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By: Emma Little
New year, new you, right? It’s hard to keep the resolution of eating healthy with all the unhealthy choices on campus – especially when you’re hungry! These are some of the best healthy snack options that you can find on campus, or off.
Fruit
Apples and berries make a great snack early in the day. They contain natural sugars and fast acting carbs. These will boost your energy and allow your body to burn off the sugars throughout the day. Fruit is a great way to snack healthy because it’s filling, nutritious and contains antioxidants.
Where: You can find fruit all over campus! Apples are the most commonly sold fruit. Berries are harder to find depending on the season but can be found at grocery stores.
Hummus
Hummus is a tasty snack, especially when dipping vegetables or crackers. Hummus is made from chickpeas, and contains those good-for-you carbohydrates. This combination of fibers and proteins help you feel full for longer. This makes it the perfect snack to get you through those long days of class and studying!
Where: Summer Fresh makes the perfect snack packs that come in a few different flavours with flatbread crackers. Summer Fresh packs are sold in most food stores on campus.
Plain Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is packed with protein, low in carbohydrates, has approximately half the amount of sodium than regular yogurts and contributes to the recommended amount of calcium per day. Plain yogurt is better than pre-flavoured varieties because it has a lot less sugar. Mix in some fresh berries, nuts or honey for added flavour.
Where: While you can’t easily find plain Greek yogurt on campus, there are a few Greek yogurt flavours sold across campus, including at Union Market. If you want to be healthier, try buying plain Greek yogurt at a grocery store.
Almonds & Trail Mix
Almonds are a top super snack because they are high in protein, packed with fiber, healthy fats and vitamin E. It only takes a handful to help you feel full, and helps you maintain a healthy weight. They are also great for your heart! Don’t eat too many, a handful is roughly the perfect amount. Try to find plain, unsalted mixes without chocolate and added sugars, or make your own!
Where: Trail mix packages can be bought at most food stores on campus, though plain almonds are harder to find. If you want plain almonds and trail mix you can buy large bags at large grocery stores.
Protein Bars
Protein bars are great and easy to take on the go, but there are many good and bad protein bars out there! If you are having one as a snack, there some important nutritional facts you should check before buying. Protein bars should have less than 200 calories, at least four grams of fiber and the protein should be at least half the amount of the bars carbohydrates. There is a lot of different advice out there for protein bars, so do your research for buying.
Where: The best type of protein bar at Union Market is Power Bar Protein Plus. You can find even better protein bars, such as Quest bars, off campus.
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By: Alon Coret
I usually spend holiday dinners with my girlfriend and her family. And of course on such occasions it is important to create good impressions, as well as partake in the specially prepared meal. From my experience, however, this often involves the consumption of meat.
The awkward thing is, I am vegetarian.
Wait. Pause. Why did I think of this as an “awkward” situation? I mean yeah, sure, I may be that slightly annoying guest who does not partake in the central component of the meal. But at the same time, Sarah (my girlfriend) and I have been dating for three years, and her family is not the type to take offence to such trivialities. There must be something else at play, and it took me a while to understand what exactly it is.
After pondering the issue some more, I realized that refusing meat is not about dinner table etiquette so much as it is about gender roles – at least, from my perspective. I have often been told that I “eat like a girl.” Sadly, my liking of quinoa, soy milk, and multigrain cereal is not helping my case. On date nights with Sarah, waiters often confuse our meals: “no, no, no. The steak is for her; I ordered the butternut squash quiche.” Moreover, Sarah’s father formerly served in the Canadian army, towers a good two or three inches above me (and I am already 6’2”), and can probably knock me out with one small punch. He also loves football; I can’t even name two players. Therefore, my choice of dinnertime veggies is the cherry on top of a deficient-in-masculine-gender-stereotypes-yet-needs-to-impress-girlfriend’s-father cake.
So here comes yet another question: why is it that food is gendered in this way? What makes steak and beer “male” foods, and what exactly is “feminine” about fruity drinks and chocolate cravings? And why is it that women outnumber men in meat-free diets – 2:1 among vegetarians and 4:1 among vegans?
A quick Google search came up with an answer I expected: it’s all about evolution. Men, who were traditionally hunters, have grown to see meat as a valued prize. Women, on the other hand, were more involved in gathering roles (e.g. grains, fruits), and thus prefer sweet tastes to bitter ones (strawberry daiquiri, anyone?). Another explanation has to do with protein intake requirements, which are somewhat higher in men than women (and meat is an obvious protein source).
These conjectures left me frustrated. They evoked biological reductionism, and reinforced the notion that we are living 21st-century lives in the bodies of hunter-gatherers. And, of course, they gave backing to the gender stereotypes associated with food – men prize meat, women like sweets. So, then, what does a vegetarian man say to himself? “Yeah, evolution dictates that I should consume meat…but evolution is SO passé. I am, like, post-evolution.” No. And how does a woman who likes traditionally male foods and beverages (e.g. steak, beer) affirm her femininity when our food culture encourages her to eat a zero-percent fat probiotic yogurt?
These are some good questions to which I currently lack answers. But I think that being conscious of the sociocultural context of our foods can help us make choices that step beyond the constraints of evolution and gender. So, whether you choose Turkey or Vurkey, I would like to wish you a wonderful holiday season.
Photo Credit: Levon Biss
Order: The Hawaiian ($15.00)
I was skeptical about the deliciousness of pineapple on a burger; however, this one pleasantly surprised me. The sweet and sour flavour of the pineapple, on top of cheddar, bacon, and ranch, added another dimension to the burger. At times, the pineapple was a bit overwhelming if it was a bite without a lot of other toppings, but for the most part, this burger satisfied my craving. Honourary mention also goes to The Ship for the best fries on this list.
Order: Greek Burger ($9.00)
As one of the few food trucks at the homecoming expo, it’s understandable that the vendor was overwhelmed. That doesn’t really account for the one hour wait time and the lack of tomatoes on my mediocre burger. The bun had potential, but wasn’t toasted and was too big for the patty. The patty itself was too charred and on the tough side. The ingredients for a good burger were present, but the execution was subpar given how much time they had to prepare the burger.
Order: Cheeseburger with sauteed mushroom ($6.80)
Hidden in the corner of Westdale, this micro-diner offers the best bang for your buck. There’s something deeply satisfying about a well done traditional burger with a fresh classic bun. There weren’t enough sautéed mushrooms and the wait time was long considering my friends and I were the only people there. Though not the best burger by any means, the nice atmosphere and friendly cashier made the experience quite enjoyable.
Order: Chipotle & Cheddar ($14.00)
The gourmet burger bar features different kinds of meat with intricate chef-inspired toppings. The Chipotle & Cheddar is an angus beef burger stuffed with chipotle peppers and cheddar, and topped with Vindaloo mayo, Chipotle mustard, cucumber, sprouts & pea tenders. The Vindaloo gave the burger dimension, but ultimately, the beef wasn’t as good as it had been in my previous visits. Overall, the surprising combination of vegetables mixed with a little bit of a sweet-spicy tang to it made it worth the while.
Order: Hot Magma ($14.90)
Despite being a chain, The Works has the charm of a local staple. The Jackson Square location boasts a temporary menu, here until Oct. 5. The menu called “Get Stuff ’d” features a variety of stuffed burgers including “Hot Magma” with jalapeños, banana peppers, and chipotle stuffed inside a beef burger topped with cream cheese, banana peppers, green onions, sriracha mayo, and an onion ring. The spicy kick isn’t overwhelming and everything in this burger is just perfect.
Order: Double cheeseburger with double cheese ($8.50)
When Pinks opened last year, it quickly became a Mac staple due to its proximity to campus and
its diner vibe. While the burger was cooked well, with the cheese between the patties melted to gooey perfection, the burger overall lacked a punch. Pink sauce (thankfully not actually pink), is a nice touch, but its subtle flavour is easily overwhelmed if your burger also has toppings with strong flavours like jalapenos.
By: Alex Liu
A new eatery on Barton Street is taking a unique approach to the restaurant business. 541 Eatery & Exchange, a registered charity, offers no meal priced above $5.00 and is staffed by 80% volunteers.
The restaurant, which opened in June, also serves as a safe space where people can meet to connect with each other and the community.
“We’re more than an eatery,” said Michael Bowyer, co-founder of 541 Eatery & Exchange. “We’re an exchange of ideas to empower people in the neighborhood.”
In a neighborhood without many alternatives other than fast food, 541 is a refreshing and welcome change, with over 360 customers served per day.
It took Bowyer’s team six years of planning and work to transform the idea behind the social enterprise into a reality. The eatery and exchange is now a sustainable not-for-profit business, buoyed by their pay-it-forward button bank system. At 541, these buttons are a form of currency, each valued at $1, which can be purchased from the cashiers and used by those who cannot afford food or drink.
“I love the concept of the things that they do here. If I don’t have money I can come in and take up to four buttons and get myself something to eat. When I do have money, I like to be able to hand that in and donate,” said Phil, a local resident and regular customer of 541. “This has been an uplift for the neighborhood. I wish that there was a little bit of this everywhere.”
541, as a registered charity, is also using its space as well as the proceeds from food sales to hold educational initiatives for the community. 541 manager Miranda Crockett explained that a homework club, health classes for mothers, and financial planning workshops are currently being developed. All of these initiatives are open to the public, regardless of people’s background.
For their volunteers, many of whom are regular customers, 541 also offers resume-building opportunities, comprising of culinary, custodial, and hospitality skills training.
Bowyer and his team believe that what they have done at 541 is a reproducible model, which they will share and facilitate with others.
“Organizations are realizing that we can do a for-benefit business, and make it sustainable. It’s working.”
By: Olivia Monardo
Fall is finally upon us, and there is no better way to welcome it than with this seasonal spaghetti squash dish. Not only is this recipe quick, healthy, and delicious, but it is the perfect way to rid your fridge of any leftover vegetables that have been hanging out since your last trip to the grocery store.
TwelveEighty: 4.5/5
For the record, we did not give TwelveEighty the best review because it is also operated by the MSU. To be completely honest, we unanimously agree that most of the food served there is pretty shitty (especially the shawarma, don’t ever order the shawarma). But somehow, beneath all that pseudo ethnic food and genetically modified chicken, they produce a stellar poutine that doesn’t even use cheese curds! I don’t know how they do it.
The Phoenix: 3.5/5
Their recent change to less burnt potatoes really made a difference, and their poutine is exceptionally better than it was last year. Their pulled pork poutine still resembles excrements, but their gravy is bountiful and tasty.
La Piazza: 3/5
A reasonable option for meal card users, but take note: for some weird reason their cheese curds never melt…
Basilique: 3.5/5
Overall, not a bad choice. Not really what you would expect to order when walking into a Mediterranean restaurant, but their fries are fresh, their gravy homemade, and their portions generous.
Snooty Fox 4/5
Really generous with the curd and the gravy, this poutine hosts a nice balance of the dish’s three main elements. It is also HUGE (both a good and bad thing).
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West End 3/5
Sort of soggy, but mostly because they’re kind of slow with moving food from the kitchen to the table. A little skimpy with the curd, but definitely not a bad order.
Emerson Pub 2/5
Emerson Pub needs to follow in the footsteps of The Phoenix and ditch the weirdly burnt, day-old fry style they’ve got going on. Grimy fries is not helping to improve your cold and damp atmosphere.
Wimpy’s 3/5
Their dish is lacking in the gravy department, but their thick cut fries are still super filling. They also deliver in the wee hours of the morn’, so bonus points for that. Just remember, they only take cash.
Charred 3/5
Adding a hint of unique flavor, Charred serves their poutine with a douse of piri piri sauce. Not recommended for those who favour a more classic version of the pub fare, but definitely something unique to try.
The West Town 3.5/5
A really well-sized portion, West Town’s poutine is served with near wedge-like fries and a hearty dose of gravy and curd. An all-around favoruite.
Smoke’s 2.5/5
You have to be drunkenly stumbling through Hess to crave this poutine, especially seeing as their gravy is super salty and overloaded with peppercorns. Not everyone likes peppercorns, Smokes, make those a separate topping.
Miranda Babbitt
Assistant LifeStyle Editor
My love of takeout/delivery/surprise boxes of Chinese food on my dinner table really knows no bounds. I could be at rock bottom – wallowing in my own inability to drive to a restaurant for an evening of solitary sophistication and pouting at the fact that my culinary skills are at the illustrious level of fried egg sandwiches – but takeout resolves my self-pity as soon as I hear that knock on my front door. When I hear restaurant quality food knocking at my door, it’s like hearing the ice cream truck circling around my block. I leap down those stairs and whip open that door… delicately, yes, so as to not knock out my kind deliveryman.
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But alas, the notion of stuffing your mouth with fried rice is not quite as glamorous as actually attending a restaurant. Most likely because you can’t stuff your mouth to the same extent as you could on the couch, or at least with as much ferocity. When you’re seated in a booth or table, and displayed to the grand public, eating tends to slow down. Mouths tend to stay closed instead of instinctively remarking on the hilarity of Kim Kardashian’s voice (just saying).
The whole atmosphere of a restaurant changes the eating experience. You won’t eat the same way at home. Of course, you are being literally served as though you have a smidge of royalty in you, and you can leave with clean hands as the dishes are left to the dishwashers. And then you can return home with a satisfied tummy and collapse on the beloved couch.
Granted, going out is awesome. Everyone loves a good night on the town, especially with good food. But some nights, that’s just not in the equation. How do you bring the same atmosphere right into your own humble abode? Well, LifeStyle has a few ideas for you.
First up, and please take this one seriously, light some candles. I know, I know, that’s just asking for a night of cheese, right? Wrong! Candles are more than just a staple in romantic comedy date nights. They infuse the whole evening with that sense of intrigue and luxury that can generally just be reserved for the swanky tables down in the city. And scented candles are just generally a girl’s dream come true, if you have them handy. (Can’t tell you how many nights of boring studying have been saved by a single, fragrant candle. I do live in the eighteenth century, yes.)
Okay, now that we have that romantic lighting, even if the intention of the night is the furthest thing from starting a romance, let’s delve into how our dining table looks. Your table can be the cheapest thing from IKEA, but will still be transformed with a) the right tablecloth, b) the right flatware, and c) the right serving plates.
If you’re super gung-ho about trying to make this night different than the rest of them, try taking a bed sheet and draping it over the edges rather than your stained tablecloth. You won’t notice the longer edges, and it makes a very clean/potentially hilarious table setting (miniature dog and cat patterns gracing the table is a new fad in high end restaurants, I’m telling you). Also, don’t forget the existence of a washing machine if you’re concerned with soy sauce getting on the sheets you sleep in every night. After the night has come to a close, pop it in the washer and you’ll never know the difference.
Bring out the best damn plates you own. It might feel silly eating on these china plates your mum randomly gave you the last time you came back from home, but do it. Tonight’s the night. At the very least, look for your cleanest plates.
Now immediately transfer all the delicious goodies from inside the delivery cartons into serving plates and dishes. This will make it just like if you had a waiter come in, gracefully serve the food you ordered, and vanish into thin air. The magic of this night is simply endless.
Hold up, aren’t we missing something? You’re absolutely right! Music! Set the mood, whatever that may be, with the sweetest of melodies. Ever think that the music of choice at a restaurant is just too much? Sometimes the most sophisticated of joints can just mind boggle me with their music. Taylor Swift is never okay! Reserved for all-girl car rides, okay? Okay.
Once the night is nearing a close, don’t rush it! Just because you’re eating at home, doesn’t mean this experience needs to be painfully cut short. Sit in the enjoyable company of your friends and sip on your beverage while pondering who will inevitably end up doing the dishes. Actually, resist that line of thinking. Ponder who would win in the Hunger Games if you were all entered. Much less somber than contemplating who’s getting their hands dirty.
Whoever loses the Hunger Games should do the dishes. Survival of the fittest prevails in every situation. Or, if you’re really friends, then migrating over to the sink together with the tunes still going couldn’t sound that bad.
Good friends, good food, good music. No matter where you are, that sounds like a pretty pleasant night to me.
Emma Suschkov and Emily Power
The Silhouette
Right in time for Valentine's Day, a couple of McMaster's students by day and cupcake connoisseurs by night (or just all the time) have scoured Hamilton's cupcake scene. Here they delivering some honest reviews before you spend your precious money on someone (hopefully) more precious.
1.Weil’s of Westdale, 981 King St. W.
Price: $2.70
Type: Red velvet
What we chose: Red velvet cake with vanilla icing.
What we thought: Had a lot of icing, which can be lovely but it tasted kind of generic. The cake was indeed moist but not very flavourful.
Rating: 3.5/5
2.Cupcakes of Westdale Village, 1050 King St. W.
Price: $2.50 ($2.00 on Tuesdays)
Type: Lemon drop
What we chose: Vanilla cake with lemon icing and lemon curd filling.
What we thought: The cake was very moist. The lemon curd was very sour, and the icing very sweet and excessively loaded on. All in all, the flavours were a little overwhelming.
Rating: 3/5
3.Bitten on Locke, 219 Locke St. S.
Price: $3.15
Type: Mint chocolate
What we chose: Mint icing on chocolate cake with a bit of mint Aero bar on top and chocolate drizzle.
What we thought: Just the right amount of icing (perfect cake-to-icing ratio, a delicate matter). Moist and delicious cake. And the metaphorical cherry on top was the adorable presentation!
Rating: 5/5
If you’re longing for the flavours of the summer months but are too fearful of the cold to venture towards the barbeque, this hybrid recipe combines the best of warm weather tastes and cold weather coping strategies. Let this taco soup warm the cockles of your heart and reminisce on the ghosts of summers past.
Ingredients:
- Roughly 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 of a yellow onion
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you can find these in your canned food aisle; they look super gross, but are delicious)
- A pinch of cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
- 1 can black beans (or bean medley, up to you), rinsed
- ½ avocado
- Corn chips or corn tortilla
Directions:
- In a medium-sized pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat
- Finely chop the onion and bell pepper, and sauté in the oil; season with cumin, salt and pepper
- Once the onions have softened add in the chopped chipotle peppers
- Now add in the stock and rinsed beans and continue to cook until warmed through
- Top with avocado and corn chips (or panfry your own corn tortillas cut in small strips). Serves 2.
Ana Qarri
The Silhouette
Friday, Jan. 24 marked the grand opening of Hamilton’s first community-owned grocery store.
The Mustard Seed, located on 460 York Boulevard, offers an alternative to student favourites like Fortinos and Metro. Along with typical grocery products, the co-op will focus on selling local and organic food. A user-owned grocery store, The Mustard Seed allows its shoppers to have control over how their grocery store is managed and maintained. To become shareholders, shoppers purchase memberships which are sold per household, but are not mandatory to shop at the co-op. Having a membership gives the household voting rights on decisions like where the co-op’s produce is purchased, and the impact that the co-op wants to have on the larger issues.
Co-operative grocery stores were commonplace in the late 1800s until World War II. The emergence of capitalism led to fewer co-ops being established and a larger focus on privatized for-profit companies. The influence of the co-op on bigger private firms can still be identified in branding and marketing techniques often attempting to capitalize on the image of the community member you’re well acquainted with, or the local farmer you can trust. Over the last few decades, there’s been a resurgence of co-ops as community members have begun to recognize the need for healthier food and the importance of supporting locally-owned businesses.
The idea of establishing a co-operative grocery store in Hamilton came to business-owners Emma and Graham Cubitt when they visited one in Vermont, and were convinced that a co-operative could be an equally successful undertaking in Hamilton.
Emma and Graham had been sitting on the idea of opening a co-op in Hamilton since 2010, and eventually gathered a group of approximately 40 supporters and volunteers to help them in making it a reality. As of Friday, the community-owned store had over 1,250 registered members with the number still increasing.
The Mustard Seed is not only owned by the community, but it was also built by a group of more than 200 volunteers. They painted walls, installed shelves, cleaned floors, and together built Hamilton’s first community-owned and community-made grocery store.
It has a modest size for a store that plans to serve thousands of costumers, but the warm colours and the rural chic interior design give it an open and welcoming vibe.
I visited the store on its second day of operations. Even though the weather was dismal and I myself considered not leaving my house, The Mustard Seed was buzzing with costumers, staff members and volunteers.
I was even greeted at the automatic door (which had broken earlier that morning) by a friendly face who had taken on the role of makeshift door-slider. Graham invited me to talk about the collective idea and vision behind The Mustard Seed.
He describes the co-op as a “democratic business model.”
“In other companies, some people purchase more shares so they have more votes,” he explained. “Whereas at co-ops like The Mustard Seed, everyone is given equal shareholder participation and status. Here, we make decisions as a business together,” Graham added.
“Every year, we’ll have a general meeting, and make a vision of how our co-op operates, how we want to impact our community.”
It’s the direct consumer engagement with the store that makes it an appealing business model in a society where companies are always trying to find ways to “connect” with their buyers. The Mustard Seed is committed to its customers and its customers are committed to its vision.
The store isn’t only making locally and environmentally-conscious decisions about food. The majority of the resources used to build and maintain the space are equally supportive of Hamilton’s businesses and initiatives. Everything from the staff uniforms to the music played at the store comes from local places and local people.
The Mustard Seed is the perfect place for students to become more engaged with the Hamilton community. It provides opportunities to volunteer for a community organization, as well as be part of decision-making processes about the well-being and direction of many local initiatives. The co-op promises to be a great contact point between students and the greater community. Graham stated that he’s already seen some student involvement in the building and opening of the co-op, and he would love to see more in the future.
“We’d love for students to be involved, we know they’re only here for a period of time, but volunteering or shopping at the co-op can be a great way to get integrated to the community locally. We also hope our products will be affordable options for students.”
The Mustard Seed has planted itself in downtown Hamilton at a crucial and almost strategic time in the city’s rebirth. Although Hamilton’s steel-producing years are behind it, the city is slowly transforming into a hub for artists and innovators where support for local organizations is becoming the norm. In a city that’s redefining itself by encouraging local groups to create local solutions for local people, a grocery store co-op seems like a natural next step, combining collective control over healthy and local food options with Hamilton’s community-driven business models.
