Cooking Light: 100 Calorie Chocolate Hits

Love chocolate but are nervous about the calories? Then look no further than these tasty 100 Calorie Treats from our friends at Cooking Light. With only 100 calories these make the perfect Valentine’s treat for you and your family!

Pistachio-Coated Chocolate-Dipped Apples

Dip 3 apple wedges into 1 (0.375oz) melted dark chocolate square (such as Hershey’s). Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon crushed salted pistachios.

Mexican Chocolate Pudding

Stir 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper into 1 fat-free chocolate pudding cup. Top with 1 tablespoon fat-free whipped topping.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel

Smear the end of 1 pretzel rod with 1 teaspoon creamy peanut butter. Dip into 1 teaspoon melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Gooey Turtle Brownie

Drizzle 1 mini brownie bite with 1/2 teaspoon caramel syrup. Top with 1 toasted pecan half.

Crispy Chocolate Snack

Gently stir 2 tablespoons crispy rice cereal, 2 teaspoons chopped dried cherries, and 1 teaspoon toasted chopped almonds into 1 tablespoon melted semi-sweet chocolate chips. Dollop onto wax paper and let dry.

The Creative Kitchen™, LLC, teaches children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner.  Targeting families with children ages two to teen, the company focuses on teaching, writing creative content and curriculum, special events, recipe development, spokesperson work, webisode production and consulting to present educational and entertaining content through food-related activities. The founder, Cricket Azima, is an expert in cooking for and with children.  She inspires kids to express themselves creatively through food and cooking, while complementing lessons with traditional educational material such as social studies, math, arts, science, and more. Visit www.thecreativekitchen.com for more information.

February Calendar of Events

 Happy Sweethearts Month

City Treehouse Valentine’s Event  

Ages 2 to 6. Saturday, February 9th, 3 PM – 4 PM   

Treat your little sweetheart to a hands-on cooking class. Children will create sweet strawberry salsa and Valentine’s Day cookies, which they will wash down with delicious Organic Valley milk. To register please contact City Treehouse at 212-255-2050.

Valentine’s Event at Whole Foods Bowery Culinary Center

Ages 2 to 5 (plus one caregiver). Sunday, February 10th, 12 PM – 1 PM

Ages 6 to 9 (drop-off). Sunday, February 10th,  2 PM – 3 PM

Ages 10 to 12 (drop-off). Sunday, February 10th, 4 PM – 5:30 PM 

Calling all junior chefs! Make this Valentine’s Day extra-special by learning how to whip up a yummy, colorful Valentine’s brunch that will surely please the whole family. You’ll add sweet strawberries to homemade pancake batter, choose your favorite vegetable colors to fill fluffy frittatas, and say “I love you” with heart-shaped cookies, still warm from the oven.

Register for the 12 PM class here.

Register for the 2 PM class here.

Register for the 4 PM class here.

Cooking Light 31 Tips, Recipes, and Sparks of Inspiration

Spark your inspiration with a month worth of  healthful tips for you and your family, from our friends at Cooking Light. These simple tips are the perfect way to keep your family’s New Years resolutions on track! The best part is you can incorporate them into everyday life without breaking the bank or the clock, which will leave you and your family healthier AND happier.

We Dare You to Try……

Try to experiment with a new seasonal vegetable or fruit each week this month. Parsnips, Brussels sprouts, and winter greens such as collard greens, kale, or mustard greens are all worth a try. Get inspired with our Best Recipes for Winter Vegetables and Fruits collection.

Sweet Cereal Trick

Do you prefer your whole-grain cereal biscuits, flakes, or oh’s with a little added sugar? Just stick with varieties that have about 8 grams of sugar or less, about the amount in the 2 teaspoons of granulated you’d be sprinkling on that bowl of plain shredded wheat anyway.

Chill Out With Tea

Switch your latte to a tea to chill out. Research shows L-theanine, an amino acid in tea, reduces feelings of stress and increases relaxation.

Put Produce on Eye Level 

To increase your fruit and veggie intake, don’t put them in a drawer in the refrigerator but rather on a shelf at eye level. The more you see them, the more likely you will be to grab for them.

Smoothie Creations 

Make sure that fruit is the base of your smoothie creation—too much fruit juice can rapidly add calories without providing any of the heart-healthy and digestive-friendly fiber that you get from the fruit itself. Find recipes for 250-Calorie Smoothies.

Energy Food

With the perfect combo of slowly-digested protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber, lentils could be the ideal energy food. Just 1/2 cup of cooked lentils provides more protein than an egg and more than a quarter of your daily dose of fiber for only 115 calories and practically zero fat. Find more Foods For All-Day Energy.

Quick and Good for You

A speedier cook time doesn’t mean less wholesome. Instant and quick cooking oats—both rolled and steel cut—are as nutritious, tasty, and fully whole grain as their longer cooking counterparts. Find more Common Nutrition Myths.

The Creative Kitchen™, LLC, teaches children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner.  Targeting families with children ages two to teen, the company focuses on teaching, writing creative content and curriculum, special events, recipe development, spokesperson work, webisode production and consulting to present educational and entertaining content through food-related activities. The founder, Cricket Azima, is an expert in cooking for and with children.  She inspires kids to express themselves creatively through food and cooking, while complementing lessons with traditional educational material such as social studies, math, arts, science, and more. Visit www.thecreativekitchen.com for more information.

Product Review: Contessa Premium Foods’ Convenience Meals

Dinner doesn’t have to take a full night of planning. With Contessa Premium Foods’ Convenience Meals delicious dinners can be prepared in under ten minutes! With 18 different types of meals, there’s bound to be dishes to satisfy every member of the family! The ingredients are high-grade with no MSG, no trans fat, and no artificial colors or flavors.

From the Mouth of a Kid:

I love the orange chicken! It’s sweet and fruity! And, mom says it’s good for me too!  

 From the Eyes of a Parent:

With Contessa’s super-speedy and convenient preparation, there’s more time to spend with the kids and less time cooking and cleaning up! 

 Flavorful Features

The Icing on the Cake:

Many Contessa Convenience Meals serve a complete balanced meal – no need to shop and prepare multiple dishes to achieve the same goal! Prepare as-is, or as a shortcut to cooking other meals like lasagna, salad, soup, or even a breakfast frittata! Sauce packets are kept separate from main ingredients, allowing for recipe variations and special dietary needs. 

Contessa Premium Foods’ Convenience Meals come in a delicious variety of flavors that include Beef Mongolian, Broccoli Beef, Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Chow Mein, Chicken Florentine, Chicken Fried Rice, Chicken Stir-Fry, Italian Sausage Rigatoni, Jambalaya, Orange Chicken, Paella, Sesame Chicken, Shrimp Alfredo Penne, Shrimp Fried Rice, Shrimp Primavera, Shrimp Scampi Linguini, Shrimp Stir-Fry, and Vodka Chicken Penne. 

http://www.contessa.com/products/convenience meals/

http://www.facebook.com/contessafoods?ref=ts&fref=ts

The Creative Kitchen™, LLC, teaches children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner.  Targeting families with children ages two to teen, the company focuses on teaching, writing creative content and curriculum, special events, recipe development, spokesperson work, webisode production and consulting to present educational and entertaining content through food-related activities. The founder, Cricket Azima, is an expert in cooking for and with children.  She inspires kids to express themselves creatively through food and cooking, while complementing lessons with traditional educational material such as social studies, math, arts, science, and more. Visit www.thecreativekitchen.com for more information.

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth and Benji

The Creative Kitchen loves Organic Valley and their MOOOOOOOOOarvelous line of dairy products!  We’re big fans of their farmers, and all they do for our families and friends!

Elizabeth and Benji 

Friends of Organic Valley 

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/OrganicValley

Website: www.organicvalley.coop

What is Organic Valley?

Organic Valley is America’s largest cooperative of organic farmers and one of the nation’s leading organic brands. Organized in 1988, it represents 1,766 farmers in 35 states. Focused on its founding mission of saving family farms through organic farming, Organic Valley produces a variety of organic foods, including organic milk, soy, cheese, butter, spreads, creams, eggs, produce and juice, which are sold in supermarkets, natural foods stores and food cooperatives nationwide. With its regional model, milk is produced, bottled and distributed right in the region where it is farmed to ensure fewer miles from farm to table and to support our local economies.

Who are Elizabeth and Benji?

Elizabeth is a busy working mom, and Benji is her #1 Home Test Kitchen Recipe Taster

What was your favorite food to eat as a child?

Dairy, anything dairy.  My father grew up on a dairy farm on the coast of Maine.  What a dab of butter and pinch of fresh herbs do for a side of humble boiled Kennebec Red potatoes! Butter, cheese, sour cream—you’ll still see it on my plate today—all farm fresh, organic, and (well, mostly) in moderation.

 Do you have children if so what do you like to make for them or with them?

My son is an adventurous eater who’s curious about food.  We spend a lot of time in the kitchen together.  He’s a great stirrer, measurer and taster. Steamed broccoli and hummus remain one of his favorite snacks, and he loves onions and mushrooms sautéed in butter.  We’re fortunate to have access to fresh off the docks seafood, such as clams, mussels, crabs, lobster and all kinds of fish. We’ve had a thing for fish tacos lately.  Grilled fish, avocados, cilantro, and fresh corn topped with sour cream, yum.

 What is your favorite childhood memory in the kitchen?

Making blueberry pancakes with my grandmother on the farm.  We would use blueberries that we had picked the day before and she’d fire up a big cast iron pan that was too heavy for me to manage.  I was allowed to use the spatula to flip. You can bet we served them with butter (yup, more dairy) and real maple syrup.

 What was your favorite recipe to help make when you were a kid?

I liked making lasagna—it was fun to layer ingredients and sneak pinches of mozzarella in the process.  I still do.  My son and I make classic Bolognese lasagna in the fall and winter, and sometimes mix it up with roasted vegetables or switch gears entirely with a butternut squash, hazelnut and sage recipe we love.  The secret is béchamel, lots of it.

The Creative Kitchen™, LLC, teaches children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner.  Targeting families with children ages two to teen, the company focuses on teaching, writing creative content and curriculum, special events, recipe development, spokesperson work, webisode production and consulting to present educational and entertaining content through food-related activities. The founder, Cricket Azima, is an expert in cooking for and with children.  She inspires kids to express themselves creatively through food and cooking, while complementing lessons with traditional educational material such as social studies, math, arts, science, and more. Visit www.thecreativekitchen.com for more information.