Tag Archives: kokopelli cookies

Different Standards

May 25, 2010

So I was surprised yesterday to find that the majority of you think a 20% margin of error on nutrition labels is WAY too big!!

Upon further thought, I think that overly processed foods should have no problem getting the nutrition label to be 100% accurate. They’re all mass produced so there is pretty much the same exact amount of everything in each box/bag/container that they come in. It seems to me that big companies using that 20% margin of error are doing it to get over on consumers who are trying to be health conscious.

For more local/homemade stuff, I think a margin of error is needed. Each product will be a bit different so the nutritional information will differ as well. Take my Aunt’s cookie shop for example. Her hottest selling items are her individually wrapped giant cookies. Some cookies are going to turn out bigger than others, that’s just the way it is. I wouldn’t expect her to calculate the exact nutritional information for each cookie and label them all separately! It just wouldn’t be feasible. For these bags of cookies too. She packages them all herself my hand! I’m sure there are not an exact amount of cookies in each bag.

Speaking of processed foods, I finally tried a new product yesterday: Luna Protein Bars.

I received the chocolate peanut butter flavor as a free sample in the mail. With 12g of protein in this little bar, I wasn’t expecting much taste wise. While it did have the protein-y taste that I’m not very fond of, it was not overwhelming and I actually enjoyed it like a snack. And I was shocked that the ingredients were actually pretty pronounceable:

Protein Blend (Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Coating (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa, Soy Lecithin And Organic Vanilla Extract), Peanuts, Organic Peanut Butter, Inulin (Chicory Extract), Glycerine, Natural Flavors, Soy Rice Crisp (Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract), Salt, Soy Lecithin, Almonds.

The only thing about this bar that turned me off a little was the fat content of 9g, 4g of which are saturated. I assume that’s from the whey. At a 190 calories, 12g of protein, and 3g of fiber, it did do its job of keeping me full on the long train ride home. I’ll definitely be trying the other flavors – cookie dough and chocolate cherry almond.

Questions:

  1. Do you think there should be different standards for highly processed foods as opposed to homemade foods?
  2. What’s the first thing you look at on a nutrition label? I go for the fiber!
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The Easter Feast

April 5, 2010

Hi bloggies :) I hope you all had a great Easter (or weekend, if you don’t celebrate)! Mine was filled with good food and family, which is all I could’ve asked for.

I spent the morning searching for eggs with the little ones in Mark’s family and then headed over to my own house for an early dinner with my fam.

Why am I so short!?

In my family, we always start with antipast on holidays, which is usually a mix of olives, roasted peppers, artichokes, mozzarella, chickpeas, and Italian bread. Unfortunately I came a little late so there wasn’t much left.

Next, pasta is served. We pretty much always have manigutz (manicotti), which is usually served in a meat sauce on Easter. I had missed a few Easters when I was in college so when I came home last year, forgetting about the meat sauce, I kinda freaked out that the only thing I thought I’d be eating was ruined. This year they went without it for me :)

Check out my Mom’s awesome Easter-exclusive gold “silver”ware ^

After the pasta you hope you aren’t stuffed already because the main meal is then served. I think there was ham, string bean casserole, salad, mashed potatoes, and corn pie but I totally forgot to photograph the table. I had some mashed potatoes, salad, and corn pie.

Finally, it’s time for my favorite part.. dessert! There are always tons of amazing things since I’m lucky to have the mastermind behind Kokopelli Cookies in my family :)

Berry lemon cake, carrot cake, banana creme trifle, red velvet cupcakes...

Assortment of Kokopelli Cookies

Store bought pizelles with homemade cannoli creme

My aunt made the cakes and the cookies and I made the banana creme trifle and the cannoli creme. I tried a little bit of the carrot cake, red velvet cupcakes, and cannoli creme.. and maybe a tiny cookie :) Good thing I had ran the 3.5 miles on my training plan that morning..

The cannoli creme is  ridiculously easy to make if you need a quick dessert. Just mix together 2 cups ricotta, 1/2 cup cool whip, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla and you’re done! You could add in mini chocolate chips too if you wanna make it even better.

Questions:

  1. Does your family have any holiday traditions?
  2. What’s your favorite part of a big meal: appetizers, the main course, or dessert?
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Kokopelli Cookies & Spaghetti Squash Bake

March 11, 2010

Ciao :)

I had SO much fun at the Kokopelli Cookie Company yesterday. It was sort of like living my dream of going to culinary school. First I got to scoop cookie dough onto cookie sheets to make the giant cookies she is known for. We did coconut walnut oatmeal raisin and peanut butter chocolate chip.

I also got to make brownies from scratch for the store. That’s a first for me!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see them finished and out of the oven. I hope they came out good! And I got to do all this while watching the Food Network. Yeah, it was great :)

Lastly, I helped package up the cookies since she delivers them to stores all over the area.

After a day of baking, I had promised my Mom I’d cook dinner if she would help me pack for vacay.

Spaghetti Squash Bake

Ingredients:

  • One spaghetti squash
  • Tbsp olive oil
  • One bunch asparagus, cut into inch size pieces
  • One can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup diced onions
  • mozzarella cheese
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • Garlic pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds. Microwave cut side up in 1/4 cup water for 10-12 minutes or bake cut side up in 1/4 cup water for 1 hour.
  2. Heat up saucepan over medium heat and add tbsp of olive oil. Saute onion for 3 minutes. Add diced tomatoes and asparagus and cook for 15 minutes. Add in sea salt and garlic pepper to taste.
  3. Scoop out spaghetti squash with fork. Place in large bowl and mix together with tomatoes, onions, and asparagus.
  4. Put half of squash mixture in 13×9 baking dish. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Follow with other half of squash mixture and top with remaining cheeses.
  5. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

It was the first time my Mom tried spaghetti squash and she really liked it. I, myself, forgot how good it was too. Not that I’m surprised because I love all squash, from butternut to zucchini.

On the side we had garlic-oregano bread in a flower pot. Yeah, my Mom always comes home with weird stuff for me to make!

Question: What’s your favorite squash and how do you usually prepare it?

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