On the Road Again

Labor Day Weekend is just about on us...where are you driving and more importantly, what are you giving the kids to snack on until you get there?

We all know that road trips are full of the fast food pitfalls we do our best to avoid, but a little thinking ahead can get you a long way toward a healthier journey.
At Spatulatta, the postman regularly drops off fun stuff, like new products that are sent to us by health conscious companies looking for a little feedback.

We found a winner in some fruit jerky distributed by an Idaho company called "Golden Valley Natural." Liv and Belle tried their apple cinnamon flavored natural fruit stix and declared them most definitely road worthy.

The 'stix' come in a resealable pouch with 4 servings inside, a scant 80 calories each, and as the package declared, all natural ingredients. The 'stix' are brown and sausage shaped, kind of like a healthy Slim Jim, but not as long. Belle being Belle said, "Mom, if I saw those floating in a pool, I'd think twice about swimming in it." Followed up immediately by, "Wow--they're really good!" Which just proves our theory that beauty is only skin deep, right parents?

Several kinds of jerky came with the Fruit Stix, including turkey jerky, buffalo jerky and beef jerky, all made with no added hormones, no antibiotics, no preservatives, no added MSG and no artifical ingredients. Frankly, the beef jerky was so good it didn't even make it into the car.

Food for thought, when planning your next road trip. Have a safe Labor Day Weekend.

Want Kids to Eat Veggies? Move the Salad Bar

We've heard so many people lamenting how hard it is to change the way kids eat and/or school lunch policy. We just had to share this post by Cliff Kuang of Fast Company. Read this:


Uncommon Act of Design: The Secret of Getting Kids to Eat Veggies? Move the Salad Bar
BY CLIFF KUANG
Tue Apr 27, 2010

http://www.fastcompany.com/1629662/the-secret-of-getting-kids-to-eat-veggies-move-the-salad-bar?partner=homepage_newsletter

A new study out of Cornell produces bigger results than any food revolution or food-policy change could hope for.

Lately, Jamie Oliver's become a saint in his quest to change our attitudes towards food. And the White House and Michelle Obama have been flogging the idea of local produce, while making noise about changes in food policy, which gives woefully sums to big corn and red-meat farmers and contributes to making us fat.

But what if getting kids to eat more veggies is simpler than that? Like, waaaaaay simpler?

Laura Smith, a researcher at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, has discovered that simply changing the placement of a middle school's salad bar can cause a spike in veggie consumption.
What would your guess be on that spike? 15% 25%? 50%?

Try 250-300%. That's not a typo.

Smith basically discovered what Sizzler's known for decades. Instead of relegating the salad bar to the wall, she moved it four feet, so that it's in front of the cash registers. (As far as Sizzler is concerned, note that it's more profitable to fill people up on veggies, since they're cheaper and higher margin than steaks.)

"By the end of the year, this even led to 6% more kids eating school lunches," Smith said. "It's basic behavioral economics. We made it easier for them to make the right choice."

That, of course, opens up a fat opportunity for architects and designers: You can make people healthier simply by redesigning cafeterias, so that healthier options are easier to access and more prominent -- not to mention, as we previously reported, turning corridors into inviting, creative spaces. Now get to work!


Thanks, Cliff!

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Barbecued Chicken Pizza with Spelt Crust

Our Spatulatta Remote Reporters, Carly, Meagan, and Katie, just filed a story. They sent us a recipe from their kitchen in California. The pizza crust is made of spelt flour and they used rice milk. It's a perfect recipe for someone who is both wheat intolerant and lactose intolerant.

Watch their video for Barbecued Chicken Pizza with a Spelt Crust on You Tube. Then send us your favorite recipe on video!

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!

A great week for us--fun stuff everywhere. Isabella is in Ontario, Canada for the Stratford Shakespeare Festibal--they get to see 5 great plays in 3 days--back home Sunday. If anyone sees her up there, say "Hey!" from Mom.

Olivia and her buddy auditioned this morning for The Nutcracker on Ice at the local skating rink. They did very well, so we'll see what their chilly efforts produce when they put the list up.

We're thrilled with the article Miss Caryn Rousseau of the Associated Press published yesterday, lots of feedback from our fans and family members. If you'd like to check it out, you can see it on our site, Spatulatta.com.

Uncle Vito's in town this weekend from Girasole Restaurant in Pittsburgh--I'm sure we'll go and explore new restaurants with him. He's here to attend Chicago Gourmet, part of which Belle and Liv's pop will be emceeing. The cooking demos there are excellent, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves last year--it's a very elegant "Taste of Chicago" at Millenium Park. Foodies, head that way.

Spatulatta Sisters in Irish Press

Last Sunday, Belfast, Ireland was greeted by an invitation to cook with our favorite little chefs, Livvy and Belle. Team Spatulatta is leaving next Saturday for the Belfast Taste and Music Festival. We're all excited! We'll be doing cooking demos that include our Creature Features, a Hawaiian barbecue, and Italian menus.

Our itinerary includes a reception with the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Naomi Long and trips to Ulster and the Mountains of Mourne.

We have a couple free days in our schedule so last night we sat down with the Frommer's guides and planned a couple side trips to the Giant's Causeway and Dairy. Can't wait to see the green rolling hills and the small Irish towns.

We'll be blogging from Ireland whenever we get a chance. So keep posted!

Race to the Taste in Ireland

THE RACE TO TASTE IS ON…

Little chefs Jake O'Neill (aged 7), Daniel Catterson (aged 11), Matthew Catterson (aged 8) and Jasmine O'Neill (aged 9) race to welcome Team Spatulatta which will be making their UK and Ireland debut at the Belfast Taste and Music Fest which runs from 6th to 9th August 2009.

Team Spatulatta is doing our first international event at the Belfast Taste and Music Festival. We're all really excited!

We'll be blogging from Ireland. So stay tuned!