Bye Bye TBK Blog-Hello TBK Website WITH BLOG!

Hi everyone!

I am soooooo happy to tell you that I now have a website! You can still access my blog from my new website but you do need to subscribe on my site to keep getting the emails with my posts which I hope you will!

My blog is almost 4 and 1/2 years old so it was time to get a little bigger and fancier :-).

Thank you so much for your loyalty, as I know how hard it is to decide which blogs to subscribe to. It means so much to me that you have subscribed to Take Back the Kitchen and I hope you will continue to do so!

Please know that if you do not resubscribe, you will no longer get my posts since it is a whole other site :-(


All you need to do is what you did before: go to the new site, www.takebackthekitchen.com, and put your email where it says subscribe. You will then get an email confirming you subscribed and you simply click to activate in that email. You will then get my new posts!

I hope you like all the videos and links I now have in an organized set up.

Much love and hope to see you on the new site!
Alma

Whitney Houston's Daughter?? and Fruit and Nut Bars

Hi everyone. I am pretty saddened by the passing of Whitney Houston. My friend Lincoln Bilancia gave me her first tape in high School , pictured above, and it was a big part of my life, as it was for many of us, in the mid eighties.

As I watched the Whitney Houston funeral on T.V. today, held in neighboring Newark, I was struck by how little the service was directed at Whitney's 18 year old daughter. I decided to google her and, to my dismay, found out that she herself is abusing drugs and has been for years. She is 18 years old.

How does this happen? With all the opportunity in the world, all the money and even with all the success and adoration, we can fall prey to negativity, insecurity, temptation, peer pressure and convenience.

Addiction is a disease and as I reread this post last night, I wanted to make sure you know about my friend Pam's organization Relate 2 Us :
http://www.relate2us.org/

Pam Cytron is determined to make sure that children are supported and educated by their community to do the best we can to avoid future generations of children who may struggle with addiction. Please check out her site and "like" the page on facebook.

No matter what we tell our children, they will very likely model our behavior. We can use this to our advantage, too.

You know where I'm going with this by now so I'll leave it at this: Fruit and Nut bars for snacks for ourselves and them instead of Doritos and pop tarts. I hope you like these. R.I.P. Whitney and good luck Bobbi Kristina.


Fruit and Nut Health Bars:

1 cup almonds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
1 cup cashews or peanuts
1 cup dates
1 cup golden raisins or any other finely chopped dried fruit
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 TBS chia seeds (can get at Whole Foods and health food stores)
2 TBS brown rice syrup (can get at Whole foods and health food stores)

Place nuts or seeds, chia seeds and dried fruit in a food processor, pulse until well ground
Pulse in vanilla and salt
Add in brown rice syrup
Remove mixture from food processor and press into an 8x8 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper
Refrigerate
Cut into inch sized squares and serve

My Trip to Solon, Ohio and Why???

Hi everyone! First off, thank you so much to all you bakers and volunteers for the Haiti event. We raised almost $1,000.00 for the Edeyo School just from the massive bakesale! The photos are on the Take Back the Kitchen facebook page.

Now, you may know that I spent a couple of days away last week. When I was asked to attend a Stouffer’s event in Solon Ohio, the first question I asked myself was, “Who do I know in Ohio that I can visit?”.

When I realized I couldn’t think of anyone except my college roommate’s step mother who I visited over 25 years ago, I thought, why would a healthy cooking blogger who encourages people to cook from home go to an event to learn about frozen, packaged food?

I decided that it was worth coordinating child care for the four kids for two days to see what trends are out there in frozen food, who the market is and what the company’s plan is to make healthier products. Let’s face it, even the most earnest home cook delves into the freezer periodically, myself included, and I wanted to find out what the options are and if some are better than others.

Truth be told, I was also enticed by a night of uninterrupted sleep in a comfortable king size bed-alone which of course did not happen since I bolted up at 6:45 from a dream that I was being stabbed by a porcupine in my front yard. What the heck?

So, a group of Stouffer’s facebook fans and bloggers were flown out for a two day food extravaganza. We were treated to generous meals and parting gifts from the company but we also were treated to some pretty interesting presentations from the branding /marketing folks.

In my typical TBK fashion, I needed to ask the tough questions so, one by one, I pulled aside the members of the marketing and branding team and put them to the test.

Are your meals healthy and if not, why?

The responses I got were both enlightening and surprising. I found out that Stouffer’s is actively working with organizations and companies to improve and enhance flavor naturally without added fats and salt.

I also found out, not surprisingly, that when surveyed, most folks say they would prefer whole grains, less fat and salt but when products are offered to them, they are not willing to give up flavor and texture for health. Although the trend is to make healthy, ethnic products, most people want convenience and want the taste of fat and salt.

For this reason, Stouffer’s products, including their new line of Farmer’s Harvest Products, have less fat and salt than their full fat and higher sodium products, but are still pretty high on the sodium and fat content.

Let’s face it, Stouffer’s is in the business of selling food products that the public buys. This is where we come in. We need to meet companies like Stouffer’s in the middle: If they are willing to create products with health benefits, we need to purchase them and/or let them know why their products aren’t up to our standard of taste when they are making healthier products.

I will say that many of the Farmer’s Harvest products that we tried were tasty, especially their Curry Chicken, and if eaten only when in a pinch, they may not be so bad for us. We all need to indulge once in a while and comfort food is... comforting.

My hope is that if people like the products, then they will eventually try to replicate them from scratch and make healthier versions on their own.

As for Solon , Ohio, a lovely place to visit with lovely people!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and Please Bake and/or Eat for Haiti's Edeyo School

Hi everyone. Even if we do not feel comfortable baking, we can still help Haiti's Edeyo school that was destroyed in the Earthquake by purchasing baked goods at the concert and bakesale tomorrow night. See above posters for the details.

Here is a Gluten Free recipe I have been making lately that is so tasty!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Gluten Free Cookies:

2 ½ cups walnut, hazelnut or almond flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup Vegetable shortening without trans fats
¼ cup honey or agave
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries or cranberries
1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate from a chocolate bar

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients
In a small bowl combine honey or agave and vegetable shortening. It helps to melt the shortening for a bit in the microwave
Mix dry and wet ingredients until thoroughly combined
Spoon out TBS size balls of dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet
Bake at 350° for about 7 to 10 minutes
Cool and serve
Makes 24 cookies

Easy Black Bean Burgers and Why You Will Want to Make Them

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be sharing my healthy recipes with you again, although I did thoroughly enjoy the kids' recipe contest all last month. I promise to let you know when channel 34 will film the kiddies.

For now, I have a great way to use up black beans that you may have cooked for Mexican night or even if you ordered Mexican food and have leftover beans. This is a second chance to make a healthy dinner, even if you ordered in the night before.

If you are overwhelmed by the thought of making your own bean burgers, look at how few ingredients there are below.

Then think about how taking care of yourself and your family is a priority.

Then think about how fit you will be and how much fiber and protein you will get from eating these burgers.

Now you are ready to start making these burgers!

EASY Black bean Burgers:
1 cup cooked black beans
1/4 cup oats, uncooked
1 small egg
1 TBS sauteed or raw chopped fennel or onions
1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper powder

olive oil for cooking

Mix all above together and form into patties.
Heat oil in skillet and brown them for a few minutes on each side until heated though (and you want the egg to cook).
Makes 5 smallish ones or 3 larger ones.
They can be a little dry so serve with a salsa or sauce of your choice. I like them with a little mayo mixed with hot sauce and a salad. Enjoy!

Collards with Pasta and I Luv MDNA

Hi everyone. It would be timely for me to discuss the Super Bowl but I don't really care for or understand Football so can't.

What I will say is that Madonna rocked my world in that ca-razy half time show. Is she really 53?

I was a little disappointed to see her being slammed on the internet, with comments like she is too old to be up there.
Why shouldn't someone continue to do what they love, at any age? She is a hard working performer who did an impressive job and I tip my hat to her.

Sometimes we think too much about what others will say and think and it keeps us from doing what we love or aspire to do. Please don't let the haters keep you down. Don't think about it, just do it!!

In closing, don't even think too much about dinner. If we just look in our fridge and pantry, we may have enough ingredients to put together a quick, simple and healthy meal in minutes. Try this one for a last minute dinner or lunch and tell the naysayers you can't hear them, you're too busy cooking :-)
P.S.Who was that little tight rope cupid??? Cool!

Collards with Pasta and Pistachios:

1/2 cup washed, chopped and sauteed collards (or any other leafy green you may have in the house like Kale or spinach)
1 1/2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
1 TBS whole or part skim ricotta
1 TBS pistachios
drizzle olive oil
salt, pepper, crushed red pepper

Wash and sautee the collard greens and set aside.
Boil pasta until tender
Mix pasta and collard greens , top with a TBS ricotta, the pistachios , a drizzle of olive oil and some salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. Yum!

The Votes are in and the Celebrity Kid Chef Winners Announced!

Hello everyone!

Today, February 3, 2012 is a day that will be remembered for a long time in Montclair. The Take Back the Kitchen January Cooking Contest Votes are in and we are shocked at the results. There were literally thousands of votes cast!

The outpouring of support was inspiring but that is to be expected from parents and friends of young aspiring chefs. Who wouldn't be proud and encouraging of young people working it in the kitchen for good health?

What is more surprising, however, is what happened at the very end of the contest: Just when we thought we may have a landslide, an anonymous voter came in and changed the game.

Who was it? A healthy cooking fairy? The ghost of Julia Child? The animated Ratatouille chef? No one knows, but I believe it may have been my idol, Richard Simmons himself.

Whoever this magical voter was, he or she was able to vote enough times from 8:59 a.m. to 9 a.m. to make it so that every single contestant got the same number of votes.

Do you know what this means? This means that every single contestant gets to be on Channel 34 to show off their dish! Everyone is a winner!

Congratulations, kids! You all worked hard, as did your parents and friends who voted for you. As we all know, it is important to support all children when they are putting themselves out there to make an effort to do something bold and healthy.

The contestants will be contacted by Take Back The Kitchen with details about when the film shoot will take place. For now, enjoy your day, knowing that you, parents and kids alike, have planted a seed for self sufficiency in the kitchen. Congratulations to all!