Thoughts from my Sugar-Free Month

Gabriel's grandmother sent him all my favorite chocolates from Brazil, just to tempt me.
If I can't eat them I can at least play with them.

Let me just start by telling you right now that I did eat sugar this past month. You know why? Because there is sugar in mayonnaise. That's why. And in Worcester sauce too. Ketchup I already knew so I avoided it but whole wheat store bread has sugar, even though I thought it didn't. I bought it because I hate reading labels, specially in front of other people. I don't want people to think that I worry about what I eat, as if worrying about what you eat is a bad thing. Gosh! So in full disclosure my sugar-free month was not entirely sugar-free because all these things that I never knew had sugar in them apparently do.

There was also a charity dinner last week where I volunteered to make brigaderos. It was a sold out event where people paid a lot of money to attend and I had volunteered to make a dessert way before I had put myself up to the no sugar challenge. I decided to make brigadeiros because they always taste good. Chocolate, sweetened-condensed milk, and butter, how could it ever taste bad. But as I was rolling up the little brigadeiros and coating them with chocolate jimmys I panicked. What if they tasted bad? The people who paid a lot of money to attend this gala dinner to raise money to help children with cancer would hate me if I served them a nasty dessert. So I ate one brigadeiro just to make sure they tasted right. It was for a good cause.

Throughout this month I received a lot of questions from readers asking me about my sugar-free month. Embrace yourself, this might take a while.

Did you lose any weight?
The scale is telling me that I am 3 pounds lighter than when I last weighed myself a month ago. So I am going to say no, no I didn't loose weight because I could very well go downstairs right now and have lunch and come back and weigh myself and be 3 pounds heavier. Other than not intentionally eating sugar my diet stayed the same. I wasn't really expecting to loose any weight.

the New Zoku Quick Pop Character Tool Kit and the New Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker

Hi friends,
Just a short post to wish you a happy Memorial Day. Memorial Day means that summer is here right? And summer means popsicles right? I'm going to answer yes to both and also tell you that if there is one product you must have this Summer, according to mama and babies and Christian is nodding his head yes too, it would be the new the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker. Without a doubt it's worth every penny.

Today we're going to be playing with our new toys, the Zoku Quick Pop Character Tool Kit and the New Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker generously sent to us from Williams-Sonoma.

If you're new to my blog, hi! If you've been here a while you know that I am simply smitten with the Zoku Quick Pop Maker. We already had this one and now this new one came out just in time for our move to Brazil, because it's more compact it will actually fit in our suitcase and because it's cheaper there is no excuse why you shouldn't get one. Trust me, you will use it all the time. Every single day if you like and not only that but in the long run you'll save money. If you don't have to buy popsicles because you can quickly make it at home you'll save money. Not only that but if you make your own popsicles you decided what ingredients you're feeding your children and yourself which for me is the biggest bonus of all. Priceless, really.

If you are not familiar with the Zoku Quick Pop Maker let me introduce you to my favorite product, the kitchen gadget most used in this home. The Zoku makes popsicles in less than 10 minutes. You leave that little baby in your freezer and when you want to make a popsicle you simply pour some juice inside and in less than 10 minutes you have a perfect ice pop not to mention all the fun things you can do with the Zoku like pumpkin pie pops, pops with chocolate inside, or pops with left over Halloween candy. Now we're making character pops like the ones you see above.

Zoku always makes us happy

or sad when our pops are all gone.

Weekly Wrap-Up

This Dear Fork card is another one of those prints I would like to frame and put up on the wall. Right along with this one, and this one, and this one, oh and definitely this one just because I think it's funny. I have a serious paper addiction folks. I collect cards. I collect stationary. I have stationary from when I was 3 years old and my grandma used to write me lovely letters on lovely stationary. Good thing I stopped collecting stickers. Remember the scratch 'n' sniff stickers? Man those were the days.

This week I went through all of my paper; scrap booking stuff (so glad that era is over), cards I've made, letters I've received, stationary from Japan, oh and old pictures too. The whole ordeal took me about 7 hours I-kid-you-not! I kept some stuff and threw out a bunch and also gave Enzo's friend, little Juniper, a bag full of paper stuffs for her to enjoy. I want the next generation of little girls to be paper aficionadas like I am.

Now ask me if I've stopped looking at prints online.
Ask me if I don't want to buy that print up top.
I really need to buy that print!

other fun finds from this week include

• HomeFries, a new podcast site that hosts podcasts from 2 of my favorite bloggers, Joy from Joy the Baker and Tsh from Simple Mom. I can't wait for next week when new podcasts come out.
• This blog post, what I learned from almost 2 months almost unplugged is a must read for anyone who takes blogging seriously.
• I want to spend hours on this site reading about food design. I also want to make a pie graph cake that indicates the ingredients of the cake in percentages.
• If I were to garden I would buy these just because of the way it's packaged.
• I loved reading all the tweets from BlogHer Food. I wasn't able to go but I felt like I was there with all the tweets that were pouring into my stream. I'm excited for the long weekend. If I have some extra time I will certainly read over the transcripts from the BlogHer Food sessions. 
• And because our sugar free month is almost up I'm letting myself think about desserts a little tiny bit. Mostly I've just been looking at What Katie Ate to get inspired. She really does have the most beautiful food photography doesn't she? Seriously Katie, feed me!
• Last but not least I wanted to share a guest post about wooden spoons and homeschooling I wrote for Live and Enliven. Go check it out and leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What about you? Anything great you've read lately or written perhaps.
I'd love to read what you've been up to.
Feel free to share links in the comments.

Have a wonderful [3 day] weekend.

xoxo, Da

Baby Oatmeal Breakfast

Little Miss Maria is on a new sleep schedule. She never consulted us on her most recent decision to wake up at 6:30 every morning. She just expects us to go with the flow of course, because she's bossy that way. Christian is usually surfing at that time so that means that I am the default parent responsible to get the baby before she wakes up the entire neighborhood with her screaming "Mama, Enzo, Mama, Enzo, Mama..."

I think she gets up at 6:30. It could very well be that she is up much earlier than that. I wouldn't really know because I am in deep sleep in the early hours of the day. For the millionth time, I am not a morning person!

But I am a mother and I get up in spite of my body begging me to ignore the crying child. I get up and bring her to my bed because one thing is for sure, she may be a whole lot of naughty but she is also a whole lot of cuddly too. I never knew that such a small person could know how to give so much affection. Her hugs and kisses don't make me any less tired but they do make me a better mother. If it weren't for her waking up early we would probably never get alone time together.

So down to the kitchen we go, the two of us, where she holds on to my legs and watches me closely as I make her breakfast.

Railway Breakfast Set

If you have a trainiac in your midst you are sure to appreciate this railway breakfast set. I spotted this on babygadgets and immediately thought about Enzo. We're busy purging things for our move, but one things is certain his train tracks we will never sell. Not only that but I am seriously thinking about buying this railway breakfast set.

My Enzo would go crazy for this, and come to think of it so would his little sister. They both like to build train tracks together. I would have to get each of them a railway breakfast set so they wouldn't have to fight over it, of couse. But how cute would it be to have the two of them sitting together munching on their breakfast, on the floor, next to their elaborate railroad creation? Sometimes Enzo can build railroads for hours, a little tray to put a plate of cheese and crackers on top would be perfect to keep him fueled up.

Do you know any train lovers that would enjoy this railway breakfast set as much as Enzo?

Cook Off Winner

We do have a cook off winner, we do indeed. It's Louisiana Red Beans and Rice with Cheddar Puff Pasteis and Green Beans from the blog nu-trio. Go give them a congratulations will you?!

The gals over at nu-trio gets a phone consultation with Tracee Yablon Breener as well as a copy of her two books. Thanks Tracee for being such a great sponsor.

Weekly Wrap-Up

In the 28 years I've been alive I've learned one thing for certain, I like my walls to be decorated with prints. Growing up we had my father's artwork in every room in the house. I think my kids will grow up in a home full of prints adorning the walls. They already have a huge ABC poster in their bedroom and now I'm thinking about buying the Julia Child poster from the Blimp Cat Studio shop for our kitchen, maybe I can take it with me to Brazil. As for the "glass is always full" poster I found it via Ashley Ann Campbells Pinterest board, her Words Board to be more specific. Speaking of Pinterest if you want an invite let me know, I think I still have some to give out.

Other favorite finds this weeks

• The Hollandaise Sauce from Leite's Culinaria worked. It worked! It was the first time I successfully made Hollandaise Sauce. 
• I just saw that Kitchen Tips on DailyBuzz Moms is featuring my deep fryer review. Have you checked out DailyBuzz Moms? What do you think of the site. It's new but I really like it.
• The post from Simple Mom, Want to work from home? Find your routine was most excellent.
• Recipe writing cheat sheet because for me the hardest part about food writing is recipe writing.
• This bear bread is adorable. I want to make it for the kids but I can't read Japanese. Anyone want to translate the recipe for me?
• We're planning a big potluck with our friends before we move in 6 weeks. Is it o.k to ask people to bring helium balloons with their dish? I want to throw a party that looks exactly like this.
• And if you have time this weekend I highly recommend viewing the online workshop by food photographer Penny de los Santos. Watching how passionate she is about her work was seriously life changing. You can still watch it and even though it's pricey it is more than worth it.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

If you found a little internet gem, or a blog post you wrote that you would like to share please do so.
I would love to see what you've been up to.

xoxo

Quick Rib-Eye Steak Sandwich

I was advised by a certain food blogger, whom I respect tremendously, to never use the word "quick" when describing a recipe. What may be quick for you isn't necessarily quick for someone else. True. In fact I have a cookbook where every single recipe reads something along the lines of, "In a Flash Frittata," "Speedy Spaghetti," "Quicky Quiche" which to me just sounds wrong, on so many levels. I don't use that cookbook very often because it promises fast meals without taking into account that sometimes it can take me up to half an hour to make instant ramen noodles. But today I did make a quick Rib-Eye steak sandwich, a meal that took me less than 10 minutes from start to finish which I think is just plain excellent.

I'll tell you right now that sandwiches are not my favorite. It's not that they can't be good and satisfying, it's just that more often than not they are bland, soggy, and downright tastes cheap. But a good sandwich, man a good sandwich can hit the spot like no other food can. O.K, and lets be very clear that I am in no way implying that I'm a pro at sandwich making, on the contrary when I do make a good sandwich it has more to do with my hunger level than any real talent.

And when I'm hungry I want meat.

Rib-Eye is good meat. I'm a fan of good meats. Junk meat is not worth your time, your digestion, or your money (even if it was cheap, still not worth it). Rib-Eye is the cut from the roast that sits at the top of rib primal, which makes it soft and flavorful. It's perfect for grilling, and also really good for a quick pan frying. If you have the time to grill, more power to you. If you're in a hurry pan frying Rib-Eye is easy. The most important thing  to do is to get a cut, which usually weighs between 12-16oz. and trim it into fillets. For example, in this sandwich I used a 14oz Rib-Eye and cut it in to 6 fillets. You want it thin enough so that it will cook evenly, in a speedy quicky flash :)

I don't like to season Rib-Eye steaks too much. The meat itself is so flavorful I don't want to mask the natural flavor of the beef with sauces or marinades. I do want to accentuate the flavor, though, and in order to do that I use salt, and the citrus juice of limes and lemons.

You're going to want to do a simple and fast seasoning while the frying pan is warming up. Don't let the lime juice sit too long on the raw meat otherwise it dries out the meat. You're going to literally turn on your frying pan, add some oil to the pan, and while that is warming up you're going to squeeze the lime and lemon over the meat, drenching it in juice. Then generously sprinkle sea salt over the whole thing and BAM(!) your pan is hot and you're ready to fry your meat.

Your meat will be ready in just a couple of minutes, which is enough time to prep your other ingredients. For this sandwich I used freshly baked Ciabatta bread (freshly baked at the bakery, not my house), goat cheese with herbs and mayonaise as a spread, sunflower sprouts, sliced hearts of palm, and tomatoes. Then I added the meat and at that moment that little sandwich hit the spot like no other meal could have done.

 

Quick Rib-Eye Steak Sandwich

(printable version)

1 12-16oz Rib-Eye steak cut into 6 fillets

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 lime

1 lemon

sea-salt for seasoning

1 large ciabatta baguette

1/3 cup goat cheese with herbs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3oz. sunflower sprouts

3 palm hearts, sliced

1 large tomato, sliced

1. Spread the oil in a large frying pan. Turn the temperature to medium-high and allow the oil to get hot.
2. While the oil is warming up season the Rib-Eye fillets with lime and lemon juice, and generously sprinkle with sea salt.
3. When the oil is hot carefully place 3 fillets in the pan and spread them out.  Please be careful when frying, oil tends to splatter! Brown the meat on both sides for about 1-2 minutes on each side, then cover the frying pan with a large lid and allow the meat to cook for another 2-3 minutes. When the meat is fully cooked place the cooked meat in a plate and repeat with the other 3 fillets.
4. While the meat is cooking slice open the ciabatta baguette.
5. In a small bowl mix the goat cheese with the mayonnaise and microwave for 20 seconds. Mix and spread on top of the ciabatta slices.
6. Layer the sunflower sprouts, palm hearts, and tomato on top of the bread and lastly add the Rib-Eye steak. 
7. Close the sandwich and cut out vertical slices to make smaller sandwiches.
8. Eat while it's still warm.

Next time I make this I think I'll do a wrap version instead, just for variation. Recently I saw the most beautiful wrap over at Green Kitchen Stories, it screams creativity. Do you like making unconventional sandwiches and wraps? One of my favorite unconventional sandwiches (and a super good read) is from The Little Foodie, go check it out. Oh, and I don't know where the original source for this picture comes from but I do know that this sandwich image has been traveling the web like crazy, it's a great sandwich-esque  picture indeed just like all the ones from Scanwiches - think scanner meets sandwich.

What about you, are you pretty creative with your sandwiches? When my mom was pregnant with my little sister I remember her eating peanut butter and tomato sandwiches.

What's your favorite sandwich to make?

May Cook Off - Voting

This should have gone up yesterday but yesterday happened so very fast, and before I knew it it was already today.

Hello Tuesday.

Here are the 4 posts for this month's cook off. Vote for you favorite. The winner will be announced next week. Thank you everyone who took the time to submit. And thank you for taking the time to vote.

Vote by leaving a comment.
1 vote per person please
and no anonymous votes.
That's all.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

There is no elaborate story to go along with this post. In fact there is no story at all. And there's only one shot, the one above taken a millisecond before the kids rushed to the table to eat. It's a simple post, because it's a simple recipe, the kind of dish I make when I need to act fast and put dinner on the table.

Pasta is a gift. Bless the Italians and their pasta making contribution to the world. Pasta is a comfort food on so many levels. One, it tastes good. Two, from what I gather most children enjoy pasta which means that parents get to eat in peace, and peace at the dinner table is the ultimate comfort.

Now throw in some grilled chicken on top of your pasta and you've got yourself a success story for sure. As part of the Foodbuzz Testmaker Program I received a coupon to sample Tyson Grilled and Ready, that lovely grilled chicken you see on top of my Fettuccine. I've had ready made grilled chicken before and the texture is so off and the moisture is so gone I have a hard time eating it. Tyson Grilled and Ready rocked this dish, the texture, moisture, and smoky flavor of the chicken really brought out the flavor of the Alfredo sauce. Thank you Italians. And thank you Tyson.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
(printable version)


1 10-ounce bag of Fettuccini
1 bag Tyson Grilled and Ready Refrigerated Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Breast Strips 
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons white flour
3 cups whole milk (you can also use heavy cream)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
thyme for garnish (optional)

1. Cook the Fettuccine following the manufacturer's directions.
2. While the Fettuccine is cooking, make your Alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter is fully melted add the flour and stir until it forms a thick paste. Add the milk and stir frequently over medium-low heat. The sauce will begin to thicken. Once the sauce is thick remove from heat and add the parmesan cheese and mix gently. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
3. Drain the pasta and immediately add the Alfredo sauce on top. Warm up the Tyson Grilled and Ready Refrigerated Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Breast Strips  over medium heat on a skillet for 3 minutes. 
4. Add the chicken strips on top of the pasta and garnish with thyme.

Orange Coconut Polenta Cake {sugar free}

It has now been 11 days since we've gone sugar free, and by sugar free I mean refined sugars (white and brown) and by we I mean mostly Christian, Baby Maria and I. Enzo is trying his best. I'll talk more about that in another post.

When I tell people about our sugar free month the first thing I get asked is, "are you craving sugar?" and my answer is "no." But yes, I'm just as surprised by my answer as maybe you are. However, I have been craving baking.

So yesterday I spent all morning researching recipes, experimenting, and finally coming up with a sugar free cake I was satisfied with. This polenta cake has a kiss of sweetness that comes from the fresh orange juice and coconut. And also from a prune sauce I made to go on top. I'm also smitten with the crumbly texture of this cake. It's pretty perfect with yogurt. 

While the cake was in the oven the smell of sweet corn reminded me so much of my grandmother, Vo Aurea. It may be because she made a lot of polenta and corn bread when I was growing up, or it may be just the saudade, a deep longing, for her company.

May Cook Off

Happy day after Mother's Day. Are you all ready to link up your recipes for the cook off? I'm very excited for this cook off. I'm curious to see what your go-to recipe is and what your kids like. If your go-to recipe involves a lot of fresh vegetables I might die of jealousy. Enzo ate broccoli yesterday only because it was Mother's Day. He's such a stinker. A cute one though. He gave me an envelope during dinner, it was all decked out with stickers. I opened the envelope and there was nothing inside, or so I thought. He immediately ran over to me and attacked me with kisses and tight Enzo hugs and said "I filled the envelope with hugs and kisses mom just for you."

O.K, mamas show me what you've got. You have until Sunday of this week to write a post on your blog sharing your go-to recipe. Then link your post using the linky tool below. Please make sure to include in your post that you are submitting the recipe for the Kitchen Corners' May Cook Off. If you have any questions read last week's post where I introduced the theme and the sponsor or feel free to ask a question in the comments. Next week we'll vote on our favorite recipe and the winner will win a 10 minute phone consultation with Tracee Yablon Breener along with Tacee's two books.

Remember, this cook off is open to everyone. You don't have to be a mom to participate. You don't have to be in the U.S to participate. Let's do this thing.

Broiled Tilapia with Pesto and Parmesan

I've been thinking a lot about a good recipe to share for Mother's Day. I basically wanted a good tasting easy recipe where you could either email your partner and say, "here, make this" or if you're cooking for yourself it would still be a treat because it takes less than 15 minutes to make, yet it is full of flavor. I think broiled tilapia with pesto and parmesan is the perfect fit. The pesto, butter, parmesan mixture on top of the fish is splendid. The aroma of warm pesto is just so right, and the way melted parmesan forms a subtle crispy coat around the fish is also pretty fantastic.

My friend Melissa introduced me to this great dish.
She's kind of great like that.

Melissa is an amazing cook. She doesn't think she is, but really she is. She is also one of the most beautiful, kind, radiant woman that I know. I love being around her because she is always genuinely positive and because she is a very good mama to her kids. She creates a good balance between discipline and leniency. She is such a good example of the type of mother I'd like to be.

For a while we used to get together at least once a week, either at the gym or at the library. But then life got crazy with soccer, swim lessons, T-ball, and all those other lovely things that come with kids, Spring, and organized sports. Oh, and I started working part time too. Duh! That takes up all of my time these days.

A couple weeks ago I was craving Melissa time and we miraculously were able to get together for a quick lunch at her house. We had less then an hour before the both of us needed to run off and drive/pick-up our kids somewhere. In no time at all Melissa made the most incredible broiled Tilapia I have ever tasted.

I spy

a chili relleno tart that screams cinco de mayo by The Urban Baker

AND
a simple tutorial on preparing a round cake pan
another tutorial, this one on making homemade butter
a baby bathing in milk
red walnuts, did you know they take 8-10 years to produce?
coconut, strawberry, white chocolate, and rhubarb mousse cake that will be made as soon as I finish my sugar free month, found via pizzelles

What about you?
What fun posts have you found so far this week?
Feel free to share with a link in the comments section so I can check it out.
Happy middle of the week everyone.
xoxo

San Francisco with the family

This past weekend we went to San Francisco for a quick family vacation. We all came back with sun kissed cheeks, and tummies full of special treats. Everything felt so alive on Saturday, with people buzzing and frolicking in the rare San Francisco sunshine.

We were glad to join the fun.

When planning family vacations, big or small, Christian and I always come up with a schedule. Schedules are good but do you know what's even better? Flexibility. If you're traveling with kids you have got to be flexible otherwise you're begging to be frustrated.

However there is one thing I am not willing to be flexible about and that is accommodations. The last time we were on a family vacation and we didn't have accommodations planned I ended up in a motel room in Puerto Rico with Christian and our friend Hal. This was the typical Latin American Motel room where you pay by the hour and the bed is shaped like a heart and yes, there are mirrors on the ceiling. It makes for a good story but at the time I was furious and so embarrassed as we drove out of our Motel room, the three of us in the car getting stares from the motel staff. Did I mention I was visibly pregnant?

Now that I have kids I'm more than willing to change plans during the day but at night I want to know exactly where I'm going to lay down my head.

May Cook Off

This month I want to celebrate the time and effort it takes to feed our kids. As a new mother I operated on little sleep and felt tremendously overwhelmed at how much effort it took to feed baby Enzo. And I was breastfeeding! I mean, I wasn't even washing out bottles or mixing formula powder with water. Still, the energy it took my body to produce milk and feed him was huge. I often asked "do you really need to eat again?!"

With time things got easier. Not easy. Just easier. But still the answer to the question "do you really need to eat again?" is still "yes."

Feeding Enzo and Baby Maria is a daily task that kicks my butt. I love cooking for them (most of the time), but at the end of the day I am exhausted. I'm sure you can relate.

There are things that help, like having beans in the freezer to whip up a rice and bean dish when I'm low on time. A plate of rice and beans with fried eggs is my go-to meal. My kids love when I make it. And I make it often.

This month I want you to share your go-to meal that your kids love. What dish are your famous for? If your kids could write a blog post what would they say about your cooking? Do they love your baked mac'n'cheese? Do they love the way you cut out shapes from their sandwiches?

This month we're lending each other a hand with recipes we can all benefit from, recipes that moms can whip up for their kids that's a little more elaborate than a bowl of cereal. Recipes that make you proud to know you're feeding your family something both nutritious and delicious.

For those of you who don't have kids please help us out too. We moms need good ideas from everyone, besides you can always think back on a favorite dish that your own mom used to make and share that with us. Vintage mom recipes are my favorite.

Oh, and the cook off prize is awesome. The sponsor will ship internationally so anyone can participate.

This month's sponsor is Tracee Yablon -  a rock star child nutritionist. She opened up her own nutritional counseling office and works as a professional dietitian, counseling families on how to eat better foods. Her website Real Food Moms is a personal favorite of mine. I also have both of her books Great Expectations: Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler: From First Foods to Meals Your Child Will Love and Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach and use it regularly as a resource for my meal planning. Tracee is exceptional, I'm so glad she wanted to partner up with Kitchen Corners to offer up a 10 minute phone consultation along with her two books to the winner of this month's cook off. Thank you Tracee.

If you are not a mom and you win the cook off you can regift the books and the consultation to a mom that you know. Can I just say perfect baby shower gift?!

So start thinking about what you'd like to make. If you post your recipe on your blog this week please link to this post. On Monday the linky tool will go up and you can add your post to the Cook Off.

Mother's Day is this Sunday.
From now until Sunday I'm going to wish you a Happy Mother's day at least 101 times.
For all you rock star moms out there, keep up the good work!