17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Monday, January 14, 2008

Food Finds

Just a couple of cool food finds that I wanted to pass on.

1. Just a couple days after Jen's post about Mormon Chocoholics Anonymous, I found out my two awesome, adult nieces, brenbot and tamrobot (you may have seen their comments around these parts) were trying to incorporate the "Ocho Diet" into their lives. It's just the kind of diet I like to hear about - especially since I'm pregnant. It's less about "going on a diet" and more about trying to incorporate better foods into your diet to "cover all your nutritional bases". And I have to say, I love eating fresh oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts every morning. Yummm. Tamrobot even put together this cool form to keep track of your "ocho eating habits".

2. Last week I had the chance to visit a brand new grocery store, Fresh & Easy. If one ever pops up in your neighborhood, you have to go. My dh says it is the perfect store for us - a family where the mom wants to eat healthy and the dad does not :). Bottom line is that I can get organice produce, fresh preprepared meals with no additives or preservatives and dh's Diet Coke all in one place (and at a good price). Princess' favorite part is the self-checkout where she can pretend she is a paid employee while scanning all our food. "Mom," she says "I love this store". To my happy children, add the super nice employees, the parking spots reserved for parents with children and their commitment to the environment and to the community and there isn't much about this "neighborhood grocery store" I don't like. Look for one opening near you.

3. Did you make a New Year's resolution to do better at meal planning? I didn't. But I am always looking for ways to make my meal planning more efficient, more fun and more good lookin'. Alice at Future Girl (an awesome craft blog) designed this great meal planning sheet that fits the bill perfectly. You can download it here. This will be so much better than the crazy little scraps of paper that I have hanging around (which usually get lost before I actually make the meals). Happy meal planning.

UPDATE:
4. I first got hooked on plain frozen yogurt at the 40 Carats cafe at Bloomingdales in NYC years ago. Then entered the wonderful world of Pinkberry which was the closest thing I could find to my Bloomies treat here in southern CA. Then I had to move away from my local Pinkberry and found nothing that could satisfy the plain frozen yogurt craving (aside from a one-time purchase from Red Mango during a Jazz game while visiting UT). But yesterday, my world changed. Our local frozen yogurt establishment, Golden Spoon, has introduced a new flavor, "Tasty Tangy" or something like that. And guess what - it's that plain/tangy/sour frozen yogurt flavor. YUMMY! Pile on some fresh strawberries, granola and carob chips and it's the dreamiest dessert in the world**.

** Actually you probably won't like it. None of my friends, family or children think that it is anything close to delicious. Good. More for me.

Feel free to share your own post-holiday food finds!

9 Comments:

  • This isn't a post holiday food find, but it is my only What Works For Me I have to offer. I hung a small whiteboard/bulletin board in my pantry, and I put my meal plan and my grocery list on that white board. That way, I never lose that little scrap of paper you were talking about.

    Also, I put everything the entire family is doing on a calendar I tacked to the bulletin board, and I tack up invitations, etc, so I kind of see what is happening during the week, and I can meal plan accordingly. For example, if we have to be somewhere by 5pm, or DH isn't going to be around, or I have a shower or something, that affects what I will be planning.

    It's the only place in my life where I feel I'm together when it comes to home-making, so I'm passing it on. I got the white board thingie at Target.
    posted by Blogger Heather O. at 1/14/2008 02:28:00 PM  



  • soups!! Soups are the best thing ever. Just in the past week I've made butternut squash soup, and broccoli soup. My little 18 month old drinks it out of her sippy, and I know that she is getting more broccoli that way than normal. They are so easy and so healthy.
    posted by Blogger britt at 1/14/2008 03:19:00 PM  



  • I love this kinda stuff... thanks for the post!
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 1/14/2008 03:57:00 PM  



  • This comment has been removed by the author.
    posted by Blogger brenbot at 1/15/2008 08:26:00 AM  



  • Just have to say that I am loving The Ocho Diet. I have felt so much healthier since I started it. I can even eat all 8 by lunch time:

    Breakfast: oatmeal, walnuts, blueberries

    Snack: yogurt

    Lunch: salad with baby spinach, carrots, tomatoes, black beans (and I add avocado)

    I hadn't heard of Fresh & Easy. I'm excited because there is one opening a few blocks away from me.

    Lastly, a food thing that my mom, sister Tamrobot and I started this week: food co-op. It is awesome - all vegetarian low-fat food. Each of us doubles our recipe then split it up. So yummy. This week I made a cauliflower lentil curry, my Mom made a zucchini lasagna and I think Tamrobot is making a Mexican soup.
    posted by Blogger brenbot at 1/15/2008 08:27:00 AM  



  • Heather - thanks for the tip! Years ago we would write our meal plans right on our white refrigerator with a white board marker. It worked for us.

    Britt - soup out of a sippy. I might have to try that...with my kids that is.

    brenbot - LOVE the idea of a food co-op. I have always wanted to do one. The trick is finding a group of people that like to eat the same "types" of foods you do and it looks like you found them!
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 1/16/2008 08:08:00 AM  



  • I was just reading the "Ocho Diet" and one of the recipes reminds me of the "green drink" we have at our house often (thanks to a healthy friend of mine). We make smoothies with non-fat plain yogurt, banana, fresh baby spinach (lots of it - pack the blender full!), ice, and pineapple juice to sweeten. My almost two-year-old actually drinks it in his cup with the twisty straw, so that's a plus. DH drinks it, but mostly because it's healthy. Sometimes I'll even add a little avocado to make it creamier. Just make sure you blend it really well, or you will have little bits of spinach floating around. Not quite as appetizing....
    posted by Blogger Beth at 1/17/2008 01:51:00 PM  



  • Try making your own "pinkberry" with homemade or store bought plain yogurt (we keep a pretty strong culture and like it tangy). We did it for Family Night where you add a bit of sugar to the yogurt then double zip lock it with rock salt in the outside bag and toss it around until it thickens. The key is to get good quality yogurt.

    Other favorites inculde Musseli (familia brand). Shred a granny smith apple in to plain yogurt add the musseli and a bit of OJ if you want it sweet.

    Experimet with grains. Millet porridge, quinoa pilaf, wheat berries in tacos. It sounds sick but when you start eating wholesome all the other foods become unappetizing (well that is what I'm trying to convince DH). The other advantage - grains and beans are cheap!

    I also don't think you need tons of recipes or that food needs to be overly processed.

    I've been somewhat labled a "food snob" since I told the nursery workers not to feed my kids anything sugary, gummy, or red dye 40. I'm not being a snob though I believe it is part of the word of wisdom to be wholesome in our eating. I love this topic! I'm glad I'm not the only mom thinking these things through... But then again UT is a bit behind as there are still moms here that lay out and go tanning.

    Wish I had "Fresh and Easy" here
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 1/17/2008 10:34:00 PM  



  • Sorry Carrie- didn't mean to stay anonymous on that last one.

    Also my last pregnancy where I ate spinach everyday i ended up with a 9 1/2 lb. baby that has super human strength! Get ready for a Super Baby. Speaking of Babies....check out the Super Baby food book by Ruth Yaron.
    posted by Blogger Mommymita at 1/17/2008 10:42:00 PM  



Post a Comment

<< Home