family

Pizza Pockets

Pizza Pockets

Pizza. I said it and you got hungry, right? My two older kids love it, but if we eat pizza, it's always made at home. My youngest is dairy free and ordering a cheeseless slice is too hard sometimes. Pizza Pockets are a new fun way for us to eat pizza as a family and they're a great opportunity for us to customize our toppings, or fillings, as it were. The end result is a dish full of pull-apart pizza magic! It's hands-on fun for the family, and if you're a fan of the DIY meals like we are, you'll want to add this to your list. These are great for packing in those lunchboxes too, and so easy to add to the LaLa Lunchbox food library! 

Here's what you'll need: 
Pizza dough (I used multigrain that I bought at the supermarket)
Tomato sauce
Cheese
Fillings (we used sausage, kale and red peppers)

Here's what to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and brush with olive oil. Roll our your pizza dough on a floured surface until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Using a circle shaped cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles and set aside. 

dough circles

2. Add a spoon of sauce to the center of each dough circle. 

dough + sauce

3. Add your fillings. I sautéed sweet Italian sausage with kale, red onion and red bell peppers in advance but anything goes here! 

Pizza Pocket with topping

4. Add cheese. Looks like a mini pizza! 

Pizza Pocket with cheese

5. Fold up the sides into a ball, give it a little twist and place it with the seam down into your baking dish. I've marked the dairy free ones with an oregano leaf on top. Brush the tops with olive oil. 

Pizza Pockets ready to be baked

6. Bake at 425 for approximately 30-35 minutes. Here's what it looks like when done: 

Pizza Pockets fresh out of the oven

And the inside? Yummazing. These are easy to pull apart, delicious to eat and also great for lunchbox leftovers the next day! 

Pizza pocket deliciousness

10K for LLS

before the 10K

I had a magnificent morning! 

I love to run. I love when music is blasting at an inappropriate volume in my ear as I propel myself forward. I love knowing that the sweat is well earned. I have some of my most productive, clearest thoughts while I'm running and for me, running is a solo adventure. It's precious time by myself. 

it's inspiring to be surrounded by so many motivated people!

it's inspiring to be surrounded by so many motivated people!

Today, I ran the Oakley Mini 10K, the world's original women-only road race, to benefit the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, a cause near and dear to my heart. I joined over 7,800 other women, all of whom had dedicated their morning to completing 6.2 miles around New York's Central Park. It's an overwhelming feeling for me; though I'm dedicated and content to complete the run by myself, I'm inspired by the crowd. 

In fact, I felt a bit choked up with emotion during the first mile, as I saw women of all ages, stages and fitness levels, filled with determination. And here we all are, lucky enough to take in the beauty of Central Park on a fine Saturday morning. 

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of so many folks in my life, I raised over $18,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Those funds will be used to fund research for new, life saving and life-improving drugs and for patient and family education and services. My team, Moms In Training, raised over $400,000 for today's event. This is a victory! 

The best part of the 10K? That was definitely when I saw my family at the finish line. Feeling so blessed today. 

Union Square Farmer's Market

The Union Square farmer's market is one of my favorite places to visit in the City. The people watching is out of sight: some folks stroll through (especially tourists, families and caregivers with young children) and others race through at breakneck speed (like those who work in restaurants and have to quickly get specific ingredients back to the kitchen). 

The people who come to Union Square to sell their foods are uniformly friendly and willing to answer any questions. For example, I spoke with a cheese monger about why his cheeses were not organic. His animals are not fed hormones ever but if an animal gets sick, it is given antibiotics to get well. During that time, the milk from that animal is never used in the production of cheese but because of the administration of antibiotics, his cheeses are not able to be labeled organic. 

 

 

My kids love going to the farmer's market to see what's in season and to have little snacks along the way. On our most recent visit, the kids and I devoured over a pound of sugar snap peas and a pint of super sweet tiny strawberries. 

image.jpg

Here's just a small sampling of our farmer's market bounty. I'm going to use the rosemary later this week to season a white bean salad with roasted garlic. We'll fly through those eggs in a day or two (most likely scrambled) and the rest of the produce will be eaten raw. It's really hot outside today so I'm particularly excited to have fresh, wonderful foods that don't require my oven. 

French Toast Kebabs

We're back from vacation and thinking about getting back into the swing of things before the back to school mayhem begins. This morning my kids slept past 7:00 am. We have just over a week until the new school year begins and they *finally* slept late. Ugh.   

Getting back into a routine can be a challenge. I'm procrastinating the whole thing and holding onto summer as long as possible. Let 'em sleep late! Let 'em have the extra books before bedtime. Let 'em discover the constellations with the Sky View app (translation: let 'em stay up late). 

This morning, as a celebration of the fact that it's a weekday but the kiddos are in no hurry to get anywhere, we had these french toast - banana kebabs

 

French toast banana kebabs

French toast banana kebabs

This breakfast is a family affair. My eldest cracked the eggs and helped cut the bread. My three year old cut the bananas and placed the bread in the egg-milk mixture. These are fun to eat and filling too. I realized that with a little advance prep (cutting the bread and slicing the bananas ahead of time) these might be feasible for a school morning (well, if the stars align properly on all other fronts). 

Here's the recipe:  

3 slices of whole grain bread
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) 
2 bananas
butter for frying the french toast
kebab sticks

Cut the bread into squares (approximately 1-2 inches). Scramble the eggs in a shallow dish and add vanilla extract, milk and cinnamon (if using). Add bread and let it sit for several minutes. Turn to coat the other side of the bread with egg mixture. Heat the butter in a pan on medium heat.  Add the bread pieces and flip after a few minutes. When french toast squares are done, place on kebab stick alternating with banana slices. Enjoy!