We are thrilled to have Gabrielle Reece back to discuss smart food choices and realistic food organization in this second interview on The Global Townhall.  To read her first interview on how to establish exercise motivation, please click here.

Gabrielle Reilly:  So how do you organize what food you eat over your week?  Are you methodical or spontaneous or have staples? 

Gabrielle Reece:  It depends on the week.  If I'm busy, or I'm travelling, it becomes a much more spontaneous approach where I'll be going through the day and I will think what is happening for dinner?  For example, we are transitioning moving from Hawaii where we live 6 months, to California for 6 months.  In the interim I'm doing voice over for a project and my husband is flying to New Zealand to catch a swell as soon as we land.  Then one of my daughters is finishing up school so it is a little bit crazy.  So this is the best I could do last night... I knew I had fresh lettuce and some veggies so I ran to the store by my market and I picked up some New York steaks because I knew we could barbeque.   Literally salad and steak was the best I could do. 

Then there are other weeks when I am really organized.  I will have a meal plan for three or four days.  I like to get my produce relatively fresh so I keep some of my basics, but perishables I try to get fresh. 

A secret that I have learned is once every month or so, I thumb through cook books to find new motivation and inspiration.  I actually enjoy cooking and I cook quite a lot.  But I have a rule that I try not to use more than 5 or 6 ingredients.  If things take a while to cook that's ok, but I try not to make the prep time more than 20 to 25 minutes.  I really committed to doing this so it makes it realistic to cook at home. 

Gabrielle Reilly:   Yes, it's important to keep your recipes fresh.  I record select healthy Food Network shows, print off the shows recipe from online (and keep it in a plastic sleeve in a "Healthy" folder) then follow along with the show on TV for the first time as the chef makes the meal (thank goodness for the pause button.)  It is like having your own personal chef in your kitchen!  My cooking skills have improved tremendously with all the little tips.  So what are your 3 favorite healthy snack foods?

Gabrielle Reece:  Living in Hawaii there is a lot of fresh fish so I cook a lot of fish and sometimes there are left overs, although fish is sometimes fishy to me and I sometimes don't like it.  I really enjoy making tuna with real fish that is the leftover from the night before.  All I do is put a dab of relish and red onion on it.  I find it very satisfying because of the good fats in the fish. 

I like sushi but just try to minimize the rice or get rolls so it gives me energy.  I try to avoid too much white rice but most places now even have brown rice sushi. 
Or, I will take goat feta cheese and turkey meat and put those together with maybe some avocado. 

Another good one is gluten free bread toasted, with mashed avocado with turkey or chicken meat on top.  Or if you are vegetarian, the avocado has really good fats which also fill you up.  I find people don't eat enough good fats so they are perpetually hungry.  I am really careful to get enough of the good fats because then I know it will help me to not over-eat.
 

Gabrielle Reilly:  Great. I think my favorite quick snack or lunch is Ezekiel bread. have you tried it?

Gabrielle Reece:  Oh, absolutely.

Gabrielle Reilly:  So I just toast it and put smoked salmon on top with baby spinach.

Gabrielle Reece:  Oh yeah, great!

Gabrielle Reilly:  Have you tried the quinoa pasta?  I know you're a big advocate of quinoa.

Gabrielle Reece:  Yeah I have.  In fact on my website you will see that I made quinoa pasta lasagna.  I used the spaghetti quinoa noodles really tightly packed to make the layer.  It is very hard to find gluten free lasagna sheets so that is why I used the quinoa spaghetti.  I am a big fan of that.  I find the texture to be even better than the brown rice pasta. 

Gabrielle Reilly:  Yes, in fact my kids and I prefer it to normal pasta and it comes in such a range of products.   For our readers, the brand I get is Ancient Harvest .  You can find it in the health food section of many different supermarkets but if you can't find it in one store, try another store.

Gabrielle Reece:   Yes, elbows and such.

Gabrielle Reilly:  It is always nice to get kids to acquire a taste to very healthy food.

Gabrielle Reece:  That's right.

Gabrielle Reilly:  Thanks again Gabby.  Stayed tuned for next weeks interview on healthy food ideas and philosophies for children.

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