THIS IS IT, MY NEW FAVORITE RECIPE for mac and cheese. I’ve mentioned Melissa Clark’s Carroty Macaroni & Cheese before, but before this week’s “carrot retrospective”/insane challenge to get our girls eating more of the orange stuff, I hadn’t actually tried it. Two main ingredients are hard to come by in Rome, cheddar cheese and…
Archives for March 2012
Foodlets appears on the Mommy Bites show via Blog Talk Radio
WHAT FUN! This week I was invited to be part of a talk radio discussion about international parenting differences on the Mommy Bites show. It was an hour full of interesting insights from another mom in Bahrain and an anthropologist who is an author of nine books about parenting and children around the world. There…
Healthy chocolate pudding: no-cook chocolate pudding with banana and avocado
PRETTY GOOD! Not as rich as real pudding. But you don’t cook it, so this dish earns points for simplicity–and healthy ingredients. Nary a grain of sugar but packed with Omega-3s and potassium (plus a shot of agave for sweetness), even the bitter unsweetened chocolate is a nutritional boost. Since my kids don’t know about…
10 most pinned posts
I LOVE PINTEREST. Posting (and keeping track of) amazing ideas from all over the web has long been a dream/idea of mine, one that I pestered my technically savvy coworkers at HGTV to produce for a long time. At last, the super smarties at Pinterest have made it happen (and you’re not limited to new…
carrot cake muffins with cream cheese filling
THESE ARE DELICIOUS. I could probably end this post here but I’ll go on at least long enough to share the super simple — and healthy — recipe. It was inspired by a comment from my friend and most loyal Foodlets reader, Lori, who substituted carrots for zucchini in a muffin-baking pinch. Whether orange or…
Roasted Brussels sprouts
IF PHOEBE WALKED IN AND SAID, “Mama, I’m feeling really beat. I’m sorry for being cranky lately and think I should go to bed a little early tonight”, I couldn’t be more surprised than I was when she specifically ASKED for Brussels sprouts then actually ate them. The fact that Estelle also ate more of…
Pizza with asparagus, ricotta and lemon
NOTHING SAYS SPRING IS HERE LIKE the arrival of asparagus. And it’s delicious, so I’m in. Actually the little guys did pretty well with the asparagus pizza. They each ate a piece or so, and in this house, that’s a win. (Plus Phoebe loved helping make this simple dish.) Mixed with creamy ricotta full of…
Fresh strawberry muffins
“YAY, THESE ARE GIANT MUFFINS!” That’s the refrain from the breakfast table in Rome these days. This weekend Phoebe and I remade a recipe from the Oprah magazine, for baked strawberry-buttermilk doughnuts. Our version is also baked, also full of strawberries but served in the shape of flowers.
Stovetop broccoli & chicken with rice
THIS WAS DOOMED FROM THE START. Prominently featuring rice, as seen in the current What Doesn’t Work Now list, it never stood a chance. But be that as it may, I’m a glutton for punishment committed to presenting a variety of food, including things they don’t like. Or think they don’t like. (Ironic that “Green…
mini chicken pot pies with flowers & star crusts
I MADE THESE POT PIES TWICE RECENTLY, once big (for the family) and once small (for each person). The second time I used leftovers from Gwyneth Paltrow’s delicious Rotisserie Style Roast Chicken. Estelle LOVED it. Phoebe was sick. Paul liked them both though he did say that more crust on the bigger version was better….
low-sugar chocolate covered banana cake pops for estelle’s first birthday
SHE’S ALREADY ONE! And to celebrate Estelle’s first big day with friends, we made cake pops. But not just any cake pops. These started with a healthier version of David Lebovitz’s amazing banana cake, in honor of Estelle’s favorite fruit, then we dip, dip, dipped our way to chocolate covered bliss.
Italian lessons: How to take kids to a restaurant
Say what you will about French parenting but when it comes to food and family around a table, no one does it better, or enjoys it more, than Italians.
Sauteed carrots with citrus butter
I’M NOT GOING TO LIE. The kids don’t like carrots and these are no exception. But because I’m crazy determined to keep offering healthy foods in various ways, over and over until their tastes come around, this is another idea. The good news is, Paul and I think they’re delicious.
Beef & cheese quesadillas (with a secret good-for-you ingredient)
GRATE EVERYTHING, I say. That’s my philosophy for “Taco Night”, which has actually become quesadilla night–the one that’s easier to eat and less likely to fall on the floor wins in my house. And since our ethnic food offerings are spare in Rome, to say the least, these flour tortillas are much easier to find…