Hello All! My name is Carole Heffernan and Colleen has graciously invited me to chime in on Classy Mommy.com as her resident NYC area “Foodie”. Here I am at a terrific Hellmann’s event that I attended yesterday featuring Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay and Television personality Lori Loughlin (Remember Full House?? We watch it on Nickolodeon daily! She is just as gorgeous as ever in real life!!!) Check out my interview with her below too as she spills her woes about getting her kids to eat too!
I am the proud mother of 4 active boys, and the owner of Party Flavors Catering and Cooking School in Westfield, NJ. I have a passion for food and am thrilled to be able to share my experiences at interesting culinary events with the readers of Classy Mommy! Bobby and Lori have teamed up with Hellman’s for their Real Food Project initiative. The goal of The Real Food Project is to help us parents come up with meal solutions that are budget friendly, fun to cook, and full of flavor.
Chef Bobby and Lori showed us some great recipes for kid’s lunches and after school snacks. Bobby is an amazing chef, and he shared some great tips with us. I love how he told Lori (after she added just a smidgen of Dijon mustard to the egg salad) that you should always aim to really get the flavors in the food.
His Chef Tip: He said to use more of the ingredients than you think you should so you can really taste them in the finished product – I love that! Lori then threw in plenty more of the mustard, and the egg salad was delicious. She did have a little issue with taking the same advice with the salt…. We all had a good laugh at the expression on Chef’s face when he tasted her over-salted dish! Chef and Lori have a great rapport – you could tell they were having a lot of fun together. Later, I had the chance to sit down with the two of them to get some extra dish on their real food tips!
As fellow parents, I wondered if they had some advice on getting our kids to expand their palates. Here’s the scoop!
Bobby said that the best approach is to expose your kids to lots of flavors early on, involve them in food shopping and teach them to cook with you. I thought those were great ideas. He also suggested that sometimes kids will try something new if it is offered at a friend’s house, so get your fellow parents on your palate-expanding team!
Lori Loughlin’s Just Like Us – She Struggles with “The White Food Diet” for her kids too!
Lori and I laughed at how we have both struggled with a “white food” only kid. You know, cheese, pasta, yogurt, bread…. Only white food will pass their lips.
What’s their “go-to” weeknight meals for their families?
Lori said her current favorite is Parmesan Chicken (Bobby’s recipe and on the Hellman’s website) – she said it’s fast, easy, and her kids think she is a rock star. That works in my book!
Bobby said his favorite meal at home is a simple roast chicken. Everyone loves chicken, they can choose the piece that they like, it is simple to prepare, and there are always leftovers to chop up to use in soups, casseroles or quesadillas. I couldn’t agree more!
And here’s me behind the scenes in the Hellmann’s Kitchen!
Why did Hellmann’s host this fabulous Real Food event?
The afternoon started with a warm welcome from the Hellman’s team and a speech from the director of Share Our Strength, a national non-profit that connects children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. (You can find them on the web at http://www.strength.org ) Hellman’s has teamed with Share Our Strength and Facebook with a fun idea called Hellman’s Swap and Share. If you go to Facebook.com/hellmans and create your own sandwich, Hellman’s will make a donation to Share Our Strength.
Give it a go! My kids and I tried it last night and that have some crazy ingredients…. My youngest, Ryan, actually wanted whipped cream and sprinkles on top of his turkey. As long as he’ll eat it…..
It was fun to meet such dynamic personalities and watch them in action. The recipes that they made were delicious and very kid-friendly. You can find all of the recipes on the Hellman’s website. I was especially intrigued by the “Mini Fish Tacos”. When Bobby first described the ingredients in the dish, it didn’t sound like anything MY kids would eat! After I tried them, though, they were actually delicious and I think my kids will love them. Fast and easy, too.
Overall, it was a terrific day and I took away some great tips and a nice resource for recipes. Check out the Hellman’s website when you have a moment and let us know what you think of any of the recipes you try. Hope to see you back here again soon!
Well cousin Carole … I am totally impressed. I’m a huge food network fan. This is really great. Very happy for you !!
Why people still use to read news papers when in this technological globe all is presented on web?