Thanks to Hormel Foods for inviting me to be a part of The Pantry Project: a special website with resources and ideas for stocking and cooking from our pantries while sheltering in place. While families shelter in place and try to minimize excursions to shop for food and other essentials, parents find themselves having to cook for their kids ...
DIY Tartine Bar
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EasySqueezy #CollectiveBias The open-faced sandwich is a classic of so many cuisines. In Italy they have bruschetta. In Scandanavia, smørrebrød is the name for slices of dark rye bread spread thick with butter and topped with meat, ...
Belize with Kids
Looking for a convenient, tropical, family-friendly destination where English is the native language and you can find adventure around every corner? That's Belize. Grab your piece of the jewel! Over the winter holiday, my family ventured to Belize, a tiny Central American nation east of Guatemala and south of Mexico, for a week of sun and ...
Kids Cooking Class with Ming Tsai at Macy’s
This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of Macy’s; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Today's kids, raised on shows like Masterchef Junior and Chopped, love to cook. My kids are no exception. They love to bake cookies and cupcakes and help me prepare family meals. So when I found that JR could participate ...
Peru with Kids
Ever since we returned, I have been raving about the family trip we took to Peru over the holidays. To everyone who inquires, especially other parents, I enthusiastically recommend visiting this fascinating and friendly country. And so it occurred to me that I could use this forum to explain to a larger audience why I think Peru is such a ...
Homemade Stuffed Shells to Feed a Crowd
Thanksgiving is barely over and Hanukkah is right around the corner. Many of us are still recovering from one holiday and another is upon us. And right in the midst of all the celebrations and obligations that this time of year brings, a friend of mine lost her mother. She came home from the funeral, looked up and it was Thanksgiving. I barely ...
Halloween Pudding Creations
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MixInMonsterMash #CollectiveBias It's officially October and that means it is time to start planning for Halloween. What costumes will your kids be wearing this year? JR is dressing as the Greek god Hermes and Zuzu is going as a Barden ...
Three C’s Granola (Coconut, Cherry, Cacao)
I curdled a Hollandaise sauce tonight. Looking at that oily, grainy mess was like a dagger to the heart. The stakes might have seemed low to an outside observer. It was only a family dinner. No one in my family cared about the split Hollandaise. Hell, no one in my family was even planning to eat the Hollandaise except for me. My husband and ...
Cranberry Ginger Granola (Nut-Free)
For years I have struggled to find a packed lunch that JR would eat. More often than not, sandwiches came home with only a few bites missing. I tried to pack his favorite dish, macaroni and cheese, in a thermos but even that came back half-empty at best. When I asked him why, he answered that it wasn't very good at room temperature -- something I ...
How to Cook with Mangos (Beyond Just Smoothies)
Today's post is sponsored by the National Mango Board and I was selected to participate in this campaign by The Motherhood. Kids from India to Ecuador feast on mangos. In fact, mangos are the most consumed fruit in the world. But what about American kids? Do they love mangos? Do you know how to use this delicious and versatile fruit beyond ...
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cream Pie
JR has loved the game Skylanders for years. He collects the figurines; plays the game with his friends on our Wii and proudly wears his favorite Skylanders shirt to school every week. So when General Mills teamed up with Skylanders to offer an exclusive Skystones game free with selected boxes of cereal, JR wanted to collect them all. JR loves ...
DIY Pokemon Cupcakes
As the deadline for my book manuscript approaches, I find more and more ways to procrastinate. This week, the project that was more compelling than my work was making cupcakes for JR's eighth birthday party. Confession: I do not usually bake for my children's birthday parties. Some years ago, I found a baker in my area who makes amazing custom ...
Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Brownies
In my view, the best reason to make brownies from scratch is so that you can add cheesecake to them. I’d turn down the chocolatiest, fudgiest brownie any day for a swirly, marbleized cream cheese brownie. The slight tanginess of the cream cheese is the perfect foil for the richness of the chocolate. Better than either cheesecake or a plain brownie, ...
Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
Did you catch me on WCIU's "You & Me This Morning" talking about homemade Valentine's Day gift ideas from the Chicago Food Swap? What a fun segment that was! If you would like the recipes for the projects that I demonstrated, you will find them all on the Chicago Food Swap website. I am posting the recipe for the Valentine's Day ...
Costa Rica with Kids
My family just returned from an amazing week in Costa Rica. We stayed on the Papagayo Peninsula in the province of Guanacaste, which is located in northwestern corner of the country. Costa Rica was the tropical paradise we had hoped it would be. The Pacific ocean beaches were stunning with fine sands, blue water and gentle surf. The landscape ...
Mother’s Day Brunch Ideas
I am of the firm belief that you should not go out to eat on big restaurant holidays, like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. The restaurants are extra crowded, the prices inflated and the wait staff harried. You are much more likely to have a great meal on any random Saturday night or Sunday morning when the dining room has a normal number of ...
Change How You Think of Gluten-Free
Today's post is sponsored by Udi's Gluten-Free, the premier gluten-free brand in America, and I was selected to participate in this campaign by The Motherhood. Many of you know that my daughter, Zuzu, was allergic to wheat for the first seven years of her life. At that time, Zuzu was also allergic to eggs, dairy, nuts, sesame and peanuts. In ...
What to Do in Santa Fe with Kids
As I mentioned, my family recently returned from a week-long trip to Santa Fe with my mom. My husband loves the Southwest and even tried to convince me to move to Albuquerque after law school. I actually love New Mexico as well, but not quite enough to live there. I could never get used to living in such a dry, desert climate but I do love to visit ...
Strawberry-Mint Lemonade
Zuzu heads off for two weeks of overnight camp tomorrow. This is her second year going and she is so excited to see her camp friends again and participate in all the fun, outdoor activities. But she is also a little sad about leaving her friends back at home. Not sad about leaving us, mind you! Sad about leaving her friends. One thing I have ...
Healthy Snacking: Banana Yogurt Muffins
Yesterday I was working on an article about healthy snacks for the back-to-school issue of a local parenting publication. It's odd to be writing about back-to-school when my kids still have two more weeks to go in this school year, but that is how editorial calendars work. The article was a natural fit for me: I am committed to finding healthy, ...
Maple-Glazed Breakfast Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Pepitas (Nut and Peanut Free)
After I spent all last week wanting to eat my Glazed Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies for breakfast, it occurred to me: why not eat cookies for breakfast? I brought up the idea of a breakfast cookie to my friend Chef Druck, who informed me that in France, where she grew up, the breakfast cookie is a veritable phenomenon. The French actually call it "un ...