Crockpot Barley and Lentils

I made this for my family and my daughter liked it so much that she told me to put it on the blog. So here it is. The best part is that you load it up in the morning and the crockpot does all the work. I love that. Lentils are high in fiber and a vegetarian source of protein. You can use it as a main or as a tasty side dish. It freezes well so you make once and eat twice. It is important to use as little sodium in this recipe as possible because salt will make the skins of the lentils toughen up. (as it will with beans too).

Software-1 bag of lentils, 2 C of pearl barley, diced sweet onion, chopped celery, chopped carrots, sliced mushrooms, diced green/red pepper, 1 bay leaf, red wine vinegar (optional), 1-14 oz can of italian stewed tomatoes, 1 box of extremely low sodium chicken stock, teaspoon of minced garlic

Hardware-cutting board, knife, colander, bowl, crockpot, ladle,

Steps

Wash lentils and barley carefully to make sure there aren’t any pebbles. Now it is just a matter of layering ingredients in the crock pot. Put them in as the base layer, Add celery, add onions, add mushrooms, add, diced peppers, add bay leaf, minced garlic, tomatoes, chicken stock. Let it go on low for 4-5 hrs. You should stir from time to time. Towards the end of the cooking time, add Garlic Salt and give it a final stir. Ladle it up. I like to splash a little red wine vinegar on top of each bowlful but that is optional. Enjoy.

ps. This is a beautiful base under a nice piece of halibut, salmon, sea bass or seared scallops

Granola Breakfast Loaf bread

One of our Granola of the Month Members requested a recipe using our granola in a new way.  Since our granola has so many tasty tidbits and nutritional power packed ingredients, this is a wonderful addition to your muffin recipe collection. This texture comes out like a loaf of sandwich bread rather than a sweet quick bread. (ie banana bread)

Software- 2 and 1/2 C Original Blend of Chef Sonia’s Granola, 1 and 1/2 C unbleached wheat flour, 2 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 tspoon salt, egg substite equivalent to 2 large eggs, 1 C plain low fat yogurt, 1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce, 1/4 C butter, 1/4 C brown sugar,1/4 C pure maple syrup,

note-If you do not have any of my granola, you may substitute another brand but add 1/2 C of chopped nuts, and 1/2 C of dried cranberries. (Disclaimer-it may not be as good as if you had made it with mine, wink.)

Steps.

• preheat oven to 350 F. Line your muffin pan with paper liners.
• Set aside. In a large bowl put flour, baking powder, baking soda and whisk to break up lumps.
• In a medium bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.
• Add to the creamed butter, lightly beat egg substitite with yougurt, applesauce, and maple syrup.
• Pour the wet team (the yogurt mixture) on top of the dry team.
• Fold the wet ingredients on top of the dry for 10 stirs.
• Pour in 2 C of the granola. Stir til the granola is incorporated into the batter taking care not to overstir, about 3 stirs (Overstirring any flour mixture creates a tough batter.)
• Using an ice cream scooper, divide batter into the cupcake liners til about 2/3 full.
• Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 C of granola as a topping.
• Cover the muffins lightly with foil to prevent the granola from burning.
• Put them in the oven. AH- Adult Help needed
• Bake for 8 mins. Take the foil off and continue to bake til a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Not completely clean.
• Remove from oven. AH- Adult Help needed. The carry over heat in the muffins will continue to cook the muffins so they are perfect.

The hardest part is waiting for them to cool down so you can eat them. These are a perfect breakfast on the go as well as afternoon pick me up. Deliciousness you can feel good about. Enjoy. If you like them, please review it and share a comment. Thank you.

Launch of Chef Sonia’s Granola By The Handful

Did you ever have something you gave to family and friends as a gift that was loved unanimously by all? You loved giving it and they loved receiving it. My homemade granola was one such item. It is chock full of healthy features leaving no room for artificial anything nor preservatives. I have been making and giving it for a few years. Surprisingly, the granola began to have a fan club. Fans wanted to share the tasty addicting crunchy treat with others. Pretty soon a demand was growing. God brought smart people and wonderful opportunities… And in November Chef Sonia’s Granola By The Handful was blind taste tested on a focus group at Momsnext and available for purchase. The ladies were given a plate of plain greek yogurt with fresh bananas. We tested it with 2 other healthy brands bought in the store. The bowls of granola were labeled 1,2, and 3. Granola by the Handful was voted as #1. Yeah.

We have also tested it against brands that were in Gelson’s, Whole Foods, and Costco. We still beat all of them in blind taste tests. We have the Original Blend that has

The Jalapeno Granola is a strange combo, but believe it or not, it actually works really well together. At first it tastes like a churro with its cinnamon and sweetness then you get a kick from the heat of the jalapenos. Yes, we put real jalapenos in the mix.

Here is a delicious crunchy food that you can feel great about eating. It has protein, fiber, antioxidants, omega-3, the 7 amino acids your body needs to build healthy cells. It is a great snack to keep in your car, purse, desk drawer to combat the munchies. Put it on your banana bread before you put in the oven and you have a tasty crumble topping. Sprinkle it all over the top of a fresh apple pie instead of the top crust dough and you have a french apple pie. Plop a scoop of Vanilla ice cream on each slice when serving. In both these recipes, I reduce the amount of sugar since the granola has sweetness to it.

To order some of this fabulous granola, email me and we will make it happen. You have got to try it. One handful and you will see why so many people are hooked.

Weekly Menu Solutions

We all have to eat. The dreaded question is always the same. What to eat for dinner? This thought often strikes fear into the hearts of parents, college students, singles, and young married folks alike. You want something tasty, healthy, and easy to prepare. In this post, I hope to shed a bit of light on this dilemma. World Peace…no. Satisfied tummies… yes.

An idea that I share during speaking engagements is “Cook once eat twice”. In your recipe files you should have a few recipes that are your “Go To” aka “Sanity Saver” recipes. For me… I have an easy chili recipe that I can quickly whip it up in the crock pot because I cook the ground turkey before hand and keep it in the freezer. It doesn’t take much more effort to brown 2 pounds of meat when you are doing it. Chili also freezes well. Here are some ideas to do with Chili. I would not recommend using them all in the same week. Your family may revolt and boycott chili all together, so think about which ones you want to freeze and use later. Fried Rice, Udon and Yakisoba noodles are another Go To for me. I always have frozen veggies. I love the assorted veggie mix. Between canned or frozen. Frozen is the healthier option. The product is picked in season and flash frozen. Calzones are another Go To for me since I always have a loaf of frozen dough, motzarella cheese and sandwich meat. I also serve fruit with dinner or leave it out on the counter for the starving troops to eat while I’m finishing up getting dinner done. My kids are very into the Pomegranates and Apples right now. And on those nights when you are running around too much to throw anything together, have a frozen main dish item that you can use as emergency back up. I keep one or two on hand and suppliment with fresh fruits and veggies, and milk. Still cheaper and healthier than most restaurants.

I have listed some ideas for you to try. I have #1 as what you eat first. Then take your pick of the items below as how you can tweak the leftovers of the #1 meal to serve a new dinner the next day. The ( ) show what post the recipe is listed under. As always, you can leave me a question in the comment section of this post. The first few times you try it may seem hard but keep at it and pretty soon you will get good at finessing your own cook once eat twice menus.

Chili with Red Beans

1. Chili with the fixings. Try using nonfat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Add some steamed broccoli or a salad, Baked Tostitos Scoops, and corn bread.
2. Chili Baked Potato Bar with the fixings. nonfat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup (liquid diet), Veggie Platter
3. Chili and Cheddar Cheese whole wheat Quesadillas. Add some homemade guacamole (Whole Foods Demo), salsa, steamed corn on the cob, hydroponically grown compari tomatoes, and nonfat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
4. Chili Shepherd’s Pie with Creamy Garlic Parsley Mash Potatoes. Add Steamed Green Beans or a tossed salad.

Rotisserie Chicken

1. Baked Chicken dinner with carrot and corn casserole, and cheesy herb muffins. I like the No Salt Chicken at Whole Foods. Save the carcass/bones to make Chicken Stock. (Freezer Queen)
2. BBQ Chicken Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust, Easy Mexican Rice Soup (same name)
3. Chicken tortilla bake Add some homemade guacamole (Whole Foods Demo), salsa, steamed corn on the cob, hydroponically grown compari tomatoes, and nonfat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
4. Chicken Fried Rice (what to do with cold hard rice), Miso soup with spinach and tofu (cooking with an eleven yr old)
5. Teriyaki Chicken Udon Noodles (Glendale Whole Foods Lunch box make overs)
6. Roasted Chicken chunk, cheese cube, bell pepper strip, cherry tomato, cucumber cube, all stuck on a skewer like a kabob.

Pork Chops

1. Pork Loin chops with Italian Bread crumbs, fresh cranberry sauce (seasonal recipes) rice/pasta, heirloom tomato slices with Balsamic Vinegarete
2. Penne Pasta with Kicked up Marinara sauce (Cooking for College Aug 2010) and Pork loin pieces topped with Motzarella Cheese, Oven roasted veggies (Free class at Montrose Library)
3. Tonkatsu is a pork piece pounded thin, dredged in flour, egg, then panko Japanese bread crumbs, then pan fried, it is served with a sweet sauce found in the asian food aisle. Miso soup (cooking with an 11 yr old), brown rice
4. Take the brown rice from above dinner and make it into fried rice, (what to do with cold hard rice)

Turkey

1. I love the flavors of thanksgiving dinner. Get a Roasted turkey breast from your grocery store’s hot case. Turkey slices with garlic parsley mash potatoes, cranberry sauce (seasonal recipes) oven roasted sweet potatoes and oven roasted carrots. Oven roasted asparagus.
2. Turkey pot pie. fresh salad, steamed broccoli
3. Pumpkin crepes with turkey and fontina cheese with a garnish of cranberry syrup. Minestrone soup aka Stone Soup (seasonal recipes)
4. Turkey Barley Soup (Liquid Diet), Roasted garlic crostini (Liquid diet), fresh fruit.
5. Mock Ropa Viejas, Spanish dish means “old rags”. (crockpot wonders)This is great on top of rice or mash potatoes.

Ground Turkey

1. I try to keep browned ground extra lean turkey in the freezer.(freezer queen) Here are some recipes I make out of it.
2. Tacos, Chili, spaghetti, lasagna, stuffed shells, Yakisoba, Udon, fried rice, sushi rolls (A spooky halloween meal under dracula’s coffin), add to minestrone like meatballs, quiche, homemade pizza/calzone,

Lunch Box Make Over @ PCS

Home Made Hot Pockets

Calzone- a calzone is a pizza that is folded in half. This is great for lunch boxes because it is portable and the kids can eat it with their hands. It also makes a great lunch for field trips. This is fun for a slumber party/play date. I let Trader Joe’s do some of the work by using their premade raw pizza dough. I like the wheat one. It doesn’t get as fluffy as the Bridgeford Frozen bread dough since it is pizza dough not bread loaf dough. Unfortunately Bridgeford doesn’t have a wheat dough. But everything in moderation. My kids get whole wheat for all their other sandwiches so I feel once in a while the white is fine.

Hardware- cookie tray/pizza pan, rolling pin, cutting board, flatwear tspn, knife, pastry brush (if you child won’t put a finger in the egg wash), parchment paper,

Software- tomato paste with italian herbs, raw pizza dough, string cheese cut into 1/4ths, low fat salami/ turkey sausage/ (even the brown and serve breakfast sausages work great) cut in half, dried oregano, garlic powder, egg, 1 tspn milk, any other pizza toppings your family enjoys..ie, drained crushed pineapples, sauteed mushrooms, diced bell pepper, artichoke, sundried tomatoes,

Steps

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Sprinkle flour on your cutting board so the dough won’t stick to the board. Sprinkle flour in your palm and rub your palm up and down your rolling pin to prevent sticking of your dough. Pull off a piece of dough and roll it in your hands so you have a racquetball size ball of dough. Place it on your cutting board and put your rolling pin in the center of the ball. Gently roll the rolling pin away from you. Place the rolling pin in the center again and roll towards you. Pick up your flattened dough and rotate it 90 degrees. Repeat the rolling process. Rotate and roll again until you have a nice flat disc about half an inch thick. Using the back of a silverware teaspoon to swipe on about 1/2 tspn of tomato paste. Put 1/2 a piece of breakfast sausage or 1 piece of salami then add 1/4 of a stick of string cheese. Dip your index finger in the dish of water and apply water to the edge of the dough. Pull up the dough to meet each other. I say Look at your dough like a compass. the North meets the South and the East meets the West. Then pull up the other left over edges and pinch everything together. It is important that the seal is tight. Roll the dough ball over so the seam is underneath. Place it on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Make an egg wash by cracking the egg in a small dish. Add the milk and scramble it together as if you were making scrambled egg. Using either your finger or a pastry brush, apply a thin layer of egg wash on the calzone. Sprinkle it with garlic powder. Sprinkle it with Oregano. Take your sharp knife and lightly cut across the top of your calzone to vent it. Cut 2 slashes. Be careful not to cut too deep. You should be cutting the dough until you see the filling. Bake til golden brown and delicious. About 20 mins. Enjoy.

You can also make this into a breakfast Hot Pocket by adding cooked scrambled eggs in it. I did this with the leftover egg wash. Make it into scrambled eggs. Put the eggs, cheese, meat, tomato paste in one. and enjoy a hand held breakfast on the go.

BBQ Chicken Pizza by Chef Sonia at Whole Foods Market

Kids love to help assemble this. I use a rotisserie chicken from the store to simplify my life a bit. I figure any bit helps. An adult will have to debone the chicken. I pull off the meat and set it aside then chop it into bite size pieces for the pizza all at once. I take some of the leftover steamed carrots, frozen spinach and puree it up with some of the BBQ sauce just to sneak in some more goodness.

Hardware- pizza pan, spoon for spreading out the sauce, bowls to hold the toppings,

Software-Ready baked packaged whole wheat pizza crust, deboned “no salt added” rotisserie chicken, your family’s favorite BBQ sauce pumped up (see above to find out what I add to pump it up), fresh cilantro, motzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, carmelized onion or thinly sliced red onion (both optional)

Steps for Kids to do

• Wash your hands for 20 sec with soap. Read all directions and gather materials needed.
• Remove the crust from the packaging. Save the directions.
• Place crust on a pizza pan or cookie sheet.
• Preheat the oven (turn the oven on to bake and set the temperature to what the package says.)
• sprinkle garlic powder all over the crust, spread the pumped up BBQ sauce all over using the back of your spoon.
• Sprinkle chopped chicken all over
• Wash and chop the cilantro. If the kids are doing this then have them tear it up with their fingers or put a clean bunch into a plastic cup and let them cut into them using the kitchen scissors.
• Sprinkle the cilantro around
• Optional. Scatter onions around. Carmelizing them helps to take off the bite.
• Sprinkle on an even layer of cheesy goodness by mixing 1/3 motzarella to 2/3 cheddar mix.
• Slide it into a preheated oven and bake according to the packaging directions.
• Have an adult help you take it out of the oven.
• Congratulations you have made a masterpiece. Enjoy!

This is so tasty that my family eats all of it for dinner and I have to make another one for lunch. So buy 2 crusts. Be the envy of all at the lunch table.

Turkey Hummus Spirals by Chef Sonia at Whole Foods Market

Hummus is a great alternative to mayonnaise. You still have the creamy spreadable texture w/out all the fat. You also get the added fiber and protein as an added bonus.

Hardware- cutting board, spoon for spreading out the hummus, plate to have all your veggies on, sharp knife

Software-Wheat tortillas, hummus (I use the spinach artichoke one), chopped carrots, shredded Persian cucumbers, julienned red bell peppers, shredded bib lettuce

Steps

• Lay a tortilla on your cutting board
• Spread hummus on the bottom 2/3 of the tortilla
• Sprinkle the carrots on the hummus up to the middle of the tortilla
• Sprinkle the lettuce on the carrots on the bottom 1/3 of the tortilla
• Lay slices of sandwich meat on the lettuce covering the carrots, lettuce, and humus
• Lay a small row of bell peppers at the very bottom of the tortilla
• Roll the bottom of the tortilla over the peppers, tuck the tortilla around the peppers and continue to roll up the tortilla like a sleeping bag.
• Place the roll seam side down on the cutting board and cut into bite size pieces.

You can substitute other veggies in this roll. I have substituted low fat cream cheese for the hummus and julienned pears or apples for the bell pepper.

I hope you have enjoyed the demo and feel confident about trying these recipes. To see more recipes check out my kids cooking blog www.chefsonia.wordpress.com

I can be reached via email at snugglebunnysc@yahoo.com

You can find me at the La Canada Flintridge Community Center teaching my cooking classes. Young Cooks and Great Books. My next class is a Gingerbread house workshop on Dec 3. To enroll for my class go towww.cclcf.org

I am also available to teach at boy scout, girl scout meetings and at birthday parties.

Liquid/Soft Food Ideas

Not that I’m on a crazy diet or advocate extreme diets. Just that I had to have dental work done. So not fun but it did give me a challenge of making an all soft and liquid food menu. Since then I have meet some people, who for various reasons, are needing some ideas on precisely that. So here is a menu of the foods that I was able to enjoy even with a sore/numb mouth. Eggs are great because they are a good source of protein, can keep you feeling full longer, and inexpensive.

Butternut Squash Soup, homemade apple sauce, oven roasted tomato soup, potato corn chowder, risotto, smoothies, garlic parsley mash potatoes, chicken noodle soup, minestrone soup, miso spinach tofu soup, spinach cheese enchilada, Watermelon Juice, Angelic Deviled Eggs, stuffed french toast, hard boiled eggs, egg salad,

Homemade Apple Sauce

This is a great treat for the lunch box or as an after school snack. My kids even eat it for breakfast. If you have never had homemade apple sauce, you must make this recipe. It is super easy and super delicious. Of coarse it is best to make this in the fall when the apples are in their peak of sweetness. In my cooking class we use the rotary apple peeler for the red apples and the carrot peeler for the yellow apples. Just to give the kids a chance to peel with both kitchen tools. A good thing about using a crock pot is that it cooks without you even being home. But also, the house smells delicious and cheery. A wonderful autumn smell.

Hardware- rotary apple peeler or carrot peeler, knife, cutting board, crockpot or pot with lid, teaspoon, small bowl, wooden spoon, electric blender, big bowl, dinner plate, oven mitt, dish towel.

Software- 6 red delicious apples, 6 golden delicious apples, ground cinnamon, sugar, water

Steps

• Using either the rotary peeler or a carrot peeler, peel the skin off the apples.
• Place them in the bowl of water.
• Lay the plate on top to keep the apples submerged in water. This will prevent air from touching your apples. So your apples won’t turn brown. A process called oxidation.
• Using your knife and cutting board, cut the apples off the core by cutting around the core.
• Be sure to put the cut apple slices back into the water.
• When all your apples have been peeled and sliced, put them in the big pot with 2 cups of water.
• Meanwhile in a small bowl mix together 3 Tablespoons of sugar with 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon.
• Stir them together. Add 1-2 Tablespoons to the cooking apples. (depends how sweet your apples are to start with) Save the remaining cinnamon sugar for next time.
• Cook til the apples are soft. Stir occasionally.
• Once the mixture has cooled enough to handle, transfer it to a blender.
• Place the lid on top and cover the lid with a dish towel.
• Hit the button to blend. In minutes you will have the best applesauce ever.

If you make it in the crock pot, you reduce the water to 1 cup.  If you do it on the stove top, there is enough steam leaving your pot that you don’t need to do this step.

Enjoy it as is or as a topping to oatmeal, pork chops, pancakes, potato pancakes, or waffles. I also like to cut french toast into sticks and use the apple sauce as a dip. Enjoy.

TMT- Good science moment to teach about Oxidation. We used a barrier to prevent oxidation. Lemon juice and honey are other barriers to try. Apples can be graphed, written about, life cycle of an apple tree to explain the 4 seasons, read about John Chapman and why he greatly helped pioneer families stay healthy. Weigh things using the weight of apples to balance it. taste different apples and use descriptive adjectives to tell about the flavor. Graph which apple flavor you liked best. Document the cost of an apple in the course of American history.

Mummy’s Rags by Chef Sonia at Whole Foods Market

AKA – Wheat Tagliotelli pasta with Alfredo Sauce.

I use a rotisserie chicken from the store to simplify my life a bit. I figure any bit helps. An adult will have to debone the chicken. I pull off the meat and set it aside then chop it into bite size pieces for the pasta all at once. I take steamed cauliflower and puree it up with some milk and add it to the alfredo sauce just to sneak in some more goodness. If the chicken hurts your mouth, puree it with the cauliflower or omit it.

Hardware- pot to boil pasta, wooden spoon for stirring the noodles, ladle, bowl to hold the pasta, knife to slice olives, cutting board, juicer, steamer, pot to steam, zester

Software- Deboned “no salt added” rotisserie chicken, your family’s favorite alfredo sauce, 2 C cauliflower, lemon, freshly ground nutmeg, sweet onion, green Spanish olives w/pimento, wide flat wheat pasta, circle shaped rice crackers

Steps for Kids to do

• Wash your hands for 20 sec with soap. Read all directions and gather materials needed.
• Put water in the pasta pot and cook the noodles according to the directions. Drain the noodles in a colander.
• Steam the cauliflower, let it cool, and puree in a blender.
• Peel the onion and cut into large cubes and puree in a blender
• Pour the alfredo sauce in a sauce pot. Add the cauliflower, chicken, and onions.
• Cook on medium heat til onions are done. Add some fresh lemon zest, 3 teaspoons lemon juice, and pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
• spread the pumped up alfredo sauce all over the pasta using a ladle.
• Place 2 crackers on the pile of noodles as eyes.
• Have an adult help you cut the olives into circles. Place an olive circle on each cracker as pupils.
• Congratulations you have made a Halloween dinner masterpiece. Enjoy!

Hard Boil Egg

The perfect hard boiled egg is harder than it sounds. Boil your water too fast and you could end up with cracked eggs in egg soup. Boil your eggs too long and you will have a dark ring around the yolks. It doesn’t change the flavor, but it doesn’t look perfect. And first impressions are so important.

Stove Alert-AHN “Adult Help Needed” to watch

Hardware needed: a sauce pan, a metal slotted spoon, cold water with ice in a bowl aka ice bath

Software needed: one or more eggs, salt and pepper mixed together on a small dish

Place your raw egg gently in the pot, cover the egg with cold water until the water level is 1/2 inch or more above the top of the egg. Place the lid on the pot. If your egg was pulled straight out of the fridge, let it sit in the water for 15 mins. allowing the temperature of the egg to closer match that of the water. Then put the pot on med. low heat for 3 mins. then raise it to Med high heat. Once the water comes to a boil. Boil means that you see big bubbles rapidly coming to the surface of the water and popping. And the lid is moving up and down. Set the timer for 1 minute. After the time goes off. Turn off the heat and set the timer for 15 minutes. When the time goes off again, use your slotted metal spoon to take your egg out put them in your ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once they are cool enough to handle, tap the egg on the counter, peel off the shells, (which can go into your compost pile), rinse if off once to make sure there aren’t any shells left. Dip into the salt and pepper mixture and enjoy. Congrats you have made a perfect egg. This can lead to various other recipes… chef’s salad, egg salad sandwich, deviled eggs, pickled eggs

Basic Egg Salad

Stove Alert-AHN “Adult Help Needed” to boil the eggs

Hardware needed  egg slicer, mixing bowl, spoon for mixing

Software needed- 3 hard boiled eggs, 1 1/2 -2 tsp of nonfat plain greek yogurt, 1 tsp of sweet relish, pinch of Kosher salt, black pepper or white pepper.

peel the eggs, rinse them off in water to make sure there are no shells left. Using the egg slicer, slice one egg so they make little circles. then carefully rotate the egg 90 degrees and slice again. This should give you tiny cubes. put them in the mixing bowl. Add the pinch of salt, mayo, and relish. Mix well. My kids aren’t fond of black pepper so I use white pepper.

I am not a morning person so this on wheat toast or multigrain crackers with fruit makes a great breakfast. (or after school snack)

Angelic Deviled Eggs

Usually deviled eggs are made with all the egg yolks and mayo. These are angelic because we swap out some of the yolks and all of the mayo. You want some yolks because egg yolks not only give your deviled eggs the yellow coloring but they also help to prevent Macular degeneration in the eyes.

Hardware- small pot with lid, bowl of ice water, egg slicer, tablespoon, teaspoon, mixing bowl, slotted spoon,

Software- number of eggs that will fit into your pot (for me it is 6), 2-3 teaspoons of greek nonfat plain yogurt, 2 pinch kosher salt, 1/2-1 teaspoon sweet pickles chopped or sweet relish without the juice, fresh cracked black pepper, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard, small drizzle milk, rinse and finely chop 3 baby carrots.

Normally you want really fresh eggs for cooking but this is an instance where an older but not expired egg is best. Reason being that eggshells are porous. They let air and moisture in and out of the egg. Eggs have an inner membrane just beneath the shell. As the egg gets older and it is hard boiled the air between the shell and that membrane expands and you will notice that the shell won’t stick to the hardboiled white part of the egg. So you won’t be pulling the white off along with the shell when you peel it.

Steps:

• Boil the eggs in the pot. Remember start with cold water on med low for 5 minutes to bring the water and eggs up in temperature. Then turn up the heat to med. Once the water starts to boil set your timer for 1 minute or count for 60 seconds.
• After the timer goes off, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes.
• As soon as the timer goes off, carefully scoop out the eggs with the slotted spoon and put them in the cold ice water to stop the cooking process. Using this method prevents the darkness that often is on hard boiled egg’s yolk.
• Take your eggs out of the water and peel them. Put them back in the bowl of water just to wash off any tiny eggshells that you might have missed.
• Cut the eggs in half lengthwise.
• Pull out the yolks of 4 eggs and put them in a mixing bowl. Give the other 2 yolks to your dog or throw them away.
• Chop up 2 of the egg halves using your egg slicer or a fork and add it to the bowl. This adds more protein to each egg halve and bulks up the mixture.
• Add the greek yogurt, relish/pickles, mustard, carrots (I like the color and crunch),salt and a couple of turns of pepper
• Mix well
• Using a teaspoon scoop the mixture into the egg whites so it makes a gentle mound. Or you can get fancy and put the mixture into a piping bag and squeeze it in the whites.
• Place them on your serving plate
• Either sprinkle the tops of the yellow mixture with paprika or cracked black pepper
• If you aren’t going to eat them right away, put them in a tupperware and stick them in the fridge.

Enjoy.

Stuffed French Toast

My kids will eat this as a breakfast on the run because it is easy to take and eat in the car. I make them the night before and just reheat in the toaster oven/microwave. This is a great recipe to add to any college students recipe files since you will usually have all the necessary ingredients on hand and it is really easy. Pack this with some turkey sausage and you have a nice lunch item too. Don’t forget the fresh fruit.

Stove Alert-AHN “Adult Help Needed” to watch you flip it.

Hardware: pancake flipper, bowl to scramble eggs in. make sure it is wide enough for a piece of bread to fit in it, fork, dinner plate, peanut butter knife, fry pan that a lid can cover

Software: canola/vegetable oil, 2 eggs, cream cheese, your favorite jam, 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract, cinnamon sugar/powder sugar (optional), splash of milk about 2 tsp, small pinch of salt, maple syrup/yogurt to dip

Tip- If possible leave the cream cheese on the counter to soften up 30 mins. prior to use so it is easier to spread. Or you can use the whipped cream cheese.

Spread the cream cheese on one slice of bread, spread jam on the other slice of bread. Put the 2 slices together as if you were making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Set it aside. Crack the eggs into the bowl, make sure you don’t have any egg shells in the bowl. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Using the fork scramble the eggs. Place the egg mixture and the sandwich next to the stove top. Have your empty plate ready. Have an adult turn on the stovetop to medium to med low heat. Pour 2 tsps of oil into the fry pan. Place your fry pan on the heat. While you are waiting for the oil to heat up, Dip your sandwich in the egg mixture then quickly flip it over and dip the other side of the sandwich in the egg mixture. Keep in mind that you do not want the sandwich to sit in the egg mixture too long or else the bread will get soggy from soaking up too much of the mixture. Using the fork transfer your sandwich to the fly pan. When you see the edges getting brown it is time to flip the sandwich. Using the flipper lift up the edge of the bread, slide the flipper under and give it a flip. Read Safety Tip. Once you are frying the second side, put the lid on the pan to ensure that the egg on the side of the bread is getting cooked too. After the second side if cooked, use the flipper to take it out and place it on a cutting board. Let it cool. Once it is cool enough to handle. Cut it into 4 long sticks. using your fractions lesson. Cut it into half, then cut each of the halves into half again lengthwise. Arrange them on your plate. Now you have some fun options. You can dust them with powdered sugar, or dip them length wise into cinnamon sugar, or leave them w/o a topping and have a small dish of maple syrup or yogurt to dip. or leave them plain and take them to eat in the car while on the way to dr appts, sports, music, or tutoring. Don’t forget to pack a bottle of water and napkins.

Safety Tip- It is important to remember to flip thing turning the flipper to the side. You never want to flip things towards you because you might splash hot oil on yourself. I tell my students to imagine they are turning the pages of a book. They should hold the flipper with their thumb nail pointing up and roll their hand so the thumb nail points down and away from their tummy.

Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Potatoes, Eggs, and Cheese

This is a great casserole to add to your recipe files because you can do all the precooking and assembling the night before. Remember, I am not a morning person. Then in the morning just pop it into your oven and get ready for the day as the tasty smell fills your kitchen. Leftovers, if you have any, can be eaten like a quiche for lunch or dinner.

Oven Alert-AHN “Adult Help Needed” to turn on the oven and pull the casserole in and out.

Hardware- Lasagna pan, knife, cutting board, foil, fork or whisk, big bowl

Software- eggs or egg beaters, milk, southern style hashbrowns from the freezer section, heat and serve sausages (they are already fully cooked) (try to buy the nitrate free ones), mushrooms, sweet onion, shredded cheddar cheese.

I like to use a 8 x 8 pan if it is just my family and use a lasagna pan if there will be guest eating with us. To make it easier for pieces to be removed when serving, take the wrapper of your used up butter and wipe it all around the bottom and sides of your pan or spray PAM cooking spray.

Steps

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Spread a single layer of hashbrowns in the pan.
• Cut the sausages into bite size pieces.
• Peel the onion and slice it into thin slices.
• Wash the mushrooms and slice them.
• In a frying pan, brown the sausages, just to add color. Spread the sausages out on top of the potato layer.
• Add 1 Tbspn of butter in the fry pan and add the onions. Add a pinch of salt and saute until translucent.
• Spread them out over the sausages.
• Add 3 tablespoons of water and add the mushrooms. Saute til soft and darker in color.
• Spread them out over the onions.
• Cover with foil and put in fridge if you will be baking it in the morning.
• When you are ready to cook it, take the 8 eggs equivalent carton of Egg Beaters. Open it up and add 2 tablespoons of milk to the carton.
• Put the lid back on and give it a shake to shake it up. Pour it over the casserole.
• Cover it with foil and put it in the preheated oven.
• After 40-50 minutes, take off the foil to check if the eggs are cooked.
• If so, then have an adult remove it from the oven. Srinkle the cheddar cheese all over the top and return the casserole to the oven just to melt the cheese.
• Once the cheese is all melted have an adult take it out of the oven.
• Turn the oven off.
• Enjoy.

Leftovers can be enjoyed like a crustless quiche with a salad.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

Oven roasting any veggie is great because you let the oven do a lot of work for you. By oven roasting you are carmelizing the natural sugars in veggies. I love to oven roast in the fall/winter because it also heats up the house and fills it with yummy smells. For the same reasons, I also crock pot cook a lot more during this season too.

Hardware- 2 Lasagna trays, blender, mixing spoon, strawberry huller, mixing bowl, cutting board, knife, dish towel,

Software- 4 containers of hydroponicly grown in USA compari tomatoes, (I buy hydroponicly grown because that means they are grown using water not dirt and they are pesticide free.), 2 heads of garlic, 1 large sweet onion, (like wallawalla, oso sweet, mayan sweet), olive oil, salt, cracked black pepper, 1 tspn brown sugar (optional/if needed)

Steps

preheat oven to 350 F. Wash the tomatoes. Using the huller pick out the stems. If the tomatoes are large cut them in half. Peel the garlic cloves and cut off the dried hard ends. Peel the onion and cut into large pieces. Place all the veggies into a lasagna tray. Drizzle with olive oil and 2 pinches of kosher salt and cracked black pepper and mix altogether so the veggies are shiny. Bake them in the oven til you see the skins of the tomatoes and onions getting dark brown. Between 40 mins -50 mins. There will be liquid in the pan from the tomatoes. Let it cool down and transfer everything into a blender. Place the lid on tight. Cover it with a dish towel. And blend. In a 2 minutes you will have a delicious creamy vegetarian soup.

Garlic Crostini to serve with the soup (if you want a fancier presentation)

You will have to roast your garlic head in the oven while you are roasting your tomato mixture. To prep your garlic, peel off some of the excess dry garlic paper so that you can easily cut the garlic head. You will want a cutting board with a nonskid pad (I use a rubber shelf liner under my cutting board), Rotate your garlic so it is laying on its side. Carefully slice down the middle through the whole head. Place the 2 halves cut side up on a piece of foil. lightly drizzle olive oil over the exposed garlic cloves. Pull the foil over the sides and crimp the edges together. Stick it in the oven besides the pan with the tomatoes. When the tomato mixture is lightly browned, your garlic head will be done too. Let it cool down while you get the baguette sliced up. When you are ready for the garlic, open the foil up. the garlic cloves should be so soft that you can pull them out easily. They will be soft, sweet and garlicy. Set them aside.

hardware- cookie sheet, serrated knife, aluminum foil, butter knife, cutting board

Software- french baguette (that is the long skinny french bread in the fresh baked section of the grocery store), brie cheese, garlic head, olive oil,

Steps

Using a serrated knife, position your knife on an angle and slice the baguette into half inch slices using parallel cuts. By slicing on an angle, you are increasing your surface area of the face of the crostini. This allows you a wider space to put the toppings on. Cut your brie into thin slices small enough to fit on top of the bread.  Lay the bread on a cookie sheet, top them with a piece of brie,  and toast them in a 400 F oven til lightly browned. Or you can toast them in your toaster oven. Remove and while they are still warm, put a roasted garlic clove on top of the brie. When you are ready to serve the soup, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese (not from a green can) on top of the soup and float a crostini on top of the parmesan cheese. Give it a final touch of a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and fresh cracked black pepper.

Your guest will think you are a culinary genius.

Oven Roasted Cauliflower Soup

This soup is so creamy. It is hard to believe there is no cream in it. It will make a cauliflower lover out of anyone.

Software- 2 fresh cauliflower heads, one sweet onion, 2 heads of garlic, olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper, chicken broth

Hardware- knife, cutting board, 2 lasagna tray to roast veggies, blender, mixing spoon,  mixing bowl, cutting board, knife, dish towel,

Steps

• preheat oven to 350 F. Wash the cauliflower heads.
• Carefully cut the florets off the head of cauliflower. If the florets are large, cut them in half.
• Peel the garlic cloves and cut off the dried hard ends.
• Peel the onion and cut into large pieces.
• Place all the veggies into a lasagna tray.
• Drizzle with olive oil and 2 pinches of kosher salt and cracked black pepper and mix altogether so the veggies are shiny.
• Pour in 1 inch or more of chicken broth into each tray.
• Bake them in the oven til you see the florets and onions getting brown. Between 40 mins -50 mins.
• Let it cool down and transfer everything into a blender.
• Place the lid on tight. Cover it with a dish towel. And blend. In a 2 minutes you will have a delicious creamy soup.

When serving, sprinkle a teaspoon of grated parmesan cheese in the soup bowl across the top of the soup. That little taste of powdery saltiness in contrast to the creamy soup is lovely.

Gazpaccio, Chilled Tomato Soup

I love to eat a chilled Gaspachio soup on a hot day. With the tasty vine ripened tomatoes available during summer from farmers markets or your own backyard, it is delicious. You can even make it super fancy by adding a crouton and a grilled shrimp on top or hanging on the rim. Your guest will think you are gourmet. You don’t even need to tell them how simple it was to whip up.

Steps

• Fill your blender 3/4 of the way with fresh tomatoes, you can use red, yellow, orange,  heirloom or a combo of them.
• Add in 1/4 of a red onion cut into large pieces.
• Add 1/2 a hot house English cucumber/6 persian cucumbers, wash and leaving the skin on
• 1/8-1/4 Cup of your favorite red wine vinegarette.
• Splash red wine vinegar, only if you like it more acidic so add it after the first blend and taste.
• Sprinkle of Garlic Salt
• 1/8 Cup of Wheat Germ

Hit Blend on your blender and then pour it into pretty glass bowls. Serve it as is or add the pazzazz point of toast triangles the grilled shrimp. Another idea is to pour it into small glasses to use for a tasting party.

My Free Healthy Cooking Series at the Montrose Library

I have partnered up with the Montrose Public Library to offer a “Free Parent Cooking Class” on 3^rd Wednesdays of each month, from 10:30 – 11:30 AM. (9/15, 10/20, 11/17, & 12/15)

The first class would be on Wednesday, Sept. 15^th. With classes in October, & November. December.( so far) In my How to get  your kids to eat healthy and like it, I have planned… Sept- homemade applesauce, Oct- pumpkin pancakes with yogurt, Nov. oven roasted veggies, Dec- Magical Marinara (it is a great gift to give in lieu of sweets)

There is a require pre-registration. That way we can plan appropriately for cost, etc. Due to cost/space, we are limited to 15 people. To sign up contact Jennifer at the library. Please let us know of any allergies too.

Jennifer Boyce – Children’s Librarian

Montrose Branch Library

2465 Honolulu Ave.

Montrose, CA 91020

(818) 548-2016

Apple Sauce

This is a great treat for the lunch box or as an after school snack. My kids even eat it for breakfast. If you have never had homemade apple sauce, you must make this recipe. It is super easy and super delicious. Of coarse it is best to make this in the fall when the apples are in their peak of sweetness. In my cooking class we use the rotary apple peeler for the red apples and the carrot peeler for the yellow apples. Just to give the kids a chance to peel with both kitchen tools. A good thing about using a crock pot is that it cooks without you even being home. But also, the house smells delicious and cheery. A wonderful autumn smell.

Hardware- rotary apple peeler or carrot peeler, knife, cutting board, crockpot or pot with lid, teaspoon, small bowl, wooden spoon, electric blender, big bowl, dinner plate, oven mitt, dish towel.

Software- 6 red delicious apples, 6 golden delicious apples, ground cinnamon, sugar, water

Steps

• Using either the rotary peeler or a carrot peeler, peel the skin off the apples.
• Place them in the bowl of water.
• Lay the plate on top to keep the apples submerged in water. This will prevent air from touching your apples. So your apples won’t turn brown. A process called oxidation.
• Using your knife and cutting board, cut the apples off the core by cutting around the core.
• Be sure to put the cut apple slices back into the water.
• When all your apples have been peeled and sliced, put them in the big pot with 2 cups of water.
• Meanwhile in a small bowl mix together 3 Tablespoons of sugar with 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon.
• Stir them together. Add 1-2 Tablespoons to the cooking apples. (depends how sweet your apples are to start with)
• Cook til the apples are soft. Stir occasionally.
• Once the mixture has cooled enough to handle, transfer it to a blender.
• Place the lid on top and cover the lid with a dish towel.
• Hit the button to blend. In minutes you will have the best applesauce ever.

If you make it in the crock pot, you reduce the water to 1 cup.  If you do it on the stove top, there is enough steam leaving your pot that you don’t need to do this step.

Enjoy it as is or as a topping to oatmeal, pork chops, pancakes, potato pancakes, or waffles. I also like to cut french toast into sticks and use the apple sauce as a dip. Enjoy.

TMT- Good science moment to teach about Oxidation. We used a barrier to prevent oxidation. Lemon juice and honey are other barriers to try. Apples can be graphed, written about, life cycle of an apple tree to explain the 4 seasons, read about John Chapman and why he greatly helped pioneer families stay healthy. Weigh things using the weight of apples to balance it. taste different apples and use descriptive adjectives to tell about the flavor. Graph which apple flavor you liked best. Document the cost of an apple in the course of American history.

Pumpkin Pancakes (adapted from allrecipes.com) for Halloween/fall

We made these for my cooking class and read Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Very fun since the movie is out now too. In the book the whole story starts because Grandpa flips a pancake and it lands on his grandson’s head. You can also read If you Give a Pig a Pancake. or any book about pumpkins.

TMT – Good teachable moment to be scientists. I had them guess what was in my bottle. We talked about the 3 states of matter. They took a sniff of what was in the bottle to see if they guessed correctly. Most had said water. Then they all watched as I slowly poured the vinegar onto the baking soda. They were very thrilled to see all the bubbles. We talked about what is in a bubble. And recapped. Solid-baking soda, liquid-vinegar,and bubbles-gas. This explains why these pancakes are so amazingly light and fluffy. Enjoy.

Hardware-frypan or griddle, flipper, plate, fork, big mixing bowl, medium mixing bowl, mesuring cups for liquid and dry, spatula, ice scooper that sweeps out the cup or 1/4 measuring cup, measuring spoons, paper towel

Software- 2 and 1/2 Cup Aunt Jemima Original Pancake Mix, 4 Tablespoon brown sugar, 3 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (available in baking aisle), 1 egg, 1 and 3/4 cup milk, 2 Tablespoon canola oil, 2 Tablespoon white vinegar, 1 and 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pie mix), 1/8 cup ground flaxseed meal, 1 teaspoon vanilla yogurt, fresh bananas, chopped pecans (optional), real maple syrup

AHN-“Adult Help Needed” to help you cook them on the griddle

Procedure

• Crack the egg in a small bowl. Make sure there are no shells. Dump the egg into the big mixing bowl. Wash the egg off your hands.
• Next add in the milk, pumpkin, oil, and vinegar
• In the medium bowl mix together the pancake mix, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, flaxseed meal. Stir them together to combine
• Pour the dry ingredients on top of the wet. Stir with a spatula until just combined. Do not over mix. Over mixing causes pancakes to be rubbery.
• Let the batter just sit. It is called rest. This allows the bubbles to form.
• While your batter is resting, peel your banana and toast your pecans
• Have your plate where you will be putting your finished pancakes on right next to the griddle. Put a sheet of paper towel on the plate. Bring over your batter and flipper.
• Heat up the griddle on med heat. AHN part
• pour out a 3 sec pour of oil. Wait 2 minutes.
• Using the flipper spread the oil around the griddle
• Using the ice cream scooper or 1/4 cup measuring cup put the batter. Use the back of the scooper to spread out the batter and shape it into a frisbee.
• When you see the edges getting not as shiny and bubbles forming in the pancake, you are ready to flip it.
• Hold your flipper as if you were shaking hands with it. have your thumb nail facing up. Get the edge of the flipper under the edge of the pancake. push the flipper so the entire pancake is on your flipper. Then roll your hand as if you were turning the page of a book. This should make the pancake flip like a page in a book. Never flip the pancake toward you. You don’t want to risk splashing the hot oil on you.
• Cook 2 mins or til golden brown
• Using the flipper, remove the finished pancake to the plate. The paper towel will soak up any excess oil if you have some.

To serve- put 2 pancakes on a plate, top them with a dollop of yogurt, sliced bananas, and a drizzle of maple syrup, sprinkle on the chopped pecans. (optional)

Variations- you can use cooked sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin. Adding cranberries after you pour the batter onto the griddle is nice too.

I have used this as an on the go meal/snack by heating up a breakfast sausage and rolling the cooked pancake around it. Smear on some strawberry cream cheese to help it stick together. Send it with some apple slices and you have a super easy to pack school lunch. great for fieldtrips too.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

Oven roasting any veggie is great because you let the oven do a lot of work for you. By oven roasting you are carmelizing the natural sugars in veggies. I love to oven roast in the fall/winter because it also heats up the house and fills it with yummy smells. For the same reasons, I also crock pot cook a lot more during this season too.

Hardware- 2 Lasagna trays, blender, mixing spoon, strawberry huller, mixing bowl, cutting board, knife, dish towel,

Software- 4 containers of hydroponicly grown in USA compari tomatoes, (I buy hydroponicly grown because that means they are grown using water not dirt and they are pesticide free.), 2 heads of garlic, 1 large sweet onion, (like wallawalla, oso sweet,), olive oil, salt, cracked black pepper, 1 tspn brown sugar (optional/if needed)

Steps

preheat oven to 350 F. Wash the tomatoes. Using the huller pick out the stems. If the tomatoes are large cut them in half. Peel the garlic cloves and cut off the dried hard ends. Peel the onion and cut into large pieces. Place all the veggies into a lasagna tray. Drizzle with olive oil and 2 pinches of kosher salt and cracked black pepper and mix altogether so the veggies are shiny. Bake them in the oven til you see the skins of the tomatoes and onions getting dark brown. There will be liquid in the pan from the tomatoes. Let it cool down and transfer everything into a blender. Place the lid on tight. Cover it with a dish towel. And blend. In a 2 minutes you will have a delicious creamy vegetarian soup.

Garlic Crostini to garnish the tomato soup

Software- french Baguette, head of garlic, olive oil, kosher salt,

Hardware- aluminum foil, knife, cutting board,

Steps-

Preheat your oven to 375. Cut the garlic head in half horizontally to expose all the cloves, drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil on the cut side of each half, add a pinch of kosher salt. Lay the garlic on the foil cut sides up, loosely wrap the foil around it and crimp it so the steam stays in.

Magical Marinara

The magical part of this marinara is how many oh so good for you items you can sneak in. Not only do the added veggies bump up the nutritional value, they really add to the flavor profile by adding a natural sweetness to the sauce. This is a great sauce to have in your go to file because since you are using the blender at the end, you can cut up the veggies in big chunks. The kids at the library enjoyed the chopping, tearing of herb leaves, and working the immersion blender. And of course the eating of the finished culinary creation.

Hardware- 2 big pots, colander, wooden spoon, cutting board, knife, immersion blender aka stick blender/a regular blender,

Software- two 28 oz. cans of peeled whole tomatoes, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 sweet onion, 2 cups of chopped carrots, 1 medium size zucchini, kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, 1/8 c  flax seed meal, 1/8 c wheat germ, 1-2 tsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh basil, fresh flat leaf italian parsley,

Steps

Cut off the woody ends of the garlic cloves.

Smash the garlic cloves and peel off the paper, set aside.

Cut your onion in half through the roots and top.

Peel off the outer papery skin. cut the onion into big cubes.

Rinse off the carrots and zucchini and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces.

In a heavy bottom pot, drizzle olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pot. put on med heat. add the onions, when they become limp, add the garlic cloves, carrots, and zucchini, stir the veggies around till the onions take on a brown color, Add the canned tomatoes. While the sauce is simmering, wash and cut off the stems on the herbs, Add the wheat germ, flax seed, fresh cracked black pepper, brown sugar, and herbs to the sauce, let it simmer, Add the balsamic vinegar and turn off the heat. Let it cool down. Using a towel to cover the pot so as to prevent splattering, stick your immersion blender into the pot under the towel and blend away. Or you can transfer the sauce to a blender and pulse it. Cook your favorite pasta and top it with your yummy sauce. Don’t forget to add half a cup of the water you cooked the pasta in to the sauce. The starchiness of the water will help the sauce stick to the pasta better.

Simple Guacamole by Sonia Chung at Whole Foods Market

Guacamole is best when mixed up right before serving. If you do have to store it a few hours before using it, then put it in a narrow container and place plastic wrap directly on top of it. The plastic will prevent the air from oxidizing your avocados. This method of making guacamole was developed for the Autism Awareness Day at Whole Foods. In order to be “go Green”, please use a potato masher and mixing bowl when making this at home. Saving the Earth from one more plastic bag in a landfill.

Hardware-big mixing bowl, potato masher, cutting board, knife, plastic juicer, mixing spoon, flatware spoon, zip top plastic bag, pizza slicer

Software-Ripe avocados, Fresh lime juice, Chopped Cilantro, Garlic salt, cherry tomatoes, diced red onions (optional)

Steps

• Wash the avocados and lime
• Rinse off the cilantro and chop it up by rolling the pizza cutter over the leaves. Remove any thick pieces of stem. Set aside.
• Rinse off the tomatoes and dice. (optional) Set aside.
• Cut the avocados in half by rotating the avocado around and keeping your knife still. Give it a twist and pull apart
• Using your flatware spoon scoop out the shell into the big mixing bowl
• Putting your hand under a kitchen towel, place the avocado half with the seed stuck in it on the towel. Wack the seed with a knife so that the blade is slightly embedded in the seed. Give the knife a twist to remove the seed. Place your hand over the back of the knife and pinch right behind the seed and this should make the seed fall off the knife w/out any threat of cutting yourself
• Scoop out the shell into the plastic bag
• Sprinkle it with garlic salt. Remember to use less because you can always add more later
• Press the air out of the bag and zip it up. Mash up the avocados by squeezing the bag.
• Cut the lime in half and put it in the juicer. Squeeze lime juice to a bowl.
• Open the bag. With a teaspoon add juice to the bag.
• Add the cilantro and red onions (optional) and smash it around in the bag.
• Add the tomatoes and stir gently. Chill until ready to serve

I like to serve this with baby carrots, celery, and the oven baked no salt added chips or the oven baked flax seed Omega 3 chips. It is also great in sandwiches and wraps instead of mayo. Try it on your next BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato). I use the Applegate brand turkey bacon over at Whole Foods. Enjoy.

Stuffed French Toast

My kids will eat this as a breakfast on the run because it is easy to take and eat in the car. I make them the night before and just reheat in the toaster oven/microwave. This is a great recipe to add to any college students recipe files since you will usually have all the necessary ingredients on hand and it is really easy. Pack this with some turkey sausage and you have a nice lunch item too. Don’t forget the fresh fruit.

Stove Alert-AHN “Adult Help Needed” to watch you flip it.

Hardware: pancake flipper, bowl to scramble eggs in. make sure it is wide enough for a piece of bread to fit in it, fork, dinner plate, peanut butter knife, fry pan that a lid can cover

Software: canola/vegetable oil, 2 eggs, cream cheese, your favorite jam, 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract, cinnamon sugar/powder sugar (optional), splash of milk about 2 tsp, small pinch of salt, maple syrup/yogurt to dip

Tip- If possible leave the cream cheese on the counter to soften up 30 mins. prior to use so it is easier to spread. Or you can use the whipped cream cheese.

Spread the cream cheese on one slice of bread, spread jam on the other slice of bread. Put the 2 slices together as if you were making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Set it aside. Crack the eggs into the bowl, make sure you don’t have any egg shells in the bowl. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Using the fork scramble the eggs. Place the egg mixture and the sandwich next to the stove top. Have your empty plate ready. Have an adult turn on the stovetop to medium to med low heat. Pour 2 tsps of oil into the fry pan. Place your fry pan on the heat. While you are waiting for the oil to heat up, Dip your sandwich in the egg mixture then quickly flip it over and dip the other side of the sandwich in the egg mixture. Keep in mind that you do not want the sandwich to sit in the egg mixture too long or else the bread will get soggy from soaking up too much of the mixture. Using the fork transfer your sandwich to the fly pan. When you see the edges getting brown it is time to flip the sandwich. Using the flipper lift up the edge of the bread, slide the flipper under and give it a flip. Read Safety Tip. Once you are frying the second side, put the lid on the pan to ensure that the egg on the side of the bread is getting cooked too. After the second side if cooked, use the flipper to take it out and place it on a cutting board. Let it cool. Once it is cool enough to handle. Cut it into 4 long sticks. using your fractions lesson. Cut it into half, then cut each of the halves into half again lengthwise. Arrange them on your plate. Now you have some fun options. You can dust them with powdered sugar, or dip them length wise into cinnamon sugar, or leave them w/o a topping and have a small dish of maple syrup or yogurt to dip. or leave them plain and take them to eat in the car while on the way to dr appts, sports, music, or tutoring. Don’t forget to pack a bottle of water and napkins.

Safety Tip- It is important to remember to flip thing turning the flipper to the side. You never want to flip things towards you because you might splash hot oil on yourself. I tell my students to imagine they are turning the pages of a book. They should hold the flipper with their thumb nail pointing up and roll their hand so the thumb nail points down and away from their tummy.

I hope you have enjoyed the demo and feel confident about trying these recipes. To see more recipes check out my kids cooking blog www.chefsonia.wordpress.com

I can be reached via email at snugglebunnysc@yahoo.com

You can find me at the La Canada Flintridge Community Center teaching my cooking classes. Young Cooks and Great Books. My next class is a Gingerbread house workshop on Dec 3. To enroll for my class go to www.cclcf.org

I am also available to teach at boy scout, girl scout meetings and at birthday parties.

Cooking For College Aug 3, 2010 Kicked Up Marinara, Garlic Bread, Homemade Pesto

I had the pleasure of teaching 11 teens in a private Cooking for College class at my neighbor’s house. I was very impressed with how well mannered and charming they were. I broke them up into 2 teams and had them pick team names. So each team had to decide which team members would be in charge of each recipe. The were making Whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Pesto, Kicked up Marinara, and Garlic Bread. All with in a college student’s budget. We feed 11 teens on $55.00. I will admit that I should have bought one more box of pasta. Luckily the hostess had one.

Kicked Up Marinara Sauce

This is a good one to have in your files because it uses stuff you would/could normally have in your pantry since they won’t spoil. A box of pasta, a jar of spaghetti sauce, can of tomatoes, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. The fresh vegetables add nutrients and sweetness to the sauce so hopefully you can get your hands on them.

Hardware- big pot w/lid to boil the pasta in, big pot with lid for the sauce, colander, wooden spoon, mini food processor/magic bullet, cutting board, knife, flatware spoon, pancake flipper

Software- 1 lb of dry pasta, (whole wheat is best. I like Barilla brand), 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce, 1 can of S & W Italian style stewed tomatoes, 1 can of Cambell’s cream of mushroom soup, sweet onion not yellow/brown onion, zucchini, baby carrots, 1 carton of fresh mushrooms, olive oil, one package of extra lean ground turkey/lowfat sausage (i like the Aidelli chicken apple sausages)(they are fully cooked), fresh grated/shredded parmasan cheese (not from a green can), dried crushed red peppers (like the ones the pizza places have) optional.

If your onion wasn’t already in the fridge, then put it in the freezer til you are ready for it. Cutting into a cold onion will reduce the vapors that cause you to cry.

Procedure

• Get your pot of water on the stove to boil. You should have enough water for the pasta to move around. Cover with a lid.
• Rinse your mushrooms, carrots, and zucchini.
• Slice off the bottom of the stems of the mushrooms. Then quarter the mushrooms and set them aside.
• Put the carrots in the processor. Cut up the zucchini into large chunks and  add them to the processor. Pour in the can of S & W tomatoes.
• Blend the carrots, zucchini, and tomatoes into a puree.
• Take the onion and cut off the part without the roots, this should give you an easy place to peel off the paper (inedible) part off of the onion.
• Dice the onion by cutting the onion in half from the roots to the top, then laying it on the flat side cut down to the cutting board parallel lines 1/2 inch apart. Take care not to cut through the roots they will help keep the onion together as you are cutting.
• Rotate your knife and cut parallel lines down to the cutting board that are perpendicular to the first set of lines you cut. This should give you nice diced onion pieces. If this makes no sense watch a u tube video on how to dice an onion. Sometimes watching is easier to understand than reading.
• Once you have your onion diced, get the pot on medium heat for the sauce. Give it a 6 second pour of olive oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pot. (If you see smoke coming off the oil your heat is too high.)
• After 2 minutes add the onions along with a pinch of salt. The salt allows the water in the onions to come out faster therefore speeding up the carmelization/browning process.
• Use the flipper to move the onions around. When the onions are light brown you can in the package of ground turkey. Move it around with the flipper breaking up the chunks.
• When the turkey is no longer pink, add your mushrooms and the pureed veggies. Give everything a stir with the wooden spoon.
• Add the jar of spaghetti sauce.
• Add 1/2 the can of cream of mushroom soup. I scoop out the other half of the can and put it in a ziploc bag labeled cream of mushroom and freeze it to use later. Or if you want you can double the other items and make 2 batches since the sauce freezes well.
• By now your pasta water should be boiling, add the noodles and stir them with a wooden spoon immediately, this prevents noodles from sticking together. Boil according to the package.
• When the noodles are done, add 2 ladle worth of pasta water to the tomato sauce and stir. The starch in the water will allow the sauce to stick to the noodles better.
• Turn off the stove. Place the colander in the sink.
• Dump the noodles into the colander using pot holders to hold the pot handles. Always dump the pot away from you so you don’t splash yourself with hot water.
• Rinse cold water on the noodles to stop the cooking process.

Place a nice pile of noodles on your plate. Give the sauce a final stir and ladle some on your noodles. Add crushed red peppers if you want a little spice.  Enjoy.

Garlic Bread

Hardware- aluminum foil, cookie sheet, cutting board, knife, butter knife,

Software- room temperature Smart Balance Butter Substitute spread, (has 0 trans fats), baguette, dried oregano, shredded asiago/parmesan cheese, garlic powder

Procedure-

• Preheat your oven to 350 F. Carefully cut the baguette in half along the length of the baguette.
• Using your butter knife, spread an even layer of “butter” on the cut side of the bread. Leaving the Smart Balance spread at room temperature allows it to spread easily.
• Lightly sprinkle the garlic powder all over the “butter”.
• Sprinkle the oregano on next.
• Place the two halves back together and wrap the whole baguette in aluminum foil.
• Put your garlic bread on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven for 20-30 min.
• Carefully remove it from the oven and turn off the oven.
• Open the foil off of the bread. Leave the bread on the foil and open up the bread so the cut side is up.
• Sprinkle the grated asiago/parmesan cheese on top and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. just long enough to melt the cheese.
• After the cheese has melted a bit, remove from the oven and place on a cutting board and slice into 2 inch pieces.

Enjoy.

Leftover pieces, if you have any, can be refrigerated and enjoyed with a bowl of chili/soup another time.

Pesto

Pesto is one of my son’s favorite flavors. The best part of pesto is that you can make it once and use it for so many things. I use it for tinting my scrambled eggs green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. It makes a great spread on a grilled chicken sandwich. Or try it in your breakfast burrito. I must give Chef Lee, former chef at the Valencia Country Club, the credit for teaching me this recipe as well as the restaurant trick of using fresh spinach for half of the basil. Fresh Spinach is cheaper than Fresh basil.

Pesto alla Genovese

Software- 1 and 1/2 C fresh basil/spinach leaves (packed), 1/2 tspn salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 C freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano (I get Buitoni brand), 2 Tbsn pine nuts or walnuts, toasted. 2 -3  cloves of garlic (depends on the size of the cloves), 1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil, 1 pound of dry or fresh pasta, use a bumpy pasta so the pesto has ridges to stick to. I use dried farfalle or dried penne and I also like it on Buitoni spinach tortellini.

Hardware- Mini food processor, cutting board, knife, spoon, mixing bowl, colander, large pot to boil pasta, mug to reserve pasta water.

Steps

• wash your spinach and basil. pinch off any large stems. the thin ones are fine since they will get blended. stuff them into the processor.
• peel your garlic and toss into the food processor, start with just 1 large or  2 small cloves since raw garlic can be spicy. You can always add more.
• add all the rest of the ingredients except the pasta. Hit the processors button and let it all whirl together.
• Give the pesto a taste and tweak as needed.
• Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
• Drain the pasta but set aside one cup of the hot pasta liquid. You can use it to thin the pesto if it is too thick. Plus the starch in the water will make the sauce stick better to the noodles.
• Pull out the blade in the food processor.
• Scoop out the pesto into a mixing bowl
• Add the hot pasta on top and mix to coat the pasta with the pesto.
• If the sauce is too dry and pastey, add the pasta water, and more olive oil.

Enjoy.

CEC cooking recipes

Today I taught at the CEC aka Child Educational Center. The kids were a variety of ages. I was impressed with how well the students listened to directions and how the older kids were eager to help prep the ingredients and help the littler ones assemble their food. They did a terrific job of making 2 delicious and healthy snacks for themselves.

The focus was Farm to Table. I taught recipes that highlighted the variety of produce that we are lucky enough to be growing here in California.

Hummus Veggie Pockets

Hummus is a great alternative to mayonnaise. You still have the creamy spreadable texture w/out all the fat. You also get the added fiber and protein as an added bonus.

Hardware- cutting board, spoon for spreading out the hummus, plate to have all your veggies on, sharp knife

Software-Wheat pita, hummus (I like to use the spinach artichoke one), chopped carrots, shredded Persian cucumbers, julienned red bell peppers (optional), shredded bib lettuce,

Steps

• Lay a pita on your cutting board
• Cut the pita in half so you have 2 semi-circles.
• Spread hummus on the side of your pita pocket. The hummus will serve as glue for the carrots to stick to.
• Sprinkle the carrots on the hummus
• Sprinkle the lettuce on the carrots
• Tuck in the slices of cucumbers
• Tuck in the bell peppers if you are using them

You can substitute other veggies in this roll. I have substituted low fat cream cheese for the hummus and julienned pears or apples for the bell pepper.

Perfect tie in for the book Katie No Pockets

Strawberry Yogurt Parfait

Strawberries are loaded with vitamin C and add sweetness with out sugar to recipes. If you haven’t had the satisfaction of picking your own strawberries, I strongly urge you to do it. The flavors are so intense and the berries are so juicy when plucked fresh off the vine. My kids and I had the pleasure of adding that memory to our recent Legoland trip.

This recipe looks lovely in a clear glass bowl or clear glass lasagna tray as well. A tasty healthy dessert to take to your next potluck or brunch. You can also use blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries, granola or a combo of all the berries. If you use bananas, toss them in a little honey first to slow down the browning of them. aka oxidation.

Hardware- silverware teaspoon, clear cups to see the layers, plastic knife, cutting board/paper plates, sandwich ziploc bag

Software- fresh strawberries (washed and green leaves cut off), vanilla lowfat yogurt, graham crackers

Steps

• Place a graham cracker into a ziploc bag and smash it up with your fist. It should look like sand.Set it aside for later.
• In your cup add spoonfuls of yogurt and spread it evenly around to make a nice layer.
• Using your cutting board and plastic knife cut 2-3 strawberries into fourths. Put them on top of the yogurt.
• Open your ziploc bag and sprinkle the smashed cracker on top of the strawberries. Use a clean spoon to spread the crackers into an even layer.
• Repeat the whole process again so you have another layer of yogurt, strawberries and cracker.

Keep in the fridge until you are ready to eat it. Enjoy.

Summer Cooking Camp

My Summer Cooking Camp is starting on Monday, July 12, I have the preschool class at 10-11:15 and the up to 10 yrs old at 12:30-1:45. The camp runs from Mon- Friday. We will be cooking up foods from around the world that are finger foods. We are going beyond the Chicken Nugget. It should be a delicious world tour. Fudgesicles and Angelic Deviled Eggs from America, Inari and Cucumber Rolls from Japan, , pork wontons from China, Agua Fresca and oven baked churros from Mexico, Cucumber and cream cheese tea sandwiches and scones from England. It should be a delicious world tour.

Angelic Deviled Eggs

Usually deviled eggs are made with all the egg yolks and mayo. Mine are angelic because we swap out some of the yolks and all of the mayo. You want some yolks because egg yolks not only give your deviled eggs the yellow coloring but they also help to prevent Macular degeneration in the eyes.

Hardware- small pot with lid, bowl of ice water, egg slicer, tablespoon, teaspoon, mixing bowl, slotted spoon,

Software- number of eggs that will fit into your pot (for me it is 6), 2-3 teaspoons of greek nonfat plain yogurt, 2 pinch kosher salt, 1/2-1 teaspoon sweet pickles chopped or sweet relish without the juice, fresh cracked black pepper, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard, small drizzle milk, rinse and finely chop 3 baby carrots.

Normally you want really fresh eggs for cooking but this is an instance where an older but not expired egg is best. Reason being that eggshells are porous. They let air and moisture in and out of the egg. Eggs have an inner membrane just beneath the shell. As the egg gets older and it is hard boiled the air between the shell and that membrane expands and you will notice that the shell won’t stick to the hardboiled white part of the egg. So you won’t be pulling the white off along with the shell when you peel it.

Steps:

• Boil the eggs in the pot. Remember start with cold water on med low for 5 minutes to bring the water and eggs up in temperature. Then turn up the heat to med. Once the water starts to boil set your timer for 1 minute or count for 60 seconds.
• After the timer goes off, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes.
• As soon as the timer goes off, carefully scoop out the eggs with the slotted spoon and put them in the cold ice water to stop the cooking process. Using this method prevents the darkness that often is on hard boiled egg’s yolk.
• Take your eggs out of the water and peel them. Put them back in the bowl of water just to wash off any tiny eggshells that you might have missed.
• Cut the eggs in half lengthwise.
• Pull out the yolks of 4 eggs and put them in a mixing bowl. Give the other 2 yolks to your dog or throw them away.
• Chop up 2 of the egg halves using your egg slicer or a fork and add it to the bowl. This adds more protein to each egg halve and bulks up the mixture.
• Add the greek yogurt, relish/pickles, mustard, carrots (I like the color and crunch),salt and a couple of turns of pepper
• Mix well
• Using a teaspoon scoop the mixture into the egg whites so it makes a gentle mound. Or you can get fancy and put the mixture into a piping bag and squeeze it in the whites.
• Place them on your serving plate
• Either sprinkle the tops of the yellow mixture with paprika or cracked black pepper
• If you aren’t going to eat them right away, put them in a tupperware and stick them in the fridge.

Enjoy.

Cucumber Roll

Hardware- cutting board, wooden spoon for spreading out the rice, plate to have your cucumber sticks on, sharp knife, bamboo sushi mat, small bowl of water

Software-Sticky rice (I like to mix half brown and half white), toasted sesame seeds, shredded Persian cucumbers, nori (not the salted toasted one)

Steps

• Make the rice according to the package directions.
• Once the rice is cooked, mix together the different rices and sesame seeds.
• Lay a sheet of nori on your bamboo mat.
• Spread rice on the bottom 1/2 of the nori sheet. You can dip your fingertips in water and use them to flatten out the rice.
• Lay a thin row of cucumbers at the bottom of the rice.
• Roll the bottom of the bamboo mat along with the ingredients over on itself tucking the nori in. As you press the nori in, pull the bamboo mat away and continue the rolling motion to roll up the nori like a sleeping bag.
• Place the roll seam side down on the cutting board and cut into bite size pieces. If rice is sticking to your knife, dip it in a glass of water sliding the blade against the rim to wipe off the excess water and rice grains.

You can substitute other veggies in this roll. This is a great way of stretching your rotisserie chicken into another meal. Just shred it into strips and add it on top of the cucumber. I usually add finely chopped carrots, sweet egg, avocado slices, and steamed green beans/raw sugar snap peas. This is my kids favorite lunch/dinner.

Agua Fresca de Sandia aka Watermelon Juice

Watermelon is a great source of lycopene, fiber, and keeps you hydrated. Watermelon juice is a favorite drink for my son. He wouldn’t normally eat 5 slices of melon but if i puree them he eats all five and then some. Summer outdoor fun can dehydrate kids and you fast so keep a pitcher of this on hand. Just be sure to drink it all on the day you make it for the best flavor and texture. It can be frozen into popscicles too.

Hardware- Blender, knife, cutting board, wooden spoon, paper towels, pitcher

Software- whole watermelon

• Wash the outside of the watermelon with soapy water.
• Place a damp kitchen towel under a cutting board to prevent it from slipping and also so soak up the juice so it doesn’t spread all over the counter.
• You can also place a paper towel on top of the cutting board to keep the melon from slipping around while you try to cut it in half.
• Remember to never have your hand or fingers in front of the knife blade. Your knife could easily slip on the watermelon’s smooth rind.
• Carefully, using a smooth bladed knife cut the melon in half. Put one of the halves aside.
• Remove the paper towel.
• lay the melon on the cut side so it doesn’t wobble around.
• Cut it in half again and continue to cut parallel lines. then lay the semi circles on their sides and cut off the rinds. Throw these in your compost pile.
• Cut the watermelon flesh into chunks and put them in your blender.
• Put the lid on and blend away.
• If your blade gets stuck, simply stop the motor and move the watermelon pieces around with your wooden spoon.
• Put the lid back on tight and blend again.
• Transfer your frothy drink to a pitcher.
• Pour it in a tall glass over ice cubes and enjoy.

Pork and Chives Wontons

Hardware- mini/food processor, bamboo steamer (or any steamer), 2 mixing bowls, small bowls, silverware teaspoon, knife, cutting board, cheese cloth, colander, big pot that a bamboo steamer can sit on top of, plate with flour sprinkled on it,

Software- 1 lb lean ground pork, napa cabbage, firm tofu, chives, 1 egg, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, low sodium soy sauce, cracked black pepper, kosher salt, fresh wonton wrappers, corn starch,

Bamboo steamer helps to cook a group of wontons at once. Use the broad outer leaves of the napa cabbage on top of the bamboo slots. This prevents the wontons from sticking to the bamboo. If you don’t have cabbage leaves you can use wet paper towels or a wet cheese cloth.

The key to a good wonton is to take out as much moisture and air from the stuffing as you can. So we squeeze as hard as we can when called for.

Wontons are easiest to make if you use an assemble line tecnique. I make the stuffing then assemble the wontons and freeze them individually and transfer them to a ziploc freezer bag so that I can use just a few or a whole plateful at a time. The quality of these wontons is so good that you should steam them or boil them.

Procedure

Set a large pot of water to boil. Pull off the large broad outer leaves of the napa cabbage and set aside. Rinse off 5 of the remaining leaves, Cut them into 1 inch slices against the grain of the leaves. Place them in the boiling water to blanch. When they are soft but not mushy, dump them out into a colander and then into a large bowl of ice water. This is called shocking them. Shocking a vegetable will make sure your veggie retains its bright green color. It also stops the cooking process. Wrap your cooked cabbage leaves in a tea towel/cheese cloth and squeeze out as much water as you can. Set it aside. Open the tofu and rinse off one brick. place it in a cheesecloth and squeeze out as much water as you can. wash your chives and trim off the bottom ends cut them into smaller sticks so you have 1 cup, place them into a mixing bowl for later use.

using the palm of your hand break apart the garlic head. peel 2-3 cloves and place into processor’s mixing bowl, peel fresh ginger, break off a 1 inch knob and use the edge of a silverware teaspoon to scrape the skin off. Discard the skin. Slice the ginger and add it into the processor also. Add a large pinch of salt to help grind things up. Hit the processor’s button and chop into tiny pieces. Add the chive sticks to the processor bowl and press the chop button till the chives are into small pieces. Remove the sharp blade and scoop out the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the tofu, Add the blanched cabbage pieces. Add a teaspoon of corn starch. (as antimoisture insurance) Drizzle in 3 Tbsn of soy sauce. Add 2 Tbsn of fresh cracked black pepper. Using your clean hands, mix everything together.

In a small dish, crack the egg and 1 Tbsn of water, scramble it up. Set aside. On a clean cutting board or plate, sprinkle on a dusting of flour. Open your package of wonton wrappers. Take out 5 wrappers. Put a damp towel on the open package so they don’t dry out. Lay the stack of 5 wrappers out on point so they are like a diamond. Pull the stack down about 1/2″ to create a border on which you can apply the egg wash. Continue pulling the pile down leaving a border until the wrappers are laying in an upside down chevron pattern. Dip your finger in the egg wash and run it over the wonton borders. Add a 1/2 Tbsn of stuffing to the center of the top wrapper. Lift the bottom corner of the wrapper and pull it up til the corner meets the top corner. Using your fingertips, press the remaining seams together. Use the palm of your hands to press out any excess air from the wonton. If you don’t, the air in the wrapper will expand in the cooking process and the wonton could come apart from the pressure. Lay your finished wonton on the floured plate. The flour prevents the wontons from sticking to the plate. Cover the plate with a slightly damp kitchen towel so the wontons don’t dry out. Continue stuffing the wrappers til the filling or wrappers are gone. If you have filling left, you can put it in a freezer ziploc bag labeled wonton filling and stick it in the freezer.

to be cont. later. please check back