Two Greek Girls Cooking

Interview with Mediterranean experts including the benefits of adopting the Mediterranean diet

Two Greek Girls Cooking interview.

I had the opportunity to interview Dietitians Desi Carlos and Lisa Peterson of Two Greek Girls Cooking.

Below is the interview. If you want to know more about the Two Greek Girls Cooking and their upcoming Mediterranean diet expo click here https://twogreekgirls.com/

When and how did the union of Two Greek Girls Cooking come about?

Desi and I work together in private practice and we found we were recommending Mediterranean Style eating to our patients for numerous referral reasons. We decided we wanted to educate the broader community of the benefits of such an amazing way of eating so we launched Two Greek Girls Cooking in hope we would achieve this goal.

When you created Two Greek Girls Cooking what were you hoping to achieve?

We want the community to understand the traditional way of eating a true Mediterranean Lifestyle – the amazing flavours, the ease of preparing nutritious and delicious food, cost effective ways of feeding a family and how to get the best health benefits from what you eat.

Are there specific areas that each of you enjoy concentrating on more so than the other?

Of course there are areas that we enjoy more than others, however we understand that in order to run a successful business all areas require our best and so we tend to share all the responsibility across the board so we get the best outcome possible.

Why is health so important to you and why does the Mediterranean diet play a big role in what it is you do and believe in?

We are both qualified Nutritionists and Dietitians so our study and practice is around diet and chronic disease prevention and management. A lot of our job unfortunately is myth busting the latest best selling ‘fad’ diets and we want to educate people on one of the most researched, evidence based lifestyles that is the Mediterranean Diet. There is evidence to support our practice and we want our community to understand that.

Lisa, what has been the driving force behind the business for you?

Researching and teaching about the Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle is not only rewarding from a point of assisting others in changing their lives and their health outcomes but also a lovely, constant, reminder of where my family came from and how lucky we are.

There has been a lot of talk lately about loneliness among the elderly and loss of family connection due to families not sitting down to share a meal together. At a very simple level what can be do to improve this?

Turn off the TV’s, remove the mobile phones and plan a time to sit and enjoy a meal as a family. Ideally, it’ll be Mediterranean but even if it’s toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, spending time with our loved ones is so important.

What are your earliest and fondest memories of being in the kitchen, how do you think this has
influenced your direction?

Making dolmathes (mince wrapped in grape vine leaves) with my yiayia (grandmother). We would go and pick fresh leaves from her grape vine and spend hours rolling them into little wraps. It has influenced my love for cooking, love for great food and appreciation for using food to celebrate family.

What does the Mediterranean diet consist of and is it hard to follow?

It’s not hard at all! Not a single food group is eliminated, in fact there is an abundance of food. Good quality grains, fruit, all vegetables, fermented dairy products, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, seafood and fish (lots of it) as well as other animal products and legumes and lentils.

What are some of the benefits one could expect to experience after switching to a more Mediterranean based diet?

Firstly no restriction. Cut the diets that tell you ‘you can’t eat this’ or ‘eliminate that’. Enjoy a huge variety of food, feel satisfied and start enjoying meal time and eating again. Long term we know Mediterranean Diet reduces prevalence of chronic diseases, dementia, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease and more!

If we only manage to make a few changes to our diet, what would you recommend are the most important for a healthier?

Less red meat, more fish, legumes and poultry, extra virgin olive oil for everything and fermented products daily.

Your cookbook – Mediterranean Eating isn’t only full of great recipes, what other information can our readers expect to find in it?

The first half of the book is all easy to read guidelines and research on the Mediterranean Diet. It includes, three calorie controlled meal plans based on our guidelines and there are over 60 recipes.

You have a very exciting world first event coming up on Sunday 21st October; tell us about that and what led you to create it?

Our book and our private practice reaches so much of the community, we wanted to reach even more people! It’s going to be an 8 hour day jam packed full of talks from leading specialists who use the Mediterranean Diet in their practice, cooking demonstrations, lifestyle talks and an exhibit of over 20 local suppliers and health companies.

Is this event likely to travel to other states in Australia; I know Melbourne would love to see an event such at this take place?

We really hope so!!

 

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