Christmastime and Chirstmas Food

   I love Christmastime. The lights, the music, the decorations, and the general feeling of happiness in the air. Yes, I realize that sounds completely cliché, but its true. There is just something about this time of the year, that makes me feel happy -- whether it's putting up my Christmas tree with my family, or singing along (completely off key) to Christmas music on the radio. As the Christmas season comes upon us, so does the season of Christmas food. Christmas food and baking have always been a big part of the holiday season for my family.
   One of my favourte treats that my mom makes at this time of year is chocolate bark. My grandmother used to make it, and after she passed away my mom picked up the tradition.
   Chocolate bark is so delicious and really easy to make. It only has three ingredients: white chocolate, toasted hazelnuts, and dried cranberries. All you do is, melt the chocolate, add the nuts and cranberries and then spread it out on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. It takes a few hours in the fridge to let it set, and then you're done! You could also make it with milk, or dark chocolate -- pretty much any kind of chocolate you'd like. But my family always makes it with white chocolate, so that's the way I like it.
   Another food in my house that is associated with Christmas, is "Christmas cheese''. It's a type of cheese that my parents buy only at Christmastime. They've done this for as long as I can remember, and, to this day, I still don't know what it is actually called. It's a type of aged cheddar, that comes in a little red tub (like a cream cheese tub). The cheese itself is bright orange, and solid but crumbly at the same time. It's definitely one of the Christmas treats I look forward to every year.
   My family always goes full out with Christmas dinner. Turkey with all the fixings: gravy, potatoes, two kinds of stuffing (regular and sausage), green beans, brussel sprouts (which my aunts call ‘green bombs’), and cranberry sauce. We also have shrimp salad for a starter, and wide selection of desserts. Christmas dinner is always so delicious, and I love gathering with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins.
   Once I am on winter break I plan to do some Christmas baking and cooking. I will be posting updates about anything I cook or bake that is Christmas themed.



Until then,

Happy Holidays! :)

Food Additives

Food additives are very common in today’s society. They can be found in a wide variety of foods, and sometimes they can be very harmful to our bodies. But what exactly is a food additive? According to Dictionary.com, an additive is: “something that is added, as one substance to another, to alter or improve the general quality or to counteract undesirable properties.” The definition food additive is: “a substance added directly to food during processing, as for preservation, coloring, or stabilization.”

So, from these two definitions and from basic extrapolation, it is easy to understand that a food additive is something added to food to make it “better”. Better, could mean having a longer shelf life, having a pleasing colour, or just tasting sweeter. However, even though they make our food taste good, sometimes they can have negative impacts on our health.

One such additive is Monosodium glutamate also known as MSG. It is non-essential amino acid, which means it can be created by our bodies. MSG It is used as a flavour enhancer, and it can cause negative side affects after ingested, even though our bodies produce it. It doesn't affect all people, but for the people that it does affect, the symptoms can be serious.  

Some of these symptoms can be:

• Burning sensation in the back of forearms/neck/chest
• Numbness in the back of the neck
• Tingling, warmth, and weakness in the: face, temples, upper-back, neck, and arms
• Chest pains
• Nausea
• Rapid heart beat

The thing about MSG though, it’s very commonly used in restaurants and fast food establishments. It is also can be found in lots of other processed foods like: canned soups, flavoured chips, bottled salad dressing, some cheeses, and many other things.

Food additives can also have other side effects. Some of which are seen particularly in children; a common symptom is hyperactivity. Many foods now days have refined or replacement sugars such as aspartame, other foods have dyes and preservatives. One type of food dye that is thought to cause hyperactivity is Allura Red AC, also known as Red 40.  Red 40 can be found in candy and fruit drinks.

Food additives are hard to avoid completely because they are so common. All processed and most canned foods have additives.  Additives, can also be found in store baked goods, and breads. The idea of additives is scary; it is not realistic to completely eradicate additives out of your diet, unless you are willing to go raw.  So, I think the smartest option to limit the intake of processed foods. If you cook most of your own food, you know what goes into it. You can flavour you foods naturally, as opposed to using MSG.  To be perfect honest, I think homemade food is better anyways.

Yummy Lasagna

This is Lasagna is adapted from Mollie Katzen’s cookbook: “Honest Pretzels”. I loved this cookbook when I was a kid. Its an awesome book, with easy step-by-step instructions, along with graphics. It taught me how to cook some really awesome recipes, and got me excited about cooking.  Mollie, is an awesome lady and you can learn more about her, by going to her website: http://www.molliekatzen.com/.

This recipe, is so delicious! It is pretty much the same as Molly’s, but it has my own personal spin on in. The main difference is that my recipe has meat in it, and Molly’s doesn’t. One of the things that I LOVE about it is that you don’t have to cook the noodles beforehand. The moisture from the sauce cooks the noodles while the lasagna is in the oven.

Yummy Chicken-Basil Lasagna

Sauce
1 TBS Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 small packet of ground chicken (about 1.5 kg in weight)
3 cups of tomato-basil pasta sauce
1 cup of water

Ricotta Filling
4 cups of ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, crushed
15 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
1 TBS lemon zest
2 tsp ground black pepper

Lasagna Makings
6 cups grated mozzarella
15 uncooked lasagna noodles
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375F

To make the sauce, heat the oil in the pan and add the onion. Cook until golden, then add the chicken. Stir, until chicken turns white. Then add the tomato sauce and the water. Bring to a boil, then set simmer for 15 minutes.

While sauce is simmering make the ricotta filling, by mixing all of the filling ingredients in a bowl.

To make the Lasagna start by putting a cup of sauce in the bottom of a 10 by 12 inch baking pan. Then place 5 noodles in the pan, breaking them up as needed to they fit. Follow with a ⅓ of the ricotta cheese mixture in blobs. Sprinkle a ⅓ of the mozzarella, and spread on ⅓ of the sauce. Repeat these steps, until you have used up all the ingredients.  Then cover the pan with tinfoil and put into the oven, cook for 45 minutes.

Once the 45 minutes is over, take out of the oven and take off the tinfoil. sprinkle on the ½ of the remaining Parmesan cheese and place back in the oven. Broil for three to five minutes until the top is bubbly and brown. Take out of the oven, and let rest for 15 minutes before eating.

Serve with salad, bread, or both! ENJOY :)

Easy Slicer

So, recently I was browsing through some crazy products on the MEMCO website, for those who want, the link it is http://www.nemcofoodequip.com/. Anyways, I was looking for an interesting product to talk about, and I came across the Easy Slicer^TM. It is supposed to make cutting vegetables (and sometimes fruits) more effective. It seemed fairly interesting, and I watched a video about how it works. I was impressed by it, but I am still not fully convinced that it is a worthwhile product to buy for home use.

The Easy Slicer^TM, is like a hand run food processor. It is a counter top device, with cutting blades inside. The blades are moved by a hand-turned knob, located on the outside of the machine. Vegetables (or whatever you want to cut) are placed in a chamber inside of the machine. To keep the food in place there is a rod in the back of the machine that touches the food, and holds it in place. The knob and the rod both move at the same time, this allows for even and exact cutting. There are many different kinds of blades that can be used in this machine. There are also special blades designed for grating things such as cheese, carrots, and lettuce.

To me, this seems like a pretty cool machine. However, I don’t think it is practical for home use, because it is quiet bulky. I’m guessing that it would take a long time to assemble and disassemble. However, I can see how useful it would be for restaurants; as well as other facilities, that have to large amounts of food prep to do on a daily basis. It would save a huge amount of time, and would make everything run more smoothly.

I would love to try an Easy Slicer^TM, sometime so that I could see how effectively (or ineffectively) it works. However, for know I am very happy with my food processor. It has removable blades, and is probably much safer.

For more infromation on the easy slicer go to: http://www.nemcofoodequip.com/Products/FoodPrepEquip/EasySlicerVegetableSlicer.aspx

 

**Disclaimer: all options are my own. I was not payed by MEMCO to endorse their product, or asked to endorse their product. I have no connections to MEMCO and they have nothing to do with my blog. All options are of my own free will.**

Report on Healthy/Unhealthy Eating

Unhealthy eating cycles, and how to stop them!

Unhealthy eating can happen in cycles. If you start eating in an unhealthy way on a regular basis, you become accustomed to it. It becomes a part of your life, and your daily schedule. It can become a cycle that is very difficult to break. However, if you learn how to catch the cycle before it starts, you will be doing well. However, it is important to know what to look for. Below is a list of common unhealthy eating habits that can turn into cycles.

• Too few meals. Skipped meals such as breakfast, can lead to temptation later in the day. However, it is easy to skip meals because of a busy schedule. But, if breakfast is skipped, your body finds it difficult to burn calories properly later on in the day.

• Too much caffeine. Excess caffeine can make you hyperactive. Caffeine is a drug; it is easy to become addicted to it.  It is unhealthy to completely rely on caffeine to wake you up in the morning.

• Junk food. Let’s face it, junk food is tasty. Having it every once in a while is OK, but having it all the time is detrimental to your health. The thing about junk food is that it’s high in sugar, salt, and fat. All things that we as humans crave a lot. This makes junk food desirable, but also makes it very unhealthy.

Once you can recognize your unhealthy eating cycles, it is important to stop them. It can be very hard to do this, but it will have benefits. When you eat healthily you feel better, you have more energy, and are much less likely to develop diseases like obesity or type two diabetes. In order to stop your unhealthy eating habits, you have to be willing to put some extra time and thought into what you eat. The beginning will be the most time intensive. But once you get used to things, and figure out what works for you, you won’t have to put as much time in. Eventually you’ll just be putting time in to maintain your healthy eating patterns.


For some examples, I am going to use a few unhealthy eating patterns that I have found in my life, and that I’m trying to fix.

• I have an after-school job. I work three times a week. I barely have enough time to catch the bus home, get changed, and get to work on time. Because of this, I normally skip eating before my shift starts. And don’t get to eat dinner until I get home at around 9pm. Or if I do eat, it is normally something quick, unhealthy, and high in fat.
• I am trying to fix this!! What I've been trying to do is make a healthy snack the night, or morning before my shift. Then putting in the fridge for when I get home from school. I’m trying to make things such as, whole wheat pita stuffed with hummus and veggies. Protein is a must to keep me going at work

• My job is at fast food chain (for privacy reasons I don't want to say what chain I work for.) I am always tempted to eat food there. When there is a mixed up order, my boss normally puts the food out and then lets whoever is on shift to eat some of it. It is very hard not to eat the food, particularity if I didn’t eat before my shift.
• I am trying to fix this!! I don’t let myself eat, every time that food is put out. Sometimes it is hard to show self restraint, but most of the times I can do it. This is another reason, why I am trying to eat before my shifts. Something else that I do, is I always bring a bottle of water, or a mug of unsweetened herbal tea. If I have something to drink, it makes me less tempted to eat on my shift.

Side effects of unhealthy eating

Eating unhealthily can cause many health problems, and can drastically affect your quality of life. There are many health problems and diseases that can be caused by unhealthy eating. Some of these are: obesity, diabetes type two, and heart failure. All can shorten the length of life, and can lead to other medical problems.

Obesity affects thousands of people worldwide, as well as children. Now a day’s more and more children are becoming obese. Obesity is usually a result of a high caloric intake, in correlation with no or very little exercise. Because of this, excess body weight is accumulated. In some cases, extra weight is accumulated practically in the abdominal area. Obesity is very dangerous, and can result in death. When someone has obesity, it means that their body weight has accumulated enough to have a negative impact on their health. Obesity has lots of negative side effects. Some of these are......

• heart disease
• diabetes type 2
• breathing difficulties (particularly during sleep)

However, in order to develop heart disease or diabetes, you don’t need to be obese to begin with. Both of these medical conditions, can be developed unrelated to obesity and are both often direct correlations to an unhealthy lifestyle. This is why it’s so important, to eat healthily. But it is also important to stay active, by staying active it is easier to maintain a healthy body weight and stay healthy.

I know it’s important to eat healthfully. But how do I do so?

First of all it’s important to know the benefits of healthy eating, below are just a few.

If you eat healthily you will...

• Have more energy
• Will be less likely to develop diseases such as: obesity, diabetes type two, or heart failure
• Be able to help prevent some prevent some cancers
• Be able to help prevent strokes
• It will be less likely for you to have a heart attack
• Live longer
• Feel better
• Have better blood pressure
• Lower  your cholesterol
• Your immune system will become stronger

So really, eating healthily has HUGE benefits. And it’s totally worth it, however figuring out how to eat healthfully is difficult. People now days reach for convince or fast food. This is because it’s easy and tastes good. Also, it’s addictive because of all the salt, sugar, and fat. But it’s not good for you, at all. In order to eat healthfully it is important to find ways to incorporate healthy eating into your life, in ways that works for you.

• Here are some ways to incorporate healthy eating into your life....

• Eat breakfast. Make sure you get some protein first thing in the mornings. Scrambled eggs, toast and peanut butter, or granola. Are all good bets, however watch for sugar contents in breakfast cereals and peanut butter.
• DO NOT SKIP MEALS
• Cook your own food as much as you can.
• Drink lots of water. Keeping your body hydrated has huge benefits
• Cut back on the caffeine.
• Go for skim milk lattes, instead of one’s made with 2% milk (SURPRISE! it tastes just as good!)
• Cut back on sugary soft drinks
• Eat whole grain. Try whole wheat or whole grain bread, instead of white bread. Also, try whole grain pasta, and brown rice.
• Eat lots of fruit and veggies. Incorporate them to your meals.
• When you make veggies as side dishes try not to, butter, salt, or cream. For example, try steamed green beans opposed to green bean casserole.
• Eat a variety of food.
• Cut back on processed foods as much as possible
• Eat foods with NATURAL colour. This means foods such as: bright orange carrots, bell peppers, and especially bright leafy greens
• To make your food flavorful without using slat. Try fresh herbs and spices such as basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. If you don’t have access to fresh ones, substitute with dried. Fresh onions and garlic are also wonderful for flavoring.

The "Danger Zone"

Today I will be talking about a concept, that I learned when I took Foods-Safe last year. The concept is called the “Danger Zone”, and it is a specific temperature range where food has the most penitential to grow harmful bacteria. 

The “Danger Zone”, is between 40F-140F, and food should never stay within this temperature zone for more than two hours, or else it becomes unsafe to eat.This is because bacteria is able to multiply and grow very easily. Any temperature outside the “Danger Zone” is not diserable for bacteria to grow. Anything below 40F is too cold for bacteria to grow, and anything above 140F is too hot for bacteria to grow.  


So, if you  keep food out of the “Danger Zone”, you will be doing well. But the important thing to know, is HOW to do this. One of the biggest causes of foodborne illness is the improper cooling of cooked food. Many people improperly cool their food, and then get sick from it. The thing is though, properly cooling food is easy. It just takes a little more time. I think that Spending a little extra time cooling your food, is worth it because it will keep you from getting sick.

So, here are some ways that you can properly and quickly cool your already cooked food.

• Store your food in multiple shallow Tupperware containers. This will allow your food to evenly and quickly cool.
• do not over pack Tupperware containers. Make sure you only have one layer of food in each container.
• Place sealed containers of food in ice baths, or cold water to quickly cool.
• If you have a big pot of soup or stew use an ice wand (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_an_Ice_Wand_when_used_for_Food_Cooling) 

Introducing My Project

I am a high-school student, who lives on the rainy west coast of Canada. I am doing this  blog project to get credit for school, however it is also something that I really want to do. For the rest of the school year, I will post on this blog regularly. I will post about the projects that I am working on. My projects will be about food, cooking, food safety, and nutrition. I am really excited to be working on this project, and can't wait to see where it goes.