:: Food n Nutrition ::

We were introduced to F & N coursework B and we did a round of stations with different test. The 1st station was comparing 2 types of cheese but i did not take picture =( The idea was to compare 2 types of cheese (1 is slighter darker shade of yellow and the other is lighter shade of yellow) to see the correlation between colour and fat content. We had to eat the cheese and determine which gives a more smoother taste. Usually for cheese, we will associate darker shade of yellow with higher fat content while light shade is more healthy with less fat content. But is it really true? Perhaps we should make a trip to supermarket today!

2nd station, we had to answer whether we preferred cola or pepsi. Afterwhich we tried 2 types of cola drinks and answer which do we prefer.

3rd station was yummy! =) We had to try cakes and evaluate the various attributes of the cakes such as the colour and how buttery is the cake.

Xiu explaining the procedures

3rd station where we had to taste 3 samples and identify the odd one out. But everything tasted almost the same to me haha.

Missed out one station on smelling as i was among the last to move around the station so cant help it.

My group was in charge of this station where we wanted to determine how the sense of smelling affects the sense of tasting. Let's take a sneak peek into the preparation process:

We were given 4 bottles of food with different flavours (can you guess what food is it?) Yeah, its baby food!

We had to tape up the bottle so that the taster will not be able to see what flavour is written on the bottle. Four taped up bottles with different 3 digit code. Interesting experiment? haha

Ta daa~ Our final presentation before tasters come to our station. Did you notice that the contains of the four bottles  are all red? We have added red colouring to the food! This is to make all the food look similar as they were of different shades before we added the colouring.

People who came to our station had to put on nose clip, which means they wont be able to smell what is it. They have to try a spoonful of the 4 samples and guess what flavour is the different bottle.

Interestingly, many people could not differentiate the taste of the food with their nose clipped. But actually even with our nose clipped up, we should be able to identify the flavour but to very limited extent. Dont believe it? Try it yourself! =)

:: Cooking ::

Finally got a chance to update my blog again! =D lack of updates for the past 1 week due to the assignments due .... oh well at least i can take a uber short breather now before working on the 2 coursework!

Thanks to our tutor Miss chin, who asked us if we were interested to attend a cooking session that she will be conducting. And of course we agreed!! =) We worked in pairs and whipped up 3 dishes in probably 1 hr plus to 2 hrs. Though we felt so fat after gobbling down all the food, it was yummy! Just that the soup i cooked was kinda salty due to insufficient water added. Shant say much, i will let the pictures do the talking =)

Note: Food shown in the pictures is not my cooking =x its the presentation that my tutor did to show us how to garnish and present.

Istimewa Lasagne (with cheese sauce)

Shown above is the chicken lasagne garnished with cherry tomatoes and parsley. You have to take note that the sides of the plate should be clean when you want to serve =)

Broccoli cheese soup

Initally we took one big bowl to serve and miss chin commented such a big bowl will scare people haha. So she taught us this method of serving. Dont you think it looks v appetising and classy ? We can serve with a piece of bread on the space of the plate to go with the soup =)




Choc lava cake

 The picture looks abit distorted, not too sure why.... The chocolate lava cake did not turn out as expected but it still tasted delicious! Especially with the vanilla ice cream! As you can see, kiwi acts as a garnish over here and is packed with lots of vitamins (;

Anyone wants the recipe, just leave a comment and i will get back to you =)

:: Itchy hand ::

For those who have been visiting my blog, you will realised i have changed the color but it was by mistake "-_- wanted to try around and see other designs.....and here i am stucked with this orangey peach (though i like the colour too!) tried quite long to try and get back the original combination but it was futile haha.... Oh well, its quite nice too isnt it?

:: Web Resource Review ::

We have here a website from UK which i thought is rather comprehensive =)


http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/ 

 Main page with simple box in the middle that shows a quick overview of information with links for you to access.


http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutritionessentials/

 Under "healthy diet" tab, you can find healthy eating tips, information on certain food / nutrients, BMI calculator and more. They also have something similar to our HDP which is the eatwell plate so you may have a look and do comparison to the one adopted by HPB.  


http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/children/

Under the tab for "Ages and Stages", you can find information across the different age groups. In addition, within each group, they actually have recommendations on preparing meals for these categories. So you will know what to take note when planning meals for particular group for instance the children needs calcium so they advise includes milk in children's diet.  


http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/children/

Over here, they have a couple of recipes for us to use =) So if yo think it's healthy and you can cook it, use it for your practical exam!

1) Is the web information up-to-date?

Yes, information is up to date.

2) Is it user-friendly: easy to navigate and retrieve information easily?

It is easy to navigate with the simple and straight-forward layout.

3) Can the content be understood easily?

Yes

4) What are the tools available for use in the website?

It does not contain alot of tools for use but rather the information can be quite useful.

5) What other information is available other than our focus (food)?

I like the fact that they incorporated other areas such as food safety(http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe/), which explains the necessary steps to take note, as well as food labels (http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/), which talks about the terms you find on food label. On top of that, you also learn about food additives! Isnt it ;interesting? Read it for interest and it helps you to understand better what you have learnt in class (;

Pardon me if the pictures seem grainy, not too sure why, probably because i enlarged it before saving =x

:: Web Resource Review ::

The 4th in line is http://www.nutrition.com.sg/ho/index.asp


http://www.nutrition.com.sg/ho/hosite.asp

Upon reaching this site, you will realise there are two flags on top left hand corner. So choose Singapore which is relevant to your coursework

http://www.nutrition.com.sg/ha/index.asp

After you have selected Singapore, the contents that you will be viewing will be of Singapore's context. Firstly, we will look this function Nutrition Calculator. So you can see, there are a couple of tools that you can use for projects. They have BMI which is based on own local criteria =) Do explore the rest!

http://www.nutrition.com.sg/he/herda-chd.asp

Over here, you will find RDA for either adults or children. This is definitely a useful tool for you to use.

http://www.nutrition.com.sg/he/index.asp

In healthy eating topics, they have recommendations of healthy eating and also dietary guidelines for Singapore! They also provide details on different nutrients as well as vitamins and minerals. This is needed for your research if you need to modify recipe or recommend diet.

1) Is the web information up-to-date?

I would say the information is still relevant but as to whether is it up-to-date, you may require other sources to support it as the copyright details is only up to 2007.

2) Is it user-friendly: easy to navigate and retrieve information easily?

Yes, it is pretty easy to navigate and the information is very straight-forward.

3) Can the content be understood easily?

Yes.

4) What are the tools available for use in the website?

This site has many relevant tools i would say. They have dietary guidelines in singapore, healthy diet pyramid, BMI, RDA.....make full use of these tools!

5) What other information is available other than our focus (food)?

I like their column on "ask the dietician" probably this is more for personal reading. This helps us to understand what food or problems a person faces if he has particular health conditions. They have information on exercise and local food guide (this is worth looking at) ight want to have a peep on these too! However, it lacks information on recipes thus you will not be able to find recipes from this website.

:: Web Resource Review ::

Moving on with our resource review, we have http://nutritiondata.self.com/



Main page that greets you =)

A clean looking webpage greets you when you visit the website. It has various interesting articles like the one shown as about whole grains. I like "Did you know?" shown above. It shows simple facts that sometimes we may not remember or neglected hence it helps to refresh our memory too!

http://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/nutrient-search 

They have this tool which i think would be quite useful =) If you click on the link, it will bring you to the webpage shown above. It is actually like a search engine. So you just choose what you want. For instance, food highest in sodium or fats or even types of minerals like calcium and click search, it will give you a list of food according to the parameters you set. So if you need to add vegetables into the dish and no idea what vegetable is highest in dietary fibre, perhaps you can use this to support your decision.

Next up is recipes. You can find a list of recipes here to add on to your dictionary of recipes =)

They have this interesting tool! As you see from the picture, there's many small triangles within the big triangle. Each small triangle gives different % of carbohydrates / fats / proteins. It will then give you the list of food with that percentage =D I happened to click on 10% carbohydrates, 80% fats and 10% proteins......guess what? There are many starbucks drinks in the list!!! (gulps!) although i probably have starbucks once every 3 weeks or 1 month but it's still so scary to know that! haha...

So remember: EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

1) Is the web information up-to-date?

Yes, it's quite updated.

2) Is it user-friendly: easy to navigate and retrieve information easily?

It is not really easy to retrieve information. Example, in the main page say page 1, when i click on recipes and it shows page 2, i still have to click on another hyperlink to view the recipe which will be on page 3. So it doesnt deliver the information directly. It is also a little confusing, such as the word "Recipes" appeared in 2 or 3 tabs of the toolbar (the grey one that you see in the pictures)

3) Can the content be understood easily?

Certain contents would require more experience or knowledge to understand. So if you do not understand, dont fret =) just filter out what you need.

4) What are the tools available for use in the website?

As mentioned, they have a couple of interesting and cool tools for use. Try out the Calorie ratio search, Compare food and Nutrient search

5) What other information is available other than our focus (food)?

Similarly, they have information on diet and health conditions. In addition, they provide information on food additives and effects if processing food which can be used in the research of your coursework.

:: Web Resource Review ::

Oh well i guess many of us are quite familiar with this website or maybe as Health Promotion Board (HPB). It's one of the more convenient and easy to use website. Can you recall visiting HPB as an educational trip during primary/secondary school? I still remember Healthzone! Does it ring a bell? If not, then perhaps you can find time to go and again =D
 


http://www.hpb.gov.sg/default.aspx

  The main page that greets you when you visit the website. Once you are in, you will realise there is really loads of stuffs that you can explore and read! I like website that updates regularly. I dislike visiting a website and their latest update is probably like few years back. HPB is one that is very updated, with all the information/publication and most importantly, disease or illness that is widespread. 
 


http://www.hpb.gov.sg/foodforhealth/default.aspx?id=4574

  Clicking on the above link will bring you to the web page that explains on healthy eating and what are the things to take note for different category of people. It provides information on the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), which is one tool that you can use.



http://www.hpb.gov.sg/digitools/default.aspx?digitooltype=Games+%26+Quizzes

 They have many games that enables learning while playing! Students get to enjoy the game while testing against their knowledge and teachers can use these games to entice the students. Killing two birds with one stone =) Isnt it interesting to have fun while learning?




http://www.hpb.gov.sg/healthtools/default.aspx

 There are whole list of tools that you can use for your project!!! =D They have BMI calculator, calorie calculator, recipe analysis, food journal and lots more! Go ahead and use these applications to pump up your project / report!





And guess what? They even uploaded 3 videos of chefs whipping up delicious dishes! Although there's only 3 videos but i think its nice of them to even upload cooking videos, isnt it? So just sit back, relax and learn how to cook sliced fish bee hoon (;

1) Is the web information up-to-date?

Definitely yes.

2) Is it user-friendly: easy to navigate and retrieve information easily?

Yes. It's quite easy to navigate and you can make use of the "search" button on top right hand corner of the page. It will return which all the information using your keyword so you will need to filter out what are the information you need.

3) Can the content be understood easily?

Yes. Simple and easily understood

4) What are the tools available for use in the website?

I have mentioned there are really many useful tools around! Look for BMI calculator, recipe analyser, energy and nutrient composition of your food......don't wait, go and explore on your own! =)

5) What other information is available other than our focus (food)?

It provides information on food as well as health diseases. It updates about the health events/programmes going on, and also publications on different illness/disease.

:: Web Resource Review ::

Lets welcome our first new kid in the house (drum rolls)! Its http://kidshealth.org/ 

Upon the first page, we will realise there are 3 other sites within! From the main page, we can actually link to either Parents / Kid / Teens web page.

http://kidshealth.org/

Parents site only for parents? The answer is NO! Within each site, they provide information on health and nutrition, recipes, medical problems and more (you can see the left panel in the picture below). Its like if you want to understand or prepare meals for kids, you can look under kids site and also parents' site (there will be advices and all for parents to take care of kids so you can tap on it too!)


Teens site

Over here at teens site, it provides information not only on food, but also personal well-being such as your body / your mind / fitness. It covers a large area of study such as types of health condition, types of infection (bacteria, cold), tips on studying effectively etc. It also explains to us how to stop alcohol and drug abuse (thumbs up!) Sexual health here helps us to understand the physical change that teenagers face during growing up so that they will not feel awkward with all the changes.

Different recipes available

They provide recipes for use of information into our food studies / f & n / home econs too! =D They have healthy snacks, how to prepare food for people with certain health conditions such as diabetes and even vegetarian recipes!



My personal plan

What i like most is this personal plan =) There is one button at the bottom of the left panel. It teaches you to make specific goals or improvements for yourself (SPECIFIC and not just goal!) It may sound cliche but many of us especially for some teenagers, might not have goal for us to work towards to. If i ask you to sit down and think, you may not be able to come up with anything.

With the help of this planner, i believe the process will be easier =) As you go through the planner, read and think about what you are doing now and what you want to achieve. This is best done when you are alone and you will not be affected by people's opinion, so, remember to be truthful to yourself!

1) Is the web information up-to-date?

I will say yes the information are quite up-to-date.

2) Is it user-friendly: easy to navigate and retrieve information easily?

Yes! It is very user-friendly and easy to get information. Eveything has been grouped under each different tab so you just have to click and see what is inside each tab. And i like the layout and colour. Simple layout with colourful webpages yet it's not too over.

3) Can the content be understood easily?

The content is quite easy to understand and it's straight forward =)

4) What are the tools available for use in the website?

Sad to say, there isnt many tools for use like those that calculate your calories etc =( but they have a few interesting items.

a) Food journal - a simple journal for you to record what you eat and see your eating pattern. I would say this is quite helpful for people who wants to keep a watchout for their diet.

b) Food label - A rather informative page on what is found and meant in a food label.

c) The food guide pyramid - It's different from our healthy diet pyramid (HDP) but you can just spare a few minutes to read.

d) Body Mass Index (BMI) - they allow you to calculate your BMI. However the value we take to be healthy is different from what Americans take to be healthy hence it will be more appropriate to refer to Singapore's reference.

5) What other information is available other than our focus (food)?

Alot! As mentioned, it covers a wide range of topics which is applicable for your science lessons ;) so do make good use of the information. Do not misuse those information provided. If you need detailed information on food commodities like meat, seafood etc, you will need to find other web resource to complement the information that you have from this website.

Hope you enjoy navigating around the website! =)

:: Web Resource Review ::

Assignment 1: Review web sources that are suitable for use in teaching Food Studies topics

As mentioned in the objective, i will be doing reviews for web resources that we can use in our Home econs / F & N / Food studies. All three levels are able to use these resources for their work even though my assignment is for food studies topics =)

Before proceeding to reviewing these resources, i have come out with certain criterias or otherwise "My Reviewing Rubrics" (;

1) Is the web information up-to-date?

2) Is it user-friendly: easy to navigate and retrieve information easily?

3) Can the content be understood easily?

4) What are the tools available for use in the website?

5) What other information is available other than our focus (food)?

For now, i have 5 criterias in mind. If any reader has any suggestion, do feel free to drop me a comment =) And i will keep photos minimal cause i want YOU to go and explore and have a feel your self (; Keep a lookout for the upcoming reviews!

:: Textile lesson ::

First lesson on textile and clothing. The last time i used a sewing machine was probably 11 or 12 years back when i was taking home economics!

Bernina 830

Was being introduced to this NEW EXPENSIVE sewing machine which was the new addition to the ones in NIE. Dont you think it looks like photocopier or printer? haha. If anyone of you still have those big sewing machine from donkey years back (like the one my mum has), you will be very impressed with this! or probably our mums would be =D

This machine is really coooooool!! We were all blown away when the person was explaining the functions. It's so interesting! Everything is so automatic! The list is not exhaustive so those of you who are interested, do refer to the link below:

http://www.berninausa.com/search-sUS.html

Note: I am not promoting this brand just sharing =)

My good friend for the next few months

This is the one that will company me through the course. Dr Mok explained to us the functions and differences between the machines. We were also being informed about the assignments......last but not least Competency profile for textile and clothing.

My PGDE mates doing the threading =)

We learnt about threading which is to put the thread through all the loops before you can use. Sewing machine is such a stranger to the few of us but i believe practice makes perfect and we can overcome it!
Til then, see ya!

:: HE lesson ::

8 Sept 2010 marked the first home economics lesson. Browsed through the course document and this particular document made me worried =x Competency Profile! My god! For your information, it's a list of items that test our ability for practical as well as planning skills. For every lesson, different items would be tested and we need to get our tutors to sign their initials (if we manage to hit the expectation).

So for our first lesson, it was a test on our CUTTING technique.On my part, i googled on the meaning of these terms and also how to go about cutting it. To be honest, it was the first time in my life coming across terms like "chiffonade", "julienne", "brunoise" and "macedoine"  ("-_-)

Ready for some mini tutorial? =p

Chiffonade - it involves the use of leafy vegetables such as spinach. We have to roll up the leaves and slice very thinly so that it appears to be very fine. Imagine those herbs used in cream sauce, it's about that size.

Julienne - cutting of food into thin long strips eg: carrot

Brunoise (fine dice) - this refers to very tiny cubes ~ 1 - 2 mm each side. We can incorparate the skill for julienne before dicing it into small cubes.

Macedoine (small dice) - it's also cube-like but its bigger in size than brunoise ~ 5 mm.

For more details, you can refer to:
1) http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~media/foodprep.htm for illustration on how to go about cutting.
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunoise for explanation of the different cuts.

We have also learnt about HANDY MEASURES! Remember how we measure flour in school? Scoop a rounded tablespoon of flour and tap 2 times by the edge of the container.

A rounded tablespoon - 25g flour
A level tablespoon - 25g sugar

Some of you might be thinking why is it that for the same 25g, sugar has to be levelled while flour is rounded measurement? Sugar is heavier compared to flour hence for the same weight, we actually requires lesser amount of sugar than flour =) This kind of measurement is really useful when you do not have the necessary measuring equipments at home.

Did not manage to take pictures of what i cut =( but i promise more pictures in future!

:: Welcome ::

Hi all,

a warm welcome to my blog "allboutfoodie" =) I will update regularly with what i have learnt in my lessons and also news on food ;) Hope you will enjoy reading my blog!

cheers!