Easy Cooking Days

 The week between Christmas and New year's should be an easy one.This includes cooking. eveything should be a snap. Easy to cook and easy to eat.

I felt this way after two days of heavy cookiing. I just wanted something simple to make with what ever was in the refrigerator. I had the Lucenre egg whites left over from cookie baking. I had spinach. Why not makeone of my favorites - a spinach scramble.

It's just mixing half a carton with a bowl of baby spinach leaves. I cooked it in Melt for a lovely buttery flavor. It's not elaborate.It cooks quickly in only minutes. Of course I had to have bacon.

A few slices of  Morningstar Farms bacon completes it. 

This was easy  cooking at it's best. No fuss, no triumverate of air fryer  microwave and stove going for hours. No army of pots pans, or dishes to contend with afterwards/It was filling and fun comfort food.

This is the week for simple cooks.. Don't sweat it . make your favorite no fuss no muss dishes. Treat yourself to some easy comfort food.

Sweets For Mardi Gras

What better way to celebrate Mardi Gras than with sweets. It's a tasty way to celebrate all the bad for you treats before heading into austere Lent. There are so many different ones that you can have a feast of them.

One of the most famous is the King Cake. This is more of a bread, originating in France and also popular in Switzerland and Belgium. The sweet airy breads are actually made for Epiphany , hence the name, and continue well into the Mardi Gras season. The recipe does involve yeast as well as some kneading. Some recipes have cardamon and cinnamon along with citron and raisins. These last can be omitted. A vegan version can also be made. This involves subbing in cow's milk with almond milk and eggs with egg replacers (which can be found in the egg section of your grocery store). Vegan butter is also used and again you can use Country Crock's plant butters.The cake bread is braided and baked and then iced with a simple icing glaze. The fun part is adding the Mardi Gras colored sugars of green which represents faith, purple for justice and gold for power. Remember to add in a gold coin or plastic baby as the traditional "gift". You could also make mini King Cakes using Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon rolls. These are fun because you can add a gift to each mini cake so everyone wins.

Beignets are another Mardi Gras treat which can also be made all year round. Again this is basically a bread recipe, made with yeast and bread flour. Again it does require kneading along with another labor intensive step. Eggs and yeast are mixed together and then the bread flour is added. There's also shortening and frying in vegetable oil. They're then dredged in sifted powdered sugar. You could do a sprinkling of blended green, gold and purple sanding sugars to give them a Mardi Gras vibe. Vegetarians can enjoy their version. Again use egg replacers and vegan or vegetable shortening for texture.Use vegan evaporated milk such as Nature's Charm, made with coconut milk. It can be found at Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. Again, the vegetarian beignets are deep fried in vegetable oil. As for the powdered sugar, some vegans refuse to use it because there is animal bone char in it. You can create your own by mixing ground white sugar  or evaporated cane sugar and cornstarch. Can beignets be fried in an air fryer? Yes! They'll still be crisp and hot. They're cooked at about 390 F for three minutes each on each side.

Enjoy these sweet treats to be made for Mardi Gras. They're a great way to celebrate a decadent holiday. Enjoy them with a cafe au lait or Sazarec or Hurricane cocktail!

Baby Chefs

With Mother's Day around the corner  a lot of little ones will want to make her something special. The question is are they old enough to cook or bake ? When can they put on the apron and wield that spatula? Is the age or a child's maturity that decides?

Surprisingly you can put a two or three year old to work in the kitchen. Mind you, it's just simple safe, stuff but it's a start. They can help you squeeze lemons and spin the salad spinner. Those tiny  hands can also aid in picking leaves off of herbs and gently mashing squash and potatoes.At the ages of four and five, their motor skills are more defined and they can focus better on tasks.The problem is they could either be advanced , doing what older kids can do or lagging, doing the simple kitchen chores a toddler can do. My advice is gauge their enthusiasm. They may be more interested in playing  so don't push them . If they're enthusiastic , then see what they're good at and give them that job to do. What can those six and seven year olds do? At this point, children's motor skills are becoming more refined so they can take on more detailed work. They can help with grating and peeling but express that there could be accidents, namely scraped or cut fingers . Dicing and mincing are ok as long as the food is a soft textured one like strawberries. They can also slice and scoop avocados and grease pans before baking. They can also zest, using a microplane grater along with rinsing canned beans

As the baby chef's become tween chefs, you can increase their tasks and responsibilities. At this point they can help in reading the recipe and teaching the younger ones their  former duties.it is up to the parent to decide if the young cook can use the stove. The best bet is breaking him or her in on the toaster oven  using an easy recipe like English muffin pizzas. These older ones can also use a pizza cutter too, either cutting into Mom's homemade or pizza parlor pies. Tweens can also be allowed to use a can opener as well as filling muffin tins with batter, scraping it from the bowls and using a mixer. Young chefs can also pound chicken, skewer food and make sandwiches and wraps. Knives are allowed but only small paring ones or ones with serrated edges. Twelve year olds can start making pancakes and scrambled eggs. They can also try their hands at microwave bacon too. Frying it may be a little too dangerous, especially with spattering fat. No matter what age they are, keep a supervisory eye on them. As for barbecuing, wait until they're fourteen or fifteen before they start pouring lighter fluid and flipping burgers.

Nothing beats a kid made Mother's Day meal. Just make sure dad or even mom is there to watch and even lend a hand. The result will be moms brimming with pride over their baby chef's first cooked meal.

Raising Organic Foodies

Parents always want the best for their kids. They give them Baby Einstein and toddler lessons in soccer and math. They want them to go to the best schools and get excellent grades. They cater to their whims, whether it's the princess or skateboarding phase. Parents should also care about what's going into their kids too. It's best to get them hooked on all natural and organic from an early age. Surprisingly enough little Missy or Junior will be thankful and grateful later on.

You can start out at the earliest phase. Making baby food is the best way. of controlling what they eat. After all the homemade stuff has no preservatives or added chemicals. You can make very simple mixes using organic fruits and veggies along with free range meats. Some common veggies to use are peas, which are high in calcium and protein. potatoes, turnips, winter squash and beets. As kids get older you can combine these into fun and colorful succotashes along with great sides. Steam them with garlic or ginger for tasty main meals. You can also use dried or baked veggies as healthy snacks. For example, dry out peas sprinkled with olive oil and sea salt in a low temp oven.These addictive munchies are even tastier than potato or corn chips

What happens when those little foodies grow up to be rebellious teen foodies? Indulge them every so often. Yes, it's neat to have that Slurpee and heaven only knows what's in it hot dog. Yet if you want them to eat healthy then put them in charge of menu planning and cooking. They can come up with fun stuff like homemade whole wheat pizzas with fresh tomato and mozzarella .Other cool and healthy dishes include stir fries that have fresh veggies and chicken in them or wild salads that have arugula and wheat grass. Try putting a few organic apples and pears with their lunches or just have the fruit out as quick to grab snacks. Also nix the sodas. Buy a juicer and have teen foodies come up with fruit combo drinks that they can mix with seltzer.

Everyone wants the best for their kids. That should include giving them organic , homemade food, full of not only love but plenty of vitamins and nutrients. Pass on the legacy of wholesome, healthy food. Eating this way will be beneficial throughout their entire lives.

How To Make A Baby Foodie

You can turn your little mini me into the next Marcel Proust if you give them wonderful and healthy food memories. Everyone has good and bad childhood experiences with food. Why not take it a step further with your child and give only good memories - and in the meantime bring another foodie into this world.

The first step involves their first real food. There's a reason why the little one hates all those jars of processed fruits, vegetables and mystery meats. You can make your own and there are some wonderful websites such as www.wholesomebabyfoods.com that have tasty and nutritious recipes. You can introduce your baby to organic produce. Have him or her get used to the taste of "good" veggies such as spinach , broccoli and squash, putting then in the same category as treats or candy. As your child grows older, you can add butter, margarine or garlic to make the vegetables more palatable (as my Mom did with us. I was the only six year old who passionately loved spinach and I still do thanks to her). Also make fruits a part of their desserts and snacks. Yes, it's fun to eat cookies and candy after school, but it's also fun to dip sliced apples in caramel or spear banana and strawberry kabobs into chocolate sauce.

As your mini-mes evolve into teenagers, introduce them to different cuisines. Luckily this is easy today with the world becoming one big village. They'll probably have a wide range of friends all coming from different backgrounds. Invite them over and tell them to bring recipes.You can have a cooking party where everyone pitches in and helps. This not only livens up any get together and/or sleepover but widens your child's culinary experiences. It also turns teens into foodies who can walk into any restaurant and know everything about the cuisine.

Remember foodies are made, not born. They can be born into a family of gourmets but they won't automatically pick up the finer or more exciting points of dining. That's up to you. Teach them young about not only the value of food but the pleasure of it as well.