Food Tricks for Stocking the Kitchen

The first two food shopping tricks will be familiar to most lovers of high quality foods. The third is a core part of the skinny gourmet mentality.

Three Core Food "Tricks"

• Buy Fresh
  
• Buy High Quality
  
• Splurge Intelligently

Cutting all high fat foods out of your diet is a mistake. The great secret of thin people who enjoy food is moderation. One important facet of building a life-long delicious and healthy relationship with food is knowing which health splurges are worth it. This may be slightly different for everyone, depending on your tastes, but this is a general guideline:

• The food is very high in taste for a small amount
  
• The taste of the real deal is vastly and appreciably better than a lower fat or lower calorie version

For me these items include olives, chocolate, butter, spices, and some cheeses. Note that this evaluation will vary depending on your tastes and also on the dish in question. I never eat low quality cheeses and have moved away from certain kinds of cheese that I find low taste. For me, I have to use so much Colby cheese in a dish or sandwich before I can taste it that it is never worth the inclusion. Similarly, I will no longer eat regular deli cheddar because the taste is so small. On the other hand, gourmet eating is focused on deeply enjoying the particular tastes of food, and often that includes cultivating an appreciation for very subtle flavors.