Cookbook research

I checked out this cookbook from the Everett public library, and researched recipes which I would be capable of cooking myself.

I started by reading the introductory chapters about maintaining a balanced diet, planning meals & timing, smart shopping, storing food, and everyday foods to always have on hand. I spent more time looking at the sections for eggs, pasta, and meat. New foods that I want to cook after studying these recipes are poached eggs, omelettes, pancakes, lasagna, and chili. These are more complicated than anything I've previously cooked, but I feel like I'm capable of following the instructions in the book.

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Distance running results

When I started my project I thought I would have enough time to run almost every day. But since I already play lacrosse six days a week in the spring, it's difficult to find extra time to be active. Despite that, I was able to go on a couple runs and monitor the results (shown below). Most of my runs I mapped out on Google maps, and used my iPhone timer to time to keep track of long it took me to run the selected distance.

In this short window of time, I wasn't able to make dramatic changes in my speed or consistency of running, but I was able to improve slightly in my times towards the end, and shave off a couple seconds compared to the first few runs. When my sport is over I will have more time to run, and that is what I plan on doing, but for now I am content with knowing I'm capable of improvement, it just takes longer than a few weeks to get ideal results.

Total time: 3 hours

Healthy living research

What did I do?
Researched subjects of healthy living (fitness, hygiene, mental health) in order to improve my knowledge of maintaining a balanced, healthy lifestyle.

What did I learn?
Peoples nutrition, sleep schedule, and other factors that affect fitness indirectly. More than just working out hard and consistent matters. People are their own worst enemies when it comes to working out, if people viewed physical activity as a pleasure instead of punishment it will transform fitness from a pain to something to look forward to.
The power of positive thinking is real. Thinking and acting positively makes people react better to problems and difficulties. Avoiding a negative approach could potentially make a bad situation better.
Fad diets are a sham, in most of the articles I read dietary experts agree most only work short term. It's better to allow yourself to consistently eat healthier, and accompanying that with an active lifestyle.

Total time: 2 hours

Angry-bird Pizza Dinner

Another meal I prepared for dinner was pizza, but not just any pizza, Angry-bird style pizza. I started by making the dough with a recipe I learned from the internet:

                       

Here are the ingredients + the dough-making process:

 

After the dough was made, I put corn meal on the bottom of the pizza tray so the dough wouldn't stick to it, and used these ingredients to garnish the pizza:

      

 Here is the Angry-bird pizza before and after it was cooked, and there was enough left over dough to make a second pizza as well (not yet cooked)!

 Total time: 2 hours

Food research

What did I do?
In order to better prepare myself for cooking and eating healthy, I researched various topics via search engines/databases about food.

What did I learn?
Besides the actual cooking, preparing the food cleanly is just as important as cooking the meal. Maintaining a sanitary kitchen environment and cleaning food properly reduces risk of illness.
An area of focus for me was on nutritious foods like fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, lean meats and poultry, fresh fish, whole grains, and low-fat diary products. One video I watched taught me how to read nutrition facts and how to apply the labels to my daily intake of food.
My new favorite low fat, low carb food is pistachio nuts, they have a very high serving size (usually around 50) and are filling. Other foods I have researched that have proven to be healthy are eggs, pink grapefruit, low-fat riccotta or Greek yogurt, and oatmeal for breakfast foods. Healthy, filling meals for later in the day are baked potatoes and pastas. Healthy comfort foods are almonds (along with oats and other nuts), broccoli (along with avocado), and turkey jerky.
I also learned the dangers of artificial sweeteners (like aspartame, splenda, and saccharin, and how brain and heart health benefit from similar foods, nutrients, and behaviors.

Total time: 3 hours

Dinner #2: Burgers

Tonight I went to the grocery store and bought the necessary ingredients to create a burger dinner complete with fries and salad. First I preheated the oven for the fries and cut up the vegetables for the salad.

After I had the salad prepared I got out the patties and cheese, and turned on the grill.

I grilled the patties for about 6 minutes on each side, and let cheese melt on the top of each. The fries were soon done, and I completed the salad with Cesar dressing.  Noah and my brother volunteered to be test subjects to my cooking, and both of them enjoyed the meal.

I garnished my burger with lettuce, pickles, barbecue sauce, and ketchup. I was very satisfied with my cooking.

Total time: 2 hours

Rice Krispies

I wanted to start my independent cooking with something easy and something I like, so I chose rice Krispies. I started by going to the store and getting:

1 box of rice Krispies

2 bags of marshmallows (only used 1 bag)

& butter (only used 1 stick)

It's pretty self explanatory how to make them; I just followed instructions on the back of the marshmallow bag. But my mom's secret to making them is using wax paper to press down and compact the rice Krispies after they're done mixing and poured into a container, this makes them evenly layered and compact.

Total time: 1 hour

First spaghetti dinner

To introduce myself to the art of cooking dinner my mom offered to teach me how she cooks spaghetti. The first thing I had to do was go to the grocery store to buy ingredients:
1 lb lean ground hamburger

1 lb mild Italian sausage

1 large yellow onion

8 gloves of garlic

2 twenty eight oz cans of Italian tomatoes

1 sixteen oz can of tomato paste

1 lb pasta

Also included are other optional ingredients that my mom already had (salt, pepper, basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, peppers & mushrooms)

First we started by browning the hamburger and sausage. After they were about half cooked we added the chopped onion. This took about 10 minutes to brown and cook.

Then we drained off most of the grease that had collected.

Next we added the cloves of minced garlic and continued to cook for another 4 minutes.

After we added chopped peppers and mushrooms, followed by the two cans of tomatoes and can of tomato paste, along with about 16 oz of water.

Then I had to stir for a long time (hardest part).

Next my mom added the herbs and spices (salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, basil, and rosemary).

Then we let it simmer for about an hour and a half, during that time we prepared a salad and toasted bread. Occasionally my mom would add more water or seasoning.

Then we boiled the pasta for 10 minutes, drained it, and topped the cooked pasta with the sauce we mad, along with grated Parmesan cheese.

Total time: 2 hours

   

My first grilling experience(s)

While in Mexico I had my first experience using a grill with my uncle. I had the opportunity to grill steaks and asparagus. Since I had my uncle's supervision all the steaks turned out well. He taught me the importance of using lots of oil to grill the steaks because it will burn off with the fat, and still keep the meat flavorful and prevent dryness. This took about an hour to prepare, cook, and bring back to the kitchen.

Then this weekend I tried grilling steaks on my own, but without my uncle's help I had mixed results. Two steaks turned out very well and were cooked perfectly, but the other two were severely undercooked. This issue wasn't that bad because I re-cooked the bad steaks, but still didn't leave me satisfied. I think I didn't have good judgement of how hot the grill was in places, and I think with more experience I will get better.
This took 45 minutes total, but the steaks weren't as well prepared as the ones in Mexico.

Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Mexico Vacation

April 10th-17th I traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a family reunion to celebrate my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. While there, in an attempt to follow my project plan  for CE, I did various cooking cooking and physical activities.

For five days, each day when I woke up between 9-10AM, I went for a twenty minute run along the beach. I do not know the exact distances I ran each day, but since my average mile time is 6:10 for one mile, my approximation is between 2.5-4 miles per run.
After my run I would return to the condo and cook breakfast for my brother, cousins, and myself. I would usually fry eight eggs, griddle bacon, toast, and sliced fruit (pineapple, apples, watermelon, ect). Each breakfast would take about half an hour to cook.

I do not have any documentation of these activities, but I did take pictures of a dinner I helped cook with my uncle, which I will post in my next blog post.

Total time: 3 hours 30 minutes