Liza's Food Project - Q2 BM

Recipe and Food Analysis for Pasta E Fagilo

(Pasta with Pinto Beans)

Ingredients:

Whole Grain Ditalini Pasta

• if you can't supply whole grain pasta, a traditional kind is just fine
• Ditalini Pasta is a small, cylinder shape pasta but any type of pasta works 

 2 cans of Goya Pinto Beans

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Water

3 to 4 Clove of Garlic 

 Process:

1. Fill up pot with water and put it to a boil (size of pot and amount of water varies for how many people you are serving)

• The average size for a container of pasta would be 4 to 6 quarts of water. 

 2. Once water is boiled, add pasta.

3. Boil pasta for 10 minutes.

4. While the pasta is boiling, in a separate pot, heat 6 tablespoons or more of extra virgin olive oil. 

5. Add 3 to 4 cloves of pressed, chopped garlic into the same pot.

6.  a half of a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. 

7. Let that sautee for a few minutes. 

8. Add 2 cans of the 15 oz. Goya Pinto Beans.

9. Add 1 can of water (use the empty can of Goya Beans).

10. Let beans simmer while pasta is boiling for 10 minutes.

11. Before draining the pasta, take one full cup of pasta water to reserve for the final dish to mix.

12. Remove pasta from stove and drain well after 10 minutes.

13. Put half of the pasta into a bowl and add half of the beans.

14. Mix.

15. Add the rest of the beans and pasta.

16. Blend together with cup of pasta water.

17. Serve and enjoy!

Optional: Add chopped kale for color and flavor!

Food Analysis:

Although pasta is a processed food, there are benefits to eating it. It has an extremely large amount of carbohydrates which gives your body a lot of fuel. Whole grain pasta even includes dietary fiber. Pasta is also low on sodium and cholesterol. Keep in mind that too many carbs is not good but if you need to fill up on calories, pasta would be an appropriate way to do so. Even though pasta is a processed food, Goya pinto beans are incorporated into this mean - which is a whole food. Because of the canning process, a lot of salt is added to the whole food which increases its serving of sodium. To decrease your intake of sodium, it is extremely helpful to wash off your beans and put them to as much of a boil as possible. On the bright side, pinto beans give you a large amount of protein, such as 15 grams worth, along with fiber and iron. 

It is important to keep in mind that you can't control everything you eat. It is impossible to lessen the amounts of fat, sodium, etc into a food that is already processed, prepared, and ready to cook to serve. However, you must cook and serve responsibly so that you don't overdose on the negative factors that even meals that are good for you might bring. Too much pasta is never a good thing. However, you are going to come across situations where you need calories or more carbs. This is why pasta is a very popular ingredient that is served with many meals for athletes. If you were to eat this meal entirely too much, or any meal that involves pasta, it may not be in your best interest. Pasta is an extremely popular dish in most homes, which is why it is recommended to balance the serving size of pasta out with a salad on the side (for example). This way you are eating less pasta, but still having a full meal. 

The most popular brand of pasta is Barilla (which is the brand I am using for this dish). It comes straight from Italy but since it is packaged we know that it goes through a food process to arrive here. Luckily, Barilla advertises on their boxes that they try their hardest to minimize the amount of energy and water to import the pastas. Pinto Beans are grown in places like Spain, Mexico, Central America, and South America. They are imported to the U.S. and are packaged at the Goya Headquarters in Syracuse, New Jersey. 

Not only does this meal take a very short amount of time to prepare - around 20 minutes, but it is extremely cheap. Depending on where you purchase your ingredients at, the prices may vary. However, all of these ingredients you can find at any super market. A box of pasta usually varies from $1.25 to $1.60. A can of Goya beans costs around 98 cents. If you are interested in adding chopped up garlic to your dish, a clove usually costs 25 cents. These are how much the main ingredients cost. This is an extremely cheap meal that is just as cheap as fast food but is better for you and serves more people. These large cooperations like Barilla Pasta and Goya Beans are making money from every customer that invests in their products but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Its better than McDonalds taking your money. 

The process of making these ingredients yourself and buying them already ready for you in the store is completely different. There are plenty of people that can make their own pasta but this is usually not common in the average household, but it might be for Italian families. Restaurants and even some homes use a machine to make pasta. This is already a reason why people don't usually make pasta themselves. Even without a machine, making your own pasta would mean purchasing dough, rolling it out, cutting it, and preparing the dough with flour, egg, oil, etc. This is already a longer process and more expensive than going to your local super market. The same goes for pinto beans. You would have to purchase the beans and go through the process of growing them properly into bean stalks. If everyone was to home make all of their ingredients, it would be more expensive and a longer process. This is why we have supermarkets so people can afford to eat and the serve the meals they would like to make themselves but simply can't because it isn't in their reach.

Overall, this is a cheap, easy to make, not-so unhealthy meal that is great to serve for any family! Although there is a processed food involved, the dish supplies a lot of good nutrients but never forget to eat responsibly! Enjoy!

Reflection:

I was extremely passionate about this past unit. It was really convenient that all of this relates to what I will be studying in college - so it kept my interested even more. During this unit, I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but I definitely expanded my knowledge on topics and concerns that I was already familiar with. I learned a lot about where what food and what things connected to food are causes so many problems for people's lives in America. I learned about ways in which we can all do things like simply exercise 30 minutes a day or be more responsible when reading the labels of our food. There are simple ways that we can prevent deaths like heart disease, diabetes, etc. This unit also helped me realize where the problem is in terms of our country's food system. People are not knowledgable of what they are putting intro their body which is why they are putting themselves more at risk.

I have always been very careful with the foods I put into my body and have always been interested in living a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, I am going to continue the habit that I have been in for years now in terms of the way I eat and exercise. Watching the TED Talk in class was just another reminder of why I make the healthy decisions that I do in life and I never regret them. Unhealthy food tastes good but it not worth it in the end. I would like my habits and patterns of healthy living to hopefully rub off onto other people, to inspire them to do the same. People my age are not concerned with eating healthy but it is because they are so wrapped up in eating unhealthy, they actually have no idea what it is doing to them. And most kids are too stubborn to even give healthy food a chance - they think all healthy food is expensive and doesn't taste well. This is not always true and this has to become a more brought up topic of discussion so kids can turn around their bad habits.

I am studying athletic training and nutrition in college and I am definitely going to try to get to that point where I can reach out to a large audience and get them to change their lives around. I strongly believe that one day I will be able to say that I taught people a lot and people came to me for help, and now that they are making progress and healthy change. The way our food system has been looking doesn't look it's best and I am willing to take the time to make sure me and other workers on my team (whatever team that may be in the future) get society to be looking and eating the way they should be.