January 5th, 2009 — 2008 Food Blog Awards, Family/Child blogs, Food Blog Awards, Reviews and Contests, Sites We Love, Well Fed Network, Wellfed, What's Cooking, nominate What's Cooking Blog from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
It’s time to nominate your favorite Food Blog Awards from 2008. You have until January 9 to submit your favorites, and then voting will begin!
Categories include:
Chef
City
Drinks
Family/Kids (pick me, pick me!)
Group
Humor
Industry
Photography
Rural
Theme
Writing
Best New Food Blog
Food Blog of the Year
P.S.: Go ahead - post this on Twitter. (I am @whatscooking, in case you are curious…)
Continue reading → 2008 Food Blog Awards - Nominate Your Favorites NOW!
January 5th, 2009 — Cooking Light, Recipes, chocolate recipe, delicious dessert, dessert for a crowd, dessert recipe, hot chocolate fudge cakes, recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Cooking Light has been one of my favorite magazines for years. Their recipes, while usually light on fat, are full of flavor. When the December issue arrived last month, I immediately noticed their recipe for Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes and folded the page to save for later. My kids and I decided that New Year’s [...]
December 25th, 2008 — Community Service, Recipe for Action, Recipes, Spread the Bread, feeding the needy, helping others, kids helping kids, sharing food from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
When I put out a request for stories of people using food as a vehicle to help others, I heard from Karen of Spread the Bread. Because her reply was so eloquent and inspiring, I thought I would share it with you, directly.
Michelle,
How wonderful that you want to share stories about food that can help [...]
Continue reading → Spread the Bread - Feeding Heroes and the Needy
December 23rd, 2008 — Food with Kid Appeal, Holidays, Jenna Pepper, Nutrition and News, Sites We Love, handling kids and treats, how many treats should kids eat, impulse control for children, kids and treats, kids wanting treats, marshmallow study from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Thank you to Jenna Pepper, guest blogger for this post. Jenna is a nutritionist and writes fantastic articles about healthy eating for families on her own blog, Food with Kid Appeal.
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Did you know that kids are still developing their ability to control impulses? Psychology researcher Mischel did a study with preschoolers and marshmallows to evaluate [...]
Continue reading → Treat Entitlement: What to do after Holidays are over
December 20th, 2008 — Beth Sheresh, Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids, Recipes, Reviews and Contests, Shop, cooking steel cut oats, overnight oats, overnight steel cut oatmeal recipe, steel cut oatmeal from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Oooh, it is getting cold. The heater is turning on earlier and earlier each morning. Aside from the thought of slipping my feet into warm fuzzy slippers and sipping a hot cup of coffee, nothing can get me out of bed like a steaming bowl of steel cut oatmeal.
Wait a second. Where is the appeal [...]
Continue reading → Warm Hearty Family Breakfast - Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal
December 18th, 2008 — Holidays, Jewish Penicillin, Recipes, avoiding lumpy gravy, chicken stock, family recipes, making chicken soup, recipe tips, smooth gravy, tips for making gravy from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
At Thanksgiving I couldn’t help but ask my mother and grandmother some of their secrets to fantastic turkey gravy and chicken stock (Jewish Penicillin!). With Hanukkah and Christmast fast approaching, I thought you might be able to benefit from their tricks for the preparations of your holiday meals.
Mom’s gravy is never lumpy. Never gloppy. Always [...]
December 15th, 2008 — Chanukkah recipe, Cooking with Kids, Hanukkah recipe, Holidays, Recipes, potato latke recipe, potato pancakes from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
…come light the menorah. (The song is bound to start going through your mind about now…).
For our family, one of the best parts of Hanukkah is Potato Latkes! Even though we will be away during most of the Festival of Lights, we will come home in time to host a Hanukkah party with friends. We [...]
December 15th, 2008 — Food Network casting director, Jennifer Carden, Main Dish Mama, Michelle Stern, Mom Squad, Musings of a Cooking Teacher..., Style Mama, What's Cooking, food network recruiting, new food network show from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Ever since the invention of caller-id, answering the telephone has been more fun. It’s exciting to know that the caller is a friend you are eager to connect with. There is also a thrill when the caller is unknown and might be a future client. But imagine my surprise when the phone rang last week [...]
Continue reading → Call from The Food Network = Crisis of Confidence
December 10th, 2008 — Community Service, Healthy Schools Campaign, Nutrition and News, School Lunches, healthier food for kids at school, healthy lunch ideas, healthy lunches from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that healthy food = healthier kids. So why is it that children on the school lunch program at the majority of US schools get lunches that are over-processed, fatty and salty? It’s time we did something about it!
Get the <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/child-nutrition-act” mce_href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/child-nutrition-act”>Child Nutrition Act</a> widget [...]
December 8th, 2008 — 4H, Cooking with Kids, Holidays, Recipes, cookie decorating, gingerbread cookie recipe, gingerbread sculpture, sculpting cookie dough, shaping cookie dough from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
At tonight’s 4H meeting, we will be having a cookie decorating contest. Even though I like to cook, I am not a huge fan of making cookie dough that has to rest in the refrigerator before using. It simply takes too much time. When an old friend offered me her mother’s Gingerbread [...]
December 6th, 2008 — Call the Kids, Cooking with Kids, Recipes, recipes from leftovers, recipes kids can help make, turkey sweet potato hash from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Eating in season makes for a smaller grocery bill and fresher flavors. This tasty recipe is an ideal use of some of our favorite Winter ingredients, sweet potatoes and apples. It can be served as the main course for brunch or for dinner with a simple side salad. It is also an [...]
Online StoresContinue reading → Recycling leftovers into a new meal: Turkey Sweet Potato Hash
December 3rd, 2008 — Musings of a Cooking Teacher... from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
While it is fantastic to indulge on decadent treats during the holidays, it helps to have a few healthy alternatives up your sleeve. Pears are at the peak of their season and can be found easily at your local farmer’s market. The warm sweetness of this dish epitomizes the holiday season. Be sure to invite [...]
Continue reading → Healthy Seasonal Treat for the Holidays - Roasted Pears
December 2nd, 2008 — Gluten Free, Meal Planning, Recipes from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
My husband has been wondering about the questionable behavior of his intestinal tract recently. He has a theory that gluten might have something to do with the problem, so we are going to make our family dinners gluten-free for a month to see if that makes a difference.
There are some amazing blogs out there [...]
Continue reading → Going Gluten-Free for a Month: Wild Rice Crab Cakes
December 1st, 2008 — Gluten Free, Meal Planning, Recipes, What's Cooking, easy dinner party, gluten free meal, gluten free recipes, healthy dinner, simple dinner for friends, simple recipes from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I am having some friends over for dinner tonight, after a busy day of being a kid-taxi. Each of them helps to run the after school enrichment classes through our local recreation centers - they are some of my biggest fans and offer my What’s Cooking classes in several schools.
Should the pressure be on [...]
November 30th, 2008 — 4H, 4H project, Chickens, Eco-Friendly, backyard chickens, chicken coops, chickens as pets, egg layers, eggs, friendly chickens, pet chickens, poultry project, protecting chickens from predators from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
My daughter started 4H this year and I couldn’t be happier. As an animal person myself, I am thrilled that she is passionate about animals and wants to learn more about them. She has been a fan of chickens for several years, coveting the ones that belong to our friends. I never [...]
Continue reading → Backyard Chickens – Bug Eaters, Fertilizer Makers and Egg Layers, oh my!
November 27th, 2008 — Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving recipe, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with caramelized apples, sweet potato recipes from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Mom and Dad are hosting Thanksgiving again and I am bringing home-made cherry pie and a sweet potato dish. I feel pretty lucky - aside from taking a little time, these recipes are pretty simple. After all, I cook almost every day, so this shouldn’t be a bigger deal…except that this IS a special holiday… [...]
Online StoresContinue reading → Performance Anxiety - Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
November 25th, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Holidays, making pie, rusty cookie cutters, smearing dough from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
While pictures say a thousand words, it wouldn’t be fair to simply show you the photos of our fantastic “Pie Day with Trudy” without more…
The mere thought of Thanksgiving makes us think of Trudy and her pies. While her pumpkin pie is divine, it is her cherry pie that leaves my kids and I yearning [...]
November 24th, 2008 — Beatrice's Goat, Community Service, Heifer International, Recipe for Action, Sites We Love, charity, donation, green gifts, philanthropy from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
It is hard to believe that my trip to Honduras with Heifer International was well over a year ago. I continue to cherish my experiences there with other teachers on our educator study tour. We saw the impact of the work that this organization has worked so hard to accomplish. The gift of an animal [...]
Continue reading → The Gift of a Goat from Heifer International
November 18th, 2008 — Musings of a Cooking Teacher..., November, The Ice Cream Fellow, dessert, dessert recipe, holiday recipe, pumpkin ice cream recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
For the past three days, it has been hard to believe that it is November. I am not trying to make you feel bad if you live outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, but we have been wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. It is even warm enough for my kids to [...]
Online StoresContinue reading → Culinary Holiday Heaven - Pumpkin Ginger Ice Cream
November 16th, 2008 — Community Service, Recipe for Action, Scouting for Food, Stamp Out Hunger, Trader Joe's charity, What's Cooking, feeding the hungry, food drives, kids helping kids, sharing food from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Once you have forgiven me for the horrible pun in the title of this article, hopefully you will continue to read about a simple way that anyone “can” help the hungry. This, the third article in my series about helping others through food, features some wonderful efforts in my town to feed the hungry [...]
November 14th, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Musings of a Cooking Teacher..., What's Cooking, classroom cooking, cooking in the classroom, cooking tips, teaching cooking to kids from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Just ask anyone who has cooked anything recently and they will tell you that the kitchen is an ideal place to reinforce what our children are learning in school. Measuring, estimating and counting reinforce math skills. Predicting, observing and causing chemical/physical changes in food are the fodder of scientific learning. Tasting and preparing foods from [...]
Continue reading → Teacher Tips for Cooking in the Classroom
November 13th, 2008 — Chef Jeff, Cooked, Recipe for Action, helping others with food, inspiring chef, power of food from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
What’s Cooking teaches cooking classes to children and helps families spend quality time together in the kitchen and around the table. We recognize that thousands of people across the nation are not fortunate enough to enjoy home-made food or family meals. Our Recipe for Action series of articles features ways in which people are using [...]
Continue reading → Changing Lives Through Food – The Chef Jeff Project
November 6th, 2008 — Community Service, Food Tidings, Meal Planning, Recipe for Action, Sites We Love, delivering meals to family, feeding a sick friend, getting food to those in need, helping others with food, online calendar, organize meal delivery for a loved one, organizing meal deliveries, sample food tidings schedule from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
What’s Cooking teaches cooking classes to children and helps families spend quality time together in the kitchen and around the table. While cooking strengthens family bonds and helps children to develop life skills, there are many other benefits as well. Simply take the fruits of your labor (pardon the pun!) through your front [...]
Continue reading → Food Tidings - Helping you organize meal delivery for the ones you love
November 2nd, 2008 — Recipes, What's Cooking, eating healthier, fall recipes, family dinner, family friendly recipes, healthier chicken parmesan, healthier mashed potatoes, light chicken parmesan, mashed potato recipe, smashed parmesan potatoes from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
The weather here has finally turned. It is hard to imagine that we were hot in shorts only a week ago, and now we have the wool blanket on our bed and a presto-log in the fireplace!
My family enjoyed this simple dinner last night - it was delicious and very easy to prepare. Kids can [...]
October 31st, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Ghoulish Garden Dip, Halloween Dip recipe, Halloween appetizer recipe, Holidays, Recipes, green dip, home-made dip from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I made this delicious dip recipe with my cooking students yesterday and will be making it again with a different group of students this afternoon. The green, ghoulish color makes it perfect for Halloween! But there is no food coloring here - our green comes right from the ingredients themselves!
Ghoulish Garden Dip
1/2 [...]
October 30th, 2008 — Eco-Friendly, earth-friendly kitchen ideas, efficient kitchen, healthy kitchen, how to make the kitchen eco-friendly, using less energy in the kitchen from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I came across a new blog today and loved one of their articles - it gives 100 ways to make your kitchen more earth-friendly. Some are super simple and others take a bit of time, money or effort. Either way, it is a great series of suggestions!
I’ll tease you with a few of my favorites, [...]
Continue reading → How to make your kitchen more eco-friendly
October 29th, 2008 — Kiwi Magazine, Next Great Young Chef, Reviews and Contests, contest, kids cooking, young chef from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I just learned about this contest and thought I would pass it along in case your Great Young Chef would like to enter!
KIWI, a national family magazine focusing on natural and organic living, is looking for kids who love to cook for their Next Great Young Chef Contest.
The contest, which runs until February 20, 2009, [...]
October 27th, 2008 — Community Service, Sites We Love, donating food, donating leftover food, feeding the hungry, feeding the needy, food delivery non-profit, leftover food from weddings, leftover wedding food from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
On Blog Action Day, I wrote about how wonderful it would be if there were an organization that picked up leftover food from weddings and other special events and delivered it to the needy. Lo and behold, I found one called Food Runners that operates in San Francisco.
Food Runners picks up excess perishable and prepared [...]
October 24th, 2008 — Cookie recipe, Cooking with Kids, Musings of a Cooking Teacher..., What's Cooking, baking with kids, elephant ears, playdate activity from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I think I just may have found a cure for the common stomach-ache. Seriously.
For the past few days, I haven’t been feeling well. Stomach cramps, tingly skin…the works. But then, when I was considering what to do with the kids coming over for our play date this afternoon, I got excited about making elephant ear [...]
October 15th, 2008 — Blog Action Day 2008, Community Service, Musings of a Cooking Teacher..., Recipe for Action, What's Cooking, donating food, helping others, ideas for leftover food from weddings, leftover food from events from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
The theme for Blog Action Day this year is Poverty. As the date approaches for bloggers all around the world to share their ideas, opinions and action plans to fight poverty, I have been thinking about what I can do…about What’s Cooking can do…about what people everywhere can do…
As the state of our government [...]
Continue reading → Blog Action Day: Fighting Poverty (our way - with food!)
October 11th, 2008 — Eat Local Challenge, Eco-Friendly, Prather Ranch, Recipes, crockpot recipe, feeding a busy family, sweet and sour ribs recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Now that Fall is officially here, the days are getting cooler and nights are coming earlier. Getting dinner on
the table is becoming more of a challenge now that my children are involved in more after school activities. Our piano lesson on Tuesdays finishes up right before dinner time, so by the time we [...]
October 9th, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Full Belly Farm, Hoe's Down Festival, What's Cooking, cooking activities with kids, cooking tools for kids, cooking with kids workshops, events from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
This weekend, my family and I went to our second Hoe’s Down Festival in the Capay Valley, east of Davis, California. It was the 21st annual Hoe’s Down Festival at Full Belly Farm - and my cooking with kids workshop was just one of over 60 fun activities and presentations to choose from.
People laugh [...]
Continue reading → Fantastic Farm Celebration - Hoe’s Down Festival
October 7th, 2008 — Eat Local Challenge, Eco-Friendly, Reviews and Contests, Slow Food, benefits of eating locally, kids eating locally, reasons to eat local from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
October is the Eat Local Challenge month - and I know that if I make my goals public, I will be more inclined to follow through…
Before I tell you why I am going to make the effort, maybe I should give y’all a few reasons why this is a good idea.
Eating locally grown and produced [...]
October 5th, 2008 — Ellyn Satter, Holidays, Nutrition and News, Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family, candy-fairy, celebrate, diabetes, excess, halloween, healthy Halloween, obesity, too much candy, trade in candy, what to do with extra candy from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
It’s almost Halloween. You know what that means…The kids are asking for a different costume every other day and are lured by treats placed strategically near the checkout stands at the market.
It’s decision time: How will you handle the loot that comes home with your little ghoul? Will it be a [...]
Continue reading → Halloween - Limit the Candy Chaos…or Not?
October 3rd, 2008 — Barney Butter, Recipes, Reviews and Contests, almond butter, how to use almond butter, peanut butter alternative, peanut-free almond butter from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
You remember those jars of all-natural peanut butter with the big layer of oil on the top…the one that drips down the side when you try to mix it all up? Say goodbye to the mess and to the peanuts! And say hello to Barney Butter.
Barney Butter is a new brand of almond butter that [...]
Continue reading → Yum! Barney Butter a delicious Peanut Butter Alternative
October 1st, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, cleaning mushrooms, getting kids to eat vegetables, how to clean vegetables, kids in the kitchen, scrubbing veggies from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Looking for ways to get your child into the kitchen? How about having them help you give the veggies a bath before dinner? You do realize that if they play with their food or help you prepare it, they will be more likely to eat it, right?
Here’s a quick how-to:
Carrots, potatoes, yams and turnips should [...]
September 29th, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Jewish New Year recipe, Musings of a Cooking Teacher..., apple and honey crisp, apples and honey crumble, dessert recipe, recipe, sweet new year recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
To the fellow members of my tribe, we hope you have a happy and sweet new year. To celebrate, call your kids into the kitchen to help you make this delicious treat.
Apple Honey Crisp
4-5 apples, Granny Smith or Gala work well
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 [...]
Continue reading → Have a Sweet New Year - Apple Honey Crisp
September 25th, 2008 — Clif Kid Zbars, Halloween alternatives, Halloween traditions, Holidays, Nutrition and News, Shop, candy alternatives, green halloween, halloween, healthier Halloween, treasures, treat alternatives, treat options from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I have a confession to make. I am one of those moms. I cringe at the thought of high fructose corn syrup entering the bodies of my two children. It’s not that high fructose corn syrup is much worse for their bodies than ordinary sugar. But to me, it is a sign that the food [...]
Online Stores Related WebsitesSeptember 22nd, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Recipes, breakfast, making sushi with kids, party food, popover recipe, slumber party, slumber party food, sushi for kids from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
You could imagine how proud I was that my daughter asked if she and her friends could make “sushi” at her
8th birthday slumber party. Although we would sandwich our sushi-making bonanza between other activities, such as bouncing in the trampoline, swimming and a movie - we were pretty sure that it would be a [...]
September 17th, 2008 — Blog Carnival, Call the Kids, Cooking with Kids, Recipes, chicken sandwich, family meal, kid lunch, kids in the kitchen, recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
My family loved this recipe, inspired by one that we found in Cooking Light Magazine. The kids even begged to have the leftovers in their lunch the next day! We served this dish with baked BBQ potato chips, carrot and cucumber sticks and pieces of avocado.
Open-Faced Chicken and Muenster Sandwiches with Apricot-Dijon Spread
4 teaspoons apricot [...]
Continue reading → Simple Family Dinner - Open-Faced Chicken & Muenster Sandwiches
September 15th, 2008 — Cooking with Kids, Recipes, Thai Veggie Spring Rolls, What's Cooking Birthday Parties, cooking birthday parties for kids, food for a kid party, kids in the kitchen, play with your food, recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I am so lucky - I get to play with food, and get paid for it! This morning, I did a birthday party for a 6-year old and 9 of her friends. We created some delicious Thai Veggie Spring Rolls for lunch, along with some udon noodles, edamame and slices of watermelon.
Fresh Thai-Style Spring Rolls
Ingredients
1-2 [...]
Continue reading → Fresh Thai Veggie Spring Rolls - Fun to Make at a Kid’s Birthday Party
September 12th, 2008 — Dr. Sears, GoGurt Simple, Nutrition and News, healthy snack, nutrition comparison, plain Greek yogurt, real yogurt, yogurt ingredients, yogurt nutrition from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
When I was at Costco today with my son, something caught my attention. While I am accustomed to seeing the brightly colored - fake flavored Go-Gurt yogurt tubes, I have never seen a Go-Gurt package with the word “Simple” on it. Hmmm. What could this mean? Has a major food manufacturer [...]
September 10th, 2008 — Eco-Friendly, Let's Be Frank, Slow Food, Slow Food Nation, Slow on the Go, ethically raised meat, food miles, healthier hot dogs, hot dogs, sustainable meat from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
When I think of Slow Food, I usually think of vegetables instead of meat. Meat production is a typically inefficient use of our farming land, contributes to greenhouse emissions and produces a tremendous amount of pollution. It is overwhelming to think that the average hamburger has traveled 1500 miles to reach your plate [...]
Online StoresContinue reading → Slow Food Nation - Let’s Be Frank…about meat
September 9th, 2008 — Apple cheddar frittata, Call the Kids, Cooking with Kids, Recipes, cook with kids, kids in the kitchen, meatless monday, meatless recipe, recipe for kids, vegetarian recipe from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
I realized after posting my Meatless Monday posting that I should have given you a recipe to help you do something meatless in your kitchen. With apples now showing up in our local farmer’s market and on our neighbors’ trees, I thought that this recipe would be a wonderful meatless meal for you to enjoy [...]
Continue reading → Apple and Cheddar Frittata - Cook it with your kids!
September 9th, 2008 — Community Service, Cooking with Kids, Great American Bake Sale, Share our Strength, community service award, ending childhood hunger from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
As many of you know, my students and I spent a lot of time working on the Great American Bake Sale this past school year. What could be a better way to end childhood hunger than to cook with kids? Well, today, our efforts were recognized! I just received an e-mail from Share Our Strength [...]
Continue reading → Award Nomination - Community Event Leader!
September 8th, 2008 — Eco-Friendly, Nutrition and News, Recipe for Action, Sites We Love, balanced diet, greenhouse emissions, healthy eating habits, meatless monday, reducing carbon emissions, reducing saturated fat intake from Michelle Stern @ What’s Cooking Blog
Meatless Monday is a national public health campaign in association with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to help prevent heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer – four of the leading causes of death in America. The goal of the campaign is to reduce consumption of saturated fat by at least 15% by 2010. [...]
Online StoresContinue reading → Meatless Monday - Using the Kitchen to Help our Health..and Our Planet
September 5th, 2008 — Cleaner Plate Club, Cooking with Kids, Culinate, Meal Planning,