What I choose to eat

When I go grocery shopping I try very hard to find the cheapest/healthiest things possible. When looking at peanut butter for example, I always go with Skippy Natural. Who knows how "natural" it really is (I'm a sucker for marketing I guess), but I feel better purchasing it. Also, it is less expensive than the fancy peanut butter that has the pretty label.

Bagels are probably the most popular breakfast food I choose. I know their full of calories so I opt for the multi-grain kind instead of egg bagels or cinnamon swirl. I usually buy the off-brand because you can get 2 more bagels for a buck cheaper. Cheaper, as for now, is better because of my starving-college-kid status. I realize this isn't the case for local producers, and I do feel bad but a girl needs to eat!

I am not very good at buying organic or locally mainly because of the price issue. I try to spend only 50-60 dollars when I go grocery shopping. If you look at the organic bananas and the non-organic type you can see a very big difference in size and appearance. Like I mentioned before, I'm a sucker for marketing. I know that the non-organic bananas only look better because humans messed with them more, but I buy them anyways and take them at face value. Now, if the pretty bananas were more expensive...I probably would opt for the uglies.

Conveniently Ethical

Quite frankly, most of the time I don't really consider ethics or politics when I'm buying my good. I don't go to the grocery store planning on finding the organic food, and I certainly don't go intending to spend more for the healthier produce and meat. My main consideration, just like many Americans, is cost. The other is comfort. Ethics only factor in after my decision, based on affordability and my habits, has already been made. I buy Jiff peanut butter over the store brand generic because it's when I've been eating since I was a little girl and I know what to expect from it. The few cents more that it adds to my grocery bill is already expected when I write it down on my list at home. I'm also willing to spend a little more on alcohol, like buying smirnoff over karkov, mostly because it's already a luxury item. It's not something I need to buy every week like milk or soda, and again, it's already factored into my life. Switching to spending more at the grocery store every single week and cutting out the few luxuries I have, like alcohol and cable tv, well that just isn't something I want to do.

I have noticed, though, that when I can already factor in cost and comfort, then I feel good about picking the local or organic options. When I went to the grocery store last, I could buy cheese from Minnesota for less than buying Kraft, and it had the added benefit of not being individually wrapped. So I felt good about my choice because it was more local and more environmentally friendly, but rationally I know my choice has much less to do with either of those things, and I would have made a much different one had the Minnesota made cheese been significantly more expensive than the Kraft. I also noticed that when I was at my parent's home over spring break, I felt good about the fact that we were eating wild-caught salmon. I wasn't at the grocery store so I don't know how much more it cost and didn't have to weigh that priority, and had truly nothing to do with the decision making process that put the salmon on my plate, but I was still happy that we were eating that fish instead of the farmed option. So ethics come into play when it's convenient and I feel good about the decision after it happens, but when the convenience isn't there, I don't feel guilty about buying the mass produced option.

PBnJ ethics politics economics

To start, the ingredients and circumstance of my meal: Skippy crunchy PB which was astoundingly similar to each of the other selections avalible at my local rainbow foods, The Huber Family's rasberry and rhubarb spread with- "Made in our home in central wisconsin. We use only those ingredients you would use to make it in your own kitchen. no artificial preservatives flavors or colors," printed on the label, and Roundy's Stone Ground, the cheapest wheat bread on the shelf. The bread had by far the longest list of ingredients, most unrecognized or misunderstood.

Choice and the freedom of is such a trivial topic to argue in a broad sense. of course wimsical and unrealistic options are often fabricated by the imagination, but normally more relevant is to recognize opportunities and act on decisions which may effect the future in some desired way. choice is governed by experience; thus, it is guided by culture. an environment of ignorance does not prepare individuals to question the validity of what choices are presented.

once interpretation of freedom has been limited by my choice to eat a PBnJ, what remains to be 'decided' regarding that meal certainly is finite and readily analyzed.

As stated I shop regularly at rainbow foods. Though my choice is not exactly forced, I do not own a car so it would be quite difficult for me to shop anywhere other than what store my roomates do. Furthermore, as a twenty year old college student, clearly I am poor and not ashamed to buy cheap subsodized food at my urban supermarket. The system I live in supports a lifestyle of voluminous consumption of all sorts. Ethical agricultural desicions might not be within my relm of freedom.

Cheaper to not care

As I’ve said before, I work as a part-time butcher for Rainbow Foods and also at a higher-end restaurant that prides itself in selling local, fresh product. This topic is the part of my work that I honestly have tried not to think about for a long time. Recently I watched a documentary about the crazy guy who swam the entire Amazon in some distant effort to protect the forest from the destruction caused from cattle ranching. It made me begin to think about the implications of what I chose to eat, buy, and even do for work.
Instead of a single prepared meal and its ties to all of this, I am going to rant about my observations and my own knowledge of meat and consumers of meat. To a certain extent, I think a lot of people do actually care a little bit about their food, even at Rainbow. I get more and more questions about organic and grass-fed and free range and wild-caught than I used to. The question that it typically comes down to is what price is one willing to pay for their food to represent their ethical or nutritional or political beliefs? At Rainbow, the answer is not much.
People (myself included) buy what is cheap or on sale. I know that cage-free chicken is good because it allows for a more balanced diet, reduces the necessity of antibiotics to prevent problems caused by overcrowding and dirty conditions, and probably makes for happier chickens (the part I really don’t care about). I am unwilling, however, to pay literally up to five times more money to ensure my chicken was raised outside of a cage. The same is true for natural, grass-fed beef. I just found a website that sells products from smaller, organic farms to the public called localharvest.org. You can buy four 6oz. grass-fed tenderloin steaks for $68.94. That’s about $46/lb. and we sell tenderloin steaks for 14.99/lb. I’ll continue to eat the chemicals and the corn if it’s that much cheaper. I think most consumers are the same way, especially in this economy.
We sell about $100,000 of meat every week. Yes, just meat. Many animals die in order for me to make my union wage. The cheaper we can sell it, the more we sell. In general, people give up on their ethical and health conscious food beliefs when they see the price difference.

Why I choose food

I make conscious choices about what I eat practically everyday. I am the type of eater that is very strict about what I put in my mouth (dirty jokes aside, it is true). I eat food that is considered very healthy, and I am strict about staying to my ethical beliefs. Recently, I went out to lunch with some buddies to a local Chinese restaurant. Knowing what I know about the Chinese cuisine, and added MSG, sodium, and fat, I decided that I would just go for the company and not eat. My friends were astounded at my choice. I simply told them that I was not hungry, but as soon as I got home I went to my room and made lunch MY way.

I think that this situation can be analyzed from a number of different angles. The first being the ethics angle. My choices have lead me to be strict about what I put into my body. Truth be told, 2 years ago I developed a minor eating disorder, and I talked to my high school counselor about it. She suggested that food was one of the things in life that I could control, and then it dawned on me. Being the stressed out, try to do it all person that I was, I was turning to food for a way to have something that I could see and control. I was strict about what I ate, and sometimes did not eat enough. That is resolved now, but I think that the control aspect remains. Being able to control SOMETHING in this stressful, out of control world is something that gives people satisfaction, after all it certainly does for me. I think that this ties in with the politics of eating as well.

On an economics of eating, the blunt example is that I did not want to spend the money, which is true. I enjoy going out with friends, but why should I pay someone to make the food (in a way that I probably would not choose) for me when I can do it for myself at home? It gives me the greatest utility to be with other people, but to eat what I want when I want to. Friedman says that people make rational decisions, and rational to some people may be different than what is rational to other people, which is a sort of Keynsian viewpoint.

Health and food

The meal that I ate was penne pasta with chicken that I made myself at home. To be honest there wasn't any political or economic reason for choosing this meal and there never is when I choose to eat. There is really only one thing that I think about when i choose to eat and that is health. I choose to try and eat as healthy as I can for many different reasons. One reason is that heart disease runs in my family. My grandpa had 3 open heart sugeries, the first one being in his 40s. Considering heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. probably because of the large amount of food that we eat that is loaded with trans fats and other artery clogging substances. So I am trying to get a head start on it now in order to prevent ending up like my grandpa. Another reason is that I am a marathon runner and try to eat as healthy as I can so I can do my best, especially because it is my last marathon in the U.S. I run my best. These are the things that mostly drive my decisions when it comes to food.....most of the time. Although sometimes I choose just because it tastes good and I want to eat it.

The Menu of Life

Friday night I went out to eat with my friends to celebrate a birthday. Of course we got all done up and went to some fancy-schmancy place in Minneapolis. We sat down, I immediately launched into an animated discussion of some random unimportant facet of our lives, and when it came time to order I realized I hadn't even opened the menu. I glanced over the random overpriced seafood, and decided I would rather not battle through the complicated entrees with their complicated ingredients, so I asked the waitress what's good and as she listed off a bunch of expensive sounded things, I quickly chose the first thing I could pronounce. Looking at my check at the end of the meal, of course I realized I chose one of the most expensive things on the menu. It was good, but definitely more expensive than something I would have chosen myself.

The things we "choose" for ourselves are not based solely on our free will. Not only are we influenced by advertisement or our attitudes at the time (too lazy to read the menu), but also by the options that are given to us. We may think that looking at the options at the grocery store, or the restaurant, or our fridge that we have the free will to choose whatever we want. But our choices and influenced firstly by the choices that are given to us. We have 7 different brands of pepperoni pizza to choose from in the supermarket, which seems like a lot, but what if we wanted pepperoni with gummy bears? We would have to make it ourselves, thus having to choose between the different crusts, different kinds of pepperoni, and different kinds of gummy bears, limiting our free will once again.

I really know nothing about economics to explain this in detail or anything, but the food market determines what choices we have, what menu we get to choose from, based on whats most efficient and brings the most profit. Therefore, the different entrees the waitress listed off for me where all the most expensive items on the menu, thus limiting my choices to those things that would bring the restaurant the most profit and limiting my free will.

Kool-aid... Ooooooooooohh Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!

So, I was at home on the Xbox killin' time with some friends on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (classic IT nerd right?), and between matches, I often wander into the kitchen for snacks and what-not, and I usually just go with a glass of ice water to wash it all down. But, knowing that there was Kool-Aid in the cabinets, I almost felt obligated to go for that over the plain water.

So what? Well, its almost not my fault... I had to go for it. Being hardwired the way we humans are... I.E. stock up on calories for the rough patches of life when calories are scarce (which have all but disappeared in modern society), my conscious knew the Kool-Aid was there, my eyes saw the Kool-Aid, spit glands in my mouth began working, and the rest is history (catch the pun there?).

So why did we have Kool-Aid in the first place? Its cheap, tastes really good (mostly), I know its perfectly safe to consume as I've been consuming it for the greater part of my life (omnivore dilemma averted), and its designed just for these situations... its fast to make, full of flavor, designed to look like its full of flavor (hence the ultra bright, intense colors), and, most importantly, advertisements train us to want it...

~commercial interruption~
Kool-Aid man comes on screen on a skate board in some spectacular flip (not spilling any of the Kool-Aid inside of him of course), lots of kids say its great, and a new flavor is introduced with the Kool-Aid man's stamp of approval... "Ooooooooooooooooohhh Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!"
~we now return to our scheduled programming~

(Brave New World?)

I like vegetables.

One day, my friends and I were driving around hungry in the suburbs and couldn't agree on where to eat. We chose to let my friend's iPhone app decide for us, and it led us to some restaurant (houlihan's maybe? I don't quite remember). Upon getting menus, I realized that The vegetarian choices were pretty slim- nearly every appettizer, salad, pasta, soup, and entree contained meat (even the mashed potatoes had bacon in them). Since I choose not to consume meat, eat fairly healthy and money was an issue, my choices were very limited. I didn't want to pay $10 for a chicken salad or beef pasta minus the meat, because in my mind that was way overcharging. I also didn't want to just order fries or mozzarella sticks. Finally I ended up asking our waitress if I could just get the small side bean salad thing that was only offered with the larger, 3 course meal.
The factors that determined this meal were: the fact that I was with friends (I would not have gone to this restaurant otherwise), money, culture (the fact that there were no vegetarian meals at this all- american place both surprised and didn't surprise me at the same time), dietary restrictions as well as my hunger level.

Cheaper by the truck load

My girlfriend and I buy most of our food from Costco; anything canned, dry, frozen or even fresh if consumed enough is bought there. Our cupboards are well stocked but not in a huge variety but shear quantity. For most things the savings is quite evident - 4x the amount of extra virgin olive oil for the same price, but for some items it's cheaper at Rainbow or Cub. Today we bought 3 gallons of Tropicana orange juice ( I drink OJ like most people drink soda) and 1 gallon of milk so we cold have some breakfast. The OJ is pasturized and does need to be refrigerated until its been opened. The milk touts that it comes from cows who haven't been inject with growth hormones. The milk doesn't even have a dairy label on its package that's the shape of a cubical cylinder to maximize packing effectiveness, minimize bulk. The label is that of "Kirkland Select", Costco's company label, which doesn't bother me but it would be nice to know WHERE the milk came from. Here's some of the problems that i have with Costco: Many of the products are intended to be frozen or have a long shelf life. They're sent from all of the world so that we can have our cheap prices - oranges from South Africa for example. That's a lot of wasted gas oranges that aren't as good as the one's from California. The packaging for damn-near everything extravagant, ridiculous, and superfluous most of the time - a wrapper inside a box inside a wrapper. Almost all of it can be recycled but the cost of initial production seems counter-intuitive to buying in bulk with a simple label. Economically, Costco's internationally distributing seems like it would be good, allowing money to flow throughout the global economy. My milk and OJ probably go through very similar processes before I toss them into a cart. Each is a collection of liquid that was gathered from several sources and then all lumped together before being purified and parceled out for distribution. Again, I have no idea where any of this stuff is coming from, how far it travels from collection to processing, to distribution, to the store... how many miles could have been cut out of the process had I chosen milk from a relatively local dairy, the OJ is of concentrate from the US and Brazil, unfortunately.
I unfortunately don't understand economics or politics well enough to see all the inter-relationships that exist due to wholesale food stores: I know that the little guy has a tough time getting his goods sold and that in politics, more money = more influence, therefore huge companies like Costco must have some part in politics as there direct influence against the farmer, etc. should have a negative impact... surely someone wants them shutdown.

Bacon Cheeseburgers and End-user License Agreements

I went to Town Hall microbrewery/restaurant in Minneapolis and “decided” to eat a bacon cheeseburger with fries. The more I think about all the processes that must work together to bring that food on the table, the more I think about how my decision to eat that cheeseburger signifies my endorsement (be implicit or explicit) of those very processes. Choosing what and how to eat shapes the ethical, economic, and political implications of eating itself. The implications of eating a bacon cheeseburger, for example, touches upon all three realms of social discourse (the ethical, economic, and political), and understanding these implications more deeply helps to bring my endorsement of them to the front of my consciousness—whether I agree with that endorsement or not. It is here that the complex relationship between the three realms of discourse work together to highlight the ways in which the freedom to choose what to eat is complicated by the forces that work to bring us food as we know it.

The question is then, what does freedom to choose really mean? It is becoming clear that to choose what to eat is also to endorse the processes used to produce it. The problem here seems to be of a paradoxical nature: the very act of choosing is an expression of our agency, yet when we choose what to eat, we are forced to surrender our agency and accept the terms and conditions of how that food got on our plate. That is to say, while we may choose to eat KFC over Subway based on taste preferences, we are also committing ourselves to the endorsement of KFC’s food prossesses whether or not we agree with them. We may not be as free to choose as we would like to think. Of course this problem is not inescapable or infinitely far-reaching. There are those whom grow their own food and develop their own food production processes. They seem to hold on to their agency, but their actions cannot be immune to questions of ethical, economic, and political implication. While the tension between freedom of choice and its affect on individual agency may not always take this shape, it is a problem that deserves attention and exploration. My decision to eat a bacon cheeseburger with fries symbolized my endorsement of what many would call a violation of animal rights; furthermore, from an economic standpoint, my decision to buy a bacon cheese burger not only signified my participation in capitalist economy, it also helped to perpetuate certain economic and industrial processes—again regardless if I myself am a supporter of these processes. While I may not have a solution for this dilemma, I hope to provide some insight of how this dilemma operates. Understanding ethics, economics, and politics as inextricably linked to food may help us to think about how and why we eat a bit differently, and in the process, provide us with a new way of seeing (and eating).

Perhaps the most immediate and pressing issue regarding my decision to eat a bacon cheeseburger is the issue of its ethics. Animal rights activists vehemently and artfully attack those who eat meat. Pollan covers their argument extensively in his chapter, “The Ethics of Eating Animals”. The basic idea is that human and non-human (animal) interests, according to Peter Singer, demand equal consideration. The common denominator between humans and animals is their common interest in avoiding pain (Pollan, 308). Therefore, to eat a bacon cheeseburger is to refute or ignore this claim altogether. However, I thought I just wanted a bacon cheeseburger; animal rights was the last thing on my mind. My decision to eat the burger, ostensibly, was based on hunger; it was not an (intended) ethical statement. Unfortunately this is not the case. Consider for a moment the nature of End-user License Agreements. Agreements of this sort appear usually during the installation process of a particular piece of software. They take the form of those long, wordy, and confusing agreements in which we must click the box that states, “I have read and agree to the terms and conditions of the license agreement” in order to use the software. We almost never read them; we almost never understand their substance or what the implications of our agreement are. In many ways, this form of contractual agreement is analogous to our decision making process when it comes to eating animals. Each time we do, we are checking the box that says, “Yes I have read and understand the terms and conditions of animal rights”. Except in this case, we are allowed to utilize the software even if we don’t agree to the terms and conditions. The real problem is that this contract exists even when we are not properly equipped to read it. I do not wish to take this analogy too far, but the point is, this is something I did not give any real thought until this blog assignment. That does not mean that the contract did not exist; I was simply not aware of it. Food and ethics have been married together regardless if we accept this relationship as legitimate or not.

My decision to consume a bacon cheeseburger also bears strong economic and political implications. For one, my consumption requires monetary exchange, and these funds mark my active participation in a capitalist economy. Secondarily, I have no control over how these funds are to be used, but it is fair to infer that they work to perpetuate the processes utilized to bring that burger to the table. I may be free to choose to purchase and consume the burger, but that freedom comes with restrictions and constraints. The freedom to choose is great as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go very far; unless I raise my own cow and pig, produce my own bread, and grow my own lettuce, onion, and tomato, I have little freedom to choose what I eat. I am instead forced to choose one set of economic/political/agricultural/industrial processes over another, and I have little control or impact on the processes themselves (as with the End-user License Agreements). For example, I choose to eat French fries. I love French fries; they are crispy, salty, and fatty, and these are all good things. However, that decision also signified my endorsement of our food industry as hooked into a fossil fuel economy. We use fossil fuels to produce the corn that is used to make French fries. Here’s an alarming statistic: the food industry is responsible for 17 percent of carbon emissions, while the automobile industry is responsible for 18 percent. Is my decision to eat French fries also a decision to perpetuate global warming? In a way, yes. This is not to say that if we eat French fries we are attempting to destroy the Earth’s ecosystem, but it does speak to the ways in which economics and politics are connected to food—sometimes with severe implications—whether we like it or not.

We may choose to eat because we are hungry or because we are have a particular craving; that said, each time we purchase a meal off a menu we are endorsing and perpetuating the processes used to create that food. My decision to eat at Town Hall restaurant yielded an agency paradox, presented me with an ethical end-user license agreement, and helped to perpetuate the processes that contribute to global warming. I just wanted a burger, buts it’s far more complicated than that.

The Trappings of Spaghetti

I'll start by explaining in full the meal I prepared. I made dinner for my girlfriend and I, late on Friday after we had gotten home from school. I decided to make spaghetti with sauce, and beef mixed into the sauce. To what extent I was "free" to make this choice was quite limited by many factors. First of all, I need to come to a consensus with my girlfriend on what we eat, which can have anything to do with what tastes good to what might be healthy to eat (her concern, I don't care). If I were alone I would've added shrimp instead of beef and sauce, but I also probably wouldn't have made pasta alone. Pasta is a decision we both might be trapped in making because we both like it, due to the fact that both of our families made it a lot while we lived with them. I don't know about her family, but for mine I think it's because pasta is cheap and my mom was poor. And guess who's poor right now; the college student that consistently buys pasta for $1 a box at Cub. Economically I am trapped into making this decision, although I don't object much. Even the beef we used is cheap due to its corn-fed and mass-produced nature. It's a choice for us more frequently than chicken or shrimp, which I have to buy on sale. I think the pasta can be so cheap because it's a basic staple product, not much value-added perks as Pollan would say. I think there's a politics and ethics of why these basic foods are so cheap too. Basic items like bread, milk, sugar, etc. are usually cheap, I'm guessing so that our poorest families in America have options to feed themselves with, although these choices are very limited and require much more time to turn into an actual meal.

Blog Posting #6 (due Sunday 3/28, 11:59 P.M.): 'Freely' 'Choosing' 'Food'

We've been talking all week about the many 'invisible hands' (economics, science, politics...) that determine food production and consumption. We'll soon take our work into more personal, more 'pleasure-able,' more 'body' aspects of cooking and eating.

Let's look at the degree to which we really are 'free to choose' what we eat. Let's analyze a specific eating act.

• select a moment when you made a choice about what to eat (or purchase, or cook, or whatever eating dimensions turn out to be important). 'Food logs' are an obvious place to look, but any recent, interesting food choice is fine.

• explain it in terms of its ethics, politics and economics.

No-BS guideline: it's really easy to say 'I ate the chocolate raised doughnut because I always do, and I was hungry and they were on a plate in the kitchen.' Right. But that doesn't say much. Our models here—and the ideas / concepts / ways of explaining, even the terms—come from Friedman, Keynes, Posner, Pollan and our discussions and Background Reports. Use 'em.

squares and rectangles

corn is grass:

Botanically grasses are of the family Poaceae. The taxonomy for "corn" (maize) is;;

kingdom : plantae, class : Liliopsida, order : Poales, family : Poaceae, genus : Zea, species : mays

Food Diary

Food Diary-
Well here it is. I really don't eat very well, especially when I'm stressed and running low on funds, which is pretty much all the time this semester. Basically I eat a lot of carbs/pasta, and eat a lot more when I'm at my apartment, next to the food. I'm really bad at making sure I eat at regular times and skip meals a lot and eat late at night. And then of course I binge drink on the weekends. So all in all, I'm pretty darn healthy.

Thursday

woke up late, so I skipped breakfast...

12:45 pm
I chewed a piece of 5 gum in class. It's not technically food, but I put it in my mouth.
I was bored and hungry and didn't want to buy food.

2 pm
Back at my apartment, I had a yoplait raspberry yogurt and a stick of string cheese. I drank a glass of minutemaid lemonade from a frozen can.
I was running out of food and didn't have a chance to go grocery shopping yet, so I was eating the stuff I had left.

4 pm
Still at my apartment, I had a plate of spaghetti from leftovers that I made the day before out of ground turkey, Prego spaghetti sauce and vermicelli noodles.
I ate it because I wanted a meal and I'm poor so I need to make food that goes a long way. Also, it had been a stressful week of midterms and I love eating carbs when I'm stressed.

6:30 pm
At Coffman theater, I ate a small fry from McDonald's and half a strawberry malt to go from Annies.
My roommate and I were going to see the movie at Coffman and we love malts.

7:00 pm
Some of a small popcorn from the Coffman theater.
We were still hungry...and movies are better with popcorn

Friday

11 am
I ate the half of a grapefruit with sugar on top that I still had left before I went to class.
I was pretty much out of breakfast food, and I like grapefruit.

3:30 pm
I got to my apartment back from class and had another big plate of spaghetti. Another glass of lemonade.
I was leaving for the hockey game at 5 and don't like buying stuff there, so I wanted to eat something filling.

7:30 pm
At the hockey game, a box of nerds that my mom had leftover from giving her students valentines. They were strawberry and fruit punch.
Again, I didn't want to buy some overpriced food, and we could only bring small things in our purses.

11:00 pm
Back at the apartment, Kraft sponge bob shapes mac n' cheese...a whole box.
I was super hungry from the game and sort of love shapes mac n' cheese. Plus, again, I've been stressed.

11:30 pm
Apartment, a rootbeer float made from Kemps homemade vanilla ice cream and half a bottle of A&W rootbeer.
My roommate and I decided to reward ourselves for not buying anything at the game...by buying stuff at Lunds.

Saturday

11 am
Woke up and ate string cheese and my last yogurt, boysenberry flavored. Had a glass of lemonade.
I was going grocery shopping later, so I was eating what I had.

4 pm
Got back from grocery shopping and made myself 3 Tyson chicken strips with honey on the side and buttered buns that were broiled. I also had a can of Mt Dew.
I hadn't had any chicken in a while, and no meat aside from the ground turkey in my spaghetti. I'm in love with Mt Dew and usually drink at least one a day, and was seriously needing one after running out earlier in the week.

6 pm
At the apartment, another rootbeer float, made the same as before.
I have a sweet tooth.

7:00 pm
A large handful of frozen Ore-Ida zesty flavored fries with ketchup.
My roommate and I split what was left of a big bag that we had made most of earlier.

10:00-11:00 pm
2 rather large glasses of red wine (half a bottle)
I love wine, and there was a wine sale at Surdyk's. Also, our apartment got a new occupant...a mouse, so we needed to drink.

11:30 pm
3shots of regular smirnoff, chased with more A&W rootbeer.
We were heading to a party and bumming off my other roommates for booze, and we wanted to leave so we did shots because they're fast

11:45 pm
On the way to the party, one and half cigarettes, Parliments.
I smoke when I drink, especially when I'm walking places.

12:00-1:00 am
At the party, 3 Miller Genuine Drafts, bottle. Smoked hookah
It's what the guy's at the party had, so that's what we drank! And again, I smoke when I drink.

3:00-4:00 am
2 glasses of tap water.
I wanted to hydrate before I went to bed.

I Eat Way Too Much

Tuesay 3-2-10
9-Bagel with cream cheese (I always start my day with a bagel)
11- @mcdonals, medium nonfat mocha, McChicken, Parfait (My 11oclock class was cancelled so I had some time to kill)
12- @Starbucks, grande nonfat with wip white mocha(I always stop at starbucks inbetween classes on tuesday thursday cause I'm tired, I'm definetly not a morning person)
4- @Mdeli, meatball sub (get it free because I work for UofM food service)
8- 3 cheesecake bites, 10 chicken nuggets, 5 chicken strips (was hungry and those are my staples)
11- Protein shake (drink one after every workout)
12-strawberry granola bar and small amount of cookie dough ice cream (midnight snack)

Wensday 3-3-10
11- 2 bagels with cream cheese
1- 2 bean and cheese burritos (I was still hungry after the bagels for some reason)
9- Chipoltes steak burrito, 10ish reduced fat wheat thins with 1 slice of sharp chedar cheese, bagel with cream cheese (was really walking back from class so brought chipoltes back to my apartment, was still hungry after burrito so had snack)
12- 20ish reduced fat wheat thins with 2 slices of sharp chedar, strawberry granola bar (hungry after run)

Thursday 3-4-10
9- Bagel with cream cheese, Jim Dean egg and sausage biscut
12- @starbucks grande nonfat with wip white mocha, reduced fat bannana coffee cake (same as tuesday but hadn't had snack and I know I have a late lunch)
4- @Mdeli meatball sub
10- Protein shake, 15 chicken nuggets, 4 chicken strips, 15ish reduced fat wheat thins with 1 slice of sharp chedar (Large meal after workout)
12- Large Choclate chip cookie (my roomate made them)

Food Diary

Friday 3/5

Morning:

• What: Three small scones.
• Where: Starbucks in the Cube.
• Why: I was in a hurry to get to class and didn't have time to eat a proper meal. I was eating as I was walking.

Afternoon:

• What: Pizza, carrots, grapes and water.
• Where: Plymouth Creek Elementry School.
• Why: I was there on a field trip for my internship with ISSS and that is what we were provided.

Evening:

• What: Hot dog and peanuts.
• Where: Target Center.
• Why: I went to the Minnesota Vs. Wisconsin hockey game and that is all I wanted to spend on over priced food.

Saturday 3/6

Morning:

• What: 2 bananas and a bowl of Kashi Blueberry and Cranberry cereal.
• Where: At home.
• Why: I had just run 7 miles and I can't eat a lot just after doing that.

Afternoon:

• What: Spaghetti.
• Where: Villa Pizza at The Mall of America.
• Why: It was one of the few semi-healthy options there and the carbs are good for recovering from running.

Evening:

• What: Pork chop and potatos.
• Where: A resturanat on the 3rd floor of The Mall of America that I forgot the name of.
• Why: Again, it was on of the few semi-healthy choices on the menu. I am in marathon training right now so I am trying not to eat the wrong foods.

Food Log

Thursday 3/4
When: 8:15 breakfast
What: -scrambled eggs
-1/2 c. yogurt with granola
-1 muffin
-8 oz. orange juice
-6 oz. black coffee
Where: Pioneer Hall dining center
Why: breakfast is my biggest meal because it has to tide me over until dinner.

Lunch skipped
why: I have classes all day so i miss lunch time in the dining hall and i'm too lazy to buy food.

When: 5:15 dinner
What: -salad with lettuce, cucumber, radishes, and olive oil dressing
-1 c. yogurt
-8oz. diet coke
Where: Pioneer Hall dining center
Why: I like to eat light dinners

Friday 3/5
When: 8:30 breakfast
What: -scrambled eggs
-1/2c. yogurt
-8oz orange juice
-6 oz. black coffee
Why: large breakfast helps tide me over until dinner

Lunch skipped
Why: same reason as above

When: 3 pm snack
What: handful of chocolate covered almonds
Where: parents house
Why: easiest thing to grab out of the cupboard on my way to work

When: 5:30 dinner
What: -salad with tomato, lettuce, peppers, and olive oil dressing
Where: at work
Why: quick and easy dinner at work

When: 8pm snack
What: -ice cream bar
-coffee
Where: at work
Why: sugar and caffeine to help me stay up at work

Saturday 3/6
When: 5:30am breakfast
What: -instant oatmeal
-banana
-12oz. coffee
Where: at parents house
Why: hearty breakfast with lots of caffeine to help me stay awake for work

When: 11am snack
What: -Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
-8oz. skim milk
Where: at work
Why: since breakfast was so early, I get very hungry around this time of day at work

When: 2pm
What: 12 oz coffee
Where: at work
Why: My mid-afternoon caffeine dose to keep me going at work

When: 5:30 pm
What: -chicken
-mashed potatoes
-coleslaw
-ice cream cake
Where: at work
Why: free food!

Food Diary

Thursday 3/4
When: Breakfast 7:00
What: Bowl of instant quick oats with berries on top
Where: my apt
Why: it fills me up and the berries sweeten up the bland oatmeal

When: Snack 10:00
What: -pepper s (1 cup)
-cheese stick
-mixed nuts (1/4 cup)
-bottle of water
Where: Class
Why: I always get hungry and like to have a snack to tide me over until my later lunch

When: Lunch 2:30
What: -two eggs with shredded cheese and salsa
-water
Where: my apt
Why: I try to get a lot of protein in my diet, and cut back on sugar, and this satisfies both of those!

When: Dinner 6:30
What: -Chicken wrap with spinach, peppers, pickles, tomatoes, cheese, honey mustard
-chips and cheese with salsa
-water
Where: my apt
Why: I go through phases of eating A LOT of a certain kind of food, and right now I am in a wrap phase...I love love love them.

When: Snack 9:00
What:Apple and peanut butter
Where: my room
Why: I was bored and procrastinating from doing homework.

Friday 3/5
When: Breakfast 8:00
What: -2 slices of whole wheat toast with peanut butter
Where: my apt
Why: I needed some carbs before working out

When: Snack 10:00
What:-1/2 cup of chocolate milk
-apple
Where: my apt.
Why: chocolate milk is a perfect post workout recovery drink

When: 4:00
What: -chips and cheese with salsa
-cheese stick
-water
-bowl of cheerios with skim milk
Where: my apt
Why: I was watching TV and just kept on eating, and eating, and eating

When: 7:00
What: -5 mini bagel bites
-a few carrots and dip
-class of punch
-chocolate chip cookie
WHere: my friend's apt, she was hosting a little party
Why: it looked so good, and I was starting to get hungry again

Saturday 3/6
When: 11:30 am
What: -Chicken salad sandwich
-whole grain chips
-glass of water
Where: Cupckae
Why: my brother came to visit to we went for lunch at Cupcake because he could get breakfast, I could get lunch, and it was close.

When: Dinner 5:00
What: -Jimmy Johns Beach Club sub
-glass of water
-half a cookie
Where: Jimmy Johns
Why: my brother and I were in a hurry and hungry and JJ was close by

When: 10:00 pm
What: -2 slices of pepperoni pizza
-glass of white wine
Where: hotel
Why: I was hungry and it looked good, smelled good, and more importantly tasted good!

Food Diary

Friday : 3/5

Breakfast: 9:30 a.m.

What:1 nutri-grain cereal bar (strawberry flavor)

Where: my car

Why: running late, need a quick easy breakfast.

Snack: 1:14 p.m.

What: 1 banana, and a sip from the water fountain.

Where: Blegen Hall

Why: I was starving and didn't feel like waiting until I got home to eat lunch.

Lunch: 4:14 p.m.

What: 2 Kowalski's brand organic peanut butter sandwiches on Target brand wheat bread, and about an 8o.z. glass of 2% milk

Where: At my apartment.

Why: bread and peanut butter are cheap, and they work to keep me feeling full.

Coffee: 6:20 p.m.

What: 16o.z. Caribou iced coffee with white chocolate.

Where: Caribou coffee in St. Paul

Why: Felt really tired, and my roommate wanted a coffee too.

Dinner: 9:30 p.m.

What: A plate of fettuccine alfredo and 2 8o.z. glasses of water.

Where: my apartment

Why: I had a jar of alfredo sauce I needed to use up, and it just so happened that I had some fettuccine pasta at my disposal. It would have been nice to have some texas toast too, but I didn't have any.

Late night snack: 12:15 a.m.

What: Bowel of Wheaties with 2% milk.

Where: my apartment.

Why: I was just craving cereal for some reason.

Saturday: 3/6

Brunch: 11:30 a.m.

What: Left-over fettuccine alfredo.

Where: My apartment.

Why: Simple, I woke up late, and wanted to eat something easy. What better than to nuke up some left-over pasta (sometimes I think it tastes better the second time around anyway).

Energy Drink: 4:35 p.m.

What: 1 Shockwave energy drink.

Where: My apartment.

Why: My roommate's friend came over with 4 shockwave energy drinks. He offered me one and I couldn't say no--I have work in an hour.

Snack: 5:45 p.m.

What: 1 cup of tomato basil soup

Where: Dellwood Hills golf club.

Why: I hadn't eaten in a while, and I get all the free soup I want at my work. It was slow at the restaurant so I helped myself.

Dinner: 10:30 p.m.

What: Parmesan crusted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans with red peppers, along with soda water with cranberry juice.

Where: Dellwood Hills golf club.

Why: There was a banquet going on upstairs so all the servers got to eat left over banquet meals--perk of the job.

Late night snack: 1:20 p.m

What: 1 piece of left over Jack's pizza, and about an 8o.z. glass of water.

Where: my apartment.

Why: My roommate cooked up some Jack's pizza and have 1 slice left over. It was cold, but he said I could have it. I can't say no to free pizza.

Sunday: 3/7

Skipped breakfast.

Lunch: 1:30 p.m.

What: A grande Ice Coffee from Starbucks and a Banana.

Where: Target in St. Paul.

Why: I just left the gym and needed to grab some things from target. After I workout I'm never really hungary, that that was enough.

Dinner: 4:00 p.m.

What: Jimmy John's Turkey Tom: lettuce, onion, mayo, turkey, and provolone cheese.

Where:Wilson Library.

Why: With a study parter, we were both pretty hungary so we decided to order some Jimmy Johns.

Energy Drink: 5:30

What: 5 hour energy shot.

Where: Wilson Library.

Why: Study partner, Dave, brought a 6 pack case of those things. He offered them up, so of course I took one.

Engergy Drink: 9:06

What: 5 hour energy shot.

Where: Wilson Library.

Why: He gave me another one, so I drank another one.

Food Journal

Thursday

9:00 am Breakfast:

• 2 eggs (half whites/half yolks) + some cheddar cheese
  
• 1 piece of whole wheat toast w/ skippy natural peanut butter and target-brand honey
  
• 1 cup of alterra's breakfast blend coffee
  

Where: Boyfriend's house

Why: I need to eat right when I get up otherwise I'm a super crabby morning person, Conor offered to make eggs and they sounded yummy. I try to get some protein in with my breakfast, so eggs were a good choice. I also enjoy a cup of coffee if I have time to make it, and Alterra brand is my absolute favorite.

2:30 pm Lunch:

• 1 cup pasta shells with Prego tomato basil garlic sauce
  
• 1 glass of water
  

Where: My house

Why: I had a late breakfast so I ate a little later than usual. All of my food is at my boyfriend's house, so all I had at home was some pasta supplies. Also, pasta is usually my last resort when I don't have anything else I want to eat.

9:00 pm Dinner:

• 2 slices Target-brand pepperoni pizza
  
• 1 bottle Coors light
  

Where: Boyfriend's house

Why: A super gross dinner I know, but it sounded AMAZING at the time, and it was. Frozen pizza is a great lazy-college-dinner fix and goes great with some beer.

Friday

9:00 am Breakfast:

• 1 multi-grain bagel with skippy natural peanut butter and target-brand honey
  
• 1 cup alterra breakfast blend coffee
  
• 1 Clementine
  

Where: Boyfriend's house

Why: I have bagels pretty much everyday unless Conor offers to make eggs. Again trying to get that little bit of protein in there with the peanut butter, and then some fruit with a Clementine.

1:00 pm Lunch:

• 1 ham and cheddar cheese sandwich on whole-wheat bun with some mustard
  
• 1 handful of Lays Salt and Vinager potato chips
  
• 1 glass Crystal light iced tea
  

Where: My house

Why: I packed a lunch for the day at Conor's, I usually never have lunch meat or cheese so this was a great lunch for me. The potato chips I picked up on my way home from class at Joe's Market, I wanted a little something extra to go with my little sandwich. I am a HUGE ice tea addict and have a million of those little mixer packets.

6:00 pm Dinner:

• 2 pieces of cheesy bread (leaning tower)
  
• 4 dynosomethings, they had cheesy middles with little chili peppers inside that you dipped in ranch (leaning tower)
  

Where: Leaning Tower restaurant

Why: Conor's roommate and his girlfriend asked us to go to $4 appetizers and we did.

Saturday

10:00 am Breakfast:

• 1 whole-grain bagel with skippy natural peanut butter and target-brand honey
  
• 1 glass Silk vanilla soymilk
  

Where: Boyfriend's house

Why: Last night's dinner did not sit well and I had MAJOR heartburn all night, so I opted out of my morning coffee and had some good ol' soy milk.

3:00 pm Lunch:

• 1 chicken salad sandwich with tomatoes, bacon and spinach
  
• Fries
  
• 1 pickle slice
  

Where: Granite City Bar and Grill

Why: My boyfriend and I had to go to Rosedale so that I could return a pair of jeans, and so that he could help his mom's coworker pick out a computer at the apple store. Afterwards, we were starving so we decided to have a nice lunch at Granite City.

NO Dinner but a Late-night snack:

• Popcorn
  

Where: Boyfriend's house

Why: We were way too full from lunch still, and were not hungry until late at night so we had some popcorn and that was it.

food!

Thursday (3/4):
Grabbed some breakfast at brugger's in dinkytown before class
1 tomato bagel with egg and cream cheese
1 bottle apple juice

Headed home for lunch after class (around 1).
[I really like soups and chilis, so every so often I'll cook up a huge batch an live off of it for about a week (depending on if my roommates or people we have over share). I like doing this because it's super cheap, uses up whatever ingredients we need to get rid of, lasts a while and is easy/ convenient to heat up a bowl if I'm in a hurry. The soup of this week was fajita soup and consisted of red/yellow/orange/green/jalapeno peppers, onions, tomatoes, and tofu cubes.]

1 bowl of soup
handful of tortilla chips and salsa
1/2 avacado

Thursday snack- around 7:00pm( I work at a coffee shop the airport so it's way too expensive to get dinner there)

1 bag veggie crisps ($1.00!)
Jr. honey almond latte
1 turkey sandwich minus the turkey when we were closing because I don't like throwing away food at the end of the night. and I am poor. :)

Thursday late night- 12:30am: the boyfriend and I went to Hard Times Cafe, my roommate works there so sometimes I get a discount.
1 coconut macaroon
1/2 quesadilla

Friday 3/5:

10:30 am I skated to class, it was an amazing day outside, I was energized and craving fresh fruit.
1 Avocado, strawberry, pineapple smoothie + a packet of this energy suppliment called rainbow lightning
1 primal strip (vegan beef jerkey)
1 annie's vegan breakfast burrito
**this meal came from the seward co-op because it was on the way home. I can't afford to get all of my groceries there, but I do like the idea of buying locally.


2:00pm
picked up coffee for everyone at my weekend job
1 double depth charge
1 giant m&m cookie

7:30pm
was going to wait till I got home to eat, but chinese food delivery was on my boss that night and I don't turn down free food!
huge portion of veggies w/ bean curd and white rice

Saturday, 1:00 breakfast/ lunch
1 huuuuge bowl of previously mentioned fajita soup w/ chips

at work, throughout the afternoon (2:30-9)
1/2 bag of trail mix
1 cupcake (a client brought us about a dozen "Elvis" cupcakes at work. they were topped with bacon.)
1 bottle vitamin water zero

dinner- 9:30pm went out to Gingerhop with a friend.
3 cream cheese wontons
1/2 order sweet potato fries
1 small bowl wonton & tofu soup

saturday night 1:00 am,
too much vodka
almost a whole bag of cheesey popcorn, that was a mistake.

I've been a vegetarian for 4 years. I've lived with a vegan this past year and most of the cooking I do at our house is vegan. I'm really interested in studying how different foods and changes in diet can affect the way your body works, as well as what specific minerals/ benefits different plants have to offer. Food science is neat.

Coffee and Booze Journal

I will start with a little background. I work two part-time jobs- as a bartender at Ciao Bella in Edina and also as a Butcher for Rainbow Foods in West St. Paul. My father teaches cullinary arts and I grew up with fresh, homemade food. Food has always been a big part of my life. Since school started this semester I have made an effort to try to eat less fat, giving up my weekly ribeye steak and bacon-garnished whatevers. My girlfriend and I cook at home most of the time and I buy just about everything at Rainbow. I'm there anyway and they pay union wages. In general I drink too much coffee and too much alcohol.

Thursday 3/4:
10:00 A.M.- 1 apple. 2 cups of coffee. At hame fefore school.

More coffee and water all day. I usually carry a thermos of coffee and a water bottle.

6:00 P.M.- Salad Bar at Rainbow. Spinach, Romaine, yellow pepper, carrot, olives,cooked chicken breast strips(pretty scary), fat free ranch dressing. Tap water.

11:00 P.M.- 1:00 A.M.- 1 Jameson on the rocks, 3 pints Summit EPA. More tap water.

Friday 3/5:
10:30 A.M.- Banana, handful of peanuts, Coffee. At home.
water and coffee during class.
2:00 P.M.- Brown Rice, steamed broccoli and a roasted chicken breast. More water.

10:00 P.M.- At Ciao Bella. Tomato and avacado flatbread with goat cheese. water all shift.

11-2:00 A.M.- 1 shot Rumplemintz, 4 pints Summit EPA.

Saturday 3/6:

Slept until 1:30 P.M. and rushed to work without eating. Drank tap water all day at work.
5:00 P.M.- 2 hard boiled eggs from home.
10:30 P.M.- 1/2 Jacks frozen supreme pizza and 2 vodka sodas w/ lime. Sad day.

Taday so far (Sunday 3/7) I've had 2 cups of coffee, lots of tap water and leftover brown rice and chicken. I think my eating is directly related to my schedule and in general I eat too late in the day, drink too much(or more than the average person), and am very dependent on coffee. I didn't have any coffee yesterday and was completely worthless at work all day.

Food Diary - BW

_Wednesday_
Breakfast:
-(Post) Raisin Bran, quick easy breakfast @ home
Lunch: @ 2pm due to schedule crunching
-Ham & Chese sandwich w/ miracle whip & wheat bread
-Half a box of girl scout thin mints (yay gluttony!)
Pre-dinner Snacks:
~30 honey pretzels (its what we had at the time)
-Glass Sunny-D (it always tastes good)
Dinner:
-Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo (cause my family know how to make it way better than any restaurant, period (very unhealthy though)
-Glass of milk (cause I felt bad about all the cookies)

_Thursday_
Breakfast:
-Chocolate Rice Crispies (knock off brand... tastes just as good)
Lunch:
-2 mini pizzas (quick lunch)
-can sierra mist (what we had)
-6 girl scout cookies (samoas)
Dinner:
-2 Bratwurst
-Oven baked frozen fries
Snacks:
-More chocolate rice crispies (cereal is an easy snack)
~35 grapes (easy snack that tastes good and is good for you)
-Glass sunny-d

All I drink during the day is tap water, and I usually splurge for some sort of pop when I get home (if we have any). I usually try to avoid sugars, but can't help it lots of the time, cause I've got a family history of diabetes. Most food I eat centers around my house as I live on the east side of Saint Paul (30 min drive to and from campus), and food around campus is pretty expensive & unhealthy.

Food Diary- Brandon

March 3rd
-can of Mountain Dew
-8am
-in classroom, brought from home
-morning pick-me-up (its the breakfast of champions), can't make breakfast fast enough on Wednesdays

-Vitamin water
-all day
-carry around with me to drink
-like to have a drink to sip all day, keeps me awake in calc. lecture, I try to drink something besides soda

-Lunch: slice of pizza, half-sandwich (turkey), french fries, pickle, 3 cookies, 2 glasses of milk
-1:30
-Sanford restaurant
-I have a meal plan, the location is convenient

-mentos
-3:00
-market on west bank
-i like candy

-3 cans of pop, frozen pizza
-6-10 pm
-home
-i have a drinking problem, i was doing homework and needed food and drink that wasn't to involved to make/eat

March 4th
-Breakfast: bowl of lucky charms, doughnut, scrambled eggs, chocolate milk, coffee, oatmeal
-8 am
-Sanford
-convenient time/ location

-can of root beer
-9am
-CSCL class
-bored(before class started)/thirsty/tired

-sandwich, coke
-3pm
-Coffman deli
-fast, almost cheap

-snickers bar
-8pm
-bus stop
-tide me over till dinner

-Turkey, potatoes, milk
-10pm
-home
-easy to make (it was leftovers)

March 5th
-pancakes, bacon, milk, coffee, oatmeal
-9am
-Sanford
-convenient time/location

-can of Dr. Pepper
-10am
-from home, outside of class
-studying for my class before it started

-sandwich, coke, chips
-1pm
-Coffman deli
-didn't eat enough at breakfast, wasn't feeling very happy

-chips, popcorn, mountain dew and coke
-5:30pm
-transfer student group party
-girlfriend wanted to go so i followed, free food

-McDonald's: 10 piece mcnugget, fries, coke, bite of girlfriend's cinnamelt
-7pm
-McDonald's
-quick dinner, both of us agreed there was no cooking going on tonight

March 6th: bonus day!
-I thought my Saturday was noteworthy because my girlfriend and i were in a hurry to go to a job fair and a movie so our daily food started with quick microwavable food, followed up with candy and soda for the movie, then bakers square for dinner. 1 meal for the day unless the candy feast counts as one.

-Some general trends I found was that i drink soda when I'm bored, or when I'm doing pretty much anything, and my mood has significant effects on my eating habits.

Food Diary (Yummm!)

Well, here it is. I think that I eat out way too much, but sometimes its nice to not eat something heated up in the microwave from a can or box or whatever. I eat most of my meals with my boyfriend as its easier to cook two portions rather than one, plus I gives me a chance to see him without feeling too guilty about not working on homework. I tend to rock the off brands of most of my food, being the in-debt college student that I am. This sample of my meals is right after I went grocery shopping so I have things like fresh fruit and veggies, though usually I have canned fruit and frozen vegetables. I do not eat at the same times everyday, but rather whenever I have an extra 30mins to spare in my day. I'm typically too lazy to pack things, so I'll starve until I get home on my busier days. The fewer dishes I need to use the better, because then I spend less time cleaning after. I also manage to get a lot of free meals on the weekends from work (I work at the University Aquatic Center) because the team hosting an event usually provides food for the volunteers and officials and employees. Definitely one of the perks of the job.


3/3

breakfast:
half a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese
1 cup of coffee with amaretto creamer

lunch:
turkey sandwich, wheat bread, colby cheese, lettuce, miracle whip
serving of carrots
serving of instant loaded mashed potatoes
glass of milk

dinner:
4 pieces of pepperoni/mushroom pizza (friend randomly invited me over for this, I don't turn down free food.)
two glasses of water

applebees queso blanco and 2 glasses strawberry lemonade


3/4

skipped breakfast

lunch: 7 pizza rolls, fresh fruit (watermelon, cantelope, strawberries, blueberries, honeydew)
milk, 2 chocolate chip cookies, bowl of oats and things cereal

dinner: BBQ pulled chicken sandwich on bun with slice of colby cheese, real loaded mashed potatoes, milk,
handful of nerds candies


3/5

breakfast: bowl of oats and things, strawberry cereal bar

lunch:three cheese and onion burger from Blarney with chips and water

dinner: half a frozen pepperoni pizza, kettle chips, milk

later, half a bottle of white zinfandel. (it was one of those weeks, ya know?)

My Food Journal

Some background information on my eating habits:
I live in a house/small dorm/ frat-like community called the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship house. We do not have a cook at our house, and we work at the local sororities and eat their meals everyday (when I can and have time). My house and the sorority that I work/eat at are about a 15-20 minute walk from campus (depending on where you need to go), so it is sometimes inconvenient to walk there and back just to get food. In our rooms, we have mini-fridges, a microwave, small toaster oven, ect that we can use to make our own food if the sorority does not fill us up or we miss a meal.


Wednesday
Breakfast:
What: Cheerios and milk with nonfat strawberry Yogurt and a banana
When: 7:20 am
Where: My room
Why: I eat breakfast every morning because if I don't my stomach growls by 9:00. I eat cheerios because they taste good and are good for me. I really like bananas and yogurt as well.

Lunch:
What: Turkey and Lettuce sandwich
Grapefruit and Grapes
Carrots and Celery
Soybeans
Triscuits
2 mini oatmeal and raisin walnut Clif Bars
Water to Drink

When: 11:15 am (in between chemistry and biology)
Where: Wise owl cafe in basement of Walter library
Why: I did not have go to the sorority to eat lunch today because I had a lot of homework, and I lose a lot of time walking back and forth to get food. I packed my lunch today, as I do most days that I do not have time to go to the sorority, because I want to know what I am eating and have enough food. I do not want to spend the money to eat out all the time, and much of the time the food ordered when eating out is not as healthy or fresh as what I have at home.

Snack:
What: Banana
When: 4:30 pm
Where: My room at the Evans House. Bought from Rainbow
Why: Honestly, I was not hungry. I just got home and I walked into my room and noticed that the bananas that I had were on the verge of going bad. I don’t lake to waste food, so I ate one.

Dinner:

What: Grilled chicken breast
Mixed green salad
Fruit salad
Apple
Half turkey sandwich
Water
Green Tea
When: 5:15
Where: Pi Beta Phi Sorority
Why: I ate at the sorority cause it is free and good food, but the dinner tonight was quiche and a fruit cup, which I am not that fond of. Instead, I raided the fridge and found leftover chicken and salad from the night before. I ate this, but I was still hungry. So I grabbed an apple and made half a turkey sandwich. I ate this and was sort of full, but could not eat more because I had class at 6:00. On my way to class, I grabbed some green tea to keep me warm.

During Psychology:
What: 28 oz water with propel packet
When 6:50
Where: Psychology Classroom. Elliot Hall
Why: I was thirsty and needed a drink. I don’t like to drink pop that often, so I bring a water bottle and put a propel packet in it for flavor. It is cheap and tastes good.

After-class Snack:
What: handful of almonds, handful of triscuits, and a half a cup of cottage cheese
When: 8:05
Where: My room
Why: Dinner did not quite fill me up, and I always have a snack around this time. I check my fridge and closet for food, and I usually eat what looks good. I ate the cottage cheese and almonds to get some protein, and I ate the triscuits because I wanted a cracker-type food.

Late Night Snack
Smart Pop mini bag popcorn
Diet Root Beer
10:47 pm in the study in my house
Why: I ate this to take a break from studying and because I was sort of board. It was mainly just for something to do, as I was not very hungry, although that I find with eating in general I am rarely full.

THURSDAY

Breakfast:
Cheerios and milk, a banana and strawberries.
Nonfat blueberry Yogurt
When: 9:00
Where: My room
Why: I ate this breakfast because I basically eat the same cereal everyday until it is gone, when I will by a new one. I added strawberries this morning to add a little mix to the cereal, and it made it taste better

Lunch:
What: Turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on toast
Tortellini pasta with sundried tomatoes and Italian dressing
Green Apple
When: 11:45
Where: Pi Beta Phi Sorority
Why: Today’s lunch at the sorority was really good. The lunch was BLT’s, but I don’t like to eat bacon if I have a choice, so I substituted to Bacon for turkey. The side dish was the tortellini pasta, which I love so I ate that. I was still a little hungry, so I grabbed an apple to eat on the way to class.

Dinner:
What: Shrimp and scallop bow tie pasta with alfredo cream sauce (2-3 helpings)
2 pieces of bread
Side salad with raspberry dressing
When: 5:20
Where: Pi Beta Phi Sorority
Why: I had been looking forward to this meal all week. Seafood pasta is one of my favorite dishes, so I could not limit myself to just one serving. Again, I ate here because I get to eat with the other bussers in my house, the food is awesome, and it is free.

After dinner snack:
What: An Orange, a whole wheat English muffin, three egg whites, handful of grapes, handful of carrots, and a small apple
When: 8:50 pm
Where: My room
Why: I ate this because I needed a break from studying. I tend to eat when I am bored/need a break, and it usually is a chain of things that are linked together one after another. As I see something, I eat a handful or a little less and then move on to the next food item. I ate eggs because I wanted some good protein in my diet, and they taste good on an English muffin. I am rarely full, so when I get on a snacking tangent it is usually large.

Friday:
Breakfast:
What: Cheerios and milk, banana, light Yoplait blueberry pie yogurt, slice of whole wheat toast
When: 8:15 am
Where: My room
Why: Again, I eat breakfast before class every morning. This is routine for me. I added toast because I had a little extra time before I needed to leave, and was a combination of bored and not full (notice I did not say hungry).

Lunch:
What: Pulled pork sandwich on wheat bun with coleslaw. Apple, and bowl of Life Cereal with milk. Glass of milk.
When: 12:00
Where: Pi Beta Phi Sorority
Why: I had plenty of time between my classes today and the weather was nice, so I was happy to make the walk back to the sorority. I ate what was offered for lunch today, along with a bowl of Life cereal to fill me up.

Dinner:
What: Two turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. Cottage cheese, soybeans, triscuits, a small grapefruit, a small apple, and water
When: 5:05
Where: My room
Why: After finishing class at 4:30, I walked home and ate dinner before heading to the hockey game at the Target Center. I wanted to make sure that I ate a lot so that I was not hungry at the game. I didn’t want to eat at the game because its expensive, and they usually don’t have the things that I prefer. I wanted to get in a good dinner before the game because I knew that I would not be eating again for a while.

Food Log 3/4 - 3/6 brnschnip

3/4 Thursday
8am : vitamin C, fish oil, banana, granola in yogurt (apartment)
1130am-1pm : milk, five servings of chicken pasta w/cheese n sauce (apartment)
4pm-6pm : 16 oz water, two string cheese (apartment)
730pm : cup coffee w/ too much cocoa mix, four sugar cookies (*SWHS before work)
10pm : three slices reheated pizza (old Man's place)

*SWHS southwest high school : I am employed here by district 1 as a water safety instructor. the depressingly tempting woman in the office is quite flirtatious, thus I naturally take advantage of the free coffee cocoa and cookies.
- my mother supplies me with an array of vitamins. no comment ? they seem to help when I am sick but do nothing otherwise.
- It took me more than an hour to squeeze the lot into my stomach, but that is 1 lb of chicken. 12in skillet full o pasta. hell yes
- 4-6pm between class and work. sometimes i take a nap. normally I'm studying.
- reheated pizza is self explanatory. left over food. someone had to eat the stuff. bedtime snack

3/5 Friday
10am : granola in yogurt, milk, vit. C, fish oil (apartment)
12pm : two string cheese, 1/3 lb chicken breast (apartment)
4pm-6pm : less than a serving of : chocolate, pretzels, wine (##14 #th ave se)
8pm-12pm : pineapple orange juice n vodka, enough beer (apartment)
12pm : baked beans/salsa w/cheese nachos (apartment)

- people make fun of me for eating Nola in yogurt but its so good n tasty!
- my fridge is running low this week. I am an eclectic omnivore. would love some spinach n fresh tomatoes mustard maybe cut up that chicken put it in a wrap MM MM but I'm broke
- was watching a movie with an old friend o mine n meeting her roommates. she had some awesome chocolate but I might complain about the wine.
- the ever nutritious evening of socializing and beer pong lead us to ravage my roommates cabinets for a late night plate of nachos and some other goodies with which to satisfy the rumbling bellies of my drunk friends

*i drink water very often, even when im not thirsty. I eat when I'm not hungry most of the time also. why not?! still tastes pretty good to me. when my stores aren't low I average next to 4,000 calories a day.

Matt's Food Log

Great thinking Chris...both the post editing and the beer, I unfortunately abstain from the brew on school nights.

Thursday, 4 March
Breakfast (0745):
(1) Bowl of Honeynut Cheerios with skim milk (prepped at home)
(1) 16 oz. Coffee (from Costco) with a shot of flavored creamer

Lunch (1115):
(1) Chicken of the Sea Tuna fish sandwich with Hellman's mayo on homemade bread (prepped at home)
(2) Oranges (from home)
(1) Nature Valley Oats n' Honey Granola Bar (from home)

Snack (1630):
(2) Slices bread with Skippy peanut butter (prepped at home)
(2) homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (homemade)

Dinner (1830):
(1) Chicken Breast (pan-fried in olive oil)
(1) Serving of garlic mashed poatoes with cheddar cheese
(1) Serving of roasted veg (carrots, onion, yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms) with olive oil
All prepared at home

Evening Snack (2130):
(2) Cups of Swiss Miss hot chocolate
(2) Nature Valley Oats n' Honey Granola Bar with Skippy peanut butter (prepped at home)

All water during the day is tap water.


FRIDAY, 4 March
Breakfast (0645):
(1) Bowl of Honeynut Cheerios with skim milk (from home)
(1) 12oz. Coffee with a shot of flavored creamer (from home)

Lunch (1100):
(1) Chicken Breast sandwich (last night's leftovers) with Hellman's mayo on homemade bread (prepped at home)
(1) Oranges (from home)
(1) 12 oz. Coffee (black) from coffee stand in St. Paul Campus Student Center ($1.70)

Snack (1530):
(1) Nature Valley Oats n' Honey Granola Bar (from home)

Dinner (1900):
(2) Palak paneer (Indian cheese in a spinach curry) with basmati rice
(1) naan bread
(2) servings of samosas fried in olive oil
1/2 cup of Thin mint ice cream
All prepared at home

Booze (1900-0100):
(2) New Belgium Trippels
(2) New Belgium Abbeys
All drank at home

All water comsumed during the day was tap water.


SATURDAY, 6 March
Brunch (1130):
(1) 12 oz. Coffee with a shot of flavored reamer
(1) Scrambled eggs with veg (1 whole egg + 3 egg whites, onion, mushroom, carrots, zucchini, squash)
(3) slices of Oscar Meyer Turkey Bacon
All prepared at home

Snack (1615):
(1) Orange (from home)

Dinner (1815):
(1) Last Nights Palak Paneer leftovers
(1) Piece of naan
(1) 8 oz. of orange juice
(1) Chapter of Omnivore's Dilemma
All prepared at home

Booze (2015- 0030 )
(5) New Belgium Abbey (1/2 of my daily caloric intake - 1000 kcal)

Snack (2220):
More samosas!!! a serving
Another slice of naan
1 cup of thin mint ice cream

All water was from the tap

Wrap-up:
A few years ago my doctor mentioned that my cholesterol was creeping up around 200 (units of whatever)... I ate fast food more frequently (if ever in San Diego, find a Santana's and eat their burritos!!!), more red meat, few vegetables or fruits and way more alcohol. My girlfriend was vegetarian (until two thanksgivings ago - I roast a bitchin' turkey) and she's had a huge impact on my diet - more fruit and veg, no red meat, less booze, more ice cream (we're slowly killing each other: me via ice cream, her via chicken). I'm curious as to my current blood levels... i should probably get them looked at. This was a fairly typical period though; I do all the cooking, we rarely order out or "buy meals", maximum use of fresh (or frozen) veg, and the weekends are for pure relaxation although I usually try to cap the beer to a sixer for the whole weekend. The home-made bread was something that started last year when the price of bread really started getting rediculous, courtesy of the world flour shortage. It's kinda nice since I can control exactly what goes into it, like the various grains, and it's a little cheaper even if the bread isn't as pretty looking as the stuff on the shelves (winter is a tough time for making bread rise).

Food Log 3/04 - 3/06

In an effort to reduce paper waste and save poor helpless trees, I've decided just to update my blog post each day as I eat.

Thursday, 3/4
8:20 A.M.
A bowl of "Honey Bunches & Oats" with a half cup of skim milk
18 oz (3 6oz cups) of Folger's Morning Blend Coffee, with 3 tbsp of CoffeeMate French Vanilla Creamer

I just started eating a real breakfast again, for the past year it was nothing but a granola bar and coffee during the week, and my energy levels have improved significantly since making this change.

12:45 PM
Approximately 10 Pizza Rolls, dipped in Low Fat Ranch Dressing
4 Chips Ahoy! Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies
Half of a glass of Skim Milk

Not a very filling lunch, but I was at my girlfriend's house and she was short on time.

5:00 PM
Approximately 15 Ritz crackers with a Peppercorn & Parmesan cheese spread
1 11.2 oz bottle of Guinness Draught

Drinking a beer and doing this blog post, I like eating salty things with beer.

7:00 PM
BBQ Chicken Sandwich (1 Hand-Shredded Chicken Breast, BBQ Sauce, 1 Slice Colby Cheese, Hamburger Bun)
Homemade Mashed Potatoes (1 medium size boiled potato, splash of milk, Parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, garlic salt)
1 Glass of Milk

First time ever making hand shredded chicken, I think it turned out really well, and I went lighter than usual on the BBQ sauce (Because I ran out!).

Friday, 3/5
9:00 AM
1 Egg Bagel with butter and honey
30 oz (Five 6 oz. cups) Folger's Coffee with 5 tbsp French Vanilla CoffeeMate

For the record, I used to drink Pepsi in the morning, so I consider coffee an upgrade.

11:30 AM
8 Blarney's Buffalo wings with Sour Cream
Small-ish order of thick-cut french fries
$5.99 Lunch Special

Went out to Blarney's for lunch, first time ever being there (usually Annie's is my go-to place for lunch). Couldn't decide whether to get the wings or a burger, ultimately I think the burger would have been more filling, but the wings were amazing so I do not regret my decision. On a side note, I highly recommend trying your buffalo wings with sour cream. I actually had a waitress at Applebees tell me that she tried it after hearing me ask for it, and now she won't eat her wings without it.

6:30 P.M.
1/2 of a Jack's Frozen Pepperoni Pizza. Sprinkled some extra shredded Colby Jack cheese and a packet of Taco Bell Fire Sauce on it before baking.
1 Glass of Skim Milk

I like pizza.

9:00 - 11:00 P.M.
4 Glasses of White Zinfandel wine
Half of a bag of Lay's Kettle Cooked Potato Chips
2 Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark 12 oz. Bottles

It was decreed a "Lazy Night," so Tina and I bought a bottle of wine and some chips and sat around my house watching Comedy Central all night.

Saturday, 3/6

9:30 A.M.
18 oz. (Three 6 oz. cups) Coffee w/ 3 Tbsp French Vanilla Creamer
1 Fried Egg Sandwich (2 fried eggs over hard, 2 slices american cheese, 1 sausage patty, 1 slice of deli-cut ham, 2 slices of white toast)
1 glass of skim milk

My FAVORITE food to make/eat, I have been making fried egg sandwiches since I was 10 or 11 years old. Usually I double up on ham, but I bought a bag of frozen sausage patties to give them a try on my sandwich, and it is definitely an upgrade. Definitely a fatty meal, but eating it once a week isn't the worst thing I do to my body.

3:30 P.M.
11 Totino's Pizza Rolls, dipped in Ranch dressing (not low fat this time, I have the good stuff at home)
1 Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark 12oz bottled beer

Creamy Dark is probably my new favorite bottled beer, so basically I wanted to drink one and decided to have something quick that would go with it. I don't think pizza rolls are mentioned on many "lists of great foods to accompany this beer," but I thought they went well together :)

6:30
2 Johnsonville Raw Bratwurst, boiled in beer, with buns and ketchup
1 Glass of Skim Milk

With the exception of lunches on Thursday and Friday, every meal was prepared and eaten at home. Surprisingly, I feel one of my biggest problems is eating out too much, which is not reflected in this 3-day food log. I chose not to include my water consumption, but I keep a gallon jug of water with me whenever I am in my house, and drink from it as I please. In these 3 days, I drank probably 2/3 of a gallon of water, which is obviously less than the recommended 1/2 gallon per day, but better than nothing!

Blog Posting #5 (due Sunday 3/7, 11:59 P.M.): FOOD JOURNAL!

Next week, we begin our study of food. This week's blog post -- a "food journal" -- will set up our work and give us a place to start. Here's how to proceed:

Choose two to three days (preferably three), between now and Sunday, and during those days, keep track of everything you eat and drink (or, as Robin so colorfully put it, pretty much "everything you put in your mouth"!). You'll probably want to carry some kind of pad or notebook around with you, so you can record as you go.

Specifically, keep track of:

a) what you eat (ingredients? brands? how much? etc.);

b) when you eat it (at what times? how regularly? how does eating fit into the rhythm/arrythym of your work days? and your non-work days?);

c) where you eat it (at home? bag lunch in the office? fast food? local community-owned cafe? where you do spend your money, and how much?); and

4) why you eat it (simply, not metaphysically -- for example, "I ate at McDonald's because I had a class in 20 minutes and it was the only restaurant that was around/could serve me fast enough/I could afford.").

At the end of those two or three days, record your results here on the blog. Probably best to do it in chronological order, event by event, day by day.

Finally, comment on at least one other food journal (preferably more than one, if you have time!), analyzing your colleagues' food-lives and seeing what kind of insights you can draw. Use part one of The Omnivore's Dilemma (the reading assignment for next Tuesday) to guide you.

And of course, get in touch with your colleagues and/or Robin and/or me if you have any questions. Happy eating!