MomOfLittleFoodies

I like mugi-cha. I first had it at the Obon carnival that the Buddhist temple that my mother's family goes to has every summer. I particularly like it during the warmest part of the summer, those days when a sweet beverage is just too much.

Kettle Corn flavored Quaker Quakes, and a Mexican coke.

It drives me nuts that people seem to think that allergen free foods have to taste terrible. I've been cooking with food allergies in mind for about 7 years now, and my family would flog me if I served something that terrible.

I've stumbled across your foodblog late. I didn't see it until late last night when I was up with a grumpy baby. Thank you, and I hope that your wife is feeling better soon. As far as kids and spicy foods go, it's all a matter of personal taste. None of my kids like wasabi, but happily eat medium hot curry and other spicy foods. We say Itadakimasu and Gochisousama too... Those ume pretz are terrible. I bought a pack a few years ago, because I love umeboshi flavored stuff, and I was taken aback at how terrible they were.

Those Jazz flavors make me glad I'm aspartame intolerant. Some of those flavor combinations make me twitch in revulsion.

My kids pick cereal based on that, but the closest I've come it to buy something with the intent to reuse the packaging... a good example of this would be the Julies Love Letters cookies that I get at the pan-Asian market. I have a bunch of the POM tea containers, but I like the tea more than I like the glasses.

McD's Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit... I used to get them all the time when my brother and I would go fishing with Grandpa. The Croissanwiches at BK are ok.

I've been fairly happy with frozen foods from Trader Joes. I'm particularly fond of their chicken perogies, tarte d alsace and lemongrass chicken sticks.

I was at the big Asian market today, and picked up a pack of yuzu hi-chew. I love them! I need to send the hubby back for a few more packs.

Exactly! Too few of them do, though. ← Exactly. Being a parent myself, I tend to notice kids when I'm in a restaurant. It's very hard for me to keep my kids in control when they see other kids goofing off in the restaurant. Generally the parents that don't supervise their kids in restaurants are the same ones that will sit at the park yakking into a cell phone or with their friends and not pay attention to their spawn, while their kids are throwing sand, running off into the parking lot some other not so safe activity. *sigh* I dislike going up to the school for events these days, because at least 1/3 of the parents don't seem to care what their kids are doing. We don't do much fine dining with the kids in tow lately... right now my kids are more interested in quantity over quality. While we're on the kids in restaurant pet peeve thing... folks, don't come into a fast food restaurant for a business meeting and chide me because my kids are talking and playing with their happy meal toys. If you want quiet THAT badly, maybe sitting next to the play area in Burger King isn't the smartest choice.

Just be glad that your son's bunny isn't this little white bunny I've never eaten rabbit before... seeing my neighbors slaughter their rabbits when I was 5 kind of took that desire out of me. I had nightmares about that for months afterwards.

Here in CA, the markets are allowed to have live frogs and turtles for sale, but they're supposed to kill them before the customer leaves the store with them.

Ah, so that's why canned corn beef is always in the pan Asian markets here! Learn something new every day... thanks Doddie!

My older kids (9 and 7) are usually starving by the time they get home from school. On the days my daughter has preschool, we have a snack while we're out killing time waiting for her to get out of school (9 year old typically has a donut while 7 year old opts for a bagel). On the days my daughter doesn't have preschool, they just pick munchies from what I keep in stock here. Typically cereal, a pop tart, a sandwich or pretzels.

Half of the people in my household drink milk... 9 year old son, 7 year old son, and 1 year old son. 4 year old daughter drinks soy/rice/potato milks due to cows milk allergy, and hubby and I are lactose intolerant (thank you Asian genes)... we use milk on our cereal, occasionally in a latte, but that's about it. 1 year old son goes through a gallon of whole milk of his own in 5-7 days. The older boys can finish a gallon of 2% in 5-7 days during the school year, and 3-5 days during school breaks. I never could understand the appeal of skim milk... tastes like slightly milky water that just happens to be white.

I try to tailor the meals that I prepare to the tastes of everyone in the house, not just my husband. If it's something that my kids absolutely will not eat, I either make a separate meal for them, or I save those meals for the days the kids are having overnights with the in-laws. It helps that I have a husband who will eat pretty much anything as long as it's not crawling off the plate, and children who actually like vegetables, fish and other things that most people wouldn't consider to be kid friendly foods. I do have to deal with the limitations of my kids food allergies and the lactose intolerance of the adults in the house. Those are absolutes as no meal is worth a trip to the emergency room, or extended periods of time in the restroom. When it comes to my kids, there is a weird dynamic to what I cook. I've been known to search for days for a "safe" donut recipe for my kids, or a decent substitute for soy sauce, or wheat free soba noodles. I've spent more time e-mailing and calling food manufacturers/processors than I can remember.

I just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying this blog. I always get a kick out of how other multicultural families eat.

The senior citizens club that my grandparents used to participate in used to get surplus cheese occasionally. Grandma was given some, and since she and Grandpa are lactose intolerant, they gave it to Mom. It tasted like salty, yellow, greasy wax. The same stuff the schools used back then (late 80s, early 90s).

Something important to note that meat products that fall under the USDA's sphere of influence are subject to different labeling requirements than the food regulated by the FDA.

I like Sees. I've had Godiva before, and while they're nice, they're a little too sweet for me.

Also applies to Walmart's Great Value brand with the same code. Makes me glad that we've been off peanut butter for years.

For me, it depends on the bread. I like a nice, chewy crust, but I'm not at all fond of crusts that are thick and brittle to the point where it carves up the roof of my mouth.

Y'know, as much as I don't consider Rachael Ray to be real foodie material, I've got to give her some credit. Anybody that manages to get people into the kitchen and interested in making a meal that doesn't come out of a box or packages from the freezer section is doing a service to the people. I know too many people whose idea of making rice involved Minute Rice, and who had never cooked with fresh herbs until they started watching 30 Minute Meals. She's annoying, but kind of in the way that Graham Kerr annoys me.

I'm not Majra, but her bento set looks like one called "Laptop Lunches" http://www.laptoplunches.com/ They come with an insulated carry case.

Most of the cheese I buy are the varieties that are considered "cheap" by most foodies. In the volume in which my children devour cheese, I'd soon go broke if I bought the really good stuff, and yes, my kids WOULD eat the good stuff. My 1 year old son is quite fond of sharp cheese, my 9 year old will eat any cheese but that processed American cheese garbage. The only truly vile and nasty cheese in my fridge is my daughter's soy cheese. Since she's been milk allergic all of her life, she doesn't realize what she's missing. I love grilled cheese sandwiches, and I generally use something like Tillamook Medium Cheddar for them, along either tomato and dill pickle slices, or a good deli turkey.