Cooking school for athletes

kingQuez

I don't know if such a thing exists, but has anyone ever heard of a cooking school that runs 3-7days of training, targeted at athletes or "practical" people? Any classes I've seen are seasonal and aimed at people who fancy themselves as the next Jamie or Nigella, and focus on types of food (italian, xmas puddings, baking) rather than a mix of dishes aimed at practical nutrition that you'd realistically cook in an evening (or weekend for reheating). I'd love to take a class sometime and learn some new stuff. Frankly the failure rate of trying new dishes from a recipe has me sticking to the standard bits I've been cooking for years.

RacoonQueen

I'd say the cooking and recipes forum would be your best bet

Sounds like you're looking for ''Cooking for Men''

Easiest things I do for reheating are curry (own recipe, healthy I guess), lasagne (made from scratch), spag bol, stir fry, cottage/shepherds pie...can all be made in batches, frozen and reheated.

And if I can make them and make them taste nice, then a man can too...

sconhome

In fairness that young fellow on the telly makes simple practical dishes. Seems big into pile it on, bung it in the oven for a while and feed an army. Jamie Oliver's early dishes are like that too.

There's a roast lamb shank in aubergine (Moroccan style?) that will feed you for a week. As RQ says the trick is to make a batch and eat through for a few days.

Mrs AKW makes a chicken & brocolli pie with crust that lasts for a couple of days lunches. Also Shepards pie 2/3 days. Boil a ham on Sunday, dinner and lunches / dinner for a few days. Make a stir fry from left over chicken / turkey. If you are going to the bother of cooking big on Sunday, cook bigger.

Like the old days where Sunday meals were stretched to Thursday

Krusty_Clown

The problem as I see it is that there are so many philosophies on what an athletes diet should consist of. Carbs/no carbs, low fat/high fat, Hi GI/Low GI, Gluten free, paleo, vegan, lactose free. You couldn't design a cookery course that would cater for each of these regimes. Still, you could probably do a round-robin, and alternate between each of the fads regimes and bring along a nutritionist who subscribes to each to do a talk. Sounds like a good business proposition. You should bring it to the Dragons Den!

pgibbo

Personally I find the thought of the same meal 2 days in a row off putting, never mind 3 or so days.

Different diets, etc shouldn't matter. Teach people how to cook veg, meat, fish and chicken properly - not the norm where most nutrients are left in the pot or steamer. Cover rice, quinoa and some other staples and most fads/diets are probably there in some form. After that people can experiment for themselves. Once you have the basics nailed, everything else should follow.

RQ could teach us how to make some GF desserts

RacoonQueen

pgibbo wrote: »

RQ could teach us how to make some GF desserts

I've nailed the pastry. Mince pies, lemon merengue pie, apple pie all on the way more often for me :cool:

edit: and chicken and ham pie..mmmm

Oryx

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

The problem as I see it is that there are so many philosophies on what an athletes diet should consist of. Carbs/no carbs, low fat/high fat, Hi GI/Low GI, Gluten free, paleo, vegan, lactose free. You couldn't design a cookery course that would cater for each of these regimes. Still, you could probably do a round-robin, and alternate between each of the fads regimes and bring along a nutritionist who subscribes to each to do a talk. Sounds like a good business proposition. You should bring it to the Dragons Den!

The last training week I went on the one and only chef had to provide meals cater to 15 people who were an assortment of the following diets (and the microwave was banned from her kitchen):
Vegetarian
Dairy free
Paleo
Gluten free
No mayonnaise
Normal meat-eating

I think I should look her up to do such a cookery course. :P

RacoonQueen

To me that would be easy, do one paleo meal (meaty and GF/mayonaise free) and one veggie meal.
Mix it up for people to make what they want.
I'm fairly fussy. Can't handle much dairy, can't have gluten, find mayo pretty rank.
Eating out is a bit of a pain...can I have a chicken burger without the bun, cheese and sauce...and no mashed potato and no cheese on my cauliflower and try not to drown my veg in butter :pac:

BTH

RacoonQueen wrote: »

To me that would be easy, do one paleo meal (meaty and GF/mayonaise free) and one veggie meal.
Mix it up for people to make what they want.
I'm fairly fussy. Can't handle much dairy, can't have gluten, find mayo pretty rank.
Eating out is a bit of a pain...can I have a chicken burger without the bun, cheese and sauce...and no mashed potato and no cheese on my cauliflower and try not to drown my veg in butter :pac:

I'll not go into the long list of stuff I can't have, but with wheat and dairy the main problems eating out is a nightmare.

Oryx

Triathletes are the League of Fussy Eaters alright. And yet most of us think nothing of scoffing gels and energy bars at race times. I sometimes wonder if that is part of the problem.

Krusty_Clown

pgibbo wrote: »

Different diets, etc shouldn't matter. Teach people how to cook veg, meat, fish and chicken properly - not the norm where most nutrients are left in the pot or steamer. Cover rice, quinoa and some other staples and most fads/diets are probably there in some form. After that people can experiment for themselves. Once you have the basics nailed, everything else should follow.

While I agree with you entirely, your list rules out pretty much everybody on a fad diet. But certainly, a well-balanced meal cooked properly should be the first port of call for most average athletes. Still think there's money to be made from the fad dieters though.

Oryx

BTH wrote: »

I'll not go into the long list of stuff I can't have, but with wheat and dairy the main problems eating out is a nightmare.

I know this is drifting into a different topic, but in line with what I just posted, do you find race nutrition a problem?

BTH

Oryx wrote: »

I know this is drifting into a different topic, but in line with what I just posted, do you find race nutrition a problem?

My issues are only a recent diagnosis, so I don't know yet. Gels have never agreed with me so I tend to use fairly sparingly. I'll be looking for an alternative in the new year to see if anything works. Now that I know what the main problem ingredients are I can narrow down the search a bit.

sconhome

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

While I agree with you entirely, your list rules out pretty much everybody on a fad diet. But certainly, a well-balanced meal cooked properly should be the first port of call for most average athletes. Still think there's money to be made from the fad dieters though.

With paleo being knocked now, butter & animal fats making a comeback there must be a new diet fad due alright.

I think I'll title my book 'Everything in Moderation' and make some common sense suggestions

Bambaata

Did anyone tune into Simon Wards webinar last night? The main think i got from it and am going to try put into practice are - some protein and some veg with every snack and meal and starchy veg (potatoes etc) only ever after exercise. Now to go shopping! Not easy finding veg that you can snack on!

It was a pretty basic presentation but its always good to be reminded that processed foods are to be avoided.

pgibbo

AKW wrote: »

With paleo being knocked now

Any links to this?

sconhome

pgibbo wrote: »

Any links to this?

I stumbled across an article the other day, will see if I can find it, tbh it came across as a failed attempt, so I was being tongue in cheek (a bit) about a new fad to come along, typically happens when people start to knock something there's an agenda somewhere.

Personally I find a paleo type or based diet works for me. I've mostly gone protein and low carbs with little or no processed stuff over the past year, cut dairy and wheat as far as possible and its works for me.

This past week due to laziness and work I've slipped, been eating bread, pasta & less focussed on diet, anecdotally I now feel wiped out, no energy and have a sinus infection.

Draw conclusions ?

woody1

cut out wheat a few years ago due to feeling crap all the time ( tried doctors , waste of time ) ..potentially placebo effect in relation to whatever it was that was originally wrong with me but it was the best i felt in years, and taking out wheat means that a lot of processed food gets the chop too
have fallen back into bad habits lately but have to get back to basics after xmas, christmas is an awkward time for it, have a recipe for gluten free xmas pudding though if anyone wants it..

RacoonQueen

Have made 6 puddings and 2 christmas cakes for our house over christmas...can't eat any of them...was going to make a pudding for myself and realised it would be a really bad idea...

Wheat went for me as a necessity, thought it would be hard and it was hard at first but now it's fine. Plenty of places offer gluten free stuff now and the two italians where I work do gluten free pasta which actually taste much nicer. Was never a big fan of pasta but love the gluten free stuff.

Hani Kosti

Add egg intolerance and welcome to my world
I usually go for a meat and salad (no dressing), sseems to be safe enough

BTH wrote: »

I'll not go into the long list of stuff I can't have, but with wheat and dairy the main problems eating out is a nightmare.

Krusty_Clown

AKW wrote: »

I stumbled across an article the other day, will see if I can find it, tbh it came across as a failed attempt, so I was being tongue in cheek (a bit) about a new fad to come along, typically happens when people start to knock something there's an agenda somewhere.

Why would anyone have an agenda against the paleo diet? Do you think the big food corporations are feeling threatened? Might have been this NHS article?

I'm a particular fan of Paleo Shoes - like running barefoot, except your feet are enclosed in chain mail (a material commonly available in the Paleolithic era). They weigh (and cost) a lot more than running shoes, but somehow they're just like running barefoot. and they're Paleo...

RacoonQueen

Did someone mention shoes??

sconhome

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Why would anyone have an agenda against the paleo diet? Do you think the big food corporations are feeling threatened? Might have been this NHS article?

Couldn't tell you.

Wasn't that particular article but the Scandinavian connection rings a bell. I'd say it's just somebody trying to justify research grants that spouts this kind of nay-saying rubbish.

First diet / way of eating that has made sense to me in a long time. Similar to the principles of the Hay diet I heard of 25 odd years ago

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I'm a particular fan of Paleo Shoes - like running barefoot, except your feet are enclosed in chain mail (a material commonly available in the Paleolithic era). They weigh (and cost) a lot more than running shoes, but somehow they're just like running barefoot. and they're Paleo...

^ this conversation you can take right back over to the A/R forum and stick it into the newly-arisen-barefoot-converts thread, I'm sure someone there will bite :rolleyes:

sconhome

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Did someone mention shoes??

Just this way madam....