Suggestions

Hey, everyone! I just got back from a relaxing week in a beach house in South Carolina. Right now, I'm kinda stumped about what to put on my blog because I'm not sure what my viewers (you guys) want to read. In this post, I ask that if you have any ideas, please add a comment to this post and explain what your suggestion is. Also, if you can't think of any ideas, please comment on which ones you agree with (if there are any listed). I appreciate any suggestions. All ideas will be taken into consideration and I will be checking my blog frequently for any suggestions. You never know, maybe your idea will be a segment on Food For Thought! Think hard! I will, too. Thanks so much!

Best Brands For Snack Foods And Drinks

Hi, everybody! The Frost Valley segment has ended so here's a new post some of you might find useful. I'm going to tell you about my favorite brands for some snack foods and drinks:

Popcorn--Pop Secret Homestyle--you should buy this kind because it's buttery, but not yellow and over-buttered, and it has a tiny bit of salt that brings out the flavor.

Soda--Polar Orange Dry--it tastes like regular orange soda but not as artificial and sugary, OR Dr. Brown's black cherry soda--it tastes just like eating a cherry only colder and sweeter.

Crackers--Keebler Townhouse FlipSides Pretzel Crackers--these crackers are half cracker and half pretzel. They're addictive to eat in a good way!

Chips--I think all the brands taste basically the same.

Juice--V8 Fusion Mango Peach juice--it has a very relaxing, bright taste, OR
Juicy Juice cherry juice--same thing as Dr. Brown's black cherry soda only without bubbles.

Those are some really good brands for snack foods and drinks. Try them today!

Frost Valley--Part 6--Dinner

This is the last post about my experience with the food at Frost Valley. Here are the last dinners I had at camp:

July 18--Chicken tenders = 4.8, Mixed vegetables = 4.6, Dessert--Ice pops = 4.8
July 19--Seasoned waffle fries = 4.1 (they were room temperature and too spicy), Hamburgers = 4.7, Crispix (I ate A LOT of Crispix at Frost Valley, as you can probably tell) = 4.8, Dessert--Cranberry cake = 4.3
July 20--Lasagna = 4.6, Dessert--Oatmeal raisin cookie = 4.8
July 21--Chicken tenders = 4.7, Dessert--Pound cake = 4.7
July 22--OVERNIGHT CAMPOUT UNDER THE STARS!!! Our dinner was cooked next to a campfire. We had pita pizzas--3.5 (the cheese wasn't melted, the whole pizza was cold, and the only part that got cooked was the burnt edge of the pita.), Dessert--Of course, s'mores = 4.7
July 23--Corn and rice mini-fajita = 4.4, Crispix and Cheerios combined = 4.6, Dessert--Our cabin won this competition and we got CHOCOLATEY ice cream sundaes!!! (chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, Oreo bits, chocolate chips...sorry if i made you drool) = 4.8

And that concludes my Frost Valley segment! I hope you enjoyed reading these past six posts! Frost Valley was such a great experience and I hope you all had some similar ones if there's anything like Frost Valley. Keep reading Food For Thought! And remember: always add a pinch of love.

Clafouti!

Hi! I know that I haven't shared any recipes for baking yet, so here's one I think you'll enjoy: clafouti! Clafouti is a cake-like dessert with a thick batter and fresh fruit on top. It tastes SO good and buttery and is really easy to make. My dad gave me this recipe, as he provides many of the recipes on Food For Thought. Here it is:

Clafouti

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 handfuls of fruit (I recommend fresh blueberries or peach slices--if you use peaches you will need about 3; bruises don't matter but I suggest you peel them first)
• 3/4 cup milk
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir flour and sugar together with 3/4 cup milk until just blended.
2. Melt one stick of butter in a 375 degree oven in a 9x12" pan.
3. Pour the batter into the pan so that it's surrounded by the melted butter on the edges and covering it in the middle.
4. Dot the top with scattered fruit.
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
6. Optional: Dust with confectioners' sugar.

ENJOY! This dessert is so delicious. And remember: always add a pinch of love!

Vocab Word of the Week

Check out this week's vocab word:

VOCAB #6
August 1, 2009
Leaven--n. a substance, as yeast or baking powder, that causes fermentation and expansion of dough or batter. (thanks to www.dictionary.com)

Keep viewing Food For Thought! And remember: always add a pinch of love.

Frost Valley--Part 5--Dinner

I've made many posts about Frost Valley food, so here is the second-to-last-one. On this blog, I'm really saving the best for last because dinners were the best meals at Frost Valley. Here are the first six dinners and desserts I had. You might notice that some of the foods are ones I also had for lunch.

DINNER
July 12, the first meal I had at Frost Valley--Pizza = 4.6, Dessert--Oatmeal Raisin Cookie = 3.5
July 13, Thanksgiving Dinner!--Turkey + Gravy = 3.3 (it was cold and too salty), Dessert--Yellow Cake = 4.3
July 14--Pasta w/ meat = 4.1, Split pea soup (it wasn't even green! It was yellow!) = 4.4, Dessert--Sugar cookies = 4.2, and it was also a girl's birthday in my cabin. We shared her birthday cake. It was kind of dry but I gave it a 4.2
July 15--Fried chicken = 4.4, Mashed potatoes = 3.3 (they had no flavor), Corn chowder = 4.4 (you could say dinner was a Southern comfort food theme), Dessert--None
July 16--Beef stroganoff = 3.3 (too salty), Dessert--Cranberry bread-cake = 4.4
July 17--SPAGHETTI NIGHT!!! That's when we eat spaghetti with our hands and faces! So fun. Spaghetti = 4.6, Meatballs = 4.7, Dessert--MYSTERY Bread-cake (my cabin couldn't figure out what it was) = 4.6

Those are some of the dinners I had at Frost Valley! Keep reading my blog for the last post about Frost Valley.
That's what I looked like on Spaghetti Night!