Eating A to Z: S is for Starfruit!

While we were browsing the produce section of the grocery store for something new to try, we found starfruit!  I don't think any of my kids have had it before, so we bought it.  I wasn't sure how to tell if it was ripe, so I tried to pick ones that were more yellow.

The kids were excited to try it!  Josiah was convinced that he was going to eat a whole one by himself.  Cutting it into the star shapes made it even more exciting :-)

Isaac and Nathanael both liked it wanted more.  Hannah enjoyed hers, too.  Josiah did not enjoy it as much as he expected.  He ate it, but only after peeling the skin off.  Elizabeth didn't really care for it, mostly because of the texture.  I think we were all expecting it to be sweeter than it was.  It has a light flavor, which was enjoyable.  My mom mentioned that she had planned to buy some to float in water for an event.  I think it would be enjoyable that way.

Eating A to Z: A, P, and Z

A is for Aloe Vera Drink
(Since trying this, we have also eaten something that starts with "A".)

We don't go to Trader Joe's often, but we do enjoy going once in a while to find new things to try.  The kids especially look forward to trying different dried and freeze dried fruits.  As we were walking around last time, Josiah was claiming he was thirsty and spotted the aloe vera drink.  I was skeptical that he would like it, especially since it contains pulp, but we bought it to try.  The one we got was grape flavored.  We tried it after we had refrigerated it.  All of the boys and Hannah enjoyed it.  Elizabeth thought it was okay.  I liked it more that I expected.  We only really tasted the grape flavor.  The pulp was not very noticeable.  Isaac liked it so much, he decided we should make grape infused water.  We still need to do that!


Z is for Zucchini

Zucchini is something my kids have had infrequently, but I don't think it's really ever been something focused on, so we decided to try it.  We ate it raw and sauteed.  Elizabeth was the only child who didn't want to eat more of it raw.  But she did say it was better than she expected, as she had thought it would be more similar to cucumbers.  She did say should would probably eat more of it with ranch dressing.

I had originally planned to use the zucchini in a veggie lasagna, and the kids were on board!  However, knowing that David would prefer to not have the extra veggies in his lasagna, we decided to saute the zucchini and eat it as a side to our lasagna.  We used this recipe 
http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/sauteed-zucchini.html 
as a guide and added mushrooms. 

 My kids love mushrooms for some reason!  i had some trouble getting the zucchini to brown, and so I ended up cooking it a little longer than I would have preferred.  But the kids, except Nathanael, loved it!  They thought the zucchini took on the flavor of the mushrooms; they at all of their zucchini and then left the lasagna behind, saying they weren't hungry.  We went to Panda Express a few days later, and the mushroom chicken had zucchini in it.  They were thrilled to have it again!  I think we will try to roast it in the oven next time or maybe try zucchini pizza boats.  I'm glad to have another veggie to add to our repertoire!


P is for Pho Bo Tai

David and I had a chance to go out for a date one Sunday.  We went to a Vietnamese restaurant called Linh's Bistro.  David ordered the Pho Bo Tai.  The restaurant's website describes is as ,"Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat."  He ate quite a bit, but still had a large container full to take home.  The kids and I had some for lunch the following Wednesday.  The broth was delicious!  The kids all enjoyed the beef  pieces.  Elizabeth quickly ate her soup.  She loves trying different soups.  Josiah said he liked it, except the onions, but it took him a while to eat.  Isaac didn't like the onions.  Then he decided he didn't like the noodles.  I eventually ended up adding leftover zucchini and mushrooms to help hide the texture of the noodles, and he finished it then.  Nathanael took a while, but he ate his.  Hannah ended up falling asleep during lunch, but seemed to enjoy it before she fell asleep.

This photo was borrowed from http://www.linhsbistro.com/, the restaurant where we bought the soup.

Eating A to Z: A is for Artichoke Hearts!

When I asked friends for ideas about new foods to try, one of the suggestions was artichokes.  I have had marinated artichokes in pasta and dips with artichokes.  I was interested in having the kids try the "real" thing.  However, when I was at the store the other day, I saw frozen artichoke hearts.

I figured that less work meant we'd me more likely to actually try them instead of letting them sit in the fridge too long before we got to them.  (Yes, that would be what I did with the eggplants we bought. :-( )

Wednesday night, we tried them.  Dinner was about ready, but we needed a vegetable.  I just popped the back in the microwave--probably not the best way to have the kids enjoy them, but I was tired and wanted to get done.  I sprinkled them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan.  I asked that each kid try at least one piece.  They looked kind of grey and did not look very appetizing.

Elizabeth and Isaac liked them and wanted more!  Josiah said he liked it, but didn't want any more.  Nathanael was in a mood and spit it back out.  I think Hannah took a little nibble.

We had plenty left, so today for lunch, I decided we would make spinach and artichoke dip, something I have enjoyed before.  This met with a lot more success.  :-)  All of the kids enjoyed it, except maybe Hannah--another mood, and are interested in having artichokes cooked in other things now.  We used this easy Alton Brown recipe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-spinach-and-artichoke-dip-recipe.html 
substituting fresh spinach for the frozen, Neufchatel cheese for cream cheese, and plain yogurt for the sour cream.  YUM!