Meatless Meals Kids Will Love

You don't have to be a vegetarian to have heard the term "Meatless Monday".  But does it work for families and children?  Does it have to just be on Mondays?  Why is making…

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Pizza for Breakfast!

Individual Prosciutto Breakfast Pizzas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pizza for breakfast?  Why not!   These Individual Prosciutto Breakfast Pizzas are a fun way to incorporate fresh ingredients into something the kids love and won’t expect in the morning.  We make them with farm fresh eggs, ripe tomatoes and wholesome cheese.  Want to make them even easier?  Pre-bake the individual crusts and keep in the freezer for quick and easy mornings. (more…)

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Make it together – Homemade “Disco” Butter

Lazy summer days are the perfect opportunity to make food fresh with our kids.   This summer we’re going to share some of our favorite “Make-it-together” foods to help give you ideas to get your kids interested in, and making their own, fresh foods.

This week we have made something (nearly) everyone loves….BUTTER! Seriously, who doesn’t love creamy, sweet butter spread on freshly cooking corn on the cob, bread still warm from the oven, or spread onto freshly plucked radishes with a dusting of sea salt. (more…)

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A Healthy New Year from Out of the Box Food and Nature Made

Happy National Vitamin Day!  Yes,  January 29th is National Vitamin Day and as we head into the second month of the year I want to invite you to join me on a two week journey to explore the value of vitamins and healthy living.  A few weeks ago I was invited to join Nature Made to reflect on healthy resolutions made for the new year, and consider how vitamins may play a role in those resolutions.   Many of us may have resolve to living healthier ourselves and providing a healthier life for our children.  Perhaps we resolved to attend our local farmers market, or buy only food from the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the center aisles containing processed food.  Maybe we resolved to feed our families brains and hearts with healthy omega threes, or fight off winter colds with vitamin C and zinc.  Maybe we just resolved to offer our families a healthier year and are still not entirely sure how to do that. (more…)

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Make it together: Fruit Kebabs

We are back to summer here in Los Angeles this October weekend. Temperatures are rising into the 90′s, warm winds are blowing and we’re heading to the farmers market to pick up lots of fruit! Getting kids involved in the kitchen is a sure way to get them trying new foods.   While our kids are little, we begin working to prepare them for life — we teach them strong study skills, the value of saving their allowance for a solid financial future, and  help them learn early on the value of healthy foods so that (hopefully) they won’t try to survive on Cheetos and Diet Coke in their college dorm room.  It may sound simple but we can start with something as easy and fun as Fruit Kebabs. Fruit Kebabs are simple way to allow kids to create their own healthy dish while giving them a fun activity. We lay out out a variety of fruit and skewers (or plastic coffee stirrers for younger children) and let them invent their own creations. Let’s get our kids creating in the kitchen!

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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.

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The Holidays and Marshmallows – Part 2 “Rice Crispy Treats”

Last week I mentioned that we’d delve into a couple of well-known holiday marshmallow traditions.  Rice Crispy Treats are definitely up there on the list of the go-to recipes for cookie exchanges, school holiday parties, and as a treat for Santa after he’s made it down a few chimneys.  But I’d bet that if Santa knew those treats contained a chemical banned in eleven countries and an additive suspected to cause abnormalities in the brain, hyperactivity in children and cancer, he’d probably pass.  Just a hunch. (more…)

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