Please visit our sponsor.

a meal served with love

 Cooking With the Walnut, Feeding the Little Walnuts
Sep 102010
 

First week back to school and we’re already looking for a short-cuts. Because I’m a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom, I try to make dinner for my finicky family at least 5 nights a week–sometimes 6 if I’m really ambitious. I’ll admit I’m a creature of habit who often cooks the same tried-and-true meals over and over (hey, when you’ve got a 2-year-old who’ll only eat a piece of bread some days, your sense of adventure takes a backseat to practicality). But every so often, I break out of my routine and try something fun. This week, in honor of the U.S. Open 2010, we sat down a dinner of Racchette pasta and meatballs. The tennis racquet  pastas are a whimsical shape you won’t find in every supermarket aisle, but we liked the noodles from De Cecco. The built-in handle on this firm noodle was perfect for my toddler who currently refuses to eat with utensils. My 6-year-old got a kick out of the meatballs acting as tennis balls, and I think my husband even appreciated the effort (ok, maybe he just felt sorry for me, but I’ll take whatever sympathy I can get.) Pass the grated cheese, please!

In a Nutshell: Make like Venus Williams and spread the love with a home-cooked meal that’s low on effort and cost, and big on taste.

Tags: ,

no reservations required

 Cooking With the Walnut, Feeding the Little Walnuts, The Traveling Walnuts
May 182010
 

Ah, how I fondly remember the picnics in the park my husband and I had B.K. (before kids). Our house was a short walk from a park that held summer concerts, and we’d pack a light dinner and head out without a care in the world. Fast forward to the present, and a dinner outdoors with two little kids is hardly romantic. Our plastic wine glasses have been replaced with juiceboxes, and the comfy blanket we shared barely has room for the four of us. Maybe that’s why today,  I can appreciate the Picnic Set from French Bull that is practical for my family, but whose style appeals to my grown-up sensibility. There’s service for four, including flatware, plates and ample sized cups that are (thankfully) aren’t breakable. And if we forget to pack a blanket, we’ve got a microfleece one inside the handy tote. A cutting board and bottle opener let the “bigger kids” enjoy wine and cheese with their meal…this way, I get to ignore the “whining” of another kind.

In a Nutshell: Eating outdoors with kids is certainly no picnic. But you can make it more to your liking with this all-encompassing, fashionable set.

Tags: ,

mommy’s little helper

 Cooking With the Walnut, Uncategorized
Jan 042010
 


In keeping with one of my New Year’s resolutions–keep it simple–I happily opened my new Cuisinart Rice Plus Multi-Cooker, excited at the prospect of what awesome culinary wonders it could produce. After several days of frigid temps here in the northeast, some comfort food was in order and with Sunday dinner looming in the not-so-distant future, I thought why not give it a whirl? I first looked about this new product at a mommy bloggers brunch I recently attended, and couldn’t help but notice how many moms were poring over the Cuisinart table with more enthusiasm than a sale at Bloomingdale’s. Naturally, I was curious, too. While I consider myself a relatively able cook, my dishes are hardly works of art, often sticking to a basic repertoire of meatloaf, roast chicken and spaghetti and meatballs. How nice it might be to give a new recipe a try in a sleek gadget designed for one-pot family meals? Well, the Cuisinart Multi-Cooker did not disappoint. Simply add your ingredients, set a desired time and you’re good to go. What’s really cool is the Fuzzy Logic technology–no, I’m not talking about how to reason with your kids when you’re sleep-deprived. It’s a special technology that detects fluctuations in cooking and automatically adjusts your settings, so dinner doesn’t go up in smoke and tastes great. If you’re a working mom, you’re sure to love the Keep Warm feature that lets your food stay just hot enough for you to walk in the door and get the table set. As for my family, our dinner of chicken cacciatore was a hit; the chicken was tender and the veggies, robust. And hey, if the kids eat it, isn’t that the best measure of success?

In a Nutshell: Set it and forget it? The Multi-Cooker is sure to dish up some crowd pleasing meals, all the while keeping meal prep simple. Clean-up is a snap, too.

 Newer Entries