Recipe & Analysis
Baked Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Yield: 6 servings
Cook time: about 1.5 hours
Prep time: 30 minutes
9 medium organic russet potatoes (about 3 pounds)
1/2 stick of salted butter
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Sea salt & freshly ground black Pepper, as much desired
Crushed red pepper flakes, as much desired
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1) Take the potatoes and rinse them under cold water; peel them until completely bare. Place the potatoes in a large pot with cold water over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Strain the potatoes, then put them back into the pot.
2) Take the potato masher to your root vegetable, that way, when you add in your first couple of ingredients, they become absorbed by the potatoes, creating a tastier dish. Add your milk and butter, but portion the milk as you stir it in. Do the same for the olive oil.
3) Add your salt, pepper, garlic slices, and red pepper flakes.
4) Add in all of the cheese, or leave some on the side to sprinkle on top before baking. Stir the potatoes until creamy.
5) Pour the mashed potatoes into a baking dish, place on top shelf of oven, uncovered. Leave in for 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown.
6) Serve hot.
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Processed vs.Whole Food
3 out of 8 items are processed, about 38% (37.5% to be exact)
Salted butter
Milk
Parmesan cheese
Health/nutrition
Since only 3 items have nutritional info available on their container, I can only write about them.
Salted butter
Calories: 100
Fat: 11g
Cholesterol: 30mg
Sodium: 90mg
Vitamin A: 8%
Butter can be good and it can be bad. Even though it contains 8% vitamin A, which is needed for the health of the thyroid, and also contains a number of anti-oxidants that protect against things that weaken the arteries, it can also be really harmful to other parts of your body. If the butter is conventional anyway (contains GMOs), and you’re continually consuming it, it’s most likely giving youorgan damage, gastrointestinal and immune system disorders, is accelerating your aging, digestion problems, and many more. Butter is fattening; it turns into actual fat in your body.
Milk
Calories: 150
Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 35mg
Sodium: 130mg
Protein: 8g
Vitamin A: 6%
Vitamin C: 4%
Calcium: 30%
Vitamin D: 25%
Milk is amazing for getting potassium (which can avoid Charley Horse’s), and stronger bones. A downside to consuming milk, is that if you are a person who consumes a lot of sodium, and then you consume a lot of milk you have a higher chance of acquiring high blood pressure.
EVOO
Calories: 120
Fat: 14g
Cholesterol: 0g
Sodium: 0g
Omega-6: 9.7%
Omega-3: 0.76%
Vitamin E: 72% of the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance)
Vitamin K: 75% of the RDA
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of the best oils and fats for you and your body. Not only is it good for your skin and hair, but it’s also good as an anti-inflammatory and provider of nutrients. If the oil is pressed naturally, the EVOO would be high in phenolic antioxidants, the main reason why olive oil is so beneficial (phenolic antioxidants offer resistance to illnesses ranging from cancer to arthritis). EVOO is easily digestible and tasty start to any dressing.
Environmental
My potatoes and cheese are organic and came from a farmers market near my house; the farmers are located here in PA. Everything else was purchased at Shoprite. Shoprite uses food from Wakefern Food Corporation located in Keasbey, New Jersey. So the food I purchased from Shoprite traveled the furthest.
Political/economic
Butter: $2.19
Milk: $4.99
Cheese: $10.99
EVOO: $12.00
Salt: $2.29
Pepper: $3.49
Red Pepper Flakes: $3.00
Garlic: $2.69
Potatoes: $6.00
= $46.14 (about $50)
The price I spent on making this meal is equivalent to about 5 regular meals not from the dollar menu at McDonalds. Shoprite and its corporations (Wakefern Food Corp., specifically), and the farmers made money off of my meal.
Social
People have the option of gaining weight because of the ingredients within the meal.The parmesan cheese at Shoprite, already grated, was $3.99, but the whole cheese from the Farmer’s Market, same amount of ounces as the Shoprite brand, cost $7 more. Similar to my potatoes, the organic potatoes from the Farmer’s Market, cost $2.00 more than potatoes at Shoprite. The potatoes were grown in PA, on an organic farm, and the cheese came from grass fed cows, so it’s all healthy.
ReflectionI love to eat. Food is such a large part of my life, and being able to taste something new everyday is an ultimate goal of mine. The glorious part of this unit, was getting to know where all of this “glory” came from. Learning that some things that I eat are not necessarily the most healthy is shocking because the marketing that is done to draw in customers is genius. The “no GMO’s” scandal is fascinating, because you would think these large corporations would fear having information leaked saying that their products actually do contain GMO’s would persuade them to stop falsely advertising, but since they have billions of dollars, and countless lawyers, I’m sure they would win the case either way. I really enjoyed reading the article about processed food, sometime last week. I was able to resonate with what was said about the ingredient labeling on the back of food products. “The more ingredients it has (mostly being words no one has ever heard of or will never be able to have in their pantry), the less healthy the product is. As I make my dish for the class on Friday, I’m pleased to keep in my mind that by using whole products, I will be producing a dish that is tasty and nutritious all at the same time.