So I'm one of those people who is always trying to start new hobbies, and once I get into something I spend way too much time researching, practicing, and trying to get really good at it. Well, during covid I got into a few new things, all of which I enjoy greatly, particularly smoking meat, making bread, sipping whiskey, and making cocktails. The problem is that each of those activities, while immensely enjoyable, are pretty unhealthy.

This might be a weird question, but does anyone have ideas for food related hobbies that are more nutritious in nature? I would like to shed a few pounds, and would like some food related activity to get excited about that actually promotes good health, as opposed to fatty meat, carbs, and booze. I thought about getting into gardening and growing some produce, but I don't have the time to start that from scratch right now.

Any ideas?

You don't have to eat the whole brisket or drink the whole bottle at once!

I'm about to get into making proper biltong.

HTownAg98 said:

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Pickles. Even sweeter style pickles are relatively good for you. And smoking meat can still be done; moderation is the key. I've lost 12 pounds over the last three weeks, mainly by eating less fast food and fewer carbs.

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Pickling for sure. But also canning in general- especially pressure canning- can be a great way to store foods for easy use later on.

You can start dehydrating things - beef jerky, banana chips, apple chips...homemade fruit rollups...

I feel like there are a lot of things you can do with fermentation that arent necessarily unhealthy. I would start with watching "Its Alive with Brad" on YouTube and see which, if any, catch your interest.

Not sure what your typical diet is, but just convert this energy and time into food prep and cooking. Do not buy anything processed, make it all at home. Salad dressings, sauces, salsas, marinades, smoke salt, smoke and grind your own spices, etc. Instead of buying chips bake sweet potatoes, make your own ice cream, including healthier options, make your own preserves. The list goes on, you can make cooking into as big of a hobby as you want.

Honestly I consider just straight up cooking a hobby for me, you have the ability to control how healthy a hobby it is depending on what you decide to cook. Cooking different kinds of foods, using different methods, get out of your comfort zone. Never had Indian or Thai food? Look up some recipes, see what you'd like to try. I've got a ton of cookbooks across a bunch of different cuisines and subjects. Got a smoker? Play around with making different things in there, you can smoke veggies to make salsa. Got a grill? Try grilling fresh veggies to make a salad with stuff you find at the farmers market. Hell, never been to a farmers market or a local butcher? Go check them out. Got a sous vide? Try making different stuff in there, I might use it to heat up a really thick steak, but I also use it to poach shrimp and fish. Some of my favorite veggies are roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts, get some char on them, don't just steam or boil those.

You say smoking is unhealthy. Well instead of smoking brisket, ribs, or a pork butt try smoking a whole chicken which is highly underrated in my opinion, or some fish.

If you want to drop some pounds I would focus on adding veggies to the diet, but you can play around with cooking them to make them taste awesome. A lot of the cuisine from Asia is full of veggies.

Got kids? Let them help out, instant family time.

To add to the smoking thing, smoked baked potatoes are excellent, though they do take a while at lower temps.

Drinking wine.

In moderation, very healthy, especially red wine with all the antioxidants and resveratrol.

Great ideas! Pickling is something I've never looked into but seems like a cool thing to try.

Chop wood and smoke chicken in real smoker

Start with refrigerator pickles. You don't have to worry about canning them; just pour on the brine and seasonings and leave them in the fridge until they are ready.

1) Start grilling more chicken and pork tenderloins on a gas grill. Takes like 5 extra minutes, and you can make great food. Some of my best recipes are grilled chicken or pork tenderloins.

2) Start perfecting some sides that are heathy you like. I love grilled mushrooms or sauteed (sparing amount of bacon fat) mushrooms, caprese salads, grilled / baked asparagus and brussels sprouts, and I cook with a ton of peppers of all kinds (partial to Anaheim, shi****o, poblano, bell in a pinch, baby bells raw for lunch.

3) Slow-cooker + bones. Make lots of broth. Try to replace any of your recipes that use butter or cream with well-made home-made broth. Broth has a ton of gelatin in it, which is why it is good for your joints and immune system. It will also make a huge difference in the taste of your food. It adds "richness" or "depth" and a nice mouthfeel without adding fat. Buy your chickens whole and put those carcasses to use. Or at least buy quarters.

4) Charcuterie is actually not bad for you, in moderation, and LOTS of fun. The protein and fat will keep you full for a long time. All of the times I was most successful losing weight, I had coffee for breakfast, lunch was high quality cured meats, 4 or so slices, a few slices of some good cheese, and a bunch of raw or cooked peppers. Then, reasonable dinner.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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I feel like there are a lot of things you can do with fermentation that arent necessarily unhealthy. I would start with watching "Its Alive with Brad" on YouTube and see which, if any, catch your interest.

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Good Kim Chi is fantastic.

My luck has been spotty with it, but its never bad / gross if you eat it in time, and when it's good, it's very good.

I'm in the process of losing weight so I don't die when I go on our Rhone river cruise next year. A slice or two of cured meats around 4:00 holds me over to dinner.

And I've made kimchi a couple of times. As long as the salt is around 2% of the weight of all the vegetables, you should be good. Letting it get too warm during fermentation causes problems too.

I just read your similar post on the PB&J thread. Cracked me up to then see this one in the same format.

MooreTrucker said:

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I just read your similar post on the PB&J thread. Cracked me up to then see this one in the same format.

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I wrote about 80 expert reports filed with courts during civil lawsuits. You have to number paragraphs when you do that, so it's just a habit.

It does make it easier to refer to a specific topic on a longer post without quoting it.

Making smoked, dried deer sausage. The entire process from hunting the animal, butchering it, processing it and making sausage, then smoking and drying it and eating it is really rewarding.

Not healthier by any means. But I'm addicted to making (and eating) ice cream. Usually have 6 flavors in the freezer. Right now the rotation is vanilla, milk chocolate gelato with chocolate chips, mint chip, peach, olive oil, and cheesecake. Thanks ice cream thread lol

Planning to try some yogurts and sorbets next to get at least a little healthier

Olive oil???

When you're making it as much as I am you can experiment a little lol. It's actually pretty good. Really takes the flavor of your olive oil, so better have a good one. Now, I won't be making it again anytime soon. But it's a good alternative