This soup is my favourite of all the soups I’ve made. Its especially wonderful when you are sick as it seriously makes everything better. I have made some adjustments to this soup and have added a new ingredient recently thanks to a great friend who advised me to add this to make the soup more flavourful. This soup is super easy to make and does not require a lot of time. One thing I would like to mention is the fact that I am obsessed with my Bulgarian Savoury Mix that I put in everything. I don’t measure how much I add I just add a little at a time until it tastes the way I like it. So, play around with the ingredients, make it your own if you want Ingredients:
Instructions:
I think that adding the eggs made the meal more favourable. My son absolutely loves it and even calls it “Uncle Dom’s Soup” referring to his Godfather Domenic Zappia who encouraged me to try something new and add eggs in the soup. I usually make a big pot of this soup and freeze half of it, warming it up and having it when we are sick or just plain craving it.
2 Comments
Today I would like to talk about GMOs. Recently I did a lot of research about GMOs and the pros and cons of such food. Here's a bit of my research which I put together in an article.
Due to globalization and the vast development of technology in the last 20 years, the need for mass production of food, in particular, genetically modified foods, are becoming increasingly common throughout the world. Genetically modified foods are made by using biotechnology to modify and separate the genes (DNA) in plants and animals and then mix with the DNA of different species to produce more of the product. For example, corn is a crop that is being genetically modified and produced in large quantities. In Canada, four types of GM crops are locally grown and exported worldwide, and these include corn, sugar beet, canola, and soybean. Recent trends in food production have shown an increase in food sustenance such as reliance on high-protein meals and a decline in sugar intake. This is due to the fact that more and more people are interested in leading a healthier lifestyle. However, are GMO’s healthy or not? Before we can answer this question, let’s look at the history of GMOs. First, GMOs were developed in the 80’s and their purpose was to create medicine and other DNA cells to help fight and control diseases. For example, in 1982, genetically modified DNA was used to create insulin (a hormone in the body that controls sugar in the blood) for people with diabetes or high sugar levels. Initially, scientists created GMOs to better understand what they can do with the DNA and how they can solve health problems worldwide. The first GMO food was created in the 90s. At this time, scientists were unsure of the effects of consuming these crops but had a lot of positive things to say about the production of GMOs. For example, scientist believed that GMOs could be the answer to solving world hunger. A company called Monsanto developed GMO seeds and sold them worldwide to farmers. Monsanto has become so powerful that in the United States, farmers are required to grow their GMO seeds and if they choose not to, they could be sued. On the other hand, tons of research shows that GMO’s are not healthy and could cause several negative effects on people’s well-being. According to Perkins (2015), GM foods may potentially be very harmful to whoever consumes them. For example, GM foods can cause antibiotic resistance resulting in certain medication to no longer be useful or helpful to people. As an example, a lot of genetically modified foods are filled with antibiotics to help them grow and maintain longer than non-GMO foods. Over-use of such antibiotics and constant spraying of pesticides has been linked with cancer. Another negative effect of GM foods is cross-contamination, meaning that certain types of genes can be transmitted (passed on to) from one plant to another, causing a mix-up between the purity of plants. When cross-contamination occurs, the original plants are affected in a way that they no longer are able to reproduce with the original cells in the plant. So what happens is a mixture of plant cells passing on and integrating cells from other plants causing the new plant to lose its authenticity. The mixing of genes can generate new allergens, pollutants, carcinogens (poisons), and nutritional deficiencies (Smith, 2011). The long term effects of cross-contamination are toxic. For example, today’s world is constantly faced with new illnesses, new allergies, and new forms of diseases caused by certain insects and birds. Smith (2011) explained that the use of herbicides in GM crops can affect birds, insects, soil organisms, and marine life by disrupting their original form. Studies also show that the bee population has declined because of the herbicides/pesticides they use to spray the GMO crops. This brings us to the third issue with GM foods: the use of pesticides/herbicides. For decades, farmers have struggled with pests, and hundreds of years ago, Chinese farmers started using led and arsenic to kill the pests. Chemicals used for war started to be used to create pesticides. In 1945 200 million pounds of pesticides were used and by 2000 5.1 billion pounds were used. Farmers are using synthetic pesticides/herbicides which cause adverse health effects. Pesticides are used in agriculture to keep insects away from the plants and are also used to keep bugs such as mosquitos away from our skin (Hsaio, 2015). Monsanto developed “Round-up Ready,” a genetically modified crop which is resistant to herbicide. This company also created a herbicide called Roundup to kill all the weeds growing around the crops. Roundup ready crops produced their own pesticide and be resistant to bugs, however, the weeds that were killed eventually became resistant to the pesticide and grew stronger versions of the weed. Bugs have also become resistant and some super bugs have also become reliant on the BT plants to feed themselves. Studies have shown that the chemicals inside pesticides have negative effects on people’s health by posing risks such as poisoning, diabetes, cancer, infertility in women, and neurological defects. For example, long exposure to pesticides can cause some neurological defects such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. The component that makes up the commonly used herbicide “glyphosphate” is a poison which can cause serious illnesses when exposed to it for a long time. Some weeds that have become resistant to the herbicide have produced other weeds which are not able to die, requiring farmers to use more and more stronger herbicides. As we know, stronger doses mean more chemicals, which equals to more health effects (Hsaio, 2015). A documentary called “GMO OMG” showed that organic corn crops actually produce 31% more crops than conventional farming methods such as GMO crops. In fact, farmers believe that the world cannot be fed with GMO food, instead, the answer is organic crops. The world is now at the point where farmers are having a hard time not using gene modification to grow crops. So much of the original crops have been lost on the planet that it’s devastating and in the long run, no more original crops will remain. Loss of diversity threatens people’s survival on the planet. Even rainbow trout and other fish are now genetically modified because of the feed that they are fed which is created with soy and other genetically modified products. (Seifert) A huge issue in the United States is that none of the food is labeled genetically modified and so people are not aware of what they are eating. Thousands of people in different states in the USA have requested that GMOs be labeled but the governors were unable to create a law that would require this to happen because of Monsanto-the biggest GMO seed producer in the world, has threatened to sue the states if they go ahead with this law. Meat and dairy remain unlabeled. Even though GMOs lower nutrition, can make a non toxic crop become toxic, and destroy biodiversity, GMO foods in the USA remain unlabeled. The government controls what happens and what food is produced even if the food is not safe…the reason for this is because the government makes tons of money off of GMOs. It’s all about the money. Crops are genetically modified to put more money in the corporate people’s pockets. Powerful institutions are protected by the government and one of these is Monsanto. Many people are working together to save the original seeds of crops and thus a company called “Svalbard Global Seed Vault” created a special vault that collects all the seeds from different countries around the world and its purpose is to save these seeds so that crops do not become extinct. In Norway, GMOs are not allowed and the citizens are told that GMOs are dangerous to people’s health and must not be consumed. In France, Dr. Saralini conducted a toxilogical study of GMOs for two years and tested “Round-up”, what he found was devastating. Liver disease, kidney disease, and tumors were present in all the rats fed with the Round-up products. Russa banned American GMO seeds after a study showed that these crops pose a cancer risk. In Peru a ten year ban against GMOs has been granted. Poland banned GMO corn and potatoes. Finally, with all the genetically modified food we are consuming, it is no wonder so many new types of cancers and diseases are becoming present in our lives. Genetically modified food debates have caused people worldwide to question what they’re eating. Scientists in Europe have studied the effects of Monsanto’s “Round-up” products and have found devastating outcomes, resulting in all of Europe banning GMO seeds. Still, problems remain as Monsanto continues to work with the government of the United States in the hopes of “feeding the world,” and making money. Unfortunately, many innocent people are suffering and will continue to suffer in the future if GMO foods are not labeled and countries don’t start following Europe in regards to what is allowed and now allowed on their plates. References 10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs – Institute for Responsible Technology. (2011, August 25). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://responsibletechnology.org/10-reasons-to-avoid-gmos/ GMO Timeline: A History of Genetically Modified Foods – GMO Inside. (2013, March 10). Retrieved July 03, 2016, from http://gmoinside.org/gmo-timeline-a-history-genetically-modified-foods/ GMOs and Pesticides: Helpful or Harmful? – Science in the News. (2015, August 10). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/gmos-and-pesticides/ Risks & Side Effects of Genetically Modified Food. (2015, May 31). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/417880-risks-side-effects-of-genetically-modified-food/ Seifert. J., Latiano. J., & Kunau. J. (2013). GMO OMG (Motion Picture). USA: Compeller Pictures. The other day I got an idea and decided to make something out of nothing. I had some red onion, rice, lentils, asparagus, carrots, broccoli and zucchini. I had to run to the store and grab some chicken drum sticks. I bought 2 packs of 5 and headed home. This recipe was just made up. I didn’t follow any specific recipe and used my own ingredients. I found it took me about an hour to cook the whole meal. ***I made most of the dishes separately then added them onto one plate. Ingredients for the Veggies:
Ingredients for the Chicken Drumsticks:
Rice & Lentils:
After all this hard work, I ate and really enjoyed it with a glass of wine Happy cooking!
|
My VisionI enjoy the simple pleasures of cooking. I combine healthy recipes and ethnic spices to create outstanding dishes everyone will love. Categories |