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This week’s edition of Weekend Chef’s Foodie Movie Review is based on another Netflix find: GMO OMG. This 2013 documentary is a film by Jeremy Seifert. Mr. Seifert is a father of 3 young children and the film follows him on his quest to find the source of the food that his family eats, primarily to see how much of what they eat involve the use of GMOs. For those who don’t know, GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism and can mean anything from tomatoes that are bred to glow in the dark to corn that is bred to resist pesticide. In some respects, mankind has been tinkering with plant genetics for millennia. Recent concerns about GMO crops stem from the extent that plant DNA has been scientifically changed and whether the new foods can cause the end users any long-term ill effects. The director’s goal in the film is to show how pervasive GMO’s are in our food chain. Large portions of our corn and soybean crops are modified to some extent and the majority of supermarket foods contain either corn, soybeans or both. The issue is whether or not the food we eat is harmful. I believe the director took the stance that it is harmful without sufficient scientific evidence to back it up . We may not know whether the incredible yields that have the ability to feed a growing global population are in some way poisoning those same people for many years to come. The science of genetic plant breeding may be a two-edged sword but only time will tell if there are negatives to outweigh the positives. I understand Mr. Seifert’s concerns. I have two young children myself and we should certainly try to be aware of the source of the foods we eat. However, I feel his quest to completely remove it from his family’s diet out of fear or precaution set a negative tone and removed the subjectivity from the documentary.

How do all of you feel about GMOs? A blessing to feed the world or a killer in disguise? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

If you are like us, some mornings can be more hectic than others.  Trying to get the kids up and dressed and feed them breakfast before they have to be at before school activities can sometimes be difficult.  That’s when muffins come in handy.  A muffin, some yogurt and a piece of fruit make a quick, easy and healthy breakfast (or even lunch!).  Muffins in general are easy to prepare and cook much quicker than making a bread.  I love that I can make a batch, freeze them and can take them out as needed.  These chocolate chip coffee muffins were enjoyed by both the adults and the kids.  I used decaffeinated coffee granules to make them more child-friendly.  These will be making an appearance in our kitchen again soon!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Muffins
Recipe adapted from Very Culinary

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 tablespoons instant decaffeinated coffee granules

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, vanilla, egg, and coffee granules.

4.  Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and combine until just moist. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners and bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to let cool.

Happy first day of April!  No jokes for you here!  It’s been a LOOOONG winter and I am very much looking forward to some warm spring weather!  Anything is better than the snow that we got last night!  March came in like a lion and left like a lion! April is going to be a busy month around here and I cringe looking at all the boxes filled in on the calendar already!  We have lots to celebrate though including Passover, our wedding anniversary, Easter, and our daughter’s birthday.

When life gets busy, it’s really easy to want to order Chinese take-out.  We can literally walk to the take-out restaurant, it’s that close.  When we do order Chinese take out we get the usual sesame chicken for the kids.  Occasionally, they’ll request lo mein as well.  However, with this recipe we can make lo mein at home.   This “Easy Lo Mein” is well…….really easy to make!  It’s really versatile in that you can pick and choose what veggies you want to use.  The kids like the noodles and sauce and can pick out the veggies that they don’t want. It’s quick to make and so much healthier than the take out stuff!

Easy Lo Mein
Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious

Ingredients:
8 ounces lo mein egg noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and Sriracha.  Set aside.

2.  In a large pot of boiling water, cook the lo mein noodles according to package instructions and drain.

3.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper and carrot. Cook about 3-4 minutes, until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the spinach and cook 1- 2 minutes to heat through.

4.  Stir in the lo mein noodles and soy sauce mixture, gently tossing to combine.

Chicken fingers are a staple children’s food.  It’s rare to find a restaurant kid’s menu without them.  When doing the weekly menu planning I try to  find at least one recipe that I know the kids will really enjoy.  I’m not always successful in my endeavors.  However, when I made these  pretzel chicken fingers a couple of weeks ago they were a big winner!  These are super kid-friendly and tasted good.  My daughter helped with the preparation of these and enjoyed banging the pretzels into crumbs. The pretzel coating gives the chicken a nice salty, crunch.  The combination of flavors in the dipping sauce helped make the dish a little more adult friendly, although the kids enjoyed it as well.  I served these with some fries and veggies to complete the meal.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Fingers with Curried Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Recipe adapted from Mika’s Pantry

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into
1/4 cup flour, for dredging
Salt and pepper
4 1/2 cups pretzels, crushed
1 egg, beaten
oil

Curried Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
½ cup mayo
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon curry powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well.

Directions:
1.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2.   While oil is heating, place flour, eggs and pretzel crumbs into 3 separate bowls.

3.  Dip chicken pieces into the flour,  the egg and then the crushed pretzels.

4.   When the oil is heated, place the chicken pieces in the pan and cook 3-4 minutes.  Turn chicken over and cook 3-4 more minutes until heated through.

4.   Place the chicken on paper towels to drain.  Serve warm with the dipping sauce.

Caution:  unhealthy recipe ahead.  Continue at your own risk!   This is the classic, creamy, full-fat comfort dish that we all know and love.  As spring will soon be here, and if you’re like us, hoping to eat a bit healthier, I am trying to post the last of the cold weather comfort food dishes that we’ve eaten recently.  So back to this fettuccini dish.  I attempted to make it a little healthier by adding broccoli.  We rarely eat dishes like this.  But sometimes, you just need a big plate of pasta with cream sauce!  This is quick and easy (and much cheaper than if you ordered at a restaurant!) to make at home for a busy weeknight dinner!  Of course we all ate and enjoyed this!

Fettuccini Alfredo with Broccoli
Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups heavy cream
1-½ cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1 pound fettuccini pasta, cooked
12 ounce bag frozen broccoli florets, cooked
½ teaspoons pepper
1 dash salt

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a large skillet and saute the garlic for two to three minutes.

2. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer.

3. Add the parmesan and cream cheese stirring to melt. Add salt and pepper.

4. Mix in the broccoli and cooked pasta.  Serve sprinkled with additional grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

I cannot tell you how many pieces of clothing  that I have ruined while cooking!  It took me awhile to learn, but now an apron is a cooking necessity for me.  This is especially true when hosting holidays and having guests over when I’m dressed in “nice” clothes.  I’ve never actually bought myself an apron.  All of the aprons I own have been gifts.  I am super late in joining Etsy, and only joined last month.  It is unbelievable to see the number and variety of things for sale on the site!  Today, I wanted to share with you some of the amazing aprons that I have found while perusing Etsy.    Now, I have not purchased any of these aprons, only fallen in love with them!  All of the below retailers had tons of five star reviews.  While I only featured my favorite, check out the vendors below.  They have lots of different styles, colors and patterns.  These would make a great gift for your favorite chef!  Click on the vendor name to be taken to the Etsy page.

*Permission was granted by all vendors to use their photos.  I was not compensated for these reviews, I just wanted to showcase some pretty aprons that I recently found on Etsy!

1.  CreativeChics – How cute is this ruffled retro apron?!!!  I especially love the pattern and color combo of this particular apron.  The apron is handmade in the USA.  This one retails for $45.00.  CreativeChics has one of the largest selection of aprons on Etsy.  If you like this style, they have a bunch of different color/pattern combinations and they have over 2,600 5 star reviews!

2. loverdoversclothing – With the new Cinderella coming to theaters on March 13, I had to showcase these two!  The Cinderella Work apron retails for $28.50 and the Princess Style apron retails for $39.  If you like these, loverdoversclothing also sells Elsa, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Snow White, Little Mermaid and Belle aprons as well.  They also sell Princess costumes and dresses for little girls.  This is a vendor that’s definitely worth checking out!

3.  PrettyCreationsByMe – If you have a child, you most likely have cooked with him or her.  What is cuter than wearing matching aprons?!  I especially liked this black, white and red combo pictured below.  The apron set retails for $29.99 for both aprons.  The aprons are handmade in the United States.  If you are looking for an apron just for your daughter, Anita sells cute child aprons in a variety of patterns as well.  She has 53 five star reviews.

4.  SomethingYouAprons -Monogram is always in style.  Carol at SomethingYouAprons sells a variety of color and monogram styles in her Etsy shop.  I really like the color combination of the navy, green and pink on this apron, which retails for $27.95.  These aprons are handmade in the USA and Carol’s shop has 985 five-star reviews.

5.  KitschNStyle – After all of the cold weather we’ve had here in New York, I saw this apron and it just says “spring.”  Margaret sells a bunch of fun floral and other patterned aprons.  This apron is homemade and retails for $36.  Margaret’s shop has 122 five-star ratings.