Wrapping up the Kids in the Kitchen portion of my "Back to School" series, I've got ten kid-friendly recipe ideas for you to try. I'm a passionate advocate for getting kids in the kitchen at a young age. They are never too young to learn how food is prepared, how to select high quality ingredients and how to maintain food safety. And whenever fresh fruits and veggies are involved, there are always tons of fun facts to explore. Here's ten kid-friendly recipes, (parent supervision not included, but definitely required)...

1. Rainbow Wraps: Fruit.
Check out these super delicious spiral wraps that scream "eat me!" Kids will have fun making their rainbow craft creation with fresh chopped fruit. But the best part is that they can eat their crafty art creations.

2. Rainbow Wraps: Veggies.
Rainbow wraps take two! Trying to get your kids to munch more veggies? Try these veggie rainbow wraps. Same idea as the fruit wraps above, but filled with healthy colorful veggies-these spirals make a perfect lunch or dinner item.

3. Trail Mix Sprinkle Cracker Snack.
Frosting and sprinkles anyone? Yes please. But these are cream cheese frosted crackers doused in trail mix "sprinkles". My easy preparation method is so easy and fun that kids as young as age 2 could get in on the action in the kitchen.

4. Fruit and Veggie Fun Facts from A to Z.
Before you send your little one into the kitchen with a chefs hat and apron, you may want to have some fun reading them some cool facts about healthy foods. Check out my A to Z list of facts and serving ideas. This list is sure to inspire their imagination, creativity and get their tiny tummies growling.

5. Giant Soft Sidewalk Pretzels
Here's a recipe that any kid will love. You make the dough, the kids make the bread creations: spirals, pretzels, bagels, rolls, flatbreads and more. Give each kid their very own ball of dough to make into whatever they want. A parent sticks the dough in the oven and you can serve the bread-art at dinner. Kid-made dinner rolls. Fun.

6. Creature Creations
I'm not a big fan of making food look like animals, aliens and creatures of all sorts, then trying to get them to eat the creature, think ants on a log style. But I must admit that it can be fun from time to time. That's why I did this post with a few fun and healthy creature creation ideas.

7. Plum Perfect Parfait
Parfaits are a great way to get kids and teens in the kitchen. Young kids can simply help layer in their favorite ingredients: fruit, yogurt, nuts, granola. But older kids can get more involved by helping chop fruit into tiny parfait-friendly dices. Plus, who doesn't love a sweet treat fruit parfait? Drizzle of maple syrup on top.

8. In the Bag Cakes Mix.
No link, just a great kid chef tip. You can make a cake with your little ones by pouring all the ingredients into an extra large zip lock bag. Then you can let the little hands smush around the batter while it's still in the bag. The cut a hole in the side of the bag and they can squeeze it out into the pan.

9. Kid-Made Quesadillas.
No link, just an idea. Here's a great idea for dinner. The adult helper microwaves or pan-sautes a large tortilla and melt the cheese-open face. Next up, have a healthy-add-ins bar set up for the kids to add whatever ingredients they'd like to their quesadilla. The they can fold it over themselves. Adult slices it. Kids eat it-their own special creation. Add-in ideas: diced peppers, onions, spinach, tomatoes, olives, corn, cilantro, spanish rice, black beans and even some protein pieces form tempeh, tofu or seitan. That will be one loaded quesadilla!

10. Wiki-Wiki Couscous Volcano
I like this as a kids in the kitchen recipe because there are a lot of 'jobs' for kids to do. 1. First a parent can cook a fluffy whole grain couscous. The kids can help out by stirring/folding in the veggie/seasoning ingredients. 2. The kids can scoop out the couscous into the volcano cups and help by patting it down nice and packed. 3. When it's time to flip the volcano plates over, the kids can lift up the cup to reveal their volcano shaped couscous. 4. And lastly, it's a fun job for whoever gets to pour the orange hot lava over the volcano. Explosion! Oh, and kids will enjoy eating this healthy dish too.

MORE TIPS:
* Teach kids to always wash their fruits and veggies before using them in recipes.
* Teach kids to always wash their hands before working in the kitchen or eating a meal.
* Teach kids about the different colors, shapes, sizes, flavors, smells and textures of different healthy foods. My book On the Case: Super Senses is a great tool. Kids can use all 5 senses to explore foods they eat!
* Teach kids about recipe ingredients: wet ingredients vs. dry ingredients. Oil and fats. Fresh vs. packaged. The use of salt, pepper, sugar, acids and fat in a dish.
* Hand-on is best! Kids are great at mixing, picking up pieces of food and "decorating" their meal, clean up, and prep! Give your kids a supervised job and they will be happy little chef helpers.
* Cooking is a lot like art. It's simple: the adult sets out all the 'supplies' for the kid chefs and lets them go at it! The same as any art project right? Give them a large tortilla or flatbread canvas and a bunch of pre-chopped healthy ingredients and spreads (aka the glue) and see what recipe they create. Remember, yummy ingredients equals a yummy dish.

This post is jam packed with fruit and veggie facts from A to Z! Apricot to zucchini. These fun facts and tips from my kids book Lunchbox Alphabet, will get kids excited to learn more about the healthy foods they eat. Here a sample:

"J is for Jackfruit. A jackfruit can weigh up to one hundred pounds and grow up to three feet long! They are the largest tree-born fruit. They are covered in prickly bulbs, but the inside smells like a pineapple or papaya.

Check out more facts and serving tips from A to Z. Can you guess what fruit or veggie starts with the letter X?...

Fun Facts! Fun Facts! Here they are, fun fruit and veggie facts from A to Z. You can find all these facts and even more fun character images in my book Lunchbox Alphabet. Buy it here.

A is for APRICOT. A fuzzy apricot is a tiny treat that makes a yummy snack! Juicy and sweet, they taste best when left to ripen on the tree rather in a fruit bowl.

B is for BROCCOLI. Pair bites of broccoli with a side of mashed sweet potatoes! Build your own broccoli-tree forest by sticking the broccoli in the potatoes! Clear the forest by munching them one by one.
Don’t forget to shout, “Timber!”

C is for CUCUMBER. There is no veggie cooler than an ice cold cucumber! Slice an cucumber into round circles. Toss the crisp rounds in a pita with some warm garlic hummus--now that’s a cool pita!! Yummy!

D is for DATE. Dates may be brown, but did you know that they are deliciously sweet?! Try a handful of chewy dates for a date-licious dessert! Try making Sticky Date-y Pudding with these simple steps: First, warm 4-5 dates in the microwave for fifteen seconds. They will become gooey and sticky sweet! Add the warmed dates to vanilla pudding or yogurt, top it off with a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg! (You can even use a few sticks of graham crackers as an edible spoon!) Date-licious!

E is for EGGPLANT. Wow did you know that shiny eggplants come in a variety of colors such as violet, light and dark purple, and white! Actually a white eggplant looks a lot like an egg.....which is how it got its name!

F is for FIG. Have you ever tried a fruit called fig? No, not a fig cookie! A fresh fig that is purple and plump! They are soft, sweet and grow on a tree. Figs are high in potassium and fiber, so not only will your taste buds love them, but your body will too!

G is for GRAPE. Grapes come in many colors from deep purple to bright green. Grapes are tart yet sweet and always juicy!

H is for HUCKLEBERRIES. Hooray for huckleberries, they are high in vitamin C! Huckleberry jam is a unique sweet treat. Try it on our next peanut butter and jam sandwich! Ask for it by name: “Can I have a PB&H sandwich please?”

I is for ICEBERG LETTUCE. Iceberg lettuce packs quite a refreshingly crisp punch! It used to be known to farmers as crisp head lettuce. But when they started packing this veggie in heaps and mounds of ice, the name “iceberg” simply stuck!

J is for Jackfruit. Wow! A jackfruit can weigh up to one hundred pounds and grow up to three feet long! They are the largest tree-born fruit! They are covered in prickly bulbs, but the inside smell like a pineapple or papaya!

K is for KIWI. Guess what! You can actually eat the shaggy brown skin of a kiwi! (If you don’t mind a little fuzz that is!) Kiwi’s are tart and sweet and quite unique! Can you think of any other fruit that is brown on the outside or bright green on the inside?

L is for LEMON. Everyone loves to make lemonade! Add berries for zesty berry-licious Lemonade! Or substitute lemons for limes and make LIMEADE. Or for an extra cool beverage, add a few sprigs of mint leaves to your glass and enjoy COOL MINTY Lemonade! Don’t forget to say, “AHHHHHH!” After each refreshing gulp!

M is for MUSHROOM. There are over 70,000 varieties of mushrooms! But only 250 are edible ...When mushrooms grow they can
double in size in 24 hours! Varieties: portobella, shiitake, cremini, woodear and white button.
N is for NECTARINE. Love peaches but hate the fuzz? Try a nectarine! The word Nectarine means, “Sweet as Nectar” and they sure are sweet! Smooth skin and juicy to bite, nectarines taste yummy and are a great source of vitamin C!

O is for ONION. DON’T Hold the onions please! Onions are crisp and zesty and have amazing nutrient and phytochemical power! It’s true that cutting onions may bring tears to your eyes, but tears of joy we hope!

P is for POMEGRANATE. Pomegranate’s are tricky to eat whole, due to their many plump purple seeds, but try pomegranate JUICE for taste and nutrition! Pomegranate juice may have up to three times more antioxidants than other juices--so drink up! yum.

Q is for QUINCE. A quince is a fruit that is like a cross between
a pear and an apple. But you cannot bite into a raw quince and keep a smile on your face. It would taste like a really sour apple! Try cooking a quince if you are interested in tasting it!

R is for RADISH. For a fun and zesty crunch try slicing “coins” of radish rounds! You can even create your own veggie “bank” by arranging “coins” of radishes, cucumbers and carrots! Add some cheese slice “dollar bills”- then munch this pricey plate!

S is for STRING BEAN. Have you ever looked closely at a green string bean? Well take a close look and inspect the long “string” that runs along the edge of the bean. It looks and feels like a thick piece of string! Thus the name, String Bean! But don’t try sewing with these edible green strings!

T is for TOMATO. You say fruit and I say veggie! Did you know that a
tomato is actually a FRUIT, but it took a Supreme Court ruling back in 1893 to label this tender little piece of produce a VEGETABLE!

U is for UGLI FRUIT. An exotic citrus is an Ugli Fruit! It tastes like a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine. Eat it like an orange or try juicing it with an orange for some U.F.O Juice!

V is for VANILLA BEAN. What’s the secret ingredient in your favorite cookie recipe? Pure vanilla bean extract! Vanilla has been called “the world’s most popular flavor!” Fun Tip: Have a parent boil a few drops of Vanilla extract and water on the stove for the “bakery fresh” smell without the work!

W is for WATERCRESS. It’s a bit zesty, a bit crunchy and loaded with nutrients! This leafy green was traditionally found along waterways and stream banks. Thus the name, watercress. Watercress salad night please!

X is for XIGUA. (Pronounced She-Gwah) Xigua is the Chinese name for watermelon! Can you think of any other foods that start with the letter “X”? (Don’t feel bad, neither could we!)

Y is for YAM. Orange yam and purple Taro Root fries are a delicious sweet substitution for that “side of fries” we know and love to munch on burger night!

Z is for ZUCCHINI. Wow did you know that there have been several zucchini’s weighing in at over thirteen pounds?! That’s about the same weight as ten basketballs! Good thing a zucchini is a great source of vitamins a and C and potassium! Big yum!

Fancy party hors d'oeuvre or kid-friendly snack: you decide. This salty-sweet Trail Mix Sprinkle Cracker Snack attracts hungry hands big and small. Recipe highlight: it's child's play! It's easily crafted by little chef hands. Kids as tiny as two could help out in the crafting of this snack. Fun to make, fun to eat. Check out this super E-Z 'frosting and sprinkles' recipe...

Frosting and Sprinkles. Ask your kids if they want some frosting and sprinkles for a snack and they will probably jump out of their car-seat. Well that's what we have here! It's a cream cheese maple 'frosting' spread topped with dried fruit, nut and seed "sprinkles". The thin consistency of the cream cheese spread really does make it look like frosting. It's all the fun of cupcakes with a healthy twist. And my how-to method makes this a not-so-messy craft you can eat in the end.

Healthy Trail-Mix. Getting kids to eat trail mix from a bowl might be a bit tricky. There's certainly nothing exciting about a bowl of dried fruit and nuts. But with so much good stuff in trail mix, you've got to give it another chance with the kids. Nuts are dried fruit are packed with fiber and nutrients. Here is a fun way to make trail mix into a cracker snack. Remember it's not 'trail mix' it's trail mix sprinkles! If you really want a treat-throw a few dark chocolate chunks into the trail mix bowl.

Here's the recipe:

Trail Mix Sprinkle Cracker Snack
makes 8 crackers, vegan

8 extra large 'entertaining' size crackers, multi or whole grain
4 tablespoon vegan cream cheese or nut butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 ½ cups of "trail mix" sprinkle
*see list below

Directions:

1. Make your Trail Mix sprinkle bowl. Optional ingredients include fruit/nuts/seeds. A few ideas: dried apricots, dried blueberries, salted sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, dried figs, sesame seeds, goji berries, shredded coconut, dried cranberries, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios and hazelnuts.
For large items like dried apricots and large nuts-be sure to chop them into pea sized bits.

2. Line a casserole or baking pan with paper towels.

3. Make your 'frosting' by whipping 1 tablespoon maple syrup into your cream cheese or nut butter.

4. Spread 1 teaspoon of 'frosting' on each of your crackers. Big kids can help you do this part. Lay the frosted crackers side by side in your lined pan. Pack them tightly. Little kids can help arrange the crackers.

5. Sprinkle time! Here's the kids part: let the grab a big handful of trail mix sprinkles and generously sprinkle it over the crackers in the pan. Sprinkle until all the mix is used.

6. An adult can now carefully transfer the crackers onto a clean plate. The leftover trail mix that didn't make it on the crackers can be place in a sealed container for next time.

The Columbia-Crest, Food Network FLAYvors of Washington contest announced its winner today. Congrats to Frank Galella who won the Grand Prize. And as a few of my blog readers informed me, I was apparently one of the 20 finalists chosen from a nation-wide pool. How exciting to be the only vegan finalist. My entry was for my Spicy Mushroom Blossom Bowl recipe. What a thrill to be chosen. Ahead, find out why I'm not terribly surprised that I didn't claim the awesome Bobby Flay-encrusted grand prize. And what was up with my video entry...

UPDATE: My very lovely prize: an autographed MESA GRILL Cookbook. Signed by Chef Bobby Flay. Thank you 🙂

Wow, I'm a Finalist? Awesome. I entered this contest last minute. I adore mushrooms-and I love grilled mushrooms with a smoky spicy flavor. So since mushrooms were on the 'flavors of Washington' ingredients list, I entered! However after filling out the long application I realized that I needed a video. Oh no! The deadline was fast approaching, so in my PJ's-silly me, and with my hand-held camera I turned out a super fast, one-take video message to Mr. Flay and the judges about why he should pick me and my mushrooms. Looking back on this, I really should have done a cooking video, but I was crunched for time and didn't want to miss the deadline. Alas, my video plea was not enough to win. But that's OK.

Mushrooms vs. Veal and Lamb. Like I said, thrilled to have been a finalist, but I still have to wonder: was it my really bad video or my lack of meat in my recipe? The two talented winners cooked lamb and veal. The winning recipe by Frank was Stuffed Veal Chops with Wild Mushrooms and Farro Salad. I cooked harissa spicy mushrooms with an accent of endive and pea sprouts. My mushrooms lost. Go figure. I really wish I had thrown in some grilled tofu or seitan skewers in that dish! There's always next time.

Congrats and Thanks. Thanks again to all my blog readers who sent me emails of congrats and encouragement. And congrats to the two winners of the contest. I hope the grand prize winner has fun cooking with Bobby Flay and spending the $5000 cash grand prize. Fun!

Contest Details Online: Food Network.

Awesome event! And they say carnivores have all the fun. No way!
Veggie Conquest: Round One. Last night I was a judge in the very first Veggie Conquest, an Iron Chef style cooking competition featuring 100% vegan cuisine. The chosen secret ingredient was apples. A sold out crowd of enthusiastic tasters turned out for this Eco-chic foodie event. Check out all my Battle Apple event coverage including the winners list and tons of photos...

Official Winners List:
Tasters' choice: Jennifer Lynskey's Rustic Apple, Zucchini, Eggplant Ravioli
Third place: Jessica Gunter's Curried Apple Stew w/ Couscous
Second place: Michelle Barton's Pink Lady Linguine
First place: Julie Tran's Baked Apple & Seitan Phyllo Purse

The Players. Nine amateur chefs competed in Battle Apple. The judges: Me, Brian Preston-Campbell and Joshua Katcher aka "The Discerning Brute". The MC: Bryan Blade Kurtz. And the mastermind behind the entire Veggie Challenge series: Jessica Mahady.

The Place: A loft in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC decorated with white twinkly lights, rustic-chic table settings complete with candlelight from elegant hand-made apple-candles. The judges table was a dark rough-wood table accented by simple green apple napkins and clear glasses. The tall loft windows overlooked a beautiful city-rooftop setting, gray water towers and all. Cozy-urban-chic. A perfect setting to engage in a veggie foodie battle.

Apples in and Entree. The Challenge: Make an entree using the secret ingredient of apples. What would you make? Well let me just say bravo to all nine of the chef entrants. They made it hard for me to criticize them. Here are my tasting notes...

The Hits.
*A thin red wrap entree, delicate and simple, filled with a textured compote of tender apples, onions and seasoning. Lunch-worthy for sure.
*An amazing homemade ravioli. Super delicate pasta with a sweet and savory nutty filling. Delicious. And the cold chunky marinara sauce was surprisingly palate-pleasing. The ravioli won the 'tasters choice award'.
*There was a goat cheese crostini that was Pure Food and Wine quality. It stole the spotlight from the creative plated-in-apple-linguine dish it was accenting. I'd love that vegan cheese recipe.
*I loved the refreshing lime-apple salsa (fresh, acidic and raw like I like it) with side skewers of grilled seitan and tofu. A almost-too-big slab of cornbread too. Never mind, you can never have too much cornbread. Perfection.
*The soothing filo purse of apple-accented stuffing on a bed of sweet squash and seitan was a gourmet gem. (This purse won the grand prize) Awesome! She also had fresh-pressed apple cider-I drank the whole sake-shot of it.
*There was another delicious dish combining apple and curry with some savory beans. Brilliant combo of flavors.
*And I loved the nut cake with a firm grilled apple on top.
*One chef smoked the apples-smoky apples is indeed creative.
*Carrot-Apple slaw. Yum.
*And lastly, I recall a spicy arugula garnish. I kept nibbling on it before that plate was taken away-so refreshing. Farmers market? I'm guessing yes.
*All dishes were incredibly healthy. Light on oil, nothing fried, over-processed or over-salted. Very good job on the health-factor chefs.
*Good job chefs.

The Misses. As the culinarily trained judge Brian said: "salt and pepper are a chef's best friend" paraphrased... Another miss was the too raw sweet potato that broke my heart. (You all know my sweet potato obsession.) Also, the too mushy couscous didn't really appeal to me. Another error was when a dish featured apples that were dry or tough. A rubbery baked apple peel isn't doing your dish any favors.

Here are a few tips for using apples in an entree:

*Use the Right Apple: Macintosh apples (thin-skinned apple variety): great for baking with the skin on. However, a Granny Smith apple (or similar thick-skinned) should be peeled because the skin can get very dry and tough.
*Taste your dish. Salt and pepper bring out the natural flavors of your ingredients.
*Presentation and Composition matter! The components of each dish should be laid out in a colorful eye-pleasing way. Make sure the most eye-catching 'star' component is the first and boldest eye-catcher on the plate.
*Accent cooked dishes with Raw ingredients. Adding a few fresh ingredients such as spicy arugula, parsley, fresh basil or fresh citrus juice to a cooked dish can add an pleasing layer of flavor and texture depth. Plus raw greens double as a welcoming palate cleanser to a dense dish.
*Balance the Sweet. When working with fruit, make sure the sweetness isn't too cranked up for your entree dish.
*Have fun! Play around with colors, heights, textures and fragrances of your dish. Stack a super tall slaw or add a bright stream of color across the plate. Judges love a creative plate.

And now onto the photos:

Table Set-up inside the Loft, Rooftop-View:

Judges Table:

Videotaping for "Vegan Good Things", a soon-to-launch online vegan show:

The SOLD OUT Crowd of Tasters at their Elegant Tables:

Let's Eat!:

Judges Table Tasting:

Group Photo! Judges and Jessica:

Event Founder Jessica Mahady and Judge Brian P-C:

Cool Waters made by judge and 'Cool Waters' book author Brian Preston-Campbell. Rosewater-Lemon Fizzy Water was the perfect after-tasting beverage:

Table for The Farm Sanctuary. Love them.:

MC, Bryan Blade Kurtz, currently acting in Fiddler on the Roof:

The Winner! She made an amazing filo 'purse' seitan, squash, apple stuffing-amazing! I could've eaten the entire dish. Yum. Visit her blog: East Village Vegan:

The Second Place Winner (she made the awesome goat cheese crostini), with her $25 Lula's Gift Cert. (Lula's Vegan Ice Cream is divine.):
Gotta have my ONE beverage:

I tried to put on my 'JUDGES' Face. I'm no Simon though... I'm more a Paula. And I'm OK with that. 🙂

Gone Pie Bakery gave everyone a huge Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie-Out of this World Delicious! Yay for Dessert:

Check www.veggieconquest.com for upcoming events! The next VC is already scheduled for Sept 26th! Details online soon.

*A special thanks to Mr. HHL (aka, my husband) for live-tweeting the event and taking most of the photos above!

What's for lunch? Does this question fill you or your little student with dread or excitement? Ponder that thought and keep reading...

The Main Event. Well when it comes to school lunches it's always a great idea to have a main event Lunchbox Showstopper. Snacks are great, but you can't survive on snacks alone. (Your student may sadly disagree with you on this fact!) Thankfully, there's nothing like a showstopping main entree to really drive a healthy appetite. So here's a few healthy, vegan, cravable lunch ideas in my Ten Lunchbox Showstopper list. It will help you and your student diner get excited about the question "What's for Lunch!"...

Fancy Schmancy Lunches are Back. I remember back in my school-days, whenever I'd bring something extra special to lunch (a giant stacked veggie sandwich, gourmet leftovers from my moms pasta salad, or basically anything that looked super yummy) it would elicit looks and questions all over the lunch room: "What's that? What are you eating? That looks good!" I'd shy away from all the attention. But guess what, fancy schmancy healthy lunches are back! It's cool to be a student-foodie in the lunch-hall.

"Back to School" Eats Series: Lunchbox Showstoppers

1) Bullseye Spiral Wraps
The spiral makes a big comeback! This sweet and creamy spiral wrap is filled with my Micro Veggie Cream Cheese and roasted red peppers. It's right on target for a yummy showstopping lunch.

2) Vegan Chick'n Pesto
The classic combo of chicken and pesto has gone vegan! My homemade raw walnut pesto makes this recipe delicious. Boca Chick'n patties make it easy! This is a thick and bold sandwich packed with protein and antioxidants to leave you feeling nothing but hungry.

3) Prepster Mushroom Marinara
Feeling a bit prepster-ish today? try this reality TV inspired sandwich filled with grilled or sauteed portobello mushrooms and a sun-dried tomato sauce. Don't forget the vegan cheese and you have yourself a shroom pizza-style sandwich!

4) TMT Pita
Forget the BLT. Try this TMT. It's a whole wheat pita stuffed with tempeh, mache lettuce and tomato. I've even added some vegan cheddar cheese to close the deal on this showstopping lunch entree.

5) Superfruit Spread: ABC Sandwich
Forget the classic PB&J. Well, at least change it up a bit by using a 'superfruit spread' instead of a traditional sugar-loaded jelly. Superfruit spreads like Crofter's are hitting the shelves and turning up the nutrient content in jams-big time! And try almond butter for an ABC sandwich: Almond Butter and Crofter's.

6) Fluffy Coconut Rice with Tofu Pillows
Pillows for lunch! Pillows for lunch! Who can resist this sweet and protein-packed lunch. Fluffy coconut crusted tofu pillow on top of a sweet and simple coconut rice. Soothing for a busy day of tests and teachers.

7) Sweet'n Sassy Sweet Potato Pockets
One of my first recipes that got people buzzing was my sweet potato pockets recipe. And guess what-they make a perfect lunch item! I use soy pita bread to add some bonus protein to this showstopper. Sweet. And sassy...

8) Lemon Peppered California Pasta Salad
Make a big bowl of this pasta and eat it all week long! Fill a plastic or eco-friendly re-usable container with pasta and send your kiddies off to school with a bowl of sunshine in their lunchboxes.

9) Ginger Mandarin Rice with Sweet Cashew Tofu
Who doesn't love a simple rice recipe that can easily be served as a lunch entree? One can of mandarins is the secret flavorful ingredient in this one stop lunchbox meal. Yum-me.

10) Brazil Nut Paella
Introduce anyone to protein-rich grain quinoa with this flavorful 'tastes like you cooked all day but you didn't' meal. Crunchy Brazil nuts and sweet peas jazz up this paella-like dish. Quinoa is a super healthy grain that is actually super student-friendly-when done right.

And don't forget to check out Kids in the Kitchen in Part four of my Back to School Series...

Here's a classic sandwich with a vegan twist! Talk about a super stacker sandwich. My Vegan Chick'n Pesto Sandwich combines thick cut slices of sweet onion and tomato, a hearty layer of my raw walnut pesto dip, a high-protein Boca Chick'n patty and a crisp tangy pickle to add that necessary crunch you crave. This sandwich isn't fluffy, lovely or soft, it's a hearty bold bite that puts any traditional 'chicken pesto' to shame! Check out this recipe...

Simple. Easy. Delicious. Healthy. High in protein, fiber and antioxidants. Using frozen Boca burger patties makes this a fast way to get some tasty protein. Talk about a classically perfect sandwich! This makes lunchtime something to look forward to...

Vegan Chick'n Pesto Sandwich
vegan, makes one sandwich

2 slices sprouted grain bread, toasted
*complete protein bread is my favorite
1 thick slice of tomato
1 thick slice of onion
3 thin pickle slices
3 tablespoon of Kathy's Raw Walnut Pesto (recipe below)
1 Boca Burger Chick'n patty, vegan
*The spicy patty variety is my fave
black pepper

Raw Walnut Pesto
vegan, makes about 1 ¼ cups of pesto
1 large lemon, juiced
1 cup raw walnuts
1 tablespoon agave syrup
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 large bunch of basil, leaves
½ cup flat parsley, chopped
5 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoon Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Make the pesto. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor. Scoop the pesto into a bowl. Note, you will have a lot of leftover pesto which is great for another sandwich, pasta or as a side dip. Store in fridge with a squirt of lemon juice or slices-keeps it from browning.

2. Toast your bread. And heat your Chick'n patty. I microwave mine on high for 1 minute. Super easy.

3. Spread pesto on both slices of bread. Nice and thick.

4. Build the sandwich from the bottom up: onion slice, tomato slice, chick'n patty, pickles and finally the top half of bread with the pesto. You can add a bit of pepper to the center of any of these layers.

5. Stick two toothpicks in the sandwich and slice.

Enjoy!

I'm in love with spiral wraps. Again. Although, it's been a while since they caught my interest. (Enter my nineties flashback of a catered high school tennis team party featuring the never-before-seen spiral shaped veggie and turkey-cream-cheese-dill-stuffed hor d'oeuvres...) I remember the spiral flavor being muddled and milky, but somehow everyone snapped them up anyways. It was that gosh darn pretty spiral shape. It's hard to bypass the foodie-beauty of a beautiful round spiral.

Flat bread Spiral: 2010. Who says the spirals can't make a comeback. This is spirals gone modern. I picked up a package of whole wheat wrap flat bread at Whole Foods and decided to reinvent that silly lovable spiral sandwich. The result: my Bullseye Spiral Wrap. It's a double layered wrap packed with sliced roasted red peppers and my Micro Veggie Cream Cheese. I added two layers of wrap bread so that there was a bit more whole wheat goodness in each bite. Trust me, this lunchtime delight will be right on target for any crowd. School kids, work adults and fussy teenagers. Check out this simple recipe and lots of of how-to photos...

Sprial Memories. I remember my very first spiral wrap slice. I was a teenager. In the nineties. I was at a catered party for my tennis team. A large shiny platter of hor d'oeuvres was brought out featuring these unusual looking spiral sandwiches. It was hard to tell what was tightly rolled into them, but I tasted one anyways. It was filled with a thick cream cheese-like spread, too-much dill (or some other too pungently used herb), some lettuce filling and wrapped in a white-flour wrap shell. It was OK. Different. But the best part was that fun spiral presentation. That lovely spiral got me every time. I'm grab that hor d'oeuvre at any party just to check out that spiral center. We eat with our eyes first!

Healthy Target. I love this 'updated spiral' recipe. No yucky white-flour tortilla or thick dill-infused cream cheese. Just pure, fresh vegan ingredients making a perfect bullseye spiral design. OK, It's an abstract bullseye target. Not perfect. I love it because it's easy, yet incredibly flavorful. It's light enough to be a snack, yet depending on how much you eat-it can be quite substantial!

Spiral Filling. Roasted red bell peppers were another discovery of mine when I made this recipe. I'd never bought them before! The come in a large jar and there are about 4-5 large whole peppers stuffed into a liquid of sorts. The peppers are roasted to perfection-soft and succulent. It you noticed, roasted red pepper jars actually made it onto my Vegan Essentials kitchen list too. Red peppers are high in antioxidants and fiber. Plus they are fat free yet super decadent. My Micro Veggie Cream Cheese is the perfect compliment in these wraps. And there is a lot of veggies chopped into the cream cheese-to add to the health-appeal of this recipe.

Double Wrapped. I could have used just one wrap layer, but I wanted to give the spiral a nice sturdy shell so that kids could easily take these to lunch and not find a mushy mashed up spiral by noon. The double bread worked very well-although it is optional.

Or try these step-by-step directions:

1. First prepare your Micro Veggie Cream Cheese. Recipe and instructions here. Set aside. You can even pre-make the cream cheese the night before so it is all ready for you to spread the next day.

2. Grab two whole wheat flat bread wraps. You can optionally toast/warm them over a gas burner or in the oven for a few minutes. This will bring out the flavor of the bread, but is not necessary.

3. Pour your olive oil and lemon juice into a bowl and brush one side of each wrap with a bit of the mixture.

4. Next, spread your cream cheese onto one wrap layer. Fill the entire wrap surface area, but leave about one inch of space at one end blank of cheese-this will assist in keeping all the filling inside when you roll the wrap.

5. Sprinkle the cheese with black pepper (optional).

6. Next, grab your other layer of bread and place (on the olive oil brushed side) your red pepper strips. You can use as many strips as you'd like.

7. Next, place the pepper-topped wrap right on top of the cream cheese wrap. Both faced filling-side-up. They should be perfectly aligned/stacked on top of each other, and you should have a dry outer side of the wrap facing downside on the bottom layer.

8. Roll it up!

9. Slice it up-carefully. A sharp knife comes in handy here.

10. Plate and serve! You can also just do one slice down the center and pack this as a burrito-style wrap. The spiral will still be seen in that first bite, but the full wrap can be more portable.

Enjoy!!!

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Recipe ideas and inspiration can come from a number of crazy places. Well here's one sandwich idea born straight from the world of reality TV. Bravo TV ran its first season of NYC Prep this summer, and if you watched at all you may have noticed the prepsters take frequent visits to a trendy cafe called Aroma Espresso Bar. Well one of my favorite menu items at Aroma is the Health Sandwich (shown in image). It's a blend of grilled portobello mushrooms, fresh basil, sprouts and a zesty sun dried tomato spread. Well I fell in love with the flavor combo of "portobello and tomato" and crafted my own recipe: the Prepster Mushroom Marinara. This back to school-worthy sandwich will make any student (prepster, hipster, drama-doll, bookworm, jock or rebel) feel super cool, trendy and super satisfied. Check out my recipe...

Aroma's Health: "Grilled portobello mushrooms, basil, alfalfa sprouts and a thick sun-dried tomato spread on our fresh baked Aroma bread."

My Version is just as 'healthy' but adds a 'pizza-esque' twist to the sandwich that everyone will appreciate...

Prepster Mushroom Marinara Sandwich
vegan, makes one whole sandwich

2 slices soft whole wheat bread, extra thick preferred
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 tablespoon sun dried tomato spread*
*Use a store bought spread or make your own using 3 tablespoon chunky marinara sauce with 1 tablespoon chopped sun dried tomatoes mixed in.
½ cup arugula greens or spicy sprouts
1 slice vegan mozzarella cheese
1 large portobello mushroom cap
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
optional: sweet onion slices, dash of red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Slice into thick finger-sized slices.

2. Saute mushrooms in a skillet with oil, vinegar, pepper and salt.

3. Turn off heat, but leave shrooms in hot pan, add your slice of cheese on top of the mushrooms-let it naturally melt. The cheese will cool off the shrooms which is good for your sandwich texture. Set aside pan until mushrooms are needed.

4. Spread your sun dried tomato spread (homemade or store bought spread) on both slices of bread.

5. Place a layer of chopped basil on top of the sun dried tomato spread.

6. Layer your portobello mushrooms and cheese on top of the basil. The mushrooms should be a nice hearty-thick layer.

7. Add a layer of sweet onions and a dash of red pepper flakes (both optional).

8. Add a layer of arugula or sprouts.

9. Place top slice of bread on sandwich and slice in half.

I'm a big fan of TOMS Shoes. For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. Pretty awesome.

Vegan Wrap Boots for Fall! Not only does TOMS do a world of good for tiny feet in need across the globe, but they also have a few beachy-urban-chic vegan shoe styles. I've already ordered my vegan boots for fall, they look super cozy and sleek. Find Vegan TOMS Shoes! in the feel-good-while-you-shop online store.

Click ahead for a few of TOMS fall styles and get a limited time offer of $5 off your shoe purchase...

Newsflash: There's nothing wrong with a little in-between-meal snacking. Especially when you are a busy student with book reports, tests and teachers on the brain. In the world of a back-to-school, snacks are king!

Reality Check: Time for a sit-down dinner? No! Time for a study break snack? Yes! Here is my "Back to School" Series round-up of snack recipes...

"Back to School" Eats Series: Snacks

BONUS Tip: Classic Kid Snack Tip! Update "Ants on a Log" by using almond butter/dried cranberries - call it "Ladybugs on a Log"

1) Flying Saucer Edamame with "Space Sauce"
Can't seem to get your family to latch onto the idea of eating soy beans known as edamame? Try this! It's a space adventure with a healthy snack attached. Blast off for some maple cream space sauce and sweet protein-rich soy beans. Imagination not included...

2) Kitchen Sink Granola Bars
Granola bars: to-stay or to-go. You will never go back to store bought granola bars again. Customize my recipe to fit whatever ingredients you have lying around in your kitchen cupboards.

3) Micro Veggie Cream Cheese
Hiding veggies in your kids food is sooo last year. What's the new trend? My micro chop method! It's my new way to get kids to eat their veggies. It's not hiding, it's minimizing.

4) Easy Cheesy Party (or study) Tempeh
Simple (microwave-friendly), cheesy-goodness, high-protein study time or after school snack. Soy crisps, vegan cheese, tomatoes and a flavored tempeh is all you need for a high power 're-fuel your brain' snack.

5) Island Resort Papaya Bowl
Work-bound adults aren't the only people who need a vacation from time to time. Hard workers of all ages can crave the roar of some glossy aqua waves glistening off the sandy shore of a tropical island. Soft sand, a gardenia breeze and not a teacher in sight. OK, so maybe you can't send them to Tahiti every time a spelling test looms, but you can give them this papaya bowl and let their imagination do the rest!

6) Taste the Sunshine Study-Time "Fruit Plate"
Stuck inside studying? Sunshine-deprived? If you can't play in it, at least you can taste it! The classic fruit plate makes a perfect study time snack. The trick is to use high quality fruit and arrange it in an eye-pleasing way. Organic and locally grown fruit will get you extra credit. We eat with our eyes first, but the aroma of freshly chopped fruit will tickle your taste buds too...

7) Snack Smoothies
My go-to snack idea is a smoothie. So here are a few ideas to get your blender spinning! A large smoothie is a great snack to feed a hungry BUNCH of students!

8) Tomato-Free Mango Bruschetta
It's bruschetta, only it's tomato-free! Slightly sweeter to the palate, yet still rich in antioxidants and whole food nutrients. Even if your kids wouldn't dream of trying tomato bruschetta, give them this and they will be requesting it by name: "Mango Broo-sket-a" Please!

9) Toasty Chicks and Cashews
Turn boring, but healthy, garbanzo beans into a yummy bean and nut hand-to-mouth snack! You can customize the recipe to make it as sweet, salty or spicy as you'd like!

10) Another great link for you to check out: Healthier Snack Brands for "Junk Food"

And don't forget to check out Lunchbox Showstoppers in Part three of my Back to School Series...

Hiding veggies in your kids food is so last year. What's in? Minimizing your veggies with my Micro Chop Method!

Eat this: 6 radishes, 1 cup of carrots and 1 ½ cups of leafy green arugula. Try getting your kids to eat that raw veggie combo: Good luck. But what about if you micro chopped those healthy veggies into a creamy spreadable cream cheese dip that's totally snack-friendly? Perfect! Serve my recipe for vegan Micro Veggie Cream Cheese and you won't have to remind them to eat their veggies...because they just did! Click ahead for my recipe...

Micro Chop Method. I'm not a big fan of hiding veggies in food. However, I have no problem with minimizing them! The basic theory: chop your veggies into super small shreds, dices and bits. Tiny bits are easier to eat than big monster sized chunks. I think many adults will even appreciate this idea. After you've sliced and diced your veggies into the tiniest of bits, fold and whip them into a creamy spread. I love using vegan cream cheese. You can even use this same method in spreads like peanut butter, hummus and guacamole.

Healthy Veggie (and Fruit) Options. For cream cheese I love a colorful array of radishes, carrots, arugula or parsley. It's crunchy, healthy and zesty! Other healthy veggies (and fruit) that you can easily micro chop include: celery, spinach, bell peppers, apples, raw broccoli, radishes, fennel, olives, scallions, zucchini, cucumber, onions, bean sprouts, mushrooms, parsley, cilantro, basil, cabbage, jicama, and so much more! I just don't advise using anything mushy like tomatoes, strawberries or similar items.

Here is the recipe:

Micro Veggie Cream Cheese
vegan, makes 2 cups

1 cup vegan cream cheese
6 radishes
1 ½ cups arugula
1 cup organic baby carrots
pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Clean your produce.
2. Scoop cream cheese out into a large mixing bowl.
3. Micro chop your veggies in tiny dices, cubes, shreds and bits. I advise using a Chef's knife or a Santoku knife. I love my Mini Santoku knife from Crate and Barrel-only $10. I found a Mini Santoku Knife from Amazon only $6.99.
4. Scoop all the chopped veggies/fruit into your mixing bowl and whip well. Make sure to coat all the veggies in cream cheese and the manual mixing will whip some nice fluffy texture into the cream cheese.

5. Add some fine black pepper if you'd like.
6. Serve! Add a garnish of leftover micro veggies.

NOTES:
Optional Add-in: add an acid like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to your recipe. This will thin out the spread or dip and give it an acidic kick! And you can always get fancy by adding in other herbs, flavors and accents. Try everything from dill and paprika to soy sauce and maple syrup! Creativity folks...

Uses: Use it the same way you would any cream cheese. Makes a perfect snack-just add crackers! Spread it on bagels, toast, wraps, pitas and even as a veggie stick dip for double the veggies!

Anyone who has made granola bars at home knows how easy it is.

Warning: After reading this post, you will have no excuse for eating store-bought granola bars.

Everything but the kitchen sink! Make my recipe for Kitchen Sink Granola Bars your own: What ingredients do you have on hand? My ingredients included dried cherries and blueberries, chopped Brazil nuts, flax seed powder, raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and toasted coconut. I even stuck in a few dark chocolate chips to woo in the anti-granola-bar people. These bars are delicious and healthy as a high-energy on-the-go snack. You can even modify the recipe to make loose granola cereal. Call them custom, call them artisanal, just call them your own! Here's the recipe...

What's in your Bar??? Everyone will have a different bar. But just be sure and fill it with high fiber, nutrient-dense good for you ingredients! Some options include: raisins, dried apricots, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, prune pieces, almonds, cashews, dried pineapple, sesame seeds, peanuts, cacao nibs, cranberries, goji berries, whole flax seeds, pecans, crushed pretzels, cereal, dried banana and more! So many options. Good thing my recipe is so easy to customize.

My Bars. Here's what I put in my bars: dried Bing cherries, dried blueberries, unsweetened shredded coconut, roasted/salted almonds, Irish style oatmeal, blueberry flavored flax seed powder, chopped raw cashews, sunflower seeds, maple syrup and agave syrup. Note: I like to use a variety of sweeteners to build the flavors. You can use agave syrup, maple syrup, date paste, malt syrup, brown sugar or raw sugar. Honey is an option for non-vegans. Here's the basic recipe I use:

Below is the "Bars" Recipe. But if you'd like to simply make loose granola cereal here is the recipe:

Loose Granola Cereal
vegan

2 C. Steel cut oats
¾ C. Agave Syrup or Maple Syrup
4 tablespoon Canola, Grapeseed, Macadamia Nut or Olive Oil
½ C. Flax seed meal or wheat germ, pan toasted
1 ½ C. Dried fruit assortment
1 C. Unsweetened shredded coconut
1 ½ C. Chopped nuts (assorted)
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Toast the oatmeal, coconut and nuts with a splash of oil. Bake in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for ten minutes to toast.

2. Toss all remaining ingredients together with the toasted nut/oat mix.

3. Bake the granola for 20 minutes at 400 degrees - stirring mixture every 5 minutes. You really just want to dry toast the ingredients quickly.

4. Remove from oven. Then toss granola in a bowl and place in a bag for storage. Since you are using oil instead of butter, no refrigeration is required - and your granola will not firm up the way the bars will.

Kitchen Sink Granola Bars
vegan, makes one casserole sheet of bars

2 C. Steel cut oats
⅔ C. Wet sweetener (Agave Syrup or Maple Syrup)
¼ C. Another variety of sweetener (wet or dry)
4 tablespoon Vegan buttery spread
½ C. Flax seed meal or wheat germ, pan toasted
1 ½ C. Dried fruit assortment
1 C. Unsweetened shredded coconut (or more fruit/grains)
½ C. Whole nuts (for chunky texture)
1 C. Chopped nuts (assorted)
½ C. Seeds (sunflower, sesame, poppy, etc.)
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
*adjust salt based on how many of your nuts are pre-salted
spray canola or olive oil

optional:
*thin layer of dark chocolate chips as a topping
*Substitute half the buttery spread with a nut butter such as almond or peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Layer parchment paper or foil in a square casserole dish. Grease the insides with canola or olive oil.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add the oatmeal, coconut and nuts and toss well. Transfer this dry mix to the casserole dish. Spray a bit of spray oil on top of dry mix-this will aid the toasting process.

4. Place dish in oven to toast for 10 minutes.

5. Over low heat, toast your flax seed meal or wheat germ in a dry pan for about 1 minute. Transfer toasted meal to large mixing bowl.

6. Stove top: Place a soup pan over high heat. Add the buttery spread, liquid and dry sweeteners, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon. Heat until it has melted together and becomes bubbly. Turn heat to low.

7. Measure fruit and seed ingredients and place in large mixing bowl. Toss well.

8. By now, your ten minute oat/coconut/nut mix should be just about lightly toasted. Pull the casserole dish out of the oven Carefully transfer the toasted mix into the large mixing bowl.

9. Next, pour the butter/sugar hot liquid into the mixing bowl. Stir well until the mixture is thick, firm and well combined.

10. Pour the entire mixture into your lined casserole dish. Add any toppings (chocolate/crushed nuts/other).

11. Bake at 300 degrees for 35 minutes.

12. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing into bars. Allow to fully cool in fridge for storage. Bars will become chewy and firm in a cold fridge.

13. Store in individual plastic baggies for easy grab-n-go snacks!

This kid-friendly "space snack" is out of this world! You may find it tricky to get your family to eat protein-rich edamame (whole green soy beans). Well not anymore! My Flying Saucer Edamame, with "Space Sauce" Snack, makes munching on soy beans as easy and fun as "3-2-1 Blast Off!"

Healthy After School Snack. After a tiring day at school, it's time to slip into your spacesuit and head out into the galaxy to collect some tasty green moon rocks! Imagination not included. Get the recipe, how-to slide show and spaceship place mat ahead!...

More Space Sauce on your Moon Rocks Anyone? The plating for this intergalactic snack? A flying saucer spaceship. It's perfect for transporting your space travel treasures: green moon rocks! Otherwise known as edamame soy beans. Moon rock scoopers: rice crackers. Flavor accent: maple cream space sauce! Three ingredient "Space Sauce" is perfect for building moon rock cracker sandwiches. Get ready to launch into this fun for all ages after school (or work) snack.

Must See: The Spaceship Adventure in a Slideshow:

Healthy Space Snack. This snack is healthy because it contains protein-rich soy beans, crisp low-fat or fat-free rice crackers and a yummy vegan cream cheese based dipping sauce. You can use any variety of rice cracker: sesame, plain, wasabi, seaweed, spicy, vegetable, black sesame or brown sesame like mine. But the main ingredient is the star of the show: soy beans! Soy beans are rich in essential amino acids (complete chain proteins), fiber, essential fatty acids and soy isoflavones. It's not as easy as some people think to get kids (or adults!) to down those little green soybeans. This will assist you in that task. And if your family is already an edamame-fan, this snack is a fun way to perk up your bowl of edamame!

Crafting a Spaceship. This snack takes about ten minutes to make from start to finish. And that includes steaming the soy beans. Easy right? But enough about food, you'll need to make sure that you have enough supplies to build your flying saucer spaceship! Lets get to it!...

Flying Saucer Spaceship Edamame with "Space Sauce"
vegan, makes one spaceship plate plus extra "Space Sauce"

Spaceship Supplies:
1 small clear juice glass, hold about 1 cup of beans/
1 plate, medium sized
*any color/shape will work
1 snack plastic baggy

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked edamame soy beans
*I use pre-shelled/frozen beans
10-16 rice crackers
Space Sauce, about 2 tablespoon per plate/ship

Space Sauce
vegan, makes more than enough for one plate
4-5 heaping tablespoon vegan cream cheese
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:

1. First, make the space sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir briskly with a spoon until all the cream cheese lumps are gone and you have a beige-gray-colored creamy smooth sauce.

2. Transfer the space sauce to your zippable plastic baggie. Seal tightly and place in the fridge to harden up a bit.

3. Steam cook the soybeans. I simply place my entire bag of pre-shelled frozen soybeans into the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Poke a few holes to vent the steam. If you don't like using microwaves, you can easily steam them stove top. I store the leftover beans in the fridge for snacking and salads. Cold edamame is delicious!

4. Grab your glass. Fill your clear juice glass with about 1 cup of beans-or enough to reach the brim of the glass. Pack them in tightly. If you'd like, you can grind a bit of fresh black pepper over the cooked beans before packing them into the glass. Depending on whether you like the taste of cold or warm beans better (I like cold edamame best). If you need to cool off just-cooked beans, stick them in the fridge for a few minutes.

5. Next, grab your spaceship plate. Place it upside down on, balanced on top of the bean-filled juice glass. Flip the plate and glass over carefully so that your plate is now laying flat and your secured bean cup is upside down in the middle of the plate. If any liquid seeps out of the cup-wipe it off with a napkin. Place your plate in the fridge to chill for about 5-10 minutes if you are going for the cold beans theme...


6. Next, grab your space sauce from the fridge (it should have firmed up a tad) and cut a TINY corner end off of the baggie. This will be your squeeze baggie.

7. Slowly squeeze out a (¼-1/2 inch thick) line around the very edge of the plate.

8. Next, secure your rice crackers on the edge of the plate by sticking them half in the space sauce drizzle. You're done! Now the fun part..

9. Bring the completed spaceship to your diners and announce the spaceship landing (spaceship sounds are optional, but recommended).

10. Announce that the spaceship will now be unloaded, and inside lie the collected galaxy space treasure: moon rocks!!!

11. You (or your kids) can now lift up the juice cup (gently) to allow the beans, aka moon rocks, to spill all over the plate. The moon rocks can now be collected and eaten as you wish.

12. Extra Space Sauce can be drizzled on the ship, over the moon rocks or poured into a re-fueling station side-cup.

Happy space travels! Happy eating!

...Moon Rock Cracker sandwich anyone???...

Need some more SPACE ADVENTURE inspiration:

Download a Spaceship Controls PDF placemat:

Download a Planets Placemat:

Blast off!!!

Larger Slideshow-click to view:

For the past few weeks, The Food Network has been running a stream of its Chefography shows, and I must admit, I've been loving them. Here are ten cool facts about the Food Network chefs and stars that I learned from tuning in. There's actually ten featured FN stars and more then ten facts!...

1. Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. Ina is a smarty! She worked in the White House before making it big as The Barefoot Contessa. She also had a habit of sending her future-husband boxed brownies in the mail throughout their courtship days. And by the way, Ina always adds a pinch of freeze-dried coffee to her chocolate brownie recipes. She says the coffee enhances the complexity of the chocolate flavor. And I agree-great tip!

2. Bobby Flay. Bobby is a self-admitted wild child when it came to traditional schooling. He dropped out of school at age 17. However Bobby did eventually get his GRE and culinary schooling-at which he excelled greatly. Bobby likes to say that he went to UCLA. Not the UCLA in California, but the University of the Corner of Lexington Avenue. (Lexington is a main city street in NYC). Bobby is a NYC native-his heart belongs to NYC and his beautiful Texas-born wife actress Stephanie March.

3. Giada De Laurentiis. Giada was born in Rome, Italy. She has a very 'Hollywood' film industry involved family. She has a sister who is a makeup artist, and a brother named Igor. When Giada went to Culinary School in France she says she gained 15 pounds from all the pastry's and goodies she would make in class...and then eat without restraint. Before Giada moved to FN she was a private chef for a family in Los Angeles. Giada's FN show is taped in several real kitchens in homes around the Los Angeles area. Real homes, not a studio. One show can take up to 2-3 days to shoot. Giada's friends and family laugh at her early FN episodes because they say she looks 'pissed' and 'mad' in most of the shots. She does...it's quite funny because obviously Giada has really bloomed on camera since then. Giada married her husband Todd in 2003, though they had been dating since 1991. He proposed in Central Park and Giada was so stunned that she didn't respond right away. She laughs that Todd looked like he might cry when she was stunned into silence. He was fine once he heard her answer though...

4. Ace of Cakes, Duff Goldman. Duff used to be quite the juvenile delinquent. (Although he obviously is a rebellious type of creative genius.) He used to cover the concrete underpasses of Baltimore's freeways with beautiful spray paint graffiti art. The best part: his mom used to take photos of his illegal artistry. Duff is embarrassed to admit that he quit a job at the acclaimed Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry, simply because 'he got yelled at'.

5. Rachel Ray. Rachel's big break was when she was given a cooking segment with Al Roker on the Today Show on NBC. It was a huge blizzard day and a guest had to cancel last minute. Fill in: Rachel Ray, a cook from Lake George NY. Because it was a blizzard, everyone and anyone was at home with their TV's on...watching little Rachel Ray make some soup. Her energy, spunk and sparkling personality won everyone over-including FN execs. Rachel is a very hard worker. Mario Batali says she has a work ethic like no one else!

6. Mario Batali. Mario had one of the first FN shows: Molto Mario. On one episode, Mario grated carrots and the side of his hand on-air and quickly thought up to hide the bloody injury in a bowl of mushed tomatoes. In the clip after the commercial break Mario's hand is covered in a giant bandage with no explanation to the viewers.

7. The Neely's. Gina and Pat Neely may have been high school sweethearts, but they didn't get back together until their ten year high school reunion. Gina was actually married and divorced earlier on in her life before reuniting with Pat. Pat's restaurant Neely's BBQ, likes to say "there is always a Neely at The Neely's restaurant". I wonder if that's still true!

8. Sandra Lee. Before she made it big on Food Network, you may remember Sandra from her uberly-successful late 1980's/early 90's infomercial for Kurtain Kraft. The infomercial was hosted by known other than "Mrs. Brady" Florence Henderson. Sandra's venture was a huge success, which was a big change from how she grew up. Sandra had a difficult childhood that involved welfare, food stamps and an mother in poor mental and physical health. Sandra says she was forced to act like a parent to her four younger siblings long before she had left her own childhood years.

9. Guy Fieri. Guy was forced to leave his pregnant wife in order to compete on the second season of The next Food Network Star. Good thing he did, because he won. He won a 6 episode deal with the Food Network, and the rest is Triple D history!

10. Food Network. In the very early days of The Food Network, the shows were taped without stopping-first take/one take style! Another crazy fact, there was actually no oven in one studio where chefs like Bobby and Mario did cooking shows. A hilarious clip shows how Mario would pretend to place his pans in an 'oven' that was actually just a hidden shelf. He'd slam the cupboard door to fake the sound of an oven door closing.

If you missed the Chefography series last week on Food Network you may be able to catch a few repeat episodes in the future. Guy Fieri's Chefography is repeating this week.

Check the Food Network Program Guide Schedule.

The secret ingredient for the upcoming Veggie Conquest vegan cooking competition is apples! Since I am a judge it is a good thing I love apples. The specified meal course is entree. Glad it's not apple desserts since I'm not really the biggest fan of apple pie! I'm a cherry pie girl myself. I can't wait to let you all know how the dishes turn out next weekend at the competition in Chelsea, NYC. Click ahead to find out a few of the things I might be looking for in the apple entree entries...

Apples in an Entree Tips...

*Use the right variety of apple for your dish! Some apples cook better than other and some are better raw.

*Avoid the mush! I despise mushy apples. No mush please...

*Cinnamon and Apples? Hmm... a little cliche. So don't solely depend on this flavor combo unless you have the best cinna-apples on the planet!

*Tartness in apples is one of their best qualities. If you can not let the sweet overpower that tangy apple tartness, you just may get some points.

*Quality of apples is very important. Trust me, I'll be able to tell if you got your apples from the non-organic bargain bin vs. the top quality organic apple selection at Whole Foods.

*Organic is best.

*Since I am a health-conscious person, the healthiness factor will play a part in my judging! Yummy can be healthy!!!

Good Luck!!!

www.veggieconquest.com

PS..I heard there is still room for one more chef if you are interested!

A fennel bulb the size of a lemon? So average. I craved some really fabulous fennel. Monster fennel: found!

Monster Fennel. Nothing is more inspiring to me than a big beautiful piece of produce. Give me a giant fuzzy peach with leaf and stem in tact, a plump shiny tomato picked off a rustic green vine or a bright white bulb of crisp crunchy fennel. My foodie endorphins go wild. So when I found this over-sized fennel bulb sitting all alone at the market, I had to buy it and I had to share my market find with you. Fennel slaw, braised fennel with maple lemon glaze or maybe raw fennel crudites. I think I have enough for all these dishes and more. Happy fennel Friday to me. I hope this mini-post inspires you to head out to your local farmers market this weekend and discover your own produce treasure. Even more fennel photos ahead...

I like a good 'dining out' challenge! A few weeks ago I had a rare opportunity to journey out to the land of suburbia known as central Long island New York, and eat at Bobby Flay's new restaurant Bobby's Burger Palace. How did a vegan like me end up at a burger joint?

The Three Year Old Always Wins. My husband and I were visiting friends. Friends with a 3 year-old and 3 month-old. Thus, when it came to deciding where to eat at 5pm on a Sunday, it was the three year-old who got the final vote: "Bobby's Burger Palace!" he shouted. Apparently Bobby has found his target burger audience: toddlers! The three year-old loves this place! But would I? I love Bobby Flay, so I was excited to see how his brand new business venture was faring, far out of the bright city lights, tucked away in the suburban town of Smithtown. And this is no Mesa Grill or Bar Americain, this time, Bobby's restaurant isn't located in the middle of snazzy Manhattan. It's located in, of all things, a mall. Check out how my hungry vegan stomach fared at BBP...

Yummy Veggie Burgers Exist. I recently read that Bobby has never eaten a veggie burger that he likes. Well Bobby, I challenge you to a Veggie Burger throwdown. One bite of my Mean Green Edamame burger or my Thanksgiving in July Backyard Burger and you will be knocked out and I will will be declared the winner.

Veggie Burger? As I perused the online menu before we hopped in the car, I figured that I'd get the veggie burger. The only problem, and this is a big one, there is no veggie burger on the menu! Big bummer. You can indeed substitute the main burger with say a turkey burger or chicken breast, but no veggie burger! Big sigh. But I didn't give up there. I like to pride myself on being a vegan who can eat just about anywhere, and keep a smile on my face. So we hopped in the car and I put on my game face.

BBP. I have to admit, Bobby's Burger Palace is really fun place. We entered at around 5pm on a Sunday, just as the evening rush of local families came piling in the door. This was a big rush! I never realized so many people eat dinner at 5pm! All the sudden little kids, big kids, stroller kids, babies, moms, dads and friends came plowing through the door to get in the order-up line. You see there are no formal waiters at BBP. You simply get in line, give your order to the cashier, take your number, sit down at a table or the wavy burger bar and the friendly food delivery folks bring you your meal. Very low key, very casual, incredibly family-friendly.
(Families, kids...another really important reason why a healthy veggie burger should be on the menu).

Order-Up! I scanned the large ten foot menu plastered on the wall. Hmm... There was an array of burgers: the Crunchburger, Dallas Burger, Santa Fe Burger, Napa Valley Burger...you get the idea. Each burger was based around a region of the United States. My friend got the L.A. Burger which had a nice helping of Avocado Relish and Watercress. I was impressed with the watercress ingredient. The burgers ranged from $6.50-$7.50. And any burger could be crunchified if desired. What is crunchified?...

Crunchified-adding a layer of potato chips to your burger.

Do You Have a Veggie Burger? I stepped up to the plate (otherwise known as the cashier) and I had to ask my question "Do you have any veggie burgers?" I knew that answer already, but I still like to make an impression. I secretly hope that the cashier will relay my question to her manager, who will in turn relay that question to the head chef who will in turn inform Bobby Flay himself that 'people' have been asking about a veggie burger. Who knows if my question ever even makes it to the kitchen, but at least I tried. So what did I order: the big salad. I ordered the Crunch Salad with no cheese. I made sure the balsamic dressing was vegan. I also ordered a side of sweet potato fries. To drink, I'd stick with the iced tea.

My Vegan Crunch Salad:

Sweet Potato Fries:

Shakes and Gripes. I was surprised to see ten different varieties of milkshakes on the menu. Ten! Including a blueberry-pomegranate flavor. OK, ten kinds of milkshakes but no veggie burger?! I looked around the room at all the little kids chowing down on their meals and felt a bit sad that they didn't have the option of ordering a veggie burger. I remember as a kid myself, even before I was a vegetarian, I'd always order the Soy Burger from Carpo's in Santa Cruz California (my hometown). I didn't have to order it, I just liked it better than the meat options. And it lead me to experiment even more with veggie food options.

My Review: Bobby's Burger Palace, BBP.
Restaurant and tested food: "Crunch Salad" "Sweet Potato Fries"

Shelf Appeal: The Restaurant: The interior impressed me. Super cool! I must say I felt like I was taken back to a 1950's burger joint and transported to a Jetson's style burger bar all at the same time. Classic, yet modern. High energy. Tons of space to sit and move around, and that long wavy burnt-brown burger bar is super cool. BBP is like a pimped out casual dining restaurant. I loved the vibrant lighting and modern see-through kitchen window. High energy atmosphere. Fun and smiles abound-I can't argue that...
The Food: The salad looked, well, like a big salad I might get at a pizza place. Garbanzo beans, green romaine lettuce, balsamic dressing. It was served on a plate, which was a bit messy. The fries looked beautiful in a shiny silver can and wrapped in a strip of parchment paper. Crunchy and not over cooked-they looked and smelled fresh and delicious. The option for sweet potato fries instead of white made me super pleased.

Inside BBP, Snazzy Burger Bar Lighting:

Label Check: Unlike NYC, there are no labeling requirements for menus on Long Island. So I really have no idea what the caloriage was. However, the fries were not greasy, which is a great sign. And the salad was in a balsamic dressing that did not seem overly oily. I probably should've asked for dressing on the side since they put more on than I would've liked. The salad was packed with various healthy veggies and beans, but those crispy tortilla strips were not doing anything for me nutrition-wise. Stating the obvious: BBP's main priority is not the health-factor. But healthy is still doable.

Taste Test: I was really hungry. So my first bite of a sweet potato fry tasted like heaven. Warm and creamy on the inside, crisp and chewy on the outside. Yum. I don't eat fries all that often, so this was a treat. I'm glad they were good fries. The salad was better than I expected. The dressing had a nice tangy flavor and the salad greens were dark (romaine is better than iceberg at least). The beans were fine. Nothing over the top great, but for a casual family dining experience, it passed the test.

Price Check: Very reasonable. Wow I can say that I ate at a Bobby Flay restaurant for just over $10! $3 for the fries, $7.50 for the salad and around $2 for a beverage. Bobby Flay on a budget.

Last Word: I probably won't be going back to BBP anytime soon. Unless Bobby comes to his senses and puts a simple vegan veggie burger on the menu. I'd make a special trip just to review it. So Bobby, veggie burger please!!! Do it for the little vegetarian kids out there! (About 10% of the population including kids, claim to be veggie eaters!)

The Plentiful Sauces Selection:

French Fries:

Sante Fe Burger, Crunchified (not vegan, obviously...just posting this for the curious. No vegan hate mail please!) 🙂

Smithtown Mall Entrance to BBP:

Bobby's Burger Palace

BBP even tweets: http://twitter.com/bobbysburgerpal

Update: I found this interesting quote from Bobby about Veggie burgers at his new BBP:
“I’m not interested,” Flay said, when asked what his feelings were on veggie burgers at Bobby’s Burger Palace, a new restaurant he’s opened.

“And I say that only because I’ve never had a veggie burger that I really liked. I’m very sensitive to vegetarians’ needs; I deal with it every day of my life. I think it’s a very, very important part of cuisine these days. It’s challenging to create creative vegetarian meals. That’s something we do at the other restaurants. But a veggie burger, I think it’s something I have not found that I can do well, so I’m not going to do it. I don’t want to serve something that’s subpar. ”
VegetarianStar has the complete report.

I have a strong love hate relationship with soy. I think. OK, it's more of a love relationship, to be honest with you. I mean, soy is indeed a veg*n's best friend, right? Or is it? You can certainly find a lot of substantial evidence for both sides of the soy story. More on this later...

Kitchen Table Questions About Soy. I'm not going to simply regurgitate the conflicting data spread across thousands of published articles on soy. I prefer to start with what I know for certain: my food. The kind I eat. Whole food. So as I sit here plucking tiny tender green soy beans, known as edamame, from their never-been-opened by man green bean shells, I start my investigation with a few kitchen-table thoughts.

The Many Faces of Soy. Fact: My edamame soy beans are whole foods that were farmed, picked and piled into frozen bags to be shipped to Whole Foods Market where I bought them. Easy. But that white creamy soy milk inside my fridge and that oddly perfectly cubed block of tofu are a bit more mysterious to me. There is no tofu tree or soy milk plant. So I just ask: What is a soy bean? Where do my soy products come from? And why in the world are my soy beans green when my soy milk and tofu is white? Lets find out...

Is Soy Good for You? Yes! And no? Let's discuss. Soy contains a complete amino acid profile when it comes to vegetarian protein, and soy contains the nutrition-buzzword soy isoflavones, which may be beneficial in lowering your risk of everything from cancer to heart disease. But perhaps like me, you've heard a few rumors discussing the dark side of soy. A number of published studies have shown that too much soy may be a bad thing. So, who do we believe? Asian cultures have been eating high amounts of soy for centuries, and appear to be doing just fine. In fact, Japan continues to have a soaring life expectancy age of 82 years of age. Impressive. So as I said above, my investigation of soy will start at my kitchen table, rather than an article database.

Why are my Edamame Soy Beans Green? This is an easy answer: not all soybeans are green. Just as not all coconuts are brown and not all mushrooms are the size of a portobello mushroom. It all depends of when and why that food was harvested. It's age of maturity in the growing process. A good example to examine is a coconut...

Young vs. Old Coconuts. Those brown, small, hard and fuzzy coconuts are simply, old-mature. Inside they have a thick white flesh shell and a small amount of coconut water/milk gushing around inside. Grind the flesh and water together, and you get 'coconut milk'. Coconut milk is high in fat and a thick white color. However, take that same coconut at an earlier stage in its life and you would find it to be large, green, with a smooth shell and filled with only a thin amount of a creamy white flesh and a lot of gushing liquid (or endosperm) known as coconut water. Grind up this coconut water and flesh and you will get a different version of 'coconut milk'. Same coconut, different age, different insides. I even discussed this back when I found a mysterious white coconut a while back. The same basic theory of young vs. old, applies to my green edamame. Young soy beans are green, sweeter and used to make edamame. While a mature or aged soy bean will be beige to brown and will most likely used to make soy products such as tofu and soy milk. They may also be dried and sold as soy nuts.

What is Tofu? Tofu is coagulated soy milk. Simple as that. Green Options posted a great description of the process:

"To make tofu, we use soy milk. Now, most commercial tofu makers make their own soy milk, which anyone can do by soaking, grinding, boiling, and straining dried (or, less commonly, fresh) soybeans.

When you have your soy milk, you then need to add a coagulant. When you coagulate something, you cause it to curdle. In other words, you transform it from a liquid into a soft semisolid or solid mass. "

Tofu is made from White Soy Milk. So now that we have the tofu mystery solved (tofu is white because it is made from white soy milk). Why is soy milk white if my edamame is green? Well as I hinted, soy milk is usually made from mature and/or dried soy beans which are beige or brown in color. The processing of these beans leads to a milky white soy milk color. Thus, soy milk is white because it is commercially not made from young beans.

Which Bean is Better? So my next question is: what is the difference between young and old soy beans? I know that the nutrition properties of 'old' coconut milk vs. 'young' coconut water varies drastically. So why don't I ever hear the difference between mature soy milk beans and young soy bean edamame?

Lets investigate:

Google Searching for Image Answers. A image never lies, so maybe I could find some answers from the image search web. My quest: find out if green tofu or green soy milk exists! Oddly enough, when I googled "green tofu" for images, the first few images that came up were of a Green Tofu Salad that I posted a while back. It used white tofu and some edamame-not what I'm seeking. But a few pages down, I did find this interesting image of actual green tofu made from edamame beans. Green Tofu Link here.

Green Soy Milk? Next, I googled "green soy milk" and found one photo of an adventurous blogger who indeed made her own homemade soy milk using green colored soy beans. Note that these were not 'edamame' but rather black hulled soy beans that are green in color when the black shell is removed. Just as I imagined, the soy milk made from green colored beans came out a pale green color, rather than a milky white. Brilliant! Looks delicious! Green Bean Soy Milk Link here.

NOTE: Make your Own Soymilk? If you have ever attempted to made soy (or soya) milk from edamame beans please let me know! I've found a few text references to it online, but an actual blog post with recipe/images cannot be found. Anyone adventurous out there to try it with your soymilk machine???

What is Healthier? Green or White? So now that I've discovered that commercial tofu and soy milk is simply not made with green soy beans, thus is not green, my new question is: what is healthier? Edamame or mature soy beans?

Nutritionally Speaking. If edamame is healthier, then perhaps my soy milk, burgers and tofu should be coming from those yummy green beans instead of white/beige! And maybe I should be tossing whole edamame beans into my salad rather than chunks of white tofu.

The Facts:

If you compare young beans (edamame) to mature soy beans, there are indeed a few nutritional differences, although the basic components of fat/carbs/protein stay generally the same. Here are the biggest changes in nutrient profiles:

Nutrient facts for these serving sizes:

Edamame (⅓ cup).
Mature beans (a bit more than ⅓ cup due to water content changes)
Both servings contain 113 calories.

Potassium
Edamame (young/green): 14% RDA
Mature Soy Beans (white/beige): 10% RDA

Calcium
Edamame: 15% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 7% RDA

Thiamin
Edamame: 22% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 7% RDA

Selenium
Edamame: 2% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 7% RDA

Vitamin C
Edamame: 37% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 2% RDA

Iron
Edamame: 15% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 19% RDA

Manganese
Edamame: 21% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 27% RDA

Copper
Edamame: 5% RDA
Mature Soy Beans: 13% RDA

CONCLUSION: So I've answered a few fascinating questions regarding soy beans:

*Soy milk is white because it is processed commercially from white or beige 'mature' soy beans. If it were to be made from young edamame beans, it would indeed take on a more greenish color.

* Tofu is not green because it is made from soy milk. Green tofu is possible if you use a soy milk made form edamame.

*While the nutrient profiles for young vs. old soy beans vary slightly, it is not so drastic to turn you off of commercially processed soy products vs. edamame soy products that you could make at home with a soy milk machine.

*lastly, whole foods that are as close to their natural grown state as possible are always best. Processing will almost always affect the food in both appearance and nutritional value. So while processed soy products are good and well, whole soy beans (young and old) that have not been processed are the optimal way to consume soy.

Everything in moderation. And eat a mix of edamame/tofu/soy milk.

Here it is! The "Back to School" breakfast round-up to last you until finals...or the pre-school graduation ceremony. You see, these breakfast recipes are for everyone, but students and parents will especially appreciate them.

Got Breakfast? Featured ahead are links to all of today's brain-power boosting breakfast recipes, as well as a host of other kid-friendly/adult-worthy breakfast ideas. All healthy and vegan! Bookmark this page! It's instant breakfast inspiration...

Back to School Breakfast Recipes

1) Pop Quiz Toast-Ups!
This grab-n-go recipe has a lesson hidden beneath its toasted layers: there is no excuse to skip breakfast! Got it? Now check out these Toast-Ups!

2) Pluot and Plum Perfect Parfait
Here's a 'plumb' perfect summer fruit parfait that even Mark Twain would adore. Crunchy raw Brazil nuts, vanilla soy yogurt and sweet tart plums and pluots. It's my answer to granola fatigue: a granola-free parfait! And find out why I call this my 'Tom Sawyer' parfait.

3) Kiwi Cherry Almond Oatmeal
Mom, there's kiwis in my oatmeal!!!
I know.
Oh. Yum!

4) Tofu Scramble "Good Morning" Pasta
Tofu scramble and pasta??? It may seem a bit odd, but the flavors of sweet soy cream, fresh oranges, pasta and tofu scramble are a perfect way to start a brain-power-needed kind of day. Protein, complex carbohydrates and all the sweet orange juice flavor you crave to wake you up and send you to the head of your class.

5) Morning Melon Bowl
All great things start with simplicity. And it doesn't get any simpler than this! Just grab a spoon...melon bowl bliss.

6) Tiki Squares. Oatmeal Bake.
Bake it once, it will last you all week long. Coconut, cashew and banana tropical flavors make something as simple as oatmeal into something exciting! And it's even portable, you can't say that about oatmeal in a bowl.

7) Breakfast Smoothies
My go-to breakfast is a smoothie. So here are a few ideas to get your blender spinning!

8) Savory brunch Melty Muffin
Forget those fast-food morning muffins! It's easy to make your own morning muffin at home. Pile it high with healthy ingredients like tempeh bacon, soy-sage, vegan cheese, fresh tomatoes, onions, maple syrup drizzle, zesty greens and much more. Here's a delicious morning muffin to inspire you...

And don't forget to check out Super Duper Silly Snacks in Part two of my Back to School Series...

Yawn. Stretch. Wait, no alarm? What time is it? Oh no! You overslept!

Admit it, you've been there. And the chances are pretty good that you or someone in your household will experience the "I'm sooo late!" syndrome sometime in the near future. And when time gets crunched, a healthy breakfast usually takes a back seat to a 'no breakfast at all' morning. Bad idea. Bad habit! Skipping breakfast is a habit that can be formed at a young age and last through adulthood. So, don't do it! But on the other hand, don't grab that silver-wrapped sugar-filled toaster tart either. Grab something healthy and fast: my Pop Quiz Toast-Ups! They are portable, contain only 3 ingredients each and the flavor combo possibilities are endless. This is a recipe with a life long lesson that goes with it! Check it out, because you never know when a 'pop quiz' is right around the corner...

The Moral of the Recipe is... OK, OK this recipe is super duper simple. Simplicity is the root of greatness, in my humble opinion. So you have to look a bit deeper than the simple Toast-Ups recipe itself. There is a lesson here. By feeding your kids (or your hubby, siblings or self) this easy to-go breakfast (instead of skipping or skimping on healthy eats), you are teaching a very important lesson: "there is never a good reason to skip breakfast". There have been numerous studies that show that adults who regularly eat breakfast are reaping the health benefits from it. Breakfast stabilizes your blood sugar, breaks your all-night no-food fast and supplies your brain and body with the much needed carbohydrates it craves in the morning. So teach your kids that eating breakfast at home or on the go can be as easy as "Bread it. Spread it. Fill it. Fold it. But Don't Spill it!!!"

Sell it to the Kids! There's even an easy song to sing as you quickly create your on-the-go meal: "Bread it! Spread it! Fill it! Fold it! Just don't spill it!"

Bread it: Grab the bread.
Spread it: Spread your filling ingredient.
Fill it: Stuff it with fruit.
Fold it. Carefully fold over half the bread-no cutting allowed! Think taco-style, not sandwich.
Just don't spill it...

One simple recipe, endless combos! The basic recipe for Pop Quiz Toast-Ups is simple. I'm sure you've even made similar open face toast for breakfast before. But the trick is that you fold over the bread, without cutting it so that all the contents go in your mouth and not on your lap. Because when you are eating in a hurry you don't want a food malfunction all over your wardrobe! The three components are 1) the bread 2)a spread 3) the fresh fruit filling.

Here is the basic recipe:

Pop Quiz Toast-Ups
makes two toast-ups

2 slices of bread
*sprouted grain is suggested
2 tablespoon of spread
2 tablespoon of thinly sliced fruit filling

Here are a few filling ideas...

Spreads
almond butter
peanut butter
cashew nut butter
sunflower seed butter
tofu cream cheese

Fruits
apples
bananas
berries
peaches
mangoes
pears
pineapple
kiwi
pomegranate seeds
dried goji berries
apricots
dried cherries

Recipe Ideas:
Peaches and veggie cream tofu cheese
banana and any nut butter
strawberries and plain tofu cream cheese
apples and any nut butter
pears and peanut butter
mango and cream tofu cheese

Try it Savory! Want even more flavor combos? Try a few savory toast-ups:

Savory Spreads
hummus
bean dip
melted vegan cheese
tahini
mashed avocado

Savory Fillings
tomatoes
spinach
olives
peppers
cucumbers
arugula
sprouts
carrots

Sometimes a fresh fruit and nut parfait is all I need in the morning. Plus, it's kinda like eating a sundae for breakfast! In the summer months, I adore my Pluot and Plum Perfect Parfait. Creamy vanilla soy yogurt, seasonal plum and pluot diced fruit, chopped raw Brazil nuts and a drizzle of real maple syrup. This recipe is super kid-friendly to eat and make! And my 'plumb perfect' parfait has another childhood twist to it: I call it my "Tom Sawyer" parfait. Find out why and get the recipe ahead...

Granola Fatigue. I'm really bored by granola in my yogurt parfaits. I'm not a huge fan of granola cereal, so why mush it in my yogurt. You may feel differently, but give this recipe a try and see if you go back to grains. I find that simple chopped nuts add all the crunch I need to get me through the yummy layers. Dry granola just makes me thirsty! Granola free parfaits are the answer to a hydrating yet satisfying yogurt-based breakfast.

Healthy Parfait. What do you get (nutritionally speaking) when you munch this parfait? Antioxidants and fiber from the fruit. Protein and probiotics from the yogurt. Fiber and healthy fats from the nuts. Nutrition approved!

My Tom Sawyer Parfait. I have such fond childhood memories of the classic American novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" written by Mark Twain. In fifth grade I was in my first big school play, Tom Sawyer. I played Amy Lawrence, Tom's sassy ex-girlfriend. I loved it. I got to wear a poofy blue gingham dress (complete with bloomers). My hair was done up with large bouncy curls. And I got to talk in a sweet southern girl accent. And one of the catchy sayings found throughout the play and novel is the southern slang term "plumb". It's a way to exaggerate your point. Try it:

Instead of saying: "It's so hot outside."
You say: "It's plumb hot outside!"
Instead of saying: "We ran all the way to the river and back in five minutes. We were really tired."
Say this: "We ran plumb to the river and back in five minutes! Golly we were plumb tired!"
Fun, right? 🙂

Now that you have the lingo down, here's the recipe for this summer sweet parfait that tastes as pure and gleeful as childhood.

Pluot and Plum Perfect Parfait
vegan, makes two parfaits
*Super kid-friendly breakfast or treat

1 ripe purple plum, diced
1 ripe yellow, purple or red pluot, diced
¾ cup whole raw Brazil nuts, rough chopped by hand
2 cups Vanilla Soy Yogurt (1 cup per parfait)
*I used the Wildwood brand of yogurt
1 teaspoon maple syrup (½ teaspoon in each parfait)

Directions:
1)This is super simple. Yay. So step one is to grab a tall parfait glass and smile wide as you layer your ingredients!
2) Layer a scoop of the first fruit (about 1 tsp)
3) Layer a pinch of nuts (about 1 tsp)
4) Layer a scoop of yogurt (about 1 Tbsp)
5) Layer a scoop of the other color of fruit (about 1 tsp)
6) Repeat until you make it to the top brim of the glass!
7) Top with a few fresh fruit chunks, nuts and a 1 teaspoon drizzle of maple syrup.

After your first bite say: "Wow! This is plumb delicious!"

How classic Tom Sawyer of you.

BONUS LITERARY FUN: You can even recite lines form the classic Tom Sawyer novel. Here are a few passage to read aloud:

"Well, to cut the tale short, we never left there till plumb noon; and long before that I was hid in this stateroom; for before breakfast I see a man coming, away off, that had a gait like Hal Clayton`s, and it made me just sick. I says to myself, if he finds out I`m aboard this boat, he`s got me like a rat in a trap. All he`s got to do is to have me watched, and wait--wait till I slip ashore, thinking he is a thousand miles away, then slip after me and dog me to a good place and make me give up the di`monds, and then he`ll--oh, I know what he`ll do! Ain`t it awful--awful!"

"We waited plumb till dawn for them
to come back, and kept hoping they would, but they never did.
We was awful sorry and low-spirited. All the hope we had
was that Jake had got such a start that they couldn't get
on his track, and he would get to his brother's and hide
there and be safe."

Aunt Sally glad to see Tom:
"Where HAVE you been a-loafing to, you good-for-nothing
trash! I've been that worried about you I didn't know what
to do. Your traps has been here ever so long, and I've
had supper cooked fresh about four times so as to have it
hot and good when you come, till at last my patience is
just plumb wore out, and I declare I--I--why I could skin
you alive! You must be starving, poor things!--set down,
set down, everybody; don't lose no more time."

-Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Buy the Tom Sawyer book. It's one of my childhood favorites:

Last Sunday afternoon I watched the premiere episode of Ten Dollar Dinners with Food Network Star winner Melissa d'Arabian. My review of the show was basically that Melissa was awesome and that I'd watch again, but her menu could use a few big-time tweeks on the health-appeal factor. So I decided to step up to the 'dinner' plate and give her menu my best shot, but this time using all vegan, healthier-version ingredients. For example, instead of white flour I used spelt. Instead of white potatoes I used sweet potatoes. I substituted the bacon with my crispy tempeh bacon (facon) bits. I even tested out her 'applesauce granita' recipe. I must admit that there were more than a few surprises for me during this task. See how it all turned out...

Melissa's Recipe, My Tweeks. I must admit that as much as I bashed the health value of Melissa's Bacon-Potato Torte, it wasn't all bad because clearly it inspired me to try a new recipe of my own. Here is how I tweeked Melissa's Recipe:

Here is Melissa's Recipe and my changes:

Melissa's Potato-Bacon Torte
Ingredients:
* 4 strips bacon --> 1 cup crispy tempeh bacon bits
* 3 sprigs fresh thyme --> no change
* ⅔ cup heavy cream --> ½ cup Soy Milk Creamer/veggie broth
* 2 Pie Crusts, recipe follows (changes below)
* 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled --> 1 large sweet potato, peeled
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper --> no change
* ¼ cup grated Gruyere cheese --> ¼ cup vegan white cheese
* 1 egg yolk, whisked with a splash of water --> 1 tablespoon olive oil/1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pie Crust:
* 1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled --> ⅓ cup olive oil, ⅓ cup vegan buttery spread
* 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour --> 2 ¼ cups whole wheat or spelt flour
* 1 teaspoon salt --> no change
* 8 to 10 tablespoons ice water --> no change

My ending recipe looks like this, I added in a few ingredients of my own as well...

Kathy's Sweet Potato Tempeh Pie
vegan, makes one pie

1 cup crispy tempeh bacon bits
3 sprigs thyme
½ cup Soy Milk Creamer
¼ cup vegetable broth
1 extra large sweet potato, peeled, sliced thin
2 tablespoon lemon juice
5 cloves chopped garlic
¼ cup vegan white cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon maple syrup
pie crust

Pie Crust
2 ¼ cups Spelt of Whole Wheat flour
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
⅓ cup olive oil or coconut oil
⅓ cup vegan buttery spread, cold
½ cup-¾ cup ice water
crust glaze: 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon lemon juice
texture: corn meal
*you can also use all vegan buttery spread or all oil. Whatever you are most comfortable with in a dough.

Directions:

1) Combine all dry ingredients, slowly add all wet ingredients. If you have a large food processor you will want to pulse the cold buttery spread into the dry ingredients first.
2) Form dough into a ball, split into two portions. Place in freezer while you work on filling ingredients.
3) Peel you potato and slice into thin rounds. Pile in a bowl. Pour maple syrup and lemon juice over slices to marinate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4) Over medium heat, simmer the soy milk creamer, vegetable broth, chopped garlic and 3 sprigs of thyme. Let simmer for a few minutes, then turn to low.
5) Retrieve dough and roll out one half. Sprinkle work surface with some flour and thick cornmeal. Place bottom layer of dough in pie pan.
6) Layer the potatoes in the pie pan. Set aside.
7) Saute the tempeh bacon. Recipe for tempeh bacon here. Slice into half-dime sized bits. Saute the bits for a second time using a spritz of olive oil. Bits should be nice and crispy on the outside, but not dried out. Pour hot tempeh bits over top the potatoes.
8) Remove the thyme from the creamer liquid. You can sprinkle a few of the whole leaves of thyme over top the potatoes. Pour the thyme-infused creamer/broth/garlic liquid over the potatoes.
9) Grate the cheese and layer it on top of the tempeh bits and potatoes.
10) Roll out top half of dough. Place on top of pie.

Crust Before Baking:

11) Glaze top of dough, slice in steam vents and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover pie with foil for first 30 minutes. Uncover crust for last 15 minutes of baking.

Allow pie to cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Image note: My first test of this recipe did not include the vegan cheese, thus it does not appear in my pie photos. After a taste-test, I found the presentation and taste was much better with the cheese.

The Surprises: The reason I called this a pie rather than a torte is simply because the sweetness from the potatoes really does take this from a savory dish to a savory-sweet dish. I was pleased with how my first attempt of this recipe turned out, but not overwhelmed. Why? Well I didn't add in the cheese on my first try. I wanted to try it ultra healthy. But it was bland and a bit too dry. Thus I added the cheese back into the recipe for the posted verison above. Cheesy taste-test: I melted some cheese into a sample slice and it tasted much better. So don't forget the vegan cheese!!!

*Sweet Potato Pie Version #1: The other idea I had after this first test...mash/puree the sweet potatoes first. Maybe puree the potato with ½ cup of garlic hummus and a handful of fresh parsley. Then layer it into the pie. This would be awesome and I just may try it myself. Yum Yum Yum.

The other surprise...the granita was awesome!...

Applesauce Granita. I also tried Melissa's applesauce granita with a bit, OK a lot of skepticism. I shaved off my frozen mixture and tasted. Yum!!! Wow, I actually love how this tasted. Who knew that frozen applesauce could taste so god. I did make a few bit tweeks to Melissa's recipe. Here's my version:

Vegan Applesauce Granita
with maple-soy yogurt sauce
makes 2 servings

2 cups unsweetened organic applesauce
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon agave syrup

*Place in a freezable container, stir and place in freezer until hard.

Sauce:
1 cup vanilla soy yogurt
2 tablespoon maple syrup
dash of cinnamon
2 tablespoon chopped nuts (I used cashews)

To Serve:
Scrape out frozen sauce granita-style, with a large lemon zester or a fork. Spoon into serving bowls. Top with sauce.

Yum!

Check out my original review of Melissa's menu and show here. (You can also check out Melissa's food network web page here.)

Crust fresh from the oven:

If you still haven't heard about this month's upcoming Veggie Conquest Cooking Competition in New York City, or if you just want a few more juicy details, check out this feature interview done by VegNews Magazine with event founder Jessica Mahady. Interview here at VegNews.com Why am I so excited for the upcoming August 22nd showdown? Well I'll be one of the three judges! I'm so excited for the secret ingredient announcement this weekend. I just hope it's NOT eggplant or okra. Not my most favorite veggies. Check out this judges blurb in the VegNews interview....

"VN: You have some pretty impressive judges for the first challenge: Joshua Katcher, Brian Preston-Campbell, and Kathy Patalsky. How did you get them involved?
JM: Yes, they’re fantastic! I just sent each a nice e-mail explaining what we are doing and how we would love for them to be involved. They didn’t need a lot of convincing. They share the love for good food and competition."

-VegNews Interview for Veggie Conquest NYC with Jessica Mahady.

The phrase "Back to School" sends a shuddering feeling of dread through millions of youngsters everywhere. And hiding under the bed will not stop the first day of school from coming. This fall, a long lineup of groggy students will march their shiny new-school-year shoes back into the classroom. But what foods will be lurking inside that lunchbox???

Improving Academic Eats. My school days were riddled with a few too many "Lunchables" lunches, icky cafeteria food and homemade peanut butter and apricot jam sandwiches with a side of sour Gushers or Garfield brand fruit snacks. The cafeteria lunch-hour was not the healthiest of times for most kids I knew. Luckily, my mom balanced out the 'school-yard junk' by cooking my family healthy California cuisine dinners. But what are kids eating today? Much of the same? Is it worse? Is it getting better? I dread to think what some kids have hiding in their backpacks next to their science book and gym socks. Well I'm here to help. My latest month-long series is: "Back to School" Series: Eats for Kids (of all ages). Whether you are five or fifty, you'll get a kick out of these yummy, creative and simple recipes. Click ahead for the full schedule of posts for this upcoming series....

"Back to School" Series: Eats for Students and Kids (of all ages)

8/12/09 Honor Roll Breakfasts
Healthy vegan breakfasts to help get you on your feet, out the door and into an honor roll groove. You'll love my Pop Quiz Toast-Ups, a "plumb" delicious Fruit Parfait, Spelling Test Scramble Pasta and a few ideas for giving your oatmeal a healthy, fun and delicious boost.

8/18/09 Study and After School Snacks
Everyone needs a snack break during their busy day. From kids to teens to full-fledged adults. So here are a few snacks that are not only healthy, delicious but silly enough to crack a smile on your face-even before that history test! Highlights include: Flying Saucer Edamame bowls, Kitchen Sink Granola Bars and a few more surprises for your snacking pleasure.

8/21/09 Lunchbox Showstoppers
What's for lunch? PBJ, cheese pizza, bagel, boring! I'll jazz up your child's lunchbox with a few vegan recipes to tempt even their most skeptical of friends. Bullseye Spirals and Prepster Mushroom Marinara Sandwiches are just a few of the yummy headliners.

8/25/09 Kids in the kitchen
These are recipes so simple that even your kids will be able to put them together. Young kids may need a little help from a big person, but even teens will love making these simple steps recipes. The Rainbow Wraps will blow you away!

8/27/09 Sweet Treats for Grade A Kids...Dessert Time!
Cookies, hand pies and treats are all featured in this post. But a few hidden ingredients boosts the nutrition power of what may taste like incredibly decadent yummies!

9/01/09 After School Sport Snacks
Love this post! Here are a few recipes to fuel your star kid right before the big game-or the entire team on a weekday practice. High in electrolytes and big on healthy flavor, these are all-star recipes will leave your competition in the dust.

9/07/09 Back2School Labor Day Pizza Party

I hope you'll tune in for these exciting posts. Follow the series in the right hand column on my page.

My previous series was my healthy makeover series: summertime eats.

Check back for more great blog series posts to be announced. Look on the right hand side of the home page.

It's a tad after 1 PM on Sunday afternoon, and I just finished watching Ten Dollar Dinners with Food Network Star winner Melissa d'Arabian. Dinners, or was it lunch? She ended the show by calling her meal a delicious lunch, so that kinda threw me off. But that was the least of my worries with the show. However, also not on my list of 'show worries' was Melissa herself. Melissa as a Food network host was lovely. A breath of fresh air. Her been-there, done-that wisdom was apparent, but the youthful sparkle in her eyes never faded. I loved her stories about her days in Paris and her Mother-in-Law's secret pie dough recipe sharing. But back to my cringe-worthy moments...

Melissa's First Menu: Perfectly-Priced Parisian. Her $10 menu included an Applesauce Granita with a yogurt-maple sauce. Her entree was a Bacon-Potato Torte with a Parisian Salad on the side. A few big 'health-factor' problems with this menu. In the first three minutes of the show Melissa had already used plentiful amounts of bacon, butter and heavy cream. Super high in saturated fat-containing animal products. And she wasn't done yet.

Click ahead for more of my review, including why (in the end) the Food Network execs will be pleased. And see just how many grams of saturated fat are in Melissa's torte. You will be shocked!....

Butter, Bacon, Heavy Cream, Egg Yolk, White Flour, White Potatoes, Salt and Cheese. These were the nutrition-defiant ingredients in Melissa's entree recipe. Sigh, at least she's making my review write-itself easy!

Melissa: My Review. Before I bash her torte, I want to make it clear that I loved Melissa as a host. I also loved the show format. Smooth as butter. (Pun intended). The kitchen, the colors (lots of deep blues), the art (floral and modern blue accents) the friendliness and the speed. All great. And when you can achieve show format success , you can easily make the food a bit healthier, as you gather viewer comments like mine.

Why I am Harsh on Melissa's Health-Appeal. If this were Paula Deen's show or Guy Fieri's 'Triple D' show I wouldn't be as critical because those shows base themselves on indulgent cooking. But since Melissa's audience is aimed at families and moms, the food has got to be kid-friendly and HEALTHY! Please Melissa, more fruits, veggies, antioxidants, fresh foods and healthy stuff. Now onto my food review...

The Potato Bacon Torte. Within the first three minutes Melissa had already added two sticks of butter for her white flour pie crust, a nice helping of full-fat bacon (4 strips), and a generous drizzle of simmering heavy cream (⅔ cup). All these ingredients were part of her torte. And later she added in white potatoes, Gruyere cheese and that was it. Not exactly a healthy main course. In fact every ingredient was white in color (no antioxidants), with the exception of the glistening brown crispy bacon bits. Not white, but equally nutrition-defiant by being high in saturated fat. Oh and she brushed her torte with an egg yolk wash-more cholesterol. So, thumbs down on the torte. The torte looked beautiful but I have a few easy healthier substitutions Melissa could've used:

*use sweet potatoes instead of white. Much healthier-rich in fiber, Vitamin A, potassium and other nutrients.
*Remove the bacon and add in more herbs and spices for flavor. Or even saute some smoky seitan bits-lots of flavor!
*Forget the butter crust and do a simple olive oil based pastry crust. Yes it will be less flaky and pastry-like, but MUCH healthier.
*Use whole wheat, spelt or even half and half whole wheat crust instead of 100% white flour. Check out my healthier crusts in my Tofu Pot Pie or Breakfast Brunch Quiche recipes.
*Instead of traditional cheese use vegan cheese. Yes, it tastes good!
*Instead of heavy cream use full fat plain soy milk. or heck, even vegan soy creamer, which has less saturated fat.

Makeover that Torte! I just may try a healthy-makeover version or Melissa's torte recipe, and post later this week....so look out for that.

Salad Review. Nice. I liked the simple mixed greens with the house made Parisian Dijon dressing. I liked her secret of adding a tinge of soy sauce to the dressing. Soy sauce is not just for Asian meals. The mixed baby greens were healthy, but why not add in a few other fruit and veggie ingredients to brighten things up. Tomatoes, radishes (which the French love, if you want to keep to the French theme), sliced pears, carrots, green apples, peppers..you know I could go on and on. More fruits and veggies for the salad. But overall it still gets a thumbs up for being vegan and high in leafy greens nutrients.

Applesauce Granita. Interesting. I don't think this really sounded that yummy. But then again, I've certainly posted a few delicious recipes that sounded a bit odd. So I'll trust her on the taste-factor. It also threw me off when her entree had more fat and calories in it than the dessert, but that's just me. And I'm not a huge fan of applesauce as a main ingredient, not much there but mushed up, preserved apple shreds. The yogurt-maple-cinnamon sauce sounded great. You could easily use soy yogurt and make this vegan. I just may try this dessert in a recipe makeover post-using vegan ingredients. Keep a heads-up for that one, and that torte makeover I mentioned above. I'll still give this recipe a thumbs up for the healthiness factor. I loved the use of real maple syrup. Even though it is very expensive-which doesn't mesh well with her wallet-friendly show design.

Last Word: The Food Network Execs will be Pleased to Know... The Food Network will be happy to know that I will watch again. And again. I liked the show. Melissa has so much knowledge to share and her stories are genuine. However, if she continues with the high saturated fat containing meals I will be very disappointed and it may turn me off as a long term viewer.

Oh, and that torte...

Nutrition Facts Shocker-welcome back to reality. I calculated the total fat and calories in the entire torte dish and here are the results:

Melissa's Potato-Bacon Torte
Ingredients:
* 4 strips bacon
* 3 sprigs fresh thyme
* ⅔ cup heavy cream
* 2 Pie Crusts, recipe follows
* 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* ¼ cup grated Gruyere cheese
* 1 egg yolk, whisked with a splash of water
Pie Crust:
* 1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
* 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 8 to 10 tablespoons ice water
*Note, since Melissa didn't use all her pie crust dough, I even minuses about ⅛ of her crust recipe from the nutritional facts below.

Per Torte:
Total Calories: 4101
Total Fat: 277 g
saturated fat: 162 g

Per Slice (8 slices in torte):
calories: 512
fat: 35g
saturated fat: 20g

That's 20 grams of saturated fat per slice. Not something I'd like to feed my family.

Note: Melissa's recipe says it makes 4 servings plus leftovers. I gave Melissa the benefit of the doubt by saying there were 8 servings in the torte.

*I calculated these values by using Melissa's online recipe and inputting the ingredients into my FitDay.com nutrition facts program.

So overall, Melissa I adore you, but your recipes could use some skimming of unnecessary saturated fat and excess high fat animal products.

The elimination challenge on last night's episode of Bravo TV's Top Chef Masters featured Zooey Deschanel. The challenge was to cater a dinner party for 20 guests-and the food must be vegan, soy free and gluten free. I was shocked to see the world's top chefs emotionally crumble when they heard the dietary restrictions for this challenge. Shocked! And there were a few incredibly annoying quotes (and gestures) on the show. One example was from food critic Gael Greene who said this ignorant remark: "I thought it was very elegant, a wonderful opening. The vegans seemed so surprised-God knows what they get to eat." -Gael Greene, Insatiable Critic

Poor Little Vegans. Ah yes, those poor pitiful vegans chowing down on green mush and cardboard crackers. Poor little things. But really Gael, your sympathy is not needed. I nearly burst out of my seat when I heard Gael's statement last night on Bravo. And I have compiled ten more annoying quotes from last night's show. But before I go on, I want to give a gold star shout out to Rick Bayless and Hubert Keller, both of whom performed the entire task without throwing even a smidgen of a "5 yr-old style tantrum outburst". Most of the other chefs had their tantrum moments about the 'vegan/allergy' part of this meal. Come on guys. A real chef can cook for any diet. Anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances. Here are my top ten annoying quotes from the show (And my favorite positive remarks from the fabulous Rick and Hubert)...

"In my experience of vegan food it tends to be a symphony of beige." -Jay Rayner, judge

All vegan foods are beige? Really? I don't think so. This was just one of the absurd statements from last night's Top Chef Masters. Well Jay, this vegan fennel citrus salad is certainly not beige:

Onto the Quote Top Ten Count Down.
Top Ten Annoying Quotes (and gestures) from Last Night's Top Chef Masters featuring Zooey Deschanel. (She's vegan with food allergies including gluten and soy.)

10. Not actually a quote, but a gesture: When Chef Art Smith pounds his fist on the table in angst after hearing that ZD is a vegetarian.

9. "I'm trying to do something that I have kind've a clue how to do." -Art Smith, chef. on his decision to do the dessert course of the meal. But Art, are you really saying that you can't cook an appetizer or entree for a vegan with special allergies? What if Zooey walked into your restaurant. Would you kick her out? Anyways...moving on...

8. "Zooey's diet goes like this: think of the things you like to cook and just say no....it's all about no's. It's off-putting to say the least." -Michael Chiarello, chef. What? You don't like to cook the season's freshest produce? Delicious grains? Legumes? Come on. Dramatic much?

7. "I've only done one other vegan meal in my entire life and it was for the first lady, Hillary Clinton at the time." -Michael Chiarello. One vegan meal ever?! Hard to believe. And is that really something to brag about in the culinary world? I really hope not.

6. "No one ever cooks for me!" -Zooey Deschanel, guest of honor. Come on Zooey-there are hundreds of awesome vegan chefs and restaurants in LA, NYC, SF and all over the world where a chef could serve you an amazing meal.

5. "That pasta is weird." -Michael Chiarello commenting on his quinoa pasta. Hey, well I think foie gras, caviar, frogs legs and ribs are super duper weird!

4. "It's so rare that I get to eat anything other than raw vegetables so...I'm so happy." -Zooey. What? Zooey, don't perpetuate that horrible myth please. Such a silly statement!

3. "I didn't want to over complicate the dish. I've got brown and brown." -Anita Lo. A few colorful veggies could've brightened up your plate, not 'over-complicate' it. When I recently tried the colorful 19-ingredient Singapore Slaw salad at restaurant Shang, it was a symphony of color, not a smidgen of over-complication. (Just a symphony of bliss and flavor).

2. "I bought an organic rice milk. Frozen.....I'm not going to make something I don't know how to make, I don't have a recipe for." -Art Smith. Uh, you improvised the vegan brittle didn't you?! And that was a hit. Excuses, excuses Art. You are so talented! You could've done better than soupy melted Rice Dream with fresh strawberries...

1. "In my experience of vegan food it tends to be a symphony of beige." -judge Jay Rayner. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Yes, so many beige apples out there. And I adore beige fennel, beige arugula and beige pomegranates. But the best are those beige avocados. Super cool, eh.

And the bonus worst quote of the entire evening came from food critic Gael Greene who said this ghastly, insulting and ridiculous statement:

"I thought it was very elegant, a wonderful opening. The vegans seemed so surprised-God knows what they get to eat." -Gael Greene, Insatiable Critic

But it wasn't all annoying last night. Thanks to Rick Bayless and Hubert Keller. My favorite quotes of the night below...

Rick Bayless Simply Rocks, Quotes:

"In the Mexican repertoire there's a lot of super delicious things you can do with vegetables and beans and grains and all that sort of stuff. So I can do this thing." -Rick Bayless

"When my daughter was young she had all sorts of struggles that made her gluten intolerant for some time...so I'm comfortable with what we're doing" -RB

"Rice ice cream? Bad choice, bad choice." -RB. I sooo agree. Go with the coconut based stuff Art! Any vegan (or foodie) would know this.

"This is fresh corn tamales with braised black beans, they have ancho chile and a (?) chipotle type chile and braised greens. Pleasure being able to cook for you all!" -RB. So yum. So gracious. Genuine guy. Super classy chef.

"Traditional Mexican food has a lot of vegetable dishes in it." -RB

Hubert Keller is too Cool (and Talented) Quotes:

"Besides vegan, I do vegetarian at the restaurants for many many years-so I should be good." -Hubert Keller.

(desrcibing the soup on his plate) "White gazpacho with cucumber, almonds, rice milk." -HK. Yum! Any extra for me??? I heard you always make extra. Smart.

Thank Rick! Retweet this post and tell Rick Bayless how much you love him. He tweets on twitter! @Rick_Bayless
He also has a cool blog devoted to his Top Chef adventure: root4rick.

This Plantain Poblano Tofu Wrap is amazing! Stove top roasted poblano peppers, simple citrus sauteed tofu and sweet plantains all folded into a whole grain tortilla. Vegan Mexican at its best! Light enough for lunch, substantial enough for dinner. Four easy steps. Here's the recipe...

I call this my "Hungry? No Poblano! Wrap". Keep it in your recipe repertoire for a fast, delicious, easy-yet exotic meal. Great protein from the tofu, fiber from the peppers, plantains and tortilla. The spicy kick from the poblano is stimulating to your palate.

Plantain Poblano Tofu Wrap
*vegan, makes about 3 wraps

1 large poblano pepper
*remove stem and seeds

1 large plantain
2 tablespoon olive oil

3 thick slices of tofu, extra-firm
1-2 tablespoon agave syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (if available)
1 lime or lemon, juiced
salt and pepper

3 tablespoon vegan sour cream
2 cups fresh crunchy greens
red onion circle slices
cherry tomatoes, sliced
3 whole wheat wraps

Directions:

Step 1) Saute plantain slices in 2 tablespoon olive oil.
Set aside, on a glass plate or wax paper.
Step 2) Roast the poblano pepper over a gas burner or in the stove-until black bubbly skin forms.
How to Roast a Pepper 101 here.
Slice pepper into strips. Set aside.
Step 3) Saute tofu slices in agave syrup, olive oil, citrus juice, liquid smoke and finish with a bit of salt and pepper.
Slice into smaller cubes if desired before assembling wraps.
Heat each tortilla on gas burner or in oven until warm and slightly charred.
Step 4) Assemble wraps by spreading 1 tablespoon of vegan sour cream (Vegenaise will also work) on the inside of each tortilla.
Add ⅓ of the plantain slices to each tortilla.
Add the pepper strips and tofu cubes.
Add a handful of fresh crunchy greens, red onion slices and tomato slices.
Fold up wrap like a burrito on one end-leave the other end open.
Secure bottom end of wrap with toothpicks. stick a citrus slice in the toothpicks as a usable garnish.

Plate with salsa, guacamole or a side of mango chutney.

Enjoy!

Notes:
*Add some melted vegan Jack cheese over plantains.
*Add a splash of apple cider vinegar to the veggies.

Don't miss out on this awesome offer! Through August, you will get 10% off Lunchbox Bunch children's books. Order today and you can Wiggle and Jiggle, tap into your Super Senses and have Lunchbox Alphabet fun, any time you'd like! Kids of all ages will adore these books.

Book Preview. Peruse my lulu.com store and you can preview the first few pages of each book. Click ahead to get the coupon code, and learn more about my three Lunchbox Bunch children's books...

The coupon code at lulu.com is: README. Click here to order.

The Wiggle Jiggle Book
preview this book
Join Little Lost Grape and all her fruit and veggie friends as they Wiggle and Jiggle their way through the day! From skipping and jumping to giggling and surfing, learn how to Wiggle and Jiggle with the Lunchbox Bunch characters!

On the Case: Super Senses!
with Secret Agent Plum
preview this book
Calling all Lunchbox Bunch Junior Secret Agents! Put on your badge and get ready to touch, taste, smell, listen and see a friendly bunch of fruits and veggies! Secret Agent Plum leads a fun journey to learn the FIVE FUN SENSES, all while investigating yummy foods like a Giggling Onion, a Giddy Banana and many more! Bonus Activities and Games are included to test your Secret Agent Sense Skills!

Lunchbox Alphabet
preview this book
Travel from A to Z with The Lunchbox Bunch, a wacky crew of fruits and veggies. Meet Prima Donna Apricot, Opera Singing Kiwi, Paparazzi Peas and more! Learning the alphabet and exploring healthy foods has never been so much fun! And yes, there is a fruit or veggie that starts with the letter X. But you'll have to read the book to meet the character!

The coupon code at lulu.com is: README. Click here to peruse my online bookstore.

Who doesn't love plantains? Not only are they yummy, sweet and cravable, but they are super cheap! I can get 4/$1 at my local NYC produce market. I always wonder why more "fast food" Mexican restaurants don't include plantains on their menus. Are you listening Chipotle?

But the big question: Are plantains healthy? They are usually fried and soaked in grease when ordered as a side dish at a fancy restaurant, and most likely come served with a dollop of sour cream or crumbly white cheese. And suddenly the simple starchy plantain turns into a big greasy mess! Well guess what, with a simple do-it-yourself olive oil saute, plantains can be quite healthy. They are high in fiber, potassium and vitamins A and C. Click ahead to find out more plantain nutrition highlights and serving ideas....

Plantains for All. I often order a side of plantains whenever I see them on a menu. It's hard to get them wrong. However, the amount of oil used for 'fried' plantains in restaurants really doesn't make me happy or healthy. My answer: I make them at home! Plantains are super simple to make. Simply lightly grease a pan and saute them in a bit of olive oil. Add some lime juice, agave syrup and salt for flavor accents. I like them sliced in long angled strips. You can also slice them into simple coin shapes. You can even mash plantains as you would a sweet potato. The more oil you use in the cooking process, the more you pack on the calories. So try to keep it light. Plantains are delicious as a Mexican inspired side dish, packed into a burrito or as an ingredient option for fajita night. The natural sweetness of plantains meshes perfectly with a spicy red salsa, the heartiness of whole black beans and alongside some cool creamy guacamole. Add plantains to your next Mexican feast!

Plantain Nutrition Facts
1 cup slices, 154 g
*from nutritiondata.com

Calories: 179
fat: 0 g
protein: 1 g
carbs: 48 g
fiber: 4 g
potassium: 20% RDA
vitamin C: 28% RDA
vitamin A: 28% RDA
vitamin B6: 18% RDA
Magnesium: 12% RDA
Folate: 12% RDA

Plantains are a great source of fiber and vitamins C and A. They are also high in vitamin B6, magnesium and folate. One cup of plantains contains more potassium that one cup of banana slices. 20% RDA in plantains compared to 15% RDA in bananas.

Ten dollar dinners, is it? A sign of the times for sure. It looks like "Melissa's Kitchen Survival Guide" got the boot and "Ten Dollar Dinners" is in! This Sunday, the winner of The Next Food Network Star, Melissa d'Arabian will premiere her brand new show. Wow one week to produce a new show. Impressive. Will you watch? Will I watch? Find out why I think $10 Dinners, Anthony Bourdain AND Sandra Lee are super smart...

I'll watch on Sunday. I am incredibly curious to see how she turns out. However, whether or not I will become a true Melissa fan remains to be seen. It takes an awesome foodie show to win me over.

Why $10 Dinners is Super Smart. Food Network producers are smart. If you look at the line-up of FN shows, there is really only one stay-at-home-mom type personality whose primary focus is on making meals easy and economical: Sandra Lee. Rachel Ray used to claim that niche in her travel food show "$40 a Day." Loved that show, by the way. But $40 is out, $10 for dinner is in. Other FN personalities Ina Garten, Giada and even Bobby are not really concerned with economics. Ina gleefully jets around her Hampton's neighborhood buying the best of the best. And Giada films her show from her gorgeous California beachside mansion. Both posh, dreamy lives anyone can envy. I adore both those shows, but it's gotta be enough to make the average mom go a little nuts. Who wants to watch Ina sip champagne from mini-bottles at a garden party while you scrub spilled Cheerios and Play-Doh off your new Gap t-shirt. The stressed-at-home mom audience needs a food network gal-pal who has been there. Melissa is the answer.

Sandra Lee vs. Tony Bourdain. There is of course, Semi-Homemade Cooking, with Sandra Lee. She is the FN's answer to economical cooking. But she hasn't been receiving the best press lately. You'll know this if you read Anthony Bourdain's "A Drive by Shooting" blog post. Sandra Lee has to be tough as nails to take Tony's consistent bashing of her infamous Kwanza Cake episode. (YouTube-able.) Then she actually approached him at the Julie and Julia premiere in NYC. Just call her no-fear-Sandy. And in the end, Sandra somehow has the restraint to resist dishing a few painful punches back in Tony's smirking face. I'm sure she could find more than a few ways to heckle Tony. All in good fun of course. They are both just playing the game of 'celeb-foodie-star'. Tony is the smart mouth, bar-hopping kid in the back of the classroom scoring straight A's while building his spitball collection. And Sandra is the Stepford Wife gone modern who believes the right table setting can save any dinner party-and don't forget the hot pink napkin holders! They both know how to work it. I mean, there's no such thing as bad press, right?

So yes I'll watch. Back to Melissa. I'm anxious to see her new show. Instant stardom can be tricky. But just look at previous Next Food Network Star winner Guy Fieri. He is rocking his new found fame by simply being himself-a dive bar, hole-in-the-wall retro diner loving cruiser from Nor-Cal.

So if Melissa can pull off $10 meals that are healthy, delicious and family-friendly, I will be nothing but impressed. I just really hope she lays off the flavor accents of 'butter and cream' as she showed in her finale pilot show recipe, and sticks to healthy.

Check out Food Network's "Ten Dollar Dinners"

Tune in: Premieres Sunday, August 9, at 12:30pm/11:30c

Tempers between Whoopi and Sherri flared during today's Hot Topics segment on The View TV show. However, the subject wasn't politics, religion or world peace. The heated topic of conflict was Sesame Street. More specifically Cookie Monster. You may have noticed that the Cookie Monster puppet (or muppet) has gone from downing twenty cookies in two seconds flat to devouring carrots, celery and apples. In other words, he's gone healthy. Whoopi had this to say about the new 'healthier' Cookie Monster:

"It's ridiculous!"
"It is not Cookie Monster's fault!"
"It's a puppet!"
"Sesame Street...is geared towards looking after your child's health, well-being."
"I think it's stupid!"

Sherri Shepherd had a different view on the matter. She is in favor of the healthier food replacements for cookies. She said this about the traditional Cookie Monster: "(Cookie Monster) is not healthy!"
What do you think? Take a poll and read my view...

'Healthy' Cookie Monster: My View.

Part One. Some of you may be shocked to read this, but I'm with Whoopi. Cookie Monster is a puppet. Well actually a muppet. Not a teacher, parent, relative or neighbor. If you ban Cookie Monster from his cookie eating ways you will need to ban Oscar the Grouch from being grouchy and living in a garbage can. You will have to ban Grover from running all over the place hysterically. Maybe he'll need some ADD meds. And you've got to ban Bert from playing with his pet pigeon Bernice (not the best pet choice) and from getting mad at Ernie so easily. Anger management issues. You might have to take the sharp fangs off of The Count and make Big Bird the size of a real bird. And stop his world travels to China. Bird flu, ya know? Where does it end? Where does the smothering of creativity end? I grew up watching Cookie Monster, and while I'll admit to having a few memories of stuffing a crumbly cookie in my face being a silly 'monster', it in no way affected my actual cookie-eating habits.

Part Two. I think it can be just as damaging to teach children that cookies are 'bad' 'unhealthy' foods. You must teach them moderation. Yes, Cookie Monster is a perfect example of lack of moderation! Use him as a teaching tool. Kids will not be living a life free of cookie eating-so you'd better prepare them, not scare them.

Part Three. I am all in favor of Sesame Street teaching kids about healthy eating habits. Eating fruits and veggies is good for you! That should be the message. But you must also teach kids to understand the difference between reality and fantasy. Cookie Monster is a puppet. He's blue. He has googly eyes. He is a monster. And he likes cookies. Kids, don't paint yourself blue, stick googly eyes on your face and try not to raid the cookie jar.

So what do you think???

Take the poll:

Watch the Showdown on The View. Not posted yet, but the Cookie Monster argument should be available on the website later this week. The View.

There is even a facebook group in favor of a cookie eating Cookie Monster... Check it out

Learn more about the Sesame Street muppets here!

Last night was the finale episode of The next Food Network Star reality TV show. The winner was my number one pick from the beginning: Melissa D'Arabian! She beat out Jeffrey in a battle of the FN Pilot episodes. Here are all my rants and raves from the finale episode last night...

From episode one, Melissa's bubbly personality and bright energetic eyes won my "first impression rose" (reality show term, for those of you who avoid watching ABC's The Bachelor). But Melissa won me over big-time in episode 6, the South Beach episode where she was the only contestant to think of including a vegetarian appetizer at the Nikki Beach Club party. That was indeed my favorite episode of the season since it came complete with now famous Bobby Flay quote: "People are tackling people for a shrimp!"

Finale Thoughts. The Pilots were the big final test. They both did well. But honestly, neither were great. I'm sure it takes a few episodes to really get your groove though. I mean, have you seen some of Rachel Ray's vintage "30 Minute Meals" episodes. So much 'talking with her hands' that I think she might karate chop me in my living room. But anyways, I actually thought that Jeffrey presented his dish in a more creative and "foodie-esque" way. But the "Ingredient Smuggler" title was the worst! Isn't smuggling, I don't know, illegal! Silly. I actually think it would've been cool if FN did let Jeffrey do a show where instead of simply cooking with ingredients in the kitchen, he traveled to where he buys them from and goes back to the kitchen to cook-like Rachel's Vacation only with cooking. But that's just me. I really like the harissa component of Jeffrey's meal. I am a huge fan of the ingredient harissa, so he had me at h-arissa. I buy jars and jars of the stuff from Le Pain Quotidian. But I did like Melissa's step by step process idea. However, I hated the fact that she had to use both butter and cream in her family-friendly dish! Not exactly healthy. If she runs to "Paula" style ingredients like butter and cream every time she needs a flavor boost, I will be incredibly disappointed in Melissa. Use fresh herbs, fruit, veggies-healthy flavorful stuff! Just my advice.

Bobby Hosting. I thought Bobby did a good job at the 'hosting' part of the show, although it is not his forte. He belongs behind a grill or in a test kitchen knocking bad chill phrases and a sarcastic attitude to his companions. That's the Bobby enjoy. I personally don't think FN should be using its Iron Chefs as ' Ryan Seacrest' like hosts for any of the shows. Keep the chefs in the kitchen and the personalities with the microphone and sealed envelope to announce the winners. But good job anyways, goes to Bobby.

Moving Forward. Thank goodness Melissa's show name was pretty good. Not too corny like the 'smuggler' thing. I think she will do very well. However when I saw that she has 4 kids under the age of 4, my jaw dropped to the floor. Won't those kids miss their mommy? I am assuming they will all be moving to NYC. Which could be a big adjustment for all of them. Four kids in an NYC apartment-even a big one- will be a huge change from a giant Texas house. But this season was awesome. I really enjoyed it. And I hope a few of my other fave contestants like Michael, Debbie, Jeffrey, Katie and Jen find some cool jobs involving cooking. Cooking and food is a passion that doesn't end simply because the Food Network doesn't give you a shot. I think the thousands of folks who lined up with me (and in other cities) to enter the open casting call for the Next Food Network Star Show will agree with me on that one.

Good luck Melissa, and please remember the veggie-vegan-vegetarian kids, fans and families out there watching your show!

Looking for a few perfect for summertime sandwich recipes to help you beat the heat? Sandwiches are the perfect summer meal because they require little or no cooking, you can tote them just about anywhere (like to the beach or a hilltop picnic) and they are super easy to customize! Perfect for a backyard barbecue. All my recipes on the list are vegan, healthy and delicious. Check them out...

Nothing like a few yummy photos to get you excited about the sandwich list below....

Top Ten Summer Sandwich Recipes
*Click on the links below for the full recipe as well as plenty of yummy photos of each of the sandwiches...

1. Healthier Club Sandwich: Built for Two!
So big it's built for two! With vegan tempeh bacon and three layers of multi-grain soft toasted bread. This twist on the classic club will leave your tummy growling!

2. Mango Cream Crusty
This open faced crusty sandwich, a signature of mine, is so pretty that it's hard to eat it! But once you take a bite you will be in creamy mango bliss. The crisp ciabatta bread combines with cool vegan cream cheese and sweet juicy tart mangoes is the perfect combo. The added red onion gives it a zesty kick. Heavenly.

3. Picnic Perfect Chickenless Salad Sandwich
Chicken Salad sandwiches are a favorite of many. But now there is a meatless option that tastes amazing! Tarragon and creamy Vegenaise help boost the flavor of "chickenless" chicken strips. This is a satisfyingly decadent bite that will please salad-sandwich lovers! You can even do this sandwich open faced to lighten it up a bit! (shown in top image)

4. Pesto Mango Pita
This is a recipe that accidentally came together when I had some leftover pesto from my Lasagna Verde. But the result is a unique and yummy combination that tastes like you are eating the sunshine of Italy and the Tropics combined! Spicy green pesto meets creamy juicy mango with a sweet Vidalia onion to send you to sandwich dreamland.

5. Farmhouse Jack Tempeh Sandwich
Classic crowd pleaser with a vegan twist:vegan Jack cheese and tempeh. Super portable and super simple. You can't go wrong with this fresh from the farm tasting sandwich.

6. Fuyu Cream Crusty: Sub summer fruit
This was a knockout hit sandwich for me in the winter when persimmons or fuyu's were in season. My simple advice: substitute summer fruit. Peaches, apricot, plums or even strawberries. Oh my, my mouth is watering just thinking about a "summer berry" cream crusty!

7. Vegan BBQ Sandwich: in 5 minutes
Check out this vegan barbecue shredded style sandwich. It uses Trader Joe's pre-packaged BBQ shredded pouch. So fast and yummy. Perfect to please a big hungry crowd in a snap.

8. TMT Pita
Blows the BLT out of the water! This pita stuffed full of smoky tempeh, mache lettuce (very healthy green), and a thick summer tomato is the perfect summer sandwich. Light yet high in protein, super healthy too.

9. Peachy Cream Sandwich
Sliced peaches, cream cheese and some crisp greens. Untraditional yes, but a delicious way to add some fruit to your food.

10. Savory Brunch Melty Muffin
Breakfast sandwiches watch out. You've just been demoted to inadequate because of the presence of this brunch muffin! Fresh herbs, smoky tempeh bacon and vegan cheese and layered between a whole wheat English muffin. So perfect for brunch, even better for a brunch picnic!

Check out more vegan sandwich recipes here. Sandwiches!

I take a 24 hour blog break, and all heck breaks loose! Nothing life-changing, but memorable and disturbing, yes. And in the end, I have a few lessons learned to share with all of you. There are four parts to my tale:

Part One: Hit 'n Run Bike Attack in SoHo.
Part Two: Shang and Slaw.
Part Three: NFNS Auditions at CBS Studios.
Part Four: Bryant Park and Iced Chamomile Tea.

This is a must-read blog entry-if you like a good "in the life of Kathy" story. And bonus! It just might make your Friday seem beyond-awesome compared to mine!...

Part One. Hit 'n Run in SoHo.

I recall hearing about the View host,Elisabeth hasselbeck's encounter with a NYC biker a few months back. A speeding biker hit her and he kept peddling onward. She was pregnant at the time. Talk about an awful situation. Public service announcement cliche coming up: I never thought it would happen to me! But really, bike hits on city streets are no joke. There I was at the end of a long day of busy errands in SoHo, I stepped from the curb to cross Houston street when all the sudden a speeding bike came zooming at me (he blew the light and the 'car' traffic symbols) he swerved, but his bike handlebar went plowing into my left wrist. His bike swayed a bit, but he was going so fast he just kept zooming on! No stopping. Not even a simple "Are you OK?" Jerk. Sorry, but really. If you don't stop when you hit someone, you are in my opinion-a jerk.

This was almost as bad as the time a woman plowed her Trader Joe's shopping cart right into the back of my ankle, breaking the skin. I had blood dripping down my leg and a wound that took two weeks to heal. And it hurt. She also said a quick 'sorry' and ran away. Maybe I am just accident prone, but I don't think so. The bike hit was just as painful, but luckily didn't break the skin-or bones! I immediately got a big swollen red lump on my arm. Still hurts today. Boo.
Lesson Learned: If you drive a bike in NYC please watch for pedestrians. And if you do hit someone, at least stop and ask if they are OK. It's the nice thing to do. Pedestrians-beware of bikers, sometimes they blow the light.

Part Two. Shang Restaurant.

Part two of my story is fabulous. Despite the freak accident earlier in the day, I had plans to go out to the new restaurant in the Thompson LES Hotel: Shang. All over the media, I had seen this photo of their Singapore Slaw salad that looked divine. (image shown from Shang website) I had to order it. It comes out about 1 ½ feet tall-piled high with slawed carrots, daikon, cabbage, exotic nuts, ginger, and many more greens and veggies-all doused in a delicious salted plum dressing. All vegan. I triple checked from the waitress and kitchen staff. The waiter tosses the dressing into the salad at your table. Probably so you don't go making a mes of the tall slaw tower. It was heavenly. The menu says it is made for 2-3 people, but I could've eaten just that for my entire meal! So good. I also got a side of jasmine rice and the huge veggie dumplings. Everything there was fab. Go go go if you are in the city and want good Chinese food. It's better than Tao or Buddha Bar, in my opinion.
Lesson Learned: Even when smacked in the wrist by a bike, good vegan food, wonderful company and a glass of champagne heals all!

Part Three. NFNS Auditions.

So this was supposed to be the happy highlight of my Friday. Nope. I had been planning on attending the New York open casting call for The Next Food Network Star reality TV show for about a month now. I'd love to be the first vegan on-air FN star. And I love the Food Network in general, so I was excited to make an impression. I'm blogging this season of the reality show, which ends with the finale this Sunday. Unfortunately, this was the worst audition experience I have ever had. The auditions were scheduled from 10am-4pm. I finally arrived at CBS studios at around 11am. Long line by that time. I was a little late because I got caught in two total downpours on the way to the line. Forgot my umbrella. My True Religion jeans and light silk flowered shirt were soaked. Not good. Note that I hadn't eaten of drank anything in about 13 hours now. I didn't have time for breakfast and I didn't bring anything to eat or drink. Really dumb of me since I am usually very prepared with snacks wherever I go. Also dumb because I am one of those people who has to eat every few hours or I start going nuts. Low blood sugar does not go well with my body-or mind. I felt like Bobby Flay in episode 6, I wanted to scream "People would be tackeling people for a shrimp!" Well, no shrimp for me, but a vegan muffin-God yes! 1 PM. I had been standing in the long line for about two hours now. The sun picked up by now, so it was hot!

Finally my group of ten people got moved into the air-conditioned inside of CBS. However when we got to the holding room the floor and chairs were packed with people. This was not going to be a quick audition. This was going to be a while. Totally famished and dehydrated, I plopped myself on the floor. My number was 215. They just called 140. And they were bringing in about ten people every half hour-at the least. Yup. That meant I had at least 3 more hours on the floor. No food. Luckily I had two dollar bills and got a pineapple-peach-mango Dole juice from a vending machine. Not a coconut water, but it tasted like liquid gold at the time. It helped-a little. The sheet we all received upon entering the building said: "you many be here five minutes, you may be here five hours" Five more hours?! This next food network star has to eat!!! There were a few smart auditioners who brought full picnic spreads of food, gallons of water, books, computers and other goodies. Why oh why didn't I bring snacks?!

So there I was sitting cross-legged on the floor amongst chefs and foodies all making culinary small talk. Most were friendly, very nice. But there was this one guy sitting right across from me who talked non-stop. Normally I don't mind energetic super talkers, but some of his brash comments really peeved me. He started bashing The Neely's (FN star husband wife couple who host Down Home with the Neely's) for having a 'fake relationship'. I started to get queasy. It was going on 2:30 pm now. I hadn't eaten and barely drank anything in about 17 hours. My blood sugar was in the gutter. I estimated 3 more hours until my number was called. Four hours until I get out of there and eat something. I couldn't do it. I had to leave. So I did. This next Food Network star will be sending in her application-online.
Lesson Learned: When auditioning at an Open Call session, always bring lots of liquids, snacks and books. And come with friends, or a favorite-music-loaded ipod to put you in a zen happy place.

Part Four. Bryant Park.

Finally getting out of the room made me feel immediately better. Even though I was definitely famished. One lesson I already knew was to respect my body and listen to it. It told me to go get food before you lose it. I hopped in a cab. He got lost. I got out. I then chose to walk in the boiling sun a few blocks to my destination. I eventually made it to my sanctuary in the city: Bryant Park. Calm green cafe tables surrounded by luscious green ivy and trees. I ordered a chamomile tea and vegan blueberry muffin from Le Pain Quotidian across the street and lounged in the park, trying to revive myself. And honestly, as bad as I felt leaving the audition, I knew I did the right thing. I knew I messed up by not bringing snacks. As I sat in Bryant park dabbing the sweat from my forehead and chugging my icy cold tea, I felt-OK. I got home, took a shower and zenned out for a while by flopping on my bed and perusing the foodie blogosphere. I read this blog entry by Tony Bourdain that made me feel a little better. Yeah, he is beyond mean to Sandra Lee, but I agree her kwanza Cake recipe segment is devastating to watch. I just love Tony because his his over dramatization of the Julie and Julia premiere event made me feel a lot less over dramatic about my past days drama. A little blog reading always chills me out. I hope it does for you too. 🙂
Lesson Learned: Always listen to your body. Always.

So that's my crazy past 24 hours. I hope that my online application can still get the Food Network producers attention-however I know there is always next season when I can bring lots and lots of vegan snacks to the audition hall.

Onto the weekend, hope yours (and mine) turns out to be fabulously. We deserve it!...

Here's more Bryant Park pics to zen you out...

Filed under "Happy".
Take a fun break! Kidrobot style. I insist. What is Kidrobot you ask? NYC shoppers know Kidrobot as that store in SoHo packed with crazed kids, teens, parents, tourists and locals-all clamoring for creative, whimsical and edgy art, toys and apparel. As a self-confessed foodie with an obsession with anthropomorphizing foods, exhibit A: my Lunchbox Bunch brand, I fell in love with the "Yummy Breakfast" line of characters, designed by Heidi Kenney. How cute are these little guys?! I call mine (shown above): happy soy milk, sad banana and vegan cinna-bun. Yup. But why did it take me two years of walking right past the Kidrobot store to finally step inside and peruse? Well...

What is Kidrobot? If you've never heard of Kidrobot, you've obviously never gone holiday shopping in SoHo, NYC before, the line runs out the door and around the corner. Clueless tourists and passers-by whisper, "what is THAT store?" There are a few line-out-the-door stores in SoHo. The Ugg store, the Apple store and Kidrobot. The word madhouse would be too mild.

My Visit to Kidrobot. Last December I finally went inside Kidrobot for about two seconds. I felt like I was at a "free pizza" party after a Little League game. The store was packed with kids and parents clamoring for the latest and greatest Kidrobot products. It's kinda tricky to peruse in that kind of environment. So I darted out of the store, glad I was still in one piece! Luckily, a few weeks ago I decided to re-enter the store on a calm weekday afternoon. What fun! I fell in love with the "Yummy Breakfast" line of character key chains and needed to share them with you. Kidrobot has a lot planned, so get in the know before it goes mainstream...

Kidrobot has some very cool artists working for them. And since I can certainly relate to wacky and creative characters, aka my brand The Lunchbox Bunch, I really fell in love with the oddball creativity at Kidrobot. True, at first-look Kidrobot products are just a lot of toys and pop art images. But really, Kidrobot "stuff" is designed by genius modern artists at their best!

Yummy Breakfast. This line of characters is designed by Heidi Kenney. She is awesome. Her website My Paper Crane shows how creative her brain is. So many awesome and adorable products. I love the crying burnt toast.

Kidrobot facts:

*The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) acquired 13 Kidrobot toys in late 2007, which are now part of the museum’s collection. Three toys are currently on display as part of the museum’s “Just In: Recent Acquisitions from the Collection” installation.

*In 2009 Kidrobot and Paramount Pictures announced that they were working on a major feature film involving Kidrobot characters, executive produced by Paul Budnitz. The film is slated for release in 2011.

*Kidrobot operates store-galleries in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. And new store: Dallas!

*Kidrobot was founded by designer Paul Budnitz in 2002. Talk about fast business success!

*The new and cooler version of "Beanie Babies" and collectible comic books? Sort've. Many Kidrobot toys are extremely rare and collectible and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Toy artists often choose to create a series of only a few hundred or a few thousand pieces, so once a toy is sold out, it's sold out forever. Kidrobot toys retail from $6 to $20,000, and may appreciate in value over time.

*Many of the toys are bought without you knowing which character you will be getting! It's luck of the draw. For Yummy breakfast I didn't know if I'd get a banana, egg, milk or strawberry! I like the bruised crying sad banana I got. He's very rare! 1 in 50 boxes as opposed to 1 in 25. The boxes tell you the odds of getting each character.

So check it out if you are in the mood for some art, fun and silliness.

Kidrobot Online.

Other products I love: the Supersized Ronald McDonald figurine. Quite intriguing. I had to buy a key chain of it. It makes quite the societal statement. Also the crazy Tofu-head characters...you can see them both in the background of the image below...