My favorite food that i am able to make is BBQ chicken pizza. In order to make this I need to use the following ingredient:
- 1 Frozen Trader Joe's Pizza
- 1/3 box of pre-sliced southwest chicken
- 4 Cap-fulls of Peter Lugar Steak/ BBQ Sauce
First preheat the oven to 420 degrees for 10 minutes while the chicken and the sauce warm to room temperature and the pizza thaws. After 10 minutes put the pizza into the oven and let heat until cheese is melted and pizza is warm (about 7 minutes). Put pieces of chicken onto pizza and cover the pizza with the Steak/ BBQ sauce. Put the BBQ chicken pizza back into the oven and let cook until pizza is fully cooked (5-10 minutes).
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Food Journal #6
I think that Michael Pollan makes a very good point that we do not have a set food identity as a culture, like the French do with pastries, escargot, bread and cheeses. Or the Italians with pasta. We do not really have foods other than hotdogs and hamburgers associated with our nation. What i think is important to recognize is that America is made up of many different cultures making 'American food' something which is more of an idea than an actual type of food.
In class Andy brought up a point which I felt was very true, that food is more regional than national. The example was India, and how the Indian food we eat in America is really food from a specific region of India such as Bombay, or New Delhi. For America I think this is just as true. In the south, spicy 'cajun' food is eaten. In Texas, people eat more meaty, barbeque flavored foods, and in the cities, like New York, we eat just about everything in a culinary 'melting pot' of foods from every culture.
What we do have in America, is an obsession with our eating habits that no other country in the world seems to have. This is probably attributed to the fact that America is one of the most obese nations in the world. We have made certain ingredients literally illegal, such as trans fats, which were used in about every fast food restaurant in America. We also have a variety in the food we eat greater than virtually any other culture, because we incorporate all other cultures foods into the American food pallet. This variety I think is partly why we have such an obese society. In France, a large part of the food they eat is heavily flavored and prepared to the point that Americans would consider it unhealthy, but they eat basically the same things all their lives, and are far healthier than we are. In America, a large portion of the population tries to eat 'healthy' or adhere to a strict 'diet', but we eat different foods from different parts of the world, meaning we don't really have a regulated diet at all in our country.
If I were to make an educated guess on why America is so unhealthy, and why we have such a food obsession, than I would attribute that to the variety we have in America and the fact that our food does not always come from our region of the world. I think that if we ate more natural food from right here in America, and indulged rarely in Chinese, Mexican, Italian or Thai food, than we would be much healthier, and on par with the Chinese who eat Chinese food, the Mexicans who eat Mexican food, and the Italians who eat Italian food.
In class Andy brought up a point which I felt was very true, that food is more regional than national. The example was India, and how the Indian food we eat in America is really food from a specific region of India such as Bombay, or New Delhi. For America I think this is just as true. In the south, spicy 'cajun' food is eaten. In Texas, people eat more meaty, barbeque flavored foods, and in the cities, like New York, we eat just about everything in a culinary 'melting pot' of foods from every culture.
What we do have in America, is an obsession with our eating habits that no other country in the world seems to have. This is probably attributed to the fact that America is one of the most obese nations in the world. We have made certain ingredients literally illegal, such as trans fats, which were used in about every fast food restaurant in America. We also have a variety in the food we eat greater than virtually any other culture, because we incorporate all other cultures foods into the American food pallet. This variety I think is partly why we have such an obese society. In France, a large part of the food they eat is heavily flavored and prepared to the point that Americans would consider it unhealthy, but they eat basically the same things all their lives, and are far healthier than we are. In America, a large portion of the population tries to eat 'healthy' or adhere to a strict 'diet', but we eat different foods from different parts of the world, meaning we don't really have a regulated diet at all in our country.
If I were to make an educated guess on why America is so unhealthy, and why we have such a food obsession, than I would attribute that to the variety we have in America and the fact that our food does not always come from our region of the world. I think that if we ate more natural food from right here in America, and indulged rarely in Chinese, Mexican, Italian or Thai food, than we would be much healthier, and on par with the Chinese who eat Chinese food, the Mexicans who eat Mexican food, and the Italians who eat Italian food.
Food Journal #5
My family generally does its day to day shopping at the D'Agostinos supermarket up the block from my house. This is where we get our cereal, milk, juice, ice cream, cheese, bread, bagels, chicken, fruits and vegetables. My mom does most of the shopping on her way back from work, where she picks up the food she needs to get to make me and my brother dinner. My dad is a vegetarian and gets most of his food from either Trader Joe's, or a health food store in my neighborhood called Health and Hearty.
For more long term and extensive shopping, my family shops at Trader Joe's in union square. I like trader joes for a few reasons. The first being that it is much cheeper than its competitors and quality products. The other is that they only sell their own brand and use ingredients from local farmers in California (where the company is based). I think that this takes the marketing and consumerism out of the food we eat, which personally I'm in favor of. I feel that this is better for the consumer as the prices are better, and the seller can ultimately do better business.
When I was younger, me and my brother used to go with my parents to the supermarket and always would beg her for certain foods, such as cookies, sugary cereals, ice cream and other sugar filled stuff. I can say for sure that I remember seeing most all of these items at eye level when I was younger. Katie said in class that she noticed how most of the children's food items were at eye level for her (she's kinda kid sized) when we took a trip to the supermarket. I think that this is really true and one of the best marketing schemes ever. Kids, especially young kids are pretty manipulative when they want something, all they need is something to want. If you make an item right their for a kid to look at and package it attractively, with a "free prize inside", or a cartoon sponsor, than the kids will sell the item to their parents so they can get what they want. By making it right their, the supermarkets are almost guaranteeing better sales for those items.
For more long term and extensive shopping, my family shops at Trader Joe's in union square. I like trader joes for a few reasons. The first being that it is much cheeper than its competitors and quality products. The other is that they only sell their own brand and use ingredients from local farmers in California (where the company is based). I think that this takes the marketing and consumerism out of the food we eat, which personally I'm in favor of. I feel that this is better for the consumer as the prices are better, and the seller can ultimately do better business.
When I was younger, me and my brother used to go with my parents to the supermarket and always would beg her for certain foods, such as cookies, sugary cereals, ice cream and other sugar filled stuff. I can say for sure that I remember seeing most all of these items at eye level when I was younger. Katie said in class that she noticed how most of the children's food items were at eye level for her (she's kinda kid sized) when we took a trip to the supermarket. I think that this is really true and one of the best marketing schemes ever. Kids, especially young kids are pretty manipulative when they want something, all they need is something to want. If you make an item right their for a kid to look at and package it attractively, with a "free prize inside", or a cartoon sponsor, than the kids will sell the item to their parents so they can get what they want. By making it right their, the supermarkets are almost guaranteeing better sales for those items.
May Day Reflection
The holiday on May 1st, known around the world as International Workers Day is a holiday celebrating the labor and struggles of the working class around the world and the rights which they had to fight for. It was a holiday initially started in the united states, yet we do not celebrate it and for the most part have since forgot about it in our national memory. In class when Andy asked us if we knew what May day was, nobody seemed to know, and i personally did not have any idea. We learned that it was started in 1886, after the Haymarket massacre in Chicago, where police killed 12 people during a workers protest, where the workers were trying to attain a set 8 hour work day.
The fact that we in America do not know what May 1st represents, is much more reflective of our society than it is of the people who worked so hard to make sure this day would not be remembered. I feel like we are a very submissive society, which fears authority only when we have to stand up against it. We talk alot, and demonstrate against the establishment, but lack a certain common goal as a society. This is why i think that when these protesters were killed, and the bosses at all the factories fired all employees who were absent on May 1st, we kinda' forgot about what the lives of these 12 people meant, and what the efforts of every person at these protests resulted in. Today we certainly appreciate the 5 day work week and the 8 hour work day, but do not even devote one day to their memory. While virtually every other country around the world celebrates and holds rally's in memory of those who fought for workers rights. We in America do not, and have pretty much suppressed this date and what is represents in our country.
I think that what this shows is that Americans take things for granted. If you asked any average working class person if they appreciated the weekend, and the 9-5 work day, they would without a doubt say yes. But the fact is, we don't appreciate the struggle and the effort it took to get to this point. I think we need to have a major effort in America to bring back the celebration of May Day, and what it means, because we need to appreciate what went in to what we enjoy today.
The fact that we in America do not know what May 1st represents, is much more reflective of our society than it is of the people who worked so hard to make sure this day would not be remembered. I feel like we are a very submissive society, which fears authority only when we have to stand up against it. We talk alot, and demonstrate against the establishment, but lack a certain common goal as a society. This is why i think that when these protesters were killed, and the bosses at all the factories fired all employees who were absent on May 1st, we kinda' forgot about what the lives of these 12 people meant, and what the efforts of every person at these protests resulted in. Today we certainly appreciate the 5 day work week and the 8 hour work day, but do not even devote one day to their memory. While virtually every other country around the world celebrates and holds rally's in memory of those who fought for workers rights. We in America do not, and have pretty much suppressed this date and what is represents in our country.
I think that what this shows is that Americans take things for granted. If you asked any average working class person if they appreciated the weekend, and the 9-5 work day, they would without a doubt say yes. But the fact is, we don't appreciate the struggle and the effort it took to get to this point. I think we need to have a major effort in America to bring back the celebration of May Day, and what it means, because we need to appreciate what went in to what we enjoy today.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Food Journal #3
My family is Russian/ Austrian. At my house though we tend to eat alot of italian food. Also my dinner is generally some kind of meat (chicken, beef, hotdogs) with corn or rice, and salad. My mom makes dinner and we usually sit at these small tables on the couches surrounding my television. We eat with a fork and knife like every other person in the civilized world does today (not to say chopsticks and spoons aren't civilized). My family is Jewish, but not religiously practicing, so we do not conduct any religious ritual or blessing before our meals. I sit on my computer usually, on a couch by myself, my brother sits either on another couch near me or downstairs on the family computer, my parents both sit on the larger couch and watch MSNBC. We talk about how our days went sometimes and about stuff that happened since we last had time to talk. Than I will usually grab some desert and hang out with my parents and talk a bit while watching TV "with" them, before I get ready for bed.
I think that my families dinner routine is fairly typical of how Americans tend to eat meals. For the most part, we in America cannot break ourselves away from a screen even to eat, and often find ourselves in the company of others, paying attention only to the people on the screen and not those around us. This is a problem i think and says alot about the attention span and value of media over family in America. It bothers me when I try to converse with my dad and he tells me to wait for the commercial, and i feel that this happens often in most american households.
I think that my families dinner routine is fairly typical of how Americans tend to eat meals. For the most part, we in America cannot break ourselves away from a screen even to eat, and often find ourselves in the company of others, paying attention only to the people on the screen and not those around us. This is a problem i think and says alot about the attention span and value of media over family in America. It bothers me when I try to converse with my dad and he tells me to wait for the commercial, and i feel that this happens often in most american households.
Food Journal #2
What is American food?
When you walk around in a grocery store or watch television, you are kind of able to develop the feel for what we in America consider to be our cultures food. TV dinners are inherently American, Hungry Man, Jimmy Dean and others are prime examples of that pre- packaged meal which we seem to love so much. Anything it seems, which makes getting food from the refrigerator to our stomachs a quicker process is what we want. What preservatives, meat bi-products and chemicals are in that food doesnt seem to concern us. When we don't want to eat our meals at home, we tend to go to a pizza place, a McDonalds, a Taco Bell, overall, a fast food restaurant. According to a study done by the NRA (National Restaurant Association) in 2006, Americans spent about $142 billion on fast food.
When you walk around in a grocery store or watch television, you are kind of able to develop the feel for what we in America consider to be our cultures food. TV dinners are inherently American, Hungry Man, Jimmy Dean and others are prime examples of that pre- packaged meal which we seem to love so much. Anything it seems, which makes getting food from the refrigerator to our stomachs a quicker process is what we want. What preservatives, meat bi-products and chemicals are in that food doesnt seem to concern us. When we don't want to eat our meals at home, we tend to go to a pizza place, a McDonalds, a Taco Bell, overall, a fast food restaurant. According to a study done by the NRA (National Restaurant Association) in 2006, Americans spent about $142 billion on fast food.
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