Late...Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a merry n' cozy Christmas :)

I like to spend the holidays with my family, spending most of the day in the kitchen cooking up a storm! That is exactly what I did this Christmas. A little before the big day M\my siblings and I were brainstorming on what to make as we planned to make a whole vegan Christmas dinner.

We decided to make mashed potatoes, (and of course we couldn't forget the ) gravy, ginger bread cookies, focaccia bread, qinuoa　ｓtuffed paprika's, hot wine, punch, strawberry and coconut cream dip and a few cakes!

 It was the first time for us to make focaccia, but it turned out awesome! We made three different types; apple focaccia topped with a little cinnamon, tomato and basil focaccia and avocado olive oil focaccia. They all tasted divine with a little bit of olive oil to dip and some hot wine on the side.

I was also extremely fond of the coconut cream! I have to admit, I missed some creamy goodness when I turned vegan but now that I found a substitute, I am OH so happy! It is so easy making coconut cream. All you have to do is make sure to get some canned coconut milk, put it in the refrigerator to cool then once it is cool enough, you then take out the milk hardened part of the milk which you can use to make the cream!

I like to add a tad bit of vanilla essence along with some maple syrup to make it nice and sweet!


Heres a little snap of what our Christmas dinner looked like!

Sadly I was only able to take  a photo of some of the food as my phone just had to die on me when the cakes cake out ;(
Thinking about all the food makes me want Christmas back!

Book review 10

Protein

My favorite form of protein at the moment would have to be qinuoa. I love how it is both ideble when cooked or even when it is not cooked. I usually like to mix up my qinuoa with salads etc.


Although I really do like qinuoa I believe it is important to change up the types of foods that you eat everynow and then. When reading throught the book that I chose, there was a section about hemp. Hemp has many qualities that set it apart from other foods. It is a nutrient-rich whole food in its natural state: There's no need to create isolates or extracts from it either.
Hemp in its whole food state is apparently high in alkaline compare to most proteins which is a higher pH.
Futhermore, hemp contians all 10 essential amino acids. The amino acids boost the body's immune sustem and hastens recovery more fast.


Brendan Brazier also mentions that he finds the digestibility of hemp protein to be superior to all other proteins that hes tried.


Because at the moment I do not use any supplements before of after workouts my body is under a lot of strain whether I feel it or not so, I was looking for something that not only regenerates muscle recovery but also fat metabolism. 


Hemp seems to be the perfect sourcse for me so I will definitely have to add this superfood to my grocery list from now on!!

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

I sometimes go to see my sister in Roppongi to chat and have coffe everyonce in a while, and we always seem to pass by the this cinnamon roll shop called "Cinnabon" (as many of you may know.) Just passing by makes me want to walk in the store and buy as many as my wallet can handle! BUT sadly it isnt vegan so I decided to make my own verson of "Cinnabons"s! lol

I actually have to admit.......these were parties for the mouth! lol

They tasted awesome! I used coconut milk with powder sugar for the topping which was not far from original cannamon toppings!! (Sadly I took the photo before I put the topping on....)

If I could find a way to keep them nice and warm all day long I would love to share these with everyone.

Blue Berry Oatmail Cupcakes

I am not a big fan of cupcakes but when it comes to vegan-gluten-free-sugarless cupcakes I am ALL for them! I made these extremely simple and delicous cupcakes a while ago, and decided to make them again today as a little snack to bring along with me on my errands. (I am trying my hardest to make this weekend as productive as much as possible. lol )

The first time I made them they did not have so much taste as well as being a little too crumble to call cupcakes, but this time they turned out spectaclar!! I was in the mood for something crunchy and savory-sweet so this was the perfect fix. The blue berries gave it a nice touch of sweetener and the oatmeal was nice and mild. For the crunch I added uncooked qinuoa. Then added some cinammon for a little more extra spice.

Next time I need to make this in a bigger batch so I can freeze them and eat them all throughout the week!

Cook book review-Giada's "Feel Good Food"

I watched a review written by Giada which is called "Feel Good Food" reviewed by Kim tv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMeTq7r9bc




 What cookbook is being reviewed and what can you learn about its author and about the reviewer?

The cookbook being reviewed is "Feel Good Food" by Giada.
The reviewer talked a lot about the cookbook author; especially a lot of positive comments about Giada.
She was very fond of the fact that she was skinny, rich , has a beautiful family and how she is a very organized person. Watching the movie (review) made it look like the reviewer was interested in being organized so she talked a lot about how Giada organizes her food too her packing style.

How many personal details about the reviewer’s life are revealed in the course of the review…including his/her attitudes and tastes? Does that make the review more or less interesting?

As i mentioned above, I learned about how the author is very organized from her eating habits down to her  traveling-packing style. The reviewer made only positive comments about the author which made a good impression on the book.
She also mentioned that there are a wide variety of  foods in the cookbook like vegan and gluten free which made me want to check out the cookbook as well.

How much do you feel you can trust the reviewer’s opinions? Why or why not? Do you think (s)he has any commercial interest in the cookbook? Why do you think so?

The only thing that I thought was a little weird as a reviewer was that she did not say one thing that was negative.
It made it look like she was a big fan of the author, but in my opinion I dont think she would take her time to advertise someone else when she can be advertising herself.
I think she used the author in a way to give people the impression that she is an organized person just like Giada.

What are the good points mentioned about the cookbook?

She mentioned that there are ingredients that are easily found at home. A lot of the time I don't like to use cook books because of the complicated ingredients so it actually made me want to go to Costco to see if they sold the cookbook or not.

What, if any, are some of its negative points?

I was surprised to see that the reviewer did not say anything negative about the cookbook.


How does the cookbook reviewer emphasise particularly important points—verbally, through paralanguage, or by nonverbal means? Be specific and note down the time in the video when emphasis is given.

She used interesting words such as "Food porn" " Eating at a spa" "well stocked pantry" "To die for." She used these words around the beginning to the middle of the video when she was talking about and showing the recipes.

What do you admire about how this person reviews the cookbook? What criticisms would you make—not of the cookbook but with the style or delivery of the review?

I really liked how she did her review at home. It made it easy to listen to because there were no disturbances ( for example, if she was at a restuarant and there just happened to be a baby crying in the background etc....).
I actually do not have any criticisms on the way she did her review.

When reviewing a cookbook of your own, what techniques would you like to borrow from the reviewer?

When talking about the author she showed pictures that popped up during the video which was nice to see the real author of the cook book.
Furthermore, I also liked how she used soft playing music that went well with the feel of the video.



All in all I enjoyed the review very much. I would not like to make a review on a cookbook myself because I admire anyone that can cook but I am looking forward to doing our restaurant review.

Book review 9

I hear "Low carb diet" " I don't eat carbs" many times from numerous people but, I recently read in the "Thrive" book that I am currently reading that food has three main components: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. It wrote that carbohydrates account for most of the food we eat consisting of sugar, starch and fiber.
The ratio in any given food vary. Generally, fruits have high sugar levels; bread, pasta, and rice have large amounts of starch which is said to be complex carbs. Fruits are the food of choice when thinking fuel wise which are the simple carbohydrates.
Our bodies can intake and use simple carbs as fuel, but in comparison the body must break down complex carbs into simple carbs before it can burn, which takes extra work.


I would always get mixed up between simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. I was also told that white rice was a good source for carbs, but I recently realized how much sugar is really in white rice which made me opt for brown rice.


The book also showed me other foods rich in simple carbohydrates which was very useful, as i try to take as much carbs before my work out but the only form of carbs I would take were either bananas or dates.

Other foods rich in simple carbohydrates

Berries
Dates
Figs
Mangos
Papayas
Pineapples






I now need to make a mental note to go grocery shopping for most of the fruits listed above!

Nataraj -Indian curry delights

Banana Avacado Icecｒeam

 Shibuya Nataraj

I remember Mr.Dias recommending this Idian curry restuarant in Shibuya, saying there is vegan nan and vegetarian/ vegan curry as well.
Being the hugest fan of indian curry, I had to go and check it out for myself.


I have only been there once, and I am hooked!! I want to go back asap!


Even though it's a restuarant in Shibuya this place did not seem to get many customers (I went at around dinner time.) so my sister and I felt like we had the whole place to our selves.


there was this beautifully carved wooden art piece hanging on the wall that was carved in a way that it was supposed to be placed under a light in order to make shadows in the wooden frame work which I thought was absolutely beautiful and gave the restuarant a very rich feel to it.


There was komatsuna vegan nan that my sister and I had to try out. We also had the spinach and lentil curry.
Our table ended up looking so lovely and greeeeeeeeen!


When I see vegan icecream on the menu, there is no way that I am not going to try it out! We both ordered the banana avocado icecream that was topped with some sort of mango pure sauce.
This icecream was DEVINE!
I usually do not like most icecream but this was the perfect dessert, not to sweet as well as it being the perfect amount!
I am definitely going to try and make this at home!

Vegan Gluten free Chocolate Cake Balls

Vegan Gluten free Chocolate Cake Balls

Every now and then I have these sudden urges to make something sweet so a few weeks ago I started looking through this blog http://ohsheglows.com/ which is written by Angella a vegan blogger.

I was in the mood for something chocolate but something that was easy to eat so I decided to make her http://ohsheglows.com/2013/02/08/vegan-and-gluten-free-chocolate-cake-balls/ vegan + gluten free chocolate cake balls. (You can see her beautiful creation at her blog here.)

This recipe  is extremely simple,  plus it is chocolatey (Perfect!). So, I had to try this out.




for the cake:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or other light-tasting oil of choice)*
• 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup organic cane sugar (or unrefined sugar like coconut sugar)
• 1.5 cups gluten-free all purpose flour (I used Cuisine Soleil) or flour of choice
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt

for the cake balls:

• 1 can full-fat chilled coconut milk (do not use light coconut milk) (I only used 1/2-3/4 cup cream)
• 200-225 grams non-dairy semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate
• 1 tsp coconut oil, to thin out chocolate
• toppings: shredded coconut, chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/02/08/vegan-and-gluten-free-chocolate-cake-balls/#ixzz3ttHPexwS

What I really enjoyed most about this recipe because the main thing that is needed to do is to crush up the cake that you made to make it into the cake balls, so not having to worry about the cake turning out perfect took a lot of pressure of and made it very easy to make.

 

 Angela added little chocolate bits on her cake balls but I decided to add walnuts to mine, and i like how it turned out!

 It was extremely chocolaty so which cured my chocolate craving for good!! 

Every one in my family that tried this out really liked it and asked me to make it again right after it disappeared!

 

Next time I make this I'm going to try and make it with only coconut flour for the cake to become more crumbly.

 

 

(I often add photos of other snackys that i make on Instagram if your interested! https://www.instagram.com/sheripiratawa/)

Book review 8

Vitamins and Minerals

I have always been interested in what vitamins do to our bodies as I have been told from a young age to "not forget to take my Vitamin C" or " Your won't have strong bones unless you have calcium." or what not.
I remember often chewing on little Vitamin C tablets that my mother would give to me everyday. When I think of it now, I am forever grateful for how my mother made sure I got my proper vitamins and nutriants.


In the appendix of the book that I am reading, there is a big list of all the vitamins such as Vitamin A , Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin K, Folate, Biotin and alot LOT more!


I was honestly suprised that there were so many vitamins that i did not know about! Such as Vitamin K which plays a significant role in blood clotting. It also provides the heart with nutrients it needs for optimal function. Apparently the best sources for Vitamin K are leafy green vegetables and pine nuts.
Another Vitamin I was glad I learned more about was Vitamin B2 which helps break down amino acids (protein) for the body to use. Utilization of amono acids is a key factor in quick recovery and regeneration after exertion so this Vitamin is absolute GOLD to me!
The best sources for Vitamin B2 are legumes, pseudograins, nuts, brown rice, nutritional yeast, and blackstrap molasses.


Folate and Biotin are also words that I have never even heard of so it was interesting in learing about them!
Folate (Folic Acid) is said to work in tandem with Vitamin B12 to help produce oxygen -carrying red blood cells. Furthermore, the heart relies on folate, in part, to help it maintain  a smooth, rythmic beat as well as a higher tolerance for physical activity.
The sources for Folate are quite similar to the sources for Vitamin B2. The only difference  is that orange juice is also a good source.
Biotin works in concert with the B vitamins as a converter of food into usable energy. The best sources are nuts and nutritional yeast.


I love how when reading, there is always something new to learn!
Reading about vitamins and what sort of effects it has on our bodies makes me want to keep in check with my vitamin intake a lot more than before.


Thank  you Brendan Brazier!

A Video Review

The video review that we were assigned to was a review that a married vegan couple did on a vegan restaurant called Sadies Diner and Juice Bar. 

 

What is focused on in the review?

Being vegan, they were focused on looking for a restaurant that was mailing filling, and a place where they could  enjoy "veganized" dishes such as the vegan cheese, vegan pancakes and vegan sausages.

How does it differ from the written review in presentation and content?/What features does it have in common with it?

The written and visual review that I read was written by a professional so the wording that they used were more advanced and detailed compared to the video review. The written and visual review was a normal restaurant not a vegan restaurant that was shown in the video review.
The only thing that I saw what the written and movie review had in common was that they reviewers were both very pleased with what they ordered and were thinking of coming back sometime.

Is the review neutral or partisan?

I thought the review was partisan as couple were both very please with the restaurant.

Are chefs , owners, managers, or restaurant staff featured in the video?Do you think this was helpful in providing useful information about the restaurant or did it make the review too biased?

No one except the couple were shown in the video.
I would have enjoyed the review ( or have wanted to go to the restaurant a little bit more) if the couple showed the full menu.
It was not biased at all, as they both of then made a comment on the quesadillas being too cheesy but if your a "cheese person" then you have enjoyed it.

What criticisms do you have of the video, either concerning the professionalism, production quality or the content?

I thought it was a good idea how they took turns taking a video of each other to get a two-sided opinion on the food. I would have liked if the person taking the movie did not make so many comments while the speaker was talking.
If i was taking the video I would also have added the interior and the chefs. (getting permission of course! )

Notice whether the voices of the speakers are monotonous or have a pleasing emphasis or certain (key) words and phrases. How does that affect your understanding and enjoyment?

Neither of the speakers sounded monotonous and they both had positive comments for more than 80% of everything. They used a lot of words such as "good" "filling" "good portions".
Although the lighting of the movie made the food unattractive they did make the restaurant sound good because they were very enthusiastic about mostly everything.

Are there any expressions or phrases that stand out in your mind after watching this video? What techniques or language would you like to use when filming your own video?

Because they were normally talking in the video I found it hard to hear what they were saying, especially what the women said in the first bit. If I was making my own video review I would like to take the movie then add text later and just add short phrases and words in the video.

The Wall Street Journal

I found 4( one that I added because I believe food has something to to with it) articles connected to food including a graph on food.


"A Roy Rogers Thanksgiving Lesson"
This article that talks about how even though there may be so " bad" in the world, it is good to remember that the people living in America have great advantages and blessings connecting it to the Thanksgiving holiday.
I thought this article was sweet and positive, but I slightly disagree on the statement that"America remains a "Golden Land" as there are many people suffering from obesity..more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. I strongly believe that the U.S should focus on making more programs where parents can recieve more fundamental education on nutrition for the U.S to really be a "Golden Land".

"For Pet's Its Fat Thursday With Pies, Dressing Under The Table."
This article is on pet's gaining weight over the holidays, as well as how most owners don't even realize how their pet may be gaining weight.
I am a guilty owner for feeind my pet's a little treat everynow and then. Especially when I had a dog, I would feed it human food almost daily! (Thankfully it never gained weight!) And I am also an owner of the two cutest cats.
                                   
I recently took them both to the vet for their annual check up where I found out that they both gained a lot of weight. And when I say a lot, I am not exagerating in the slightest!!
That's when I realized that taking care of pets are easier said than done.
In the article, it also emplies that there are training boot camps for dogs and animals to loose weight but it made me wish there were certain houses built for people who own pets. For example, a house made for cats where there are many places for the cat to explore up high or in little crevisis.
I dont ever give my cats any human food, but I will try to make a big effore to get them both down to a healthier weight for sure!




"Thankful for Private Property"
This is another article that has something to do with Thanksgiving and how "The first Thanksgiving teaches the importance of economic freedom". Alghough the title of this article shows that it is talking about how we have our own private property, the back ground story on how we have our own property is because of Thanksgiving, a holiday where Americans to get together to feast and to be reminded of all they have to be thankful for.


"U.N. Says 2015 likely to be Warmest Year on Record"
At first glance, this article may not have any connections to food, but when thinking about how there is a big environmental impact of meat production I can only say that food has a big thing to do with this article. When researching and really looking at how much energy people put into the meat industry is staggering.
Meat processing and slaughter houses consume conciderable amounts of energy in :monitering, testing, boiling,packing as well as transporting.
Of course the main reason for global warming is not only because of the meat industry, but it does go to say that the meat industry has a big part in it as it is one of the biggest industries out there.

"Commodities (Graph on the future contracts with the most open interest)
This graph is about open interest which, too be honest, I do not understand that well.

Second Harvest Japan and Food for All

Comparison and similarities between Food for All and Second Harvest Japan

What do they have in common?

Both of the organizations focus on charity and helping to make meals for homeless and disabled people.
They both also receive (food) donations from manufacturers. 

How do their approaches differ?

Food For All is an extraordinary organization does not only serve meals to homeless or enabled people but, they focus mostly on trying to help the homeless by teaching and aiding them in finding solutions to their problems.

Second Harvest Japan focuses mostly on distributing meals to people in need at parks such as Ueno park every Saturday. They also help households in need of assistance by either distributing packages from their ware house, or they send the packages directly to the persons' house. Another project that Secon Harvest Japan focuses on in in food banking.

What are their main activities?

Food for All cooks and distributes clean and healthy meals every day at Camden to homeless and disadvantaged people (students)called Celebs for Candem. In a way they do not only help disabled people, but they are saving the environment for waste.
They are also proud owners of a garden in Watford that was  made my disadvantaged and homeless people. By making the homeless and disadvantaged people participate in such activities they are helping them by giving them the opportunity to learn something and put their energy to use.

Second Harvest Japan has 4 main activities. the 1st is distributing meals in Ueno Park two times a week on Saturday and Friday. On Friday it is said that they split the time into to parts; one time in the morning and one in the afternoon. And, on Saturday they split it up into three shifts.

The second activity is Harvest Pantry where they help households that are in need of dire assistance. They have three ways they help these people. The first is by sending  care packages to directly to their household, the second is where they pass out care packages at their warehouse on Thursdays and Saturdays. The third way is where they distribute these care packages in certain locations.

They receive food donations from a number of places such as manufactures, well fare agencies and so on.
It makes a lot of sense as to why they have a lot of sponsors and people who donate food because they are very focused on Food Banking. They have already conducted a caravan that they use to travel throughout Japan, visiting other food banks and people who are interested in developing a food bank.

How do they deal with problems of food waste?

Food for All does not exactly have a specific way that it "Deals with problems of food waste" but by having and taking care of their own garden (that the homeless and dissadvantaged people created) they educate the homeless as well as students that come to visit the garden on how to recycle, and be more eco-friendly.

Second Harvest Japan uses products that are outdated from supermarkets, putting them into use by making meals for the disabled people.

How would you be able to help / volunteer in these groups?

I would like to help by informing farmers on how there are these orginizations and how they can also help by donating some of the fruits or vegetables that are often thrown away because they are not fit enough to be sold etc.
I would also donate some money especially to Food for All because they do not only just distribute food, but they also make an effort to teach the disabled people how to then take care of them selves and to try to fix their problems which I think is a very realistic way of helping someone.

Which  group seems to be the most active?

I would have to say that both of the groups are on the same level of "active" as both of the orginizations work more than twice a week in cooking/distributing food.

AIN SOPH.JOURNEY

It has been getting extremely chilly over the past few days but, that does not stop me from having a good time!
The other day my younger sister  Jenny and I went to go check out this vegan cafe called AIN SOPH SOPH.JOUNRNEY.

I loved how it was so small and cozy as well as very easy to find! (If you get out of the C5 exit at Shinjuku 3 Choume, it is right where you can see it!)

The hanging red things that you can see are little apples which I thought were absolutley adorable!

 

(Excuse the bad quality of the photo!!) We decided to get a whole course meal...yes we go all out when we can! It may be hard to tell but, the colorful looking thigns in the glass cups are salad with vegetables at the very top that are there if we want to dip it into the three flavors; cheese (vegan cheese of course!), mineral salt and miso.

I especially liked this daikon? with the cheese. the cheesyness went perfectly with the crunch of the daikon/radish? .

 

We dumped the salad onto the plate in order to make it easier to eat. The red soup is totamo soup! I am origionaly not such a fan of tomato soup as most soups end up tasing like ketchup but, this was the perfect tomato soup in my books!

The perfect soup on a rainy day <3

 

 

 

Next was the main dish! the tortila like things that you can see on the top right were made out of avocados, spinach, beans and carrots. the beans were cooked in a way that the eater would thing it was meat.

the food on the left was supposed to be a sore of fried chicken that was made out of tofu which surprisingly tasted like chicken! Even the texture was so "chicken" -like that I ended up not eating it and giving it to my younger sister.

The yellow egg like thing on the bottem right is also was out of tofu. there were some sort of nuts to give it a nice texture. I really liked how they added a tomatmo to the egg like substance.

Oh yes, and we also ate the flowers too! haha!

 

Digging in!

 

The portions were also perfect in my opinion.

 

Lastly, we had some dessert!(oops...I already failed in not having any sugar for a whole month lol)

Dessert was sponge cake with cream, nuts fruits and rum raisin icecream. The run raisin icecream was so rich in the rasin flavor which I thought was absolutley lovely!! I also loved the texture of the cake. I don't like cakes that are really fluffy so the densness in the cake was awesome!

To finesh it off, we had some herb tea.

 

I heard from my younger sister that there is another AIN SOPH.JOUNRNEY in Ikebukuro which we are not planning on checking out sometime soon!

Stay tuned!