READ THE RECIPE CAREFULLY

When baking or cooking something you would figure directions would be the easiest thing to do, just read the sheet and copy as it says... NOPE. My gingerbread group and I along with every other group in our class did not read out gingerbread dough instructions correctly and ruined our dough. We did not add the butter in properly causing the dough to harden like a rock every time it went into the fridge. We had to roll is and warm the dough up with our hands, microwave, and even add water to it because of that one little mistake. It really set us back for time to build our house because a whole extra day was spent on rolling the dough back soft again, only to put it BACK in the fridge again for the next day. :( This taught us a very valuable lesson, no matter how small the instructions says it is a big deal and it does make a drastic difference in our overall product. I found that groups that properly mixed their dough had tasty, solid dough good for building where as my group's dough was hard to roll due to it breaking and it was not good quality taste. Lesson learned.. don't wing it and think that it will be okay because in most cases the directions are specific for a reason.

Half priced cakes are the best priced cakes

        I have never been one to enjoy cake. Since I was young I never liked eating birthday cakes because I found the icing either to sugary or the cake to dry. My alternative to birthday cakes was ice cream cakes which I love. For years I've been getting an ice cream cake on my birthday and you know what makes it even better according to my mom is the half price. Dairy Queen has this deal during the month of December that their birthday cakes are 50 percent off regular price. I think the fact that my birthday is in this month and I will only eat ice cream cakes makes my mom a little too happy. This year she picked out a Christmas themed cake and I think she was more excited about the entire thing more than I actually was. There was a big fake Santa head on it with holy and "snow" My birthday is on December 24th hence the Christmas themed cake!  Till this day I can always count on getting my Dairy Queen birthday cake, it's my tradition. The yummy fudge center with cookie crumble is what makes the cake that much better :D Even though sometimes i wish for something different, i love that i can always count on that ice cream cake!

Gingerbread House

During the last week of school before the Christmas break we had a gingerbread house contest and who ever won got an extra 10% bonus at the end of the semester. My group and I hoped for this win! Creating our own layout for our house was fun because we were completely in charge of everything. We were able to decide the image of the house and what type of decorations to put on it. A few days before the due date of our gingerbread houses another team ended up joining our group to combined houses and better all of our chances of winning . It was different to be able to work with people that i hadn't really worked with in the kitchen all semester. It was beneficial to our house when it came to ideas because there were more of us to help give unique ideas. It was quite nerve racking on the final day of building because we weren't sure if we would have the house decorations done in time. My teacher even counted down after the last 30 seconds.. it felt like we were on a food television show where we had to have our product finished and ready to eat on a specific timer. The group cracked under pressure because we were almost out of time and still had bare gingerbread walls so we decided to smear blue icing all over the sides of the house WITH OUR HANDS. We were disappointed in what we had rushed but realized there wasn't much to do. We didn't end up winning first, second, or third but we still had a fun time making it, it made the class more interesting, and the houses tasted pretty good! Way to shake up the course a bit in a fun, tasty way.

Spanakopita Spanakopita Spanakopita Spanakopita

      Recently one of my close friends ordered a spanakopita from Jimmy the Greek. I had never heard of this type of food so she offered me a piece... and that's when it starter...my obsession with spanakopita's!! If you are unaware of what a Spanakopita it is simply "A phyllo pastry stuffed with spinach and feta cheese." and it is amazing. If you haven't tried this wonderful Greek food i recommend all to try it! Lately i have had them a lot and even when i go out with friends we have them. We have all become addicted to them. The other day a few of my friends and i went over to M&M's after school to pick some up! Once you've tried one you can't help but crave for more. This is by far my favorite snack at the moment. You can buy them as small triangles OR in a big round swirl of pastry, spinach, and YUMMY cheese. My favorite would have to be the large ring of spanakopita! I have even gotten my aunt and mom loving it, and i bet anyone who tries it will love them too!

Fact: Being Vegan can be really hard to do!

That meal does not look very appetizing..

We recently as a class went to this volunteer program that makes vegan meals for the community. We were lucky enough to get the chance to cook one of the vegan lunches. For lunch that day we ate kale with sesame oil as the dressing, squash, and black bean brownies. I'm not going to sugar coat it most of it did not taste very good. The squash was okay because it actually had sweet flavor to it but the brownies were soft to the point it tasted like batter and it was very bitter form the black beans. The kale was not soft enough and was far to bitter for my taste. It was interesting to learn how to make a vegan meal. I didn't know there was such thing as black bean brownies! After eating this I realized how hard the transition must be from eating a meat based diet to eating vegan. The flavoring of meals is completely different and if you ask me being vegan makes your meal blan and boring! I think it would be difficult for vegans to have a wide variety of meal choices because it's so limited without any meat products or products that come from animals. You would definitely be eating much healthier than the regular meat dieted person. You would not have to worry as much about certain health problems that come with eating too much diary, or meat. I believe that being vegan could be healthier for you but at the same time there are facts proven that you need meat as a protein and some dairy products to help build and keep bones strong. All though it has even been said that milk and the calcium in it actually weakens our bones over time due! SHOCKER! There are many apposing arguments to both sides but i think anyone who is a vegan eat much more healthy products compared to others. It would be really difficult to become a vegan and you must be really committed. Applause to all those vegans out there!

Food inc changed how I eat

Before we watched Food In in my Food and Nutrition class i was aware about animals getting slaughtered but i was not aware of the gruesome, inhuman way they are slaughtered. I am the type of person who can love any type of animal whether it be a rat to a pig.. i'm a sucker for all of them so, when i watched part of this video it nearly brought me to tears! I couldn't believe how horrible these poor animals were being treated just because we humans are greedy and are consuming SO MUCH FOOD and demanding more and more though we don't need it! When i began to watch bits and parts of the video ( parts i could handle watching) i didn't want to know that i'm helping to cause all that pain to the animal by consuming fast food meat all the time. That is when i decided to become a vegetarian.. let me tell you it was hard but, for all the wrong reasons. I made this decision on my own without anyone telling me to rethink what i had decided. When i informed my mother of my decision she was okay with it but, the problem was i was unprepared to become a vegetarian because my mom would cook meals with meat as the main food and i would end up just eating the sides like noodles, vegetables. I was not getting enough food into my system for my body to run efficiently and i was finding it difficult to find food that did not contain meat that would fill me up. Unfortunately, i had given up being a vegetarian after about a week because i didn't feel like i had enough energy to get me through the day. If i had of come prepared to become a vegetarian by buying substitutes for meat instead of just eating what my mom made minus the meat then i think i would have been successful with it. My eating habits have changed since then though. I find i don't eat at as much fast food restaurants anymore and i stay away from meat products unless i am really hungry or it is something my mom makes for dinner. I think anyone with a big heart for animals would have the same reactions to the video, to go vegetarian so that you don't feel as guilty. I still hate eating meat but i'm not ready to give up all meat products yet. Food Inc changed how i eat.

SO SAD!!!

What is a hotdog really made of..

So what ingredients really go into a hot dog? Read on and you may never want to eat another frankfurter

• Next month sees opening of a London restaurant specialising in hot dogs and Champagne
• Cheap hot dogs eaten in excess can be disastrous for a person's health
• World Cancer Research Fund recommends people avoid all processed meats

By DAVID DERBYSHIRE

PUBLISHED: 22:48 GMT, 18 July 2012 | UPDATED: 11:55 GMT, 19 July 2012

• Comments (280)
• Share

Fightback: In response to the pink, flabby tubes of paste we serve our children, foodies have launched a movement for real frankfurters - or 'haute dogs'

Want to lose your appetite for hot dogs? Then visit a frankfurter factory. It’s an unpleasant business.

In vast metal vats, tons of pork trimmings are mixed with the pink slurry formed when chicken carcasses are squeezed through metal grates and blasted with water.

The mush is mixed with powdered preservatives, flavourings, red colouring and drenched in water before being squeezed into plastic tubes to be cooked and packaged.

It is a disgusting process, for the hot dog is arguably the ultimate in processed, industrial food.

In response to the pink, flabby tubes of paste we serve our children, foodies have launched a movement for real frankfurters — or ‘haute dogs’.

Next month sees the opening of Bubbledogs, a London restaurant specialising in hot dogs and Champagne.

The new generation of sausages are lovingly made from quality cuts, gently seasoned and smoked in the traditional German way, and smothered with gastro sauces and relishes. 

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Originally hailing from the city of Frankfurt, they were simply pork  sausages served in a bun and doled out to the watching public for free during imperial coronations.

Various German immigrants then claimed to have introduced the popular snack to America in the 19th century.

From there, they have mutated into the processed sausage we know today. 

Charlie Powell from the food lobby group Sustain, said: ‘Cheap frankfurters are highly processed and have little in them that will improve your health.

'If they are eaten on a regular basis, they cannot be good for you. They are one of the least natural foods I can think of.’

More...

• 'Guilty as charged': President of fast food chain Chic-fil-A OUTS his company as ANTI-GAY - and proud of it
• An obsession with looking Fab at Fifty and the rise of older women with eating disorders

And cheap hot dogs don’t just taste awful. Eaten in excess, they can be disastrous for your health. There is now scientific evidence that hot dogs — like all processed meats — increase the risk of bowel cancer.  

The World Cancer Research Fund recommends people avoid all processed meats — or cut down if they can’t give up their bacon, ham and sausages.

The fund’s Dr Rachel Thompson said: ‘If everyone ate less than 70g a week — or two hot dogs — it would mean there would be 4,000 fewer cases of bowel cancer in the UK each year.’

So just what goes into the hot dogs to make them such a target for real food campaigners?

Meat

Traditional hot dogs are made from pork trimmings — the pieces left over after chops, bacon and ham has been cut away — along with chicken or turkey.

The meat is ground into a paste and mixed with water, preservatives, flavouring and colours.

Many UK hot dogs have a similar meat profile. But not all.

Appetising? In vast metal vats, tons of pork trimmings are mixed with the pink slurry formed when chicken carcasses are squeezed through metal grates and blasted with water

The Red Dogs varieties on sale at Tesco contain very little real meat. Instead, they are made up of 64 per cent mechanically-recovered chicken. Only 17 per cent is pork.

Mechanically-recovered meat is the slimy paste created when a carcass — stripped of all traditional cuts — is forced through a metal sieve or blasted with water.

The process is banned for beef after the BSE scare of the Nineties, but is permitted for pigs and poultry, and the meat produced is ten times cheaper than normal meat.

Perhaps surprisingly, there is nothing particularly unhealthy about the product, and it’s approved by the Food Standards Agency. But under EU food rules, it is not classed as meat and must be labelled as mechanically recovered.

Water

Much of the water in a hot dog is added to create the right consistency for the mushy paste, which is then squeezed into tubes and cooked. It’s also needed to hold together the frankfurter after cooking.

Starch

All sausages — from the cheapest, nastiest brands, to the luxury free-range organic ones — are bulked out with carbohydrate starch.

Hot dogs usually contain potato starch, wheat flour or rusk mixed with salt, baked and crumbled.

Starches give more volume to a hot dog. They also bind ingredients together, and make the mechanically-recovered meat and pork trimmings feel more pleasant on the tongue.   

Salt

Hot dogs contain around 2 per cent salt and if eaten in excess can increase your risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease

Hot dogs contain around 2 per cent salt, which means they are classed as high-salt foods — and if eaten in excess can increase your risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.

A single 35g frankfurter has up to 0.6g of salt — one tenth of a teaspoon and one tenth of an adult’s daily recommended amount.

Children aged four to six should have no more than 3g of salt a day, according to the Department of Health, while children up to three should have no more than 2g.

According to Consensus Action On Salt, salty diets increase the risk that children will suffer high blood pressure as adults, and increase the risk of brittle bone disease, asthma, stomach cancer and obesity.

Milk protein

Adding powdered milk proteins to the meat slurry also helps to bind it. There’s no health risk, unless you are allergic to dairy products.

Some hot dog manufactures use pea and soya protein, which can also bulk out the hot dog, while adding to its protein content.

E250 — Sodium nitrite

Processed meat increases the risk of bowel cancer and sodium nitrite is thought to be largely to blame. It is added to hot dogs to stop them going grey, and keep microbes at bay.

Studies on animals have linked sodium nitrites to an increased risk of cancer.

The World Cancer Research Fund carried out a global study on the dangers of processed meats and found that people who regularly consume 50g of processed meat a day — equivalent to one-and-a-half hot dogs — increase their chances of getting bowel cancer by 20 per cent. The charity believes nitrites are largely to blame.

In the body, nitrites can react with protein-rich foods such as meat to produce N-nitroso compounds, or NOCs. Some types of NOCs damage the DNA in our cells and cause cancer.

In 2006, scientists analysed more than 60 studies and found that nitrites are also linked to higher risks of stomach cancer.

Flavours

By law, hot dog packets don’t have to say what flavourings are used in them. Many use artificial smoke flavouring, herbs, spices, celery and garlic powder.  

A few brands use the chemical monosodium glutamate — MSG, or E621 – to enhance the flavour. MSG gives food a ‘meaty’ feel and is used in soups, sauces and, infamously, Chinese takeaways.

MSG has been accused of causing allergies, headaches and dehydration. However, despite the health scares, there is no hard evidence that MSG is bad for you, and it is found naturally in broccoli, mushrooms and tomatoes.

E451 — Potassium and sodium triphosphates

Popular: A few brands use the chemical monosodium glutamate - MSG, or E621 to enhance the flavour. It is particularly popular in Chinese cuisine

These are synthetically produced colourless salts that act as a ‘stabiliser, buffer and emulsion’. 

They give a hot dog a firmer texture, keep it at the right acidity and allow the oils and fats to mix with the water.

E451 is also used in detergents as a water softener, and is added to flame retardants, paper, rubber and anti-freeze.

There are no known health problems from consuming them.

E452 — Polyphosphates

Another additive common in food. E452 is an emulsifier and stabiliser, improving the texture of the hot dog and stopping fat going rancid. It also helps prevent food-poisoning bugs.

In the human body, E452 breaks down into phosphate and there is no evidence of a health risk.

E301 — Sodium ascorbate

A form of vitamin C, sodium ascorbate is an antioxidant and acidity regulator that stops meat losing its red colour and which speeds up the curing process.

At the low doses in hot dogs, it causes no problems.

But when taken in large doses as a vitamin pill it can cause skin irritation.

E120 — Carmine

Carmine is another word for the red food dye cochineal, which has no health effects, as long as you are not allergic to insects.

For cochineal is made by crushing up the shells of small beetles. The shells are boiled in ammonia or sodium carbonate and the colour filtered off.

The colour, found in supermarket curries, yoghurts, lipstick and pink icing, can trigger allergic reactions and even anaphylactic shock in some people.

E160c — Paprika extract

Another natural food colouring, this time made from the dried pods of Indian red chillies. It is often added to cheese, orange juice, sauces and sweets.

And finally...

Even if you buy only the finest, most natural hot dogs, you’re not out of the woods.

For hot dogs are one of the most dangerous foods you can give to young children. In America, they account for an extraordinary 17 per cent of all child choking cases and kill around 80 children a year.

They are particularly risky for children under four because they easily get lodged in the airway and are difficult to shift.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2175655/So-really-ingredients-really-sausage-Read-eat-frankfurter-again.html#ixzz2IaRmVzt7
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I love hot dogs.. or at least i did. Until a few weeks ago when someone had rudely informed me of what was in a hot dog and after reading this article i don't think i'll be eating another hot dog for a while. I would eat hot dogs boiled, off the BBQ, straight out of the fridge, in beans, and in Marconi because YES i loved them that much. I had always been curious about what was in it but was to chicken to educate myself because i knew if i found out than i would be turned off from it. Ever since i have been taking Food and Nutrition Sciences i have been really cautious about how and what i am consuming. This course i am currently taking has really opened up my eyes to how poorly i'm treating my body and how easily i can stop it. I have started to stop eating as much junk food as i used to such as quick fast food lunches. I never realized the amount of salt that a hot dog contains and that it is considered a high salt food. I know too much salt can lead to many healthy risks that i am not interested in!! How i think about it is this, if meat production did not use the left over meat to sell as premium expensive meat that you would normally buy it's clearly saying that whatever is in hot dogs is garage! It's just a convenient way of getting rid of scraps without wasting them... Gross. Make sure you really know what you are eating! Don't be fooled by the cheapness.

MamaMia!

( not my picture i unfortunately didnt have a chance to take one of my spaghetti)

Last week i went to my aunt's house for dinner and she made my favourite, spaghetti and cheesey garlic bread. The spaghetti sauce was filled with mushrooms, green peppers, onions, broccoli, and ground beef. The more veggies added in makes it so much better and another plus is it makes it healthier! It's awesome to enjoy my favourite meal knowing that im getting a serving of healthy veggies along with them. The past few times i have had spaghetti my mom had made it but plain with tomato sauce and ground beef so, it was a exciting to have my aunts special spaghetti sauce.

Is a buffet really worth it?

    On Friday some close friends and decided to go for lunch to a buffet, no occasion we just wanted to get some good Chinese food from Mandarin. I can't help but think, are Buffet's really that clean or sanitary? I don't think so! :s  As i got up to get my food and i was behind a number of people getting their food i realized how many unsanitary people don't pick up the food with the tongs and spoons supplied to put the food on the plate. Then that leads to wondering where their hands have been because they had just infected the food 20 other people will probably be eating. GROSS! And then you get the people who are sick and spread their germs all over the food contaminating just about everything they put on their plate. Sure Buffet's can end up being cheaper in the longer run because you have an unlimited amount of food you can get and only pay a flat fee but is it really worth all that possible sickness and germs you can contract from them? I think i'd rather pay prices for a regular restaurant, at least then i know the sick person two tables down from me isn't sneezing into my food! would you rather be eating food that you know hasn't gone through tons of peoples hands or eat over handled food? I made my mistake, but it's so good it's hard to choose the healthy choice.   :(

G.E.R.M.S

MOOOO!

     I recently discovered the reason why so many people's bodies are unable to digest milk is because technically once an infant no longer needs milk as food the body is not supposed to be able to break down the milk. To scientists it is abnormal to be able to digest milk after 2-5 years of age. Scientists have decided to not think of Lactose intolerant as an abnormality but rather believe lactase persistence is not normal because it's odd that humans can consume milk. There has been some type of genetic mutation in the human body to allow most of us to continue digesting milk on a daily basis. when i discovered this i found it really odd because you usually hear how milk is good for you and that you should drink lots of it to help your teeth and bones. To read that were technically aren't supposed to be drinking milk after the age 5 comes surprising to me. I can't imagine not drinking milk because i love milk and i drink it everyday so i'm glad to hear that our human bodies are capable of consuming and breaking down the milk. i don't think i could live without my cup of milk a day and i'm sure all those milk lovers out there agree with me and it doesn't seem normal to hear that drinking milk really isn't normal! It's mind blowing the things our bodies can do! 

Chocolate gone bad!

I once believed that Mars chocolate was one of the best chocolates that I have had until a few months back. I had gone to the convenience store to buy a Mars bar because i had that sudden urge for chocolate. As i was walking home from the store i had opened it up not even thinking to look at it i started to eat it which was such a stupid thing! After a big bite of it i realized it didn't taste so good and what do you know the chocolate bar was WHITE and the inside of it looked horrible. The taste in my mouth was unbearable and i had to quickly spit it out. Ever since that incident I can't eat a Mars bar without feeling sick. I learned my lesson ALWAYS look before you put something in your mouth, I learned the hard way. :( Mars bars went from being my favorite chocolate to being one that can make me sick in a matter of seconds.

Study links diet soda to cardiovascular risk

February 9th, 2011, 12:41 pm ·  · posted by LANDON HALL, OCREGISTER.COM

inShare

Maybe Indra Nooyi is right. Maybe Pepsi isn’t bad for you. Especially compared with Diet Pepsi.

A study out of the University of Miami and presented at the American Stroke Association’s international conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday showed that subjects who drank diet soda on a daily basis had a 61 percent greater risk of suffering a stroke or heart attack than those who didn’t drink soda at all.

You’d think that the risk of a cardiovascular event would be even greater among those who drank regular high-calorie soda, but this group showed no higher risk than the non-soda-drinkers.

ABC News has an exhaustive explanation of the study, while MSNBC.com notes the possibility that there’ssomething in caramel, which gives cola its dark color, that could be to blame.

But the study’s authors note that there’s still a lot we don’t know, and the research has enough flaws that we shouldn’t assume diet soda is a killer. For one, the study relied on data covering a diverse population of New Yorkers: About 75 percent of the subjects were black or Hispanic, groups that are at higher risk than whites of cardiovascular disease.

Another factor that could skew the results: Although researchers knew the caloric intake of the subjects, they didn’t examine their eating habits. How many of us have ever seen someone at a fast-food joint who orders a giant burger and fries, then a tub of diet soda?

“In my 20 years of clinical practice, patients who consume diet soda tend to have more of a sweet tooth; to get more sweet cravings; to eat more foods with added sugar; and to like and eat more processed food than patients who avoid both regular and diet soda,” Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, told ABC News.

:o WHAAAT! was my first reaction when i read this article. I along with tons of other people always figured getting a diet soda would be better and healthier for us! To think that people who drink diet soda as appose to regular soda have a high risk of suffering from a stroke or heart attack. Of course as the article says they are not aware of what the people who drink the diet soda and were tested have been eating along with the diet soda so that may have a huge impact of the greatness of the heart attack but there is a trend for people who drink diet soda. This article proves to me that no matter diet or regular soda, POP is bad for you and it should not be considered an everyday drink with your meal. I personally LOVE pop and i could drink it all the time but to think if they say diet pop is supposed to be better for you then imagine what regular pop could do especially with all that junk food we consume everyday! YIKES, better re think ordering pop with my meal from now on.

Delicious, Delicious, Delicious

Last week, Wednesday I had gone out for dinner with several friends. We had call decided on eating at Moxie's which I was extremely excited for because I had not been in so long and from what I could remember the food was AMAZING. I was correct! I had ordered a pasta dish once again called the herb chicken Alfredo. I wasn't sure if I should try something different from pasta because pasta is usually all I get when I eat out but I'm glad I didn't because that dish was amazing. It was not pricey either which made it even better. I loved the Alfredo sauce on the noodles and topped off with cheese made my mouth water! I knew I had tried that exact dish about A year ago and loved it then and even now it's still yummy! definitely a dish I recommend for everyone who is or isn't a pasta lover to try it. You wont regret it. This dish was the main reason i started getting only pasta dishes at restaurants, it's SO good. :)

Vanilla and raspberry flavors might be enhanced by "castoreum," a mixture of the anal secretions and urine of beavers.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/11-disgusting-ingredients-that-arent-advertised-in-food-2012-3?op=1#ixzz27LHSHxat

    I was beyond shocked when i found out the vanilla and raseberry ice cream contained beaver anal glands, BUT I was even more disgusted realising that i had eaten and enjoyed a big bowl of chapman's vanilla ice cream the previous night BLUUGH I no i may be over reacting to this discovery but I absolutely love vanilla ice cream and to find out it contains some not so appealing things makes me second guess my love for ice cream. Learning this information has completely changed the way I will eat ice cream, maybe it's for the better because i eat way too much of it but then again i enjoy it so much it might not stop me from eating it. Would you still east vanilla or raseberry ice cream?!?!

The best pasta!

 I went out to dinner with a few close friends for one of my friend's 18th birthday the past weekend! It was such a fun night and the food i ate was amazing and healthy i might add. Of course when i go to East Side Mario's getting some type of pasta is a MUST so this time i had ordered Spaghettini Primavera and though i wasn't sure about it at first with all the different types of vegetables on it, it turned out to taste AMAZING! Now whenever i go there to eat i already know what i want to order! the food just made my night a lot better :) and is now definitely my favourite meal to order. GO to East Side Mario's and order Spaghettini Primavera.

Bug touted as emergancy food source

I do not agree with people eating bugs as a source of food. I am against people eating bugs because of the society i live in and the country i live in. Here in Scarborough there is more than enough food and money to eat which prevents us from starvation where as other countries may not have that option. I have always grown up with a large food option such as chicken, steak, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products so when i hear people eat bugs i find it difficult to accept that people think it's a source of food. In my opinion bugs are dirty and not meant to be eaten because of the place i live thats what i was always told since i can remember. I realise that some countries stand in a worse of place than the Country i live in and their emergancy food option may only be eat bugs or starve but wiith the foods i have grown up eating all these years blocks me from accepting bugs as food for humans to eat.