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I just sent my first tweet 🙂 If you want to follow me on Twitter for some recipes, tips and interesting articles about food, find me @mammascooking

I have made it a couple of times now and found many different uses.

 I was visiting my parents the first time I made it and used some of the other fresh ingredients from their yard, including eggplant, fresh basil and tomatoes from their garden.

  

Here is another ricotta sandwich with leftover pork, tomatoes, avocado and sweet Vidalia onion dressing.

Lastly, a traditional use…in lasagne…Fresh ricotta is so creamy and delicious., it really makes a big difference, so go for it! Try it! You will not be sorry.

Over the next month you will notice, I’m playing with the look of the blog. Any comments/suggestions to improve are welcome!

Thanks! Over the past 3 years, I have enjoyed writing this blog for me and for the friends who I know who read it. Hopefully there are a few others out there. Let me know what you think and what you would like to see.

Marie

Sorry for the absence but have been living in chaos for the past couple of months and I’m finally starting to even out. I moved cross the country, back to Massachusetts, where I grew up. No more fresh Pacific salmon or Dungeness crab and amazing Asian food every where you turn. But, I have traded that for “lobstah,” Hoodsies, Italian ice and amazing Italian food everywhere you turn.

Groceries are cheaper (even before you count the fact that there is no tax on food!), but my time is even more limited. I am at home with the 3 kiddos and we often have to pick up my husband at work, which cuts into the cooking time, since everyone is hungry when we get home. I have been trying to prep everything while the kids nap, but considering my bedroom is still filled with boxes, I often don’t have the energy for that 🙂

I have been making more Asian food – yummy lettuce wraps with shrimp (marinated in rice wine vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, ginger and garlic) with shredded carrots and cabbage (bought pre-shredded of course) marinated in the same mixture. Easy and very yummy. I served it with brown rice, cilantro and green onions.

Last weekend I made a stir fry with some leftover beef from a pot roast I made earlier in the week, with broccoli, edamame, soy sauce, a little balsamic vinegar, ginger and some of Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy chili sauce. So good and easy.

Once we are a little more settled in, I’ll finally get back to menu planning. The boys (now almost 11 months old) are eating basically what we do, which is making things much easier, but it is still a pain to cut everything up small. Can’t wait until they can deal with bigger pieces of things! Karina keeps telling me I’m a good cooker, but all she wants to do is snack and not eat meals 🙁 I probably should just call everything a snack.

More posts hopefully coming…with pictures.

Over the next few weeks you may see some more changes on my blog. I’m trying to make it look prettier 🙂

I’ve been experimenting more and making some good comfort meals now that the rain and cold weather has returned. I made pastry for the first time and experimenting with more mac-n-cheese recipes, all to come soon! But the template and photo changes are enough for me tonight.

Here is the link to the Baby Mum Mum statement on the Chinese contaminated milk:

http://www.mummums.com/2008/10/Chinese-Milk-Contamination-Statement

Karina has been very adventurous and we are very lucky that she eats pretty much everything (except for terriyaki flavored baked tofu). So as she approaches a year old, I’ve been giving her more and more of what we eat. She loved the caprese salad we had the other night. I just cut the tomato, basil and mozzarella in to smaller pieces for her and left the balsamic vinegar off her portion.

She also enjoyed a breakfast of wheat toast with melted brie, diced avocado and diced mango.

I think I’m going to try to give her some blue cheese and see what she does with it.

Here is the follow-up message I got from the folks at Baby Mum Mum. A friend who has worked in the product production industry, said it is common for places to manufacture their product in a cheaper location, while using their own or other imported ingredients.

Hi Marie,

You can contact the US distributor on the following email: janinesibley@nationalimporters.com

The Baby Mum–Mum rice rusks that is sold in the US is also made using New Zealand origin skim milk powder.

Although the rice rusks are manufactured in China, only the best ingredients are used in the production.

New Zealand milk products is well known to be amongst the best in the world and that is why it is used.

The New Zealand milk powder is directly imported by the manufacturer of Baby Mum–Mum rice rusks and each consignment is accompanied with relevant documentation to assure the origin and quality.

I have cc Janine from National Importers into this email and I am sure she will add more details for you if I have missed out on any information.

Regards,

Donald Kha
Amyson Pty Ltd (Australia)

I have not contacted the U.S. importer yet. The Mum Mums may be fine, and I’m not usually one to be paranoid, but she doesn’t seem to miss them, so I haven’t added them back into her repertoire.

All the news over the last week or two about all the kids in China getting sick from powdered milk is so sad. I just hope that would not happen here. I guess it did before the turn of the century (according to a story I heard on NPR on Friday) except it was not plastic being added to the milk, but rather, water, which was the impetus for many regulations to follow in the U.S.

I looked a little closer at some of the labels on Karina’s snacks and foods. I noticed that her Baby Mum Mum rice crackers are made in China. So, I e-mailed the company asking them if there were safety standards in place to ensure that there is no melamine in these snacks. Here is the response:

“Thank you for the email regarding Baby Mum-Mum rice rusk. We understand your concerns about the milk powder problem in China. The reports state that the Chinese government has identified the source of the problem to be contaminated Chinese fresh milk which was used to make milk powder in China. Since Baby Mum-Mum rice rusk is made from New Zealand origin skim milk powder, it is not related to the problem in China.

Donald Kha
Amyson Pty Ltd (Australia)“

I have followed up with a few questions and will let you know what I hear.

Rebekah Denn, food writer for the Seattle PI had this to say on the subject: