Attention optimists:  winter is coming, the weather is turning, we are all doomed.  It is hopeless to continue reliving summer over and over in our heads. We cling to a desperate hope that sunlight collected weeks ago will somehow keep us warm in the dark months ahead, and meanwhile the days are getting shorter and our will is getting weaker. Soon, our cheeks will be flushed candy-cane red and white and dirty slush will find its way into every nook and cranny of our homes. A walk to the store will resemble an arctic voyage that would make Balto a little queasy. The very concept of cooking will seem laughably asinine when hot coffee and steaming bowls of soup are available on every streetcorner.  In preparation for the inevitable, I offer you a recipe for a vegetarian soup so spicy that your mouth will burn pleasantly for days, so sweet that you will forget the pitter-patter of sleet on the kitchen windows. After all, Christmas is a long way off.

Human beings consume, on average, 2000 calories daily. Some people obsess over this and do everything they can to make sure they don’t exceed this numerical limit. Did you know, however, that this daily number varies based on your weight, height, and daily physical activity? Instead of measuring out your fruit loops and milk and looking on the Food Label to try to figure out how many calories are in your breakfast, go to www.mypyramidtracker.gov and have them figure it out for you! Keep track throughout the day by adding your meals and snacks as you go. Not only will you be able to figure out how many calories you’ve eaten that day, but you can also see if you’re feeding your body enough nutrients. You simply have to enter your food intake and physical activity, and MyPyramidTracker will tell you if you’re eating the proper types of foods and number of calories, according to your energy and exercise levels.

In addition to a thorough analysis of your food intake, MyPyramidTracker also offers other health information for you to view whenever you please. See their ‘Diet and Health Information’ page for diet and health related links, like Cancer, Diabetes, Cholesterol, Women’s Health and more. Also, check out the ‘Center for Nutrition Policy & Promotion’ page for dietary guidelines and MyPyramid for Kids, as well as tips and helpful information on overall health.


References:

1. http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/NutritionMsg/NutritionMsg1.asp
2. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/ 

Working at Bert’s Café, we often order way too many bananas, and consequently end up with 15 or so super ripe unsold bananas that people didn’t even want to buy for 50 cents. 

When my manager offered them to me for free, I realized they would be perfect for nothing other than gooey warm banana bread. For truly delicious banana bread, you want bananas that most people wouldn’t ever want to eat out of the peel. 

Black bananas with as few yellow spots as possible are pretty much the best for banana bread. Fruit with parts of it that are brown and mushy is ideal, and it makes for the easiest mashing!

Also, mash the bananas with a fork, and leave small chunks in the mash because everyone loves surprise bites of gooey banana in the bread.  Half mashed bowl of bananas below:

Check out my Banana Bread recipe! 

Just in time for a late breakfast! Yum!

**Note from the Editor: This piece was meant to be published before A Picky Eater's Guide to Ann Arbor: Ethiopian Food  but managed to slip through the cracks in our editing process. For this Emma we are truly sorry. So without further ado please enjoy Emma's introduction to her Picky Eater's Guide to Ann Arbor series!

My name is Emma, and I’m a foodie who fears food. That’s right: I’m 20 years old and still label myself as a “picky eater”. 

Now, you may wonder how I, living in such a unique food community as Ann Arbor, managed to remain this way. It wasn’t impossible. I made it through two years of living in the dorms by eating mostly peanut butter and jelly, salad, and rice. I would eat spaghetti for several meals in a row. I only recently tried tofu for the first time. Something about food taking the form of a white block was strange to me. And though people have always thought I was crazy, I’ve never liked most cheese. Go ahead, take your shots. 

It wasn’t so much that I didn’t want to try new things, I just take a lot of comfort in what’s familiar to me. There’s something to be said for being able to predict exactly what something tastes like and knowing that you will enjoy it every time. This is especially true in college, when change hits you so...