01
Foodie Friday: The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora!
I headed to the Disney Studios yesterday in beautiful downtown Burbank to help celebrate the launch of The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora!
As a huge fan of Swedish Chefs and Iron Chefs, I was thrilled with the invite and opportunity. The Muppets Kitchen is a wonderful new online video series starring celebrity chef Cat Cora and Muppet Chef Angelo (who, with his thick Italian accent, is clearly not Swedish). However, Chef Angelo is a close friend and apprentice to the Swedish Chef and, as I quickly learned, is just as entertaining and lovable. His cooking skills, however, are questionable.
The online videos, which are featured on Disney’s Family.com and Disney.go.com websites, are not only entertaining to watch but are filled with helpful cooking tips and ideas for little eaters. As a mom herself, Cat Cora has a ton of ideas for healthy and delicious food that even the pickiest eater will enjoy. There are no surprises and sneaky methods with her recipes. Cat believes that educating your children about what’s in their food and where it’s from is the best way to go. As she explained to the audience, knowing the ingredients of her food and trying everything at least once has not only expanded her own palate but helped her become the incredible chef she is today.
Watching Cat Cora, Chef Angelo, and Pepe explain how to make trail mix popcorn
Cat and Angelo demonstrated how to make a delicious snack called Trail Mix Popcorn. You can make the popcorn with the nuts and dried fruit on their own or add the melted sugar, corn syrup, and butter for an extra treat. Either way, it’s going to taste great! It’s a Moms and Muppets approved snack. Check it out! (continues…)
24
Foodie Friday: Homemade Tomato Soup and Gourmet Grilled Cheese
My kinda comfort food
Now that Fall has officially arrived (except here in SoCal where it’s 90 degrees!), it’s time to start cooking for cooler weather. And nothing is more comforting than a steaming bowl of homemade soup and a hot sandwich. I think I represent many Americans when I say that my ultimate comfort food is the classic tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. You really can’t go wrong with this beloved combination, but I want to explain how I like to make it even better.
There is no need to dump a can of condensed tomato soup in a pot when making homemade tomato soup yourself is so easy. And as for the basic grilled cheese sandwich? Well, let’s just say that you can forget about the white bread and processed cheese singles. I prepare my grilled cheese with good egg bread or crusty sourdough. And, as for cheese, I like it with good Gruyere and Swiss. I’m telling you, this ain’t yo mama’s grilled cheese sandwich. (continues…)
16
Foodie Friday: Vroom-Vroom Juice
Put a little *vroom* in your juice
For my two year old Monkey, everything that makes a loud whirring sound is called a *vroom-vroom*. Which explains why whenever I break out the blender to make a smoothie, my toddler says it’s time for *vroom-vroom juice*.
There are a ton of different ways to make a smoothie and it seems like I’ve tried a hundred different varieties without nailing the perfect consistency. The smoothie either turns out too sweet, too bitter, too grainy, or has too many seeds. This one, however, is my favorite smoothie recipe. And the Monkey loves it, too:
The Monkey’s Vroom-Vroom Juice
- 2 cups organic Acai juice (I prefer Acai with pomegranate juice)
- 1/2 cup of non-fat organic vanilla or plain yogurt
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 small package of frozen organic strawberries
- 1 frozen mango
Optional:
1 tablespoon of flaxseed
When you’re preparing to *vroom-vroom*, make sure to add the ingredients in the order I listed in order to help blend more smoothly and evenly. If the blender doesn’t seem to be working, you may have an air pocket. Safely and carefully, lift the lid and use a spoon to stir up the mixture before proceeding to blend again. You may have to blend for about 2-3 minutes before you get the right consistency.
For toddlers, the best cup I have found for smoothies is the Munchkin Mighty Grip Flip Straw Cups. They’re not the easiest sippy cup to clean and assemble, but toddlers find them very easy and fun to use.
The *vroom-vroom juice* smoothies also make great frozen fruit bars! My favorite mold is the Tovolo Shooting Stars.
Cheers!
25
Foodie Friday: Challah If You Love French Toast!
In my house, there is only one way to make french toast. With Challah bread.
Challah bread is a traditional Jewish bread that is usually served on Shabbat. You can usually find this type of bread in the bakery section of most major grocery stores, however they may call it “braided egg bread.” I don’t usually buy Challah at the grocery store since I have a few local bakeries that bake delicious Challah bread. Check in with your local bakery before heading to the grocery store. It makes a big difference.
If I’m planning on preparing my Challah french toast on a Sunday morning, I buy the bread on Friday. It’s best to to use 1-2 day old bread for this recipe. Just keep in mind that if you’re buying Challah bread on Shabbat, you may want to call ahead to order in advance.
Ingredients:
- One loaf of Challah Bread (10-12 slices)
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of milk. I use low-fat, skim, or light soy milk.
- 4 tablespoons of honey
- 4 tablespoons of orange juice
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon of kosher/sea salt
- Cinnamon, optional
- 4 tablespoons of butter for grilling purposes only
(Click on pics to expand)
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- image from The Daily World Buzz
Make sure to have a 10-inch non-stick pan and a cooling rack over a baking sheet ready.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the eggs, milk, honey, orange juice, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk well. Dip a slice of bread in the mixture and coat well on each side. Allow the bread to soak for about 30 seconds and then place the battered slice of bread on the cooling rack. Once all the bread slices have been coated, start heating up the griddle pan.
Over a medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan. Place up to three bread slices in the pan but just make sure they can all fit. Cook each slice until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes for each side. Remove from pan and place back on the cooling rack. Once all the slices have been cooked and placed back on the cooling rack, put the baking pan in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Serve with REAL maple syrup and fresh fruit. I like my french toast with either mixed berries and/or slices of banana.
Bon Appétit
Edited on 6/29/10 to add: Rachel from Peanut Couture informed me about a great recipe she has for a baked challah french toast casserole and I asked her for the recipe. See below in the comments section for the recipe. I haven’t tried it out yet, but doesn’t it sound delicious?
11
Foodie Friday: The Grown-Up Version Of A Hot Dog
Hot dogs are easily one of the favorite food staples for kids, but sometimes even adults get a craving for a good ol’ hot dog. However, unless I’m at the ball park or passing a hot dog cart in NYC (what is it about those NYC hot dogs?!?) I prefer my hot dogs to be a bit more, shall we say, sophisticated. This means, I like alcohol to be involved.
Instead of buying a package of Hebrew National hot dogs, I either head down to my local butcher or to the grocery store to buy a package of sausages. If you’re buying pre-packed sausages, I have a few favorites. Try the Chicken & Apple from Aidells or the Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe’s. Both are excellent. You can buy these ahead of time and freeze them since this recipe actually works best with frozen sausage.
This is what you need for the rest of the recipe:
Serves 4
1 package of 4 sausages
2 12oz. bottles of dark ale/beer
1 large white onion (cut into rings)
4 good quality buns (I like the small square or round sourdough rolls from Trader Joe’s)
1 bottle of good quality mustard. Save the French’s Mustard for the kids.
I like to make these adult hot dogs with a side of flavorful grilled veggies. Our favorite veggies to grill are zucchini, asparagus, and eggplant. Simply cut or slice the veggies and brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle on fresh ground pepper, sea salt, lemon pepper, red chili pepper, and garlic powder. Throw on the grill along with the sausages.
Sausage Recipe: (continues…)