This past week, I was honored to guest host the Food Revolution Tuesday Twitter Party where we discussed a topic near and dear to many of our hearts – Feeding Picky Eaters. We got a lot of new and creative ideas from fellow parents struggling with the same issues from around the globe. You can find the followup article and some of the wonderful suggestions here on jamieoliver.com. (more…)
Summer is in full swing! What are your plans with your kids? Long afternoons under the sprinklers? Trips to the cool sanctuary of museums to beat the heat? Cooking? Did I just say, “cooking”?? Sure, why not. Cooking with our kids is a great summertime activity! When you find yourself with an hour or two and the need to feed the family after a full day of summertime fun, why not turn dinner into an activity for your kids. There are so many benefits to cooking with kids. Kids love creating, mixing and measuring, parents love having a fun activity for the family that doesn’t involve the television or a video game…plus, everyone gets fed! One less thing on your plate for the afternoon. (more…)
Rather than succumb to the drive-thru to satisfy our cravings for crisp, salty potatoes last week, we talked about how to make our own Restaurant Style French Fries. Crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, these fries made even our youngest critics happy. But for many of us, week night dinners do not include two quarts of oil and a fry thermometer (heard your comment, Susie!). So let’s slim down the fry in both calories and time by baking them – they will certainly make an easy, fresh and delicious accompaniment to any BBQ or Sandwich night. (more…)
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…)
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.
It’s our birthday! Yes, Out of the Box Food is is officially one year old and we thought it only right to celebrate! We’ve worked hard over the past year to read labels, shop smart and prepare fresh alternative recipes for our children. For those of us who have been together all year, I figured it’s time to treat ourselves. If you’re new to Out of the Box Food, we’re glad you’re here and that fact that you’re reading this post and interested in making healthy choices for your family earns you the right to celebrate too! (more…)
One of the not-so-guilty pleasures of being a food blogger is the ability (and necessity) to set aside time to peruse many of the fabulous food blogs out there. Today I happened upon Fork Spoon Knife and Smitten Kitchen. What beautiful sites filled with mouth-watering food photography and delicious recipes. Both sites had photos of similar desserts that caught my eye. Fork Spoon Knife had one for a Strawberry Buttermilk Cake while Smitten Kitchen had photos of their Summer Strawberry Cake. In both sets of photos the strawberries peeked out of golden brown puffed cakes, just begging to be eaten. I knew then and there, that we would be the ones to eat them. I had strawberries and buttermilk just waiting in my fridge for a good use. But there was only one problem – we didn’t need dessert, we needed dinner. So what’s a mom to do? I upped the nutrition ante of course! (more…)
Welcome back to an ingredient we’re beginning to recognize with dependable frequency – TBHQ. Yes, the ingredient that preserves food products by way of lighter fluid is back in the “mix”ed greens. This time it joins us in the form of a crunchy tidbit our children rely on to top a salad…the crouton. Croutons are by definition (according to dictionary.com), “A small piece of fried or toasted bread, sometimes seasoned, used as a garnish for soups, salads, and other dishes.” Bread, oil and seasoning. That’s it. Simple right? Not always. (more…)
Thanks to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I came up with something brilliant last week. Well, maybe not brilliant. Great? Oh alright. How about worth a try? I’d even go so far as to say that this new discovery should at least be tried by everyone with picky eaters. Want to know what it is?
Last week I participated one of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Twitter Competwitions. That’s right, no it’s not a type-o. Competwition. The team at Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution keeps coming up with great ways to get like-minded folks together to talk about fresh food and this is one of the events they host on Twitter. When my son asked what I was doing, I explained that I was submitting an entry for a recipe contest. The theme was salad. My son looked at me for a long moment then asked, “So what’s your recipe?” A bit surprised that he was interested in this salad recipe contest, I told him what I was planning to submit. He looked thoughtful for a moment then said, “I want to enter a recipe.” I began to type. (more…)
Who doesn’t love cookies? I’m a big fan of the cookie and here’s a cookie that’s been around for almost one hundred years: Mother’s brand Oatmeal Cookies. Well the cookie itself hasn’t been around that long, (though with preservatives these days…) I digress. Mother’s brand cookies have been a staple on supermarket shelves for nearly one hundred years, yet their ingredients are anything but wholesome. (more…)