Noshtopia

Thank you for your patience while Noshtopia is getting a makeover

Hi all! Noshtopia is starting to grow faster than I expected, and we thank you so much for your readership. Since March when Nosh re-launched with the new theme, I've been learning some new things about the blog and how to better serve you our fabulous audience.

So, we'll be down for at least a week or perhaps more, in order to give Nosh a makeover because I am just one person creating all this magic. I believe that you will enjoy the new features so again thank you so much for your patience and you'll see new content very soon. In the meantime, enjoy this decadent mini flourless chocolate cake from La Tartine in Redwood City. It was truly divine!

How Green is that food container, Ben & Jerry's Elton John inspiration, and other yums around the noshosphere

• How Green is that take-out food container? Here's a list of 10 of the most common take-out container materials rated with their level of Green friendliness. [Chow]

• To honor Elton John's first performance in their home town state of Vermont, Ben & Jerry's created a special limited run flavor called "Yellow Brickle Road" featuring chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cookie dough, butter brickle and white chocolate chunks. Oh dee-lish! Proceeds are going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. But, the flavor is only going to be served July 18 to July 25 in the company's Vermont scoop shops. Bummer! I hope B&J and Elton change their mind and let it go national. I so want a bite. [Yahoo News]

• Thoughts on this designer dish washing glove?  Couple it with some hot pink heels and nothing but an apron and I think hubbie just might see dish washing in a whole new light. Just saying. [Spoon Sisters]

• Here are 5 new super fruits packed with healing properties. One of the fruits was something I just blogged about this week. Yay! [MSN Health]

• Are there health benefits to chewing gum? Some Pros say yes. My Magic 8 Ball says, "It is highly doubtful."  [Eating Well]

What are some of you salad bar habits?

Many of us are creatures of habit, and that definitely includes getting the same things over and over at the salad bar. However, if salad is your primary way of getting vegetables in for the day, then eating salad can get rather boring over time unless you start getting creative.

When hovering around the salad bar at the grocery store, I always take a peek at what other people put in their salad because it's interesting to see how people mix up their veggies and fixins' differently. It's also a great way for me to get inspired to try something new.

Here are some of my typical salad habits:

• I always do mixed greens because I don't like ice burg lettuce. At Whole Foods, I will take a salad box all the way to the vegetable/fruit aisles and get some arugula (my favorite) to mix in with the mixed greens. My local store is cool with that.

• On top of the greens, I will get about 6-7 different items and of equal amounts typically shredded carrots, beets, cucumber, edamame, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, and snap peas if they have them. Occasionally, I'll get radish, garbanzos, sun dried tomatoes, or peas. I saw some mango salsa the other day and threw some of that on my salad and it was delicious. I also recently tried adding some tabbouleh and that was good too.

• I usually go vegan on salad because for some reason I don't care for boiled egg on greens, and I rarely add cheese because I think it starts to take over the flavor of the veggies.If I add cheese, it will either be a sprinkle of feta or fresh parmesan.

• I always get the dressing on the side, and I do honey mustard or oil & vinegar. Whole Foods has a Ginger dressing and a Sweet Red Pepper dressing I really like.

• I usually only eat crunchy bits in Chinese Chicken Salads. Not a fan of the crouton although I've had fresh baked croutons and those are delicious.

So, what are some of your salad bar habits?

Organic Fruit Loopy-like Cereal

The other day my inner 8-year-old had an urge for Froot Loops but since I try to avoid anything with processed or artificial ingredients, I thought I'd check out Whole Foods to see if there was anything close, and happily there was. Under the Whole Foods 365 Organic Brand, they have Rainbow Rings a "Crunchy Corn & Oat Cereal." In the picture above is a bowl of the Rainbow Rings in rice milk, and it wasn't exactly Froot Loops, but it was pretty darn close.

Nutrition & Ingredients comparison

Nutrition wise the two cereals for a one cup serving have pretty equal amounts of calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein. And even though the total carb amount is the same Froot Loops have 12g of Sugars and the Rainbow Rings have 7g of sugars. Likewise, FL have 135mg of sodium vs. 60mg for RR.

Ingredients wise is a whole other story. The #1 ingredient in Froot Loops is sugar followed by flours and partial hydrogenated vegetable oil. FL also contain artificial food dyes, and preservatives. The #1 ingredient of the Rainbow Rings is organic corn meal followed by organic evaporated cane juice.The food coloring in RR comes from carrot and annatto extract. Even though annatto is a natural food color some people with food coloring sensitivities may still have allergic reactions to it including those who are on Gluten-free diets because of Coeliac Disease. Check with your doctor.

Feingold friendly

If you have a child who is on the Feingold Diet, then Froot Loops would be a big no-no, but the Rainbow Rings would be fine because the cereal is free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives. There are healthier cereals that kids can eat for breakfast like oatmeal or bran flakes, but in terms of fun food, Rainbow Rings are a lower sugar, lower sodium, and lower artificial ingredient choice than Fruit Loops. The Rainbow Rings are fun for adults too!

Difference: Fresh Black Figs and Dried Black Figs

I have never eaten a fresh fig before, and I was truly shocked when I cut a black fig open and found that it was a reddish pink on the inside. It was gorgeous! I eat dried black figs all the time, and for whatever reason, I got it in my head that fresh black figs were tan on the inside.

I took a close up picture of the fresh and dried version of the figs together on white because I wanted to highlight the magnificence of the figs. I like shooting food on white and up close because it helps remind us what is amazing about the natural design of food. No one is a better designer than Mother Nature, and much of a food's natural beauty and design is lost when the food is processed and showered with artificial additives and preservatives. This is why I have come to enjoy eating foods "naked & natural" as much as possible.

Eating the fresh black fig is a totally different experience than eating the dried version, at least to me. The fresh fig is very juicy but is not very sweet and doesn't have much flavor, in fact it almost tastes like nothing more than a slightly sweetened water. I assume then that in the drying process when the fig shrinks in size all the sugar gets condensed because dried figs are really sweet. My favorite is to eat figs with walnuts.

With the fresh figs, I wanted to scoop out the flesh, and add some agave nectar and sea salt to make a natural body scrub. In fact, that sounds really relaxing. Bath tub here I come.

Next FN Star #7: Fancy Schmancy did it for me

The final 4 are now in Vegas with Paula Deen as the guest palette this week. Did you know that Paula started her first food business, a Lunch delivery service called, "The Bag Lady" when she was 42 years old. That inspired a whole wave of hope in me, and was a good reminder that you're never too old to start something new.

Throw down 2 dishes in 75 minutes

The competition between Lisa and Adam was fun to watch because seriously I wanted Adam to stomp Lisa which he did with his Mac-n-Cheese. I'm going to have to try that Panko trick next time I make that cheesy comfort food. When Lisa put Goat Cheese in her Mac-n-Cheese, that really showed some of her food snobbery. Adam stuck with the Velveeta approach and that got him his Black Jack. I don't even know what that bean dish is but Lisa won and sadly it did nothing to help her warm up.

Next up, holey chicken wings Batman! Aaron created a beautifully plated Chicken Parmigiana dish for 4 people in 18 minutes, and not only did he finish the dish on time, all the judges loved it. Truly, Aaron impressed this nosher.

When Kelsey explained to the judges why she made her pork tenderloin dish so petite and the words "Fancy Schmancy" came out of her mouth, I thought, "Oh, that dun did it. Mini-me Elle Woods is gonna be packing up her pink Barbie suitcase."

There is a clear winner now

Unless, Adam or Lisa can pull a rabbit out of the hat, Aaron is clearly going to win The Next Food Network Star competition. Judge Susie Fogelson totally gave it away when she announced that "our pal Aaron" was the first to move onto the next round. When the judges start calling you their "pal," you know you're a shoe in.

Aaron still has a problem being comfortable in front of the camera but I think he can quickly overcome that as he gets more coaching and just starts to relax with himself. Out of the remaining 3, Aaron does have the best cooking skill and personality combo.

Next week, I predict that Lisa will be out the door because I think the judges would rather have personality over skill. Adam has the skills, I think he just has a confidence issue after his restaurant failed. He's starting to shine now when it counts.

More Noshtopia food gawking: Strawberry, Lychee smoothie, Vegan Guac Burger, Asparagus, and more

Sorry I haven't been posting regularly. Life has gotten me a bit overwhelmed so I've just needed to take some down time. I'll be back to full fledge posting next week, but in the mean time, here are more food pictures I have taken for your food gawking  pleasure!

This is a smoothie I made up. It has organic strawberries, lychee, hemp nuts, agave nectar, and rice milk. I saved some and put it in the freezer to make a sorbet like dessert. Yum-ee!

This is a "Guacamole Burger" with a side green salad from my favorite vegan/raw place Cafe Soulstice. Not sure how they make the burger but it is really tasty and the "bun" is their Almond Herb Bread made from almonds, red onion, garlic, dill, flax, and then dehydrated.

Who doesn't love to look at asparagus in green, purple, and white? Okay, perhaps asparagus is not the sexiest of veggies but I think the purple ones are really cool.

Tea and deep thought anyone?

I just liked the look of these shiny gadgets at Macys who by the way is having a White Sale! going on through July 17. One day, I'd like to have a kitchen full of shiny food gadgets.

Random Noshtopia Food Gawking: carrot cake, fine salad, garlic dip, calamansi, birthday cake and more

Since many of you are probably still recovering from the 3-day 4th of July weekend, I thought I'd do something light and fun today. Here are some random food shots I've taken at various places like out eating at a restaurant, at a cafe, at Whole Foods, or at a birthday party.

I take my Nikon D50 with me everywhere, and I just love to take pictures of food and what I eat. Man I love food blogging!

One of my favorite blogging cafes is La Tartine in Redwood City because they have free WIFI and the most amazing desserts. I just love the look of this individual carrot cake. This cafe also serves wine so you'll find me there on a Friday having a glass of Pinot Noir and blogging.

For the life of me, I can't remember where I ate this salad, but I do remember that it was really delicious. On top is a slightly pickled cabbage, and there was arugula in the garden mix. I do that in my own salads I make at home, mix arugula with the Whole Foods garden mix.

To me, restaurants that go the extra mile and serve you some kind of dip with your bread basket are a rave. This garlic, herb, and olive oil dip is from Cafe Pro Bono in Palo Alto, which friend and published author Camy Tang turned me on to. Camy writes the best Christian chick lit.

This was my birthday cake back in April. Fortunately, I did a joint celebration with my mom and sister-in-law Casey who blogs about my triplet nieces: Alyssa, Riley, and Makena. The girls are so precious and as you can imagine they prefer to wear the cake than eat it.

This is Calamansi which is not widely used in the US but is used in everyday cooking in the Philippines. Calamansi is like an orangey lemon, and I like it because of that unique twist. The calamansi in this shot are about the size of gumballs and we sprinkled some on top of pancit, the Filipino version of chow mein. If you ever have a chance to try iced Calamansi-ade, do partake!

One of my favorite appetizers are crunchy rolls. These are Traditional Spring Rolls from the Three Seasons restaurant in Palo Alto, and they were dee-lish.

Have you ever seen purple herbs? I haven't, so when I was at Whole Foods a couple months ago and saw this purple herb plant I just had to take a snapshot. Cool huh!

Next FN Star #6: Rachel Ray, Brownies, and Las Vegas

This week's episode of the Next Food Network Star has so far been the most enjoyable I've seen in the whole show, and yay! finally. This week the contestants got to do a 4 minute gig in front of a live studio audience on Rachel Ray's show. The task was to make a healthy kid friendly dish and each contestant was aided by a Brownie, those girls that sell those divine cookie Thin Mints and Tagalongs. The girls were so cute!

Yikes! Someone calls Rachel "Rach"

One person is going home and the final four are going to Las Vegas so the stakes were high for this last task. Upon hearing the news of where the final 4 were going, Kelsey reacted like she jetting away to a foreign land, and to her Vegas probably is an exotic adventure. Vegas is cool and all but it's not like going overseas to somewhere exotic like Puerto Rico, Paris, or Thailand. Kelsey is really adorable but I'm with Bob in that she doesn't drive home any kind of authoritativeness, and when she called Rachel, "Rach" ye gads, I was almost expecting a little "bad Rachel" to yum-O all over Kelsey's behind.

Lisa uses Jedi Mind Tricks

The contestants created a dish based on what their Brownie liked, well, except Lisa and her girl. Lisa used Jedi mind tricks to convince her Brownie that what the kid really wanted to eat was horseradish sauce on steak, and cous cous. It was like watching the new wicked step mother convince the kids with that fake dastardly smile that they needed to upscale from their low class McDonald's eating ways. And Lisa justified her actions by suggesting that she didn't have to change her culinary point of view just to please a kid. Well Lisa, if your judge is a kid, um yeah, some mac-n-cheese or chicken fingers seems like the way to go.

Aaron and Adam would be a blast at kid's camp

Which is what Aaron and Adam did brilliantly. I have to say that Aaron finally let his true self out of the cage and wow! it was so fun to watch him and his Brownie make pizza. When he dabbed some of the flour on her face and his and blew some to the audience, he scored a 10.0 in my eyes. Adam was really warm and engaging and I totally wanted a bite of that barbecue Pita sandwich. Adam was hanging by a string in this competition, and he did knock it out of the ballpark this episode so that he could go onto Vegas.

Bye-bye, hugs and kisses

And poor Shane, it was kind of a no-brainer that he was the one to be going home. What did him in was the fact that working with a kid seemed like getting a root canal for him. But Shane is only 20, and he does have some really good cooking skills so I doubt that this is the last we'll see of him on TV.

And oh yeah, there was crying again. Six shows and six crying episodes. But, by now, I've reached the 5th stage of grief "Acceptance". Crying is just part of the Next FN Star. It is what it is.

Next week is Vegas with Paula Deen. Oooo my Paula! I love her, and can't wait to see what the contestants get to whip up for our Southern Divaliciousness.