On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Student Services introduced Kevin Roberts, a “Munchie Master, ” to educate undergraduates about cheap, simple, tasty and healthy recipes they can use on or off campus. Roberts is a chef and author of the book Munchies: Cook What You Want, Eat What You Like: A Guide to Healthy & Economical Cooking, specializing in teaching nutritious cuisine to young adults. According to Roberts, every beginner in cooking should keep three things in mind. First, keep a towel close by or tucked into your pants to clean up messes and save paper towels and the environment. Next, have a sharp knife on hand to make it easier to cut into your creation, but most importantly, remember to curl your knuckles under. Lastly, learn by trial and error and produce food appealing to your own palate. Roberts attempted to educate students about the angels and demons when dining in. The Top 5 best foods to eat are blueberries, green tea, kiwis, plain yogurt and spinach. These foods contain antioxidants that help a person stay fit and can help ward off cancer. In addition, the change in the new food pyramid calls for an increased consumption of fiber, which can be found in carrots, cabbage, raisins, legumes and almonds. However, do not be fooled: not all vegetables are good for you, such as iceberg lettuce.
The Top 5 worst foods to eat are everyone’s favorites: soda, sugar, cheese, french fries and hamburgers. Surprisingly, Roberts shared that soda, including diet (which also contains sugars) contains the same chemical compound as formaldehyde – a preservative and embalming fluid. If you cannot cut out cheese all together, then select options such as Parmesan and Romano for a trimmer fit. Any processed food takes out all of the nutritional value in the ration. The human body will actually choose to burn muscle before fat. Therefore, take more of the good with the bad. Roberts is also a spokesperson for Red Hot hot sauce and interspersed free give-a-ways with new recipes. For an inexpensive breakfast he suggested either soymilk with granola or a bagel sandwich.
The bagel was an economical way to make the same thing for one week at about $1 per day. A wheat bagel was spread with cream cheese, layered with tomato and/ or onion, and choice of lunchmeat (turkey, ham, roast beef). To reduce carbohydrates, remove the inner bread and leave the shell as a crust. As a mid-day snack, Roberts proposed putting a grapefruit covered in cinnamon in the oven for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. For dinner, the Japanese culture and new Mediterranean diet have confirmed that people with a way of life that incorporates fish and brown rice with vegetables are proven to live longer.
College students typically seem to swallow most of their calories by knocking back beverages over the weekend. Roberts reported that replacing beer with vodka or saki could reduce the amount of calories imbibed.
After a long night, remember to cleanse your liver with plenty of water that contains lemon or lime juice in it. If you just so happen to get sick, the best way to remove germs from your toothbrush is to dip the toothbrush in a cup that contain 50% hydrogen peroxide with 50% water.
Kevin Roberts provided West Chester students with helpful hints on how to manage a healthy eating lifestyle. He hopes to write a sequel to Munchies and is about to open a wine bar in San Diego, CA.