Join us for a super holiday event. On December 20, 2010 at 5 - 7 PM at the Kenmore Live Studio, The Spatulatta Girls will be cooking up the Ultimate Christmas Morning Breakfast.
See the promo video!
Belle and Liv will be cooking up baked oatmeal, crispy bacon, a pomegranate and grapefruit salad and a non-alcoholic Mimosa. We'll be serving samples and generally having a blast.
You can reserve your spot until Friday, December 17, 2010.
If you can't make this event, don't worry!
We'll be back at the Kenmore Live Studio in March for a fabulous Mardi Gras Party. The Spatulatta Girls will be cooking up Yumbo Gumbo, Bread Pudding and Curly Creole Salad. We'll end the evening with a Mardi Gras costume parade.
Sign up now for the Spatulatta mailing list so you will get an invitation. Just scroll down on the lower left of our home page and enter your e-mail address.
Showing posts with label Cooking for kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking for kids. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Mac & Cheese with Red Pepper Volcano with Dinosaur Trees
"Dinosaur trees are what some of our fans call broccoli flowerettes." - Livvy
All of us here at Spatulatta were excited when we got the invitation to participate in the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's 30 Days 30 Ways with Macaroni and Cheese.
We chose to cook with Carr Valley 5 -year Cheddar. The wheels of cheddar are dipped in wax and allowed to rest for 5 years. During that time the flavor gets more and more concentrated.
Carr Valley also makes 12-year old Cheddar--that means there are cheeses that are as old as Livvy.
Macaroni and Cheese with Red Pepper Volcano and Dinosaur Trees
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 pound macaroni elbows
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for the pan
2 tablespoons of flour
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup yellow onion, grated or very finely diced
2 cups Wisconsin Carr Valley Cheddar Cheese, shredded and divided
2 cups Wisconsin Carr Valley 5-year Cheddar, shredded
1 cup broccoli flowerettes
2 sweet red peppers
Directions:
Start by bringing a large pot of water to boil over medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
When the water comes to a boil, add the macaroni. Cook according to package directions, then drain and set aside.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking pan.
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat; whisk in the flour to make a roux.
Cook the roux over low heat; stirring constantly. The butter will make frothy bubbles and go from yellow to golden brown in color.
Add milk, garlic powder and onion. Mix and continue to cook over low heat.
Add 1 cup of Cheddar into the milk mixture and stir until the cheese melts. Don’t let it boil. Reserve 1/2 cup cheese sauce.
Put the cooked macaroni into the buttered pan.
Sprinkle the remaining 3 cups of Cheddar over and mix.
Reserve about 1 cup of the macaroni and Cheddar mixture and set aside to fill the red pepper volcano.
Pour all the cheese sauce, except the reserved 1/2 cup, over the macaroni and cheese mixture; gently stir. This reserved sauce will come into play later, when we assemble our volcano.
Into the oven it goes! Bake about 20 minutes or until bubbly and some of the edges begin to brown.You may need a little adult help getting the casserole out of the oven, because the steam coming out of the casserole will be hot enough to burn.
While the macaroni and cheese is baking, lightly steam the broccoli, about 4 minutes. You want these "dinosaur trees" to be bright green and still a little crunchy so they will stand up when you assemble the volcano.
Cut off the stem end of one red pepper and make a 1 inch hole in the other end. Remove any seeds from inside. This is the volcano cone. Dice the remaining red pepper into 1/4-inch squares.
When the mac and cheese comes out of the oven, it will be super hot. So be careful!
Microwave the reserved macaroni and cheese and fill the red pepper cone. Be careful so the hot mac doesn't come out of the hole at the bottom and burn your hand.
Place the filled red pepper with the small opening side up in the middle of the macaroni and cheese. Carefully, push the broccoli "trees" into the macaroni and cheese around the pepper volcano to form an island around the volcano.
Sprinkle the red pepper squares around the volcano to be the red hot "cinders." Reheat reserved cheese sauce over low heat until it is smooth and melted.
Pour cheese sauce over the volcano so it looks like molten lava.
And there you have it! A beautiful volcanic island in a sea of mac and cheese.
We can't wait to dig in, but the macaroni and cheese is very hot. Way HOT — but so yummy!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Maddie's Funky Fruit Smoothie
Feelin' a little funky? Take a walk on the wild side with this cool smoothie from Maddie. The sweet flavor will give your taste buds a zip!
-Team Spatulatta
Funky Fruit Smoothies
You need...
- 1 small banana
- 1 ripe pear
- 3/4 cup apple juice
- 3/4 cup natural yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- Slice the banana. Peel, core, and chop the pear.
- Place all of the ingredients in the blender. Make sure the lid is on tight and blend until smooth.
- Pour into smoothie glass and serve.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
A Moving Letter from Rachel in Pennsylvania
Dear Isabella and Liv,
Hi! My name's Rachel and I'm a 12 year old girl from Pennsylvania. I checked your
cookbook out from the library and loved it!!! It saved my life!! (Literally!) I'll
tell you why. Yesterday at 5:00 in the morning my dad woke me up and told me that he
needed to rush my mom to the emergency room. She was in a lot of pain. So I needed
to stay home with my 1 brother and 2 sisters. (I'm the oldest.) Well, my parents
didn't come back home 'til 12:35 p.m. Our grandparents were with us for some of the
time though . It was really scary. I used your cookbook to keep the kid's minds off
my mom. I just told them we were going to make something out of your book and they
were so excited!! (They love your book too!) We made something easy, the eggs with
spinach and cheese. (We didn't have any ham...) So I just wanted to thank you guys!
Thank you so much and keep it up!!!
Luv,
Rachel
P.S. Reply would cause many happy screams from younger brothers and sisters!!! LOL! =)
Spatulatta's Reply:
Rachel, what a wonderful big sister you are! We're glad that the Spatulatta Cookbook brought
cheer to your family :)
We hope your Mom had a speedy recovery! Please keep us updated.
Yours,
Team Spatulatta
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Dining in Style!
Above are two adorable photos of Liv posing with Spatulatta's co-creator, Gaylon. These were taken a few months ago at the 2008 James Beard Awards in New York City.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Blue Corn Muffins
Blue corn muffins are a perfect addition to breakfast. Try this recipe from the Jalapeno Cafe.(makes 1 dozen)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup blue corn meal for tortillas or for atole
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease a twelve cup muffin pan and place in oven to heat while preparing batter.
In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat eggs, milk and melted butter, until blended. Pour liquid into dry mixture, stir just to moisten.
Remove muffin pan from oven and spoon in batter.
*Make sure muffin pan is very hot when spooning in batter, this will keep the muffins from sticking to pan when you remove them.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes until tops browned.
Remove from oven and turn out muffins to plate. Serve with butter and honey.
Visit the Jalapeno Cafe for more recipes!
In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat eggs, milk and melted butter, until blended. Pour liquid into dry mixture, stir just to moisten.
Remove muffin pan from oven and spoon in batter.
*Make sure muffin pan is very hot when spooning in batter, this will keep the muffins from sticking to pan when you remove them.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes until tops browned.
Remove from oven and turn out muffins to plate. Serve with butter and honey.
Visit the Jalapeno Cafe for more recipes!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Need for Speed: A Mommy's Lunch Manifesto
By Biggie, a work-at-home mom of a three-year-old preschooler in San Francisco, obsessed with cooking and building a faster, better packed lunchowner . You can learn more about Biggie and her passion for bento lunches at lunchinabox.net
I'm a mom who packs lunch. What's important to a mom? Nutrition and speed: I want to feed my family nutritious food, but spending a lot of time on every meal isn't feasible. I strive to achieve balance between the two - losing this battle would either have me waking up hours before everyone else to cook lunch, or reaching for a Lunchable processed lunch.
Spending an hour preparing a weekday lunch is only going to happen in my house if it's a special occasion like a birthday or holiday - I spend my morning getting myself and a preschooler ready to go out. Although ornate lunches shaped like cartoon characters and whimsical shapes are artistic and intriguing, I know my limits. I would burn out if I tried to do that every day. For me it's got to be sustainable over the long run, which is why I make speed bentos.
How did I arrive at this point? I lived in Japan as an expat for nine years and am fluent in Japanese, but didn't pay much attention to the whole lunch-packing ("bento") culture there until my husband was misdiagnosed with a food intolerance that ruled out restaurant meals. Back in San Francisco, I decided to send him to work with delicious lunches that would make him feel like he was eating better than his colleagues who were going out to eat. A trip to the local Japanese-language bookstore turned up bento cookbooks that I started studying, especially the creative packing tips and techniques that could be adapted to our normal diet. My husband has since been "undiagnosed" with the food intolerance, but then I found myself carting around a diaper bag stuffed full of little Tupperware containers for my toddler son ("Bug"), or leaving the playground early to go get lunch. Time to pull out those bento boxes again so we can spend more fun time out and about!
So now I'm learning to think on my feet when I look at the refrigerator in the morning. Where I used to see either uninspiring food or time-consuming meals, I can now see quick lunches taking shape. I have fast lunch items in the freezer and fridge, and speedy prep techniques at my fingertips. Let me tell you about some of the speed techniques I've picked up from reading Japanese packed lunch cookbooks.
Use your leftovers!
Don't hesitate to pack food left over from dinner! Leftovers can be your weapons against boring lunches - maximize payout for the time you already put into dinner by making a little extra food. Granted, eating the same thing again can get boring, so look at your leftovers creatively and find ways to give them a makeover. Potato salad can become potato pancakes or faux Scotch eggs, leftover curry can become the base for a curry noodle dish or the stuffing for dumplings.
Pre-pack lunches when possible
If you find yourself with dinner leftovers, get a head start on the next day's lunch by packing up some of the meal directly into your lunch container (Tupperware, Laptop Lunchbox, bento box, thermos, etc.) when cleaning up the evening meal. This way you have most of the next morning's work done already, and lunch will be ready with only minimal preparation like cutting up some fruit.
Ready-made foods
You don't have to make everything for lunch the same day. Make full use of frozen foods and canned foods to speed things up. Frozen vegetables can go into quick sautes or little frittatas, canned beans can become quick salads. Ready-made deli foods such as hummus or tabbouleh are quick lunch additions. Also, ready-made foods don't have to be store-bought: many dishes can be made in advance, batch frozen in individual portions (spaghetti cups, unsauced pasta, sandwiches, rice balls), and either defrosted naturally or in the microwave. A well-stocked freezer can save the day on time-pressed mornings.
Pre-made sauces give fast flavor
Stock your pantry or refrigerator with a few flavorful sauces that can be added to simple sliced vegetables or sauteed protein/vegetables. These sauces (homemade or store-bought) can be varied to suit your family's dietary preferences; think black bean sauce, barbeque sauce, teriyaki sauce, cooked salsas, curry sauces, noodle dipping sauce, vinaigrettes or Italian dressing, Korean barbeque sauce, etc.
Make full use of the microwave and toaster oven (or broiler)!
Japanese bento cookbooks often tout the time-saving technique of cooking multiple items simultaneously: in the microwave, toaster oven, frying pan, etc. This saves time and energy; the trick is to select foods that will cook well with the same method and to check doneness periodically (don't assume all dishes will be done at the same time).
Time-saving kitchen tools
Lastly, a couple of tools are particularly useful in speeding up lunch prep. A quick slicer (mini mandoline) makes short work of slicing vegetables and is easy to clean. A microwave mini steamer reduces cook time by 50%, quickly cooking vegetables or frozen dumplings.
I'm a mom who packs lunch. What's important to a mom? Nutrition and speed: I want to feed my family nutritious food, but spending a lot of time on every meal isn't feasible. I strive to achieve balance between the two - losing this battle would either have me waking up hours before everyone else to cook lunch, or reaching for a Lunchable processed lunch.
Spending an hour preparing a weekday lunch is only going to happen in my house if it's a special occasion like a birthday or holiday - I spend my morning getting myself and a preschooler ready to go out. Although ornate lunches shaped like cartoon characters and whimsical shapes are artistic and intriguing, I know my limits. I would burn out if I tried to do that every day. For me it's got to be sustainable over the long run, which is why I make speed bentos.
How did I arrive at this point? I lived in Japan as an expat for nine years and am fluent in Japanese, but didn't pay much attention to the whole lunch-packing ("bento") culture there until my husband was misdiagnosed with a food intolerance that ruled out restaurant meals. Back in San Francisco, I decided to send him to work with delicious lunches that would make him feel like he was eating better than his colleagues who were going out to eat. A trip to the local Japanese-language bookstore turned up bento cookbooks that I started studying, especially the creative packing tips and techniques that could be adapted to our normal diet. My husband has since been "undiagnosed" with the food intolerance, but then I found myself carting around a diaper bag stuffed full of little Tupperware containers for my toddler son ("Bug"), or leaving the playground early to go get lunch. Time to pull out those bento boxes again so we can spend more fun time out and about!
So now I'm learning to think on my feet when I look at the refrigerator in the morning. Where I used to see either uninspiring food or time-consuming meals, I can now see quick lunches taking shape. I have fast lunch items in the freezer and fridge, and speedy prep techniques at my fingertips. Let me tell you about some of the speed techniques I've picked up from reading Japanese packed lunch cookbooks.
Use your leftovers!
Don't hesitate to pack food left over from dinner! Leftovers can be your weapons against boring lunches - maximize payout for the time you already put into dinner by making a little extra food. Granted, eating the same thing again can get boring, so look at your leftovers creatively and find ways to give them a makeover. Potato salad can become potato pancakes or faux Scotch eggs, leftover curry can become the base for a curry noodle dish or the stuffing for dumplings.
Pre-pack lunches when possible
If you find yourself with dinner leftovers, get a head start on the next day's lunch by packing up some of the meal directly into your lunch container (Tupperware, Laptop Lunchbox, bento box, thermos, etc.) when cleaning up the evening meal. This way you have most of the next morning's work done already, and lunch will be ready with only minimal preparation like cutting up some fruit.
Ready-made foods
You don't have to make everything for lunch the same day. Make full use of frozen foods and canned foods to speed things up. Frozen vegetables can go into quick sautes or little frittatas, canned beans can become quick salads. Ready-made deli foods such as hummus or tabbouleh are quick lunch additions. Also, ready-made foods don't have to be store-bought: many dishes can be made in advance, batch frozen in individual portions (spaghetti cups, unsauced pasta, sandwiches, rice balls), and either defrosted naturally or in the microwave. A well-stocked freezer can save the day on time-pressed mornings.
Pre-made sauces give fast flavor
Stock your pantry or refrigerator with a few flavorful sauces that can be added to simple sliced vegetables or sauteed protein/vegetables. These sauces (homemade or store-bought) can be varied to suit your family's dietary preferences; think black bean sauce, barbeque sauce, teriyaki sauce, cooked salsas, curry sauces, noodle dipping sauce, vinaigrettes or Italian dressing, Korean barbeque sauce, etc.
Make full use of the microwave and toaster oven (or broiler)!
Japanese bento cookbooks often tout the time-saving technique of cooking multiple items simultaneously: in the microwave, toaster oven, frying pan, etc. This saves time and energy; the trick is to select foods that will cook well with the same method and to check doneness periodically (don't assume all dishes will be done at the same time).
Time-saving kitchen tools
Lastly, a couple of tools are particularly useful in speeding up lunch prep. A quick slicer (mini mandoline) makes short work of slicing vegetables and is easy to clean. A microwave mini steamer reduces cook time by 50%, quickly cooking vegetables or frozen dumplings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)