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Recipe

Ingredients:

• Whole grain all flour tortilla wraps

• skinless chicken breast

• whole onion

• whole green pepper

• mushrooms

• 3 blend mexican cheese

• olive oil

• salt

• pepper

Process

1. Take your onion, green peppers and mushrooms and dice them up into tiny pieces

2. In George Foreman Grill or in pan cook chicken breast until it’s safe to eat.

3. Once cooked cut up chicken breast into small pieces.

4. Grab a pan and cover pan with a light blanket of olive oil.

5. Turn pan on to medium low heat and throw the tortilla wrap into pan.

6. Take your 3 blend mexican cheese and sprinkle it until tortilla is completely covered.

7. Take your diced cooked chicken breast pieces and put them on the layer of cheese spreading them out evenly.

8. Take your diced vegetables and repeat step 7.

9. Put another layer of cheese on the chicken and vegetables.

10. Take another tortilla and put it on top.

11. Once first layer of cheese has melted carefully flip the quesadilla so that the other side can do the same.

12. Once both sides of cheese has melted turn off stove cut up into favored amount of slices and enjoy.

Analysis

Not only is this meal extremely tasty it is also very healthy. With the only ingredient that I think is processed is the 3 blend cheese, every other ingredient on here is completely natural. This is an easy to make meal with all natural ingredients and while none of these ingredients are organic they are still better than eating processed foods. 

Now while meat is somewhat of a no-no from what I learned was poultry is the healthiest choice of meat to choose from. Chicken is an excellent source of protein and isn’t a red meat so the risk of cancer and obesity goes down my a significant margin. And since it’s not processed that adds more points to the healthy factor. Let’s look at the tortilla bread next. The tortilla bread I am using is all flour and whole wheat making it completely natural. Also thanks to it being whole wheat it’s way healthier than buying white tortilla bread which is sometimes processed to make it look white. To add a bit more health benefits to the dish I decided to add all natural vegetables . Green bell peppers are a great source of vitamin C, onions help regulate blood sugar to a safe level and mushrooms help combat chronic diseases. The 3 blend Mexican cheese is with pasteurized milk which makes it the only thing on this list thats processed. The only health benefit the cheese has is being low in cholesterol and sugars.

Reflection

I’ve learned a lot about food this unit, especially about the western diet and how it affects humans. I always knew the western diet was little worse than everyone else’s diet, but didn’t know it was worse than what I thought it to be. I had no idea some of the top leading deaths in America were diet related and it shows how bad the American diet really is. Another thing I noticed was that there are more obese people in the south than any other part of the country. This is due to the amount of meat they eat which I learned is in correlation with cancer.

Some food changes I could make would be not eating as much processed foods. Eating foods that take forever to decay can’t be good if its sitting in your stomach. Cutting back on the processed foods would probably make me healthier overall; however, I think it would be insanely hard to do this since most of the foods we eat are processed. Also whole foods tend to be much more expensive than processed foods since processed foods can be made in a factory. Once I start living on my own and buy my own food I would consider not buying as much processed foods.

BAKED BEEF RIBS

(For Beef Ribs)

• 2 lbs country-style boneless (or bone in if you prefer) beef ribs
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup good barbecue sauce
• 1/3 cup plum jam (amount to taste)

1. Place ribs, onion and garlic in crock pot.
2.  
   Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until pork is cooked through and tender (your time may vary with your appliance).
3.  
   Drain ribs and onion from crock pot.
4.  
   Discard any juices from crock pot and return meat and onions to crock pot.
5.  
   Stir together barbecue sauce and jam until blended.
6.  
   Pour over ribs, stirring lightly to coat.
7. Cook on high for 30 minutes or until sauce has thickened and ribs are glazed.

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BAKED PORK RIBS

Ingredients: 

- 2 lbs country-style boneless beef 

- 3 tablespoons of dry rib rub

- 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce

- 1 tablespoon of pepper

- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

- 1 tablespoon of organio

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Steps:

1. Mix together above ingredients in bowl until in paste form

2. Apply paste form to ribs (go through thoroughly).

3. Apply Olive Oil To Ribs 

4. Begin to bake ribs at 350 to 400 degrees.

5. Repeated apply oil to ribs while cooking in order to keep them moist.

6. Let cook for an hour. 

7. Apply BBQ (If preferred) in the last 10 mins.

8. Take out, let rest & enjoy with BBQ sauce.

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Sauteed Veggies 

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic (6 cloves)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Lemon

Steps:

1. In a very large pot heat the olive oil and saute the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute, but not until it's browned.

2. Add all the spinach, the salt, and pepper to the pot, toss it with the garlic and oil, cover the pot, and cook it for 2 minutes.

3. . Uncover the pot, turn the heat on high, and cook the spinach for another minute, stirring with a wooden spoon, until all the spinach is wilted.

4. Using a slotted spoon, lift the spinach to a serving bowl and top with the butter, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkling of sea or kosher salt.
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 ANAYLSIS

Overall, this meal wouldn't be considered the most healthy thing in the world at first glance since ribs aren't particularly healthy. However, it's in the way that they are cooked. By making them in a crock pot and baking them I am taking away some of the unhealthier parts such as the grease and fat that stays on the food from grilling. Also, depending on the rub you use for pork (or beef if you want) it's completely up to you since every ingredient in the rub is completely interchangeable (other than the worcestershire sauce,) it can be sized up to fit any person's diet. While meat isn't always the greatest thing for your body it is an important part of your diet (if you choose to eat meat). Also the main thing people miss with ribs since it's typically a summer grilling food is that you need to eat veggies with it which is what I always do to balance out the meal! You always need to have some green on your plate. So overall i think I would consider this a whole meal or close to it seeing as how you have all of the biggest parts of the food pyramid and what's needed. Meat is good for the body and knowing how to balance it out with veggies makes your diet that much better. Overall, there aren't many if at all preservatives in the rubs (which again, YOU can change to your thing!) so it stays typically healthy. 

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PERSONAL REFLECTION

Looking back on this unit I feel as If I've learned a lot more about myself more than I have about the american diet. While yes, I did learn a lot about the diet and how "food deserts" exist and make it difficult for people to get food. However I've been interested more in the solutions that people have been posting such as the ted talk was giving different solution instead of just listing the problems that we sort of know (or should know) to be true due to the horrible american diet. I would say that my role in the food system would be to just try and make more food instead of buying a bunch of fast foodish stuff. If many people can start to try and give up on fast food or at least ween themselves off it due to the fact it's not healthy companies will begin to go with what the "craze" is and make there food that way. If the "craze" is eating healthy then companies will adapt.

I think that overall the biggest problems with the U.S food system is that it's set up to make us fat. Cheaper foods that take more processing and time to develop cost less money while whole foods you just grow/organic foods cost way more. People aren't willing to pay that extra 20 dollars for organic because they may need it for a bill or something and that's the biggest problem. We are set up for failure. As stated before, I can cook a lot more than I do. That works out well since I've been learning how to cook for college so trying out new recipes at this time to see what's health and good works out perfectly. In all honesty making huge diet changes I'm not particularly fond of but If it helps me in the long run and I see evidence how it will help me I'm willing to try it at least for a month or two.

-salmon

-salt and pepper

-different types of seasoning

-olive oil

-green and red peppers

-lemon juice

-Parsley

-garlic clove

-broccoli 

-butter

 Process:

1. Rinse the fish off with the lemon juice

2. Season it in separate plate

3. pour oil in the aluminum foil pan and place the fish on it

4. Then out the fish in the oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes

5. lightly broccoli in a pot for about 5-10 minutes

7. When cooked sprinkle some salt and pepper with a touch of butter on top

Food Analysis:

I'm not sure where salmon originally comes from, but I know that salmon comes from the latin word salmonand lives in freshwater. The cost of salmon usually ranges from 4-8 dollars a pound depending on where it is bought. Broccoli was introduced from the Italian more than 200 years ago and from then on has been of large production because of it's essential nutrients of fiber, vitamins, carbs, protein and fat. Fresh broccoli usually cost around $1.80- to $2 per pound. Those of which are the essential part of the dish. All the other things such as the seasons, lemon juice and olive oil are pretty cheap as well in any local grocery store, especially walmart.

Regardless of the ingredients baking foods are but more healthier than frying because in frying foods  in all forms frying lead to no water-soluble vitamin loss, and very few heat-sensitive vitamins are lost. It can also lead to a high absorption of added fat and the formation of acrylamide. While baking requires little added fat.  Salmon is an excellent source of high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals. By using healthy oils like olive oil can boost your intake of healthy fats and vitamin E. The estimated time for this dish is about 25 minutes so it's not long of a wait. Broccoli is a good source of carbs and fiber, with 13 grams of carbs and 6 grams of fiber per serving. It helps you feel full faster, which might help you manage your weight. It also helps with prevention of heart disease, diabetes, and diverticular disease. Cooked broccoli is a good source of a number of essential vitamins and minerals that help keep you healthy, including vitamin C, folate and potassium.

Two ingredients that I would compare in my dish would be the salmon and the broccoli. Farming process vs planting or gaining these ingredients re my own would be very hard considering the type of environment that i live in. I live in an urban area so there isn't much of an healthy environment to plant broccoli or an access to a healthy freshwater ocean or lake to fish for salmon. Therefore, the only way to have these things would be to buy them at a local general store.

Personal Reflection:

I rarely had any issues with his unit because this unit was more so as a refresher for me. I learned a lot about the food industries in the 8th grade. Most of the things I already was aware of, but the biggest problem I've seen and that seemed to be new to me was when we watch the video on to talk of the man who was dedicated his life to educating people about the truth behind these things (TED Talk) he said that the labeling in this industry is massively incorrect. He used an example of how companies say that its milk is low in fat when is filled with tons of sugar. Which is something that is very true, but I never really paid attention, something I felt intrigued by. Another thing that caught my attention in this unit was that the maps that we looked over and how the rate in the US of people gain pounds increased over time. I always had a sense that was happening, but I wasn't really aware of how fast and rapid it was going along with how much is spread among the states. An interesting fact brought up in the TED talk video was that the school foods were just about similarly unhealthy like fast food. There aren’t fresh because of the budget cuts which makes them desperate in using the food that they can get, which are the unhealthy foods. I want to and will encourage my little sister and help her to stop eating those foods by packing her lunch before going to school or at night. Inform my mom on this information so that when she buys groceries she can be more mindful of these things. We are huge role in the food industry because we are not only victims of unhealthy foods, but also the consumers and the more we buy the stronger this cycle will become.