Morgan:
About Me-
I’m very curious and become invested in hobbies very quickly. Right now I am enjoying volleyball, reading, and film. I also appreciate nature, and love animals.
Why did I choose cooking?
When I was a little girl, my Nana taught me how to cook and bake. My mom never really taught me because it wasn’t something she loved to do. The 2 biggest cooking influences in my life growing up have been my Nana and my ex-stepmom. My Nana taught me how to cook a lot of mid-western food, however my stepmom taught me how to cook certain dishes from the Philippines, Mexico, and India. She taught me how to be patient when cooking. But the person who taught me things about Italian food was my grandpa. He loved Italian food so much, we made bruschetta for almost every big meal. In our 8th grade projects we’ll be learning how to make certain Italian dishes, learning about measurements and fractions, and enjoying some of, in my opinion, the best cuisine out there.
Maryanna:
About Me-
I like a lot of things and am okay with learning almost everything as long as it’s interesting to me. I like games, books, shows, plants, etc. Besides that, I enjoy traveling and learning about different places.
Why did I choose cooking?
I chose cooking because I think cooking is essential for all of us humans. Sometimes people get into tough situations, like not knowing how to cook, while not having anybody to cook for them. Since they don’t know how to cook, they usually eat microwavable foods and fast foods, which aren’t healthy. That can also affect their health in many ways. I also chose to research South Korea’s cuisine because I’ve never really heard of what dishes they have besides kimchi. I researched multiple dishes for 8th grade projects and now i’m excited to try at least one of them. I hope you’ll be excited too because in our 8th grade projects you’ll be able to try a dish from South Korea and learn more about nutrition, food labels, etc.
Learning how to cook is important because everyone needs to eat. Eating is just as important as it is to sleep, both are necessary. People who don’t know how to cook are usually stuck eating fast food. Eating fast food is dangerous because it affects your blood sugar, blood pressure, increases inflammation, and doesn’t provide enough nutrients. Nutrition gives you energy and is a big part of your health and development.
Eating healthy food can give adults and children a lot of benefits and some are different. For adults, eating healthy can help you live longer, keep skin, teeth, and eyes healthy, supports muscles, boosts immunity, strengthens bones, lowers risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers, supports healthy pregnancies and breast feeding, helps the digestive system function, and helps achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
For children, eating healthy can help keep skin, teeth, and eyes healthy, supports muscles, helps achieve and maintain a healthy weight, strengthens bones, supports brain development, supports healthy growth, boosts immunity.
Poor nutrition can make you stressed, tired, slow your work productivity, it also plays a role in developing worsening mood disorders like anxiety and depression.
Understanding the nutrition facts label on food items can help you make healthier choices. The label breaks down the amount of calories, carbs, fat, fiber, protein, and vitamins per serving of the food, making it easier to compare the nutrition of similar products. Understanding what everything on food labels mean will help you make better decisions on how to stay healthy.
1. Serving Size
This is where you find out how much is considered a single serving of the product. Key changes to the updated nutrition facts label are increased serving sizes to reflect what we actually eat today. However, it is still not the whole pint of ice cream like you were hoping! If you are looking for heart healthy snacks, this measurement can help you to preprep snack bags to take to work or keep on hand in your car or purse for quick healthy food options.
2. Calories (Calories are a type of energy. Say something contains 200 calories, that means that’s how much energy you’ll get from eating or drinking it.) This number ties right into the serving size. The calories listed here are what one single serving holds. If you plan on eating more than a single serving, you have to multiply the total calories by the actual number of servings you consume.
3. Cholesterol (cholesterol is a type of fat found in your blood. Your liver makes cholesterol for your body.) Foods high in cholesterol can increase your risk for heart disease. So, look for foods low in cholesterol, such as those found in a plant-based diet.
4. Fats – Saturated and Trans (Saturated fats are found in animal meats.They are also found in coconut oils and salves. If you consume too many of these fats it can raise your risk of heart disease. Trans fats are in foods that are fried or baked. Like saturated fats, trans fats can raise cholesterol and risk of heart disease)
If the label indicates that the food is high in saturated fat (no more than 20 grams total for the day), then it is not an ideal food for a heart healthy diet. Saturated fats can raise your low density lipoprotein, or “bad cholesterol”, which can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke.
5. Sodium (Sodium’s most common form is salt. Sodium is necessary for humans, animals, and some plants to survive.)For a heart healthy diet, you should always try to keep your sodium intake to about 2300 mg per day. A sodium level of 140 mg or less on the nutrition facts label is considered low sodium. This is an essential number to look for when reading the label
6. Total Carbohydrates – Fiber and Sugar. Foods high in fiber can be beneficial to a healthy diet, as fiber helps manage blood sugar levels and can lower cholesterol. However, if the product contains a large amount of sugar, even if it’s rich in fiber, put the product back on the shelf. Simple sugars can give you that quick burst of energy, but they are not heart smart as they can raise triglyceride levels, which play a role in heart disease and diabetes. Added sugars in grams is now required on the nutrition facts label. It is recommended that you consume no more than ten percent of your total daily calories from added sugar.
7. Protein (Your muscles, your organs, and your immune system are made up mostly of protein. You’ll find protein in lots of good foods like eggs, nuts, beans, fish, meat, and milk.) Protein is part of an overall healthy diet, but beware of adding unnecessary fats from fatty meats and processed foods.
8. Vitamins and other Nutrients (Vitamins are a type of nutrients that help people grow, reproduce, and be healthier overall.) Nutrients like calcium, iron and vitamins play an important role in a healthy diet! This section provides great information to ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need. The daily values for nutrients have been updated on the revised nutrition facts label to reflect new scientific evidence.
In addition to being on the back of your favorite products, nutrition information can be found in more places than usually expected. Restaurants have started to provide full nutrition data as part of their online menus. This is a huge help for those who are looking for healthier dine-out options. Many of your favorite recipe blogs and websites have also started posting labels to accompany the recipes, so the home cook can benefit as well. It is valuable to take your time to care for yourself and read the nutrition facts label to help manage your heart health.
A food pyramid is a chart that can show how many servings of each food should be eaten each day. We should eat more of the foods at the base than foods at the top. For example, grains, fruits, and vegetable groups are at the base of the pyramid. Meat, dairy, and fat groups are toward the top. Grains give carbohydrates and some vitamins and minerals. Vegetables and fruits give a lot of vitamins, some minerals, and few fats, but fruits often have more calories and sugar.
Food portions are a big part of the food pyramid. For each type of food, there is a certain amount you should intake. Obviously sugars and fats should be used infrequently. Dairy such as milk yogurt and cheese should only be 2-3 servings because they have a lot of fat. Meats and things such as fish, beans, eggs, and nuts should have the same amount of servings as dairy because they also include a lot of fats. As for vegetables, you should have around 3-5 servings because they’re very good for you, however they have some naturally occurring fat, so you don’t want to overdo it. Fruits should have 2-4 servings. Fruits should have less servings than veggies because they have more added sugars and fats. And at the bottom of the pyramid is grains, which include breads, cereals, rice, and pastas, which you can have up to 11 servings of depending on what it is, and your current weight.
Measurements are a very important part while cooking. For example you wouldn’t want to add too much of a particular spice or herb to a dish. The US uses a system of measurement called the imperial system. What that means is that we measure in feet, inches, pounds, ounces, etc. The rest of the world uses the metric system, which uses meters, liters, and grams to measure distance and weight.
| volume/number | equivalents |
| 3 teaspoons | one tablespoon |
| 2 tablespoons | one fluid once |
| 4 tablespoons | 1/4 cup |
| 8 tablespoons | half cup |
| 16 tablespoons | one cup |
| 2 cups | one pint |
| 4 cups | one quart |
| 4 quarts | one gallon |