Blog recommendations !

Hey guys,

I love finding new blogs, especially insipiring food and nutrition blogs to keep my meals interesting.

Here are my top three favourites. All three feature delicious, healthy and quick recipes that are sure to delight your taste buds. Add them to your RSS feeds.

Vitamin G, Everyday Food, In Good Taste

Gingerbread House

Christmas is getting closer (17 days and counting!)

I must admit , with all these exams I definately have not had time to build my own gingerbread house but I did find a fun video online. It shows Martha Stewart and designer Isaac Mzrahi building an entire town-square out of gingerbread !


Check it out, it is sure to make your mouth water !

Ricotta and Herb Spread

I stumbled upon this recipe in Real Simple magazine. I have yet to try it , but it seems pretty much fool-proof.

Ingredients

- 2 cups of fresh ricotta cheese

- 2 tables spoons of fresh chives

- a dash of salt and pepper

- 1 small baguette, sliced and toasted

Directions

- Mix the ricotta and herbs - place in a serving bowl

- lightly toast the baguette slices under the broiler

Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks

These pretzel sticks are always a crowd favourite. The combination of sweet chocolate and salty pretzels tastes like heaven!

What you'll need

- pretzel sticks

- large milk chocolate chips or melting disk chocolate

- white chocolate
- baking sheet lined with wax paper

Steps

1. Melt the chocolate- boil water over the stove or in the kettle and pour into a large stainless steel bowl, then add a smaller bowl with the chocolate in it. Allow the hot water in the large bowl to melt the chocolate in the smaller bowl & stir so that it is melted evenly.

(do NOT put the chocolate directly over heat in a pot, it will burn, and smell bad, and taste worse)

2. line the baking sheet with wax paper and lay the pretzel sticks out on it.

3. Pour the milk chocolate over the top half of the pretzel stick (so that you can hold the bottom with your hand)
4. let it cool for about half an hour , and drizzle the melted white chocolate over top of the milk chocolate.

You can also be creative and add chopped nuts, or candy cane pieces for a different taste!

Impressive Holiday Recipes

Now that the holiday season is officially upon us, so is the holiday party circuit. Stay tuned to The Plastic Spoons for some of the most simple, yet impressive holiday recipes ever.

Prosciutto & Parmesan Pinwheels

These pinwheels are super easy but look very professional. Show up all of your friends at your next holiday party by arriving with these savoury h'ors D'eurves


Ingredients

- 1 package of thinly sliced prosciutto
- 1 package of FRESH Parmesan cheese
- Dijon or Honey Mustard
- 1 package of pre-made puff pastry

Assembly

- follow instructions on the puff pastry for de-thawing (it typically takes about 2 hours to de-thaw a frozen roll of pastry) - Makes sure that you are working with the pastry while it is still cold.
- Roll out the pastry on a cold baking sheet and spread the mustard evenly across the surface
- sprinkle cheese and lie strips of prosciutto evenly across pastry
- roll pastry so that it forms a spiraled tube (along the long side)
- cut tube into 1/2 inch pinwheels with a cold knife

Bake at 350 degrees F on a lightly oiled baking sheet for 10-12 minutes (watch them closely!)
heat them in the oven for a few minutes before serving and watch your guests swoon!

The End of the Mass Media?

As a student of media studies, I was at first concerned when I read the description of the special CBC program The End. It concerns me because I have spent the past three years learning about the mass media, and for someone to say that it is going to soon be irrelevant is almost offensive.

Upon watching the three part series on Radio, Television and Print, I understand where the producers of this program are coming from. Conventional and traditional forms of media are changing but they will never be obsolete. There will always be a need for informative and entertaining content. People will always watch, listen and read. But younger generations are much more media savvy that previous, and they are asking for more.

What are we asking for?

Well I cannot speak for the collective youth. But if someone were to ask me what the main things I look for in my media my answer would be simple. I want a choice in my content, and I want to be able to access it quickly and easily.

Sifting through pages, waiting for my show to come on, and listening to 5 songs I don’t like before I hear one that I do is not my idea of good communication. The End uses the examples of satellite radio, Wikipedia and PVR to prove that users are becoming more motivated by their own interests, rather than turning on the 6’ Oclock news and passively watching whatever is thrown at them. The hypodermic needle model has its flaws, and those who believe that audiences of the future will be that easily persuaded are naive.

I also see that a lot of this need for choice is a result of people who are sick of being taken advantage of by the mass media. I absolutely hate having to sit through 10 minutes of commercials each half hour, and if it can be avoided I most certainly will. T

This CBC program encapsulates many ideas that we learn about in mit. It seems that the winds are changing direction in the media world, and those who fail to acknowledge that are going to be left behind.

SOUP!

All this gloomy weather is making me want nothing more than to curl up on the couch with a bowl of soup and crackers. Here are my favourite veggie soups , all with less than 5gs of fat per serving.

Chunky broccoli soup with no artificial flavours or colours. 1.5 gs of fat per serving

Pumpkin, carrots, potato, tomato and onion combine to make this creamy soup. 4.5 gs of fat per serving

A twist on the classic tomato soup, with a bit of red peppers. 3 gs of fat.

The Holiday Season has Arrived!

At least the holiday season at Starbucks has arrived!

Even walking past the windows makes it hard to NOT be in the Christmas spirit.

This season they are featuring the Caramel Brulee Latte, the Peppermint Mocha, and the Gingerbread Latte.

I was a bit upset to hear that they were not doing their specialty hot chocolates (the hazelnut hot chocolate was a personal favourite last year), but one of the barristas informed be that you can order any of them all year long.

Have you guys tried any of these holiday features at Starbucks?

Top 3 Fall Veggies!

Here is my pick for The Top 3 Fall Vegetables - what is so good about them, and how to know if they're fresh!

Broccoli- Rich in vitamin A and C (both of which are great for your immune system)

Look for: broccoli with firm stalks and tight dark green florets , it can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge

Squash- Good source of carotene, folic acid, potassium and fibre.

Look for: a squash with a matte skin, free of blemishes and sounds hollow when you tap it

Spinach- loaded with calcium, folic acid, and iron.

Nowadays, most spinach is sold in a bag but to prevent it from getting soggy and going bad, keep it in the crisper drawer. I have also heard that it helps to keep a piece of paper towel in the bag to absorb some of the moisture.

What do you eat when you're alone?

I recently read an interesting blog on The Guardian's Word of Mouth blog. It was based on a book about funny things that people eat when they're at home all by themselves.

check out the article ...its kind of funny.

What we eat in privacy is often alot different than what we allow others to see us eat.

I want my readers to spill their secrets!

What do you guys eat when you are by yourself?

I've been known to eat peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon!

Goat Cheese, Yumm!

I think that everyone should embrace the delicious versatility of goat cheese! I bought some the other day and have been putting it on virtually everything!

- warmed and spread on toast with strawberry jam
- in spinach salads with toasted nuts
- in pasta with a rosee sauce and pieces of chopped asparagus

- as a garnish in veggie soups

I even crumbled some in a bowl of warm chili to make it a little bit creamier!

Luckily for me , goat cheese is actually one of the healthier cheese options as well. An article from The Food Network explains that it contains potassium, vitamin A and is significantly lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than most other hard cheeses.

Give it a try!

New London Discovery

I thought I'd share my new cute local business discovery!

You may have noticed the tragic lack of choice in the masonville food court (if you work retail , like myself , you have DEFINITELY noticed).

Fear not! The Little Red Roaster is a local London catering company who has opened a kiosk outside of Banana Republic. They serve a variety of baked goods, salads and wraps as well as coffee and other refreshments. Plus the people who work there are super friendly.

I ordered a delicious turkey, brie and strawberry jam sandwich (it may sound like a weird combination but it was amazing!) that came with a side order of chips!

Check it out and let me know how it turns out!
Here's there website for their other locations

Everyday Food

If anyone is in the market for an amazing cooking resource I would highly recommend Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.

This book is divided into four sections; one for each season. Each section has a variety of recipes that use seasonal ingredients. Most are very simple and quick to prepare and each dish has a full colour photo beside it (to give you something to aim for).

The back of the book includes an index, a section on basic cooking techniques (like preparing rice and the different ways to cook a chicken), as well as nutritional information for each meal!

I always find myself cracking open this book, even if it is just to look at the pictures for inspiration.

Favourite Late Night Eats

It's time for me to direct the expertise to my readers ! What do you guys think is the best late-night food in London ?!

I need a new spot because I keep getting called out for eating too many poutines from Sammy Souvlaki!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Thought I'd share one of my mom's famous muffin recipes ! Hot out of the oven on a cold day, these are almost equal to heaven.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tin with paper muffin cups or grease muffin tin.
Makes 12 muffins (depending on size of bananas)

3 bananas
1 egg
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour or 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mash bananas in food processor or with fork until no lumps remain.
Add egg, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla and salt. Process/stir until mixed

In a medium sized bowl mix flour with sifted baking powder and baking soda. Add chocolate chips and stir.

Add wet ingredients to dry stirring until just mixed.

Drop dough into muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Pad Thai Attempt 2

Okay so, my first home-made pad thai attempt did not go so well, as you may have read. Although I was really discouraged I decided to try again. This version was less 'home-made' , but the instructions on the back seemed fool-proof, plus it was under 3$ for the package so I figured I'd give it a try.

Thai Kitchen brand came with noodles and sauce, and provided clear instructions on the back. In total the process took me about 15 minutes

The sauce was WAY better than the VH version, but I'm still having trouble cooking rice noodles to perfection. Does anyone have any helpful hints they could share?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

What feels bette than a simple chocolate chip cookie and a cold glass of milk during this stressful midterm season ?

This recipe is the first thing I ever made for myself when I was about 12 years old.


Ingredients
1/2 cup of shortening (can be replaced with 1/3 cup of butter)
1 egg
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Directions
Beat shortening , egg, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy
Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) in a seperat bowl
Mix wet and dry ingredients - blend well
Stir in chocolate
Place on greased baking sheet
Bake at 375degrees F for 8-10 minutes

Give them a try and let me know how they turn out!

Sarah's Succulent Hamburgers

What a nice roommate I have. She made us these delicious hamburgers on Saturday night and even shared her secret recipe with us! This recipe makes about 4 small patties.

Ingredients

1 lb of ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

1 small onion, grated

2 tsps of Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Mix ingredients into large bowl

2. form into patties of desired size

3. let sit for half an hour in the fridge (otherwise they will be a bit crumbly)

4. grill for 10 minutes (or until no longer pink inside)

We ate ours on whole wheat buns with a side salad of mixed greens, almonds and tomatoes with a Thai dressing

Tip 3- B.Y.O.D

Bring your own drink!
It sounds simple enough , but people get lazy. Sure the bottles of Evian on campus are convenient , but they're also SO overpriced!

I bought 2-4 case of water from the superstore for 1.99$ , which is like half the price of 1L of water on campus. I keep them in the trunk of my car so that I can grab one on my way to class. If you don't drive, keep them close to your door, or somewhere that you will see them on your way out, so that you do not forget!

Remember, Evian spells Naive backwards.

Tip 2- Be a part of the breakfast club!

Tip 2- Eat Breakfast before you go to school

One of my biggest mistakes is not eating breakfast before school. Neglecting to eat breakfast can leave you starving hungry by midmorning, and then probably forced to buy a bagel at Tim Horton's to tide you over before you get home.

The fastest thing I make for breakfast is a simple bowl of cereal. For those of you scared of carbs...DONT BE! Carbs are what give you the energy to get through your hectic day.

Real Simple magazine did a feature on interesting cereal ideas so if you do not already have a favourite, check it out to get inspired!

Tip 1 : President's Choice Will Save You

I just finished my first full day on campus with my goal in mind. Not to buy any food on uwo territory for one week.
I must admit I failed today, I bought a chocolate milk.
BUT , I also made progress by bringing one of my favourite low cost meals to school.


Behold ....The President's Choice Microwaveable dinner...


I know there is a stigma attached to microwaved dinners , but these are not the nasty Hungry Man meals that you have in mind. My Mom actually recommended them to me (and she can be somewhat of a food snob at times). They come in a variety of meals from Chicken Szechwan , Ginger Glazed Chicken and Linguine with Shrimp Marinara.


I usually grab one from the grocery store near my bus stop before class, and they only cost an average of $2.50!

Today I had
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna




Made with roasted eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, ricota and partly skim mozzarella cheese in a tomato sauce

--> low fat, low cal
--> source of fibre and iron and calcium


240 cals, 6gs of fat
Microwave for 10 minutes


Most buildings on campus have microwaves, so just keep your eye out for them next time you're walking around.

RIPOFF!

September-14-09
5:26 PM
October 16th 2009

The number one error of student eating

I have found that the most common error of student eating is getting sucked into the money pit that is on-campus dining. I admit that I often fall into the trap of grabbing a quick snack when I do not have time to pack one in advance, especially on those rough mornings, where every moment of sleep counts.

The other day I went to purchase a drink in the center spot in the UCC of uwo. To my disgust, my vitamin water cost me almost FIVE DOLLARS!

Okay so I'm exaggerating slightly, it was about 3.60, but still, it cost me almost as much as my entire lunch from the spoke (another on-campus eatery). For the rest of the day, I regretted not taking the extra two seconds to grab a bottle of water from my fridge that morning.

I guess I cannot complain about all on campus eating locations. The spoke food has decent pricing, but it is difficult to find something of the healthier variety, same with Tim Hortons, but for the most part, food and drinks on campus are sold at highly inflated prices.

The best way to avoid this is a good amount of planning in advance. Next week I'm going to try not to buy a single piece of food* on campus and I'll blog about the different meal options and snack ideas that I come up with !

*this excludes tea, because I cannot survive a day without tea

outfoxed

This is a review that I am writing as a part of my MIT Blogging course, although it has nothing to do with student eating, I think that it is an important topic that should be addressed, especially considering the current controversy involving the White House and The Fox News Network.

The conservative nature of Fox news is no secret. It is a dilemma that we have explored in other mit courses, like Political Economy of the Media. I guess a bias is ever present, no matter how objective we try to be, but in hard news reporting, it is essential that the facts are presented without a strong opinion enforcing one view.

That seems to be the major issue explored in the Outfoxed documentary. Perhaps when watching Fox news, you do detect a strong conservative viewpoint, but it is definitely amplified in the way that the documentary was edited. The documentary does an excellent job of getting you on their side, the side that says Fox is a corrupted news network.

I do not think that the problem is the conservative views of Fox news, but how they call themselves a hard news channel. I do not think if they referred to their material as editorial, there would be as much of a controversy. The network has the right to produce content, but where they fail, is to enforce that these are opinions and not statements of fact.

People have different expectations from something like a personal blog, than they do with their news outlet. When I watch the news I expect to be presented with the facts, and allowed to form my own opinions on the matter. Maybe this is why I have never been one hundred percent reliant on a specific news source. I tend to look at a variety of sources, depending on what sort of news I am interested in hearing about. Ultimately, we have a responsibility to ourselves, to figure out our own opinions, rather than relying on one network to decide our views for us.

MJP's Grilled Cheese

What is more delicious than a grilled cheese that you make for yourself just before midnight?

Only a grilled cheese made by a friend FOR you!
The following is one of my friends specialty grilled cheese recipes

Ingredients
- real marble cheese (create a more authentic taste than kraft singles)
- Fresh Foccacia bread
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Course sea salt

Directions
- Warm the pannini grill and grease with olive oil
- brush the tops of bread with olive oil and lay thin slices of cheese in between
- leave on the heat for approx. 4 minutes or until cheese is melted
- cut on the diagonal and serve with ketchup

Especially great when enjoyed with a new episode of the hills , when what you really should be doing is writing a paper.

Tea Time

A proper afternoon tea is a great luxury. All too often we find only enough time to grab a venti and run out the door without so much as a thought. Here are my personal key ways to the best pot of tea (passed down from my Nana).

1. The water you fill your kettle with should be cold , otherwise your tea will taste funny.

1. For the tea to brew properly, the water must be boiling hot for black tea. For green and white teas, remove water from heat just before it starts to bubble.

2. Warm the tea pot by running it under hot water for a couple seconds, this will help insulate the pot and keep your tea warm for longer.

3. Add the milk just before you pour the water. It mixes in better this way.

4. If you like sugar , add it right away and stir until it is all melted , otherwise the bottom of your tea will syrupy or gritty.

Enjoy with a piece of shortbread and a friend !

Pad Thai Attempt

Okay here is the deal, pad Thai is one of my all-time-favourite foods; however, I have never tried to make it myself. After my first attempt, I feel that I will probably never try again.

To be fair, it was not entirely from scratch. I was inspired to make it after finding a VH Thai Market Pad Thai sauce at the grocery store, since the sauce was only about 4$ , I picked it up, as well as a chicken breast and egg noodles and decided to give it a try.

In my defense, I think the chicken that I cooked in egg as well as the bean sprouts and onions turned out pretty well. The first problem was that the VH sauce tasted totally inauthentic , and the second was the noodles I cooked did not turn out that great either. They were sticky and maybe a bit overcooked (this was my first time making rice noodles as well).

I would be tempted to try another Pad Thai sauce , as I think that was the main reason the dish did not turn out how I imagined it. For now , I think I'll just get take out.

All wrapped up

I hate to admit it as much as the next person, but fall is officially in our presence. Not only does this signal a switch in wardrobe, but also a change in my eating patterns. As the cold weather sets in , I find myself gravitating to the cheesey-carby- comfort foods.

Here's one great recipe that I found in the November issue of Glamour that is a healthy alternative to the standard grilled cheese sandwich

Veggie and Melted Cheese Wrap

- 1 tbsp. of olive oil

- 1/4 cup of chopped zucchini

- 1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes

- 2 slices of monterey jack cheese (I substituted mozzarella)

-1 One large flour tortilla (I substituted a whole-wheat pita)

- 1/2 cup of baby spinach

Directions

1. In a saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat

2. add zucchini and tomatoes , saute for about 3-4 minutes until soft and golden brown around edges

3. remove from heat, place veggies inside wrap with cheese

4. wrap up tortilla (or pita, in my case) and place in pan, 2 minutes per side, until golden brown and cheese has melted

This dinner was SO satisfying and only took about five ingredients, definitely a success and something I'll repeat. I'm thinking next time I'll add some grilled chicken as well.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Scallops and Green Peas

Okay here is the deal, my fridge is seriously stark. Last night in a desperate attempt to throw anything together I made a pasta dish that turned out surprisingly well (with lots of help from my roommate).

Basically we used whatever we could scrounge from the pantry and freezer. The result?

Whole Wheat Pasta with Scallops and Green Peas

Ingredients
- frozen green peas
- frozen scallops
- whole wheat spaghetti
- soy sauce
- lemon juice
- green onions

The whole meal took about ten minutes to make, we just fried the scallops in a bit of olive oil, cooked the noodles and defrosted the peas in the microwave. Then put the noodles and peas in the pan with some soy sauce and squeezed a little bit of fresh lemon juice.

The result was a light supper ready in no time flat !

the plastic spoons?!

I feel like my blog title may need a little bit of an explaination. The inspiration came from the phrase born with a silver spoon in your mouth ; however, since my blog is about STUDENT living, there are usually no silver spoons in sight.

The Plastic Spoons is a blog about eating , not necessarily fine dining or haute cuisine (although I do make attempts). I wanted to make my blog relateable, and thus the title was born.

Although I do not plan on stuffing a turkey any time soon, I am going to tackle home-made pad thai next , so stay tuned!

I missed dinner

Due to my tuesday night class begining at 6:30, I regularly skip out on eating enough before hand (I know, tsk tsk) and usually resort to some sort of midnight snack once my hunger sets in.

Thus here are my top 5 favourite (and not-so-healthy) midnight snacks

5. Bowl of cereal - Probably the easiest and most in-expensive item on this list
4. Peanutbutter and Jelly Toast - I'm starting to notice a breakfast theme
3. Mac & Cheese - more to come about my obsession
2. Hummous and carrot- we need something healthy on this list, afterall
1. drum, roll, please..... GRILLED CHEESE - the ultimte midnight snack

Chef Alicia ....sort of

Hello Blogosphere!

Since this is my first official post on The Plastic Spoons, I feel that introducions are in order.

I am a third year student at the University of Western Ontario, in the Media, Information & Technoculture program and I am writing this blog as a class project.

I have chosen to write my blog about life as a student, and specifically learning to feed myself with endless budget, time and skill constraints !

That being said, I would like to release a short disclaimer. I am not a professional chef or nutritionist, so despite the fact that I will be sharing my trials and tribulations with the WWW, do not take my experiences as final word.

I plan to blog about my favourite recipes, my own creations, some health concerns facing students, budgeting for groceries. I want to make them fast, simple and stretch your dollar as far as possible.

I can't promise that everything will turn out perfect, but I sure hope it will at least be entertaining!

Stay tuned to what I'll stir up this semester