So I decided to get creative in hopes of getting my kids excited about food, including in the grocery shopping/meal planning, and interested in tiring new foods. I came up with the idea - because the kids have been really into maps (both world & the US) - that we'd learn about the US through food. So each day in June we'd pick a state, learn about what food it's known for and then make a meal designed around that. So far it's been fun, but I quickly learned that this project is more to keep me excited about cooking and home and not eatting out as much and that the kids aren't as into it as I expected, but i'm about twice as into it as I expected!
So today was day 1 really. Yesterday Olivia and I picked some states and some foods and I did the grocery shopping. HOLY CRAP was it expensive! But mostly because I bought alot of gluten free baking stuff that will stay in the pantry for other projects. We'll be making gluten free apple pie to celebrate Washington - or Michigan because I did end up with Michigan Apples. Who knew?!
This afternoon for lunch I made Cuban Sandwiches - YAY FLORIDA!!! They were delicious, thanks to Alton Brown & some Supermom ad libbing. You can find the basic recipe listed below. I improvised to make a gluten and dairy free version for AJ - then Drew told me that the kids had just eatten lunch like an hour before. Ooops - I'd slept because I had a very long night, and I didnt even think to ask. Oh well - more for me!!! So the gluten free version was made on an Udi's gluten free hamburger bun and I used Veggie Slices vegan mozzarella cheese. Since I dont own a panini press I used a quesadialla maker and a waffle maker (The waffle maker was used as a weight to smoosh the quesadilla maker closed... I told you - Supermom.). It was good food & pretty fun to make. :)
And to celebrate Indiana - and because who doesnt love snacks! - I found a recipe for popcorn balls. I've never actually eatten a popcorn ball, but here's what I've learned: It's hands down the most unhealthy snack in the history of the entire world of unhealthy snacks. You can find the recipe listed below, but allow me to summarize:
1. Take nine different types of sugar and melt them with butter and the smallest amount of water humanly possible. Water is healthy and healthy must be avoided to all extent in this recipe.
2. Bring it to a boil and dump in a bucket load of popcorn. Good luck finding a bowl big enough btw.
3. Before the sugar stops boiling - stick your hands in it to make balls.
4. Take those sticky balls and open a plastic bag with your sticky hands to store them.
5. Do that nine million times because you used a bucket full of popcorn.
It was one of those cases where I read the recipe and it totally didnt sink in until the 900* sugary mixture (that I'm not convinced isnt able to be used to hang wallpaper with) was burning the flesh off of my oil covered hands and THEN I thought to myself "well this doesn't seem well thought out on anyone's part". This was one of those projects where so much time was sent laughing at myself over that I just couldnt help having fun. I again had to improvise because I just could NOT get the balls to keep shape & I realized that the wallpaper sugar was sticking to my hands (and everything else within 28 feet) and when I tried to put the ball down it fell apart. So I ended up using a silicon cupcake cup thingy (I bake often, can you tell?) and using that to form the ball-ish shape. I was pretty proud of myself for how well that worked out. I couldnt avoid the sticky hands no matter what I did, which is why it's a GREAT idea to have a printed recipe for all those times wehre you're like "no way this is the right way to do this..." and then have to look back NOT on a touch screen laptop for it to tell you you were in fact doing it right. The sugar was so stringy and sticky I thought to myself that it looked like I went to third base with Spider-man. Why THATS where my mind went I have no idea - I blame the Al Greene in the background...
Anyway - half way through I decided that there wasnt enough sugar and we needed more. So Olivia helped by putting a spoon full of sprinkles into the cup so that when i added the popcorn, the top was coated with sprinkles - and then completely rocking out to New Kids on the Block and Michael Buble with me. That was a very important Step (by step... Oh baby!) I will now send those to school with her to jack up everyone else's kids with sugar and make the teachers cry. Which could actually explain the little suggestion on the website - and no, i cant make this stuff up - where it recommends serving a sparkling wine with the popcorn balls. It's to dull the pain of the fact that your kids are LITERALLY bouncing off the walls because they're pumped with enough sugar to probably build a life sized Payton Manning pastry. And that's what makes Indiana awesome!!
So the kids may not be as into the project as I had hoped, but it's only day 1. We have so much more to look forward to and i'm so excited about it. I should probably be taking pictures along the way and maybe I will, but for today I enjoy eatting and sharing later. I love that I'm excited about cooking again & I can share in a project with the kids. Whether they know it or not, the kids are learning an important lesson or two about food - first, popcorn balls are RIDICULOUSNESS. Second, Mom's a little crazy and it's fun. Third, cooking & eatting is rarely about food in our culture - it's about being together, trying something new, and having a great time. Everything else is just a bonus.
Alton Brown's Cuban Sandwich Recipe
Best Ever Popcorn Balls
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