Safe Food Friday

Jason's Deli is a great sandwich and salad shop in Mesa with chains popping up in other locations. I have been totally impressed with their menu and great salad bar but my mom emailed me about their new signs in the restaurant. Check this out..... Hanging over the salad bar it reads " Real Salad Bar...No high fructose Corn Syrup, No MSG, No bad fats." They also have a "Real Food Menu" and have organic produce and whole grains. They even have a soda fountain beverage made with pure cane sugar! Imagine that! Way to go Jason's Deli! You have my business! Now won't you just build one in Gilbert?

Another E.H. April Heymore, my regular Safe Food Friday email buddy, advocates a deli in Scottsdale called "Dish" She said they have great artisan breads, with great ingredients and jams and jellies with just the basics. Just FYI for any of you on that side of town.

I wish more restaurants would take the time to provide nutrition. Let's all support them.

I have to leave you this weekend with another breakfast recipe that I haven't made in a while, but is one of my favorite pancakes (yes, another favorite!) with a little twist.

Cottage Cheese Apple Pancakes

1 large or 2 small apples, grated and peeled

1/2 cup small-curd cottage cheese

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 T. maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

Peel, core and grate apple into mixing bowl. Mix in cottage cheese, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, syrup and salt. Sprinkle in the flour and baking powder and stir well. Butter or oil skillet and cook on medium heat.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for all of you who have shared recipes with me. I am hoping to get a recipe book together over the summer so if any of you have a recipe you think is just delish, pass it on. Thanks to all who signed up for my childrens cooking classes. The first date is full but I have a couple slots in the last two if any are interested.

Safe Food Friday

It's Friday again and I do have a few new finds for you. Once again, Costco is the place of choice. I am so glad that they really try to get good foods out there. Now, we just need the public to buy them so that they will continue to stock them!

Kirkland extra large roasted peanuts. These are roasted in coconut oil. This is one of the best oils for you!
Pesto. This is sold in the fresh pasta section. You can split this into smaller batches and freeze it if you have a smaller family. I made delicious paninnis in my foreman on some Naan bread from fresh n easy, grilled chicken, spinach and mozarella. Delicious!
Organic Blue Corn chips. I hate the color of these but they actually taste better than Tostitos. Organic corn is really the only corn we should be eating since most corn is so modified and processed. These were great.
Wholly Guacamole dip. This comes in a three pack, eat one, freeze the other two. This had a really great fresh taste, great with the blue corn chips.
Mango Salsa. This is a fresh salsa sold in the fridge section. Love it especially on mango tacos.


I stopped in Fresh N Easy the other day in the afternoon after their markdowns. They have a produce shelf for items on a quick sale basis. 50% off. I bought 4 beautiful perfectly ripe pears for $1 and a bag of 8 limes for $1. Usually limes are about $.50/each. I also found my favorite mini corn tortillas for $.66 for 36 count. They were expiring the next day. I bought all three bags and froze them. Thawed one last night and they were great. I love their afternoon sales!

Tomorrow I get my first Bountiful Basket order. I will take a photo of the basket and let you know just how I plan to use each and every item in the basket with some great recipes. I hope I get something crazy and have to really venture out. It feels like Christmas. Pathetic, I know.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for checking in.

Safe Food Friday

I found a few products in my travels this past week to pass on. There are foods out there that you can buy. Yea!

Nature's Path Crispy Wheats (Just like wheat thins)
Nature's Path chocolate chip cookies
Nature's Path Oatmeal Cookies
Spectrum Mayonnaise
Annie's Cowboy ranch (Not hidden valley taste but try it out on the kids)
Annie's arthur macaroni and cheese
Juicy Juice Apple juice boxes
Gorilla Munch cereal (great for little fingers)

I tried the Herdez salsa and for a salsa not freshly made, it is pretty good. It Would make a great salsa to put in taco meat.

I will keep my eye out for more products, they are hard to come by but I am sure they are there. I searched for a buttermilk but could only find organic buttermilk and organic cream that is free from the ugly stuff.

FYI I talked to a friend today who has done the Bountiful Baskets for a couple years, she loves it. She says it is run really well and usually gets really good produce. I can't wait to try it out. Thanks for the info!

Have a great weekend, go make your freezer jam and enjoy the beautiful weather you AZ gals!

Safe Food Friday

Thanks for all of those who are keeping an eye out for great foods. I have a couple for you today.

Costco carries a new dressing called Far East Sesame Dressing. It is great for a Chinese chicken salad and a marinade. They list spices but I called the company and they said it is only ground pepper. It is also gluten free. Cindy Thomas emailed me about Costco's Zesty cilantro dressing, kind of like a spicier ranch. Everything looks great in there as well and has real good flavor. You could always do better by having expeller pressed oils but beggars can't be choosers. I will take it!

Another blogger advocates the Herdez salsa. Great ingredients and she says that it tastes great! Thanks Terri!

Thanks to Jan King for sending me this ranch dressing recipe. The recipe is for a vegetarian dip but you could use regular milk and mayo if you want. Just try to find a good mayo. I am going to look for that this weekend. Sounds like a good recipe. I will try it out!

Ranch Dressing

1/2 C Rice milk (plain) or regular milk
1/2 C Vegenase or mayo
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
3 T. Red wine vinegar
1 T. dried parsley
salt
pepper

Blend all until smooth in blender. Store in refrigerator for up to a week.

"Safe Food" Friday

So Miss Enlightened Homemaker has been humbled. After bragging in my class Wednesday that my children are never sick and no one has had a broken bone due to lack of calcium from not drinking milk, I got a slap of humility. Tate came home with a fever that day and Randi broke her wrist the next day. I guess I am human after all. Tate is all better today and after an all nighter at the lovely St. Josephs Hospital in Down Town Phoenix, the wrist is back where it should be. I get the point. Stuff just happens sometimes.

For the first "Safe Food" Friday, I thought I'de tell you about this Soy Vay sauce I used the other night. It is very hard to find Chinese dressing, sauce or food of any kind that is on the Safe list. This is a great product and also very tasty. I have tried a couple of their products and have loved them all. This one, the "Veri Veri Teriyaki" was a great little sauce for chicken and broccoli stir fry. Using my pressure cooker for rice that took about 5 minutes, I had this little simple dinner done in 10 minutes flat! I bought this at Fresh and Easy but have seen it at Trader Joe's and at some grocery stores.



April Heymore emailed me about a friendly peanut butter she tried and liked called "Naturally Made". It does have sugar but everything else is great. I love the Costco Organic Peanut butter that only has peanuts and salt but if you have kids that are hooked on the jif, this may be an easier switch. It also does not need to be refrigerated or stirred.

I have a great recipe that incorporates both of these ingredients to try out on your little eaters. It is one of my families favorites by far and adapted from a recipe from Miss Molly. The peanut sauce is the best homemade recipe I have tried and is great to make extra for a Thai Pizza. Try it out and see what you think.



Thai Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce



2-3 chicken breasts, minced
half red onion, chopped finely
1 cup shredded green cabbage ( I add about 2 cups)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 T or more of grated or minced ginger (not powdered)
2 cloves garlic, minced
soy sauce or Teriyaki Sauce
Lettuce cups, washed and chilled (cut iceberg in half and peel cups apart)

Cooked Rice, about 2 cups

Saute onion in hot oil until tender. Add chicken and saute until no longer pink. Add the rest of the ingredients except soy sauce and saute about 2-3 minutes until tender. Sprinkle with soy or teriyaki sauce as desired for flavor. I also like to add some Chinese Red chili paste, About 1 T. for a little kick. Keep warm while you make the sauce, don't let cabbage get soggy!

Peanut Sauce

1/4 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
1/ C. Sugar
3 T soy or Teriyaki sauce
4 Cloves Minced Garlic
3 T Water
2 T oil ( I use grapeseed oil)
Thai chili paste if desired, about 1 tsp or more


**I usually double this

Cook sauce in pan on low to medium heat until sugar dissolves. Whisk until smooth. Stir often and keep warm. To assemble wraps, spoon rice in first, top with chicken mixture, spoon on sauce. Dig in. This is such a nutrient packed little meal! Enjoy.