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    <title>FoodSpan</title>
    <description>FoodSpan works in your kitchen to help you save food, time, and money, simply by swiping and attaching a tag. Not only does your leftover spaghetti not become a science experiment, but you can save hundreds of dollars every year! Plus, FoodSpan is always available using our suite of web and mobile applications, so you always know what's cool in your fridge.
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    <link>https://foodspan.github.io/</link>
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    <pubDate>Sun, 20 Aug 2017 19:59:25 -0400</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Sun, 20 Aug 2017 19:59:25 -0400</lastBuildDate>
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      <item>
        <title>The FoodSpan Staff's Best Memories</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;As our final time crunch for FoodSpan ends, we asked our FoodSpan staff what their fondest memories of FoodSpan were. Here are their responses:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;mary-jiang-lead-graphic-designer-and-marketing-adviser&quot;&gt;Mary Jiang, Lead Graphic Designer and Marketing Adviser&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Going to sleep after a long evening of working&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/sleep.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Sleeping GIF&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;loic-darboux-intellectual-property-specialist&quot;&gt;Loic Darboux, Intellectual Property Specialist&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Matt: Hey, can you write a blogpost for the FoodSpan website?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Me: Uh…that’s a terrible idea&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Matt: Pretty please…&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Me: ughh…(awkward silence)…a’ight man, just for you&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This is the first time i’ve committed to writing creatively without being forced to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;maanvi-dhillon-business-adviser&quot;&gt;Maanvi Dhillon, Business Adviser&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My fondest memory would be back at McMaster when FoodSpan won our SHAD campus competition. We were all exhausted and stressed out, and I think the fog of negative feelings prevented us from realizing the value of what we created. Our group, and me especially, was so worried about the details and little parts that we missed in our project and I think the fact that our idea was good , appealing and realistic hadn’t quite sunk in until the judges called our names. Extending upon that foundational project in summer was definitely enjoyable, but it was that original moment that brought us here and I’ll never forget how amazing it felt.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;nathan-maguire-intellectual-property-specialist&quot;&gt;Nathan Maguire, Intellectual Property Specialist&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My fondest memory is just working on a project with great people from SHAD, over a month after the program ended.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;matthew-wang-lead-developer&quot;&gt;Matthew Wang, Lead Developer&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Finishing a twelve hour crunch of work. That small break before the next crunch… feels sooooo good.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:10:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/staff/2016/09/01/foodspan-staff-memories.html</link>
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      <item>
        <title>Why Do We Waste Food</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;In all fairness, there are too many answers to the above question  for them to fit in this single blog post. (Also, I dread writing and having to use words to cover such a broad topic would be the end of me!) Consequently, I have decided to limit myself to two human shortcomings, my shortcomings, that lead to food waste and to provide a few of the solutions that work for me.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;1reluctance&quot;&gt;1.Reluctance&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I’ll start with the one that I am the least proud of. In the rare occasions that I intentionally waste food - I really, really try to avoid this - it’s usually because there’s a leftover dish that I am reluctant to finish; for example, the week-old rice in the fridge’s corner or the odd loaves of bread buried in the closet’s. To my family’s dismay, I deliberately allow such foods to spoil to avoid eating them. As of now, I don’t know any solutions to this problem except learning to ‘suck it up’, sometimes literally, and accepting the fact that all meals (unfortunately) can’t be pizza. Sometimes, reminding myself how lucky I am to have food in the first place and how disrespectful it would be to waste it works too…&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;2forgetfulness&quot;&gt;2.Forgetfulness&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The number of times i’ve opened the fridge and smelled something funny only to find a savory sauce all gooey and moldy is quite embarrassing. It’s not that it was a crummy meal or that I procrastinated on eating it. I simply forgot it existed. To me, that is the most agonizing way to waste food. In order to minimise said occurrences, I try to monitor my food as much as possible. Either through conventional methods such as making containers visible in the fridge or by using food tracking tools - cough…FoodSpan*…cough - i’ve ensured that smelly surprises are a thing of the past and that I know the status of my food (most of the time).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;conclusion&quot;&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I really hope you enjoyed this post and that if it didn’t give you any insight into why people waste food you could at least relate to my experiences. I do not plan on blogging again anytime soon so you can thank Matt. W, FoodSpan’s lead developer, for this one-off.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Aug 2016 17:10:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/food/2016/08/24/why-do-we-waste-food.html</link>
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      <item>
        <title>Dev Corner: The Web Technologies Behind FoodSpan</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Heya there, it’s your friendly developer Matt here! Today, I want to talk about the technology stack, and more specifically the web technology stack behind FoodSpan’s website. For some of you, it may not sound like English; and that’s okay! But if you are interested in the technology behind our websites, get ready to go on a journey with me!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;foodspan-website-stack&quot;&gt;FoodSpan Website Stack&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;h3 id=&quot;the-tools&quot;&gt;The Tools&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/devs-corner/github.png&quot; alt=&quot;GitHub Octocat&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I go over this a bit in my previous &lt;a href=&quot;https://foodspan.ca/dev/2016/08/12/dev-corner-matt.html&quot;&gt;devs corner&lt;/a&gt; post, but I use a few tools consistently whenever I code: &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com&quot;&gt;GitHub&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://atom.io&quot;&gt;Atom&lt;/a&gt;. GitHub is &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; git-based version-control software/website hybrid, often known as the pariah of open source; Atom is a text-editor developed by the people at GitHub, made in web technologies and is &lt;em&gt;hackable to its core&lt;/em&gt;. I’m a bit of a GitHub fan myself, and I love their products. But no hate if you don’t; to each their own!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We use GitHub at FoodSpan (you can check out our &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/FoodSpan/&quot;&gt;company organization&lt;/a&gt;) to streamline multi-developer work, keep track of all of our code revisions, and generally make coding easier for everyone. If you’re someone who programs even a bit, I’d definitely recommend using GitHub.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3 id=&quot;the-frontend-stack&quot;&gt;The Frontend Stack&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I’ll be straightforward here: we use &lt;a href=&quot;https://jekyllrb.com&quot;&gt;Jekyll&lt;/a&gt; as our site-generator, &lt;a href=&quot;https://getbootstrap.com&quot;&gt;Bootstrap&lt;/a&gt; as our primary CSS framework, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://fontawesome.io&quot;&gt;Font Awesome&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://design.google.com/icons/&quot;&gt;Google Material Design Icons&lt;/a&gt; as our font-icon sets. Let’s explore them!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h4 id=&quot;jekyll&quot;&gt;Jekyll&lt;/h4&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/devs-corner/jekyll.png&quot; alt=&quot;GitHub Octocat&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The FoodSpan Website is mostly a static, front-end site: there’s no backend, no passwords, and no dynamic data. Because of that, CMS-esque tools are super helpful in generating parts of our site: so styling stays consistent, and so the site looks clean. In order to accomplish this, we use &lt;a href=&quot;https://jekyllrb.com&quot;&gt;Jekyll&lt;/a&gt;. Jekyll is a dveloped-in-ruby liquid-based static site generator: it makes things like keeping consistent navbars, post layouts, or generating any type of web content easy! It also has gh-pages support, and is used extensively by the people at GitHub and many other open source projects (like Bootstrap). It’s easy to get started with, but has a lot of functionality. I’d definitely recommend it to anybody who’s looking into making static sites!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h4 id=&quot;bootstrap&quot;&gt;Bootstrap&lt;/h4&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/devs-corner/bootstrap.png&quot; alt=&quot;GitHub Octocat&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://getbootstrap&quot;&gt;Bootstrap&lt;/a&gt; is pretty well known in the web design community, and once you pick up on what Bootstrap is you’ll see it on a lot of sites. &lt;strong&gt;A lot of sites.&lt;/strong&gt; Because of that, sites will often get flak for using Bootstrap, as it lowers the amount of coding any developer needs to do, and for a lack of a better term, often acts as a “crutch” for developers. Respectfully, I disagree with this attitude: I think that using tools to make your own work easier is the hallmark of doing anything, just like using a multi-tool. Bootstrap is one pretty good multitool: it’s designed for responsive-design, features many CSS utilities, and looks pretty cool! We use a Material Design toolkit in conjunction with Bootstrap so our CSS Components follow the Material Design Guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;That being said, &lt;em&gt;I don’t think that copy-pasting code is the answer,&lt;/em&gt; and we didn’t do that with the FoodSpan website. We don’t &lt;a href=&quot;https://startbootstrap.com/template-overviews/agency/&quot;&gt;copy and site layouts&lt;/a&gt;, and we spent a lot of time designing our pages, our colour palette (which follows the Google Material Design Guidelines), and making sure that everything plays nicely. I’m proud of the work that we have done with our website, and I’ve certainly learned a lot about website development from this endeavor (responsive design, flexbox, and accessibility come to mind).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;If you don’t know what Bootstrap is, you’re definitely missing out: it can turn a relatively awful-looking website into a not-so-awful looking website. But if you want your website to be the best, just Bootstrap isn’t enough.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h4 id=&quot;icon-fonts&quot;&gt;Icon Fonts&lt;/h4&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/devs-corner/font-awesome.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;GitHub Octocat&quot; /&gt;
&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/devs-corner/material-design-icons.png&quot; alt=&quot;GitHub Octocat&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Icons are pretty important to your website: they help the user understand what’s going on! For the FoodSpan website, we used &lt;a href=&quot;https://fontawesome.io&quot;&gt;Font Awesome&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://design.google.com/icons/&quot;&gt;Google Material Design Icons&lt;/a&gt;: two standard staples of the web-dev circle. Google’s Material Design Icons fit well with our design theme, and are pretty well-known; Font Awesome is another icon font addition that helps with the holes missing from Google’s MD. Mostly just standard stuff.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;One small note I want to make is in terms of accessibility: if you use a screen reader, an icon isn’t really the best idea. During the development of the website, that’s something I had to consider and reconsider several times: ultimately, I ended up using &lt;code class=&quot;highlighter-rouge&quot;&gt;aria&lt;/code&gt; attributes and &lt;code class=&quot;highlighter-rouge&quot;&gt;sr-only&lt;/code&gt; screenreader-specific text to ensure that everybody could navigate our website with ease. That’s something that every developer needs to keep in the back of their mind: whether or not your website is usable by everybody.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish&quot;&gt;So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;That just about wraps up our FoodSpan web tech stack overview. Hopefully, you ended up learning something about how FoodSpan was made, and what we used to make this website: I certainly did!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Until next time!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You can learn more about Matt on his &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/malsf21&quot;&gt;GitHub&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://matthewwang.me/&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.matthewwang.me/&quot;&gt;his blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 19 Aug 2016 01:12:34 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/dev/2016/08/19/web-technology-in-foodspan.html</link>
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        <category>dev</category>
        
      </item>
    
      <item>
        <title>Top Ten Superfoods to Fuel YOUR Day!</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Superfoods are super-cool, and can help you become super healthy! Let’s check out our top ten super superfoods!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;1-berries&quot;&gt;1. Berries!&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nature’s candy!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/berries.png&quot; alt=&quot;Berries&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Packed full of nutrients and fibre, berries are a delicious snack to keep your body energized and ready for anything that lies ahead of you.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;2-nuts&quot;&gt;2. NUTS&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We go nuts for peanuts!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/nuts.png&quot; alt=&quot;Nuts&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuts are an excellent source of unsaturated, heart-healthy fats that help to fuel your body with energy! In fact, walnuts contain a high level of an omega-3 fatty acid that’s been linked to heart health and improved moods!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;3-spinach&quot;&gt;3. SPINACH&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Do I have something in my teeth?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/spinach.png&quot; alt=&quot;Spinach&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Spinach is packed full of vitamins A, C, K, and E, along with iron, fiber, calcium and potassium. It’s no wonder that spinach can help DNA produce and form healthy new cells, making it an important staple item for mothers-to-be (and us regular people alike)!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;4-yogurt&quot;&gt;4. YOGURT&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;More like go-gurt!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/yogurt.png&quot; alt=&quot;Yogurt&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Yogurt is rich in calcium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and protein. One cup of yogurt provides nearly half the daily recommended value of calcium, which lowers the risk of developing osteoporosis in the future.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;5-chia-seeds&quot;&gt;5. CHIA SEEDS&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ch-ch-ch-chia!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/chia.png&quot; alt=&quot;Chia Seeds&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A great source of fiber, protein, calcium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and omega-3 fatty acids, chia seeds are perfect for sprinkling onto salads, blending with smoothies, or even creating pudding with! These tiny seeds are virtually tasteless, so they can be placed anywhere on-the-go to supply your day with nutrients, fibre, and fun!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;6-goji-berries&quot;&gt;6. GOJI BERRIES&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Used in Chinese herbal ailments&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/goji.png&quot; alt=&quot;Goji Berries&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Originating from Tibet and Inner Mongolia, goji berries contain vitamin C, are rich in plant-based antioxidants, and they taste great in trail mixes! These wonderful berries are used by Chinese herbalists to help treat vision, poor circulation, and to improve the immune system.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;7-cacao-nibs&quot;&gt;7. CACAO NIBS&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Did someone say… Chocolate???&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/cacao.png&quot; alt=&quot;Cacao Nibs&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Although they may taste a tad bit more bitter than its typical sweeter partner chocolate, cacao nibs are multitudes of times healthier. The cacao bean itself is roasted and, separated from its husks, and broken up into smaller pieces to become the cacao nibs that we all know and love today. Cacao nibs are a huge source of magnesium, iron, fibre, antioxidants, omega fatty acids, and minerals. Incorporate them with your daily snacks, or just munch on them throughout the day for a quick mood-booster and a sense of mind!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;8-hemp-seeds&quot;&gt;8. HEMP SEEDS&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You mean like… Marijuana?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/hemp.png&quot; alt=&quot;Hemp Seeds&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hemp seeds, despite their reputation for being associated with marijuana, contains none of the psychoactive properties that marijuana is known for, but instead, is chock-full of amino acids, magnesium, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, and protein. Hemp seeds are virtually tasteless so you can add them to smoothies, soups, salads, yogurt; The possibilities are endless.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;9-avocados&quot;&gt;9. AVOCADOS&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What’s the deal with avocado toast anyways?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/avocado.png&quot; alt=&quot;Avocados&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Avocados! Nature’s buttery fruit, full of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Avocados are extremely versatile, being a great substitution for sandwich spreads, dips, and they are great on their own. It’s no wonder they’re a hit sensation on the internet!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;10-beans&quot;&gt;10. BEANS&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cool beans!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/superfoods/beans.png&quot; alt=&quot;Beans&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Colourful and filling, beans are an ultimate staple to an everyday diet. High in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, beans are every bit nutritious as they are filling! Beans have been found to lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases. Delicious is an understatement when it comes to this staple ingredient. Use it in sauces, stews, soups, salads; You name it. Go beans!&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2016 17:10:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/food/2016/08/15/top-ten-superfoods.html</link>
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        <category>food</category>
        
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      <item>
        <title>Developer's Corner - Matthew Wang</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hey there!&lt;/strong&gt; Welcome to Developer’s Corner, a segment of the FoodSpan blog where we give you insight on how FoodSpan is developed! Hopefully we’ll be able to make this a weekly segment, looking into product development, website development, mobile apps, and anything else tech related to FoodSpan. In addition, we’ll get different devs every week, so you get to meet the FoodSpan dev team!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive img-circle&quot; src=&quot;/img/team/matt.png&quot; style=&quot;max-width:25%;&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of Matt Wang&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;First things first, a formal introduction. I’m &lt;strong&gt;Matthew Wang&lt;/strong&gt; (though people call me &lt;strong&gt;Matt&lt;/strong&gt;), your lead developer: I’m the team lead for Website and Application Development, and helper with Product Development. In English, that means I’ve coded this website, web application (WebSpan), and our mobile companion apps, with the help of our awesome dev team! In addition, I help with product development, marketing, digital design, and anything else that needs help.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;why-foodspan&quot;&gt;Why FoodSpan&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive&quot; src=&quot;/img/logo.png&quot; style=&quot;max-width:25%;&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of Matt Wang&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I wasn’t part of the original 8 people in our DE project: I was brought onboard for my web development skills, but also because I was pretty interested in the idea of FoodSpan. Since then, I’ve put my blood, sweat, and some tears into the project. Originally, I was supposed to be a web developer, but it turned out that they also needed app, backend, and product development skills. I rose to the challenge, and while it’s been pretty hard, I’ve got respect for the FoodSpan team.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I’m pretty happy to be working on FoodSpan, and hopefully we’re able to make a difference with food insecurity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;a-normal-weekday&quot;&gt;A Normal Weekday&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I can’t say that I’m used to a “work schedule” (being a teenager who only works part-time), but I can fill you in on what my typical day looks like:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8:00 AM&lt;/strong&gt; - Wake Up, Shower&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8:30 AM&lt;/strong&gt; - Self-cooked Breakfast (I like eggs, so that usually is part of the meal)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;9:30 AM&lt;/strong&gt; - Browse Internet (Reddit, The Economist, NYT, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10:00 AM&lt;/strong&gt; - Work Period 1 (normally non-FoodSpan related)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;12:30 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Self-cooked Lunch (Usually it’s Udon noodles + some sort of meat and vegetables. I like Japanese food!)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1:00 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Rec Time (Video Games, Starbucks, Movie, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3:00 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Work Period 2 (normally FoodSpan related work)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5:30 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Rec Time&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6:00 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Dinner&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7:00 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Prep for Meeting + Finish Extra Work&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8:00 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - FoodSpan Team Meeting (yep, every single day!)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10:30 PM&lt;/strong&gt; - Meeting ends, Rec Time (normally when I &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitch.tv/malsf21&quot;&gt;stream&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;12:30 AM&lt;/strong&gt; - Shower, Go to Bed&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1:00 AM&lt;/strong&gt; - Sleeeeeeep&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And yeah, that’s what my weekday schedule looks like during the summer. Not particularly weird or anything, but I do go hard in the paint for FoodSpan. I’m a bit sleep-deprived somedays on crunches (for example, we did a 12 hour crunch to figure out some kinks in the display), but it’s mostly because I actually care about our product. Plus, it’s pretty fun, and educational.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;worktools&quot;&gt;Worktools&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;img-responsive img-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;/img/blog/matt-dev-1.png&quot; alt=&quot;Website development.&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Marshall McLuhan once said:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What tools you use are pretty important, and that’s no different in any form of development. I’m passionate about the technology stack that I do use, and it’s pretty cool stuff. Let’s go over what tools and applications I love to use.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h3 id=&quot;applications&quot;&gt;Applications&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/malsf21&quot;&gt;GitHub&lt;/a&gt; is a Git-based version control system, and it’s pretty damn popular. We host all of our open-source code on GitHub, at our &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/FoodSpan&quot;&gt;organization&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://atom.io/&quot;&gt;Atom&lt;/a&gt; is my text editor of choice (pictured). It has a robust feature set, even better extendability, and it’s made by the guys at GitHub. It works with every language, has thousands of plugins, and feels &lt;em&gt;pretty awesome&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/photoshop.html&quot;&gt;Adobe Photoshop&lt;/a&gt; is the industry standard for image-manipulation, and I’m lucky enough to have a school license for it. We’ve used the Adobe suite to make logos, banners, mockups, and most other images on the site.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://discordapp.com/&quot;&gt;Discord&lt;/a&gt; is our VOIP service. It’s server-based, has different channels, varies member permissions, works on browsers and all other platforms, and most importantly, is &lt;strong&gt;free&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.meistertask.com&quot;&gt;Meistertask&lt;/a&gt; is our Trello-like organization board, that lets us figure out what work we need to do and when. Keeps us agile!&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h3 id=&quot;platforms-frameworks-and-libraries&quot;&gt;Platforms, Frameworks, and Libraries&lt;/h3&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://jekyllrb.com/&quot;&gt;Jekyll&lt;/a&gt; is the static-site generator that we use to code and maintain this site. It makes writing blog posts like this a breeze, editing cross-site code a walk in the park, and general web development a piece of cake.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ionic.io/&quot;&gt;Ionic&lt;/a&gt; is the mobile cross-app framework that we use to make our FoodSpan mobile companion apps. Ionic is based on web technologies, which means that our app works on iOS, Android, and even the Windows Phone! Plus, cool CSS animations.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arduino.cc/&quot;&gt;Arduino&lt;/a&gt; is the microcontroller that we used for our product prototype: it has a vibrant community, awesome set of features and plugins, and looks pretty sleek. In addition, they have their own IDE and product set. Cool!&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;conclusion&quot;&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hopefully you enjoyed this edition of developer’s corner! If you want to contact me, or anybody else on the FoodSpan team, check out our &lt;a href=&quot;/team/&quot;&gt;team page&lt;/a&gt;. I also have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://matthewwang.me&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; if you’re into that kinda stuff.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Until next time!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You can learn more about Matt on his &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/malsf21&quot;&gt;GitHub&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://matthewwang.me/&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.matthewwang.me/&quot;&gt;his blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Aug 2016 13:34:56 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/dev/2016/08/12/dev-corner-matt.html</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://foodspan.github.io/dev/2016/08/12/dev-corner-matt.html</guid>
        
        
        <category>dev</category>
        
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      <item>
        <title>She Put Her Onion Roots in Water... You'll Never Believe What Happens Next!</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;There’s no doubt about it: food is expensive. The average Canadian household spends over &lt;a href=&quot;http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a05?lang=eng&amp;amp;id=2030028&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;$675 a month&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on food, with $490 of that being store-bought food. No matter how much you try to avoid it, the supermarket often becomes your second home.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But what if I told you there was a way to &lt;em&gt;regrow vegetables&lt;/em&gt; from the parts most people don’t find very useful, like the roots of an onion or the bottom of a head of lettuce? It’s as simple as plopping the vegetable in some water and… voilà! After a few weeks, it’ll regenerate itself and you’ll have a new yummy ingredient to cook with.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Ready to learn how to save yourself some trips to the supermarket?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;1-green-onions&quot;&gt;1. Green Onions&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/regrow-onions.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Regrow Onions&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Chopped onions are a culinary aesthete’s favourite garnish. They can be used to add the finishing touches to soups, omelettes, dips, potato salads, stir-fry dishes… the list goes on and on!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Find out how to grow your own &lt;a href=&quot;http://imgur.com/a/vnjtI&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;2-garlic-sprouts&quot;&gt;2. Garlic Sprouts&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/regrow-garlic.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Regrow Garlic&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Love garlic, but want something a little milder? Try garlic sprouts! They taste great on top of baked potatoes and salads, and act as the perfect “little something” for dips such as hummus and guacamole.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can find directions
&lt;a href=&quot;http://simpledailyrecipes.com/8594/how-to-grow-your-own-garlic-chives/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;3-romaine-lettuce&quot;&gt;3. Romaine Lettuce&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/regrow-lettuce.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Regrow Lettuce&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Aside from the obvious salad or wrap, lettuce can be used in a plethora of recipes! Have you ever tried roasting or stir-frying it? From smoothies to tacos, this leafy green will put a smile on your face no matter how you use it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lettuce&lt;/em&gt; show you how you can grow your own! Follow &lt;a href=&quot;https://threepsandq.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/peculiarities-and-plants-romaine-lettuce/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; link to learn how.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;4-basil&quot;&gt;4. Basil&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/regrow-basil.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Regrow Basil&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can’t go wrong with basil! A quick Google search turned up countless recipes whose names alone will make your mouth water. Pasta, salads, fish… add basil to anything and &lt;em&gt;pesto&lt;/em&gt;! Every bite will taste like spring with this &lt;a href=&quot;http://foodfacts.mercola.com/basil.html&quot;&gt;superfood&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Check out the instructions &lt;a href=&quot;http://cepsinthecity.blogspot.ca/2011/06/basil-plants-from-cuttings.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2 id=&quot;conclusion&quot;&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There are several other vegetables you can grow in a similar fashion, but the ones we chose are among the fastest and easiest to grow. Regrowing food is one way to reduce food waste… another would be using &lt;strong&gt;FoodSpan&lt;/strong&gt;! Hopefully this blog post gave you an idea of how to be more sustainable when it comes to chowing down. Until next time!&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:10:00 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/food/2016/08/08/food-that-regrows-itself.html</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://foodspan.github.io/food/2016/08/08/food-that-regrows-itself.html</guid>
        
        
        <category>food</category>
        
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      <item>
        <title>6 Amazing Tips and Tricks to Make Instant Noodles Healthier and Tastier!</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Instant Noodles&lt;/strong&gt; are the staple to any university student’s diet, and they’re dirt cheap too! That being said, you often compensate on getting healthy, nutritious food for a lower price. But that’s not cool! Here, we have &lt;strong&gt;6 amazing ways&lt;/strong&gt; that you can make your instant noodles taste good, good for you, and your wallet!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;1-go-green-put-some-veggies-in-there&quot;&gt;1. Go Green: Put some veggies in there!!&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/green-onion.png&quot; alt=&quot;Green Onions&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Instant Noodles is only going to get you one out of the four food groups, so get some awesome vegetables in there! They also add tons of flavour, and make your pot of noodles look pretty green! Some common vegetables for Instant Noodles include:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Green Onions&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Bean Sprouts&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Lettuce&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Onions&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Broccoli&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Spinach&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Carrots&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Peas&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;Mushrooms&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can find most of these foods at your local supermarkets for a pretty cheap price: look especially for ethnic Asian supermarkets, as noodle ingredients are pretty cheap there.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;2-noodles-can-be-eggcellent&quot;&gt;2. Noodles can be Eggcellent!&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/egg-instant-noodle.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Eggs in Instant Noodles&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Eggs are often a staple for most kinds of foods, and instant noodles are no exception! You can cook them in many different ways: poached, boiled, omelette, or anything in between!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;3-give-your-instant-noodles-some-meat&quot;&gt;3. Give your instant noodles some meat!&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/beef-instant-noodles.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Meat in Instant Noodles&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;People love meat, whether it’s in your burger, grilled food, or even your noodles! You can toss in your pork, beef, or chicken to simmer while you’re boiling your instant noodles, and it turns out amazing! Seafood works even better: shrimp, lobster, or fish doesn’t taste fishy! It tastes even better when the meat juices soak into the soup!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;4-dont-be-a-chicken-use-chicken-stock&quot;&gt;4. Don’t be a chicken, use Chicken Stock!&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/chicken-instant-noodles.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chicken Soup Stock&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Drinking noodle soup is sooo tasty, especially on a cold day. But you don’t want just the flavour packet and water in there! Adding some chicken soup stock can go a long way into making both the noodles and the soup a little chicken soup for the soul.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;5-get-saucy&quot;&gt;5. Get Saucy!&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/soy-sauces.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Soy Sauces&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We love being saucy, especially with instant noodles! Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, and Vinegar are some basic sauces you can add in; if you’re feeling adventurous, try sriracha, Tabasco, or any other hot sauces. Get saucy!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;6-make-your-instant-noodles-butter&quot;&gt;6. Make your Instant Noodles Butter!&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;/img/blog/butter.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Butter&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Adding Butter to your Ramen makes it taste smooooooth, just like butter. Give it a shot! If you’re looking for creamier instant noodles, add some milk in too.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h1 id=&quot;conclusion&quot;&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Hopefully now you’re able to raise the bar for your instant noodles. As a reminder, you can store all of these ingredients in your fridge, and use FoodSpan to keep track of all your ingredients and expiry dates. Have fun out there!&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2016 21:58:07 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/food/2016/08/06/how-to-make-instant-noodles-healthy.html</link>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://foodspan.github.io/food/2016/08/06/how-to-make-instant-noodles-healthy.html</guid>
        
        
        <category>food</category>
        
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      <item>
        <title>Welcome to FoodSpan!</title>
        <description>&lt;p&gt;Welcome to the FoodSpan website, and the FoodSpan Blog. Here, we hope to give you fresh news, tips, and tricks from FoodSpan and the FoodSpan community, and an insight to how our product was created, and why. Along the way, we’ll toss in a bunch of food puns. But no spoilers!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Want to learn more about our product? Check out our &lt;a href=&quot;/about/&quot;&gt;about page&lt;/a&gt; to learn about our hardware product, or our &lt;a href=&quot;https://foodspan.github.io/foodspan-app/&quot;&gt;app page&lt;/a&gt; to find out more about our companion app systems. If you have any questions or want to contact the FoodSpan team, you can contact us &lt;a href=&quot;/contact/&quot;&gt;through the contact page&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/contact/&quot;&gt;social media&lt;/a&gt;, or individually from our &lt;a href=&quot;/team/&quot;&gt;team page&lt;/a&gt;. Hopefully we’re able to make FoodSpan the best product that it can be.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
        <pubDate>Tue, 02 Aug 2016 21:07:07 -0400</pubDate>
        <link>https://foodspan.github.io/news/2016/08/02/welcome-to-foodspan.html</link>
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        <category>news</category>
        
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