My daughter is the quintessential picky eater. At one point, it got so difficult she actually ended up working with a food therapist for several months. Now she is doing much better, and is much more willing to try different foods. Unfortunately, she is still very resistant to eating most so-called "Superfoods". So in an effort to sneak some nutritionally-packed produce into her diet, I came up with my Stealthy Chocolate Bars. It tastes like dessert, but is made with mostly healthy ingredients packed with vitamins. My child gobbles these up, while singing "yummy, yummy, in my tummy". My husband and I both really enjoy it as a dessert too!
My good friend recently had a beautiful baby girl. When they left the hospital and returned home, our group of friends set up a schedule for each of us to bring their family a dinner each night, to help them through that tough first week of new-baby transition. I immediately decided to make them one of my newer recipes, my Homemade Hamburger Helper, but then got stuck trying to come up with a tasty side that would transport well. So I went to my trusty Pinterest boards to get inspired, and was quickly smitten by a Kale and Pear Salad by the blog Taste Love and Nourish. I adapted the recipe a little, and it turned out delicious! It's light, and fresh, and tangy. It's filled with super foods, and it's a breeze to make. Transports great too! :)
Today's blog post is a special one! I've been chosen to write and share a recipe for one of my favorite grocery stores: Earth Fare. Normally when I grocery shop, I spend an inordinate amount of time reading the labels of every item I'm considering purchasing, and then scanning it on the phone app Fooducate to ensure I'm not getting something with scary ingredients. I don't have to do that at Earth Fare. I can trust that everything in the store has already been well vetted. Their company vision is to be the most trusted organic and natural food market in the country. Nothing in their store contains high fructose corn syrup, artificial color or sweeteners, synthetic growth hormones, and trans fat. If other big chain grocery stores did that, half the store would be empty!
I have white counters and sinks, so sometimes I need something stronger than my trusty all-purpose cleaner to get my surfaces sparkling white again. I was using some pricy store-bought bleach spray for those occasions, when it occurred to me that I could probably easily make it myself. After a quick bout of googling, I proved myself right by finding a lovely blog called Fake It Frugal, with instructions on how to make your own Fake Clorox Cleanup. As suspected, it's easy to make and cheap to boot (only 2 cents a bottle!). One thing to note however, is that apparently a homemade bleach mixture will start to break down after 24 hours unless you increase the bleach ratio. Even then, it will only be effective for a week after you make it, so make it in small batches. Yet with it only taking a few minutes to make, it's been no problem for me to whip up a small batch when I need it.
I have been meaning to write a review for White Tiger Gourmet for a year now. Every time I start, I give up, because I feel like I'm not going to do it justice. Our whole family loves White Tiger. Some kids start chanting for McDonalds when they get in the car; my picky eater chants "White Tiger, White Tiger!" over and over. Sometimes my husband and I join in the chant, and find ourselves taking an unscheduled trip there.
The South just survived what the forecasters were calling a "historical" snow storm. Thankfully Athens just received sleet and snow, instead of freezing rain and ice, so we were able to enjoy a winter wonderland this week, instead of a crippling catastrophic event. Even though the snow is now melting, I'm still finding myself craving comfort food. For some odd reason, I am specifically craving French comfort food--a Croque Monsieur, to be exact.
If you've never had the pleasure of eating one, a Croque Monsieur is a decadent ham and swiss sandwich that has been grilled and topped with a béchamel sauce. This dish, however, is a bit high in calories, and perhaps isn't the most kid-friendly dish, so I set out to recreate the dish to make it more in our family's style. I decided to reimagine the dish as a pasta; using gnocchi instead of bread, and a white cheese sauce instead of a béchamel sauce.
This dish, my dear readers, is so far my absolute favorite dish of 2014. I originally wanted to name my pasta Gnocchi alla Croque Monsier, but I was afraid it would make the recipe sound too intimidating, when nothing could be further from the truth. It was so quick and easy to make (less than thirty minutes!) and both my husband and kid gobbled it up. If you keep your portion size reasonable and pair it with a light salad, this meal easily remains under 500 calories.
Our local weather guys, Athens GA Weather, are forecasting a nasty winter storm for this week. Which is crazy, because we just had a winter storm two weeks ago, and normally we don't get to see snowflakes but once a year. Since it's slated to be cold and icy, I've decided that a hot and zesty soup should be on the menu. At first I considered making a ramen soup that I've been eyeballing, but ultimately went with old faithful: Chicken Taco Soup. It's easy to make and always a crowd pleaser. Before I became a parent, I would make it pretty spicy, but this time I aimed to keep it kid friendly. So if you like heat, be sure to amend the recipe to add cayenne pepper and/or garnish with hot sauce. Also, this is a great soup to double, since it freezes beautifully. Finally, this recipe can easily be made in the crockpot, if you happen to be too busy sledding outside to be standing over a stove.
