Your left overs -------> in Kale Wraps

I think we all get tired of not just eating the same old thing
but in the same old way as well.  There are many food artists
and chefs who really plate their food as a masterpiece and it looks
pretty amazing but realistically speaking....
the average person who just eats food to survive and isn't really
into food for the fun or art of it... they just want to eat it in a pretty
easy way.  Right?!

Today, I've got a pretty easy recipe that is triple duty.
It's one-  healthy. Two- uses your leftovers and three- easy to make.

What could be better than those 3 things? It's easy to make and healthy
BUT! it also uses some of your leftovers.  I'm going to assume
that you enjoyed your leftovers enough to save them
to finish in the next day or two.

Kale wraps.  I know, you might think Kale?
I'm not really into THAT healthy of foods.
My kids or the rest of the family won't eat it.
My advice---- "don't knock it till you try it"

Take some large Kale leaves and steam or boil it in a pot of hot water.
You'll know when it's ready as it gets softer and changes into a
dark forest green from the vibrant super bright green.

Take your left overs and wrap them into the Kale leaves almost
like an egg roll, summer roll or burrito like.
Because the Kale was steamed or boiled and it is soft-
it will be very easy to wrap your filling (leftovers) with.
I used left over brown rice fried rice that had onions, carrots and
beef in it with a little bit of yellow Spanish rice I also had.

You can add any sauce of you choosing of course!
This time around, I used spicy Korean pepper paste sauce.

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 3 of 31 days

I scream.... You scream.

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"
is a line in an old song written by Johnson, Moll, & King
titled "Ice Cream"

Kids, teens, adults, seniors... who doesn't love ice cream?

Cultivate the ice cream to something maybe a little more fun
for any age and especially good for getting together in the warmer
months. Take any kind of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet...
whatever floats your boat and scoop it out with an ice cream scooper
into a ball and place it on some parchment paper and stick a stick
into it. Literally. You can purchase wooden popsicle sticks, lollipop
sticks from a craft store like Michael's Crafts, A.C.Moore,
Joanne's Fabrics, etc... or you can simply use wooden throw away
chopsticks. You can roll the ice cream balls in chocolate syrup, slightly
melted peanut butter, strawberry jelly, and so many other things.
You can add chopped nuts, candy....
Once you've scooped your ice cream and have added any
extras you'd like- you want to place it on a tray or plate and put
it back into your freezer so the ice cream freezes with the stick.

This dessert is fun and is a great after dinner snack while
watching your favorite tv show or sitting on your deck/balcony.
It's also great for portion control if you're watching your weight.

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food   ........... day 2 of 31 days

Happy August....!

Can you believe it's August already???

WHAT!?!!!

Where in the world has the summer of 2014 gone?

I remember as a kid especially in elementary school

how loooong the lazy, hazy summer days were.

As August of 2014 has approached us,

many different things have been going on in my personal life.

Almost all good.  

One way I wanted to challenge myself through my food blog 

(that I started in March of 2011) was that I am going to 

write a post every single day in August....  yup. All. Thirty One. Days. 

I took the month of July off to catch up on some things and didn't share

a single post BUT... let's see how far I can go with 31 days ... 31 posts.

Many events are going on in August just like the 15 person

Personal Chef Dinner I just finished last night but I think I can do it!  

right!?!!    Most importantly...  let's all just.....

Let's Do This!   31 days.... 31 posts,  Let's Cultivate Food

Coleslaw Burger

Now that the summer is officially here and
with the fourth of July being around the corner...
people are grilling left and right!

What's great about the all american style burger
is that you can make it your own by adding whatever
your taste buds desire..... sweet right!?!

The latest burger we have been devouring
is a hamburger with coleslaw and a thick slice
of cheddar cheese (the cheese didn't make it into the picture)
which actually makes it a cheeseburger rather than a hamburger.

It's as easy as it looks and sounds.
Rather than adding lettuce and tomato--
coleslaw is a great option.

Coleslaw recipe -----> Coleslaw

Ketchup is optional and so are pickles.


So easy, so yummy,  Let's Cultivate Food

Godiva VS Kahlua .....

dun. dun. dun.

Hmmm.... Who was the winner of this drink taste test?

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Kids BIRTHDAY Cooking Class

We certainly do a bountiful amount of Adult Cooking Classes
but did you know that we also do Kids Cooking Classes as well !?!

Adult classes tend to have a sizzling array of occasions
whereas kids cooking classes tend to always be birthdays.

During this birthday party class- the magic number was 10.
Ten 10 year old girls.  They each took turns in having some
hands-on time with helping in cooking food.



As you can see... they were extremely eager to participate.

The menu consisted of simple mashed potatoes placed into
cookie cutters just to make it a little more fun,
along with nachos,  a chocolate chip cookie dough dip with crackers,
pretzels, strawberries and bananas and personal size pizzas
that each girl rolled out the dough from scratch.

They tried to flip the dough which I didn't even realize
until I saw the pictures that my sous chef took! haha.

These 10 year old ladies were great fun!  

Our kids classes always have personalized chef hats

for the kids to enjoy!  

​
Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Grilled 'summah' Corn

Summer isn't  'summah'  without grilled sweet corn.
(Although it is technically still Spring)

Growing up on a farm in elementary school I remember
the farmer planting and harvesting field corn.



There are a few different types of corn but the 2 most common
and familiar to me are the sweet corn which comes in the yellow
or 'white' color or simply mixed and  field corn.
Field corn is tougher and extremely hard to eat because
it is grown primarily for animal feed- often for horses, cows and pigs.

A super easy way to make delicious corn is ---->

Peel the husk the day you are going to eat your corn
(otherwise it will dry out)
I like to save time and boil the corn first.
Then I put it on the grill towards the end of when
I'm done grilling whatever protein I am grilling.
Placing it it on the grill is to basically finish off the corn along with getting
the charred grill marks- that us, Americans sometimes are obsessed with.

I love to brush the corn with a butter mixture right when it's still hot.
You can easily cultivate your own butter mixture but my go-to one is
about 2 TBSP of butter (per 4-5 ears of corn)
about 2 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning and some dried cilantro flakes.

This is always a hit whether you're going camping, having a Father's day cookout,
or it's simply a nice summer/spring day.


Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food