Today is the launch of a revolutionary food website called Gojee and I’m am very honored to be apart of it as one of their writers! This isn’t you’re run of the mill recipe website. Gojee is a personalized recipe index curated just around what you have in your kitchen. In their words, their putting “the cat’s bananas back in cooking.” Here you will find unique, fresh and tempting recipes not just from anyone but from Gojee’s hand picked food writers like Ashley Rodriguez (notwithoutsalt.com), Jaden Hair (steamykitchen.com), Bobbi Bowers (freshandfoodie.com), Rachel Hutchings (lafujimama.com), Helene Dujardin (tarteletteblog.com), Chrystal and Amir (duodishes.com), Josh Stokes (grillachef.com), Food52.com and yours truley to just name a few.

Go check it out, personalize it to your cravings or what you have on hand and give it a whirl. Trust me, you will want to jump into it right away.

The time of neon colored and artificial fruit icy pops is long over! Thank goodness because I can’t tell you how the thought of Mia biting into a tube of frozen food dye and corn syrup was making me a bit nauseous. Introducing Power of Fruit, the one of a kind pure fruit frozen fruit bar.

It’s rare that I get this excited about a product review but I fully stand behind this one. Power Of Fruit bars are a new concept in the fruit bar industry. Get this, they are actually made of fruit! Real fruit and nothing else. There are no added preservatives, chemicals, artificial or  ”natural” flavors, corn syrup, dyes, or sugar. It’s just sweet and delicious fruit. It’s that simple…Seriously. Power Of Fruit bars come in five flavors: CherryBerry, Orange Tango, All-Fruit, Tropical, and BananaBerry. They are 100% frozen fruit, less than 36 calories a bar, no artificial colors, sweeteners or preservatives, less than 10 grams of sugar and the best benefit of all is that one bar represents half of one fruit serving.

Over the past week I gave bars to Mia and five of her friends. All but one favored these to the neon bars you find in the grocery store. She couldn’t get over that there was actual fruit bits in the bar. The rest of the kids, including Mia, absolutely loved them. Tropical was by far the favorite, with BananaBerry second, then Orange Tango, CherryBerry, and All-Fruit following. Mia now asks for them daily and I have no problem giving them to her. Actually, as a real food advocate, I feel quite good about it.

Over all a great review for Power Of Fruit and I fully recommend you grab a box for your kids (or yourself) to help brighten those hot summertime blues!

To find more information about Power of Fruit visit www.poweroffruit.com

The giveaway is now closed and the winner is… Jennifer R. with the answer, “Ice cream and lots of it!”

Leave a comment below and answer this question: What’s your favorite way to beat the summer heat?

One comment will be chosen randomly and the lucky winner will win 5 boxes of Power Of Fruit (a $25 value)!!!! 5 boxes! Trust me it’s worth it. We have enjoyed every box here. The winner will be chosen next Friday, July 1, 2011 at noon central time and notified by e-mail. U.S. residents only please.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Power Of Fruit. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

After months of trial and error I have finally found my favorite veggie burger and all it took was a little quinoa. If you haven’t discovered quinoa yet, it is a grain like crop grown for it’s seeds. It’s actually not a grain at all but closely related to beets and spinach believe it or not. Packed with protein, magnesium and iron this nutty flavored seed is perfect for toddlers, kids, and insane marathon/ultra runners like my husband. These burgers have now become a favorite in this house but I warn you it took awhile for Mia to get used to it. I had mixed results with kids when I handed this recipe out to a couple of friends. 3 out of 6 kids loved it and the other 3 were habitual fast food hamburger eaters and couldn’t get over the “different” burger. As for the adults, it’s a hit. A delicious and healthy way to eat your veggies and quinoa.

Quinoa Sweet Potato Burgers with Snow Pea Slaw serves 4
for the slaw

• 2 cups snow peas
• 3 carrots
• 1/4 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed (1 orange)
• 1 Tbs + 1tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• pinch salt and pepper

for the burgers

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 sweet potato (to equal 1 1/2 cups shredded)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• pinch pepper
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil or cooking spray

Rinse the quinoa. This is very important as quinoa is coated with saponin, a resin-like substance that is extremely bitter. It’s NOT toxic just bitter. I like to use 1/4 cup black quinoa and 1/4 cup white just to make it interesting. You can use whatever color you wish.

Bring water to boil in a pot. Once the water is at a boil, add rinsed quinoa and cover. Lower heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until all the water gone and quinoa is cooked. Allow to cool.

While the quinoa is cooking, chiffonade (thinly slice) the snow peas. Set aside.

Peel and shred the carrots and set aside with the snow peas.

In a large bowl, combine the orange juice, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, ginger, and salt and pepper. Whisk until combined. Set aside  until the burgers are finished and you are ready to serve.

Now on to the “burger.” Peel and shred the sweet potato. You should have about 1 1/2 cups shredded.

Place the shredded sweet potatoes on a towel, paper or fabric, and squeeze out the excess water that the sweet potato holds.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa and sweet potato.

To the quinoa/sweet potato, add the beaten egg and stir.

Add bread crumbs, salt, and pepper and mix well.

With your hands, form “burger patties.” These will be about 1/2 cup of the quinoa mixture each.

In a griddle or large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Place the burgers on and cook for about 5 minutes. Flip and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or until the burgers are golden brown on both sides.

Place the snow peas and carrots into the dressing and toss to coat.

Serve the quinoa sweet potato burger on a bun or alone topped with the snow pea slaw.

Like I said, some kids love it and some kids aren’t to sure about it but all I know is that in this family we have to cook it often! So often in fact I’m already starting to crave the slightly sweet and nutty burgers again. Hope you enjoy.

There are just those nights that we throw the Mia in bed a little early and treat ourselves to a at home date night. This usually means a good bottle of wine, music and a dinner that suits an adult pallet rather than our two year old’s. Of course, I wasn’t at all surprised that she ate the leftovers the next day. Cooking seafood sometimes can be a little overwhelming for those of us that didn’t grow up around it but trust me this stew is very simple to make and the taste will knock your socks off. Just what you want on a date night, right?

Rustic Seafood Stew serves 6 you’ll happily have leftovers

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 shallots, peeled
• 1 lemongrass stalk (about 6″)
• 1 pound new potatoes
• 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 11/2 tsp kosher salt
• 11/2 cups dry white wine (I use a dry Pinot Grigio)
• 1 quart seafood stock
• 1/2 cup clam juice
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes, organic if possible
• 1 Tbs fresh oregano
• 1 Tbs fresh parsley
• 1 Tbs fresh thyme
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled deveined
• 1 pound cod, or other white fish
• 1 pound mussels
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• salt and pepper

When you purchase mussels, make sure they are all closed. Don’t buy any that are open. Buy them the same day as you plan to cook and store in the fridge in a bowl of ice. When you are ready to start the stew clean the mussels by removing any outside “beard” by pulling along the side of the mussel. (My fishmonger cleans them but sometimes I will find one with a beard still attached. In the same bowl as you are storing the mussels in, cover the mussels with water and set aside until needed. This will purge any sand or dirt inside the mussels. It all sounds a little daunting but trust me it’s very simple.

Finely chop the garlic and shallots. I was out of all of my pretty cutting boards. Sorry for the ugly one. Just keeping it real here. Sometimes a good meal can’t wait for the dishes to be done. wink wink

Break the lemongrass stalk in half and slice it down the middle of the shaft.

Dice the new potatoes in 2 inch pieces. Heat oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven and add the garlic, shallots, lemongrass, potatoes, and salt. Saute on medium heat for 15 minutes until the potatoes have softened.

Add the wine while scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the stock, clam juice, and tomatoes and herbs. Stir. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer uncovered. Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.

Meanwhile, peel and devein the shrimp and cube the cod into 2 inch pieces. I like to cut the shrimp in half following the vein. They’re thin but make a nice spiral shape when cooked. Just my preference.

Add cod, shrimp, and mussels. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and cover. Let sit covered for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the lemongrass and discard. Add the lemon zest and stir. The mussels should be opened and the shrimp and fish cooked through. Discard any mussels that do not open. Add salt and pepper to taste.

It’s so gorgeous! Serve with sourdough toasted with a good olive oil. Thanks to a recent care package from my best friend in San Francisco I used a beautiful oil form The Olive. It was wonderful! Hope you enjoy your date night with this impressive yet simple one pot meal!

Recently, I was asked by Oransi, a company that provides the best new green cleaning products, to give their Ionic Fridge Air Purifier a try. Seeing how my head is always stuck in the fridge I thought that I could really give it a run for it’s money, so to speak. So, what is the Ionic Fridge Air Purifier all about you ask?

According to Oransi:

The Oransi ionic air purifier for refrigerators features patented Piezo-electric technology that removes odors and bacteria to clean the refrigerator air thoroughly yet silently – and without the harmful side effects of ozone that normally is found in standard ionizers. The Oransi ionic air purifier is healthier than other refrigerator air purifiers and has been third-party tested by the Industrial Research Technology Institute (ITI). The ITI testing results found Oransi’s refrigerator air purifier to be 78% below the required FDA limits for ozone production.

After a two week trial in my food packed fridge, the Oransi Ionic Fridge Air Purifier did everything it promised. It was easy to use, I just inserted two AA batteries and turned it on. It’s small, requires no filters and extremely quite as I hardly noticed it was there. The best part of it all is that it really works. I have not noticed one smell in the fridge and I even put it to the test the other day when I cooked seafood stew and placed the leftovers in the fridge. My husband and I were both shocked that it actually works! Baking soda has never come close to what this little purifier can do.

Another benefit to Oransi’s fridge purifier is that it will save you money in the long haul. By requiring no filters there is no real added expense to the purifier except replacing the batteries every three months. Oransi also states that their fridge purifier will save you money by removing the bacteria that cause odor and food decay – thereby keeping food and produce fresher for extended periods of time. Honestly, it’s hard for me to test if it actually does keep food fresher for extended periods of time but I can understand how it might.

All in all, I found the Oransi Ionic Fridge Air Purifier to be a good green product that works! The Oransi ionic fridge air purifier is $29 and available online from Oransi at
http://www.oransi.com/ionic_air_purifiers_s/6.htm.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Oransi. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

There’s nothing better than taking a bite of slightly sweet and toasty homemade granola to drown out the bickering between a dog and a two year old little girl. Yes, they bicker. No, I didn’t realize adopting a 60 pound lab meant adopting a another toddler and yes, I’m considering never having anymore children because my hair is quickly turning grey. There’s also the possibility of me entering a psych ward soon. But for now I have the crunchy bites of heaven covered with milk to save my sanity and make me smile when I realize that my once white dog is now neon blue and a beheaded Barbie rolls under neath my feet.

Dried Cherry Coconut Granola makes 10 cups

• 4 cups oats
• 2 cups almonds
• 2 cups raw shredded or flaked coconut
• 1 1/2 cups dried sweet or bing cherries, pitted
• 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil*
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 Tbs pure maple syrup

*the low down on virgin coconut oil, in case you were wondering: Virgin coconut oil is one of the safest oils to cook with. It does not contain trans fatty acids and does not break down. Coconut oil is known as the “energy fat” and is favoured by dieters, athletes, and body builders. It is slightly lower in calories than most other fats and oils and is processed in the liver and converted directly into energy unlike most oils. So, in conclusion it’s pretty healthy.

Preheat oven to 300° F.

With a sharp knife, coarsely chop almonds. If you have little kiddos like I, you might want to chop the almonds in pieces they can handle.

In a large bowl, combine oats, chopped almonds, shredded coconut, and cherries. I like to chop the cherries a bit so that Mia can eat them easier. Warning: little hands find their way into this recipe fast. Dried Cherries may be irresistible to some. Proceed with caution.

In a small bowl or measuring cup combine coconut oil, honey, and maple syrup. Mix well.

Pour the coconut oil/honey/syrup mix into the oats and stir well until combined.

Spread evenly on a large baking sheet (11″x17″) and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oats are golden.

Allow to cool completely before serving or storing. Store in an air-tight container.

Perfect on cherry Greek yogurt. Have you noticed I’m addicted to Greek Yogurt lately?

I’m going to make this short and sweet. This recipe is pretty flippin’ delicious and super quick and easy to make. For years I’ve been making a smaller appetizer version of this using wonton wrappers and it wasn’t until recently that we started using the same technique to make a healthy baked “egg roll” for dinner. This one is definitely Mia, aka 2 year old, approved.

Baked Chicken Spinach & Artichoke Egg Roll makes 12

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 1/2 cup cooked chicken
• 1 cup artichoke hearts (about 10 hearts, I use frozen and thawed)
• 1 cup fontina or mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 Tbs dried Italian herb mix*
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3 Tbs strained Greek Yogurt (I use Fage)
• 12 egg roll wrappers
• 2 Tbs water
• marinara for dipping

* Italian herb mix = 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried rosemary or any store bought mix will do

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Finely chop spinach and place in a large bowl.

Strain all water from frozen or canned artichokes, chop and place in the same bowl as the spinach.

I LOVE roasted chicken, don’t you! This is a great way to use leftovers of a chicken you roasted yourself or a store bought rotisserie chicken. Dice cooked chicken in small pieces and place in the bowl.

Place the cheese, herbs, and salt in the bowl with the chicken spinach and artichokes. Stir to combine.

Now add the Greek yogurt. We use the 2% Fage yogurt but if you would rather something more decedent you may substitute with mascarpone cheese. Stir well to combine.

On a flat surface, lay out the egg roll wrappers with a point facing you making a diamond shape. Place two heaping spoonfuls of the chicken, spinach, and artichoke mixture at the lower point of the wrapper.

Fold the lower point over the filling.

Next, roll the egg roll towards the upper point

…and then fold both sides of the egg roll wrapper inward.

Finally, pour water into a small bowl. Dip your finger in the water and spread on the remaining point of the egg roll wrapper.

Fold the final point over onto the egg roll to seal. Now you have an egg roll ready for cooking! Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spray the rolls lightly with cooking spray (like PAM). Place in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden.

Allow to cool and serve with marinara on the side. Simple, delicious, and healthy, baked egg rolls are a perfect food for the whole family and an easy meal for kids to make.

Warning: there is nothing low-cal about these delicious and insanely addictive sweet potato cinnamon pull-apart buns! So, you might have to do another 20 minutes on the elliptical but your soul will thank you! Check out the story behind these sinful breakfast treats and how to make them for your family today on Babble.com’s 50 New Recipes From The 100 Best Food Blogs

recipe: sweet potato cinnamon buns

This recipe was made exclusively for Babble.com