http://www.fooditude.tvhttp://www.fooditude.tv/index.php/site/index/ en jodibbalis@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-31T23:40:28+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/fabian-talks-about-superfoods http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/fabian-talks-about-superfoods#When:23:40:28Z   My first assignment with Fooditude, in Dec.2011 was to interview Chef Sarah Stegner owner of Prarie Grass Café. It was an honor to meet her and have a nutritious and yummy meal in her restaurant.    Sarah started a project, called “Healthy Fare For Kids” in Lincoln Park, Chicago to get restaurants to serve healthier food choices in kids’ menu. So far 15 local restaurants are a part of this project. Sarah believes this project will get attention nationwide to spread the fight against childhood obesity.  One of Sarah’s healthy eating tips is to drink water or milk and avoid getting full on bread before eating your nutritious meals. Eating natural and nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables protects your health. One of three kids in America are overweight. Being overweight makes your body work harder to do anything, like walking up and down stairs, running, playing etc. etc. The body will brake down from the hard work it has to do and end up with bad sicknesses like diabetes, joint pain, headaches, asthma, heart attacks, cancer.  These sicknesses will keep you unhealthy, addicted to medications and in the doctors office the rest of your life. Poor nutrition, salty, sugary, and fatty foods creates all these sicknesses. If you or someone you know has diabetes here are 10 recommended SUPERFOODS to keep sugar in your blood under control… Beans & lentils Dark green leafy vegetables Citrus fruit Sweet potatoes Berries Tomatoes Salmon and fish high in omega-3 acids Whole grains Nuts and seeds Fat-free milk and yogurt As kids we need to start learning about the SUPERFOODS that keeps us healthy and avoid getting horrible diseases that keeps you unhealthy forever.  (The Doctors and the Dr.Oz show are good programs to watch because it teaches use how to take care of our health). 2012-01-31T23:40:28+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/ryan-dines-at-vie http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/ryan-dines-at-vie#When:17:32:12Z   On a rainy winter night, I went to a very fancy restaurant called Vie. It is pronounce like the letter “V” and my dad says the word "vie" means "life" in French. Before the food was served, I got a chance to meet Chef Nathan and took a quick look inside the kitchen. The kitchen had a lot of people very busy cooking meals and there was a huge pile of shrimp there ready to be cooked.  When we got the appetizer, and I ate it much too fast that I burnt my tongue, but I loved it. The appetizer was called foie gras pronounced foy grah.  It means fatty liver from a duck or goose, but I still think it tasted good.  I had the Vie salad that used locally grown veggies which tasted so fresh. The entrée was really good too. It was a delicious hamburger with cheese, lettuce, onions, and yummy BACON!! The hamburger was so good and also too colossal for my small mouth and my stomach, that I didn’t save any room for desert. It was fun having a great meal at a fancy restaurant. 2012-01-25T17:32:12+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/audens-night-at-cafe-babareeba http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/audens-night-at-cafe-babareeba#When:17:12:59Z   At Café Ba Ba Reeba, a kid like me would find the food tasty and healthy.  They let me try just about everything on the children’s menu and I tried some things from the adult menu too. I liked the free carrots and hummus – that comes with every kids meal. I was a bit nervous about meeting the chef, because sometimes everyone gets a little nervous when meeting someone new. It felt good to talk to Chef Tim. He asked me questions about the food and I asked him questions about the food. One of my favorites was the yummy Mac and Cheese. The cheese was a little different, but good.  It tasted different, because it was actual cheddar cheese from Wisconsin.  The broccoli was okay, maybe not my favorite, but my mom and dad liked it.  I also had the chicken with  mashed potatoes and broccoli.  The chicken was fine.  It reminded me of shrimp.  The mashed potatoes were a little bit salty, but I loved them and ate them all up.  The vegetarian paella was quite yummy.  Paella is a rice dish from Spain with spices.  I give it a thumbs up”.  I also tried the goat cheese croqueta and roast dates with bacon from the adult menu.  I loved them.  The dates were sweet and made the bacon a bit sweet, too.  The kids meals came with a free fruit kabob.  It had grapes and apples and was very delicious.  The restaurant was beautiful.  The waiters were kind.  Café Ba Ba Reeba is spectacular and you should go there sometime. 2012-01-23T17:12:59+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/beca-dines-at-prairie-grass-cafe-part-2 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/beca-dines-at-prairie-grass-cafe-part-2#When:17:09:02Z The interview you've all been waiting for!   While we were eating Sarah, the owner/chef came out and sat at our table for a little while and answered a few of my questions: Q: How did you come up with the idea to offer healthy foods on the kids menu? A:  Sarah was approached by another woman who wanted to make this happen, and Sarah jumped on board right away, as she was always interested in healthy eating. Q:  How long did it take from when you came up with the idea, until it was implemented? A:  It was about two months from when they first discussed the idea, until it was launched.  It all happened very quickly. Q:  How are you promoting this great concept? A:  The group created a logo, which will be on the placed on the restaurant windows.  The healthy food items will be highlighted by the logo on the menus.  There have been a few articles written about the concept, and Fooditude TV has also been a big help.  I think she said there about 15 participating restaurants at this time. Q:  About what percentage of kids order one of the healthy options from the kids menu? A:  Almost all of them!  The chicken cutlet is very popular.  On Fridays, they offer a make your own pizza entrée, and many kids order that, but they still serve it with a side of veggies to make it a little healthier. This was a really great experience!  It was so nice that Sarah came out to answer my questions.  The healthy food options on the kids menu were really delicious… kids wouldn’t even have to know they were healthy for them… that’s how scrumptious they were!  We appreciate Sarah’s generosity in helping us explore new foods and expand my taste buds. I can’t wait to go back again! 2012-01-20T17:09:02+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/beca-dines-at-prairie-grass-cafe-part-1 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/beca-dines-at-prairie-grass-cafe-part-1#When:22:29:22Z   On Friday, December 23rd, my mom and I visited a restaurant in Northbrook called Prairie Grass Café.  Our goal was to explore the healthy food choices recently added to the kids menu.  We also hoped to speak with the owner/chef to learn about the idea of offering healthy food options to the kids menus in restaurants around the Chicago area. I had never been to Prairie Grass Café, and was excited to try a restaurant I had never been to before.  There were beautiful hardwood floors, and a stacked stone fireplace, which made the large room feel warm and comfy. Our server Pearl was very nice, and explained that the owner/chef Sarah, wanted us to try all the healthy items on the kids menu.   She brought out the two healthy appetizer items to start to meal.  The first was Edemame, which is already one of my favorite foods.  She also brought out their Combo Platter, which included two types of cheese and two types of apples sliced up.  It also had carrots and celery, as well as caramelized grilled bananas.  The Combo platter was served in a fun dish, and all the foods were cut into slices and strips that were the perfect size for me.  I noticed they didn’t serve dipping sauces, which would have made it less healthy.  It was fun to eat and it all tasted good. When we were finished with the appetizers, Pearl brought out one of each of the healthy entrees from the kids menu, so we could try each of them.  The first plate we ate featured a delicious piece of Tall Grass beef filet, which was served with a baked sweet potato and Brussel sprouts.  To begin with, the filet was amazing!  So tender and flavorful… I wanted to eat the whole thing, but knew I had to share it with my mom.  I had never eaten Brussel sprouts before, and was surprised to learn they tasted pretty good.  Chef Sarah did a great job making the foods taste kid-friendly.  I also tried the sweet potato and liked the sweetness of the flavor. The next dish we tried was the whitefish.  It was a kids sized portion served with spaghetti squash and sautéed yellow and orange carrots.  This fish was light and flaky.  The carrots were tasty, and I like the sweetness of the yellow ones a lot.  I really enjoyed trying the many new foods. The last healthy kids menu item we tried was the chicken cutlet, which was served Brussel sprouts and sautéed cauliflower.  I really liked the flavor of the chicken cutlet… it was better than any fried chicken fingers I’ve ever eaten, and so much healthier!  Yum!!! ...... stay tuned for my interview with Chef Sarah Stegner! 2012-01-18T22:29:22+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/restaurant-reviews...-lexie http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/restaurant-reviews...-lexie#When:17:28:20Z   This month we're featuring our cast members trips to various restaurants most of whom are participating in the Healthy Fare for Kids Project in Chicago.  Since Lexie lives in Columbus, Ohio she decided to take a little trip of her own.   On Christmas Eve we ate at Benihana Japanese Steakhouse. The ‘table’ was really like a counter around a big stove.  The chef cooked right in front of us. He did lots of cool tricks such as flipping a knife and spatula around (he was never even close to dropping them), he rolled an egg across the cooking table and yelled, “look, an egg roll!”, he made an onion volcano, and he cut off the shrimp tails and flipped them into his pocket!  Some of the other chefs around us played music with their utensils and other cool stuff. Our chef’s name was Charlie and he was Chinese, not Japanese.  He was very funny, when we could understand him!  He offered to bring the baby a Saki Sampler to drink (I’m not sure what Saki is, but I guess it’s not for babies!) I tried almost everything and disliked only a few things. I liked the chicken and the beef, the Edamame beans, the sauces (for dipping into), the white rice, and the ice cream we had for dessert.  I was not as fond of the cucumber things or the shrimp (Mom and Dad say it’s OK if I don’t like shrimp…they don’t want to share it with me anyway…).  I liked walking around the whole restaurant, and thought the bar in the middle was really pretty with lots of blues and purples, and it was sort of a round room. I thought Benihana was really cool, and was more fun for us kids than lots of other restaurants.  I suggest you try a Japanese Steakhouse if you haven’t been to one yet! 2012-01-11T17:28:20+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/ryans-holiday-blog http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/ryans-holiday-blog#When:21:15:56Z   For the holidays, I made a pumpkin bread recipe that I picked because I thought of a few ways to make it healthier. I changed it by using whole-wheat flour instead of regular flour.  I also used low-fat yogurt and raisins instead of 3 cups of sugar to sweeten the mixture. When I mixed the ingredients together, it was so very hard to turn the mixture, that it did not mix so well. So, I asked my dad to use the electric mixer. To me, it looked like the electric mixer was a little tired too. We baked the bread at 350 degrees for 40 minutes and had it the next day. It didn’t quite taste as good as it smelled. Some parts were bitter and was not sweet enough, but some parts were sweet that had lots of raisins. So, I may have not mixed the raisins into it well enough. Next time, I am going to especially make sure that I mix the ingredients better so that the raisins are mixed throughout the bread. Here are the ingredients that I used. 1 / 2 Cup Raisins 1 cup low-fat yogurt 3 Cups of whole-wheat flour 2 Teaspoons baking powder 1 Can Pumpkin 3 Tablespoons  Sugar 3 eggs 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon 2 Teaspoons ginger 1 / 2 Teaspoon salt 1 / 4 Cup Olive Oil 2011-12-29T21:15:56+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/lexies-christmas-fooditude-thoughts http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/lexies-christmas-fooditude-thoughts#When:23:57:02Z   On Christmas my grandparents come to our house in the morning for breakfast and presents.  We like to have coffee cake and stuff like that, but my grandpa can’t eat a bunch of carbohydrates because he is diabetic.  We make a breakfast casserole with eggs, cheese and ham, but no potatoes, and it has some broccoli and red bell pepper in it to make it look colorful…red and green…you get it!  This way grandpa can pig out too! I said before I wanted to find tasty recipes with broccoli! We get to see what Santa left in our stockings before breakfast, but have to wait until after we eat to go down to the playroom and see what other presents we get.  The kids always eat faster than the grown-ups! This year on Christmas Eve we are going out to dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse…I’ll let you know about that next month! Family, Trying New Foods 2011-12-23T23:57:02+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/audens-almond-butter-chocolate-brownies http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/audens-almond-butter-chocolate-brownies#When:23:08:10Z My Dad and I made almond butter brownies together.  It was fun.  They have no flour so if you are allergic to wheat you can eat them.  They are sweet and also healthy because they are made with almond-butter which is full of protein.  When I tried to crack an egg I did it to  soft.  The next time I did it way too hard so half of the egg was in my hand and the other half went kerplunk into the mixing bowl! Instead of pulling the egg apart I just crushed the shell!  We cleaned it out and started again. The brownies did come out great and they were delicious.  You should try to make them at home! Here is the recipe: 1 (16 ounce) jar creamy roasted almond butter 2 eggs 1 ¼ cups agave nectar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract ½cup cacao powder ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup dark chocolate chips     In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand blender  Blend in eggs, then blend in agave and vanilla Blend in cacao, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips Grease a 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dish Pour batter into dish Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes   Makes about 24 brownies Healthy Eating 2011-12-21T23:08:10+00:00 http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/arianas-lesson-on-sweet-potatoes http://www.fooditude.tv/blog/arianas-lesson-on-sweet-potatoes#When:23:39:23Z   A holiday recipe that I tested for healthiness was sweet potatoes.  Every Thanksgiving my mom and my Tia (aunt) Celi make sweet potatoes, and even though I don’t like sweet potatoes I tried both of them this year so I could do a taste comparison.  My mom’s sweet potatoes were really sweet and sugary..they’re called candied yams.   My Tia’s were plain.  I found out my mom makes hers with lots of maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter.  Not healthy at all!   All  my Tia Celi did with hers was rub butter on the skin before baking them in the over.  Then you peel the skin before eating them….so pretty healthy.  I still didn’t like ether of them even though one was full of sugar. I would have to  say my Tia’s was definitely the healthy one!       Healthy Eating 2011-12-18T23:39:23+00:00