Blog Post 3

The meal I am preparing is one that I have made ever since I was 10 years old—a quesadilla. It is a quick and easy meal that doesn’t take too much brains or cooking skill. The only ingredients you need are at least two tortilla shells, shredded cheese (preferably Mexican), and salsa, if you’d like.

First you must preheat the oven to about 275 degrees. Make sure you take out a baking sheet to cook the quesadilla on. Get out two tortilla shells and place them on the baking sheet. Put about two full pinches full of the cheese onto the shells. It is essential to make sure that the cheese is distributed evenly and not overflowing the shells, onto the sheet. Once the cheese is evenly on the bottom shell, place the other shell on top of the cheese and bottom shell. You must wait until the oven has preheated to 275 degrees so this may take a few minutes. Once the oven has reached its desired degrees, put the sheet into the over; make sure that the quesadilla is in the center of the baking sheet and not off-center or else the food will cook unevenly. Set a timer for about 7-8 minutes and wait for the meal….

As the timer goes off, make sure to put on oven mitts, and take out the cooked goods. And WAAALA! You have your very own, Conor O’Neill’s quesadilla!

I agree with some of the things that Pollan say, but the one thing that stuck out in my mind was that now the tendency in America is to eat food and run, rather than wine and dine. Today, many more Americans are eating fast food, or having soup-to-go or anything to keep up with their busy daily lives. It partially shows in my 10-minute quesadilla recipe. It takes only about 2 minutes of work time to make that quick snack. It shows how America has evolved into such a fast paced country.

Blog Post 2

In the growing age of processed foods, today’s society is able to get a first hand experience of how foods are evolving. Food companies are processing foods such as fruits, vegetables, and meats. One of the main foods that I remember eating while growing up was my mom’s homemade, hand-breaded chicken fingers. She would make them as a treat for nights after I had a good game or did something good in life. But today, the only chicken fingers I will have are the packaged chicken tenders served at training table or in my kitchen.

Many say there isn’t a difference between processed foods and “real” foods, but I disagree. To me, “fake” food just isn’t the same; it doesn’t feel, look, or even taste the same as the “real” food. What producers are trying to do is get the processed food so amped up on steroids or pack in so many preservatives that it ends up not even imitating the original product, but becoming a SUPER food. This article shows how much has gone into and some negative effects of eating processed foods.

The only reason I made the switch from my mom’s chicken fingers to the processed chicken fingers was because of me becoming a college student earlier this summer. If it were my decision, I would go home right now to my mom and dad’s cooking. I don’t enjoy eating the “fake” chicken fingers as much because growing up I was so spoiled by my parent’s glorious cooking. Processed foods will never be able to replace my parent’s cooking, and even I have big shoes to fill for my appetite.