Food – Page 5 – Life @ U of T

My Dates with Myself

I'm think I am an introvert, I probably always have been. I try not to shy away from it anymore because I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Also, I think a lot of people misunderstand what introversion means. It can mean "a shy person" but I like to think that the psychological definition of introversion is much more relevant:

"a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings"

This makes a lot more sense to me; I'm not a quite person because I have nothing to say or I'm scared to say it but more so because I'm taking everyone's inputs in and assessing my own thoughts first. I'm the kind of person who doesn't need to have other people around in order to feel happy, energized or active. I'm perfectly content spending a weekend with myself, just going about daily life and reading a book or two (or 10). I like listening to my music and staring into space (or simply staring into space).

View of Huron Street from Sid Smith Lounge — Chilling in the Sid Smith Lounge and "people-watching" (a fancy term for staring into space)

The Rocky Road to Healthy Eating

This summer, I was enrolled in full-time classes. I would be on campus several days a week from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.. As a commuter, unwilling to burden myself with more heavy things to carry, I bought pasta every day for lunch. By September, I had twelve dollars left in my bank account. It hadn't taken me long into first-year to realize that I often had to choose between healthy eating and cheap eating. Loaded with extracurriculars, my days spanned twelve hours; I would subsist off snacks, water, or cave in and buy a sandwich or pasta. When I first discovered food trucks, I had been delighted -- finally, a filling meal for under five dollars! But I soon realized that each poutine -- however cheap, hearty, and delicious -- made my body feel bloated and uncomfortable for hours afterwards.

Reconnecting at the Hart House $5 Lunch

Between classes, Orientation week, and illness, I hadn't gotten a chance to hang out with my best friend Julie for weeks. Our lunch dates kept getting postponed, so I was pleasantly surprised when I mentioned going to the $5 Hart House lunch yesterday and her schedule lined up. We met outside the Great Hall just after 1 p.m., and although the lunch was set to end at 2 p.m., there was still a large line-up of students and plenty of food. Both of us took the vegetarian option -- Greek salad, pita, rice, and a wonderful main of baked eggplant and lentils -- although the lemon-oregano chicken sounded delicious as well. The three-course meal felt so refreshing, particularly since healthy inexpensive food is so difficult to find on campus. It left me full, but not at all bloated or uncomfortable as food truck lunches usually do.

7 Days of Summer

September brings out all sorts of feels in the student body. If you’re like me, just the anticipation of the first week of September takes out way more energy than when I’m actually living it. The only thing that can take my mind off of the anxiety/excitement is trying to enjoy my last week of freedom. Ah, August. You’re the Sunday night of summer; I hate that you’re here but at least I can use you to do the fun, summer things I promised myself I would do this time around. Let’s take a look at how I spent my last full week of August, shall we?

One Love #ColourROMProud

One Love! One Heart! Let's get together and feel all right…what up Bob Marley reference!? What do you get when you combine the magical power of a rainbow with a 100,000 square foot crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum?

Summer is Here!

If you have been down Augusta Ave. recently, you may have come across a flashy marquée that reads “Wrestlers” and wondered, “Hmm…what is that?”. No, it is not an underground fight club I assure you!

The Start of a Great Journey!

Picture of yours truly with my archaeological finding! — Oh, the excitement of our first discovery at the Drawsko site in Poland! Credit: Danielle Donnelly

Hey there! My name is Meimei and I’m excited to join this AWESOME group of Life @ U of T bloggers for the upcoming school year. I am SUPER EXCITED to blog about our awesome university and events that take place on-campus! And of course share my experiences at U of T with you! Yay! As this is my first blog post of the year, a brief introduction is in order! You can learn more about me and my fellow bloggers if you click on the Crew tab – go ahead, you won’t regret it!

Calling All Veggie Lovers!

Lettuce delve into the wonderful world of vegetarian food on campus! Olive these radishing meals are sure to beet your hunger pains and squash your bad mood. If you carrot all for what I’m dishing out, peas continue reading! Phew! Okay, now that I have reached my self-imposed pun quota for the day, let’s begin!

Veda

There are two Veda locations on campus; there’s one in the Multifaith Centre and one in Sandford Fleming. This is by far one of my favourite places to grab a bite between classes. They’re dedicated to serving healthy and delicious Indian food. All of their curries are nut-free and gluten-free, and they have a good variety of vegetarian and vegan options.

Last time I went, I had a small curry bowl combo, which costs $10.25. I got to choose two curries and one type of rice, I got three pakoras on the side, and I got an apple juice. The portions are huge—definitely enough to take some home and eat later—and I really love the taste. They’re one of the only places in the city that I know of that serves butter tofu, which is SO DELICIOUS!

The Green Beet

This adorable gem is located in the basement of Gerstein. It gets quite crowded at peak times, but it is definitely worth it. They have a great variety of all-vegetarian fare, and lots of vegan options too. Last time I went, I got a delicious veggie lasagna. It was creamy and cheesy and just generally yummy and it came with a side salad tossed in sweet balsamic vinaigrette. My meal cost $6.66.

Take a 100 Meal Journey!

Hiya! On Monday evening I attended a workshop focused around my favourite topic of all time: food. (I have Italian origins and I can quite happily discuss food forever). The workshop was hosted by a UofT Dietician on behalf of the Dieticians of Canada, to celebrate March as Nutrition Month. The title,100 Meal Journey, represents the average number of meals that one person will eat in a month. The workshop focused on goal setting and planning to create small changes in eating habits that make a big difference over 100 meals.

100 meals — The idea is that the journey is broken up into weekly tasks, but it is not too late to join. You can make a pledge and dieticians will send you motivational tips on how to achieve your goal.

Happy Nutrition Month!

The month of March brings with it many things:

Midterms
Papers
Movie releases (London Has Fallen comes out tomorrow (sequel to Olympus Has Fallen), I’m excited but also skeptical… then again, how bad can a Gerard Butler-starring film really be?)
Warmer weather (hopefully!) AND
Nutrition Month!

Registered Dietitians of Canada celebrate Nutrition Month every March. This year, they’re encouraging Canadians to take a 100-meal journey over the course of March, focusing each week on a new goal such as making quality food decisions and being aware of portion sizes.

Tag: Food (page 5)