Happy New Year!

I am ready for a new year.   So many things are in transition at this time of the year, new classes, new work situations, people moving, friends who are soon to marry, friends who are soon to give birth, a world of changes and possibility.  I am grateful for this time of transition.  May the next year bring new experiences, new prosperity, new life and as always love.

This is what I am making for dinner tonight.
http://familyoffood.blogspot.com/2008/01/jewish-soul-food.html

L'shanah tovah!

Stickers you can EAT! Food Fun.

 

At the Studio City Farmer's Market this weekend, I discovered My Fruity Faces.  My Fruity Faces are fun edible stickers for food.  They are natural, slightly sweet stickers that are OK to eat and dissolve in your mouth.

Adam Gerber, Partner and Kidxecutive showed us these edible stickers.  They are designed to make fruits and vegetables more fun for kids to eat.  When I suggested they would make great cupcake toppers, Adam stopped me and pointed out that their mission was to encourage healthy eating and to help fight childhood obesity.  He then gave my kids a couple of stickers on a cucumber slice.  They ate it up (so to speak!)

You can find My Fruity Faces at http://www.myfruityfaces.com/

WARNING! Zoku Quick Pop Maker

I never imagined a problem like this, so I'm sharing this warning...
The kids had knocked a freezer shelf down so I took all the goods off the shelf so I could put it back in place.  All of a sudden, my dog was flailing around and thumping one of these things

(the Zoku Popsicle Maker) on the ground.  Like the little boy in A Christmas Story who stuck his tongue to a frozen flagpole, my puppy stuck his tongue on the frozen Zoku Quick Pop Maker and could not get free.  Once I figured out what was going on, I held him in place and he quickly got his tongue free on his own.  It was a scary couple of seconds.  The Zoku is designed to freeze anything inside its' metal core very quickly.  It can freeze a Popsicle from liquid and warm to frozen hard in under 10 minutes.  It could freeze a puppy tongue pretty quickly, too.  Warm water would have released the dog if he had not gotten free on his own.

The moral of the story, keep the Zoku out of the reach of pets and probably small children while you are at it, especially anyone who might succumb to a triple dog dare.

This Family is Inclusive

It has been a while since I have posted, but there is a food related controversy weighing on this Family of Food.  We have mentioned one of our favorite fast food restaurants before, Chick-Fil-A.   Chick-Fil-A was a serious part of my childhood.  There was a franchise at the mall where my parents had a store.  My best friend got her first job there.  Father of Food loved their sandwiches. He had a heart episode (mini attack?) while eating one of them.  Wound up in the hospital for a week.  Though he stayed away for a while, he eventually started eating them again, despite surviving the sandwich that seemed to put him in the hospital.  Mother of food always asks us to pick up some on the way to Vegas. My kids love to play in their indoor playground.  I've day-dreamed about opening my own franchise.

This is why it is painful to say... I can not buy their food anymore.  I won't.  I don't want to give money to people who turn around and use that money for hate.  The president of Chick-Fil-A has proudly stated his disapproval of homosexuality and financial support of anti-gay legislation.  While I appreciate his right to live how he wants to, and say what he wants.  I don't agree with him actively trying to legally limit the lives and happiness of others.  This is not about a difference of religion.  For years I have been disappointed when I forget and show up on a Sunday and I can't get the goods.  Although Sunday is not my Sabbath, I have always appreciated Chick-Fil-A's stance to stay closed that day.  It is about discrimination, plain and simple.  I can not support discrimination.  This boycott is about human rights... American Rights! The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Could this not be the most American of family values?  I stand on the side of love, not hate.

Those of you like me, who love the chicken, but not the chicken seller, may choose to do what I have done.  When you get that Chick-Fil-A craving, make it yourself!

 

I used Hilah's recipe http://hilahcooking.com/chick-fil-a-copycat/, but you can find others such as this one at Food.com or the one in Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur

The biggest flaws in the Hilah recipe was that maybe it wasn't salty enough, although in fairness, my pickle brine was quite sweet and my chicken tasted more tender because it was of a much higher quality.  I can live with that. 

 

Lightened Spinach Queso Dip

This is a perfect Summer Party Dip.

Queso typically is a Tex-Mex Cheese and Salsa mix popular in parts of Texas.  The recipes shared by our Texas family and friends use Velveeta and Ro-tel Tomatos.  This is definitely a guilty pleasure.

I wanted to make a Queso with Velveeta without so much guilt, so I lightened up a recipe for Spinach Queso found right on the Velveeta Box. Mine turned out to be about a quarter of the calories of the original.

Here's what I used:

1 12 oz bag of frozen spinach
4 oz Velveeta
1 Can Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chiles
2 TBSP Philadelphia Whipped Cream Cheese
1 Can Black Eyed Peas (optional)

This also makes a nice side dish for a dinner. Split into four

10 Best French Fries in LA

I have to share this link with my Angelenos!  The LA Weekly reviews The 10 best Fries in LA.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2012/06/top_10_best_french_fries_los_a.php?page=2

Typical Kindergarten Lunch

It's almost the end of Kindergarten and I wanted to show the typical lunch I am making for the girls now.  The meals are bigger, boxes are bigger, and there are less food "pictures" as they get pretty jumbled in the backpacks. 

Their lunches also include a snack - on the side: 1 Frozen Gogurt & 1 canister of water.

 .

These lunches included:

Pepperoni and provolone with lettuce and Miracle Whip on wheat bread - 1/2 Sandwich

1/2 Banana

Broccoli Crowns

Green Pepper Slices

Grapes

Cheddar Goldfish Crackers

Chewy Granola Bar

Raisins

White Chocolate Chunk Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

 

It has been a while since I posted, and I have been baking for the school bake sale for weeks now.  Yesterday was the last bake sale of the season and we did great. After, I was asked for the recipe for some cookies and I was going to just e-mail it, when I realized, hey I have a blog for that sort of thing.  Everyone can share this yummy recipe!

White Chocolate Chunk Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

1 stick (1/2 Cup) of Butter or Margarine
2/3 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1&1/2 Cup of Oats (Uncooked Plain Oatmeal)
1&1/2 Cup of Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1&1/2 Cup of Dried Cranberries
1 Cup of White Chocolate Chunks or White Candy Melts

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
With a Kitchen Aid Mixer or electric mixer beat the butter or margarine and brown sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs and beat thoroughly.
In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.
Add this dry mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mix in portions, always mixing well after each addition.
Stir in Cranberries and White Chocolate Chunks at a high enough speed to break up some of the chocolate.
Drop by large overflowing rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Press down cookie balls so they are more disk shaped.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until some browning on the cookies. Makes about 24 cookies.

Variations:
For a richer cookie, add 2/3 cup of butter or margarine instead of 1/2 cup.
For a lower fat cookie, add a banana and only 1/3 cup of  butter instead of 1/2 cup.


For variety: Add 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans, or milk chocolate chunks instead of the white chocolate.
For a moister cookie, refrigerate dough for 24 hours before baking.  This allows the fats to really distribute throughout the dough.