Monday, April 26, 2010

Cupcake Art


photos: here

Craving cupcakes? Head over to Ming Makes Cupcakes for beautiful cupcakes and tasty, original recipes for them.

Fish Sticks, revisited

When I was little and my parents went out on 'date night' and I was left with my super cool babysitter that I loved and adored, I always got to pick the menu for dinner. Usually it was mac&cheese or fish sticks. (Sorry babysitter Ashley, I'm sure you hated my dinner choices!)

Here's a great recipe for fish sticks that you don't have to feel guilty about eating! I love knowing what goes into my food. Thanks to A Life Less Sweet for the recipe. We always make our own bread crumbs, too. Store bought ones tend to have way.too.many unnecessary ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 lb fish fillets (I used cod)
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (read the ingredients!)
2 eggs, lightly beaten and thinned with about 1 TBSP of water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
cooking spray (like Pam)

Get Cookin'

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mix flour, thyme and garlic powder in a bowl. Pour the thinned egg into a separate shallow bowl. Last, combine the breadcrumbs and panko in a third shallow bowl or plate.

Cut the fish fillets into 1" wide strips. Sprinkle the fish on all sides with the seasoning salt. Dredge each strip first in the flour mixture, then in the egg, and last in the breadcrumbs. Place the coated strips on the baking sheet. Lightly spray all of the strips with oil.

Cook the fish for 10 min or until flaky.

To freeze:
Place cooked strips neatly on a baking sheet. Make sure that there is a little space between each strip. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and put in freezer for a few hours until the strips are completely frozen. Store in a container of your choice.

To reheat, cook the frozen strips in a 400 F oven for 10-12 min or until strips are completely warmed.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Starbucks Reduced-Fat Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Recipe

I've eaten my share of Starbucks coffee cake, after working there for two years. A few months ago the company re-introduced their reduced fat banana chocolate chip coffee cake (the longest pastry name ever). It's delicious.

I stumbled upon this recipe for a banana chocolate chip coffee cake and it almost exactly like the Starbucks recipe (minus walnuts).



photo courtesy of Starbucks.com

Monday, April 12, 2010

Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sandwiches


photo courtesy of: cookinglight.com

Ready for summer? Today the high is 83 today. YAY! Jesse's sister went swimming this weekend, I'll wait for the water to get to the high 70s, but it's potentially warm enough for some of us to go swimming. I found this sandwich recipe from Cooking Light that looks amazing and just right for spring weather. Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sandwiches




Update: 7/23/10--I finally got to make these burgers for dinner (sans the whole wheat bun) and they were delicious! My family loved them.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

School Lunch


School lunch programs have been under a lot of fire lately. When I recall my elementary school lunches I remember real food being served and chocolate milk being available only on special occasions. We did have the occasional chicken nugget but for the most part Mesa Public Schools did a great job feeding wholesome food to us.



Here are some links to people bringing attention to the school lunch problems in public schools:

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: Watch previous episodes and learn more about what's going on with America's school lunch program.

Fed Up with School Lunch
: An elementary school teacher is posting daily blogs about her school's lunch program. See first-hand what's going into the mouths of our youth.

Article about the new legislature for school lunches.