Calgary Herald....How to get your teens and tweens to contribute to healthy meals

I'm in the paper today!!!!

Woo hoo!!!

Follow this link and check it out!

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/your+tweens+teens+contribute+healthy+meals/9767882/story.html

Late Night Baking, etc...

So those of you who have read some of my posts know that I can be a bit...much.  I go overboard with baking and cooking, and sometimes, I do this at the most inopportune time.  Tonight, it was after 10 pm when I decided to bake not just my easy breezy brownies, but also make some pizza rolls for the kids to take for lunch (which also doubles as a great after school snack).  Cue the hubby rolling his eyes at my late night baking antics, and off I went to cook and bake, with my iPad  tuned to my fave soap (yes, I still enjoy the occasional episode of GH....and its REALLY good right now!).

I started after 10 pm and  finished before 11:30:

Pizza buns...yummmm.....

•  Made the dough, and while it was rising, I whipped up my easy brownies.
• While they were baking, it was time to roll out the dough in a rectangle shape, slap on the pizza sauce, shredded mozza and black forest ham.  
• After that was all topped up, time to roll it up like a log, pinch the seam and ends shut, cut into sandwich sized pieces and bake for 20 minutes on 350.  They heat up great in the microwave at school, and the kids really like them!  
• And of course they can be stored in your deep freeze for a quick snack/lunch/whatever!  When do I make anything I can't freeze??

The brownies of course turned out, and will make a yummy treat in the kids lunches tomorrow.

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
3 TBSP cocoa
Mix all the wet together, throw in the dry stuff, mix well, and bake for 18 minutes at 350!

That was...

Best Jerky Ever!

The original title of this blog was "Lets Have a Jerk-Off!" but thought maybe it would be misinterpreted!

Anyway.

Food when you are camping often takes on two themes.  There are the old faves, like smokies over the fire, the night everyone has steak, and eating those darned "Spits" til your lips and tongue hurt.  Then there's always the new stuff that people want to try and share with everyone.  This year, my brother-in-law made the mother-load in beef jerky, and shared it with all of us (much to our delight!).   Not only did he make beef jerky, but he made SIX different kinds!

Six kinds of Jerky!  Original, Hickory, Mesquite, Cajun,
Pepper, and my personal favourite...INFERNO!

I asked my brother in law for some of the specifics about his food dehydrator, the spices he used, and other pertinent info.....here's what he wrote...

It is a Nesco FD80 that can be expanded up to eight trays.  The main thing about picking out a dehydrator is that the motor is on top, then it doesn’t get messy at the bottom.  And I like the square one as well, you can add a lot more onto them.

For the jerky mix, I had made my own, but it’s much easier and more tasty if you buy the packs.  I have bought from Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop and they are both good.  I tend to use the Cabela’s a little more, just because you prepare it without water, therefor it takes less time to dehydrate, but they are both good. 

Here are some of the links he sent for the spice mixes:

http://www.cabelas.ca/index.cfm?pageID=71&&section=1189&section2=1305&ID=3300

http://www.basspro.com/Backwoods-Jerky-Variety-Seasoning-Pack/product/36725/116559


And for the dehydrator itself...

http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/Product+Detail/Homeware.htm?BreadCrumbs=Homeware;Homeware;Appliances;Food%20Savers%20and%20Dehydrators&ProductID=3256484&ProductTab=3


Thanks for sharing the jerky, bro!!!!  I know what my next appliance is gonna be!!

Chocolate Energy Balls

Yesterday I tried yet again an amazing (and healthy) chocolatey treat.   Of course I had to have the recipe from a series of cookbooks that I have not heard of (which surprised me!).  The cookbook series is called "Whitewater Cooks" written by Shelley Adams.

I found different variations of these energy balls on-line.  The recipe itself is so versatile and looks like it would accept different ingredient substitutions.  One thing is for sure...Shelley Adams has created something amazing, simple and delicious and nutritious.  I even had one for breakfast.

Whitewater Energy Balls

1 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries (1 used 1/2 cran, 1/2 raisins)

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups peanut butter (out of necessity, I used 1 cup organic peanut butter, 1 cup of "Wow" peanut-free peanut butter)

1/2 cup of honey

1 1/2 cups toasted coconut for the coating. (I didn't have coconut so used cocoa powder to coat mine)

Put everything in a bowl except the coconut.  Mix ingredients well.  More honey may be needed to hold everything together.  I had to put mine in the fridge overnight to firm it up a bit.  Roll into them into timbit sized balls, and then roll in toasted coconut (or in my case, more cocoa powder).  From what I read, you can store these in the refrigerator for a week, or in the freezer for up to one month.

Healthy, nutritious and sinfully delicious!   Thanks Whitewatercooks!   I will definitely be buying this series of cookbooks and trying some new recipes!

http://whitewatercooks.com/index.html

11:35pm Brownies!

Yes, it is 11:35 pm, and I am baking.  Am I crazy?  A little.  But, as usual, I have run out of time.  The day today was crazy busy, between end-of-the-year school activities, meetings, a lovely impromptu dinner date with the husband and add that we were determined to finish watching The Descendants (which we LOVED).  By the time this was all done, it was 11:30, and I really wanted to bake something for my daughter's field trip tomorrow.   I am usually THAT mom that bakes, but lately, the kids have gotten Oreo's for their treats (not that there's anything wrong with Oreo's!).  So I was determined to bake the easiest brownies in the world (no, not a mix).

Thought I'd share the recipe...its not the best recipe (will share that later), but in a pinch, if you need to bake something for school the next day, and need to do it quickly, efficiently AND peanut free, here's the recipe:

1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
3 TBSP cocoa
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour

Melt the butter, and mix in brown sugar, eggs, cocoa and baking powder and vanilla.  Stir well.  Then add the flour, and mix til blended.  Bake in a greased 8 x 8 dish on 350 for 20 - 25 min.  PRESTO!  I usually double the recipe and bake it in a 9 x 13 pan.

And the result (shortly before midnight!)...

Baked, blogged and tweeted all in span of 25 minutes.
Hurray!  Brownies for everyone!

Cheesy Crunchy Good

I have several food addictions and one of them is anything that is crunchy, salty, cheesy or a combination of all of the above.  I confess that I love potato chips and crackers....simply crunchy, delicious goodness.  Mmmm.....     I can be somewhat of a crunch-snob, and while I will eat just about any brand available, I prefer brands with real ingredients (i.e., real cheese), or the Ms. Vickies Chips (bring on the salt 'n malt!).  Not that these have any less calories, because truthfully, chances are if you are eating a potato-chip snack,  it's not because you are trying to cut down on calories!   

My latest crunch-craving is a Parmesan Crisp that a friend introduced me to, and found at our local Planet Organic store.  From the label, it looks like it is made by a company called Kitchen Table Bakers in New York City.   This cracker is made ENTIRELY of parmesan cheese and is gluten free/wheat free and sugar free.   There are apparently 6 different varieties.  So far,  I have tried the parmesan-sesame and the parmesan-rosemary.   In one serving, which is 3 crisps, there are 80 calories, 6 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein and 1 gram of carbohydrate.  The crisps are a good size, and even I find that this makes a satisfying snack.  The flavour is rich, and it's just pure awesomeness!  

And to cure my crunch and cheese craving with a one-stop-shop concept?  Definitely worth writing about!    

Kale Chips!

A few weeks ago my friend made some kale chips...and they were surprisingly delicious! Everyone must have a nemesis-snack....mine is anything crunchy and salty. So chips....chips, crackers and chips. When I tried the kale chips, they were so yummy, I had to make them for myself. I was surprised by two things...they were very easy to make AND my kids (and their friends) loved them! I found a recipe from allrecipes.com. I added a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to mine as that's how my friend had baked hers, and I love balsamic in anything! They are super healthy, somewhat crunchy, easy to make, and the kids loved them...not sure if they will continue loving them, but for today, they loved them!

Basically I washed and dried the Kale and tore it into bite sized pieces and drizzled olive oil and balsamic on top. Then I put them on parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkled sea salt on top. Then bake on convection for 10 - 12 minutes. Note that the kale suffers from some "shrinkage" during the cooking process....I made 2 bunches, and 1 bunch is already gone! Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-kale-chips/