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. 

Serving size: 7-8

12.00 dollars

Ingredient

1/2 cup of magrine

1/2 cup of Sugar

4 eggs

 1 cup of skim milk.

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. Mix the bowls with the ingredients.

3. Bake the 350 degree oven for an hour before serving.

Serving size 2 people.

Some of the food is process and some is whole. The pineapples and eggs are not process and they are whole foods. But the extra ingredients like sugar margarine is process. Its pretty healthy as it only has 166 calories. I say it’s like 55% process and 45% not process. It is very high in natural sugar and process sugar. It also has eggs for protein and bread for bread use. This food dish lacks vitamin A, B and D. Also it does not have a lot of cholesterol. Some of the food that is processed all of the food will go straight to your systems that will be processed and then go to your stomach. Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. That is healthier then butter.

Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. So they came from a farmers.  So does the eggs that were made. My specific margarine and eggs comes from Kentucky. I am not aware wear my eggs came from but its company was Foodhold USA which is in Maryland. The rolls came from Florida and my Pineapples also came from Florida. That is a total of 1324 miles traveled just to get in my home. The Margarine, bread, pineapples, and sugar were all processed. Only the eggs were not processed. But the chicken who laid it was.

This meal cost around 12 dollars. This meal is suppose to serve 8 people. This is a lot more expensive then a 4 dollar menu burgers from McDonalds. This is an outrage that a dish served for 8 cost so much more. The stuff that cost the most is pineapples which were 2.00 dollars. Obviously the Martians, Doles and other foods won the deal by stealing my money. 

My bread cubes cubes some soybeans and Monocalcuim in it. I have no idea how they managed to add those items in bread  but the did.  I’m pretty sure if I made the bread those items would not be included in my bread. My eggs have no significant source of Dietary fiber or sugar. But I have no idea how to make eggs the right way. Plus I have no chickens.

I learned different effects that food can have on someone. I knew that eating unhealthy can cause an unhealthy life in the future. I knew that liver problems and other serious diseases are caused by eating habits. What I learned the most was from the videos, even though we didn’t finish the movie I learned a lot about the food culture. I learned that the food producers are a bunch of a-holes. Sorry for the rude language but it’s beyond me that a food company can just about contaminate almost all of the natural foods to make them more fattening just for money. It’s terrible to kill the cows, chickens and pigs the way they do. Not only make them fat but you basically make them kill them in the most gruesome way. And once someone talks about it, they get sued by the food companies. The workers can’t stop because they need the money to survive. So no one wins. This is a messed up society we have. Another reason why this world is messed up is because people in low income can not afford healthy foods because 1 low income and 2 there are no grocery store. This a terrible world we live in.

6 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup of finely chopped walnuts

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

1/3 cups of sweet red whine ( this is being replaced with a similar trap juice that is non alcoholic. )

Place the apples and walnuts into a large bowl. Mix together the cinnamon, sprinkle over the apples. Stir in the grape juice. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving.

Analysis:

This meal is traditionally a jewish meal that is ate at passover, which is a jewish holiday, although I am not jewish i do have family that are jewish. Usually this meal has some processed food in it, however the way I am making it is made with completely 100% whole food. When it comes to fat content sugar content and caloric content all of these are very low for this dish aside from the traces of sugar throughout the meal there isn't really anything that contains a lot of calories or fat. Its not something that would have any negative effects of your body and it actually can make you feel more energetic and healthy. This food is pretty much completely organically grown and all the ingredients can be pretty easily found in nature. This meal is much much healthier then fast food because its not greasy or fatty and isn't processed.

 I feel that my role in the food system is that I am a human. I feel that each human has a certain role where each animal has a role. The food chain is a huge part of the food system and I feel that although most humans don't take part in this role our role should be keeping balance in the food system and making sure the world and ourselves are healthy. Most humans don't do this, and to be quite honest neither do I. However, I feel that in a perfect world we would all eat healthier and try harder to keep a balance in the worlds food system. The biggest issue we have as a food system is our lack of healthy foods and our abundance of animal slaughter for food. I love to eat unhealthy food and animals, but I see where it is too much and wrong. I see that as people we don't want to balance things and that is a huge and major issue with our culture, society and food system. This is because we are raised in a way that we see ourselves as superior and life has been like that for so long that that is all we seem to know anymore. Changes I would personally like to make and that I could make would be less fast food and fatty foods in my diet to be replaced with more healthy foods. I would also want to eat less fatty foods and maybe cut down on the amount of food that I eat. The impact of these changes would be little to nothing on a grand scale, but could very well change and even save my life. Part of me is willing to make these changes, but I know that it will be something that is very hard for me because I am accustomed to eating the way I do. I have tried being vegetarian and although I could do it I just didn't feel like me and I wouldn't ever change myself. 

 In the spot we are now as a society we are pressured into thinking that eating greens and being healthy is the only way to if you want to live longer. However that is countered by the daily reminder of how “amazing” fast food is. So how are we supposed to react to this? So are we suppose to fall prey to those daily advertisements of that perfect juicy burger, with a side of crispy French fries, and a fresh cool soda on the side? How is it that we are so pressured into finding healthy ways to eat and live when we aren’t able to get away from those type of advertisements. Are we really the ones who are supposed to just learn to say no? Or are we going to always put up that healthy diet for next week?

 Even though people like to blame those advertisements I think that what you put in your mouth, chew, and swallow is all up to you. Nobody is forcing you to eat fat, greasy foods. You are the one choosing to ignore all the side effects that all those meals will give you over time. In the end you are only really hurting yourself right? So why blame others for what you choose to do or eat? Now, I’m not saying that eating fast food is the worst thing in the world or that you shouldn’t eat it at all. All Im saying is that if you’re going to eat it constantly you shouldn’t blame advertisements. You should be able to realize that if you want to live a healthy lifestyle it is up to you to make those healthy choices.

 With this I feel like I myself need to change my choices on the different types of foods I eat. Even though my mom cooks home cooked meals every night I still choose to sometimes order out. So this goes to show that it will always be up to you to make your own choices and that even though those not so healthy choices will be up in your way you should be strong enough to say no and take the healthy route. I think that once I’m able to do that for a majority of the time then I will be able to live the healthy life. 

Commercially grown carrots and Walnuts follow the same pros and cons of other commercially grown food; nuts specifically. 

Since lettuce is a vegetable, it is obviously first grown at a farm. Farmers produce crops to sell to big companies for packaging and distributing. There are a lot of steps to take for farmers to get their yield to the supermarket. From tending the soil to sowing the seeds and finally harvesting their crops, there are many steps to take to yield a successful harvest. As they stock up on vegetables, big companies either hire or make deals with them to produce their harvest at supermarkets for the general public. The vegetables go through a cleansing process to preserve its condition. Then, they are packaged up by machines or workers to sell.

Similar to Lettuce, walnuts must first be grown (from trees) to harvest later on in August. By using complex tree shaking machines, they are able to harvest walnuts by the thousands in a matter of a few hours. Most walnuts go through a quick and easy processing phase. The husk is removed since it is not edible and the nuts are dehydrated to optimum 8% moisture level. This is also to protect and preserve the quality of the nuts. Finally, they are packaged and sent to whatever food retailer.

It's really hard to actually pinpoint my exact role in the grand scheme of the food system, but I do know for certain that I am a contributor in the process of creating food. Of course by this, I don't mean that I actually grow my own food. Like everyone else, my contribution stems from my purchases. It's a cycle in which my purchases creates demand. When there is a demand (a market) for something, in this case food, companies will flock to increase their production output of food (I'm speaking generally here). They then buy from farmers and release more food into the world. Thus, making me and everyone else a small, yet significant part of the grand food system. 

Speaking of demand, it is a concept that is both good and bad. Let's start with the bad. As the demand for something increases, production increases. But the question is: at what cost? There is a large demand for Apple products right now. But if this means that workers are treated unfairly and are being worked to death to produce more Apple products, then does the value of money outweigh that of humans? In the case of food, it could be inhumane treatment of animals, disregard of fair work ethics, and etc. Money talks and the food system really brings that to light. As corporations get bigger, the workers (farmers) are sufferring in their wake. Farmers have become nothing more than prisoners of big companies. I strongly believe in the idea that biog companies should be stripped of their rights to carry out certain actions, whether it be legal or physical.

Now for the good: you get eat your Whoppers, play your iPads, and etc. But of course, not without the expense of others' rights. 

12.00 dollars

Ingredient

1/2 cup of magrine

1/2 cup of Sugar

4 eggs

 1 cup of skim milk.

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. Mix the bowls with the ingredients.

3. Bake the 350 degree oven for an hour before serving.

Serving size 2 people.

Some of the food is process and some is whole. The pineapples and eggs are not process and they are whole foods. But the extra ingredients like sugar margarine is process. Its pretty healthy as it only has 166 calories. I say it’s like 55% process and 45% not process. It is very high in natural sugar and process sugar. It also has eggs for protein and bread for bread use. This food dish lacks vitamin A, B and D. Also it does not have a lot of cholesterol. Some of the food that is processed all of the food will go straight to your systems that will be processed and then go to your stomach. Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. That is healthier then butter.

Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. So they came from a farmers.  So does the eggs that were made. My specific margarine and eggs comes from Kentucky. I am not aware wear my eggs came from but its company was Foodhold USA which is in Maryland. The rolls came from Florida and my Pineapples also came from Florida. That is a total of 1324 miles traveled just to get in my home. The Margarine, bread, pineapples, and sugar were all processed. Only the eggs were not processed. But the chicken who laid it was.

This meal cost around 12 dollars. This meal is suppose to serve 8 people. This is a lot more expensive then a 4 dollar menu burgers from McDonalds. This is an outrage that a dish served for 8 cost so much more. The stuff that cost the most is pineapples which were 2.00 dollars. Obviously the Martians, Doles and other foods won the deal by stealing my money. 

My bread cubes cubes some soybeans and Monocalcuim in it. I have no idea how they managed to add those items in bread  but the did.  I’m pretty sure if I made the bread those items would not be included in my bread. My eggs have no significant source of Dietary fiber or sugar. But I have no idea how to make eggs the right way. Plus I have no chickens.

I learned different effects that food can have on someone. I knew that eating unhealthy can cause an unhealthy life in the future. I knew that liver problems and other serious diseases are caused by eating habits. What I learned the most was from the videos, even though we didn’t finish the movie I learned a lot about the food culture. I learned that the food producers are a bunch of a-holes. Sorry for the rude language but it’s beyond me that a food company can just about contaminate almost all of the natural foods to make them more fattening just for money. It’s terrible to kill the cows, chickens and pigs the way they do. Not only make them fat but you basically make them kill them in the most gruesome way. And once someone talks about it, they get sued by the food companies. The workers can’t stop because they need the money to survive. So no one wins. This is a messed up society we have. Another reason why this world is messed up is because people in low income can not afford healthy foods because 1 low income and 2 there are no grocery store. This a terrible world we live in.