Green Rice

Spinach, yuck !!!!!  How about Green Rice. Here is a great way to get your kids to eat spinach without even realizing it. Serve this rice with just about anything — it has a fresh, herbal flavor. You can make the dish with brown rice, but it won’t have the usual vivid green color. If you use basmati, you’ll have a much larger yield, as basmati expands about twice as much as regular white rice.

• 2 cups chicken, vegetable or garlic stock, or water

• 1 cup tightly packed baby spinach

• 1/2 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves

• 1 tablespoon canola oil or extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup long grain rice or basmati rice, rinsed several times with cold water

• Salt to taste 

1. Combine 1 cup of the stock or water with the spinach and cilantro in a blender, and blend at high speed until smooth. Place the remaining stock or water in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer.
2. Heat the oil in a medium-sized, heavy saucepan over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, three to five minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic and rice. Stir together for a few minutes until the rice is beginning to crackle. Add the simmering stock or water and salt to taste  Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer five minutes.
3. Uncover, and stir in the blended green mixture from the blender. Rinse the blender with about 1/4 cup water, and add it to the rice. Stir once, raise the heat and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Turn off the heat, uncover and place a clean kitchen towel over the pot. Replace the lid, and allow the rice to stand undisturbed for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a spoon or fork, taste and adjust seasoning. Serve.
Yield: Serves four to six as a side dish.

Recipe found on NYTimes

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There could be no more fitting way to celebrate Memorial Day than with a cookout!

Some holidays find their beginnings in religion, others celebrate an important historical person, and still others celebrate a particular day or world culture. Memorial Day stands alone as a holiday that arose out of appreciation for and remembrance of every person who gave their lives defending the nation. Although the holiday was officially proclaimed in 1868 by General John Logan, the official recognition does not mark the holiday's true beginnings. No one person or place can be credited with originating Memorial Day because many, many towns and communities were dedicating time to decorate the graves of American soldiers and arranging gatherings in remembrance of our nation's heroes well before Memorial Day was officially declared.

Nowadays, most Americans celebrate Memorial Day as the official kick-off of Barbeque Season. Get ready to warm up the coals, pull out the cooler, and create a spread of summer salads and side dishes.

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Food Allergies

"Hey, do you want some?" your friend asks as he offers you a mouthwatering homemade brownie. You're tempted by the delicious dessert, but then you see the crushed peanuts on top. Darn! You're allergic to peanuts. Maybe just one little bite?

Nope. If you have a food allergy, even a very tiny bit of that food can make you sick. It's better to say no thanks to the brownie and have a nut-free dessert. Lots of kids have food allergies — about 3 million in the United States alone.

These foods cause the most food allergies:

• eggs
• peanuts and other nuts
• seafood, such as shrimp
• milk, particularly cow's milk
• soy
• wheat

What Is a Food Allergy?

Food allergies occur when your immune system makes a mistake. Normally, your immune system protects you from germs and disease. It does this by making antibodies that help you fight off bacteria, viruses, and other tiny organisms that can make you sick. But if you have a food allergy, your immune system mistakenly treats something in a certain food as if it's really dangerous to you.

Doctors believe that allergies could be hereditary, which means if your parent or other close relative has certain allergies like hay fever, you're more likely to develop the allergies. Some kids are born allergic to certain foods, whereas others develop food allergies over time. This may be due to someone's surroundings or changes in the body as they grow older.

So if you are not sure if you are allergic to something its better to not eat that item at all.

Important Things to Remember:

• Read Labels
• When handling multiple food allergies, its best to use different utensils when preparing meals
• Eat Real and Fresh Natural Foods

 There are lots of good sites to check out with alot of useful tips.
      http://allergymoms.com/index.php
      http://www.foodallergymama.com

 


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