fro yo lol

Like every other sorostitute, the mass arrival of froyo has ushered in a new line of meal philosophy: eat a big bowl of tart froyo and fruit toppings for the healthiest, tastiest (and a bit sweet) meal. Could the Special K diet become the Froyo diet. YES PLEASE.  At 39 cents an ounce and 100 calories a serving, froyo spells GET THE MEDIUM-SIZED BOWL in any girl's mind. And it has probiotics (good for UTIs)...how yup. I just sold myself. Needless to say, I've been twice in the last two days.

Added bonus: watching the high schoolers congregate and old people marvel at the self-serve setup.

Don't even bother googling calories in tart froyo...Then you'd just be a sorostitute cliche.

You should watch out for the added sugar in other flavors and sugary toppings. But who am I to talk?  I'll leave the wordsmithiness to Her Campus: Is Fro-Yo Making You Flabby?

Ramen Hacked

I love making ramen. Well actually, ramen is really fast and really easy to eat. But sometimes the same type of ramen gets boring.

Serious Eats has some interesting remixes. Some are a bit much for dorm kitchens and some are just kind of gross...Pan-fried spam and pineapple?

Everytime I eat a sandwich from Swem (both times)...

I want to vom all over the library. My body rejects the library and all its subpar food from Mews. And its subpar backwards name.

Nothing like free food.

Go to IHOP today and get a free shortstack for free. YES. Guess where I'll be in 7 hours.

In the meantime, I'll review Esquire's best breakfast places.

When my peanut butter jar...

...is this low so early in the semester, I'm thinking I need a new late night snack.  Celery sans peanut butter, anyone?

Slow Carb, Slow Progress?

Pledge formal is fast approaching...slow carbs = fitting into my beautiful cream/white dress? YAY!  I've been pretty successful (since Monday, hehe) with the slow carb diet - eat all the legumes, green vegetables and lean meats you want and don't eat carbs/sugars - until I researched the glycemic index of popcorn and it's questionable as a slow carb-acceptable food.  Beans supposedly fill you up and replace carbs to boost energy. Eggs, especially egg whites, are necessary for breakfast variety.  Fruits break down into sugars and so are discouraged.  Carbs and any food that is white or can be white are off limits, except following exercise.

Other than my weak spot for Simply Salted popcorn, I may have overindulged in chips and quesadillas after soccer. Eating at the less than/much less than Chipotle here, AKA Zoca, my repeated "burrito" bowl of black beans, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cilantro and pico has been less than thrilling. Sometimes I ask for extra cilantro, sometimes I ask for extra onion, sometimes I ask for extra beans instead of rice...And that's when the Zoca lunch lady gets sassy and all types of Spanish spicy: "You get one scoop of beans." I doubt she can even speak Spanish. But not like I can either...but is she learning Chinese?! Therefore, I should get that extra scoop of beans. Did I mention, I'm not eating carbs?!! I do feel like I have more energy and am eating less crap AKA everything in the dining halls that has been "prepared." No more questionable carbby, fried food substances.

I'm super excited for Saturday/Sunday. Why you ask? PLEDGE FORMAL! Annnnddd that's the day of the week that I'm designating as eat anything day. Part of supposed slow carb success (not seen here yet) is to eat all the crap you can't eat the other 6 days. This "healthy" binge keeps your metabolism accountable and actually able to continue losing weight while eating responsibly AKA NO CARBS! Must find guacamole.

Eat this, Not that...Drinks Edition

Eat this, Not that! artfully illustrates the 20 worst drinks in America.
Some of them are quite surprising...Starbucks Vanilla Frap = 32 Nilla Wafers!

Paying for more than huge portions...

Servers at the Friendship Heights Cheesecake Factory stole $117,000 from diners by skimming their credit card numbers.  The article at The Examiner.

One more reason to not go to Cheesecake Factory.

Losing the freshman baby weight

The Public Humilitation Diet...hilarious and completely practical.  With enough desire, this is doable.

"I could eat 90 pounds of plain white rice in one sitting. Golden House apparently steams it in cocaine vapor. Anyway, I'd still have pasta for dinner every week or so. But one bowl at a meal."

"Having a cup of tea at the end of the meal (usually decaf) was my way of reminding myself MEAL IS OVER, FUCKFACE."

Saturated fats...not bad?

Saturated fats are not associated with cardiovascular disease says a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Animal fat may not be as unhealthy as we're led to believe (just the other day my Organic Chem teacher informed the class that saturated fats can lead to higher cholesterol and are bad for your heart!).

Check this out.  Although studies have shown that saturated fat isn't the meaty monster it's often portrayed as, scientists are looking for ways to synthesize pork cells in the lab to increase health benefits to human omnivores.

"A farm is not just a clever crop..."

Brief article in The Economist about the uptick in GM crops.

GM seeds that come from government research bodies, or from local firms, may not arouse quite so much opposition as those from large foreign companies, especially when they provide characteristics that make crops better, not just easier to farm.

Is it really more likely that government-sponsored research will return better, safer technology than large companies?

From soil management to weather forecasts to the preservation, study and use of agricultural biodiversity, there are many ways to improve the agricultural systems on which the world’s food supply depends, and make them more resilient as well as more profitable.

Maybe soil science will be your jackpot? I think it would be undesirable if GM development became so profitable that other ways to improve farming were pushed to the wayside, but I highly doubt that would happen (speaking with all my farming-ish authority:). How much of the food currently produced is GM? And how much potential benefit is possible from GM crops?

A farm is not just a clever crop: it is an ecosystem managed with intelligence.

Truth. Get those Cornell kids to save the world's food!


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Ahh the GM argument, where do I start. The Economist has a point, but how successful would it really be? Try some major PR.

A lot of seeds do come from government research bodies(cough cough Cornell and its different research facilities and numerous other land grant colleges). The gene gun that was first used to make GM crops came from Cornell. Also, the government has numerous seed banks storing millions of different types of seeds to protect the genotypes and to be used for future research. These large seed companies work with the government, and these companies have the money to change policy. I would have to argue that most of the large producers of GM seeds are US companies. For the most part, we are the leaders in GM seeds, the EU currently has a ban on GM crops.

That being said, the ideology is created by the state. The state has the opportunity, resources, money and influence to make GM crops more accepted. I do agree with the Economist, that with the increased use of GM crops also has to come profitable sustainable agriculture practices.

Final note, the U.S. government has taken the back seat in most of the current food debates, this is a perfect example. I did a term paper on the patenting of life relating to GM seeds and basically there was one Supreme Court (DIAMOND v. CHAKRABARTY) case that has allowed for all the GM seeds we have today. In my opinion, that single case changed the American food system forever(hopefully I can do more research on this someday -- law school?). That being said, most of the media focuses on specific companies and practices -- not the government, the ones who have created the mess. The American pubic is out of touch as to what farming is and how it should be done so that we can feed our country. Farmers have been the scapegoat for the government and the large corporations for over 20 years. Things need to change.