Activity

In UeaT’s opinion, the best thing about the holidays is the food. And the cookies. Gingerbread. Chocolate chip. Pecan. Shortbread. Caramel. Chocolate. Cookies!! You can buy them. Or make them. We prefer to make ours at home. It takes less than an hour to prepare a warm, buttery batch of cookies, and they make excellent presents. Just wrap them up in cellophane, or put them in a cookie tin. Cheap and yummy. Everybody’s happy!

First up, Lemon Shortbread Cookies with Cornmeal. These cookies are awesome because they melt in your mouth, but also provide a gritty texture. And the lemon flavor is subtle, and warm. These crumbling cookies are a delight to make (it takes only 25 minutes from start to finish) and a delight to eat.

(recipe adapted from Poppytalk)

You will need:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup cornmeal, or a bit more if you really like the gritty texture

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter, unsalted

1/2 cup icing sugar (if you don’t have any at home, you can put regular sugar in a grinder until it turns to a powder, or simply use regular sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon zest from one lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

What you need to do:

1. Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, using your electric mixer, blend all the sugar and butter until it is fluffy. It helps to have the butter softened.
3. Gradually, add the vanilla extract and the lemon zest and juice. Keep mixing for a minute.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, salt, cornstarch using a whisk or a fork.
5. Slowly, add your dry mixture to your butter and sugar mixture. You don’t need the electric mixer at this point…it is best to use a form and mix by hand. Mix until they are just combined (you can not see the white flour anymore), but don’t over-mix it.
6. At this point, the mixture should be soft and doughy. Break off a small piece and form a ball with your hands (about two inches in diameter). Lay the dough-ball onto parchment paper (which should be spread over your baking sheet) and slightly flatten the ball with a fork.
7. Keep doing this until you have used up all the dough. Remember to give the cookies a couple of inches space to be able to expand.
8. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes…the bottoms should be slightly golden. Take them out and leave them to cool.

And thats it!! 25 minutes and you have awesome cookies ready! Enjoy!

Dear UeaTers,

It was three years ago when I was sitting in the library, just like you, dreading the upcoming exam period. I had a short attention span coupled with terrible eating habits. When stressed, I ate donuts, muffins, cookies, croissants, chips, and twinkies (okay so I had a sweet tooth!). I was the stereotypical “muncher”. I would study for an hour, daydream for the next hour, eat a couple of cookies, check my Facebook for 30 minutes, go get a slice of pizza, and call it a night. My mouth had to be constantly chewing to make my mind work. Or so I thought!

My study-partner, however, was quite opposite. She fretted for two hours, made a “To Do” list, fretted some more, studied an hour, and ate nothing because she felt sick during exams. She was the epitome of a “starver”.

At this point, you may want to review your own study habits and figure out if you are a starver or a muncher.

On the last day of exams, I (4 lbs heavier) and my friend (4 lbs lighter) would crash, complain, and sleep for a week.

One night, two days before my Physics exam, I had my “light-bulb” moment (appropriate timing, no?). I woke up at 6am, went for a 15 minute jog, showered and got myself a nice big breakfast of eggs, oranges, toast and coffee. Suddenly energized, I grabbed a bag of blueberries and opened up the books. By noon, the blueberries were gone, my white t-shirt had one purple smudge, and I was 6 chapters smarter. I took an hour long break, had a nice meal of steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, and chicken breasts, yumm. And lots of water. Another four hours with the books, dinner and 5 more chapters later, I felt like a new man! (err, woman!).

The point of all this is that if I treat my body right, it functions well, specially during exams. On that note, read on for 10 simple ways you can change your eating habits and conquer those exams! 

1. Don’t wait until exam week to eat healthy. If your body is used to twinkies twice a day, it will not understand why you are eating an apple instead. You have to give it time and let your body get used to apples! So try to keep your diet healthy throughout the year. Yes you can eat twinkies sometimes, but allow your body to extract the goodness from fruits everyday…that will keep your blood sugar regulated, and you will not feel lightheaded or tired
2. Keep snacking. Nuts, berries, apricots, raisins, yogurt….eat something small every three hours! Again, it keeps your blood sugar and energy constant.
3. Try to cut back on coffee. If you must have coffee, go with decaf. Cappuccinos and lattes are the devil. Instead, ask them to fill half your cup with milk and top it with decaf coffee and very little sugar. Or try teas. They keep your stomach feeling like it’s full.
4. Do sleep. Eight hours, ten hours, whatever is normal for you. There is nothing as important as getting your daily sleep fix.
5. Drink a lot of water, Keep a bottle close at hand, and take a few sips every fifteen minutes.
6. Relax! Worrying will not make things go any smoother. Try meditation or yoga for a few minutes each day.
7. Exercise, for a few minutes each day. It helps bring up the motivation levels, clears out your head, and keeps your heart smiling (I mean pumping).
8. Do not skip meals. Even if you are a starver, you have to eat. Don’t let stress get in the way of your appetite. Your three main meals a day should be spaced out…and try to not look at a book while eating. A meal should be a way to wind down, treat yourself to something yummy, and not think!
9. Chew gum. It keeps your mouth busy and has very little or no calories.
10. Read Jessica Howard’s tips on how to eat during exams.

Best of luck!!

Happy Thanksgiving UeaTers!

There are so many reasons to celebrate this Thanksgiving: the leaves are turning into beautiful auburns and yellows, this is the first long weekend of the term, Nutrition Week is coming up, and….you can make a turkey dinner!!

We found these YouTube videos on how to make a turkey at home. We challenge you to try making a turkey dinner this long weekend…and send us the pictures!

Part 1

Part 2

 Part 3

Not as easy as you thought, huh? If you would rather look at a menu and order a turkey entrée, we have a shortcut to turkey dinner at home for you. Your nearest M&M meat shop has easy to bake turkeys, all set to be put in the oven. Give those a try.

And if you feel like turkey is still too difficult to make at home…it’s time you went home for Thanksgiving.

We hope you all have a wonderfully delicious Thanksgiving!

Remember our post about Bees on campus? Brian Hamlin’s bee hives were so successful last year, that he is expanding his project. A group of student volunteers (anybody is welcome to join) is setting up apiaries on campus, and some of the honey (and related products like beeswax candles) will be sold at the U of T Farmers’ Market!

Torontoist did an awesome write-up about bees in Toronto, and Brian Hamlin’s work. You can check it out here: TORONTO’S BLOOMING BUZZTROPOLIS.

If you want to see the video shot on a windy winter afternoon at the New College bee hives, click here for the original UeaT post.

If you would like to get in touch with the student volunteers, leave a comment here and we can email you the information.

Image courtesy of Torotoist.