Tag Archives: Recipes

Sep17

Cooking With Kids; ChopChop Invites You To The #BigPicnic

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Cooking With Kids; ChopChop Invites You To The #BigPicnic

ChopChop Big PicnicParsnip and Dill, I tell my kids. Those are my secret ingredients for delicious chicken soup. Well not my recipe I confess, but passed on to me by Grandma Nettie, Auntie Kimbo’s grandmother. They know that “Auntie” Kimbo is not really their aunt, and that her name is Kim (Kimberly but don’t tell her I told you!).  They also know that Kim and I have been friends since we were six, and somewhere Kim turned into Kimbo, as those things go with longtime childhood friends.

In any case, my kids and I love to cook together and it has been fun as they grow to watch them conquer more and more complex cooking tasks on their own. And by complex I mean my 10-year-old is up to the cracking the eggs into a bowl without bits of shell getting in. One of the most rewarding moments of motherhood so far was the birthday morning that I woke up to heart-shaped pancakes made for me by my 13-year-old daughter. My child had cooked for me , and that felt revolutionary.

I like to cook with them for the same reason that I like to keep a small (o.k. weed infested) garden in our backyard. I like for them to know where their food comes from. To understand the process of how what we put into our body is made, and that they can make food for themselves, it does not have to come in a package or be bought off a shelf. We had been big fans of the quarterly publication ChopChop Magazine for years, loving to try the healthful recipes and snack suggestions within its colorful pages. ChopChop is a non-profit  with the mission to inspire and teach kids to cook and eat real food with their families.

Currently, 1 out of 400 children under 18 in the U.S. has diabetes, and nearly 1 in 3 is obese. ChopChop’s goal is to reverse this trend by teaching kids and their parents how to create healthy, delicious meals that are easy to prepare and use fresh, nutritious ingredients. ChopChop doesn’t demonize particular foods or use scare tactics. They just offer simple, healthy, and affordable recipes for children and parents to make together.

When we found out ChopChop had come out with a  ChopChop cookbook  we were thrilled.   We were sent a copy as a lead up to our participation in The Big Picnic, and when we received our copy of the cookbook  I had the kids pick out a recipe for us to try.  With four kids coming to a consensus can be challenging to say the least, this time somehow they all enthusiastically agreed that they wanted to make Matzo Balls to add to Grandma Nettie’s Chicken Soup.

The ChopChop Cookbook is made for kids so it is easy for them to read and follow the well explained simple recipes. Personally I never knew I could make Matzo balls, so to find them so easy to make surprised me. Of course the kids all wanted to crack the eggs so I was grateful that the recipe they chose called for 6! Of course rolling the Matzo balls was the most fun, but watching them fluff up as they cooked came pretty close.

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Inspired by National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month in September, The Big Picnic is being hosted on September 22nd by ChopChop and partner organizations including The White House as a virtual community picnic in which families across the country will cook and eat together at their own picnics. It will be a fun event with a serious goal: preventing childhood obesity.  Who doesn’t love a picnic!?! They are a great way to remind us that cooking and eating healthy food together is lots of fun—a time to share and enjoy. This event is all about good food and good company!

You can join The Big Picnic however you like, spread out a blanket , eat at a picnic table – outside or in. Invite friends, family,  neighbors, and make it as simple or as elaborate as you want. Take pictures or video and share with the hashtag #bigpicnic, and as a participant you will be eligible to win prizes like subscriptions to the magazine, a copy of the  ChopChop cookbook or other fun surprises. We’ll be there, eating our Matzo Ball Soup!

You can also Enter to Win a ChopChop cookbook and a one-year ChopChop Magazine subscription Below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is an original post written by me as part of a program with The Mission List. I received a ChopChop cookbook + magazine subscription for culinary inspiration; as always all opinions are my own.

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Dec7

It’s Your Latke Day!

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It’s Your Latke Day!

It’s your Latke Day because Chanukah begins tomorrow at sundown, and I have two delicious Latke recipes to share! The best part is that these bite sized potato treats are good enough to serve as side dishes or appetizers all year round.

 

If you want to get fancy:

 Then go with the Sweet Potato Latke recipe that I submitted as a ONE.org Community Partner to the ONE.org Digital Cookbook for their Sweet potato Nutrition campaign.  These are a dressed up version of the traditional Chanukah treat.

PANCAKES:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
 and shredded

¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 ¼ teaspoon Cumin

4  eggs

6 tablespoons  flour

Pinch of salt & pepper to taste

canola oil for frying

TOPPING:

8 oz. crème fraiche

1teaspoons cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Caramelized Pecans

DIRECTIONS:

Mix shredded sweet potatoes with eggs, flour, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt & pepper

Place a tablespoon of the batter in a frying pan with oil and fry until light brown and crispy on both sides.

Place on a paper towel before putting it on the plate.

Mix crème fraiche with cayenne pepper and cumin and place a dollop on top of each pancake.

Top with caramelized pecan and serve.

To make traditional Potato Latkes:

4 potatoes peeled & shredded

2 Eggs

salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl

Heat oil in a pan and drop in spoonfuls of the batter  and press flat with a spatula. (beware of hot oil splattering, I like to use an oil screen as shown here):

Fry until crispy and golden brown on each side.

Serve with optional toppings of sour cream and applesauce.

 

May11

Delicious White Chocolate Fruit Tart Recipe!

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Delicious White Chocolate Fruit Tart Recipe!

This is one of my favorite dessert recipes because it looks as good as it tastes.  I’ll never forget when my friend Karen Vernacchio walked into a dinner party carrying it years ago. I could not believe she had made that beautiful fruit tart herself, and certainly did not believe her when she said it was actually easy to make!

She was kind enough to share her recipe with me back then, so you really have her to thank for what I am about to share with you.  It has since become my staple, simple yet elegant dessert for entertaining. I am grateful to her every time I make it. I even keep the non-perishable ingredients in my pantry, (I almost always have milk, butter and cream cheese in my fridge) so in a pinch I can just grab the fresh berries and whip it up.

 

White Chocolate Fruit Tart

Tart crust:

¾ c. softened butter

1 ½ c. confectioners’ sugar

1 ½ c. flour

Filling:

1 bag White chocolate chips

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

½ c. milk

Topping:

Kiwi, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries

(These are my usual toppings but Karen has made it with bananas, and I have made it with pineapple too, so it is really whatever design you come up with)

Glaze:

¼ c. sugar

1 T. cornstarch

½ c. pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 300. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Blend in flour.  Press mixture into 12 inch round tart pan, or pizza pan.  Bake 20 min. until lightly browned.  Cool completely.  In a saucepan, melt chocolate and milk until smooth.  Add cream cheese and mix until smooth.  Spread over crust to cool.

 Arrange kiwi, and berries on top of filling.  In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, stir in Dole pineapple juice. Stir constantly until thick. Drizzle over fruit topping. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until it has set.