As I was starting to write my final paper for Psychology class, I came across an interesting amount of cleansing and detoxing diets that I did not even think were possible. We often hear these words but don’t really know what they mean and why we proceed to follow them. The claim that I came across that I believed to be extremely interesting is the 3-Day Apple Detox. Although this is not my topic for my paper, I thought it would be interesting to talk about.

Apple’s are said to be one of the best foods for you because of their numerous sources of nutritional value. As the saying goes “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, well, what about 3 days of just apple eating? This detox plan is said to flush your system, giving your digestive system a break so that a person’s body can repair itself. This detox goes beyond just a thin, lean look. It is scientifically proven to be beneficially for your body.

The process is more simple than most detoxes. Although the name of the detox is the 3-Day Apple Detox, it actually takes 7 days. The first two days is spent preparing by eating a lot of greens (vegetables, salad etc.) as well as fruits. Next, the 3-Day Apple detox comes in where all you do is consume as many apples as you want. The only other thing you have to do is drink plenty of water. The last 2 days are transitioning back into normal eating habits similar to the first two days of the diet plan. Essentially, this diet plan resets your metabolism and benefits a persons body tremendously!

At least once a week, my soccer friends and I take a trip to Adrienne’s Pizza-bar in New York. Adrienne’s Pizza-bar is located on 54 Stone Street in New York and it’s a casual pizza bar with thin-crust pies and they also provide an outdoor seating area on historic, cobbled Stone Street. As beautiful as the scenery is outside, it has been too cold to sit out there so we go inside and it’s just as beautiful inside then it is outside.

Adrienne’s is a very small pizzeria with hardworking employees that get your food out as quick as possible and make sure everything is good. The outside of Adrienne’s is very busy and is always filled with people and there are tents and lights set up for people to sit at and eat outside. The inside is very laid back and relaxing with low lights and high tables and chairs. I really enjoy eating here just because it is such a comfortable setting and the also because the food is so irresistible.

Adrienne’s is best known for its brick over pizza, but also has fantastic Italian food. My team and I usually order two pizza pies, one pepperoni and one plain. They come out in a rectangular pan, steaming because they had just came out of the oven. The pizza is probably the best pizza I have ever eaten, and my team thinks the same. The pizza comes out and it’s cooked just right, the cheese is stringy, the bread is fluffy and the sauce is like no other. My team and I enjoy Adrienne’s Pizza-bar so much that we come eat here at least once a week. We try to break up the school week by going out together and getting a nice slice of pizza. Every time I go to Adrienne’s, I make sure I go with an empty stomach because I always leave extremely full.

I highly suggest Adrienne’s Pizza-bar to anyone that likes pizza because I usually don’t like pizza that much, but this pizza is life changing. It will make you want to come back all the time and get more because it is that good.

Always having a catering business, my family and I have never been home for Thanksgiving. Every Thanksgiving, my parents are up all night preparing turkeys, and setting up the store for the incoming rush the next day. I began staying up all night helping my parents, starting in the fifth grade setting up the bakery, and making sure everything runs smoothly in the morning.  By the time we got home from work, it would be 7pm Thanksgiving Day, and we all went right to bed, being up 48 hours, exhausted, overworked, and sore from running around like crazy people

We never had a Thanksgiving tradition nor did we cook our own dinner (the store normally prepared us our meal). Some might think we had it easy (a delicious meal prepared for us), but I feel that we have suffered a great loss of not being able to create our own meal, and create traditions that will last a life time. This year, is the first year we will be home all day (of course not me, because I will be at work) to cook our own meal, and spend the day with one another.

For the past two weeks, my family and I have been trying to figure out what we should do for the holiday. Should we visit Grandma? Should we eat at our house? Should we go to my Uncle’s house?  Surprisingly, Saturday, my family and I were invited to my boyfriend, Dominick’s house for Thanksgiving. Every year, since Dominick’s parents bought their house, they have hosted Thanksgiving. I can’t think of a better family to show us what Thanksgiving should be like. Every year their whole family, immediate and extended, gather at his house, eat, watch football, build gingerbread houses, and just share the day together. I can’t wait to be apart of their tradition (and eat all of the delicious food). I am thankful for having my wonderful family, and now getting to share Thanksgiving with both my family and the wonderful people we have met, and now consider family as well.

During my first visit with Omar, my mentee from Port Richmond, I was delightfully excited to learn about his food culture. I was surprised how passionate his family and he was about the foods that they eat, and how selective they are about where they get their food from. I learned that Omar is Muslim and cooks primarily with a Muslim influence. He eats a lot of steak, and rice, and teaches other students in his culinary class what he eats and how he makes it. I was surprised at Omar’s enthusiasm and willingness to try different foods out of his food culture. He learned that I was Italian, and shared with me that his Mom cooks spaghetti frequently, although it has a Muslim twist. He shared that his Mom uses unconventional spices (he didn’t say which) that I wouldn’t be accustomed to in my spaghetti. He also shared that would like to own a restaurant after college, and plans on majoring in business in college. I was delighted to hear that he plans on further his education after high school.

I assumed that Omar learned his cooking techniques in his culinary class, but I was wrong.  Omar teaches most of the students in his culinary class his techniques. He talked about making stew and steak in his classes, but prefers to cook outside of class, where he can infuse his Muslim spices, and special ingredients into the food.

Omar is a determined young adult, and I hope he is as successful as he is working towards. I loved hearing about his family, the way his family and he eat, and his cooking techniques. I can not wait to observe him in his culinary class.

Every week I travel to Port Richmond High school, where I meet with my mentee in her cooking class. The class cooks new dishes each week. Friday, the day I usually go is eating day. The children finally get to eat the dish they have been preparing all week. We are allowed to try the foods too but I never do. Last week they made some type of eggplant dish.

I didn’t really know what was in it so i didn’t try it. I don’t usually try foods unless I know everything that was put into it. Like we leaned in class I have neophobia. I just can’t get myself to try new things. I see all my peers trying it and they say it is really good, but for some reason I will not eat it. It doesn’t matter how many people  I see trying it, I cannot get myself to eat it.This has become a big problem because I eat the same almost everyday and I don’t open myself up to the different varieties of food that there are. I hope one day ill become brave enough to try different things and open up my food preferences.

Despite being on the subway every other day in Manhattan, I still haven’t developed that “New Yorker look,” as I like to call it. They’re the people on the subway, looking down at their feet or their phones if on a line that has cell service, not making eye contact with anyone around them. I have a tendency to look around a lot and survey my surroundings, which I believe to be a positive thing, and I constantly read those ads sitting above people’s heads. The other day an ad caught my eye for boxed.com.

Boxed.com is like Costco but online, selling wholesale products for surprisingly similar if not identical prices as Costco’s. They actually buy their products from Costco and are a subsidy of Costco. It was started 2 years ago, and it’s been doing relatively well.

One thing I immediately noticed browsing boxed.com’s website is the absence of fruits and vegetables. There are multiple “aisles” to “walk down” and one thing among these categories is “fruit and nuts,” but it is only filled with fruit cups and dried fruits. This could be a fairly obvious solution to food deserts, since wholesale is the cheapest way to buy food. They also offer cleaning, health, beauty, pet, and office supplies, and a lot more of it, mimicking Amazon’s supermarket.

Boxed.com ships anywhere in the US and costs $5.99-$9.99, depending on the size of your order and where you ship it. And your first order ships free. In part of New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Atlanta Boxed Express is offered, where the user chooses a time and a “shopper” will go to the local Costco for you and bring them. Even better, it’s free for orders over $75, and personally my family never goes to Costco without spending at least $150. Compared to the prices of the Costco membership, these shipping costs are pretty minuscule if you only buy groceries once a month. There’s even a mobile app and SO many Retail Me Not coupons, and reward points that are redeemed for coupons. Although, EBT and food stamps are not offered “at this time,” but that probably means they’re looking into it.

Boxed.com could be a relatively simple solution to food deserts, especially since Boxed Express could expand into more areas soon. Boxed.com would probably do best by offering a membership for free shipping, and we can hope they can accept food stamps soon.