Vote in Foodie Fights until June 3; 6 pm EST

The fight is on! Now is your chance to make your voice heard in this weeks Foodie Fight. It is Battle Melon/Red Pepper Flake and I am a participant with my Honey Cantaloupe Sorbet with Dark Chocolate Pepper Ganache. There is some fierce competition with the other chefs in the battle. Just go to Foodie Fights and pick your favorite! Hopefully my loyal Cre8tive readers will pick mine (hint hint) but do go and read all of the entries and then make an honest decision about who should really win. Hoping it is me, but those are some tough dishes to beat! Go check them out! Or, if you have already decided, then you can vote here!



Good Luck to all the participants in this battle! You can vote until June 3, 2009 by 6 pm EST.

Honey Cantaloupe Sorbet with Dark Chocolate Pepper Ganache

I was so excited last week when I opened my email from Nick at Foodie Fights and was chosen for Battle #4 Cantaloupe/Red Pepper Flake battle. At first I was stumped at the choice of ingredients and took me a couple days to figure out what to make that was not only creative, eye pleasing, and good tasting with these two ingredients. I finally figured out that I would make dessert. Honey Cantaloupe Sorbet with Dark Chocolate Pepper Ganache. Try saying that 3 times fast! This is my first time doing something like this and being judged. I hope it is ok since I am up against some pretty darn good chefs. So check out the posts at Foodie Fights on June 2nd to see how I stack up. Ok here is the recipe... and some great photos!

Honey Cantaloupe Sorbet
(an adaptation of an Orange Sorbet, I found in one of my recipe boxes from my grandmother's things)

1 cantaloupe, cubed (I used a rather big one that you get at Costco)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp honey

Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan to form simple syrup. Boil and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

In a blender, puree the cantaloupe, lemon juice, and honey. Add cooled simple syrup. Pour into a freezer container and freeze.





Dark Chocolate Pepper Ganache

1/4 cup heavy cream
1 dark chocolate bar (I bought a 72% cacao bar from World Market)
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat the cream until very hot, add chocolate. Let sit for a couple minutes, beat. Add pepper flakes. Let sit until room temperature.



Then all you have to do it put them together. Scoop some sorbet into a dish, spoon on some ganache, sprinkle with pepper flakes, garnish with a mint sprig. That is all. It was easier than it looks. You could serve this at a dinner party, BBQ, or whereever you think this dish would fit in. It was fun to participate in the Foodie Fights and I hope they pick mine because I think it would be fun to judge a contest like this.

Enjoy a couple of pictures of the finished product!

What a Great Birthday!

Yes, today is my birthday. I am 29 and holding... or as one of my friends says, "I am 29 plus shipping and handling and I am getting quite expensive to go anywhere" That makes me laugh whenever I hear that. I am getting older, but as the old saying goes; Aging like fine wine is what I am. I just cannot remember who said that but it is someone I am related to, just can't remember who. Oh My Gosh.. they say the first thing to go is the mind and with me forgetting things, who knows. Oh well on with my day. I will stop being philosophical because I am no good at it.

My day started out like most any day, I got the kids on the bus and sat down with coffee. But I had plans; plans to shop and buy some things that I wanted and things I did not need. I succeeded. My first stop was of course Starbucks for an Espresso Truffle. I have come to love this concoction of a drink, it is so flavorful to the point of almost being addicting. I savored my coffee as I drove to downtown Olympia for my first real stop on my day of fun (I should say my morning of fun since I was with no kids and able to go shop for myself, that is until 12:30 when the bus comes to bring home my preschooler). Anyway, my first stop was at a very cool little shop downtown right near Farmer's Market called Einmaleins and if you are visiting Olympia WA or you live here in Olympia or near here, you have to go into this store at 121 State Ave downtown. Mathias is such a nice person and we had a great chat in the store while I was purchasing my newest cookbook, Flavors by Donna Hay. He also had some chocolate on the counter that was coffee infused chocolate and it was so good, I should have bought some. I could have eaten that as my morning treat with my Espresso Truffle, but I had to resist since I was having other treats during my day. You can find him at the site (just click the Einmaleins name above, or he is @einmaleins on Twitter. Look him up, he is a neat person and I look forward to going back to his store soon (after all I have to buy up the rest of the Donna Hay cookbooks, I really like that the recipes are simple and don't take 15 million ingredients to get something yummy on the table). See you another time Mathias!

Onward was next to Farmer's Market where I bought herb plants and a couple of pepper plants. I attempted to grow my own herb garden from seeds and failed... miserably. I do not think I am cut out to grow things from seeds, I have failed now a few times so now I give up and will always buy plants instead. I got some really nice herbs (chocolate mint, greek oregano, sweet basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and lavender; I have always wanted to experiment with lavender, I hear people rave about it). Then I bought a green bell pepper and red bell pepper plant. I look forward to planting those this evening after the hot sun goes down with my little planting helper (who happens to be 4 years old and has an aversion to dirt and hates to get dirty so this is my chance to expose her to dirt... again). Oh, and I also bought her a sunflower plant because her little seedlings died also. She wanted to grow her own sunflower, so now she can.

Then again it was on to Jay's Produce Stand because I wanted to get some more things for the house and it is really fun shopping there because the prices are so good, I can buy a lot and not worry about cost. This time I spent $14.90 and got basically heavy things such as:
Cantaloupe 3 lbs/$1
On the vine tomatoes 84 cents/lb
baby lemons 10/$1
baby limes 5/$1
cauliflower 69 cents/lb
navel oranges 59 cents/lb
bananas 49 cents/lb
pink lady apples 69 cents/lb
asparagus 79 cents/lb (I have never seen asparagus that inexpensive and so I also ordered my 40 lbs of asparagus for canning next week, I will pay for that when I go pick it up)

Again, Jay's did not let me down. I still think this place is hands down the best produce stand in Thurston County, anyone who lives here should visit. They are on Mud Bay Road on the west side of Olympia WA.

Then I did some other things today; took Nicole to Taekwondo, went and picked up pizza, had dinner, went to Walmart, etc etc yadda yadda. Then Nessa (my 4 yr old little helper) helped me to plant my plants I bought at Farmer's Market and planted her sunflower. It was a lot of fun watching her try to avoid getting her hands dirty or her clothes dirty, she sure took a long time to plant her one little plant because of that. You will notice all my plants are in pots; well, that is because we live in an apartment and have no actual ground to plant directly into. So we have to use pots, but it still enables me to have my fresh herbs and homegrown tomatoes which is what I want because they are better that way.



One more birthday on the books is now almost past. This year it is 39, next year is 40 but I am confident that I am going to age gracefully like fine wine! So this is also day 29 on the books of NaBloPoMo and looks like I am going to make it to 31 days this month of blogging. YAY me! I usually never back down from a challenge.. ok well a challenge like this anyway.

What a Great Mother's Day!

Just a fun post to share with you all what a fun Mother's Day I had with my husband and kids. They were pretty sweet today, aside from the neverending daily bickering my 2 daughters do. Sometimes it is a complete zoo at my house, but I would never trade them for anything and they are the light of my life.

Today, I was allowed to sleep in; it was nice! Then I had my coffee ready and Cooking Dad didn't drink all the flavored coffee creamer this time, that was really cool too!

Even though the day was overcast, cloudy, and almost rainy; it still didn't dampen the fact that we went to the Farmer's Market and a new produce stand (which I will be frequenting very often since their prices were the best I have seen).

Jay's Produce Stand (located right by my house) and for fellow Thurston County people (meaning people who live or visit here), this is the best place for great produce with such low prices. I spent a grand total of $8.48 and got this

Asparagus 99 cents/lb (I got about 1 lb)
Roma Tomatoes 99 cents/lb (got 4 tomatoes)
Zucchini 79 cents/lb (got 4 small zucchinis)
3 lb bag of red potatoes 99 cents
organic basil 1.49 for the bunch
green onions 50 cents a bunch
green pepper 59 cents each
Pink Lady apples 69 cents/lb
celery 89 cents per bunch

I would say I did awesome on my great food find. Since, I was trying not to spend a ton of money today, we passed on a bunch of things I could have gotten at very good prices also. Such as, navel oranges 49 cents/lb, head lettuce 59 cents each, the hugest globe artichokes I have ever seen (I would guess they were as big as a small cantaloupe...) they were $2.00 each, plus tons more great buys!

The place is Jay's Farm Stand and is located 3533 Mud Bay Road NW in Olympia WA. Their phone number is 360-489-0295. They take orders for large amounts of produce for canning when it is in season. I am definitely going to order about 30 lbs of asparagus for canning and pickling it in a couple weeks. They told me I could get wholesale prices on orders 25 lbs or more. That is a great deal since produce is getting so expensive to round off costs of trucking it in, but they are still keeping their prices low. They were packed with wall to wall people and the produce looked phenomenal.

Then, we went to the Farmer's Market and just walked around, and walked on the waterfront since the market is right by the bay on Southern most tip of Puget Sound. Even with the clouds it was still a nice day. Sad part is that we did not buy anything from Farmer's Market because their prices on produce is shocking. I love going there for plants and seafood though, but just was not in the market for plants or seafood today.

Pictures on the waterfront:
Me and my daughters, Nicole is 10 and Vanessa is 4

Then the pictures at the waterfront where this weekend was our annual Wooden Boat Festival, which showcases fancy wooden boats and has a street fair and market for this weekend. Lots of fun!


Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to get to the wooden boats before it started to rain and my youngest was acting up because she was cold since she brought no coat, she left it in the car. So we made our way back to the car. To go to Grandma's house for BBQ and that was fantastic! BBQ ribs, corn on the cob, a wonderful cauliflower casserole (of which I am going to make myself so I can blog it), and strawberry shortcake for dessert. I would have taken pictures all day today but I neglected to bring spare batteries (bad Bren...) and didn't get a chance to get some new ones. But, this day was awesome; I had my family, I didn't have to work, and I got to just spent time with them. Can't get much better than that!

Hope you and yours had a very Happy Mother's Day!!

The Winners of the Cookbook Giveaway

Well, this has been quite the experience of my first giveaway. The prize is a great cookbook called Picture Yourself Cooking with Your Kids by Beth Sheresh and it looks like a fantastic book.

I botched things up though and mislabeled the entries and so we have 2 winners. I am not going to be dishonest and put another's name on the number when I already announced it, so I am just going to be the bigger person and admit to making a mistake and award both people as they are both deserving winners.

So Comment #39 won, and I labeled it as Judy Brittle, when it should have been Jill Page. They both win! I figured that I would give one of them my signed copy of the cookbook since I did screw up, but Beth Sheresh is such the awesome person that she is, is still going to give me my book and award and ship 2 books to 2 winners. How is that for such a nice person. You must visit her sites and get her book. Here are the links to her sites and to her book:

Kitchen Mage She has the most tasty looking Pomegranate Limoncello Sorbet pictured and posted on her site. YUMMY!
A Year in Bread is a site where she co-writes with 2 other great people about bread, very yummy site!
Picture Yourself Cooking with Your Kids which has the direct link to go buy Beth's book, and a bunch of yummy stuff on her site there.

Thanks again for everyone who entered and thank you to Beth for giving away 3 books total, you are awesome!

To the winners, we have already had one (Jill, thanks) claim her prize and I am now waiting for the other winner to claim her prize within 48 hours simply by emailing me back.

Dad and Cupcakes

Well I was surprised that my husband baked cupcakes the other day, so I gave him a nickname since he voiced his opinion about getting more into the kitchen. I call him.... The Cooking Dad! So here I am to introduce him to the world, my partner in culinary adventures, he is the silence behind the grill... The Cooking Dad!

This was his first time ever baking cupcakes (him and the kids wanted something sweet). He used a cupcake mix, but that was ok since it was his first time. He added chocolate chips to the chocolate cupcake mix and they turned out really good. He even frosted them himself. WOW!

This is what he made... ooooo daring aren't we...

And, here he is mixing...

And filling the cups...

And, eating... licking the spoon... he always does this to me when I bake, he hovers waiting for me to not be paying attention and then snitches samples. Ummmmm Honey, back to baking the cupcakes...

Frosting the cupcakes...

Looking very proud of himself... he did a good job! Note the little hands trying to reach up and grab cupcakes, she just couldn't wait...

And, last but not least...One very satisfied customer! How sweet, he even put sprinkles on her cupcake.. what a great daddy!!


So I guess what this tells us is that Dads can cook and they can bake, but only when they want to... But, now the monster has been created and now he wants more kitchen time, what is a girl to do? Teach him how to make wonderful and edible food! Thanks for letting me introduce my hubby Richard, The Cooking Dad! Just one thing... he is a truck driver... sure wouldn't want any of his rough and tough truck driving buddies knowing he could be Mr. Betty Crocker. I can just see the razzing now; and, that makes me laugh even harder!

And, it also tells me that I better not forget NaBloPoMo until the last minute ever again! Whew... got it in. I was sitting here waiting for my giveaway to be over and realized... Shoot! I have not done my blog post for today, I almost blew it! I had planned on this post anyway but not so fast, I was trying to plan it better but this is how it came out! Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you got as good of a laugh as I did just watching him. But, he did great!!

Fun With The Kids and a Giveaway!!

What does Mother's Day mean to a Mom? Well to me it means spending time with my kids and looking back on fun times I have had with my kids. Although, I will admit that maybe just some quiet time to myself would be in order for a change sometimes on Mother's Day (like a lot of moms out there wish for this from time to time). It means something different to every Mom in their own ways. Here are just a couple of highlights out of so many I have had with my kids recently.

Like the time when my daughters and I travelled to Spokane WA to see family and friends...



Then this year when we decorated the Easter eggs, that was really fun. Vanessa had a blast (she is my 4 yr old) and my daughter Nicole (my 10 yr old) thought she was Rembrandt with the way she decorated her eggs, or something...



And who could forget the Jump Rope For Heart fundraiser my older daughter participated in, which my younger daughter had to try to participate also. It was a great time with my daughters...



But, the important thing is that the time is spent with the kids in quality. Quality time is always better than quantity, although both are equally important if you can swing it around work schedules, school schedules, etc. One thing I try to do is get them into the kitchen with me, which is where the giveaway is concerned. A friend of mine over at Kitchen Mage has given me a wonderful gift and an option to promote my own giveaway. She is giving one signed copy of her cookbook Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids as my giveaway prize. How nice is that? She is a very sweet person to help me out. I also get my own copy and cannot wait to start cooking through this book with my kids, that will be fun times!!



Now the ways to win (each item gets one entry):
1. Leave a comment telling me how you like to spend quality time with your kids. (this one is the main contest entry; if you do not have a blog then just leave the comment, that is all you have to do)
2. Twitter this giveaway with the link back to this post and then comment back here with the link of your tweet.
3. Follow me on twitter, or let me know if you already are a follower, let me know your twitter ID
4. Blog this giveaway and then link back to this page, leave link to the post in a comment here.

Be sure to leave your email address with each comment so I can get a hold of you if you win, or else I will have to pick a different number.

The giveaway runs from Monday May 4 until Friday May 8 midnight in which I will pick a winner by random picking then blog the winner on Saturday morning before I go to work. This giveaway is limited to United States viewers only. Good Luck to everyone!!

An Award!! Thank you Heidi!

I couldn't believe it when I opened my email this afternoon. I had a pleasant surprise from one of my good food blogger friends. She gave me the Passionate Blogger award. How sweet is that?! Go visit Heidi at Tried-and-True Cooking with Heidi and see what she has cooking. It is a great site! Thank you Heidi!



Ok now there are rules to this award, and here they are:

The Rules:
1. Put the logo in your blog
2. Write five things you are passionate about apart from blogging
3. Tag 5 people on your lists and let them know you tagged them.

5 things that I'm passionate about are:
- 1. My family - I love to feed them nutritious meals homecooked most of the time by me (that way I know what is in it and what it is all about) and I take care of them and raise my children the best I can. I have the best husband in the world in that he is very supportive, sweet, and he does housework (that is the bonus)
- 2. Cooking and baking is just a hobby of mine and I love it (which is why Cre8tive Kitchen was born). I am happy in the kitchen creating things my family and friends will enjoy.
- 3. Cake decorating is another one of my passions when I have time and an occasion to do it. I have done cakes for friends children's birthdays and every year I make and decorate special cakes for my own kids. They choose what they like and I make it!
- 4. My friends are wonderful. They are very supportive, funny, and just overall great. None of them have told me I suck as a blogger! haha even though some days I feel like it (probably because I need a new camera and want to take such cool pictures and I can't with what I have) but I try to make the best of what I have to work with!
- 5. Myself - What I mean by that is that I try to be the best I can be; such as being the best wife, best mother, best friend. I want to broaden my horizons by trying new things, especially food. I used to be a very closed minded person but am learning slowly but surely to open my mind about new things. I am still a work in progress.

Now I have to pass this on to 5 of my blogger friends who I feel are passionate about their blogging, this will be a hard choice since many of my friends and people I follow are very passionate about their blogs and I love them all.

1. Erin at $5 Dollar Dinners Her money saving tips are very helpful.
2. Chef Bliss She has wonderful recipes and fantastic pictures.
3. Tania at Love Big, Bake Often She is a new friend who has some wonderful recipes and is entertaining.
4. Mindy at Mindy's Mouthful She is a fun read and great recipes and information.
5. Kim at Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet She just wrote an e-cookbook and it looks wonderful, she also makes regular recipes very gourmet. Great blog!

Check them out and give them some love, they certainly deserve it!!

Just For Fun: Check out this Peeps creation

I just came across this flickr page through my facebook and thought I would share the link. People can sure get imaginative around the holidays (Easter specifically) that all kinds of things are done to Peeps. I thought this really took some great initiative and creativity. It is very colorful and neat. Check it out!

Master-peeps theatre

This is a creation by CakeSpy. It is also a phenomenal blog to read. Check it out!

Just for Fun: What happens to a Peep in the Microwave?

Since Easter is coming and Peeps are plentiful in the store (well at least until a couple days before Easter I never can seem to find them a couple days before Easter), I thought I would have some fun with my youngest daughter. We thought we would see what would happen to a peep in the microwave. This is fun for those of you who do not actually eat the peeps; but then again, even if you eat the peeps, this could be fun for you too. We didn't go as far as actually exploding them in the microwave, but we blew it up to the point of almost exploding. We were very curious about how long it would take to blow one up to 3-4 times its normal size. We found it does not take long at all since we have an 1100 watt microwave. It took us about 35 seconds. Imagine the delight of my 4 yr old watching the peep grow in size right before her very eyes, the excitement on her face was priceless. Here is what we found:

A peep in the microwave after about 15 seconds:



A peep in the microwave after about 35 seconds:



You can see here the difference between a regular sized peep, and one that was heated in the microwave. I think it is about 3 times its normal size, that is my observation anyway.



What is the point some would ask? Well, there is no point, we just did something just for fun since it is one of the Peep seasons. Gotta have fun in the kitchen sometimes. So I ask the question of readers: What is your favorite thing to do with Peeps? If you have some off the wall thing you do with Peeps, email them to me with pictures and I can post them here in the Just For Fun category here on my blog. Leave me a comment if you have no pictures, or if you have pictures email them to me at pacnwfamily1@comcast.net. I look forward to hearing all those off the wall Peep stories. Happy Easter!

Friends Award

I just happened to see a sweet comment from my friend Mary Beth at Dunkin Cooking the Semi-Homemade Way and it really made my day. Thank you Mary Beth! I am honored to be recognized by other fellow bloggers and it just warms my heart that someone would think of me and my blog with the nice friend award. I am also excited that this is my first award for anything, so I am pretty tickled right about now. So now it is my turn to bestow this award to 8 of my fellow blogger friends who have outstanding blogs. All of my friends have outstanding blogs so it will be hard to choose.



Along with this award comes this message:


"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I am passing this "Friends award" to:

1. Megan at Megan's Munchies
2. Sarah at Treats for the Sweet Tooth
3. Susan at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
4. Mary Beth at Dunkin Cooking the Semi-Homemade Way
5. Liz at What's to Eat Baltimore?
6. Michelle at Taste As You Go
7. Sherri Jo at The Adventures of Kitchen Girl
8. Kevin at Wannabe TV Chef

It was hard to choose but all of my blog friends are well worth reading on my favorite food blog page. Thanks again Mary Beth!

The Cupcake Story

A couple weeks ago, I embarked on a project with my daughters because we wanted something sweet to eat. We chose to make up some cupcakes; I had bought a mix (gosh forbid, I did not make them homemade! Oh the shame! haha) initially for making cupcakes for a school function but I can always buy another mix (or make them homemade) the closer it gets to the school function.

I let them measure everything out and mix it themselves. Nessa filled the muffin tins with the paper liners, she is very proud of that as you can see here. She would not let anyone touch the cupcake liners and her famous phrase was "Back Off Jack!". She is a funny girl, I still cannot believe some of the comments that come out of her mouth.

Finally, when they were done baking and cooling, it was time to frost. Kids + Frosting = HUGE MESS;(sure wish I could snap pictures of the mess we had before it was cleaned up, I just thought of why I did not do that, I guess hindsight is 20/20) but it is an equation that was well worth the picture effort. They really enjoyed themselves; it was a great project for us for some great quality time and gave them a treat too. Other than Nessa's snide comments when anyone got too close to "her" cupcakes, it was a lot of fun. Except now I need to train them to clean up their mess... they still get Mom to do it!

This is Nessa licking the beaters, it is the fun part of baking.

Nicole loves to frost cupcakes.

Nessa ate more than she frosted, which goes with the territory with being 3 yrs old. This is how she normally eats cupcakes and these were so moist that we had a huge mess every time she wanted to eat a cupcake. Oh well, that is what happens with kiddos. Good thing they wash well.

Making Music: The Kitchen Way

My daughter Vanessa is such a ham. She loves to make music any way possible. I thought this video was just too cute; she loves to sing and singing Row Row Your Boat is her favorite song. Just thought I would share this little snippet.

Lunchbox and After School Snacks

Can we say 'BACK TO SCHOOL'; I can hardly believe the summer is gone. Wednesday September 3rd, my older daughter goes back to school (she was secretly making me crazy, it was hard to keep her busy this summer, she is 9 thinking she is 16 or something with her smart mouth...you know the "whatever" or the "none of your business mother" oh well I get my house back this week YAY!) (ooops did I say that out loud?? I was kidding, she is ready to go back since she is so bored around the house) My youngest goes to start her first full year of preschool and she is excited to go too. She gets to ride the bus and everything. Her school starts next week on the 10th. Anyway, back to food...

This is a list of my kids' top 10 snacks for in the lunchbox and after school. This is what my kids like the best and always ask for. They are going to be counted down below in David Letterman Style (yeah I do watch him when I cannot sleep or when I am not blogging LOL) My kids are kind of weird... according to their friends. I am just thankful that I do not have to battle them to eat decent snacks and lunches. These 10 ideas are not only nutritious (with the exception of at least 1, you will be able to pick it out as you read on) but they are fast and easy to fix. The kids can just grab and go, no preparation for them and it is easy for you to do.

Starting with number 10... The Top 10 lunchbox and after school snacks of Brenda's kids:
10. Crackers- such as Ritz, Triscut, Wheat Thins,and others; they are great with fruit and cheese and a few crackers will do them for a snack because they are denser than most chips and better for them since most crackers are made from whole grains, just have to read the box.

9. Granola Bars- they are a good snack in a pinch or a filler in the lunch box instead of fatty cupcakes, etc- however, they are high in sugar (the commercial bars) and should be eaten in moderation (meaning not all the time). There are recipes out there for homemade granola bars that are probably far better than the store bought ones (Note to self: Find some good recipes for granola bars and share with the class LOL just a little school humor)

8. Believe it or not, my kids priorities are not cookies (well sometimes but mostly not). Their number 8 snack is a cookie, which is good since not all cookies are good for growing kiddos. Especially the ones I make LOL I love the Nestle Tollhouse Cookies, and I love to make them, but I know I shouldn't because they aren't good for everyone all the time. Every once in a while is good, but again, in moderation and not all the time. Even though there are great recipes for nutritious cookies, most people go for the gooey chocolate chip or fudge something or other because alot of people are conditioned that a cookie should be like that. (another note to self: find recipes on nutritious cookies to share with everyone) But when they have a cookie or 2, they usually do have it with a big glass of milk so that at least they are getting something their body needs along with the sweetness of the cookie.

7. Chips and Salsa or other baked chips- I usually do not buy potato chips, I don't like the grease on alot of them; although I do like the Baked Lays, Baked Cheeto-s, and things of the baked nature. So, I buy tortilla chips and salsa along with other baked chips like the ones previously mentioned and the kids love it! Pair it up with a bit of melted cheese and you have nachos, what kid does not like nachos? I don't know, but my kids love them. Way better for them, no added grease and alot of them have no saturated fats; which they do not need. Also, it is so easy to make homemade salsa, which is also better for them with the fresh ingredients and the health benefits of the tomatoes, that it makes our list of good snacks after school. I will post my famous salsa in another post when I find my recipe among all the boxes of recipes I have. Baked chips are lower in saturated fats, if they have any at all, and most have no trans-fats; you just have to read the label.

6. Peanut Butter Sandwich- My kids love their peanut butter sandwiches, especially with my freezer jam on it. It makes a great snack after school, lunchbox sandwich, or even breakfast (my 3 yr old loves good old PB&J for breakfast) Peanut butter is good for you since it adds protein to your diet and kids need that for fuel to get them through the day. Or, instead of jam/jelly, try some banana on it.

5. Good old wholesome CHEESE- They could eat cheese til the cows come home. It is packed with calcium and protein which helps a growing body. Just a couple ounces will do them for a good snack. Makes a good team with some fruit or crackers.

4. Carrot Sticks with or without Dip- Just keep carrots on hand and see how fast they disappear with some favorite dip or just to munch on couple hours before dinner. My daughters like it with their favorite ranch dip for a snack or I can put some in the lunch box. Slice them up ahead of time and put them in water in the fridge when storing to make sure they keep their freshness and crispiness and they stay ice cold. Or you can get the bags of baby carrots already peeled and ready to eat. I choose to buy carrots in bulk and then peel them and slice them myself, it is alot cheaper that way and they get the same nutritional benefit. They are a high source of beta carotene which is good for their eyesight.

3. Yogurt - any flavor will do, they can just grab a yogurt and a spoon and sit down to a nice yummy snack. Goes great in the lunchbox with a ice pack to keep it cold at school. Lots of calcium keep their bones strong. There are ways to make your own yogurt if you do not want to buy the commercial brands, but I have not figured that one out yet LOL I will look for some yogurt recipes and post them though. I have friend who makes her own and I will ask her for her recipe, she makes darn good yogurt!

2. Fruit- any kind of fruit will work. My kids love almost every kind of fruit I have tried on them. They are not picky when it comes to fruit. I always buy my fruit at Costco because in the long run for us, it is much cheaper considering how much they eat. They love cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas, apples, peaches, oranges (especially satsumas around holiday season, we go through many boxes of those in the winter), and many others. I should own stock in Costco because of the amounts of produce I buy there. Not to mention how much I buy at Farmer's Market every year also, and then there is how much I can every year... Let's put it this way... if you are what you eat, then my kids would be little fruit salads.

And finally, the number one snack of my kids is......

1. Celery and Peanut Butter- They love celery and peanut butter and get cranky when I do not buy celery at the store. So I try to always have some ready for them because most of the time, this is what they want. Sometimes with raisins on it and we call that Ants on a Log. You have the celery for fiber for regularity, and peanut butter for extra protein. Warms my heart to hear them crunching all over the house, after all it is a noisy food! But, at least I know they are eating good and enjoying what they eat!

Cake Batter Bandit

Ok this is just a funny story that I remembered from about a year and a half ago. I call it the Cake Batter Bandit.

My youngest daughter always wants to help in the kitchen, so she pulls her chair up to the side of the counter and "helps" (if you have a toddler or had a toddler, you know how much they really help LOL). Anyway, I was making a cake for my husband's birthday and it was getting ready to put in the oven. She always wanted to stick her fingers in the batter and I kept having to catch her in the act and tell her no, not now. So in these few pictures you can see how she thought she was getting away with being the Cake Batter Bandit. (You can't tell she was guilty with all the cake batter around her mouth, when I kept asking her if she was eating cake batter, she kept saying "no mommy" yeah right LOL)

First she was looking at me and thinking "who me? no I am not going for the batter, I am just watching it for you"



Then as I turned around to grab the camera (I knew she was going to keep trying and it was starting to get cute because I was like oh well no harm in a little cake batter); she did exactly what I thought she would do. She went for the batter knowing my back was turned and dipped a huge fingerful.



When she realized that she was busted, she gives me the sweet innocent face that only a mother can love (and everyone else as well I think) that I had to just laugh and save that story for later when I can use it to embarrass her as a teenager or something cool like that LOL



Just thought I would share her first funny experience while trying to help cook. Afterall, this blog is about cooking.