00a0 Even if there are no more hazards for humans today, we seem to believe the environment has become extremely dangerous.\u00a0 With all our progress, life has become more deadly at every turn and we are constantly inventing things and ways to protect ourselves from ourselves.\u00a0 Taking a cursory glance at the world of the parent and child the safety \u2018stuff\u2019 needed in this century is phenomenal.\u00a0 (Now I\u2019m not against safety, I\u2019m merely making an observation.)<\/p>\n

When I compare my childhood to that of my own children I\u2019m blown away.\u00a0 Believe it or not we had electricity when I was a child and yet I never remember those little plastic socket covers that are now part of every home.\u00a0 I had a bike, but have to admit to never\u00a0owning a cycling helmet!\u00a0 Our home was devoid of window locks that today are used as much to keep kids in as they are to keep thieves out.\u00a0 We spent summers outside on the farm, at the beach, playing in the fields and I never remember being slathered in sun screen and insect repellant before I left the house.\u00a0 You only needed protection from the sun in foreign countries when I was a kid and you just had to put up with the bugs.\u00a0 I could go on and on with a thousand more examples, but I will stop and get to the point.<\/p>\n

\"Healthy<\/p>\n

What I\u2019ve really noticed is that we effectively wrap our children in bubble wrap in order to protect them on the outside and, ironically, we take no responsibility for abusing their insides by feeding them overly processed, nutrient poor food!\u00a0 There, I\u2019ve said it.\u00a0 While I\u2019m obviously all for safety, we seem to have lost perspective.\u00a0 The food we feed our children today is what creates a healthy adult in the future.\u00a0 All the cycling helmets in the world won\u2019t protect their little organs from too much salt and sugar.\u00a0 You can have the best\u00a0car seat in the kingdom, but it won\u2019t ensure healthy bones or strong teeth.\u00a0 While we could be arrested and fined for allowing them into a car without a seatbelt, I can feed them junk food every day with impunity.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m probably more aware of it this week with all the back to school people bustling around.\u00a0 Breakfasts and the filling of lunchboxes are both back at the top of our agendas along with the angst ridden hot meal when the hungry little critters come in from school.\u00a0 Kids themselves also have some adjusting to do.\u00a0 In my house during the chaotic days of the summer, drinks and food were readily available all the time.\u00a0 There were regular play breaks for a drink and a snack.\u00a0\u00a0 In the classroom they\u00a0don\u2019t have the luxury of running to the kitchen when the energy levels dip.<\/p>\n

So how can we ensure that our children are eating healthy food?\u00a0 Alas, the only way you can truly know what is in your food is to cook it yourself, at least most of the time.\u00a0 Now there is this great myth that cooking is a gift rather than a skill you can learn and cooking from scratch is time consuming.\u00a0\u00a0 It needn\u2019t be that way at all.\u00a0 Get some balance and keep it simple.\u00a0 This is family food, no one is asking you to become an award winning chef and do something creative with black squid ink and a durian fruit.<\/p>\n

\"Beef<\/p>\n

Just get back to basics.\u00a0 We need to feed our families with nutritious and healthy food and do it everyday on a budget.\u00a0 Have a system.\u00a0 Plan the weekly meals; look for great offers, buy fresh produce and freeze excess if necessary and try to eat in season.\u00a0 Remember that inexpensive cuts of meat taste just as good as long as they are cooked properly.\u00a0 While much of this is about planning in advance, of course life happens, and so it is also good to have a few fast but nutritious meals in your repertoire.\u00a0 Indeed sometimes fastcooking is about assembly rather than lots of cooking.\u00a0 Take a home made burger for example.\u00a0 Run them up the night before and cooking them the next day is a breeze.\u00a0 Load them up with onions, grated cheese and bacon bits in a bun and you have a delicious meal that looks like a major treat.\u00a0 Shop bought flour tortillas are a great addition to the store cupboard for quick and handy Irish take on a Mexican quesadilla or wrap when the kids come in from school.\u00a0\u00a0 Rather than buying chicken goujons, nuggets or fish fingers you will be amazed at how easy it is to make your own.\u00a0 I agree it is a little messy with the flour and egg and breadcrumb routine, but getting your fingers a little dirty is hardly difficult.<\/p>\n

Try honing your skills with the more traditional meals such as cottage pies, stews and casseroles.\u00a0 These are great one pot meals that will feed an army.\u00a0 They have stood the test of time and there are plenty of recipes out there with little twists on a favourite to kick it up a level or two in the taste department.\u00a0 And finally I would say to you use your local green grocer, butcher and fish monger.\u00a0 Each is expert in their field.\u00a0 They\u2019ll advise on how best to cook and work with certain foods and, in many cases, they will also take a great deal of the preparation out of it.\u00a0 For example, take burgers, most craft butchers prepare them from scratch on site.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t visited a butcher recently I encourage you to take another look and you\u2019re always welcome at James Whelan Butchers in Oakville Shopping Centre.\u00a0 For the rest of this school year let\u2019s protect our insides as much as we do our outsides.\u00a0 You know it makes sense.<\/p>\n

This post was written by me, Pat Whelan, owner of James Whelan Butchers and a passionate advocate of local artisan food. My family have been producing quality Irish Angus beef for generations using a traditional dry aging process. This tradition is one that I continue to practice at our abattoir on our family farm in Garrentemple, Clonmel. These posts aim to impart some of the wisdom to readers and help them get the best out of the meat they eat! Our meat is available\u00a0online here!<\/a>\u00a0I welcome your feedback to\u00a0Pat@jwb.ie<\/a><\/p>\n

We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of \u00a0James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin.\u00a0Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We worry far too much.\u00a0 Even if there are no more hazards for humans today, we seem to believe the environment has become extremely dangerous.\u00a0 With all our progress, life has become more deadly at every turn and we are constantly inventing things and ways to protect ourselves from ourselves.\u00a0 Taking a cursory glance at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[134,200,541,354,538,48,47,539,540],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n