School has never been so tasty. Photo
courtesy OneToughCookie.com.

One Tough Cookie, which actually makes very tender cookies, has a solution for your favorite back-to-schooler or teacher. The hand-decorated, buttery shortbread cookies are sure to please. (“I feel like my freezer is empty if I have less than 15 pounds of butter,” says Gail.)

Gail Dosik, founder of the New York City-based boutique bakery, departed Seventh Avenue for a professional baking career, switching from designer dresses to designer cookies and cakes. She attended the French Culinary Institute, traded in Manolos for kitchen clogs and opened the doors to her bakery at age 50.

Tomorrow, we’ll feature a cookie-making secret from Gail.

• Find more of our favorite cookies plus recipes in our Gourmet Cookie & Brownie Section.
• See the different types of cookies in our beautiful Cookie Glossary.

You can cook frittatas, omelets and scrambled eggs the night before and microwave them for seconds in the morning, putting a hot dish on the table in a minute. Steel-cut oatmeal and other non-instant hot cereals can be made ahead as well.

Make this delicious frittata today and enjoy it tomorrow morning:

FRITTATA RECIPE

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped red onion

Make individual frittatas in a muffin
pan. Photo courtesy IncredibleEgg.com.

2. Add cheese, zucchini, bell pepper and onion; mix well. Spoon evenly into 12 greased muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each.

3. Bake until just set, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool on rack 5 minutes.

4. Remove from cups.

5. Serve immediately or refrigerate and microwave for 30 seconds to heat when you’re ready to eat.

This recipe is courtesy of The American Egg Board, IncredibleEgg.org.

• Find more egg recipes in our Egg Section.

It was targeted to kids, teaching healthy cooking: basic cooking skills plus kitchen safety and where food comes.

If you have children, look for kids’ cooking classes in your area. You’ll do yourself a favor: Fun classes lead to childrens’ empowerment, independence and responsibility for what they eat. Plus, they’ll be able to make their own simple meals, and you won’t have to spend time teaching them. They’ll be more enthusiastic in a group of other kids, where it becomes “play.”

And, they may grow up with a penchant for cooking the family meals.

Chef Toni’s healthy buffet worked beautifully for both children and adults, and reminded us that we too should eschew the fattening cheese plate for equally delightful, yet good-for-you foods. The menu included easy recipes:

• Kiwi lemonade, kiwi puree mixed with lemon juice and water

Instead of a bread-based canape, try fruit:
Here, watermelon topped with tabbouleh and
crumbled feta and a chive “bow.” Photo courtesy Watermelon.org.

• Hint flavored, unsweetened water (a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week)
• Stuffed eggs filled with spinach creamed with milk, instead of a cholesterol-filled deviled yolk
• Cucumber in thick slices topped with taramosalata, Greek caviar spread made with olive oil and lemon juice
• Guacamole (which is caloric, but nutrient-rich) and corn chips (which are whole grain)
• Watermelon salad: cubes of melon with shredded basil, and queso blanco substituting for the traditional feta cheese (which can be too potent a flavor for kids)
• Grape and walnut salad: halved green and red grapes with walnut halves and a light yogurt dressing
• Large, flat ravioli with scalloped edges atop skewers, covered with pesto
• Fruit skewers: melon, pineapple and grapes
• A heaping platter of red and green grapes
• Pineapple flowers, cut from pineapple slices with a large cookie cutter, placed on skewers and anchored in a box of wheat grass (really beautiful!)
• Cupcakes by Melissa, single-bite tiny cupcakes that allow you to enjoy a small bite or two of different flavors instead of eating a regular cupcake or two

Kids must really like a certain color of green food. They lapped up the guacamole, hard-cooked egg halves filled with spinach and kiwi lemonade and the grapes, plus the ravioli and fruit skewers, and left the rest to the grown-ups.

Switch nutrition-empty crouton crunch
for the healthy crunch of nuts. Photo
by Jason M | SXC.

Instead of carb- and salt-laden croutons on your salad, try nuts as a healthy, crunchy substitute.

The best “salad nuts”: almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts, the heart-healthy nuts approved by the FDA.

These varieties contain more heart-healthy monounsatured fat and less than 4g of saturated fat per 50g (1.8 ounces).

Walnuts are the healthiest nuts of all, containing a significantly higher amount of alpha linolenic acid.* A daily 1- or 2-ounce serving of nuts is recommended by doctors and nutritionists.

*Linolenic acid is a type of plant-derived omega 3 fatty acid, similar to that found in salmon. Many studies show that it lowers both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) levels.

You’ll use fewer calories if you chop the nuts roughly instead of using them whole. Instead of consuming one nut per forkful, you’ll have at least twice as much crunch spread throughout the salad.

It takes just seconds to chop them with a knife or food chopper; or you can pay for the convenience of buying chopped nuts.

Imagine ice cream that is both hot and cold. That’s what you get when you pour Three Chilies Chocolate Sauce on it. The cayenne, chipotle and jalapeño spice blend is a terrific complement to The King’s Cupboard’s superb dessert sauces.

In addition to ice cream, the sauces can be used to enhance poached pears, pound cake, waffles or any food in need of chocolate or caramel sauce.

The King’s Cupboard is one of our perennial favorite brands of dessert sauce. The ingredients are the finest; the regular and flavored chocolate sauce and caramel sauce varieties are just perfect. There’s a sugar-free chocolate sauce that is a godsend for chocolate lovers who need to restrict sugar. And, the products are certified kosher by OU.

• Read the review of The King’s Cupboard, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
• Find more of our favorite dessert sauces, plus recipes.

Spice up your ice cream with “hot”
chocolate and caramel sauce. Photo
by Philip Wilkerson | BSP.

• Learn about the different types of dessert sauces in our Dessert Sauce Glossary.