Fit and Fresh Products Are BPA Free

I just called the company and they will shortly issue a press release saying that their products are BPA free. I have the Salad Shaker and love it. You can purchase their food on the go products through my Amazon store using this link. The price is the same whether you go through me or not. I consider it my screening fee!

When 7 Is an Unlucky Number

Please, please, please take a minute to check the number on the bottom of your water bottles, sippy and straw cups and plastic food storage containers. If you find a 7 throw it out (it's not recyclable) and replace with with stainless steel or glass because they do not react with foods and liquids (choose another plastic at your own risk). Canada has already banned these polycarbonate plastics because they are made from BPA(bisphenol A), a chemical that mimics estrogen and is therefore considered an "endocrine disruptor" which is potentially harmful to humans, especially fetuses, infants and children. Scientists have concerns that it may affect the maturing brain and cause breast and prostate cancer. Canada declared it a toxic chemical. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has published a report stating that it has some concern about the potential negative health effects of BPA and has opened it up to public comment.

Sorry to ruin your day, but I also have to tell you that the epoxy resins that line the insides of food and beverage cans is also made of polycarbonate (all except the Eden line). According to Nutrition Action Healthletter's April 2008 issue, "small amounts of BPA leach out when the plastic or can lining comes in contact with food or water." Please switch to "fresh, frozen or packaged is aseptic boxes" as recommended by Nutrition Action.

There are many good stainless steel choices for storing both hot and cold food and beverages, but my favorite is Thermos. These containers are durable, keep the food and drink hot or cold for many hours, are affordable, and offer fun looking ones for kids in their Funtainer line. They even have a Foogo line for babies and toddlers which includes a stainless steel sippy cup! Check out my Amazon store for some great choices. The price to you is the same whether you order through me or not. As an affiliate I get a tiny share of sales, sort of my recompense for putting together the helpful list. Replacing all these items we and our kids use on a daily basis is a big inconvenience and headache, not to mention budget buster, for all of us, so I hope the featured products make the job easier for you. I also included some oven, microwave and dishwasher safe glass food storage container options so you can replace your plastic ones.

Nearly Instant French Lentil Soup

In case you were wondering, this IS another one of my shortcut cooking recipes featuring Trader Joe's ingredients. This one was just so obvious to me. It came out great and we all love it. I entered it into Trader Joe's Recipe Showdown today. Wish me luck.

Wet April days beg for a bowl of hot soup. Here's an easy and delicious one. Enjoy!

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 cups

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ container Trader Joe’s Mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions)
• 1 package Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils
• ¼ tsp. Trader Joe’s French thyme (dried)
• 3 cups Trader Joe’s Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Pour container of mirepoix into a medium prep bowl and mix well. Return half to original container and refrigerate.
2. Cut open the bag of lentils with a pair of kitchen scissors.
3. Shake container of broth and measure out 3 cups. Refrigerate unused broth.
4. Measure out thyme and salt.

Cooking:

1. Heat a heavy bottomed, deep saucepan over medium heat and add olive oil. When olive oil is hot, tilt pan to coat bottom with oil and add ½ the mirepoix. Cover and cook the vegetables until they start to release their juices and soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn heat to high and add lentils, crumbling them into the pot, then add thyme, stock and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until vegetables are cooked through, about 9 or 10 minutes. Remove and puree 1 cup soup using an immersion blender and return to pot. Stir well.
3. Ladle into individual serving bowls. It’s customary to add a splash of vinegar to lentil soup so you may wish to have a cruet available on the table for everyone to add some according to their own tastes.

Artichokes with Meyer Lemon and Garlic

I think it was my Sicilian grandmother who taught me to make artichokes this way, but with regular lemons. I found Meyer lemons in Trader Joe's and have been substituting them for regular lemons in many dishes and am particularly pleased with the results here. Please think of this as the easiest, most delicious, sauce-free artichoke recipe you'll probably find. My four-year-old calls artichokes his "best" vegetable because he loves them so much. The heart is his favorite, but he's willing to do the work to reach it. You can certainly steam artichokes and then dip them in a butter, olive oil, mayonnaise, or other sauce, but cooking them in the pot with the lemon and garlic gives them all the additional flavor they need, minus the calories from the sauce. Technically, this is pan-steaming.

Ingredients:

• 4 large artichokes or 8 baby artichokes
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed lightly and peeled
• 1 regular or Meyer lemon, sliced thin
  
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 pinches salt

Preparation:

1. Get out your biggest chef knife and sharpen it well. Cut a slice from the end of a lemon and have it ready to rub on the cut edge of the artichoke to stop if from turning brown. Now wash the artichokes by filling their leaves with water and then inverting them to drain. Place on cutting board and cut off any stem so they can sit flat in a pot. Next, Cut about 1" off the top of each artichoke and immediately rub with lemon. Remove the tiny, hard leaves closest to the stem and any ripped or discolored leaves in the next layer. The artichokes are now ready to cook. If you want to get fussy you can take a pair of kitchen scissors and clip the sharp spines off the tops of the leaves. I find this overly fussy in most instances but it makes a nice presentation for a formal meal.
2. Find a lidded pot wide enough to accommodate all 4 or 8 artichokes in one layer. Add water to a depth of 1", then add lemon, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle salt over artichokes.
3. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook covered for 30-40 minutes or until cooked. Smaller artichokes and fresher artichokes will take less time, so start checking for doneness after 15 or 20 minutes. Make sure you have enough water in the pan to last through the cooking process, adding more if necessary. They are cooked when a leaf comes off easily (use tongs) and is tender inside.
4. Remove the artichoke from the pan and invert to remove any water. Plate and serve. Remove each leaf and use lower front teeth to scrape the "meat" off the leaf. When you get near the heart, the leaves get very thin and fragile. I like to grab a bunch of them, ball them up and eat all that's tender. My little guy calls these artichoke burritos. Remove the choke from the heart before eating. Enjoy!
   

Lacinato Kale Sprouts

I sowed some Lacinato kale (aka Tuscan or Dinosaur kale) seeds, along with tomatoes, tomatillos, chile peppers and squash inside under two weeks ago and I already have sprouts! I ordered them from the Seeds of Change catalog which offers many heirloom varieties, like the Lacinato. I tried to limit my purchases to varieties entirely new to me or ones I love and can't find regularly, like San Marzano tomatoes.

The kale is leading the other sprouts by a long shot. How am I going to thin these little beauties? I guess I'll just have to eat them or maybe start another table and transplant them. If you've never seen or tasted this kale, it's a treat. I tried it last year after finding it at Whole Foods and really enjoyed it's tender leaves and mild sweet flavor, not to mention it's awesome beauty. I'm already imagining all the wonderful dishes I can make with it.

If you need a little encouragement to start your own vegetable garden, take a look at Out of the Yard and Onto the Fork, a NYT article about growing your own kitchen garden. It lists www.kitchengardeners.org as a good educational resource. Happy planting (and eating.)

LiveSTRONG With a Taste of Yellow

Today I entered my egg salad recipe into the LiveSTRONG With a Taste of Yellow event being held on http://winosandfoodies.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/post.html.
The food and wine blogging community shows their support for this cancer awareness event by preparing and submitting recipes and pictures for yellow food. Check out the event online in honor of yourself or someone you know whose life has been affected by cancer.

Orange Muscat Champagne Vinaigrette

The bottle of Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar called to me from the shelf in Trader Joe's and I've been cooking with it every few days. My best creation so far is a simple vinaigrette that would be wonderful on any salad, but I used it to dress a salad of sliced, roasted beets, sliced avocados and halved baby heirloom tomatoes, all from Trader Joe's. I forgot to take a picture, so I'll post the whole salad soon.

1 tablespoon minced shallot
2 tablespoons Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch each salt and pepper, or more to taste

Put all ingredients into a tall and narrow container and emulsify with immersion blender until thick and almost white in color. Drizzle over salad and stir gently to just coat. Refrigerate any leftovers and use within a few days.

Marth Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Don't laugh. Martha Stewart has published some really great recipes over the years and I've made a few of them staples in my home. Everyone raves about them. I've been making this chocolate layer cake to celebrate birthdays for more years than I can remember. Everyone loves it. It's rich, moist chocolate cake you really can make in one bowl with no butter, which is a winner in any house trying to celebrate in style while keeping one eye on the trans fat/saturated fat scale.

Martha Stewart published two versions of this recipe, one yielding more cake than the other. Both are generous recipes and the larger one makes 3 layers! I like using the smaller recipe and baking it in two 9" x 3" inch round cake pans. I could not find it online so email me if you want it and I'll post it! She recommends using 8" x 3" baking pans, but they are hard to find unless you have a really good cooking store nearby or purchase them online. 9" x 3" pans are more common and the non-stick varieties work well. I recommending buying ones with straight sides to achieve the bakery look. Just make sure to only cook the cake for about 30 minutes if you use the wider pan. Certainly use a cake tester to check that it's fully cooked. If you have to make a cake for home and cupcakes for school, use the larger recipe and use it to fill two cake pans and 12 cupcake tins. She also published an online recipe for cupcakes only.

Another tip- you can buy dehydrated buttermilk, store it in your refrigerator, and reconstitute it as needed. In this recipe, you get a moister, richer cake using reconstituted buttermilk than using fresh. The batter will appear very thin, but it cooks up perfectly.

I used to frost it with Trader's Joe's fudge frosting, but they have discontinued it. So now I make a simple chocolate ganache that everyone prefers to a cream cheese frosting I recently tried. I avoid store-bought frostings as a general rule because they contain hydrogenated oil, a scientifically-proven unhealthy ingredient. This ganache doesn't contain cream or corn syrup, just chocolate and water.

Chocolate Ganache (Frosting)
from Andrew MacLauchlan's New Classic Desserts cookbook (I trained under Andrew at the Coyote Cafe when he was the pastry chef. His creations are to die for!)

• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I like Trader Joe's S. American bars like Ocumare)
• 1/4 cup boiling water

Preparation:

1. Break chocolate into squares and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. Do not overcook or you will ruin the chocolate.
2. Add boiling water all at once to melted chocolate and immediately whisk vigorously until smooth. (Adding a small amount of water, or any liquid, to chocolate can make it seize so please add it all at once and whisk immediately.)
   
3. Even out cake by cutting off any uneven cake with a bread knife. Place cake cut side down on serving plate and spread ganache on top surface only. Even out next cake layer and place it cut side down on top of ganache. Spread a thin layer of ganache on top of cake and spread evenly to coat surface. Use a cake spatula if you have one. Next cover the sides of the cake using a cake spatula or offset spatula. Chill until ready to serve. The chocolate will chip when cut but it will be delicious.

Happy Birthday!

Pork Chops with Black Mission Figs & Pomegranate Sauce

The container of dried Black Mission Figs caught my eye at Trader Joe's and I immediately thought of serving them with pork. Trader Joe's has some nice pork chops so I picked them up and imagined all day the sauce I'd make. I'm happy with how it turned out - sweet and hearty - and so was my family, minus my four-year-old who is back to eating two bowls of cereal a day. Let me know how you like this. It's easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but special enough to serve to guests.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 shallots
• 8 Trader Joe's dried Black Mission Figs
• 4 Trader Joe's pork chops
  
• 1 cup Trader Joe's chicken broth or stock
• 2 tablespoons Trader Joe's pomegranate glaze (optional)
  

Preparation:

1. Peel and finely chop shallots, set aside. Remove stems from figs and chop into small pieces, set aside.
   
2. Trim pork chops of all visible fat and sprinkle generously with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat a heavy bottomed skilled over medium high heat and add 2 teaspoons olive oil. When oil shimmers, add the pork chops seasoned side down and allow to brown for 3 minutes undisturbed. Turn over and brown on the other side, then remove to a plate and cover with foil.
3. Lower heat to medium and add 1 teaspoon oil to pan if it's dry. Immediately add shallots and cook 1 to 2 minutes until softened. Add stock, raise heat to high, and stir to mix in any bits stuck to pan. Once it comes to a boil, lower to a simmer and add pork chops. Cook until pork chops are firm to the touch and cooked through, another 4 to 5 minutes. If the pan gets too dry, add more stock. If the chops are of uneven size, remove smaller ones first so they don't overcook. Place chops on plate, add pomegranate glaze to pan if using, stir to combine and pour over pork chops. Enjoy!
   

Stir Fried Tofu and Baby Bok Choy with Trader Ming's General Tsao Stir Fry Sauce

That title is a mouthful! Sorry! No pun intended. This is one of those meals I like to make when I have to run out to a PTA meeting and have about a 30 minute window to cook and eat with the family just after my husband gets home. I cook the rice ahead so it's sitting in the rice cooker all ready when I'm starting the stir fry. It's one less thing to think about. I cut up the tofu and trim and clean the bok choy and have them sitting on the counter with the jar of sauce. When I see his car heading into the driveway, I turn the heat to high on my largest burner and heat up my prize possession, an All Clad 13" braiser that he bought me as a gift! It's excellent for stir fries.

My husband thought this sauce was a bit sweet, as did I, and we could not name one authentic Asian dish that it reminded us of, even though it was supposed to mimick the flavors of General Tso's famous deep-friend Hunan style chicken. As a side note, that dish was conceived in the US by a Taiwanese Hunan cuisine chef who added sweetness to please American palates. Hunan dishes are not sweet, but searingly hot. (Yes, we studied Chinese cooking in school.) This sauce is quite sweet and mildly hot. That being said, it was still very good, the kids loved it and it sure beats making your own sauce. Leftovers are going to school tomorrow!

Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 1 package Trader Joe's tofu
• 1 pound baby or Shanghai bok choy (small green plant that is tender and mild; Trader Joe's carries it but it is much cheaper in Asian grocery stores
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
  
• Trader Ming's General Tsao Stir Fry Sauce

Preparation:

1. Prepare tofu by removing it from the package and placing it on a cutting board. Slice horizontally into 8 equal sized slices, then cut each slice the long way into 3 equal pieces, then rotate knife 90 degrees and cut into cubes. Place in a prep bowl.
2. Trim the root end of each bok choy so that only the tender stem and leaves remain. Rinse well in a salad spinner until free of sand. Set aside.
3. Heat a pan suitable for stir frying, like a braiser or wok, over high heat and add 2 teaspoons of canola oil. When oil glistens and coats the bottom of the pan, add the bok choy all at once and stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until it begins to wilt and turn emerald green. At that point, add the tofu and half a bottle of sauce and stir fry until the they are heated through, about 1 to 2 minutes, depending on how hot your stove gets. I recommend tasting the dish to see if it's heated through and cooked enough. The bok choy should retain some crunch. Do not cover the pan or the food will steam and release copious amounts of water and leave you with a soupy mess. If the tofu releases a lot of water anyway and your sauce is too thin, remove tofu and bok choy with a slotted spoon into serving bowl and reduce sauce over high heat until thickened. Pour over tofu and bok choy in serving bowl. Serve with steaming rice.
   

Soy Ginger Chicken Breasts with Korean Spinach Salad and Basmati Rice

This is a meal I have made a million times for my family and friends and it never fails to please. This is simple and healthy Asian cooking that includes my mother-in-law's recipe for Korean spinach salad or shigumchinamul. You can make this 100% from Trader Joe's ingredients in no time at all. I recommend marinating the chicken first and letting it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Turn on the rice cooker to make the Basmati rice starting about an hour before you want to eat. Then make the Korean spinach salad because it has to chill.

Ingredients for Soy Ginger Chicken:

• 4 Trader Joe's all natural or organic chicken breasts
• Trader Joe's Trader Ming's marinade

Ingredients for Rice:

• Trader Joe's brown Basmati rice

Ingredients for Spinach Salad:

• 2 bags Trader Joe's fresh organic baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted and lightly crushed

Preparation:

1. Marinate chicken breasts in at least 1/4 cup marinade so they are evenly coated. Store in fridge until ready to use. Do not marinate more than 3-4 hours.
2. Prepare rice by placing 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water in a rice cooker and set to "cook". Or make it on the stovetop by bringing it to a boil and then lowering it to a simmer and cooking until done, about 45 minutes for any brown rice. Or buy Trader Joe's precooked brown rice!
3. Make Korean spinach salad by steaming or blanching spinach, squeezing out most of liquid and adding soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. When ready to eat, remove chicken from marinade, place on foil lined heavy duty baking sheet and broil on high for 3-4 minutes per side. Keep an eye on them because they can burn easily. When they begin to color, flip them over and cook on the other side until done. Place on a cutting board and slice thin. Arrange on plate with steaming rice and cold spinach salad and enjoy an Asian feast. Of course, a little kimchi would complete the meal!