Beer Belly Deli & Pub

By Hanna Kim

Though I have been a student in Syracuse for four years now, I know close to nothing about the community that surrounds SU & ESF. Syracuse offers a lot of entertainment that I have been missing out on over my college career and now, I am trying to experience as much of it as I can during the little time I have left here.

I never ventured out past Thornden Park onto Wescott Street until well into my sophomore year, so I did not realized that there are a plethora of amazing restaurants on this street. One of them is Beer Belly Deli & Pub, which opened last October. I did not know this place existed until about a month into the spring semester, unfortunately for my taste buds.

After watching the game (Go ‘Cuse!) on Saturday, I strolled down to Wescott with a couple of friends and checked out restaurant. Their space is very cute and cozy – it is lit up with Christmas lights and mason jar-enclosed clusters of bulbs hanging above the tables. It gives the space a rustic, homey feel that makes you want to stay and hang out with friends.

We started our meal with an order of fried pickles that were lightly battered with a crisp, herby crust and tasted some Game of Thrones-themed beer that was available thanks to a tap-takeover by Brewery Ommegang.

Beer Belly’s menu is not particularly expansive, but the options they have are all fantastic. I had the aptly named Pig & Egg sandwich, which I would say is an ideal choice for a weekend-meatatarian who likes a little bit of everything in one meal. It features beer-glazed ham, an egg fried over-easy, and a thick strip of candied bacon… yum!

This restaurant is open ‘til 2AM for those of you who share my enthusiasm for second dinner. Seriously, go try their food; it is awesome!

Here are the details.

Beer Belly Deli & Pub 510 Wescott St Syracuse, NY 13210 315-299-7533

Open daily, 11AM-2AM

My name is Hanna and I’m a senior dual major in International Relations and Advertising. I first started to question the implications of the food I buy and eat when I saw Mark Bittman’s TED Talk* several years ago. Besides food, I also love music, traveling, snowboard­­ing and trivia!

Kindness, Conversations, And Tacos

By Cassie-Lee Grimaldi

Hi everyone. Have you ever had to cook a meal for 20 people? Perhaps you’ve taken on a thanksgiving feast, but chances are you knew who and what you were getting yourself into. It seems like whenever we cook for a group, we have to make something vegan, something dairy free, gluten free, something borrowed, and something blue. Imagine cooking a meal for twenty people, for under $50, and for people you’ve never met. This past Friday, my coworkers and I took on that challenge.

The Ronald McDonald house just opened on East Genesee St. behind the Sheraton. It’s an incredibly beautiful place. It houses the families of terminally ill children getting treatment at Upstate or other hospitals. Every night, the house welcomes groups to cook dinner for the families staying at the house through a program called, “For The Love of Food.”

So when we decided to participate, my first thoughts were, “What on earth can we cook for all these people?!” I’m a vegetarian so sometimes I see the world through an annoying and complex lens of “what ifs.” What if we decided to do a peanut butter and jelly bar and the children were allergic to peanuts!? Between my moments of panic, it occurred to me to keep it simple. We ended up creating a taco bar, where people could choose the elements that they wanted to make a “well balanced,” taco.

They families at the Ronald McDonald house got to participate by creating their own. It might sound simple and silly, but the families talked to us about how much they liked the aspect of making their tacos with their kids and us. When people start to talk about food, a window to their soul opens. Conversations at the dinner table connect people in a special way.

It was a heart-warming experience and I absolutely loved cooking in their giant, brand new kitchen. It had two stoves, two ovens, gorgeous granite countertops, and I’ll forever be disappointed by any other kitchen I ever see. If any of you dear readers are interested in volunteering, please contact them by phone at (315) 476-1027 or email Lee Wilder at LWilder@cnyronldmcdonldhouse.org.

Hi! My name is Cassie Grimaldi. I’m a junior Television, Radio, & Film student. I love eating, cooking, and finding new ways to do that and hopefully make a positive impact with my food. I’m so so excited to blog about my adventures in ethical eating.

Download This

By Kelly Vesty

Last week, I wrote about a few apps that you could download to help you think about the nutritional value of what you are eating. This week, I compiled a list of some apps that can help you find some healthy foods if you tend to be like me and start to stray from your grocery list as you wander up and down the aisles of the supermarket. So download these and head into the grocery store armed with your phone to help steer you in the direction of making the healthier choice!

Fooducate- With this app, you can scan in the barcode of something that you are considering buying. The app will grade the product by taking the ingredients, amount of nutrients, the food category, amount of processing, and natural fortification (whether a nutrient is naturally occurring or added in) into account. What I love about this program is that it will show you similar foods and their rating, so if you’re in the grocery store you can choose a healthier alternative. It breaks down the ingredient list and explains the exotic sounding ingredients in plain English. A new feature to the product is that you can customize it to show you if a product is vegan or vegetarian

About: Free; Available for iPhone, Android and online

Specialty Produce- Do you ever wonder what those exotic fruits and vegetables in the grocery store are and what you could do with them? This is the perfect app for those- it has a database of over 1,200 items, so the chances of you figuring out what you’re looking at are pretty high. You can branch out and try a new type of fruit and vegetable, because this will also show you recipes that you can create with the produce. You can search for new recipes to change up the way you eat the produce that you love. This app also uses your location to show you what produce will be the most fresh, depending on the time of year.

About: Free, iPhone and Android market

Dirty Dozen- If you want to avoid pesticides and other unwanted chemicals from entering your system, consider buying your produce organic. However, organic food can get pricey. Not all fruit and vegetables are created equal and there are certain types that will not be as harmful to you if you don’t buy it organic. This app lists the “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables that contain the highest levels of pesticides, and also lists the “clean fifteen” which are fruits and vegetables with the lowest pesticide residues. Pull up this app when you’re buying produce and you can easily know which fruits and vegetables you should buy organic and which ones you can buy traditionally grown to save some money.

About: Free, iPhone and Android market

Locavore- This app is a great way to find in-season, local food. It locates all of the nearby farmer’s markets and farms. Buying locally reduces your carbon footprint by reducing the CO2 fumes created by transporting produce from far away. Another bonus of buying locally is that it is often cheaper- grocery stores often mark up the prices in order to make a profit. For example, one cucumber may cost one dollar at the local Wegman’s, but you can buy four cucumbers for one dollar at the Central New York Farmer’s Market. It provides information about the farmer’s markets, like phone numbers and hours of operation, so you can plan your trip to visit one. This app also provides recipes for you to reference.

About: Free, iPhone and Android market

My name is Kelly. I am a senior public relations major with a love for all things healthy and delicious! I love to cook and frequently stray from the recipe to make each meal my own. I am frequently inspired by Pinterest and have amassed a huge collection of recipes on it. Feel free to follow me at pinterest.com/kvesty/.

Homemade Healthy “Rice Bowl”

By: Mindi Sachs

I always crave all sorts of unhealthy rice bowls, whether it is a burrito rice bowl from Chipotle or Bi Bim Bap from an Asian restaurant. Obviously, these types of meal choices are not the most nutritious, so I decided I had to come up with a healthier rice bowl that I could make at home.

The first thing I wanted to do was switch the kind of rice I used. I decided to use whole-grain brown rice instead of traditional long grain white rice. Brown rice adds some whole-grain goodness into the meal and it keeps me satiated longer than white rice does. Then I decided I needed to use all fresh vegetables marinated in olive oil to put on top of the rice. Olive oil is a great source of healthy fat and goes perfect with the vegetables. When I first tried this recipe I did not put any animal protein on it, but you can definitely add it if you would like! The recipe is below and I hope you guys try this at home.

The following recipe gives 2 servings.

Ingredients: 1 cup whole-grain brown rice 1 bell pepper (color of your choice) 1 package of mushrooms (kind of your choice) 2 handfuls of spinach 2 handfuls of kale (cut and cleaned) 1 avocado 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon margarine 2 cups water Salt Pepper Animal protein (if you want)

Directions: 1. Cook the rice. To do so combine brown rice, water and margarine in a medium sized pot. Let the rice to come a boil and then turn down to simmer until tender (about 20 minutes). 2. Once the rice is cooked, take it off the burner and let rest. Then cook the vegetables. Combine all the vegetables (bell pepper, mushrooms, spinach and kale) with the olive oil and garlic. Cook until the vegetables are tender (about 10-12 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. 3. Once everything is cooked put the rice in a bowl and then top with the vegetables. Then slice up the avocado and put it on top for the finishing touch. If you wish to add animal protein, you can add that too! 4. Mix everything together and enjoy!! If you like a kick of spicy add a little sriracha – a spicy Thai hot sauce!

My name is Mindi Sachs, I am a senior at Syracuse University majoring in Nutrition Science. I am a foodie and hope to have my own food blog in the near future. @mindisachs is my twitter handle, feel free to follow me!

Mislabeling Produce

By Rachael Calmas

(photo source: http://www.theispot.com/images/source/Consumer_Reports2111.jpg)

In the past month, news about horse meat being mislabeled as beef has surfaced throughout Europe in everything from frozen beef patties to beef lasagna. This scandal has caused many a great deal of upset amongst European consumers, and rightfully so. As a result the European Union announced that it would start random DNA checks on meat traded across the EU’s borders. The good news is, they have been able to find the source of the problem to be rooted in Romania, and the problem is isolated in Europe.

Yet, the meat industry isn’t the only place where food has been mislabeled. In a recent report by ocean conservation group Oceana, released Thursday, says that 33 percent of fish sold is mislabeled, and it is a national problem. According to the study the problem occurs mostly with expensive fish such as Tuna and Snapper.

However, I’m not telling you all this to scare you into becoming vegetarians, but its important to be aware of the problem. I know that when I heard the news that its possible that the fish I bought at whole foods was actually a less expensive white fish masquerading as snapper, I got a little angry. Though, my takeaway and what I hope you might take away also is take time to READ LABELS and BUY LOCAL. Buying local produce is always better as there are fewer steps where produce can be mislabeled.

In the meantime for more information check out http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt, and if you’re abroad and craving apiece of home maybe have mac and cheese instead, that is until the problems resolved.

Hi, my name is Rachael Calmas. I’m a sophomore majoring in public relations and marketing. I love to cook, and keep up with all things food related, whether its through watching a new cooking show or news in the industry about restaurants and chefs. Follow me on Twitter @rcalmas.

Kale Addiction

By: Mindi Sachs

Kale has become a big fad food in the recent months and I have completely fallen for it. I am proud to say that I am a true-life kale addict. I could eat it every day, all day and never get sick of it. Most peoples’ response to this is “EW”… but trust me once you make kale chips, you will see why I love them so much!

Kale is packed with nutrients that are great for your body. These include Vitamin K, calcium, Vitamin C, and beta-carotene (Vitamin A). It also contains sulforaphane, a chemical that is packed with anti-cancer properties. These facts alone make me feel great about eating kale so often. Trust me – once you try my delicious kale chip recipe, you will be an addict too!

Kale Chips Servings: 2

Ingredients: 3 generous handfuls of kale, cleaned well and chopped 2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 tablespoon of lemon juice Sea salt Black pepper

Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a pan with tinfoil. 2. Put the kale in a big bowl and pour the olive oil on top of it. Add lemon juice and season with sea salt and black pepper (however much you like). 3. Massage the kale with the seasonings on it and then place it on the pan. 4. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the kale is crispy. 5. ENJOY!! I promise that you will.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and will enjoy kale chips as a healthy alternative to your potato chip cravings!

My name is Mindi Sachs, I am a senior at Syracuse University majoring in Nutrition Science. I am a foodie and hope to have my own food blog in the near future. @mindisachs is my twitter handle, feel free to follow me!

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

By Nicole Griffin

There are a lot of times that not matter what the dining hall has prepared for the hot food line, I am not in the mood for any of it. That means I am limited to only the salad bar, right? Not necessarily! There are a lot more hot food options in the dining hall than you probably realize, you just have to get creative and make them.

Take for example, a BBQ chicken sandwich. The dining halls always have plain grilled chicken breasts prepared, so get one of those and put it on a bun from the selection they have in the bread section (it is usually in a package). Then find where your particular dining hall keeps their condiments and slather the grilled chicken in barbeque sauce. Syracuse University provides us with some pretty decent barbeque sauce, so this basic sandwich is delicious just as it is.

If you want to add something extra to your basic BBQ chicken sandwich, now is the time to get creative. I prefer to stick with just raw onions, but there is no right way to top this sandwich. If they have bacon or other ingredients that you think will taste good, put that on your sandwich – the sky is the limit. Now you have a great hot meal for a day that you thought you were going to be dining on cold cereal!

My name is Nicole Griffin and I am a freshman double majoring in Newhouse and Whitman, studying broadcast journalism and marketing. I love to bake and have a special place in my heart for cupcakes! Follow me on twitter @nicky_geeee