to make tofu scramble you need:

A box of medium firm tofu ( can be purchased from local grocery store such as superfresh)

3 green peppers

half of a red onion

soy sauce

chopped scallions

olive oil

1. use 4 tablespoons of olive oil, grease the pan and heat the pan on medium heat for 3 minutes

2. while the pan is heating, slice the tofu into cubes. Mince the onions and the green peppers.

3. put the tofu cubes into the pan and let it fry in the pan for 2 to 4 minutes, until the bottom of the tofu has turned golden.

4.  flip the tofu and let the other side of the tofu  fry. Add the minced pepper, onion and scallions.

5. add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.

6. add salt and pepper.

Photos by Jedda

· Don’t eat anything 2-3 hours before the event-You will hate yourself you do

· Go with a trusted foodie buddy to carry your camera or extra plates.

· Start at the outer most part of the room and work your way in

· PACE yourself ( enough said)

· It is ok to say no! – You don’t have to eat everything that is offered

· It is also alright to go back for seconds on your favorite items

· It is alright to toss away things that you did not enjoy- just make sure you do it far away from the restaurant table

· Bring a purse. To stash menus and business cards,

· There is nothing better than pound cake from: Atwater’s Naturally Leavened Bread  Paired with some Trickling Spring Creamery

· Alternate between dessert and non-dessert items-it seriously tastes GOOD!

· Make sure you take water breaks!

· Feel free to take items home. Especially if they are adorable flowers from Edible Arrangements

Taste of Catonsville 2010 was hosted at the beautiful Rolling Road Country Club

We started off with Lucy’s Paradise Café

We then made our way to The Rumor Mill for some Shrimp bites on a bed of tomato and goat cheese.

El Nayar Mexican Restaurant had set up a lovely Quesadillas bar! It was defiantly a fiesta in my mouth!

The House of Audre- I love Indian food so I had to sample a Vegetable Samosa for sure! It was flaky on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Perfection!

The Rolling Road Country Club had a lovely display as well.

My favorite part? Ice cream bar from You Scream Ice Cream

I sampled the Butter Pecan Ice cream with fresh roasted pecans!

The theme of Catonsville is seafood for sure- I sampled everything from crab dip to lobster ravioli. So if you are in the mood for seafood Catonsville is your place to be!

Thank You Taste of Catonsville for a fabulous evening!

- Sana

All photography by Jedda

Photo Credit: Jedda 

I honestly feel better if I have something delish in my belly. I spoil myself rotten! If I am feeling crappy and I want a candy bar or something salty and spicy I go for it.

Honestly, when you are down in the dumps are you really going to think if something is healthy?  Did not think so.

Let’s talk science.

Tryptophan is an amino acid commonly found in meat, dairy products, nuts, seeds, bananas, soybeans and soy products, tuna, shellfish, and turkey. It is converted to the neurotransmitter serotonin.

What is serotonin?

The secret for a good mood!

I knew food made my mood better, now I even have science to back it up!

Top 10 ways to keep a positive/happy mood- Sana style

1. EAT!

1. Have a tickle fight There is nothing like a good belly hurt’in laugh!
2. Smile at a stranger- don’t worry this is NOT creepy!
3. Have a dance party-  location, location, location ( library, rooftops,sidewalks, anywhere)
4. Run through a sprinkler.
5. Play a prank on someone that won’t hate you forever ( Woopie cushion, fake spiders, snake in a can?)
6. Ask for free samples- how can this not make you happy?
7. Dressing room photo shoot.
8. Moonbounce/trampoline/ ballpit.
9. Have a cuddle party (Me, myself and I do this all the time)
10. Youtube ( hahah, we have all done this)

What should #11 be?

- Sana

Photo Credit: Jedda 

Three years ago, President Hrabowski signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment and took a major first step towards a sustainable campus. By signing the commitment, the University is pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and incorporate sustainability into the educational experience, as stated on the website. Right now, students are running several projects to move UMBC towards a sustainable food future.

The Great Kids Farm: located on RT 40, this farm has been transformed from a decaying mass of buildings and land into a flourishing environmental education opportunity for Baltimore City School Children. On top of educating students about where their food comes from the farm also supports a local Co-Op as well as volunteers doing everything from building greenhouses to feeding the chickens. Contact: Greg Strella gregory.strella@gmail.com

Students for Environmental Awareness: As part of the ProveIt campaign sponsored by the SGA, members of this organization and beyond have designed a plan to implement a community garden on campus that allows students to grow their own food and hopefully even supply the dining hall. Contact Tanvi Gadhia thetanvi@gmail.com

SGA Environmental Affairs: On top of many environmental issues this department is working with Chartwells to create a system of composting within the kitchen of the dining hall. Partnering with the great kids Farm, compostable materials will be taken to the farm every week and then taken back in order to be used as mulch later on. Contact: Maddy Hall mhall13@umbc.edu

Photo Credit: Jedda 

You can also join the Blackboard community for the Baltimore School Food Project by clicking on the ‘Communities’ tab and entering search term ‘food project’.

Many thanks to Maddy Hall for providing information.

- Alison

Photo Credit: Jedda 

Well this past week has been very white and fluffy. For the first time in most of our young lives we saw somewhere around 50 inches of snowfall within the same week. That being said, for the first time in… oh, lets say my whole life, I found myself trying to cook. Well, I don’t think that making sandwiches counts as cooking, but it’s a start.

Photo Credit: Jedda

During the time I spent snowed in to my house I came to the understanding that cooking was something that I had to get better at because I cannot make sandwiches for my kids for three meals a day (I do not have any kids, I am just thinking ahead). So I spent time reading about cooking and “helping” my roommates cook. I came up with some very strange creations that held me over and helped me survive. Ever try putting a waffle in the toaster and then topping it off with chunky peanut butter and chocolate syrup? Well, if you have not, try busting that out at your next dinner party. It is a fantastic desert.

Another great, quick, and yummy dish to make would be a grilled cheese. Now, “hold on to your butts” (Samuel L. Jackson- Jurassic Park) because I am going to throw a curve ball. Rather than the usual bread cheese combo, I changed it up a bit. Next time you try to make this college kid classic, add an egg and some form of mild salsa. So the sandwich looks like this: Bread, cheese (your choice I recommend Pepper-Jack), salsa, egg, and other piece of bread. It is a great spin off of the old American classic.

Well, this is the kind of “cooking” I did while being snowed in. But enough about me, let’s talk about you. I want to know what kind of food you chose to cook while being snowed in. You can send me pictures or just give me a little write up about it. Ill collect it all and have it put up onto the website. E-mail me at Bar3@umbc.edu. Enjoy the snow and Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

- Nick

Photo Credit: Jedda

Don’t get me wrong breakfast food is amazing. Waffles, pancakes, French toast… need I go on?  But when you wake up 20 minutes before class there really is no time to be Betty Crocker in the kitchen. So what do you do?

Skip it.

You dream up all kinds of lunch combinations as your stomach grumbles through 9 am lecture. By lunch time you are more than ready to bite your arm off.

The point being, breakfast can no longer be syrup-drenched deliciousness.

Our college lives are too fast paced (read: lazy) to deal with actual cooking. So it is all about the convenience factor.

For about 18 years of my life, I skipped breakfast. Sleep> Food. Enough said.

I soon grew frustrated of having a grumbling stomach all throughout my morning lecture. I was pretty sure everyone in the lecture hall heard me as well.

My solution?

I want my first meal of the day to be a healthy- grab and go deal.

Most days I eat groyo ( I tend to make some words up) Granola + yogurt = amzingness!

Not only is this a no mess breakfast, it keeps me full.  Some days when I am in a jam bars are the best idea, Special K and Cliff just to name a few.

If eating food as soon as you wake up is not your thing, try grabbing a smoothie. Tricking yourself into getting something to eat is the way to go.

In case your eyes blurred over what I just wrote.

Recap Top 5 Reasons why you should eat breakfast:

1)     You can spend valuable lecture time focused on physics and not dreaming of lunch.

2)     Everyone can hear your stomach grumble. Yes it is that loud.

3)     Eating in class can make said 8am physics lecture fly by.

4)     By properly nourishing your body you can have a lazier productive day!

5)     Break/fast. Get it? You have been fasting for 8 hours.

True or False?

Q: You can lose weight by skipping breakfast.

A: False. Skipping the first meal of the day leads to more binging and munching between lunch and dinner.  By eating early in the day you can jump start your metabolism and burn fat all day long!

- Sana

How is the University encouraging the campus to lead healthy lifestyles?

We are always encouraging the students, faculty, and staff to exercise and make healthy food choices. There are a number of efforts to discourage smoking and inappropriate drinking.

Because all of us are under a great deal of stress, there are a number of workshops on how to manage and reduce stress. It is also important to exercise, and it helps with stress. I am always encouraged by the Midnight Madness activity at the end of the semester and when I get a chance to go over there and see people laughing. Laughter is really great, to be able to not take things too seriously and encouraging community, encouraging people to help each other.

In the past few years, there has been a lot of media attention around food issues with the book Fast Food Nation, Food Inc, and others. Do you think the media is exaggerating the problem?

We should be very concerned about obesity and bad eating habits. Large numbers of Americans are overweight and we see that children are making unhealthy choices often because they are given the wrong choices in schools. School systems have been working to become healthier in their options for children. I would say we can never talk too much about these problems.

Students at UMBC are encouraged to develop leadership skills and prepare to become future leaders in their field. Was it a conscious decision that you made to become a leader?

I was a child leader in the civil rights movement and I became involved because I wanted to see a change in the way children were treated. I was very fortunate to observe leaders that were compassionate, smart, hard working with strong values focused on making a difference in the lives of other people. True leadership is not about one person, but about groups of people that with a vision of what they want the world to become. Later on, as I became increasingly excited about education I thought about becoming a leader in the academic world.

I am very impressed by the leadership opportunities students have on campus. These opportunities give students, who will be leaders in their fields, a chance to think about what it means to lead. Students in college are preparing for professional careers and the best way to become a leader is to get a chance to do it while in college.

What valuable lessons have you learned about being a leader?

In a campus that is healthy, the term we use is ‘shared governance’. It means that leadership is spread among a lot of people. Faculty, staff, and students all serve as leaders. We learn to listen carefully to the voices of people affected by the decisions of leaders. Perhaps the most important lesson I’ve learned is that the quality of the decision making will depend upon the trust among the people making the decision and the willingness of the people called leaders to listen to the voices of others.

Special thanks to President Hrabowski for meeting with Food Blogger Alison to discuss these issues.

- Alison

There is a place in Hampden called Bella Roma, a little pizza place on the corner of Falls road and The Avenue (across the street from the 7-11). Now here is a place where you can get what the locals call “the best deal in town”. All of the locals know that if you have $4.66 you can stop in and order two slices of pizza and get a Coke. I know it’s no dollar, but it is the best deal in town. Now these pizza slices are not your average slices of pizza, they are huge! I’m talking the kind of size where you finish the first slice and that second slice is starring you down, challenging your ability to finish your $4.66 lunch. I know this because my second slice is doing just that to me right now.

Photo Credit: Jedda 

At Bella Roma there are other options than the best deal in town. You can also order the Falls Road special, named after yours truly! The falls road special is the brainchild of my roommates and myself. It is a large cheese pizza with breaded chicken cut into pieces and used for the topping of the pizza. Let’s just say that after eating one of these bad boys your going to need to get yourself into the gym the next day or you will start to look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. However, after many nights of surviving off of the Falls Road special, I can tell you that it is worth the mandatory visit to the gym the next day. Another helpful tip when ordering the Falls Road special is to leave a nice tip for the people because the Falls Road special is a time consuming pizza to make. So please, show your appreciation for hard work.

So what have we learned? While the days of the mighty dollar have come and gone, you can still get a large amount of quality food for only $4.66. And if you are feeling up to the challenge of ordering the Falls Road special, you are going to need a little help from your friends (and the gym).

Location: 3600 Falls Rd. Hampden Baltimore, MD 21211.

Hours: 11:00am to 11:30pm Sundays through Thursdays

11:00am to 12:30am Fridays and Saturdays

Phone: 410-467-2751

Parking: Street parking available

- Nick

Photo credit: Jedda

Why do students attend campus events? Often times, the answer is the free food. Now, because of the food, students can meet new people. My sorority often has food at events to help enhance the new friendships with the campus community and with each other.

Also, if my room mate is sad or grumpy, one of the first things I ask her is if she has eaten today. Hunger makes a lot of people grumpy, and understanding this can enhance many friendships. You could be the friend that gives other people food, a.k.a the friend everyone loves. In my apartment, we try to always have a bowel of candy out on te table, and this is very well received by visitors.

Honestly, sharing of food experiences really does tie me and my friends together. One of the musical groups on campus goes to Applebee’s, every Wednesday night. It is a big group experience that has made me feel a lot closer to band kids, which is something I really appreciate.

Photo credit: Jedda

Food can be an easily overlooked as a part of relationships, but really it can help hold bonds together and create new ones.

- Danielle

Who can beat half-price sushi? You can’t.

A year ago I discovered the best place to get half-price sushi during happy hour down in Fells Point, Baltimore.  Not only that, if you are of age, half off drinks…even $1 sake.  Where can you get all this? Ra Sushi.

Their most popular sushi would have to be their Viva Las Vegas Roll (pictured above).  Filled with "kani kama and cream cheese rolled in rice and seaweed, lightly tempura battered and topped with spicy tuna crab mix and sliced lotus root, finished with eel sauce and spinach tempura flakes," people cannot help being addicted.  Outside of happy hour this piece of gourmet is $11.75, but if you come between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday it’s half price!  Although I fell in love with the Vegas Roll the very first time, my personal favorite would have to be the Ultimate Shrimp Tempura Roll with its "crab mix, cucumber & shrimp tempura rolled & topped with seared tuna & avocado." 

Outside of their to-die-for sushi, Ra also offers half-off appetizers! From coconut shrimp tempura to chicken yakitori, the appetizers are sure to boost your appetite and are a great way to start the meal.  My recent obsession would have to be the Shrimp Shumai (as you can tell, I love shrimp).  Shrimp Shumai are  "lightly fried Asian dumplings served with sesame-mustard sauce."  Of course my meal is not complete without a half-priced Mango Margarita to complement my meal. 

Are you salivating  yet? If so, be sure to check out Ra Sushi at 1390 Lancaster St. Baltimore, MD 21231.  Even though they do not take reservations, you can call ahead at (410) 522-3200.  See you there!

- Jedda