Rawesome and other food news

I don't know what it's like where you live but here in Los Angeles, a lot of people are really into food.  And if you're a mom, the topic is almost unavoidable.  I try to stay out of most of the food debates and focus on the fun parts of feeding kids (need I remind you the number of fun shaped cookie cutters I own?) but I pay attention to all of them.  One particularly hot subject is whether raw dairy products are superior to pasteurized conventional milks, yogurts, and cheeses and which kind is the healthier option for our kiddos. Despite the fact that I know a lot of moms who swear by raw milk I can't believe how much press the recent raid of Rawesome in Venice is getting.  The New York Times covered the story here but didn't include some of the more intriguing theories suggested here.  I also heard about it twice on the radio today and saw it on the local news.  It's really exciting to see this issue (it's not just about raw dairy but also about lobbyists and how the government decides what is and isn't safe for us to drink) being talked about.

And on the topic of dairy and whole foods, someone pointed me to this post about what's in shredded cheese.  I happen to have some shredded cheese in my refrigerator and just put some in Juju's lunch right before I read this.  Apologies for not taking a photo of said lunch, my mind has been elsewhere this week and I have forgotten to photograph my lunches.  More photos soon!

Gilding the silly

Remember when I mentioned that I wanted to play with my cookie cutters again?  Well, this time I went too far.  In fact, if you looked up the term "gilding the lily" in a dictionary of idioms I am quite sure you would find the following photo.

I used a heart shaped cutter to cut hearts out of mozzarella cheese.  I placed them on small crackers.  Then, I cut hearts out of Trader Joe's fruit leather and used two of them to fill in the negative space on the slice of cheese.  I then went crazy with a "J" shaped cutter and a small Persian cucumber.  Overdone, yes?  But Juju ate 90% of this snack so I think it was worth it.

Star studded snack

I pulled out my cookie cutters! 

We recently transitioned Juju from a crib to a bed which means she hasn't been napping everyday any more.  This puts a serious crimp in my work-from-home schedule.  It does however give me time to hang around the kitchen while she's awake and come up with cute snacks.

Today I served up star-shaped cheese and cucumber on 12 grain mini crackers: