Food Benchmark Eryn James

Pepper Steak and Onions over White Rice 

By Eryn James 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes 

Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes 

Ingredients:  ( 8 - 10 servings) 

 • 2 to 3 pounds sirloin steak, cut into thin 2-inch strips

 • 2 onions, sliced into thin slices

 • 2 green bell pepper, sliced into thin slices

 • 2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin slices

 • 2 cup beef broth or 2 cups beef gravy

 • 1/2 teaspoon salt 

 • 1/2 teaspoon pepper 

 • 1/2 cup cold water

 • 5 cups cooked white rice 

Instructions:  

1. In a medium sized frying pan sauté the onions, green and red peppers
2. In a large baking pan, bake steak for 7-8 minutes on both sides for a well done steak.
3. While the steak is still in the oven, add the sautéd onions, green and red peppers, salt and pepper to the pan with the steak letting it back for an addition 3-4 minutes.  
4. While the steak is still in the over, pour the 2 cups of beef broth or beef gravy into a pot adding 1/2 cup of water to avoid gravy/broth burning to the pot. 
5. When the steak is done, Cut steak into 1 inch by 1 inch pieces and add to the pot of gravy.
6. Serve over white rice.  

Analysis: 

About 9% of the steak used for this recipe is processed and the white rice used for this recipe is 27% processed. So 85% of this meal is processed. I used about 5 and a half 6 ounce steaks for this recipe which resulted in about 1,914 calories with 58 calories per ounce. For 5 cups of white rice, there was 1,335 calories with 267 calories per cup. There are 140 calories in 3 cups of green peppers, red peppers, and onions, with 1 cup of green peppers having 30 calories, 1 cup of red peppers having 46 calories and 1 cup of onions having 64 calories. There are about 3389 calories in this entire mean. In one serving there are between 340 and 424 calories. So, eating this mean constantly could cause you to gain weight and because of the rice in the dish, could eventually cause diabetes. 

I think my rice came the farthest because I know that a lot of Americas rice comes from Japan. This entire meal costed $26.47. Comparing that to fast food, I know that 2 cheese steak platers from the pizza store on 52nd and Girard cost $19.75 and thats only for 2 servings of food but for only $6.72 more, I can feed 6 - 8 more people. From watching the video in class, I know that the steak used for my dish went through a long, violent, inhuman process. It was raised, very improperly, and killed by the masses where they’d skin them then cut the meat from the various parts of the cow. Not much happens after that except for packaging and shipping what used to be a living animal.

Personal Reflection 

During this unit I’ve learned a lot about healthiness and obesity. About how poverty effects who is afford the foods need to be healthy. There are a lot of things that effects peoples ability to be healthy and I’ve concluded that you have to be the start of change in your life. 

I know that if unhealthy fast food restaurants don’t maintain business they will eventually go out of business and some people strive to stop the fast food chains that are making more and more people obese. My role in the larger food system is that of the person who is trying to move fast food restaurants, if not out of business period, out of neighbor hoods where majority of people eat and live unhealthy lives. I don’t purchase food from the leading fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Wendy’s and Burger King. I know that a lot of people have a hard time eating better because there are so many fast food restaurants and they make their food affordable to even the poorest people, which ultimately keep them in business.

Some changes that I could change to my food choice is try not to eat any bread or anything that is not low to fat free. I could also eat less snacks during the day. I know that those snacks are only healthy if I bring them from home and when I don’t I eat from the school store and buy chips or air heads instead of having a piece of fruit or pretzels. I could also   try to eat more home cooked meals instead of ordering. I order when it’s too late and I am too tired to cook so i should eat dinner a few hours before bed time so that I can try to burn as many calories before I fall asleep because you dont burn calories while your sleep. 

The impact of these changes are weight loss, a better diet, and a healthier future. I would benefit so much from this new diet if I keep it strick and not cheat on days when I just feel like something else. I would have to fight the urge to eat the salty and sweet foods that aren’t good for me. I am willing to make these changes and plan to starting the week of January 27th because I know a healthier me is a happier me.