I had had the opportunity to sample and learn a whole bunch about mangos last weekend at Camp Blogaway, courtesy of the Mango Board. Fun fact: Mangos are the most popular fruit in the world and are available year-round. Plus they are a nutritional powerhouse – they contain 100 percent of the daily recommended Vitamin C and 35 percent of your Vitamin A, as well as 12 percent of your daily dietary fiber.

As a former mango-mangler, I also learned how to cut mangos the right way to get the greatest possible amount of flesh. Standing your mango stem end down, slice straight down so that you cut off two flat “cheeks” from either side of the pit. Then score the fruit inside the cheeks, and then scoop or slice out the mango from the skin. (You can find a video of how to cut a mango here.)

So what’s our family’s favorite new way to eat mangos? I adapted the Mango Board’s recipe for Mango Bread and made it into these Mango Mini Muffins, which we fondly refer to as MMMs. Mmmmm….

Mango Mini Muffins (adapted from the Mango Board’s Mango Bread)

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 medium very ripe, soft mangos, peeled and pitted (1 1/2 mangos pureed and 1/2 mango diced)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the streusel topping:

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the mango puree, egg, vanilla, and lime juice. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the mango mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in the diced mango. Carefully drop the batter, about a teaspoonful at a time, into lined mini muffin tins. To make the streusel, blend together the butter, brown sugar, and flour; then sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon of the mixture on top of each muffin. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the muffin tops are firm and golden brown. Makes 2 1/2 dozen muffins.

You can serve these for breakfast, if you’re OK with the sugar, but we found these just as tasty for dessert. Just call them mango cupcakes, and everyone’s happy.

Blogger disclosure: We did not receive compensation for this post, although we did receive a box of mangos to sample from the Mango Board.

Pancakes for Breakfast (Tomie de Paola): This little book is fun for even the tiniest kids because it has no words, only descriptive pictures, and at some point you can have your kids “read” it back to you. Pancake recipe included. Ages 2 to 8.

Dog Food (Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers): The team that brought you “How Are You Peeling?” now offers this incredibly cute book with dogs made from all manners of fruits and vegetables. Can you name all of the fruits and vegetables that are used to make the pups? Ages 2 to 10.

Pie in the Sky (Lois Ehlert): Even if you weren’t reading this book for the words, you still wouldn’t be able to put it down because the illustrations are so darned cool. It’s a tree-to-table story about making a cherry pie, complete with recipe. Your kids will be inspired to go and make their own. Ages 3 to 9.

The Runaway Dinner (Allan Ahlberg): Help! The sausage is running away! And there goes the fork and knife…and the peas too! A quick read, sure to provide some giggles before or after dinner. Ages 3 to 9.

Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears (Cynthia Rylant): One of many in the Mr. Putter and Tabby series, this one is fun just because of the image of Mr. Putter shooting all of his pears with a slingshot – zing! – over into the neighbor’s yard. And of course she makes all sorts of delectable treats out of them. Ages 3 to 9.

The Incredible Book-Eating Boy (Oliver Jeffers): Henry doesn’t just like to read books; he likes to eat them. A good read with great illustrations – and (spoiler alert) it ends with a whole bunch of broccoli being consumed. Extra bonus: The hard-cover version comes with a big bite out of the back. Ages 4 to 10.

The Popcorn Book (Tomie de Paola): Another Tomie de Paola food book fave. This book tells a little story while walking you through the history of popcorn and taking you step-by-step through a popcorn recipe. Your kids will never want to eat microwave popcorn again (well, at least sometimes they won’t). Ages 5 to 10.

Hungry for more book recommendations? Check our list of books for picky eaters.

Last year's group of intrepid campers

It’s May, which means it’s time to head off to Camp Blogaway to spend a weekend with some of our favorite food bloggers from around the country. We’re looking forward to catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Is this an amazing community or what? (If you need further evidence, read this great post from Erika Kerekes of In Erika’s Kitchen about our Food Bloggers Los Angeles group).

We’ve got lots of great things in store for when we get back, so stay tuned. Now, it’s off to pack up those flashlights and that sleeping bag…

Photo via Frieda's Produce/Baroda Farms

True confession: Artichokes scare me  a little bit. I didn’t grow up eating them (or cooking them, for that matter), and they’re so big…and beautiful…and intimidating.  Of course I love looking at them in the farmers’ market. And if someone else wants to prepare them, I’m happy to eat them – I think they’re delicious. But for the most part there’s not any artichoke-ing (is that a word?) going on in my kitchen.

This spring, I’ve decided to confront my fears. I’ve got lots of Italian blood, and the Italians love artichokes – why shouldn’t I honor that heritage? Plus, my good friends at Frieda’s have introduced me to the perfect way to take baby steps toward cooking artichokes – baby artichokes!

These cute little chokes are easy to prepare because you can eat the whole thing, like a flower bud. They’re a beautiful deep purple color and about the size of an egg. You don’t have to do any of that taking-out-the-choke stuff, because there is no choke. Plus, given their small size and pretty color, they’re a little more approachable and kid-friendly too. You can sell them to your kids as “little flowers” (and you can smile to yourself knowing that they’re a great source of fiber).

To prepare the baby artichokes, I trimmed off the stems and outer leaves and then cut them in half. Then I followed Frieda’s recipe for Roasted Baby Artichokes. Note: I trimmed off a lot of the outer leaves, probably about 4 layers’ worth, so that all that was left was the very soft inner leaves.

Next I used the artichokes to make a totally not-scary artichoke pasta dish that everyone in the house could love:

“Little Flower” Artichoke Pasta

1 pound flower-shaped (or other pretty shape) pasta

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced

1 cup grilled chicken, chopped

1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1 pound baby artichokes, halved, trimmed, and roasted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional grated cheese to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the chicken, olives, and artichokes, and salt, and cook until heated through. Drain the cooked pasta and combine with artichoke mixture and grated cheese in a large serving bowl. Serve with additional cheese for topping. Serves 6.

***

Want to try some baby artichokes? If you live in the Southern California area, you’re in luck. From April 25 through May 6, Frieda’s is sponsoring an artichoke festival along with Maria’s Italian Kitchen restaurant and Ralph’s grocery stores. Throughout the festival, the stores and restaurants will be featuring three varieties of artichokes grown by Steve Jordan, the “artichoke evangelist” of Baroda Farms in Lompoc, CA.  There are the baby artichokes we tried (Fiesole), as well as the full-sized Sangria and Fiore Viola artichokes. If you’ve never tried cooking with artichokes before, now’s your chance!

Green Chopsticks, (parent company CYR International), is a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of several varieties of Korean-style dumplings (gyoza) along with Korean BBQ meat. It’s a progressive company with an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced ingredients and no preservatives or artificial ingredients; the factory is a relatively new and state-of-the-art facility.

Our tour began with a thorough cleaning/sterilization process. Before we could do anything on the factory floor, we had to use a special hand sterilizer mist, don lab coats and hair nets, and then walk through a special sealed air-blower room to get rid of any floating particles. Last we walked through a cleansing bath for the bottom of our shoes, and we were ready to go.

Once we were all safely sanitized, we got to see the first step in the dumpling process, which is making the dough. Here’s a large dough machine that has three rollers to make the dumpling skin flat and thin.

When the dumpling dough is completed, it’s rolled up and ready to go on to the central dumpling-making room.

In the meantime, the fillings need to be made. These dumplings are made with fresh vegetables that are locally sourced and freshly chopped. Here you can see part of the team working on the onions and the cabbage.

Next a big mixer mashes up the filling. Ingredients: chicken breast, leek, green cabbage, green onion, onion, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, evaporated cane juice, salt, oyster sauce, black pepper. That’s it – no preservatives or weird, unidentified additives.

Next this massive, multi-tasking machine serves as the heart of the operation. It cuts out circles of dough, and places the dough circles into little cups. The then machine squirts a dollop of filling into the circle and presses it down. The dumpling is then folded and crimped. The whole process is very magical and could possibly even be considered Willy-Wonka-like, if Willy Wonka made dumplings.

The completed dumplings fall onto the conveyor belt and the workers check for any mess-ups.

The dumplings are then steamed for 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Oooh – here’s one fresh out of the steamer!

But the freshly steamed dumplings don’t stop there; they are immediately sent through a freezer on a conveyor belt where they are frozen for 15 minutes.

The frozen dumplings then tumble down a little sliding board (whee!) into a large vat, from which workers sort them into boxes.

And voila! – They’re all packed up and ready to go.

We don’t necessarily advocate one brand of food over another, but we’re always happy to put a spotlight on a company that makes foods that are wholesome and tasty. Green Chopsticks gave us some samples to take home, and this is a food that we were happy to share with our kids. The kids’ fave? The tiny bite-sized dumplings that make for a tasty little meal or snack.

Green Chopsticks dumplings are available in Gelsons and Bristol Farms stores in the L.A. area, as well as in Costco warehouses in the Pacific Northwest. If you’re not in either one of those areas, you may buy Green Chopsticks products at BBQ Meats and Dumplings – and also look for the Green Chopsticks team at Costco demos throughout the country.

Special thanks to Green Chopsticks for the tour and for its open-door policy!

*Blogger disclosure: We did not receive compensation for this story; however we did receive samples of Green Chopsticks dumplings to bring home.

In recognition of this enormous problem, the Food Network will be premiering a new documentary on Saturday, April 14, called “Hunger Hits Home.” The film takes a first-hand look at the crisis of childhood hunger in America through the eyes of the parents, children, anti-hunger activists, educators and politicians on the frontlines of the battle. The film is part of an ongoing partnership between Food Network and Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign.

How prevalent is hunger among school-aged children? Approximately 9.8 million kids get free or reduced-price school breakfast on an average school day, more than ever before…but 10.5 million eligible kids go without. It’s also an urgent issue as we head into the summer months: Only 1 in 7 kids who get free and reduced-priced school lunches receive summer meals.

“Hunger Hits Home” shows today’s face of hunger through the lives of three families who are struggling to make ends meet. It also highlights the work of those who are looking for solutions, including a determined food pantry founder who makes the battle personal, an elementary school principal who refuses to let his students go hungry, and government officials and non-profit leaders who are moving mountains to mobilize necessary resources.

To view a preview of the film, or to learn how to contribute to the cause, visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/hungry . To learn more about hunger in your community, visit http://GetLocal.NoKidHungry.org .

Restaurants and Fast Food Joints: You don’t have to order kids’ meals. Repeat: You don’t have to order kids’ meals. Let your kids think beyond chicken nuggets and pizza by ordering from the regular menu; if the portions are too big they can split an order. Also, there’s no rule that you have to get fries with that. If fries come with the kids’ meal, ask for fruit instead, and get a single order of fries for the table to share. That way they can fill up on fruit and treat the fries more like a snack.

Another issue that tends to come up at restaurants, especially at fast food places, is soda. Your kids don’t need soda. Let them drink water instead, or milk if they like, and if they want to have a sugary beverage for dessert that can be their choice (although it’s hard to picture a kid who would choose a soda over, say, some ice cream or a cookie).

Buffet Lines: Have you ever met a kid who doesn’t like those hotel breakfast buffets where everyone gets to choose his or her favorite meal? Unfortunately, most kids make a beeline straight for the sugar cereals. So have everyone line up for toast, fruit, and/or eggs first and let the cereal be a second course if they’re still hungry.

At dinner buffets, take a stop at the salad bar first. You don’t have to control what they are choosing but just make sure that everyone has at least one vegetable and one fruit.

Picnics: Packing your own meal as you head to the great outdoors? Think sturdy, nutritious foods like nuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruits, or granola bars or mixes. You don’t need to load up on all kinds of pre-packaged fruit snacks. Look for Mother Nature’s best package – an apple, an orange, a banana, or some grapes.

Train or Plane: Bring your own sturdy snacks (see above), or else you may get stuck ordering whatever is offered in the snack car or on the meal cart. For the most part, those foods are built for longevity – in other words, they are highly salted and processed so that they last as long as possible. If you do have to order from the cart, go with the healthiest possible options rather than overly salty or fatty snacks, and urge your kids to drink water.

Parties: What would spring break be without a party? Whether it’s a family gathering or a birthday party, chances are  there will be some form of salty snacks (potato chips, etc.) and some sort of cake. Again, fill your kids up as much as you can beforehand with fruit and/or protein. And by all means, don’t park your kids right next to the bottomless bowl of candy.

Above all, let reason be your guide. Being on vacation doesn’t mean your kids need to go nuts. But if going out for ice cream is a special treat, by all means go out for ice cream. Have a great spring break!

We recently spent an afternoon in a gardening class with the amazing Geri Miller of Home Grown Edible Landscapes. Geri is a certified master gardener who has an incredible love and respect for all living things, and she has an uncanny ability to inspire people and make them feel like they can create and sustain beautiful gardens. (“You ALL have green thumbs,” she assured us.)

One of Geri’s major focuses is on food justice and creating a sustainable, organic food economy – and on sharing this knowledge with students (She has logged hundreds of volunteer hours in schools, particularly in the inner city, helping to start school gardens and giving kids the basic foundation for growing edibles). “The more you teach your children to grow something responsibly with a low impact on the earth, the better off the next generation will be,” she says.

Geri Miller's restaurant garden at mar'sel at Terranea Resort

OK – so where do we start? Geri advises that you begin by creating the healthiest possible soil, which is the foundation for all successful plantings (“Feed your soil, not your plants,” she says). Here are a few of her soil tips:

• Add organic matter (compost/ humus), which is the storehouse for all of the energy and nutrients that your plants and other soil organisms need.
• Avoid the use of pesticides, the cumulative effect of which can reduce the number and diversity of important soil organisms.
• Mulch by adding low-nitrogen fibrous organic materials to your garden’s surface to maintain important fungi.
• Do not apply synthetic fertilizers, which can break the relationship between plants and soil organisms.

Ready for planting? For great tips on getting your garden started for the spring, check out Geri’s page on Spring/Summer gardening.

Here’s to a bountiful harvest!

Last year we celebrated by making zeppole, but this year we’re going to “green” it up a little bit with some Italian Wedding Soup (click for recipe). (Note: In many places, St. Joseph’s Day feasts are traditionally meatless because it falls during Lent, but some Sicilians celebrate it with meat.) Italian Wedding Soup is basically a flavorful broth combined with meat, greens, and some sort of pasta. We usually associate this soup with weddings or other special events (we always used to eat it at our Italian Christmas celebration), but we just learned via Whole Foods that the “wedding” in the name is actually from minestra maritata, which refers to the “marriage” of greens and meat in the soup. OK, fair enough.

The other inspiration for making this soup comes from the escarole that we just received from Cut N Clean Greens. Escarole! We grew up eating escarole in just about every soup Mom made, but we hardly ever see it in stores out here in Southern California. Having escarole on hand is like having a little taste of home.

So…the key to this soup is that you have to have the absolute highest-quality broth for this soup. If you can do it, homemade broth is best. Also, it helps to have the absolute best-quality meatballs. And the freshest greens you can possibly find. You get the message – it’s a simple soup that’ll taste best if all of the ingredients taste great.

After the soup is all cooked up, we like to top it with a little bit of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Serve as a main course with some warm crusty bread and a salad, or serve smaller portions as an appetizer for your big St. Joseph’s Day feast.

Buona Festa di San Giuseppe!

But before you scoff, know that this is partially an effort to raise awareness about food coloring alternatives. Yes, we could have just made a regular frosting and put in a few drops of food coloring. Or, as my four-year-old pointed out, we could have just headed over to Target and bought some cookies with green frosting on them.  But this way we had a cool project to do together, along with some built-in suspense (Will it taste good or gross?), and the end result was healthier than any of the alternatives.

We started with a basic sugar cookie recipe and cut them with a shamrock cookie cutter. I’d normally make a thinner icing, but I was concerned about the texture and look with the spinach pieces, so I decided to go with a richer, butter-based frosting. After the cookies were cooled, we piped on the frosting just around the edges of each cookie.

Can you taste the spinach? No. Seriously – no. Our kids knew there was spinach in there, but when it was time for cookie-eating, they demolished them without hesitation. We’re not likely to go through the effort of making spinach frosting at other times of the year, but for St. Patrick’s Day, we are proud to be eating (and wearing) all-natural green.

Like this idea and looking for more? Check out these ideas on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day without food coloring.