MomOfLittleFoodies

I picked a bottle of this up yesterday and I'm drinking it now. It's really quite pleasant. It went down really easily. I'll have to pick up more next time I'm back at the market I got it at.

American style yogurt has stabilizers in them, to give them more of a custardy texture, and the flavored varieties have a lot more sugar and flavoring... to the point where they are more like a pudding with yogurt cultures rather than yogurt. It's definitely less tangy. When I buy yogurt for cooking, I buy Greek style yogurt... the difference between the Greek style yogurt that I buy, and plain Dannon is like the difference between chalk and cheese.

If you live within reasonable driving distance of an Albertsons, you can get them there. Both Safeway and Albertsons carry the plain chocolate Pocky here in the East Bay. If the Albertson's in your area doesn't carry it, they're usually happy to order it for you.

Your wife is right about the cavity thing. One of the dentists that we've seen for our kids gave us a phamplet saying that sharing utensils, straws, drinks, foods transfers the bacteria that cause cavities.

If it contains molasses, caramel coloring or hydrolyzed proteins of any kind, it's the kind that uses shortcuts.

I like olives, black, green, kalamata or otherwise.

At least in Contra Contra County, they're supposed to kill them for you when you buy them. Legally they're not allowed to let you take them home alive, according to the sign at the local Asian market that sells the critters. Ok, after further research, it's a State Fish and Game Commission thing, not just a county thing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ananda26/196266690/

Misplaced_Texan, the thing with your wife with the raw fruit and veggies is actually fairly common. I think it's called Oral Allergy Syndrome and can have something to do with allergies to things like birch and ragweed pollens. Here's a blurb on it. http://allergies.about.com/cs/oas/a/aa052499.htm Scubadoo97- it probably was the crab rather than a preservative, but if you want to double check, instead of actually eating a crab, have a doctor do a skin or blood test for crab allergy. Not a lot of fun either way, but definitely less hazardous.

Most of our (hubby and I's) family prefer Best Foods(Hellmans). My sister prefers Kraft. My hubby prefers Best Foods as well. I generally don't like mayo, but I like the vegan mayo-like substance that I get at Trader Joe's for my son who is egg allergic (a canola based Reduced Fat mayo). My in-laws are mayo geeks... they dip most veggies in it. Artichokes, Brocolli, Cauliflower, Asparagus. Makes me cringe just watching them.

I drink tap water at home, but buy bottled water for when I'm out and around because it's just more convenient than searching around for a drinking fountain and then have to lift my kids so they can get a drink. My husband always keeps a few bottles in the car too.

If you see this before you go to Trader Joe's, get yourself a jar of their Morello Cherry Fruit Spread and some of their whole milk yogurt... those are my 2 favorite things at Trader Joe's right now (well, other than their sunflower seed butter, but that's a whole other story).

I'm not Kris, but Ive found that there really isn't a huge difference between Japanese and Korean Takuan. The slight variation I noticed isn't any bigger than the difference between brands really. My mom uses Korean or Hawaiian brands of takuan when she can't get the Japanese brands.

I have a hard time being objective and impartial about food allergies. Two of my four kids have food allergies. Their allergies aren't imaginary or dreamed up, they aren't mere intolerances, or food dislikes. They both have been through extensive allergy testing, by 2 different allergists. In our case it's genetics. When both parents have atopic conditions (allergies of any kind, asthma or eczema), their offspring have something like a 60% chance of having any or all or these conditions... so far we're batting 3 of 4. LittleFoodie#1 has food allergies, drug allergies, pollen allergies, dander allergies, dust mite allergies, eczema and unspecified asthma. LittleFoodie#2 has eczema and seasonal rhinitis, LittleFoodie#3 seems to be following in #1's footsteps. So far LittleFoodie#4 is just refluxy. The upside of my kids food allergies is that it weaned me off of a dependence on convenience foods, because when #1 was younger, his allergies were to the point where there were no safe convenience foods. He's also our little gourmet of the bunch.

My kids love Chuck-E-Cheese... not for the food mind you. Although my milk allergic daughter does appreciate that we can order a pizza for her there without cheese and garlic butter. Their pizza is about on par with Dominos. I've had much, MUCH worse. After a couple of hours at CEC with my older 3 kids, I tend to need major decompression time.

One of our local movie theaters has this deal where if you buy the largest drink and popcorn sizes, you can refill them for free for as long as you're in the theater... so I spend about $11 on a huge popcorn and soda, and share them with my kids, and then I bring in candy and the normal stash of snack food, juice and water I keep in the diaper bag for the kids.

I'm also in the Bay Area, but in the part of the Bay Area where a/c is essential during the summer. Last night we had a pasta salad with chicken with nice cold watermelon for dessert. For tonight, I'll probably do sirloin steaks on the Foreman grill, with another cold pasta salad and some kind of fresh veggie.

I read labels on everything, but I look more at ingredients than at the calories and such. I'm worried more about the food allergies than calories and transfats.

My maternal grandmother and my late maternal aunt. My grandmother has no imagination in the kitchen... except for holidays where Mom or my uncle and his wife do the cooking, most family events are at restaurants. My late maternal aunt came up with weird concoctions, like putting 2 bunches of chopped cilantro into Kraft Mac and Cheese or making hot dog pancakes. She was a good cook when she stuck to recipes though.

Potato milk is fairly popular among people who are allergic to dairy and soy, and for families with autistic children on the ANDI/GFCF Diet. Pam, look around for a product called DariFree (made by Vance's Foods)... it's another brand of potato milk.

I used a lot of quinoa and millet when my oldest child was allergic to wheat and oats. His favorite wheat free bread was a millet, rye and rice flour bread, and we used quinoa flakes as a substitute in things one would normally use oatmeal for. His favorite pasta was a quinoa/corn blend. Quinoa, amaranth and millet are fairly popular on the food allergy forums I belong to as wheat substitutes. I haven't used them as much since he outgrew his wheat allergy though. I did really like using whole quinoa in pilafs though, just as a change from all that rice and potatoes.

As far as I recall, minimum wage here in CA is the same amount across the board. That's what the posters in the hall on the way to the restrooms at my favorite Pho place say anyway. My standard tip is double sales tax, rounded up to the next dollar, which works out to ~16.5% here. Granted these days 99% of our dining out is at family/casual restaurants. We tip 20% minimum when the hubby and I go somewhere nice sans kidlets. There is a buffet locally that my middle son loves that seems to expect a 20% tip across the board if you pay using a credit card. I leave a 10% tip usually (always pay cash) if they're good about clearing the table and keeping drinks refilled. Should I be leaving more for what is essential just bussing the tables?

Just reading this one makes me nauseous. Cheryl

I made my kids version of pasta salad... tri color rotini and cubed ham tossed in a little red wine vinaigrette. They love veggies most of the time, but oddly don't care for veggies in their pasta salad.

If I know I'm going to be out all day, I pack cereal bars for my oldest son, granola bars for the middle two, juice pouches, 8oz aseptic containers of soymilk and chocolate milk (Silk and Horizon respectively), pretzels, sugar free gum, root beer barrels, a sunflower seed butter sandwich for my daughter, baby food for my youngest, bottled water and either candy bars or beef jerky. There's a reason why I carry around a huge diaper bag... also comes in handy to smuggle food that my kids can actually eat into movie theaters.

I've seen stevia at Trader Joes and Whole Paycheck too.