Kensington Market Trip

I and my food and nutrition class went on a class trip to Kensington Market. When we went there we enjoyed a vegan meal organized by a couple of vegan volunteers. We participated in making the meal. We were organized in three different groups. One group was in charge of making kale and dressing it with sauce. Another group was in charge of making the squash drizzled with salt and pepper, and then the last group was in charge of the brownies made from kidney beans. The group I was in was in charge of preparing the squash. We first chopped up the squash into cubes and then placed them on a pan drizzled with olive oil. To make the squash have some more flavor on it we put pepper and salt on them. After that the last thing we did was insert in the oven till the squash was nice and tender. I was surprised by many things when I ate the meal. One thing that I was surprised was that the brownie was made not from eggs, it was made by kidney beans. When I actually tasted it, it tasted exactly like normal brownies.  You would not be able to taste any beans in them. Until my friend Aaron told me about what they made the brownies out of, I just thought it was normal ingredients like; eggs, flour and such. As a whole I really loved the squash and the brownies, but I hated the kale. I think it was because I’m not a fan of salad and I don’t eat much leaves in my diet. Surprisingly, many people enjoyed the kale.

Bruschetta

This is another dish that I made for the lunch. You guys may be wondering why I don't take pictures of food made at home, and the reason is because it never comes out as perfect as there are many measuring cups in Mr. Stephenson's classroom. Well this dish is known as, bruschetta. The bruschetta consisted of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and garlic topped on thinly sliced bread spreaded with oil and garlic. My  role in the kitchen was to chop up the tomatoes and cut the garlic in small peices. It wasn't a really hard process because we only used salt and pepper and three other ingredients along with it. The bread was toasted then drizzled with oil and peices of garlic was spreaded on it. My favorite part was when I actually made the bruschetta and served it to the students. I loved sprinkling the mozzarella cheese on the tomatoes. As Mr. Stephenson said, "you can never have too much of cheese". Most people liked it, but some people didn't like it because there wasn't enough cheese on the tomatoes which made the dish have no taste to it. In my opinion I liked the dish, but I thought there should of been more spices or other vegetables incorporated in the dish. We could of put green and red peppers to make it hot. Another thing I thought we can do to change it is put cheese on the bread and bake it which would make the dish taste alot better. But the mozzarella cheese still made it delicious! 

It's really fast to make this, these are the steps:

1. Toasted thinly sliced bread in the oven, till crispy

2. Chopped up the tomatoes in cubes

3. Chopped up the garlic also in cubes

4. After the bread was toasted we spread oil on it back and front, with a pastry brush

5. We inserted the bread with oil back in the oven

5. Put some salt and pepper on the tomatoes 

6. Spread peices of garlic on the bread

7. Mix the garlic and tomatoes, and then serve it on the bread

A night out with the girls at Wild Wings

How fattening does this meal look? These fries aren't the normal poutine you would get at Harry's or any other fast food restaurant. It consists of gravy, cheese, and bacon. How delicious does that sound? It was a Friday night and I really did not know what to do since I have completed all my assignments, and so my cousin and her friend decided to eat out at Wild Wings. It was my second time eating at Wild Wings. I didn't really enjoy the first time, because I wasn't a huge fan of wings. But this time I actually loved their fries. The wild wing which I went to was located at Kennedy Commons on Kennedy and Progress Rd. The fries cost $7.40 and it is called, "fries, bacon, cheese & gravy. The fries are topped with crispy bacon and shredded cheddar cheese and then gravy is drizzled on top of the fries. It was so delicious, but at the same time it was quite fattening. Gravy itself consists of 188 calories per cup. Although I do recommend this dish to any fast food or fries lovers, but at the same time be aware that too much of this could make you gain an enormous amount of weight. If you want to go anywhere to eat the most delicious fries, choose Wild Wings. The price is actually worth the taste. Don’t watch your money in this situation, just EAT!

Karakudi Restaurant with family

Masala Dosai

Me and my family went to Karakudi Chettinad Restaurant which is located at 1225 Kennedy Rd. This restaurant offers an authentic Indian foods. Foods that they offer include; dosai, kothu roti, roti, appam, puttu, etc. What I personally ate there was called, Masala Dosai. Masala dosai is like a type of crepe that is made out of rice batter and black lentils. Along with the masala dosai as you see in the picture it is served along with sambar, wet chutney, and milagai powder. The dips are really spicy and hot. For example; wet chutney which is the white paste located in the middle of the picture is basically made up of coconut, lentils, green chilli and mint. And the other chutney which is green in the picture is made up of a powder of spices and coconut. The dish taste so good, but it was really spicy. I enjoyed it alot. This dish is well known in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and other parts of Southern India. This meal can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. When I ate this with my family it was early in the morning. This dish is not unhealthy it is actually pretty healthy. It has many carbohydrates and it has no sugar or saturated fats. I would go back to this restaurant because it consists of many of my cultural background foods that I enjoy. I never really get time to enjoy foods like this because I have been so caught up in the western diet which consists of processed and fast foods. If anyone is from Southern India or feels that the dish I have a picture of above looks delicious, come give it a try at Karakudi Chettinad Restaurant immediately! I'm sure you you would enjoy it!

The Healthiest Dish I've Made by Far

 

As you see in the picture I and my cooking group for Mr. Stephenson's food and nutrition class cooked this for Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute students for the lunch program. I forgot what it was called, but it called something kebab. This dish consisted of cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, salad, avacado, egg, bacon and three strips of chicken. It actually tasted so good. It was pretty easy to prepare because we just took fresh vegetables and chopped them up. And for the chicken we just had to season it and then insert it into the oven.  Beside the dish is my favorite drink that I always buy at Shoppers Drug Mart. Back to the topic of my experience cooking this delicious dish. Most people enjoyed our dish and most people really loved the chicken. I personally did not like tomatoes, but otherwise the rest of the food on the dish I liked. I think this dish was the most delicious thing that we made by far in the class. And the reason I am saying this is because there were many vegetables incorporated in the dish, and as we have learned vegetables are essential so we don't experience medical conflicts in the future like; obesity. This is a great way to get kids to eat vegetables. Parents should consider preparing this meal at their homes so that their children would adapt to eating vegetables. And as for people reading this post, consider making this meal it is very delicious, easy to make and healthy.

A Gross Surprise At Scarborough Town Centre

Hello Everyone! i know you guys are probably wondering and excited to read about this post just by looking at the yummie crickets. Yesterday i went to scarborough town centre to shop and hang out with some friends. After walking for a while around the mall, i got a bit tired and decided to go to McDonald's with my friends to grab something to eat. After finishing our Mcdonalds meal, i felt like i wanted to eat something sweet. Some of you might know the store right next to Mcdonalds called "Sweet tooth", it's basically a store full of really delicious sweets. However, as i walked into the store i noticed that they were selling a pack of dried crickets andi was just disgusted and could not believe my eyes! I know some people might enjoy eating crickets, but I definitely would not be able to even taste them. I still managed to take a pretty close look into the pack, then I read that there was all sorts of flavors to them.  Isn't that AMAZING?! Flavors that the crickets came in included; salt and vinegar, bacon, and chocolate. I was just shocked because i never knew they would sell such things in the mall right beside my favorite store McDonalds. Anyway, i guess they are healthy in some ways.  I have asked a couple of my friends if they would ever taste them if i were to buy them, they gave me the wierdest look. Because abviously there for a reason because some people actually buy them. They were for $3,99 each so not a bad price for a few dried up flavoured crickets. i would personally not try them, but if anyone would like to try them its up you guys. And don't worry I won't judge you just because you ate crickets. Go Try It Out ! *Yuck

Energy Drink - ER visits Doubled

There are many students that purchase energy drinks to keep them awake during university exam week. And one of them would be me. I drank NOS which is a energy drink, but I did not experience any symptoms because I only consumed one can. What I am talking about right now is targeted to those people that consume more than 2 cans per hour. Energy drinks are helpful in situations where a person is tired, but only a certain amount is. We have to consider the health implications associated along with this. An article on Food Canada website called, "Energy Drink - Related ER visits doubles in Just a Few Years". For the past 4 years people who have sought medical help due to drinking energy drinks has doubled. Drinking energy drinks like; NOS and red bull can cause insomia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat, and seizures. I really do not think teens are aware about how powerful this drink is and how  it can create serious problems to the human body. We need to make them more aware, by educating schools and the public through programs. Or we can ban it or bring it as an issue in the parliament. The drink itself contains a huge content of caffeine which keeps people awake and energized. "I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is equivalent of 15 cups of coffee" (Food Canada). No one should die just by over consuming on drinks. But in this case we have to be careful on how much of energy drinks we intake to our bodies, as it may kill us.