The Hunt for Desserts. Part 1.

I have been so busy with work (again) that I haven't posted anything in a while. So, here's to trying to catch up...

Let's talk desserts. It's pretty usual for us to be riding in the car on the weekend and for me to go "I need desserts" And my family, that doesn't lack a sweet tooth, is immediately up for the hunt. A few weeks ago we ended up at the Blue Bird Bake Shop. This small shop has a very cool space, and is full of beautiful and delicious cupcakes. Definitely worth the visit. 

 We have also discovered a few other nice dessert spots in the last few months. I'll post about those in the coming weeks.

Improv Picnic

 
How awesome was the weather this weekend? I hope everyone got to enjoy it. We had a lot of fun — the egg hunts, egg decorating, a birthday party, and finally our little improv picnic Sunday afternoon. It's been really hot the past couple of weeks, so the nice weather couldn't keep us inside this weekend. After we were done with our Easter fun, we decided to go to Park Avenue, grab lunch at Panera, and eat at the the park. Baby Kellan happily snoozed in his carrier the whole time. Owen enjoyed the passing of the train, the airplanes flying by, and the houses under those big funky trees (the one at the end of the park, if you're walking towards Fairbanks, is bigger and better). Before we left, Will and Owen walked over to Kilwin's and brought some delicious ice cream back to our spot. Sooo good!

St. Patrick's Pasta

This is a dish I learned from my mom and I make quite often. Owen loves it, it's healthy, and it's the easiest thing to make. It's green, so I thought it'd be appropriate for St. Patrick's Day.

How to make it:
Cook some pasta and add some extra virgin olive oil. Fill up your blender with spinach (Yes, don't be scared — raw spinach barely tastes like anything) Add about 10 fresh basil leaves, about 3/4 of a cup of milk, and a touch of salt. Mix and toss over pasta. Sprinkle some Feta cheese on top and you're done!

* You could use butter instead of olive oil, and you could also toss shredded Gouda or Fontina cheese into the pot and let it melt with the pasta.

The Best Frozen Yogurt

Well, we've been hard at work and our search for the best frozen yogurt in the Orlando area is over. Here's what we've come up with:

1. Red Mango: The family loved Red Mango — the vote was unanimous. Located in the Winter Garden Village shopping plaza (by Panera). A very clean and nicely designed space with great tasting yogurt, and a very friendly staff. It also claims to be the healthiest. We like that. My only complain is no toffee/heath topping, which is my personal favorite. Their almonds are the best though, so I'll forgive them.

2. Menchies: Menchies also has a nicely design space and branding, great tasting yogurt, and a great choice of toppings. (I wasn't allowed to take pictures here)

3. Mochi: This was the first frozen yogurt place we tried, and we really liked it. Their decor is very modern and has sort of a surreal feel. A good fit for a frozen yogurt shop in my opinion.

We also visited Jojo in Downtown Winter Garden and Cold Stone Creamery across from the Winter Garden Village. Jojo's yogurt was good, and I think a better decor/atmosphere would make this place really great. As far as Cold Stone, we think their ice cream is great and they should probably stick to that.

This time, we limited our search to self-serve stores; where you pick your yogurt flavour(s), and toppings, and then proceed to the scale and pay by the weight. It's a great system I think, and it's fun too. Now, if you know of another shop, self-serve or not, that's worth our efforts, let me know in the comments. I'll try and drag my family out for more tasting. So hard to do... ;)

*These results were based solely on my family's opinions. No professional tasters here, just having fun. 

A fine lunch

Even though I don't find Winter Park restaurants overly kid friendly (I know I'm generalizing), I still like the atmosphere around there, so I visit the area from time to time. Last week we grabbed the 2 boys, and went to Hillstone Restaurant (former Houston) for lunch. We grabbed a table outside (a must if the weather is nice) and enjoyed fancy burgers and a great view. I just love the back area at Hillstone – the lake, and the trees. After we were done with our meal we 'explored' the outdoors with Owen as the lead. We ended up at their little herb garden, where for some reason we were on a mission to find basil.

Poisoned Apples?!

When I was pregnant with my first child I ate an apple almost every single day. I would also throw spinach on anything I could in an effort to increase my folic acid intake. Chicken and milk were also high in my diet for their protein and calcium content. I did all this of course to benefit my future child. None of the things I consumed were organic though. I just wasn't aware then of what I'm aware of now. Now it seems like I'm constantly hearing alarming news about all food.

First there are all the preservatives, sugars, high fructose corn syrup, flavors, colors, fast food loaded in saturated fat, etc. All bad, right? I can say we do pretty good staying away from these. Even though I've decided not to turn into a freak about it. As of now, the consumption of these culprits every once in a while is ok per my standards.

Then there's the milk and all the meats; full of hormones, antibiotics, etc. Now, these are things we consume often, so I switched my family to organic in this area, or at least hormone and antibiotic free in some cases. 

And last there are our fruits and veggies. The ones that are supposed to be the greatest for us. Apparently not true unless you buy organic. I recently came across all these articles referring to studies that show how all the pesticides found in this group can affect children and pregnant women. They are linked to ADHD, low IQs, and worse of all cancer. It's really upsetting to me that our food industry is poisoning everything we eat. The solution seems to be to "just buy organic". Unfortunately organic is not only a lot pricier, but also, often unavailable (at least in our area). Take strawberries for example. We go through a pack of these every two days. Last I looked, organic strawberries were $7.99 at Publix and they were WAY past their prime, making them not even an option.

Here's the list of the fruit and veggies most contaminated with pesticides. The "Dirty Dozen" list: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, domestic blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale and collard greens, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, and lettuce. 

I obtained the list from here.

And here are some of the other articles I'm referring to:

Prenatal Pesticide Exposure Can Lower Kids’ IQ

Could pesticides cause ADHD? 

Chocolate Croissant Contest

 I've always loved chocolate croissants. But I especially crave them when I'm pregnant. So lately, when I go to either Whole Foods or The Fresh Market I reward myself with one of these yummy pastries (neither one of these stores are close to my house, but I make the drive to buy specific items that I consider to be healthier choices for my family... so I think I deserve a treat for that, right?)

Anyway, today I couldn't decide which store to go to so I thought I should base my decision on the quality of their croissant. Hmmm... I decided to have a little contest. On the way back I stopped at Panera and picked one up there too, just to have another one for comparison.

The results:
1. The Fresh Market: Best overall taste. Soft and fluffy, with the right balance of chocolate vs. pastry. At $1.29 this one has the lowest price also.
2. Whole Foods: This one was so close to the Fresh Market's. It was really a close call. Also very soft and fluffy, with excellent taste. However, I could taste the oil or butter a bit, not badly though. It's just that the one from the Fresh Market had a bit more chocolate and tasted a tad better. This one was $1.79
3. Panera: It's an ok croissant, but just not as good as the other ones. Not very fluffy and the chocolate is kind of hard. It's inferior in flavor and smaller too. At $2.09 this one is the most expensive one. Sorry Panera, I do enjoy other things in there.

*Disclaimer: Even though I took this contest very seriously and I have excellent taste and I am pregnant, I do not posses professional taste buds. These are just my personal opinions, and are likely to differ from other's.

Saturday Fix

I seriously spend the whole week craving the pancakes and waffles my husband makes on the weekends. And I'm thankful my 3 year old is right there with me so I don't have to beg alone. I have tried to find a place out there that can make good pancakes and waffles so we can give the guy a little break, but always end up disappointed by their lack of yumminess. So, as of now, if you want to eat the best waffles and pancakes in Orlando I recommend you come to our house. However, if anybody does know of a place, please do write it in the comments. I would love to try it out.

The pictures show a "Pancake of the Sun" and a "Pancake of the Planet" made with molds from Williams - Sonoma (the chef doesn't seem to appreciate them, but that's irrelevant) The waffle is cooked in a Villaware Uno belgian waffle iron.