Strawberry Huller

I am kind of a sucker for cool kitchen gadgets, but having our tiny kitchens in the two appartments we lived in in Brooklyn & now our pretty small kitchen here, I have learned that anything I buy really needs to be worth the space it will take up.

I find the OXO brand of kitchen tools very well made, so when I was looking for a new meat mallet the other day and saw this handy little tool, I was intrigued. It is little - so little I decided it was worth a try. Plus, it was only about $6 so no huge amount to be out if it didn't work out.

This baby is AWESOME. I've never even seen a strawberry huller before, and this is so easy to use and pops out the leaves so quickly and easily. The kids could even do it and liked using it.

School Lunch

Each year for Earth Day, we try try make one significant change in our family to become more eco-friendly. Although I have been using cloth shopping bags for years and even use them at non-grocery stores (Old Navy, Gap, LOFT, Gymboree, Target, Hardware store and even restaurants - much to the horror of my teenager!) we were still pretty big consumers of plastic baggies, especially as my germ-o-phobic personality would never allow me to wash & re-use them as I know some people do. I decided our change for 2010 was to ditch the baggies!

I initially tried 2 types of sandwich / snack bags. Here they are with why I love them ----

Snack Taxi.

My total fave and I am in LOVE. Their sizes are just perfect. The sandwich bag can nicely fit in a sandwich without having to smush the sides, yet not leaving so much room that it comes apart and the filling falls out. I often send a thick slice of homemade bread with a thermos of soup for lunch - and even if they bring the bread home (having not eaten it) it is still nice and soft and not dried out at all.

The snack size are great for a substantial snack and even fit the medium sized rice cakes (the one's that Stew's or Fairway make.) I love all the colors and cute designs. The best thing about these bags? They are completely washable & durable. If they've just been used for crackers or bread or carrots or something NOT messy / wet / potentially cross contaminating - I turn them inside out & wipe them with a damp cloth. They dry in minutes and I pop them right back in the drawer to use again. If they do need a "real" washing I either scrub them with some dish soap & rinse or turn them inside out (attaching the Velcro so it won't stick to other laundry items) and wash them in the washing machine & then air dry. A few have accidentally gone through the dryer and come out fine, but I prefer to air dry them.

In dozens of washings they have never lost their shape, faded or had stitching come undone. We have been using these for 6 month now and they still look as great and sturdy as the day we got them.

The only drawback to these is that they are not really waterproof. Jacob will not eat carrots he deems "old" which pretty much means a tiny bit dry or just not cold & crispy. I try to send them to school in a little bit of cold water to keep them fresh - but the water does soak right through the bags. Easy fix, I bought a few very small BPA free, recyclable plastic containers to send watery carrots or celery in and save the bags for other items.

Lunchskins

Truly, I bought these mostly because of the shark & crab prints knowing how happy it would make Jacob at lunchtime to pull them out.

I have not been as happy with these as I was the snack taxi's. They are very cute and they are more "waterproof" than the snack taxi's - but still not completely. They seal a bit better with the Velcro all the way across the top and they have some really great designs.

The drawbacks to me have been that the "sandwich" size really doesn't accommodate a sandwich. It's a really tight fit. They've been washed a few times too and the darling designs have really worn and they now look pretty beat-up and old.

I do actually like the look of the smaller sized snack bag (for when you just want to send a small snack) but cannot vouch for it as I only bought their bigger size to try.

I send my kids with a thermos of soup or leftovers from the previous nights dinner a lot. Yet, I can't bear the thought of them using plastic cutlery, so I was sending my stainless steel one's. Until I noticed that I was starting to run low on cutlery ....

I know there's a lot of controversy out there over how compostable these items are - but I figure even if it takes them 20 years to break down .... still better than plastic! I think there is probably a range in how Eco-friendly these products really are. I keep meaning to call Stone Barns & see which brand they use in the cafe ... because I'm sure they've already done the research to see which is the best!

I have been running these through the dishwasher (mine heats to 160 degrees) and they have held up well. I plan on washing and re-using as long as we can .... and if they get lost or accidentally thrown in the trash in the school cafeteria I won't be devastated!

So, now I can feel as good about HOW my kids take their lunch to school as I do what they're eating!

siggi's

This is my new favorite yogurt.

Hands down.

I love yogurt. I eat it more than once a day. I insist my family eat it once a day (Rick and my two older girls aren't huge fans - but my little guys love yogurt.)

I mostly eat Greek yogurt, because it's more like the Australian stuff I grew up on - thicker with much less sugar & a "kick" that gets you in the back of your tongue. I was shopping a while ago & saw this. Icelandic?

The verdict? It tastes FANTASTIC !! The texture is a lot like Greek yogurt and the flavor is kind of subtle, it takes a few bites to hit you.

Here's what else I love -

The milk is from grass fed cows.

No aspartame.

No sucralose.

No gelatin.

No artificial colorings.

No preservatives.

No high fructose corn syrup.

No rBGH

AND - it's made in upstate New York, so for me I don't feel badly about it being transported huge distances leaving a big carbon footprint. Try it if you find it in your store.

YUM.

(pictures from siggisdairy.com)

Cook Books

A couple of months ago we cleaned out our storage room. I had a ton of cook books stored in there - which was silly, because they were completely inaccessible. I sorted through them, and got rid of almost all of them. All the recipes I use regularly I have on my computer, or in my binder and I get most of the new one's I try from friends, blogs or online searches. I don't think that's unusual anymore, I think the day of the cook book is drawing to a close.

That said - despite a thorough purging of my cook books, I purchased these last Spring

I saw them in Australia on our trip in 2007 - but figured I'd wait until they came out in the US, so I wouldn't have to do the metric conversions every time. Then I kind of forgot about them. I was delighted when I stumbled across them again, and bought them instantly.

 I feel the same way about cook books as I do knitting or sewing pattern books - I just can't justify the purchase if there's only one thing in there that I like. I need to like and want to make most of the items in the book to warrant buying the collection. I don't need to love them all, but most of them.

I use these ALL THE TIME.

Donna Hay is probably my all time favorite! I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the fact that she's Australian and her food really takes me home - or if it's just so darn good that anyone would love it. Probably both.

If you're only going to get one - get the salads & vegetables. Everything in there is to die for. My favorite has got to be the white bean, roasted tomato & chick pea salad. I'm not kidding TO DIE FOR!!

I also give high praise to the kids book. While being pretty basic food, it has a good selection with easy to read & follow directions. Emily loves this & can make most things on her own. I also don't think it's a bad start for Em, learning your way around the kitchen with Donna Hay!