Recently in Food Category

I'm lucky enough to live not only with a fantastic cook, but also one who cares passsionately about the food we eat and how it is grown and transported (and it's the same person!).  Not everyone lives with Sophie (our house just isn't big enough), so not everyone is constantly bombarded with facts about food miles, chemicals and animal welfare.  As I said, I'm lucky.

I'm also very lucky enough to earn enough to buy organic food at Sainsbury's.  Not everyone can do this, and because people have constant financial pressure, it's understandable that people want their two biggest and most important costs - mortgages and food - to be as low as possible, and they're always looking to save money. I can see why people think that cheap food - however it is produced - is a bargain. 

But if you're a triathlete, you'll know that cheap isn't always best. You really do get what you pay for.  And if you're willing to spend £1,000 on a bike to make you glide up hills, and £20 on a pair of goggles to help you see more easily, shouldn't you be interested in putting good things into your body as well?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame recently been runing a campaign about chicken welfare, called "Chicken Out". He is trying to make people think about the chicken they buy and the life that the chicken has led for the 39 days from birth to death.   His TV show on Channel 4 has at times been shocking and very distressing. If you haven't seen it, please try to catch an episode or two.

Not the most auspicious start to my rigorous training schedule for Windsor Triathlon next year...

Sophie made us some glorious macaroni cheese with a rocket, red pepper and seed salad last night.  Sometimes the joy of her cooking is overwhelming - especially when I think I've been depriving yourself.  I got so excited by the cheese, the pasta, the tangy mustardy bits that I just didn't want to stop. 

So I didn't stop.

After the second helping of pasta was finished, I moved onto chocolate.    The chocolate was Green and Black's Almond chocolate, which is good on its own.  It's even better with a nice red, and we chose a wine that we'd brought back from a recent trip to Barcelona - Torres Atrium. 

Then after the first bottle I moved onto an Australian Shiraz.

Oh Dear God.  It's important to let your hair down from time to time, and the odd
reward certainly motivates me, but I think I might have overdone it this time.

 Perhaps I should add "self-control" to my training routine?