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 While French food isn't exactly knows for its health benefits (French fries, anyone?), many health-oriented chefs are turning to the French method of cooking called "en papillote." A parchment-style method that steams food to perfection and enhances natural flavors, "en papillote" cooks food without synthetic sprays and high-fat (and artery-clogging) oils.
PaperChef, a Toronto-based company, has unlocked the secret to simple, healthy meals with its line of eco-friendly, biodegradable parchment bags, paper and cups designed to meet every cooking need. Each non-stick PaperChef product is microwaveable and eliminates unwanted--and carcinogen-laden--scorching and sticking that is often common with with aluminum foil. The convenient, pre-folded cooking bags make gourmet meals especially simple--just toss in the ingredients and steam. Herbs and spices penetrate and fuse the dish with natural flavors that can be lost in traditional cooking methods. It's a fun and healthy new way to serve up dinner for your family (paperchef.com).
 It's happened to all of us. You're simmering a sauce on the stove and you become distracted by your bickering kids/The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills/checking out your friend's vacay photos on Facebook. Before you know it, you smell a burning pot and think that your dish has become a disaster.
Think again.
By simply adding a tbsp. or more of peanut butter, you can salvage that soup or sauce you were cooking. Mix the creamy peanut butter well and keep sampling to make sure the burnt taste and smell are gone. At first, we were hesitant to try it, but it really works! So now your peanut butter has new purpose beyond that PB&J sandwich.
 Fabu kids' singer/songwriter Joanie Leeds shared her recipe with Celebrity Parents Magazine for her favorite French toast. Says Joanie: "My favorite food growing up and to this day (for breakfast at least) is French Toast. My mom used to make it for me when I would refuse to eat nothing else. Now, I often make this for special breakfasts when I don't have a gig and actually have time to cook!"
But before you drown this delish recipe in store-bought maple syrup, think again. "The trick is the real maple syrup," says Leeds. "Aunt Jemima and her friends just don't make the cut!"
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 8 thick slices cinnamon raisin bread
- one teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Butter
- Maple syrup (preferably from Vermont!)
- Fresh strawberries on the side
Directions:
Beat eggs, then add milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl then dip the bread, one slice at a time, covering both sides so the bread becomes soaked with eggy goodness. Then place bread in pan heated to medium with melted butter. Add more butter between bread slices as necessary. Top with maple syrup and fresh strawberries.
Now the gluten-free set can enjoy the snap, crackle and pop of Rice Krispies! Kellogg's recently debuted Rice Krispies Gluten Free cereal right alongside the original variety. The new cereal eliminates barley malt (the source of gluten in the original cereal), and is made with whole grain brown rice to differentiate it from the original and for flavor. Each serving of the new gluten-free cereal contains 120 calories, less than 1 gram of sugar, 1 gram each of fat and fiber, 3 grams of protein and 190 milligrams of sodium. Fortified with several vitamins and minerals, the suggested retail price is $3.99 for a 12-ounce box -- same as for the original Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal.
Icing On Top
As if you needed another reason to love OREOs and Hershey chocolate, Signature Brands recently released the latest innovation in their product line: Oreo Ultimate Icing (available in Original Crème and Chocolate Crème) and Hershey’s S’mores Dessert Icing (available in Traditional and Chocolate Cinnamon flavors). These high-quality icings are made with pieces of OREO cookie and Hershey’s cocoa. Your little ones will love decorating with these fun and yummy icings. The convenient, squeezable pouch makes it easy to pipe the icing onto any type of dessert – or, as we preferred, squirt straight into your mouth ($2.99, 7 oz. bag, walmart.com).
 Family Recipes with… children’s singer/songwriter Jamie Broza
Jamie Broza gave us his special family recipe for eggs and onions, a Sunday morning fave. “This is one of my family's favorite breakfasts on special mornings. They have to be special mornings because these onions need time to cook and you can't rush them!” says Broza. These eggs were inspired by the popular Upper West Side NYC eatery Barney Greengrass's eggs and onions. Your scrambled eggs will never be the same.
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 TCBY, one of the leaders in the yogurt industry, is launching its new Super Fro-Yo frozen dessert. Packed with vitamins A & D, probiotics, dietary fiber, protein, calcium and much more, Super Fro-Yo is a healthy alternative to sugary summer treats. And available in flavors such as White Chocolate Macadamia, Old Fashioned Vanilla, Cheesecake, Cake Batter and more, TCBY is making eating healthy ever so sweet.
For more info, please go to www.tcby.com.
 The line outside Big D's Grub Truck is always long. But you never hear complaints, as fans of the popular NYC food truck or newbies chat with each other, or with Big D (aka Dennis) himself as their orders are freshly prepared. The menu, a mix of Asian and Latin flavors, goes way beyond your typical chino/latino fare. Grinders and tacos (3 for $7) top the menu and favorites include the bulgogi, a lean beef marinated in soy sauce and topped with kimchi puree, scallions and crema, as well as the spicy pork and chicken and ginger chicken.(Lovers of cilantro will be very pleased!) Eaten separately or as a pairing, the flavors from the different tacos all work well together. The pork and chive dumplings ($3) are perfectly cooked, and come with a rich soy sauce. By far, though, faithful followers of Big D's food truck love the yuca fries ($3).
So keep a look out for the bright yellow food truck and the friendly staff of Big D's Grub Truck for a truly delish bite of NYC life (bigdsgrub.com).
 Normally, hearing the words "raw", "vegan" and "gluten free" doesn't conjure up the image of a delicious dessert. But Hail Merry's Chocolate Almond Butter Miracle Tart is beyond yummy. Made with raw almond butter and dark chocolate, the tart is high in fiber and healthy fats (meaning you can eat a lot of it and not feel guilty -- yay!) You'll be saying a "Hail Mary" after you taste it. We sure did ($19.96/4 pack, hailmerry.com).
 Juice boxes, Lunchables, snack-size chip bags…almost all foods are becoming more and more portable for today’s on-the-go kids. Thing is, the take-it-with-you food alternatives are usually not the healthiest. But then along came GoGo squeeZ applesauce from Materne, and our prayers for healthy portable snacks were answered. Made with 100% real fruit, the applesauce comes in five varying flavors, such as applestrawberry, applebanana, applepeach, appleapple and – super yum – applecinnamon. They’re all natural and bonus, GoGo squeeZ is gluten-, dairy- and nut-free. Since you have to unscrew the yellow cap on top to open GoGo squeezZ, it is not recommended for children under 36 months. ($35/pack of 48, amazon.com)
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