UPDATE

UPDATE: I have been so busy with some special work projects, and beginning my last undergraduate semester, that I have fallen behind on uploading my food photos to the blog. I just uploaded a bunch, and will have more coming very soon. Thank you all for your continued support of both me and the Chopsticks365 project.

Please send me suggestions for more foods you would like to see me try, or recipes that are tasty!

Cheers!
~Ari

Day 49

Sorry for the dim lighting, this is actually a HUGE fake chicken melt with tons of veggies, beans, salsa, and other spicy things. My eyes were clearly bigger than my belly, but I managed to not waste any. I wonder how many pictures I have of Mexican foods on this blog? Maybe I will have to do a count...

Day 48

White sauce Greek pizza from Belfast, Maine. I had to pick off the calamata olives, but the rest was amazing! The spinach was fresh, not frozen, and the garlic was nice and chunky. I prefer white pizzas, especially when it base is just olive oil and some spices. Yum!

Day 47

Lentil and potato soup from scratch, not by me though. There is also some home made bread on the side, little garlic bread sticks perfect for dipping.I have never really enjoyed lentils, but this soup blew me out of the park. It was so simple and filling, and I probably ate 5 or 6 bread sticks!

Day 46

Tomato soup from a mug with a grilled cheese, jalapeno, and fake chicken quesadilla on the side. I finished the soup first and struggled to get the wrap down. It was so big! And, the person who made it for me loaded it with about 20 jalapenos, so the heat index was higher than I would have liked! You know who you are...thanks!

Day 45

Mexican. If I were stranded on an island and could only have one type of food for the rest of my life, it would be Mexican. This is a pepper-jack, lettuce, salsa, black bean, jalapeno and fake chicken burrito. There is just something about burritos...you can cram all of your favorite things into one! Also, this tortilla was bigger than my face, no joke. If you look closely, you can see my chopsticks just off to the side under the plate....yes, there is a plate beneath that monstrosity.

Day 44

My birthday! I was so happy that I got to spend my birthday with my mother, she came to surprise me and we had a ladies day out. We topped the day off with teh largest bucket of popcorn you could buy at a movie theater, and we saw We Bought A Zoo. I'm a sucker for based-on-real-life movies, and this one was an obvious win given the wildlife subject focus. Eating popcorn with chopsticks is fun, and we actually got a refill for the ride home! (Don't judge me...)

Later that night, I dug into a cookies and cream cake with the sticks. Cookies and cream may be my very favorite flavor of ice cream, and when you put that into cake form it only gets better. Best birthday in a long time!

Day 43

I absolutely love making sushi. This is vegetarian sushi with avocado, cucumber, and carrot. It was only after I filled the plate with beautiful little rolls that I realized it was way too much for me to eat. Don't get me wrong, I didn't waste a single piece, but I was more than comfortably full by the time the plate was empty. Also, this is one of the least expensive meals that we make...a grand total of around $5 per person. Gotta love eating healthy on a budget!

Day 42

Breakfast on the go....oatmeal with apples, golden raisins, raisins, craisins, and brown sugar. While I don't like getting breakfast while on the road, I was pleasantly surprised to find this at a fast food stop. The oatmeal was perfect, and the fresh fruits really helped bulk it up a bit. Also, very easy to eat with chopsticks, mostly because I managed to use them more like a spoon and sort of scoop the oats into my mouth.

Day 41

Greek cal-zone with feta cheese and fresh baby spinach. This is from a local pizza shop in town, and seriously one of my weaknesses. I love feta cheese, and when you put it in some bread mixed with sauce and spinach...mmmhm! This is one of the more difficult things to eat with chopsticks, mostly because it it super hot and stringy with cheese. We make our own cal-zones sometimes, but they never seem to turn out as yummy as these!

Day 40

Corn on the cob! I have to admit here, my lovely camera lady cut the kernels off the cob and I then proceeded to eat them with sticks. I love corn, more than I should probably....Oh well, it was a nice reminder of summer, and since this Maine winter has been kinda wimpy, I figured I would reminisce a bit.

Day 39

Asian inspired meal! Meg and I made HOMEMADE rice noodle soup with diced scallions, carrots, mushrooms, and veggie stocks with a side of cold rice noodle spring rolls. This meal was super delicious and light, and I finally got to use the chopstick bowl that my brother gave me for Christmas...it is made by a potter right in Blue Hill! It meant so much to me, thanks Bro!

Day 38

This is the stuffing for my first ever batch of stuffed pasta shells baked with Florentine spinach and four cheese red sauce. We had a craving for something new and exciting, so I decided to whip this dish up from my imagination...and with a bit of recipe advice from my father's mother. She always made this yummy dish called Pasta In A Pot, and I thought using the ricotta and cottage cheese from her recipe would be a good idea. I took ricotta, cottage cheese, fresh spinach, sweet onion, and spices ans mixed it all up, stuffed the shells, smeared with the sauce, and baked at 325 for about 25 mins, then added sliced Colby-Jack to the top and finished baking for 5 minutes. This meal made me think of family style dinners growing up, and I was thrilled that it turned out well. Try my recipe, if you need more details, fee free to contact me through my Contact page!

Day 37

I know that this dish looks pretty sparse, but vegan buffalo tenders are one of my guilty pleasure meals, I just can't get enough! And they are spicy too! I go all out with this meal, haha, and dip them in spicy barbecue sauce and ketchup. The bad thing about the delicious nuggets is that they are a bit pricey, and I can eat an entire box in one sitting. Judge me if you will, but try these gems and tell me they aren't addictive. I challenge you!

Day 36

Mmmm, lunch at the lab. Baby spinach and julienne carrots with spicy sesame dressing. I like to keep it light at work, so I tend to snack on trail mix with almonds and have a huge salad for lunch. Man, I can pack away the spinach! Next time you are looking for a super healthy lunch that will give you a blast of fiber, try a spinach based salad with lots of veggies and a light oil dressing....you won't be disappointed!

Day 35

Baby spinach, tomato and onion salad with Greek dressing as a side with thin spaghetti topped with vegan spicy poblano alfredo sauce. I love past so much, and I decided to spice things up a bit with this new recipe. The salad was so crisp and juicy, and one of the easiest things to eat with chopsticks. The pasta was a nice change with the added spice, I think next time I will up the spice even more....MWAHAHA!

Day 34

This is my grandmother trying her hand at using chopsticks, and kicking butt! We put out a bowl of M&Ms, nuts, and popcorn and had a blast trying to pick them all up. She had so much fun using the sticks and is a complete natural. She can use them both right and left handed too!

Here I am with my grandmother, posing for the camera. She is trying not to laugh and inhale that piece of popcorn! I am so proud of her, such a pro!

And here is my lovely mother, sporting my chopsticks as hair accessories! She tried her hand at using the sticks as well, and I'm beginning to think that it runs in the family....Such a fun holiday with family.

Day 33

Chocolate. Cream. Pie. And oh my was it good! My brother made this pie over my holiday vacation, and it was probably a good thing that I had to eat it with chopsticks, or else I would have eaten the entire pie myself! I was so full already from dinner, but I somehow managed to fit a huge slice of that pie. Gosh I love winter and winter food!

Day 32

Green bean casserole and porcini stuffed ravioli for the holiday dinner at my grandparent's house. My brother made the green bean casserole (he is an amazing chef!) and my step mother made the ravioli. I seriously could have eaten myself sick on this dish, but alas, other people enjoyed it as much as I did. I have never made a green bean casserole, so I think trying my hand at one will have to happen soon. This was a great dinner, I can't wait until next year's holiday season!

Day 31

Holiday Vacation!!! What better way to start the holidays than with sugar cookie dinosaurs sprinkled with green candy dust? This dino was courtesy of my step mother, and I probably ate a dozen or so before dinner. Not too difficult to eat with chopsticks, and definitely fun. Oh, and in case ya'll couldn't tell, I REALLY like the color orange. The End!

Day 30

And here we have my staple dinner, brown rice stir fry with lots o' veggies and soy saute. I seriously will never grow tired of this meal, there are so many ways to mix it up. I almost added some vegetarian chic'n meat to it, but that would have been too filling. Another great thing to add to stir fry is cubed tofu that has been browned in a sauce pan with some olive oil, it adds some texture and makes the meal a bit more complete.

On another note, I have not forgotten about the cereal and apple sauce winners from the poll on the blog! We are traveling out of town for the weekend to see family, and I will make sure to take photos of whatever goodies I eat. I will plan on tackling the cereal and apple sauce when I return! Happy Holidays!

Day 29

Oh.my.goodness. This spinach and feta cal-zone was the best lunch I have had in a while. I stopped into Unity House of Pizza and grabbed it on my way to work, it was so filling that I ate half the next day for lunch. I love feta cheese, and when mixed with spinach, you just can't go wrong. This was a bit tricky to eat with chopsticks,  and I ended up mostly twirling the cheese around them like you would do with long pasta. It worked for the most part. Yum!

Day 28

Rice crispy balls...perfect for chopsticking! Pay not attention to my slightly cross-eyed look I have going on, I was concentrating hard on not dropping the ball (so to speak!). I would be lying if I said I cut these into nice little squares and ate them at an appropriate pace...the truth of the matter is, I merely stuck my sticks into the pan and grabbed chunks. I think the pan was gone in two days...is that bad?

Day 27

And here we have a shinning example of the doughnuts available from our Amish neighbors. I added some sugar to this one, and it was good! You can only get these every Wednesday morning at the Amish store in town, and there is usually a line waiting to snag a box. If you have never experienced an Amish doughnut, you must! Oh, and you may have guessed, I used my chopsticks as sort of a pole to hook the doughnut and munch away. Again, cheating? Who knows, but it worked!

Day 26

How can you tell it's the holiday season? I start posting photos of sweet treats only! This is my apple crisp pie with orange juice. I know it sounds weird, but right before you stick it in the oven, add a bit of OJ around the edges and drizzle it over the oats, this makes it nice and moist and gives the apples some zing! I think I made about 6 of these last December alone, let's see if I can beat my own record. of course, I will have to give them away, that is just far too much crisp for two people to eat....not that we couldn't make a serious dent in them.

Day 25

This is the beginning of Meg's famous homemade bran muffins. One of my most favorite foods, and not too hard to eat with sticks! I kind of just stabbed the muffin and ate if off the stick, is that cheating? Anyway, I must apologize for falling slightly behind in my photo uploads, I recently recovered from an illness and went away for the weekend with family. So, now you are barraged with about a week's worth of food! Haha, I hope all these photos make you hungry!

Day 24

Let me just say one thing....WOW. This was one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time, it was so huge I couldn't even finish it all! Egg whites with cheddar inside a crisp tortilla, with home fries and fresh salsa on the side. Maybe I would have been able to finish it had I not drank four glasses of super pulpy orange juice while waiting...oops! Side note: the chopsticks actually worked really well for the tortilla, I kind of just smooshed it all together and scooped it up.

Day 23

SUSHI! Well, vegetarian sushi, but it still counts! My family and I went to a great restaurant in Portland, Maine called Fuji, and their rolls were to die for. I have an avocado and cucumber roll, and a mixed vegetable roll. Both well super tasty, and I was stuffed by the end of the meal. Oh, and did I mention that I'm pretty sure I singed my nose with wasabi? Yeah, here's a little hint: never inhale hard through your nose right after you have just put a piece of sushi smothered in wasabi into your mouth....it will cripple you. Also, I snapped a weird photo of my father and step mother being silly...

Day 22

Ah, there is my good ol' friend, fettuccine with vegan alfredo sauce and dried pepper seasoning. I'm sorry to repeat this, but I really can't get enough of it! I try it with different pastas, but now that I am limited to chopsticks, long pastas are really the way to go. I have always wanted to try making my own pasta, maybe I'll see about acquiring a pasta machine and try my hand at it. I bet I could make some interesting shapes, nonetheless!

Day 21

Wow, is that not a blurry photo or what?! Sorry about that, it literally took me five minutes to get one even half this good, so I had to settle for a bit blurry. If you can't tell, this is a fresh mozzarella, pesto, and tomato muffaletta on french bread, pressed on a panini grill. This is one of our favorite meals, and I used chopsticks to spread the pesto! If you have never tried one of these, I suggest giving it a whirl. This meal is very filling and inexpensive, probably around $8 for four servings. Try it!

Day 20

Can you say...TACOS?! One of my all time favorite foods, and my throat was feeling well enough to handle the spicy goodness. We did forget to pick up lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese....but heck, they were still amazing! Add a little Spanish rice on the side and you've got a meal, my friends. Onward I go through the week of finals! More foods to come...

Day 19

Soup! Again. I'm sorry this is not more exciting, but while I've been sick, I haven't been able to swallow much more than that. But, On a much happier note, this is the last week of class for this semester, which means 5 final exams and 2 more homework assignments....then I'm free! Also, starting to feel a bit better, minus the regular coughing fits that strike just as I lay down to go to sleep.

Day 18

And here we have day 2 of being sick. I woke up with no voice and a throat that feels like a cat had tried to play the harp with my vocal chords. So naturally I drank soup. I used the chopsticks for the noodles, but ended up finishing the broth the traditional Asian way, tipping the bowl to my mouth. Also, I think the flash on my camera phone has died, so I was not able to get a good shot of the soup, or yesterday's fancy-shmancy spaghetti-o's. I promise it was more delicious than it looks...really. Unless my throat returns to it's pre-kitty-played-harp self, I will likely be consuming more liquidy foods...not so fun for the photo project, but I will try to mix it up a bit.

Side note: I cannot wait to be done with my undergrad. The end.

Day 17

This is what dinner looks like when it is finals week in college and you think you're getting sick. Sadly, this is also what dinner looks like when you have not gone grocery shopping in...ohh...let's just say, "a while". It had been so long since I experienced spaghetti-o's, I had almost forgotten that they are good/bad. I said almost. I regret to say that I have nothing more exciting than this for now, but hopefully I will feel better once finals week has passed, and I can focus on some of the great challenges and recipes I have received. Cheers!

Day 16

And here it is...my first video! It isn't the quality I would like, but it will do for now. As I have received many requests over the past few weeks for some footage of me trying to eat jello with chopsticks, I didn't want to disappoint, and felt I must deliver. So here is my first ever attempt, and I think it went rather well. Tell me what you think!

Day 15

Drum roll please! This is the jello I made last night, waiting patiently in perfectly sliced little cubes, for me to destroy it with chopsticks tonight. See? I planned ahead! Did you know that it takes 4 hours for jello to set up? I'm glad I made it last night...

So, stay tuned, and hopefully when my lovely camera gal returns tonight, I can sweet talk her into filming me attempt to mow down some red jello squares!

Day 14

Artichoke! One of my favorite foods, and definitely challenging to eat with chopsticks. Unfortunately, my camera gal is out of town, so I could not get any pictures of myself actually eating it. I will try artichokes again, no worries, and I will be sure to document the full process.

Side note: I only have a week left in this semester! By next Friday, I will be recycling lots of papers, cleaning out my backpack, and kicking back with friends. Maybe I'll plan something extra special for that weekend...

Day 13

Do you think I like green beans just a bit too much? I'm starting to think so. But I can't help it, they are so good when mixed into a brown rice and veggie stir fry! Fact: did you know that green beans contain healthy amounts of vitamin A, vitamin B6, fiber, and iron? Now you know, and you should drop what you're doing, run to your local supermarket, and grab a huge bagful of these wonder beans!

On a slightly different note, I have noticed that the traffic for the blog has slowed to a mild crawl, so I will have to see what I can do about spicing things up a bit...I'm thinking a series of videos...including bloopers....featuring all of the wacky foods that have been suggested for me to try. Thoughts?

Day12

Would you just look at that wrap?! Tell me that doesn't look amazing! I have to hand it to the Unity College Student Center, they make a mean veggie wrap. Jalapeno-cheddar wrap with spinach, lettuce, carrots, pickles, mushrooms, red onion, red peppers and pepper-jack cheese. I have to say, I have definitely been eating better since I started this project. I haven't yet stepped on a scale to see if the numbers have changed, but I would be willing to bet that I have lost at least a pound. I'll get back to you on that.

Side note: the Unity College Climbing Competition  was last night and it was a blast! I took third in the Advanced Women's category, and scored a sweet new piece of climbing equipment.

Day 11

Vegan fettuccine alfredo with dried pepper spices, yum! I love noodles, so here is yet another photo of my favorite kind. I also received some very beautiful chopsticks from Japan, given to me by a dear friend. They are quite long, and I have yet to try them out. I will make sure to break them in this week, and provide some entertaining pictures of my experience. Also, I am feeling a craving for Mexican food creeping up on me, so stay tuned...will it be burritos? Tacos? Quesadillas?

Day 10

My breakfast, day 10. Believe it or not, clementines are pretty easy to eat, once you get past the peeling part. I wasn't that hungry, and usually I wake up with a huge appetite. Maybe the chopsticks are causing me to slow down enough so that my tummy realizes I'm full faster? Who knows!

Salad! This was such a tasty, light dinner. I went to the Harbor View Restaurant and Grill in Bucksport, Maine tonight, and it was delicious! I was unsure whether or not a salad would fill me up, but their portions are huge, and the homemade croutons totally made it. Also, not that I am biased or anything here, but I will encourage anyone in that area to give the restaurant a try. It has only been open for about a year, and it has some of the tastiest, best portions for your dollar. Oh, and if you decide to go, make sure you say hello to the manager...she has long curly hair that is the most distinct shade of grey and wears glasses. Her name is Ann, and she is my mother. Be nice to her, and she will make sure you have a meal well worth your smile. Bon appetit!

Day 9

Well, ya'll asked for it, so here it is.....trying to eat pizza with chopsticks. I have not yet received funding for a video camera, so this is all I could post. Hopefully that will change soon! Let me tell you, trying to eat pizza with chopsticks proved to be extremely difficult. It was hot and floppy, and really wanted nothing to do with my chopsticks. The slice just kept slopping back to the plate. But, I did manage it, and now I can officially say that I have tried one of your challenge requests. Keep em' coming!

On another note, I am extremely happy to announce that my Chopsticks 365 fundraiser with Feeding America has raised nearly $400...way to go guys! You all are the ones that will help me reach my goal, and you should all feel very proud. Thank you!

Day 8

What do you think of my green beans? Aren't they lovely? I thought so, too. Day 8 brought the last of my veggie stir fry, and I'm a bit thankful for that! Not that I don't enjoy stir fry, but I need to expand my food horizons. I have had so many great comments on the project, and it's only been a week since I began! I will continue to take suggestions for fun/weird foods that people would like to see me eat with chopsticks, so keep em' coming.

Day 7

Yesterday was such a great day for this project. I was interviewed by WABI TV 5 news here in Maine, and they aired a great piece on Chopsticks 365 and Feeding America. I even got to teach the reporter how to use chopsticks and challenge him to eat some tiny raisins and peanuts. You can view the story here:
http://www.wabi.tv/news/25657/unity-college-student-using-chopsticks-to-fight-hunger

Because of the news story, I have received many more page views on the blog and nearly $350 in contributions to Feeding America. Thank you so much to all that support this project, you are what will help it grow.

Lastly, I wanted to point out my lunch photo from yesterday. This meal consisted of spaghetti and sauce, salad, homemade garlic bread, apple crisp and sweet tea. This lunch was a special at Unity College, and it cost me a grand total of $1. Now picture this meal multiplied by 8. That is what your $1 donation to Feeding America will provide. Chew on that and enjoy!