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 :)