How exciting! IttyBittyFoodies have been nominated once more for the Top 25 Foodie Moms on the Circle of Moms website. Circle of Moms connect moms (about 6 million and counting) together to network and discuss on all things mommy from pregnancy stages all the way up to older kids. Please click on the badge above and vote for IttyBittyFoodies. Just look for our signature logo of toddler hands holding two orange 8 ball squash.

Voting closes June 4th, 2013.  Click here to vote!

THANK YOU THANK YOU once again

Thanks for listening to my Motherhood Musings

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ittybittyfoodie

Susan O’Brien from Hail Merry – Spring issue of DMoms Magazine

Remember Tiny Dallas? The fabulous mom blog has now morphed into DMoms  (a daily blog and magazine)! Editor Joslyn Taylor, who is so cool she takes her kids to Marfa on vacation (twice) weaves together a magazine that’s full of moms that you can admire and do meaningful work like Sharon Blumberg owner the mismatched shoe company, Chooze and Paige Chenault who holds birthday parties for homeless kids with the Birthday Party Project. We love the mom crushes that gives us a glimpse of everyday life from different women and the tips they share. Ace photographer and friend, Carissa Byers tells us her organizational tips and Erin Mckool, owner of Start restaurant features healthy recipes.

with Carissa Byers

The best thing is that the moms are real people who have a passion for their children and work hard to enrich their daily lives.  Look out for the spring issue with the effortlessly beautiful Susan O’Brien, founder of Hail Merry snacks on the cover.

DMoms Spring issue

Oh… and if you look on page 32, you might spot a very pregnant me with Beefcake & Googie in my belly.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Thanks for listening to my Motherhood Musings

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ittybittyfoodie

Pastries everyday of the week from Village Baking Co

Looks like the secret’s out about our favorite boulangerie. Village Baking Co is now open for business daily from 7am-3pm. No need to wait for the later part of the week to get your baguette and breads or indulge in a buttery kovign-amman (also available in chocolate too), pain au chocolat or laminated brioche. The bakery is so busy especially in the mornings that the only wait is actually in the line to get your hands on their artisanal baked goodies!

Click here for Village Baking Co.

Till our next Happy Meal!

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ittybittyfoodie

Vermicomposting

It’s been a year and we’re happy to report that our organic worms are still thriving and happy. We had one unsuccessful attempt but after a workshop from Texas Worm Ranch where owner, Heather Rinaldi walked us through the process, our little wrigglers are better than ever.

We feed them a diverse menu of leftovers from potato peelings, kale to overripe berries. Every quarter, when the box is full of castings, we harvest which is a process of separating the worms from the poop. It’s a little time consuming but we’ve been able to make worm wine and spread our castings all over our garden.

Worm wine from Texas Worm Ranch

This week, we heard that Texas Worm Ranch is letting customers pre-order their castings and worm wine (at a discounted rate) to be picked up at this Saturday’s (April 27th)  White Rock Local Market held at the Green Spot. I highly recommend preordering as they sell out fast (we have been disappointed before).

Till our next Happy Meal!

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @ittybittyfoodie

Motherhood has aged me. I look at the crow’s feet that were never there before, dark circles under the eyes from the lack of sleep, and stray white hairs that I’ve pulled out more often than I care to remember. I’ve swapped my heels for Birkenstocks, thanks to those lovely bunions and walk around with my brain permanently stored in a jar somewhere. I look at my old photos where I was a pretty, young thing and stare at the mirror where not much is perky anymore. Earlier this week, Dove released  their Real Beauty Sketches and it was so poignant and moving, I had to stop myself and watch it again.

Seven women were asked to describe themselves to an FBI forensic artist, Gil Zamora who created composite sketches based on the women’s own descriptions. Zamora had his back to them and cannot see them. Then strangers who had spent time with the same women beforehand were brought in to Zamora to describe the women they had met. The results were startling. The pictures described by the women were clearly less flattering and inaccurate. One of the women, Melinda described them as “unbecoming and harsh and not how the world sees us.”

He loves me

And there was my light bulb moment. I have a husband who constantly tells me how beautiful I am and my sons who picks flowers for me daily because they are “pretty like Mama.” Maybe I should listen to what they are telling me. “We spend a lot of time as women analyzing and fixing the things that aren’t quite right. We should spend the time appreciating the things that we do like,” Melinda continues on the clip. And she’s right.

Motherhood may have aged me but without my Beefcake and brood of IttyBittyFoodies, I would never have such richness and fullness in my life. And so long as those that I love think that I’m still gorgeous (bags and all)… L i f e   i s  g o o d!

Dedicated to all the mothers out there!

This is not a post about food but with Mother’s Day just round the corner, I wanted to share my thoughts on motherhood and beauty. Thanks for reading.

Photo and video source – Dove

Thank you for listening to our Motherhood Musings.

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook!

Easy Chicken Tonkatsu with homemade sauce

I have menu-itis. It usually happens on a weeknight especially in between homework and carting kids from music to sports and trying to keep an infant happy. I get in a rut over dinner but want something fast. This is when I reach for my Japanese Chicken Tonkatsu recipe. There’s very little prep time and dinner is made while you boil rice. Try it!

Serves 4

2 whole chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

½ cup white flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup Japanese panko crumbs

Salt & pepper to taste

¼ cup Canola oil

Tonkatsu Sauce

2 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 cup ketchup

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

4 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce

On a chopping board, place the chicken breasts in between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat tenderizer or a flat, heavy pot, gently pound the breasts until they are about ¼ inch thick. Cut the chicken into four servings. Set out the flour, egg (lightly beaten) and Japanese panko crumbs in three different bowls. Dust the chicken in flour, then dip in the egg and roll it in the panko crumbs until well covered. Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt and pepper and set aside in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Make the sauce in the meantime. In a medium bowl, add the water and stir in the dry mustard powder. Add in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce and whisk until well combined. The sauce should be dark and rich in color.

In a large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat, add in Canola oil, until hot. Gently place the chicken breasts into the oil and fry, about 2 minutes each side until cooked. Drizzle Tonkatsu sauce over the chicken and serve with rice

Till our next Happy Meal!

Cheryl Collett is a mom on a mission to expand her kids’ palates and IttyBittyFoodies chronicles their yummy adventures. For more recipes and other crafty fun ideas, look under HomeMade or check out the best kid friendly places under Restaurant Reviews where the food is delicious for both parents and children. Get the latest updates if you Like us on Facebook!
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A candy free Easter Basket from Edible Arrangements

We never buy our kids candy for Easter. The countless Easter egg hunts takes care of that. But we do like to give them a treat so when the Easter bunny dropped off this Easter basket from Edible Arrangements, the kids were hopping with joy. Here was a beautiful arrangement of fresh melons, strawberries, and grapes with chocolate dipped pineapple bunnies to boot!

Love the chocolate bunny from Edible Arrangements

There’s something about eating food off a stick because the kids could not wait to start harvesting their fruit basket during snack. The fruit was delicious, firm and sweet as if someone had just cut them up for us to eat. We ate a total of 24 sticks on the first day. And to top it off, the fruit sticks are perfect for a ready made breakfast the next morning or for dipping in chocolate fondue at dinner.

Fondue at home

You can make a chocolate fondue by heating up chocolate (broken into pieces or use chocolate chips) with a little bit of heavy cream in a double boiler. We usually do 3 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. Never heat chocolate directly over a flame and do not let the mixture bubble.

Our Max Brenner fondue set makes things easy for us by ensuring that the chocolate melts slowly over the heat from a little tea light candle. I simply add hot boiled water in the bowl on the bottom and fill the top bowl with Guittard chocolate chips and heavy cream.  As the chocolate start getting gooey stir the mixture till smooth and thick. If the chocolate gets too thick and dry, just add more whipping cream or if the mixture is too thin, add more chocolate chips. We eyeball the amounts and let the kids decide. It’s that easy!

Hop to here for more info on Edible Arrangements.

Till our next Happy Meal!

Thanks to Edible Arrangements for letting the IttyBittyFoodies try their yummy Easter basket.

Check out our product reviews of fun foodie products don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook!

Disclaimer: I am not paid for my blog reviews. The items reviewed are mostly stuff that we find cool and interesting. Many times I turn down free products from companies simply because they do not fit our lifestyle or the blog. From time to time, I am sent items to review but I am under no obligation to write favorably about it or even write about it at all.  And if I do review it, I promise to write an honest one.

Easter Basket idea – Fresh eggs & kid sized Joie cooking utensils

Easter Bunny put on her thinking cap to come up with a healthy Easter gift and put together this beautiful scrambled egg kit. It is simply an assortment of blue hued eggs freshly laid by backyard chickens and the cutest kid-sized cooking utensils from Joie.

Lollo cracking eggs

What ‘joie’ were in their faces as when they saw the gift especially 5 year old Lollo who has shown an interest in cooking (just like Dad) while Pikelet prefers the joy of eating (much like Mama). ”Whiskie” egg whisk, “Small Fry” fry pan and “Lil Flip” spatula worked remarkably well and were suitable for small hands. Lollo was so proud of the set, commenting throughout that the utensils ‘were real not play stuff’. Both boys were able to make their own scrambled eggs with ease.

Frognot farms eggs

If you don’t happen to know anyone with backyard chickens, you can get fresh naturally colored eggs from Dallas Farmers Market or one of our favorite egg farms, Frognot Farms. We found the Joie utensils from Central Market.

IttyBittyFoodies Scrambled eggs

4 fresh eggs

milk

1 pat of butter

pinch of salt and pepper

Crack eggs into a bowl. Discard egg shells except for one half shell. Use the egg shell as a measuring cup and pour milk into it and then add to eggs. For every egg you use, we pour in one half shell of milk so in this case, we have four half shell’s worth of milk.  Whisk till eggs and milk are combine and have some air bubbles. Add in a generous pinch of salt and pepper.

Little hands cooking scrambled eggs

Over low heat, add a small pat of butter into the pan till just melted. Add in milk and egg mixture and slowly stir using the spatula. Since we are using the Joie products which are small, we had to do this in batches. Keep stirring slowly, taking care not to splatter the mixture till egg is cooked. Never let your kids cook over the stove without adult supervision.

Easy kids recipe – scrambled eggs

For more easy egg recipe ideas, check out Funny Food!

Funny Food recipes!

Our HOME MADE section is full of recipe ideas and don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook!

Till our next Happy Meal! Happy Easter!

IttyBittyFoodies meets Grace Lin – yes! Linsanity!!

In honor of the Lunar New Year, we’re featuring the works of the American Chinese children’s book author and illustrator, Grace Lin. Her vibrant and beautifully illustrated children’s picture books are a great resource to questions like ”What is Chinese New Year?” and “What is dim sum?”

Bringing in the New Year credit: http://www.gracelin.com

We use Lin’s books as a teaching tool to help our children learn about Chinese customs, culture and of course, food! In preparation for the Year of the Snake, we swept our house from top to bottom, bought new outfits and got our hair cut just like in “Bringing in The New Year”.

Chinese Tea Ceremony set up for Chinese New Year

We also add our own tradition of an intimate tea ceremony before they receive Ang Pows (red envelopes filled with money) each year.

Dim Sum for Everyone

As with all of Lin’s books food almost features an extra character and is a great way to expand the kids’ palates. If we’re heading to Kirin Court, inevitably “Dim Sum for Everyone” follows us to the table. Her “Ugly Vegetables” book makes Chinese vegetables less ‘ugly’ when we see a new dish at a Chinese restaurant.

credit. http://www.gracelin.com

Even in her novels like “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”, there was an unforgettable line where Lin described dragon tears as big as lychees which inspired us to head down to the Asian supermarket to find some. That teachable moment let Pikelet discover that he loved them which eventually led to the creation of this Lychee and Meringue Mousse recipe.

credit: http://www.gracelin.com

Lin’s new book “Starry River of the Sky” is written for the first time, from a boy’s point of view and our boys are excited. We haven’t started it as yet but we can’t wait to see what’s in store for our taste buds next.

For a list of Grace Lin’s picture books and novel, click here.

Gong xi fa cai!

Till our next Happy Meal!

If you’re staying at home for Valentine’s Day but want to end the meal with a restaurant quality dessert, this White Chocolate Mousse with Dark Chocolate Ganache recipe will give you the best of both worlds. It looks fancy but the recipe is so easy the kids can help make it. I use Ghirardelli Chocolate Baking Bars as they melt nicely but feel free to improvise. The recipe makes 8 glasses so spread the love around and invite friends over.

Ingredients

8oz Ghirardelli White Chocolate Baking Bar, broken into small pieces

3 eggs, separated

¼ cup superfine sugar

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of black pepper

1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

8oz Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Baking Bar, broken into small pieces

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

Smooth melted dark chocolate ganache

To make ganache: In a small saucepan over low heat, stir in heavy whipping cream and dark chocolate together until smooth and melted. Portion out into 8 small glasses and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Place white chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmer water. Stir until smooth and melted. Add nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper till well combined. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites till soft peaks form and then slowly add sugar and keep whisking until mixture is white and glossy. Whisk in egg yolks and ¼ cup of cream to the melted white chocolate and then gently fold in egg white mixture. In a glass bowl, whisk remaining cream until soft peaks form and fold into the mousse. Carefully spoon mousse into the glasses and refrigerate overnight, until set. Serve chilled.

For more easy family recipes, go to Home Made.

Till our next Happy Meal!