Kids Food / On the Go / Sweet Treats

Holiday Cookie Month – My LA Times Food Bake-Off Winning Recipe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you hear that?  Are they Santa’s bells?  Is it the excited squeals of children opening gifts?  No, it’s me – whooping it up at my computer as I type this.  When you think of a holiday cookie bake-off do you think of health?  Nutrition?  The LA Times did!  This year, my Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies were chosen as one of the ten winners of their Holiday Cookie Bake-Off!  After LA Times readers (and I know many of you were amongst them – thank you!) narrowed down the recipes from over 200, the 50 top recipes were brought to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School where they were baked up and judged on flavor, texture, richness, visual appearance and holiday spirit.  I am thrilled to say that my Healthier Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies made with Whole Wheat flour, raw sugar and flax meal met those stringent requirements and then exceeded them!  Here’s to health, nutrition…and cookies!  Cheers! (more…)

3 Comments
12/18/2011
Holiday Cookie Month: Lemon & Olive Oil Cookies
Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go / Sweet Treats

Holiday Cookie Month: Lemon & Olive Oil Cookies

As I was planning Out of the Box Food’s Holiday Cookie Month, I was reminded of a recipe I developed last year which makes a deliciously crunchy, heart healthy lemon cookie.  These cookies bake up crisp and delicate and are made with olive oil instead of butter which means that in addition to being easier on the waistline, they’re Vegan friendly too.  Plus, if you eat Gluten Free, the Whole Wheat Pastry Flour can be evenly substituted with Gluten-Free Baking Flour for a wheat-free treat. Oh, and did I mention they’re quick and easy? (more…)

3 Comments
12/11/2011
Breakfast Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go

Pumpkin Muffins – A Fall Breakfast Treat

The first day sugar pumpkins were displayed in the market, my children HAD to have them.  They couldn’t wait to make Pumpkin Pasties ala Harry Potter, pumpkin pie, and all the delicious fall pumpkin treats.  So we bought them…and made lots of pumpkin puree.

After reaching out to my Facebook community for Sunday morning breakfast ideas, Joelle’s suggestion of a pumpkin loaf reminded me that I had tons of pumpkin puree in the refrigerator.  It was time to create a new pumpkin treat for my family.  Muffins are great warm, right out of the oven, but they’re also a delicious addition to the lunch box and I’m always in need of lunch box ideas!  These Pumpkin muffins are paired with another ingredient I turn to often in the fall, pure maple syrup.  The combination of the pumpkin and the maple really come together to make a delicious, lightly sweetened muffin. (more…)

7 Comments
10/16/2011
Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go / Snacks

Foot Long Fruit Roll up – Recipe Update: Frozen Berries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Lunch box idea swap and Giveaway is still going strong.  Contest ends Saturday September 10th at 11:59pm PST, so be sure to get your ideas in on the contest page for a chance to win an Applegate prize package worth $40.00.

We’ve been making lots of these Foot Long Fruit Roll ups lately.  After my son asked, “Why don’t you make all the stuff on your blog for us more often?” I realized that in an effort to come up with new ideas, I had gotten away from the tried and true recipes my sons love. (more…)

79 Comments
09/04/2011
Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go / Snacks

In a pickle – Sun Pickles to Make with the Kids

Pickles are a fun food.  They make our lips pucker, are delicious served icy cold and can even be found on a stick!  But when I looked into what’s in many of the jarred pickles, my lips puckered for another reason entirely…artificial colors & high fructose corn syrup – in the DILL pickles.  That’s right.  Many of our go-to brands are in need of a ingredient check. (more…)

7 Comments
08/07/2011
What’s in McDonald’s French Fries?
Dinner Table / Kids Food / On the Go / Snacks

What’s in McDonald’s French Fries?

McDonald’s French Fries.  As American as apple pie and corn on the cob.  As common as state fairs in the summertime.  I actually think it might be difficult to find an American who has never popped (or more accurately, crammed) those spears of crisp, salty potato into their mouths.  If you are one of those people, I applaud you.  I wish I could say the same.  Back in our McDonald’s days, (I’m happy to report my family is now MDPF – McDonald’s Product Free), I would feed my children those little nuggets of “chicken” making sure they had eaten a few fries to round out the meal (I literally gag as I remember).  One of the many things I didn’t know then is how many ingredients actually go into those puffs of salty decadence.   French Fries should contain potatoes, oil and salt.  They may not be a health food, but they should be natural.  McDonald’s French Fries are as natural as…well, they’re just not. (more…)

15 Comments
06/30/2011
The “Corn Dog” Days of Summer
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go

The “Corn Dog” Days of Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s summer!  Across the country, state and county fairs are offering loads of delicious processed foods on sticks.  Foods that kids love (and I hate to admit, some of us adults too).  Today as my boys and I strolled through the brightly colored booths at the Ventura County Fair, we inhaled the decadence of fried fair treats, creating memories of summer.  These are the memories we will eventually go back to on cold November afternoons, encouraging us to take out a box of frozen corn dogs in order to recapture the experience.  Hey, why not?   Frozen corn dogs are easy, inexpensive, delicious, and some brands are even made with healthy turkey dogs, right?  But it’s what lies within the box, underneath the list of thirty seven, no thirty eight ingredients that should snap us back from our sweet memories of summer and encourage us to look for food outside of the box.

(more…)

81 Comments
06/30/2011