A kindness I shall never forget!

I. INTRODUCTION

For our finals, we are asked to make our food blog with 1000 words in it and the topic is “Cooking with Kindness”, this topic is based on our t-shirt design for intramurals. At first, I really didn’t get the idea why did they choose that kind of design; I really tried so hard on what is the true meaning of that design and the word “Cook with Kindness”. I was so shocked when Chef Hao told us about our blog for our finals and this is what he is going to do for us; He wanted to explain us on what is the true essence of this kind of topic. Since, I am an officer in our organization, I am much more pressure about this because if we fail we are able to get our consequences which is to have our 4 remaining blog for the final output. 

So here is my explanation about this topic, when one cooks it is not only the physical ingredients that he or she adds to the recipe, these also includes emotions, feelings. The person who cooks the food is sensitive about the ones who are craving for it. Cooking may only be for the sake of feeding but cooking with kindness means to put your heart in what you do. It is about being passionate in a sense that there is more to just satisfying hunger. Everyone used to think that cooking is just an act of preparing for something to eat may it at home or in restaurants but it doesn't end up there. Some people are contented of the food they had prepared as long as they cooked it properly. Cooking is not just simply to cook food and serve but it is like in pageantry in which a candidate should show herself with grace and passion in order to get the attention and satisfy the judges and audience standards. In cooking, the cook must prepare the food not just because he or she is forced to do so but with love which means it is really his or her desire to do such and with compassion which signifies that he reckon not only to finish his product quickly but on what could be the taste of his output either it is good or bad. Moreover, what we feel in the process of making something will reflect the result of such thing being prepared.

II. RELATED LITERATURE

Based on my research in the internet sources and book sources, Cooking with kindness it is said to be free with gluten which means it is a protein substance that remains when starch is removed from cereal grains and for the vegan it means it is a strict vegetarian, someone who eats no animal or dairy products and may also avoid using animal products. And for the conclusion about this meaning, it is said to be that you are kind enough to discipline on what you are going to cook or to eat. Because some people are conscious about their weight so you are able to cook it with love and also to discipline the consumer. It is like you are a nutritionist who is concern about other people’s health. 

According to Lijiun, You are happily to cook with loving-kindness and put in all your love and positive energy. You are enjoying and passion on your cooking. You are eagerly to share your food with your family. Most important is to bring happiness to others through your cooking. When you see the smiles and satisfaction from your family members, you are truly blessed and you forgot all your tiredness in preparing the food. Your family members get good nutrition from food and most important they feel love and positive too. Imagine, if we can prepare food to others like mother to children, how much love and positive energy we can bring to others. It might be related to the positive or negative energy from the Chef who preparing the food to us. Is he or she Happy? Angry? Sad? Depress? Peace? Joy? Stress? Positive? Tension? According to Masaru Emoto is a Japanese author and entrepreneur, who claims that human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water. The water molecule will change to different shape; all depend on our positive and negative energy. Think about it, our body consists of about 60% of water, how much implication that you are going to bring to yourself and also others? As such, be happy, peace, joy when you are preparing your food, to spread positive or negative energy is all depend on you. “The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.” By unknown 
A simple act, yet powerful!

According to Enrique Jose from the book of "Cooking with Filipino Chefs" from our very own Library, he advices to start young because then they're still flexible, to never shy away from any work, and to always remember that "fire is your friend." Fire, after all, is what transforms ingredients to whatever dish they are intended to be. And fire, the passion of cooking, is what keep a chef going.


Another Chef named Mike Prado, Jr. also a Filipino Chef  said that he experienced what he likes to call "The joy of cooking" was when he was a boy scout going camping. The thrill of cooking what you eat even if only from the can and had a lasting impression on him.


Another related to the topic is from Erin McCarthy's perspective, everything relates back to food, including relationships built in the growing, cooking and sharing of it. "I've got so much connection with people, so much interaction," said McCarthy, who sells kitchen tools and healthy salads and snacks to local residents as well as to people traveling through Northern California along Interstate 5. She also hosts cooking classes. Everything she does, she said, stems from a desire to help people improve their lives through their food choices. "As a dietitian, my goal has always been to heal people," she said. "Food is connected to our energy levels, moods, stress capacity and overall health and resilience. Every time we eat, we have the opportunity to do something really kind for our bodies." McCarthy favors whole-food ingredients that require minimal preparation, such as the following recipes that yield warm, flavorful results. Erin McCarthy has also a pieces of advice that if you cook, you should first mince the garlic ahead of time because Nutritionists at the American Institute for Cancer Research have found that letting chopped or crushed garlic sit for 10 or 15 minutes before heating helps it retain more of its cancer-fighting sulfur compounds than if it were cooked immediately. This suggestion would really help to prevent from cancer and to the health conscious people. 

III. CONCLUSION

Cooking with kindness is you cook not just for your own sake, but for you to share to others what you have cooked. When you cook you do your best to give them a tasty meal because you know sharing the food makes other people happy. When you cook, it deals with how you treat others and to be generous in cooking, portioning, cooking with a purpose and also cooking with clean intentions probably for the sake of many. Cooking with kindness is one of the best thing that I should do to make the people love my food. Let’s just say, I consider kindness as one of the recipe in cooking, and without it, the food will not be as perfect as it should be.

Therefore, we must not be contented by just simply preparing the food we want may it a simple or special dish but we should aimed to prepare the best taste of food by being benevolent that could fulfil the satisfaction of the consumer. And as we all know, if we cook with love and kindness we will be able to get our desired taste of what we want to our food that we cook. And at least you have the love in preparing food in additional of giving the food much tastier than you expect it. 

When It's OK, When It's Not!

We all know that when it is delicious, at the same time it is very dangerous! So be careful what you eat for!

Whether you want to avoid them or include them, you can find plenty of high-calorie foods for your vegan diet. It's a popular misconception that vegans subsist solely on fruits and vegetables, but a whole other world of legumes, grains, tubers and other foods can contribute plenty of calories without animal products. Fat, the biggest contributor, has more than twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrates. The good news is that the fat found in a vegan diet is almost entirely the healthy, unsaturated kind. But fat isn't your only calorie-laden avenue, either -- plenty of grains and certain fruits and vegetables can pack a calorie punch as well.

My first recipe that I will introduce to you is the

Ham and Cheese Calzones

Ingredients

2 tubes (13.8 ounces each) refrigerated pizza crust
1 cup ricotta cheese
4 to 6 ounces sliced pepperoni
2 cups diced fully cooked ham
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional
Dried basil, optional
Spaghetti sauce, warmed

Directions

1. Unroll one pizza crust onto a greased baking sheet; shape into a 14-in. x 11-in. rectangle. Spread half of the ricotta cheese lengthwise on half of the dough to within 1 in. of the edges.
2. Sprinkle with half of the pepperoni, ham and mozzarella cheese. Fold dough over filling; press edges firmly to seal. Repeat with remaining crust and filling ingredients.
3. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and basil if desired. Cut into slices. Serve with spaghetti sauce. Yield: 2 calzones ( 7 servings each).

Nutritional Facts

1 serving (1 piece) equals 341 calories, 20 g fat (9 g saturated fat), 65 mg cholesterol, 1,087 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 21 g protein.

My second recipe is 

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

INGREDIENTS

1⁄2cup butter or 1⁄2 cup margarine

1⁄2cup all-purpose flour

1⁄2teaspoon salt

1⁄2teaspoon pepper, to taste

1⁄4teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste

1⁄4teaspoon garlic granules

2cups half-and-half

2cups milk

2(10 ounce) packages sharp cheddar cheese, shredded and divided (I use Cracker Barrel)

1(10 ounce) package extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I use Cracker Barrel)

1(16 ounce) package elbow macaroni, cooked 

DIRECTIONS

1. In a big skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.2. Whisk the flour in gradually until the mixture is smooth.

1. 3. Cook and whisk continually for 2 minutes.

1. 4. Add in salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic; stir to combine.

1. 5. Gradually whisk in half-and-half and milk.

1. 6. Cook and whisk continually for 8-10 minutes or until mixture is thickened.

1. 7. Add in half of the sharp cheddar cheese; stir.

1. 8. Add in all of the extra-sharp cheddar cheese; stir until smooth.

1. 9. Take skillet off stove burner.

1. 10. Mix together the cooked macaroni and cheese mixture; transfer to a greased 13x9 inch casserole dish.

1. 11. Sprinkle with the remaining sharp cheddar cheese.

1. 12. Bake in a 350° oven for 20 minutes (may need to bake longer for a crispy top).

Third and the last one is the 

Vegetables with Mayonnaise dressing

Mayonnaise is a thick creamy sauce that we often use as a condiment. We feel absolutely comfortable slapping on a layer of mayonnaise on a slice of toast or on a piece of chicken. Little do we realize what this could cost us. This dreamy white stuff is loaded with fat, calories, salt and may take away the healthiness of the food that you combine it with.

Ingredients

3 large carrots
3 large potatoes
1 parsnip
2 apples, peeled, cored
4 gherkins
5 hard-boiled eggs
1 cangreen peas or chickpeas
lemon juice
1 small jar mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard

Instructions

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Cook the carrot, potato and parsnip until tender. Remove and drain. Set aside to cool. When cool, peel and chop into small cubes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

2. Chop the apple, gherkin and egg into small cubes. Add to the vegetables. Add the green peas (or chickpeas) and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Combine the mayonnaise and mustard in a small bowl. Add to the salad and mix well.

INVENTION FOR THE FUTURE :)

Do you love to drink coffee? Here’s my first invention which is the cacao turn into coffee. Since I came from Agusan Del Norte where “tablea” is much known in that place, it just pops out into my mind that it is really possible to have this kind of my invention. 

It is healthy and really tastier than the brewed coffee! I got this idea because some of us don’t really like the taste of the brewed coffee, especially the super bitter one or without the sugar and milk. And also it will NOT cause you a stomach ache because it is low in acid. I can assure you that it is very yummy because it has also the taste of a chocolate just like a “tablea”. You will drink cacao coffee and at the same time you are also enjoying the taste of the chocolate from the cacao. And I hope you will enjoy it soon if it is already available! 

Want some yummy sweet-sour-felt in your mouth? My second invention is the pickles turn into vinegar. We already knew about the apple cider that is obviously comes from the apple. Since pickles have its own taste of sourness, I will invent this into vinegar, which is alternatives of the coconut (tuba) and the sugar cane vinegar. You can see it everywhere this kind of fruit, some people used it for alternatives of "sampalok" to their "sinigang" dish. 

Since the pickles have the benefits in preventing blood clots, high levels of sodium and potassium, Supply of essential minerals and vitamins, Diabetes Control, Improves Digestion, Liver Protection, and Reduces Ulcers. I can really and surely assure you that it is the best vinegar that I can imagine! No doubt! 

Do you ever believe that the peanut has no cholesterol? but... Try my third invention which is the peanut oil. Peanut is a small annual dicotyledon herb growing up to a foot above the ground. It is thought to have originated in the Central Americas and from where it spread to rest of the world through Spanish explorers. 

Since today, it is one of the widely cultivated oil-seed. Peanuts are rich in energy and contain health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. It is healthier than the other oil that we used in cooking. Some of the people told that the peanuts are good for the brain especially when you are studying and it is much safer because of its natural fats that you think its bad. but nooooo, it is a good source of good fats to your body and it is really really good! 

FOOD CRIME INVESTIGATION!

 Did you ever think about all of the food is not safe? then yes it is not safe if you are not aware! SO BEWARE what you eat...or ELSE! 

The reasons about this food crimes incident are the food ingredients, or food packaging; or false or misleading statements made about a product, for economic gain. The cause of the incident needs to be taken into consideration. Food safety focuses on the unintentional contamination of food by known ingredients, organisms, mishandling, or processing. Food crime and food safety are very similar in that both can lead to public health risks. Considering the cause of the incident, food defense is a collective term that encompasses preventing and recovering from an intentional and deliberate contamination or tampering of food, motivated by either economic gain or public health harm.

Considering the cause of the incident, food quality focuses on the unintentional spoilage or deterioration of food that only results in economic loss, such as an unsalable or downgraded product.  If a food quality incident leads to a product that is harmful, then, although the cause is unintentional, the effect makes it a food safety incident. Food protection is an overall concept that includes prevention, intervention, and response for incidents in food quality, food safety, food fraud, and food defense.  Food crime is not a new problem, but quantifying the economic or public health impact of food crime remains difficult; the challenges are similar to other measures of crime. While seizure data is anecdotal and may only reflect crime prevention tactics, an overwhelming set of incidents and case studies indicates that food crime is a growing trend. Globalization, consolidation of manufacturing, urbanization, and other large-scale trends may provide insights to why food crime is growing.

Existing research on product fraud and counterfeiting have defined seven distinct types of food fraud. These fraudulent incidents include: adulteration, tampering, over-run, theft, diversion, simulation, and counterfeiting. which an example of Melamine added to milk, Changed expiry information, product up-labeling, etc., Relief food redirected to markets where aid is not required, Copies of popular foods not produced with same food safety assurances.

If we had our laboratory, we always first clean and sanitize the preparation table to avoid contamination. we wash and rinse all the things we are going to use especially the ingredients that we are going to cook. And to avoid contamination of foods, we had practiced that in every color coding of the chopping board should not use in other ingredients; green only for vegetables, red for raw pork or beef, yellow for poultry, blue for seafoods, brown for cooked meat and white for cheese and etc. If food is not handled properly then in other words it does not require proper hygiene and sanitation that may lead to harm to people. This can be considered as Food Crime. Food Crime is an act of committing violation in terms of food safety. Manufacturing or selling substandard, unhygienic or poisonous food is a CRIME! 

Now a days, money is all that matters over the health of the people. They just cook all they want even if there is no proper food handling or sanitation. They just sell foods without thinking that it is safe or not. So, If you don't want to experience those every-minute-in-the-toilet thing, then you should always be aware of the food that you were eating. and also to avoid buying those tablets to relieve the pain and just wasting your money. so before you want to decide where to eat, think first about their sanitation or how they handle the food properly.

Always think about this phrase "YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH!" :)

UNWANTED FOOD!

Last Thursday, my friend and I decided we had money to spend, so we went to Army Navy in I.T Park and ordered a Double-burger. It is a burger with 2 patties on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomatoes.  The first thing that came to our mind was the question how we would eat this. The burger was too big and they don’t give us a plate to eat on and we were literally covered in grease, while eating we noticed that there was no sauce. The burger is dry and it seems like it was frozen. We had to put condiments on the burger because it was bland, the lettuce was limp and the tomatoes are watery like being soaked in water for a long time. You had to get up and get your food and you can’t carry everything so you have to go back and get condiments.

I also noticed that even though they are a fast food restaurant, their cleanliness is not up to standard and the service was slow they even only gave us three pieces of tissue and as is it was not like a problem enough, our hands were filled with grease from the burger so we had to get up and take a few pieces of tissue. 

 I found the staff useless because it was a “self-service” kind of night. I assumed it wasn’t because they had a staff waiting by the tables. I also think that they have to change their condiments once in a while because the mustard sauce was kind of expired. It was expensive and wasn’t worth the 450pesos we spent. All that worked for our experience was the time we spent together and a little game we played on the table. 

We also spent our dinner at the Casa Verde, I.T Park. I ordered baby back ribs and I also noticed about the meat that is still frozen and undercooked, it has rancid smell and still it is bland. The baby back ribs are also unevenly sauced. And I can still remember that their siders the mashed potato were lumpy, they did not mash it properly and doesn’t taste good, unlike the other restaurant who has also a side of mash potato, and the other side of it is their vegetables  were  not seasoned and it is undercooked. 

They have slow staff, they did not pay attention to the customer, they just keep on talking to the other staff and their menus are outdated. The ambiance of the restaurant is that their lighting is too dim and it would really draw their customers feel bad and not enjoying their meal because of that kind of ambiance they have.

ARE YOU "OKOY"?

Have you ever been in a tight situation where money is a big issue and yet you crave for food that satisfies your hunger? Look no further! 
THE OKOY! 

As they say simplicity is beauty, and there is nothing more beautiful and simple than the okoy. It is a blend of flour, egg and shrimp with potato fritters and fried to a golden brown crisp. I have never had a better meal on a budget than this. The humble okoy though its simplicity is full of flavor. Best paired with our very own "puso" and a cold bottle of mountain dew. Now doesn't that make your mouth water just a little bit? It may be simple yet elegant in flavor.

"BISTEK" IS THE BEST

Bistek Tagalog is a strips of sirloin beef slowly cooked in soy sauce, calamansi juice, and onions. Since it is a Filipino dish, we used calamansi instead of lemon, we put a lot of calamansi and onions to have a unique and delicious taste.

Bistek is very typical to Filipino families because of its mouth-watering taste.

 As for my family, this dish was one of our Sunday lunch traditions. This happens to be one of my favorite dishes. My mom and my sister prepares this dish for us. I remembered hating this dish when I was young and until now because I didn't like the pieces of the meat that get stuck in between my teeth, but I don’t regret eating this amazing dish because it is delicious, I could say that it satisfied my cravings  for the traditional Sunday lunch bistek. 

IT'S GOOD TO "GOTO"

The "GOTO", this dish is a different version of the Cebuano which is called  "LUGAW" or “ARROZ CALDO”. Instead of using chicken, which cebuanos use, they use beef because "GOTO" means beef tripe in Tagalog. It is also one of the main ingredients of the delicious "congee". In my childhood days my mom cooks lugaw during the siesta time. I always look forward to eating lugaw  when I wake up after my nap.

It was so delightful and I often ask myself how does a simple "lugaw" taste so good? I found out that it is mixed with spices, a wonderful chopped batch of spring onions, a salted egg which adds color to the lugaw and an aromatic spoonful of fried garlic, and if you would want to add more flavor my mom always says add garlic oil. It was mouthwatering every spoonful I took was bouncing with flavor and the creaminess of the rice feels good on the tongue. My sisters would run to me and ask for my bowl, but I would never share it. I may look selfish but i couldn't resist taking it all for myself. MY afternoon would always be perfect when I would have my mom's siesta time GOTO.

THE COLLAGENOUS "CALLOS"

Before, I never had the guts to eat or even just taste callos because of the way it looked and how it was cooked. Some callos also had a weird smell, like a dish almost at its expiration. I also couldn't stand the orange color of it. But everything changed, when one day my dad brought take away from his event, and it was callos.  I didn't want to disappoint my dad so I tried eating it, AND IT WAS AMAZING! I never knew beef skin and fat or what we called a beef tripe could taste that amazing. My palate was exploding with flavors. 

I had to figure out what I was eating.  My brain was thinking about “balbacua”,  which seemed like it was true at first,  but then I bit into the soft beef skin, which my dad explained to me was called "LIBRO" when you buy it at the market. I had a wonderful time eating it and I ate the whole take away, leaving no trace of a single callos dish. Every time I eat callos I always remember my dad, and how we spent time together eating this wonderful flavorsome dish.