Socrates Cafe – Kelly Milano, DC Student

A Year Later

On January 11, 2010 Socrates Café officially opened for business. For those who have been around for a while and remember the old café with its greasy food, and its dingy, outdated interior, the new café came as a very welcomed campus addition. It gave students a well-lit, updated atmosphere with better food options and much more space. A year later, the café is thriving. Quite often throughout the day it is hard to find a spot to sit as the entire café is full. The patio has become a place where drum circles entertain on sunny days. The evenings are a perfect place to study, with the sounds of the water and the glow of the firepit light the night.

The 28,000 square feet of open space with indoor and outdoor seating, now employs 12 staff members plus some temporary help for the bigger events or for when people are on vacation. Run by Bon Appetit, whose company logo is “Food Services for a Sustainable Future,” the café boasts quality foods created from scratch as much as possible. According to their website, “Bon Appetite Management Company has become a model for what is possible in sustainable food service.” They were the first food service company to address the issues related to where and how the food is grown. In January, Bon Appetit reached its goal of contracting 1,000 ‘farm to fork’ farmers, a company initiative to buy locally.

Another aspect of Bon Appetit, Socrates Café and Life Univeristy is their commitment to recycling. Ron Williams, Assistant to the Executive Chef, is an avid recycler. He states that he first began recycling in 1994 in the workplace and it quickly became something he loves. Not only does he oversee the recycling done by the café, he also is actively involved in the recycling around campus. According to Williams, the school boasts a Somat machine in the café that recycles most of the material thrown into the garbage cans. (www.somatcompany.com) He states that the machine is able to mulch the plates, boxes, papers and leftover food into a useable mulch that is used throughout campus in the plants and trees. The garbage in the cans is sorted through and separated out daily, pushed down a conveyor type belt and into the machine where it is rotated at a high heat overnight. The heat dries out the materials and breaks them down into a sandy type composition that is put into the plants around campus. The Somat machine is able to decrease the waste produced by 50%, saving not only money, (up to $800 a month from the recycling companies alone,) but also to help do Life’s share in conserving energy and the environment. The machine is NOT currently able to process the cups and silverware used on campus, as it tends to jam the machine so to best recycle these items, put them in the blue recycling bins located near the garbage cans. There are also 35 new containers around campus for recycling of aluminum and plastic.

One issue that students have had with Socrates is that it closes down to convert the menu from breakfast to lunch. According to Williams, this time is necessary due to the very limited space within the café. He states, “Every corner of the restaurant is breakfast and lunch. Every corner is turned out and turned over.” All of the oatmeal containers are switched out for soups. The fruit bar is completely turned over to salads. The danish and muffins need to be fully switched to deli and grill items. Every square inch needs to be replaced. Bon Appetit determined that the best way to handle the transition is for a shut down during a not busy time, to help avoid risk and accidents and to make the transition as smooth as possible. During that time, Plato to Go is open for drinks, coffee and quick pick up foods. The prices in Plato have come down, with the grab & go sandwiches now being $.60 cheaper than before.

The café is currently open from 6:30am-9:30AM and 10:30AM-3:00PM Monday – Friday, with the seating area open until Midnight as well as noon-midnight on the weekend.  Plato to Go is open 9:00 AM-1PM and 3-6PM Monday-Friday.

For more information on Bon Appetit and their commitment to sustainability, visit www.bamco.com  Have a comment about this article? Come visit us on Facebook!

Healthy Fried Chicken – James Beuerlein, DC Student

The Recipe Book

Healthy fried chicken? Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Well, it doesn’t have to be. The things that make most fried chicken absolutely atrocious for your health include: the chicken itself, when it is factory farmed, full of antibiotics, hormones, and disease; the oil it’s fried in, which is usually hydrogenated canola oil, soybean oil, or something else heated way beyond its threshold; and the breading, made from  highly processed white flour that turns to sugar instantly inside your body. The good news is, you can do something about all three!

Here’s a recipe for HEALTHY FRIED CHICKEN, where the focus is on QUALITY:

• 2 ct. organic, free-range boneless chicken breasts cut into nuggets, strips, or whole
• ½ cup coconut flour
• 2-4 tbsp coconut oil
• Spices:
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp basil
• ½ tsp paprika
• Or make your own mix!
• Salt, ground pepper, cinnamon, lime juice (to taste)

Preparation: Melt the coconut oil in pan on medium heat (4-5 out of 10). Mix the dry coconut flour and spices (not the lime juice) in a bowl until uniformly mixed. Thaw, rinse, and cut the chicken breasts into desired form. Roll the chicken in spices until generously covered. Fry the chicken in a frying pan, flipping every few minutes, until cooked through and through. Note: You may need to add a bit more oil at some point while cooking, especially if not all of the chicken fits in the first batch. Just before removing from the pan, sprinkle lime juice over the chicken and stir. Serve with lots of veggies like steamed broccoli or asparagus.

If you want to spice it up, slice a fresh jalapeno pepper and throw it in the pan with the chicken pieces, letting it cook with them. Also, try experimenting with your own mix of spices. Just throw in whatever you like – it’s hard to go wrong here.

Here’s our “nutrition facts” for the meal. Free-range, organic chicken will be free of antibiotics, hormones, and other harmful additives. It’s a great source of healthy protein. The coconut oil is a healthy saturated fat that won’t go rancid when cooked at medium temperatures. The coconut flour is a great, gluten-free breading. The spices contain all sorts of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and trace minerals, depending on what you use.

This is a great, simple meal to keep stocked at home, especially when you’re prone to craving Chik-fil-A!

Lunch Time! – Kim Snider, DC Student

A New twist on salad

Living Lettuce Salad topped with sliced tomato, orange peppers, carrots, parmesan and portabella mushroom sautéed with garlic, pepper and Tamari soy sauce.
I was never a vegetable fan until I did a 21 day cleanse through Standard Process which opened my eyes to numerous possibilities and combinations of veggies, including the awesomeness of portabella mushrooms! Not only are they a rich source of potassium but they can be baked as the main dish, star on sandwiches or claim their fame as a yummy addition to a salad such as this one!

The lettuce used for this salad is called Living Lettuce. You can find it at Harry’s, Earth Fare or even Costco in “bulk” (2 instead of 1). If you haven’t tried Living Lettuce, get your grocery list and add it in red ink ASAP! This lettuce is remarkably fresh and the closest to the farm as you will get in your supermarket. Living Lettuce is hydroponically grown and packaged with roots still intact allowing the strength of the earth to provide continued support and nutrients for up to 18 days!

1 Portabella Mushroom

1 Tomato

½ Orange Pepper

1 Carrot

Living Lettuce

Chopped Garlic, cracked Pepper, ½ cup Vegetable broth and Tamari Soy Sauce (Seasoned to taste)

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Let’s start with the Portabella mushroom. Cut mushroom into medium size slices. Place mushroom in shallow pan with thin layer of rolling chicken broth (medium heat). Add your other seasonings directly onto the mushroom. Cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

While mushroom is brewing into deliciousness wash and slice veggies your favorite way for a salad then prepare the bed of salad for your mushroom to lie in. Once portabella is in place, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Check out my Food Foto Diary on Facebook to share your creations!

Atlanta Confidential – Anthony DeMaria, DC Student

A food expert’s guide to eating well in Atlanta

How often have you been sitting back and relaxing on nights when you should have been doing some studying, flipping through the channels to see if there is anything good on, and found yourself surfing right into your favorite food show? That happens to me quite often! I have grown quite fond of my regular food programming: Anthony Bourdain, Top Chef, Iron Chef America, Master Chef, and the list goes on. I love all of these shows, but the problem is that you only get to see the food, you don’t get to taste it! I used to really enjoy watching food shows until I discovered that there’s more to the life of a food enthusiasts than the local Olive Garden or Applebee’s.  There exist many really good restaurants in the Atlanta area. There are a handful of Top Chefs who have restaurants within a 15-minute drive of campus. Not to mention all the hidden food places that get my mouth watering while I’m daydreaming in class.  I would really like to help everyone at Life experience a little more of the good life and expose them to some of the amazing opportunities that exist in the Atlanta food scene.

The biggest myth of all is that going out to eat on a regular basis is an expensive endeavor. Let me clue you in on a little secret – its not! (All of you shopping-savvy readers out there know exactly what I am talking about.) There are a plethora of websites out there that have amazing deals on good places to eat! Some examples include groupon.com, halfoffdepot.com, livingsocial.com and scoutmob.com. These are all excellent examples of how to find great food at reasonable prices! If you have never used these websites, you’re missing a fabulous opportunity to experience fun things while in school.

For all of you food fans out there, Tom Colicchio, the executive producer and head judge of the Top Chef series, has a restaurant in Buckhead called Craft and Craftbar. If you want to experience food right around the corner that you would normally only be able to watch on TV, I highly recommend checking it out. I especially recommend checking out their brunch.  Brunches are one of the best-kept secrets of nice restaurants. The menu items become really affordable and you can come away with a good deal and an amazing meal. Some of my personal favorites on Craftbar’s brunch menu include their eggs Benedict with applewood smoked bacon (an amazing blend of salty and savory on your palette), the brioche French toast with bourbon cream (pretty much to die for,and, yes, you can actually taste the bourbon), and the bibb salad on grilled romaine with a touch of peaches and blue cheese. Craftbar also has a great deal on half priced menu items during Happy Hour. Your mouth will thank you (and you can thank me) after you leave Craft.

If a nice brunch doesn’t ring your bell, then I know what just might – PIZZA!  Antico’s Pizza, located on the fringe of the Georgia Tech campus right past IKEA, is quite possibly the best pizza in Atlanta. If you are looking to experience a slice of mind-blowing pizza, look no further. If you think I’m joking, I am not! The first time I tried Antico’s was on a Saturday night. Needless to say, I was back by Wednesday because it was all I could think about! Antico’s has their ingredients shipped fresh from Naples, Italy every week. If you think better ingredients make better pizza, then the buck stops at

Antico’s. I recently took an Italian chiropractor who lives in New Jersey there. For those of you who know Dr. Galgano, every chiropractic story he tells involves pizza. After his experience there, he told me that he believes Antico’s is one of the top five pizza places in the country! Moral of the story: If you want an amazing pizza experience, you just have to go to Antico’s!

I hope you are motivated to check out some of the places I am talking about and learn more about good food in this wonderful city.  If at the end of your time here you haven’t gone to some of the amazing eateries of Atlanta, then you have truly missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Pumpkin Pie Triple-Threat – James Beuerlein, D.C. Student

This issue’s recipe is actually 3 different versions of pumpkin pie, which vary by taste and convenience. There’s a quick and delicious Coconut Pumpkin Pie, an Almond Milk Pumpkin Pie for those who don’t like coconut, and an outrageous Raw Pumpkin Pie. The crust recipe remains the same for all three. We ditched the condensed milk, traditional pie-crust, and the customary ⅔ cup of sugar, so that all three recipes are Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Low in Sugar, and Scrumptious! Let’s get to it!

THE EASIEST PIE CRUST YOU’LL EVER MAKE
1 c       Pitted Dates
1½ c    Raw Walnuts

Simply throw them into a food processor or powerful blender (Vita-Mix or Blendtec.) Blend until uniform, smooth, and dark-colored. This may also work with a decent hand-mixer but I haven’t tried. When it’s done, just dump it in to a pie-tin and mold it into shape by hand.

COCONUT PUMPKIN PIE
1 can    Organic Pumpkin
¾ c      Coconut Milk (rec. Thai Spice brand for thickness)
2 ct      Organic Cage-Free Eggs (large)
½ c      Coconut Flakes
Spices: 1tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger, 1 tsp allspice, 1½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla

Throw it all together in a bowl, mix well, and dump into the pie-tin. Baking instructions below.

ALMOND MILK PUMPKIN PIE
1 can    Organic Pumpkin
1 c       Almond Milk
½ ct     Avocado (for texture – you won’t taste it, trust me)
3 ct      Organic Cage-Free Eggs (large)
Spices: 1tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger, 1 tsp allspice, 1½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla

Throw it all together in a blender, blend until uniform, and dump into the pie-tin (Be careful not to over-fill!).

BAKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 425. Put pie in center rack and bake 10 min. Lower temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 40 min. Let cool completely before serving.

RAW PUMPKIN PIE
2 c       Shredded or Cubed Pumpkin (raw)
1 c       Pitted Dates (soaked in water for 1 hr, then drained)
¼ c      Almond Milk
1 tbsp  Coconut Oil (easiest if you melt on stove first)
Spices: 1tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger, 1 tsp allspice, 1½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla

Throw it all into a food-processor or blender, blend until uniform, dump into the pie-tin and chill.

NUTRITION
Pumpkin – rich in vitamins and minerals, (including potassium and zinc,) fiber, antioxidants beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. Coconut Milk and Coconut Oil – great sources of healthy saturated fat. Dates – good source of iron, fiber, potassium, and selenium, (also the principle source of sugar in the recipes, but not too bad.) Organic Cage-Free Eggs – terrific sources of protein and good fat. Almond milk and Walnuts – good sources of protein and good omega-6 fats. The spices are loaded with antioxidants, fiber, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin B3 (niacin,) selenium, phosphorus and copper.

No matter how you slice it, these pies are outstanding and very good for you. You could eat them on a regular basis and become healthier!

Muss and Turner’s Deli – Carley Edwards, D.C. Student

Sophisticated food in a casual atmosphere

Are you looking for a new place to eat lunch that’s close to school, affordable, organic and supports local farmers? Muss and Turner’s, located in the Vinings, does all that and offers an extensive beer and wine list too.

Muss and Turner’s was voted one of Atlanta’s top 16 beer bars by Atlanta Cuisine, best brunch 2009 by Atlanta Magazine and best deli by Atlanta City Search. They are in the 2010 Zagat Guide and also featured in Creative Loafing and Gayot.

Over 25 wines are served by the glass with beers served from all over the world. Fresh roasted coffee is also available.

Todd Mussman and Ryan Turner wanted to ensure quality food, so no heat lamps or microwaves are used in the preparation of their food. Included on the lunch menu is the burger and sloppy joe made with grass-fed beef and local organic pork is served for the BBQ pork sandwich.

Other things on the menu include tilapia, tuna, egg salad, fried chicken, a Reuben made with corned beef brisket, a pastrami sandwich, duck, a turkey sandwich, organic salad, soup and vegetarian options. For dinner, appetizers range from beef tartar to fried shrimp salad made with Tybee Island shrimp. Dinner entrees change regularly. Sandwiches, soups and salads are also offered for dinner. To view the full menu, visit www.mussandturners.com.

Most of the sandwiches are less than ten dollars and salads range from six to ten dollars. Lunch is served Monday to Saturday 11:30am to 5:30pm and Sunday 11:00 am to 5:30. Dinner is served Monday to Sunday 5:30 to 9:00 pm. To make reservations call 770-434-1114 or visit www.mussandturners.com. Mussman and Turner are opening a new restaurant called Local Three this fall. Be sure to check out their Facebook page under Local Three Kitchen and Bar for updates.

Junk Your Microwave – James Beuerlein, Senior Staff Writer

This issue’s challenge is to kick your microwave to the curb! Many studies have shown that microwave ovens pose significant dangers to your health, not only by severely reducing the nutritional value of foods cooked by them, but also by increasing exposure to significant levels of radiation, causing toxic chemicals from plastics to leach into foods, and causing carcinogenic compounds to form by distorting the structure of the chemical compounds found in certain foods. Additionally, there’s the highly controversial “microwave effect” (discussed later).