myfoodjourney-ss

[myfoodjourney-ss]

I really enjoyed journaling about things that I have been eating, cooking, and making habits of. It was also really fun to reflect on some of the habits I have always had. Like I mentioned previously, when I was tracking my different smoothie bowls for breakfast, I found myself making them more often than I normally would. I was more motivated to make one and record it for the blog. It helped me first of all eat breakfast (which I don’t always do because of time) and helped me save money by eating at home.

I really loved having the opportunity to reflect back on happy memories that cooking has brought me as well. With my little brother living in Finland it's been a while since the two of us have been able to cook together side by side. But, reflecting on those times that we did have, made me realize how much closer together it has brought us. Everyone in my family has a huge sweet tooth, and desserts are a way that we can show appreciation for each other - we know when we bake that it makes the rest of the family happy.

Journaling also gave me more motivation to cook more, but I also paid more attention to my dad when he was cooking dinner, I was much more perceptive. Each night that we ate together, I would think about the food we were eating and if it had more of a global influence. If not, I would think about how whatever American food it was we were eating, fit into our society and American culture.

I hope that in the future I will continue to be more aware and curious about food and culture as I am now right after taking this class. It has been a really good experience and I have enjoyed the ways that my mind has been broadened to think differently about some things.

[myfoodjourney-ss]

My food this week was mostly cooked at home by my father. We try as much as possible to eat at home, but there are some nights where we are in a rush or both just feeling too lazy to cook. We ate out probably once or twice this past week which is more than normal, but things were busy between work and school.

My father and I did the grocery shopping together, which is pretty normal for us, although there are times where he goes alone. He likes to bring along my sister and I since we are both living at home at the moment - her in high school and me doing online school.

Some things that we made this week were sukiyaki chicken with noodles, hot dogs, homemade pizza, and pot roast with roasted potatoes and carrots. We like to do homemade pizza as an easy and healthier option whenever we are craving pizza because it is just as good. My little sister and I like to make our homemade pizza a little differently than our normal takeout pizza. I start with just regular pizza crust on the bottom and then I spread a layer of sweet thai chili sauce on top of it, then I put a very thin layer of shredded cheese. The final layer is a combination of pepperoni, pineapple, and olives. I have been obsessed with this version of homemade pizza since I first tried it. It may sound a little odd, but it is amazing! Homemade pizza also gives my family a chance to all cook together since we all make our own pizzas.

One of my favorite things that we made this week was a chocolate fudge bundt cake. This is one of my family's favorite treats. We just make a regular boxed chocolate fudge mix and then pour it into a bundt cake mold and let it bake and then cool. Then my dad made a peanut butter icing and covered half of the cake with it. To the other half, we spread coconut frosting. The three of us ate this cake way too fast.

[myfoodjourney-ss]

One of the main things that I make as a college student to have a quick and easy meal is smoothie bowls. This is something that I have been living off of since I started school. They are fast, easy, and relatively cheap to make. I decided to keep track of all the ones I have made during the last 2 ⅓ weeks or so.

The first one I had started to keep track of was actually pretty different from the ones I normally make - I had some different fruits to play around with. The smoothie base was actually a premade mix that I found while visiting with my mom. It was a combination of mango, peach, and banana. I mixed this up in a blender with some milk and poured it into the bowl. I actually had some peaches that I sliced and put on top of the smoothie with some honey-oat granola and chia seeds.

The next one I made was much more back to my regular old recipe. For this one, I blended up frozen strawberries, blueberries, and fresh bananas with milk and peanut butter. Then once it was well blended and the thickness I like, I poured it into the bowl and layered on bananas, more peanut butter, chia seeds, and peanut butter granola.

For the rest of the bowls I made the base smoothie never changed, but the ingredients I ate on them would vary depending on what fruits I had at home at the time.

The final smoothie bowl I made was actually slightly different again because I made it while I was visiting with my older sister. The base smoothie was mostly the same, but I used yogurt instead of milk. She had some fun things to put on top that I don’t normally do. I still did granola, chia seeds, and peanut butter, but also tried sliced almonds and mini chocolate chips.

I have really enjoyed making smoothie bowls because I feel like as a college student I don’t always get enough fruit and these have really helped me improve on that. As I mentioned before, they are also very quick and simple to make and what student doesn’t love food that is quick and easy. It also feels nice to be able to make my own breakfast like this at home and not spend money on going out and buying easy food that way.

It was fun to track the different smoothie bowls I was eating, and it definitely made me want to make them more often which helped me stay better at cooking at home and not going out as much.

[myfoodjourney-ss]

As I have mentioned several times throughout the semester, I really like to try new foods when I travel. Before the pandemic, my dad and I were able to take a trip to New Orleans for a few days. One of the first stops we made was to a local and famous po’ boy shop called Parkway Bakery and Tavern. Po’ boys originated in New Orleans and are sandwiches that are made traditionally of roast beef or fried seafood like shrimp or crawfish. My dad being less picky than I am, likes seafood and got his the more traditional way with shrimp. I opted for a more simple one of turkey.

Another thing that we wanted to make sure that we tried while we were in New Orleans were beignets. We were able to walk right over to Cafe Du Monde from where we were staying in the French Quarter. These beignets were the best I had ever tried. They were fresh and warm. We had to make sure to leave enough time whenever we grabbed them because the line at this shop was always wrapped around the building. We liked to get our beignets to go and walk the short distance to sit along the Mississippi river and watch the riverboats riding along.

The third meal adventure I had while in New Orleans was on our last day in the city. We were walking along the Mississippi River again, near Jackson Square and stopped into a restaurant to eat lunch. My dad and I both got cajun pasta, but my dad being braver than I am (less picky), got it with crawfish cakes and I stuck with chicken. The blend of spices in the sauce of this pasta was phenomenal. It was really fun to try new foods and branch out a little from the typical things I would order at restaurants like chicken fingers.

[myfoodjourney-ss]

My little brother is currently living in Finland. While he was preparing for the move, we talked a lot about the kinds of foods he would be eating most frequently. Before he left, he tried a couple of recipes, and has continued trying to cook and eat new things while living there. One of the more memorable things that he made while still living in the United States was sour rye bread. The people in Finland eat a lot of rye bread. He tried the recipe two different times, the second time turning out better than the first. It was fun to try baking our own bread - I had never done this myself before, so it was really cool to help out. Now that he is living in Finland, he says that their rye bread is much better than the one he baked!

It has been really fun having him live in Finland and tell me all about the new foods he is eating. I have reflected on Finland and their food and culture many times during the discussions that we have had in class. I feel like I can understand their cuisine on a deeper level. Like I said, my brother says that they eat rye bread often - it is the main type of bread there, a staple food item. A unique food that they eat in Finland is reindeer. This is something that I would have never known if my brother were not living there. Finland being so up north, has a lot of reindeer, making it an easy meat to have and cook with in Finland. I have really loved learning more about Finland's culture through my brother, and taking a more in depth approach when learning more about their food because of the things I have learned in this course.

Ingredients

½ cup sour-bread starter (directions to make below)

2 cups warm water or potato water

3 ½ cups rye flour

1 package active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

2 tsp salt

3-3 ½ cups sifted white flour

How to make Sour-Bread starter

1. Start about 2 days prior to bread making to make sure the starter has enough time to sour

2. Mix ½ cup milk (at room temp) with ½ cup rye flour

3. Let stand, uncovered, in a warm (preferably sunny) place until the mixture begins to bubble and smells pleasantly sour

4. You can now either use immediately (about 2 days has past now) or store in the fridge

Steps to make Sour Rye Bread

1. Make sure you have completed the necessary steps above and have sour-bread starter

2. Turn the sour-bread starter into a large mixing bowl and stir in the 2 cups of water or potato water slowly until well blended

3. Blend in 1 cup of the rye flour and mix well

4. Cover lightly and let stand in a warm place for 20-40 hours (length depends on the degree of sourness desired)

5. One mixture has sat for preferred time, dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup warm water and stir into the mixture

6. Add the salt and very gradually beat in the remaining rye flour

7. Add the white flour, a little at a time, beating well after each addition

8. When a stiff dough has formed, let it rest in the bowl for 10-15 minutes and the turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth

9. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl turning to grease the top, cover, and let rise in a warm place until size has doubled (about 1-1 ½ hours)

10. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide into two pieces

11. Form pieces into desired shape (ball, ring shaped, loaf)

12. Place pieces onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 375 for about 45 (or until lightly browned)

[myfoodjourney-ss]

One of the most recent things that my little brother and I baked together were chocolate peanut butter lava cakes. We are both huge peanut butter fans and who doesn’t love when peanut butter is mixed with chocolate. My brother and I were flipping through one of my mom's dessert cookbooks she had recently purchased and we were trying to find a treat to make that night when we came across a recipe for chocolate peanut butter lava cakes. This was one of the more complicated desserts that my brother and I baked together, but we had a really fun time trying to make it.

Because this was a more difficult dessert than I was used to baking, I walked away from it feeling much more confident in my skills. Before this we had mainly stuck to boxed cakes and cookies so it was really fun to branch out and try something out of our comfort zone. I think one big thing to remember whenever baking or cooking is that it's almost like learning a whole new language, and the more you practice, the more you will improve. Things will almost always never turn out exactly the same way every time you make things either, especially when you are still learning. 

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, plus more for greasing

Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp salt

3 large eggs

½ cup smooth peanut butter

Vanilla ice cream

Cooking Process

Preheat the oven to 425℉. Grease four 8 oz ramekins with butter, then dust them with cocoa powder to coat and tap out any excess

In a medium bowl, combine the butter and chocolate and microwave on high power for about 1 ½ minutes, stirring every 15 seconds, until fully melted and well combined. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs. Add the cooled melted chocolate mixture and stir until smooth

Place the prepared ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour ¼ cup of the batter into each ramekin, then place about 2 tbsp of peanut butter in the center of each ramekin. Top each with another ¼ cup of the batter to cover the peanut butter

Bake until the sides are firm but the centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes. Remove the baking sheet form the oven

Using a kitchen towel to hold the ramekin, place an individual serving plate on top of a ramekin and invert the cake onto the plate, gently shaking the ramekin to loosen the cake if needed

Top each cake with some vanilla ice cream and any other toppings you’d like

Serve Hot

[myfoodjourney-ss]

I really enjoy cooking, but I tend to lean toward cooking easier or quick things when I do. However, some of my favorite times cooking or baking are with my younger brother. For as long as I can remember my siblings and I have been cooking for my parents whenever it's their birthday or mothers or fathers day. In the more recent years as my two older siblings have moved away, this responsibility has fallen on me and my two younger siblings. My younger brother and I have tried many fun new recipes and we are always excited when we find a new one we want to try - my younger sister is always excited to try any new dessert we have made.

Through the years my little brother and I have made a variety of things like thumbprint cookies, churros, chocolate peanut butter lava cake, piña colada cupcakes, homemade sweet potato and white potato fries, stir fry, grilled chicken/pineapple grilled cheeses, and many other fun things. We like to experiment with new recipes and my whole family has fun trying the new things.

One of the favorites that my brother and I have made was the grilled chicken/pineapple grilled cheeses with our mixed baked fries. To do this, my brother grilled chicken while I prepared the potatoes. I cut both regular white potatoes and sweet potatoes into thin circles and lined them up on their side in a pan, alternating the potato type every time. I then coated them in olive oil, minced garlic, and various spices like salt, pepper, thyme, italian seasoning, garlic salt, onion powder, and some parsley. Once the potatoes and chicken were finished cooking, we assembled the sandwiches. This was fairly simple. We made grilled cheeses on our griddle, but added grilled chicken, pineapple rings, and barbecue sauce on top of the cheese before adding the second piece of bread. Everyone enjoyed the sandwiches and the homemade baked fries.

I’ve found that cooking and baking together has been a great way for us to spend time doing something together. With both of us being in college away from each other, it's a fun thing to look forward to whenever we are together. Baking is something that my family has always done together as a way to spend time, so it is nice that my brother and I do it and have that time to bond more.

[myfoodjourney-ss]

There is not much when it comes to determining how, when, or what I typically eat or drink. For my family, most weeknight dinners take place soon after my parents are home from work. On the weekends, dinner would normally depend on what the plans were - with five kids it was always a little hectic schedule wise. Our family still tried to eat dinner together every night despite how busy it was. The things that we typically ate were things that were easy and fast and that would feed all of us. With so many kids there were always varying tastes and different degrees of pickiness.

One family favorite of ours is homemade sukiyaki chicken and rice. My dad grew up eating lots of Japanese dishes because his parents had lived in Japan several times for a couple years at a time. Because my dad grew up eating those foods, he made them for us a lot too. My dad of course adapted this recipe to fit the tastes of all of the kids. Sukiyaki is a very simple dish. The sauce is made of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar. You cook all of your ingredients in this sauce and then we like to pour it all over rice. In our version we make it with chicken, carrots, broccoli, green beans, edamame, and tofu. Sometimes we will make noodles on the side instead of rice.

Another food that my family makes often is breakfast for dinner. This is something that we have been doing regularly since I was a little kid. We alternate between pancakes, crepes, french toast, and biscuits. We will make bacon or sausage on the side along with eggs and sometimes home fries or hash browns. It is a simple meal that my parents could throw together relatively quickly and the entire family ate it.