Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Big (Orange) Catch.



Last week, The Denver Post ran an article called "Mommy is Blogging - With Corporate Backing." You can read the article here prior to this post if you like.

 After re-reading it several times, I had to note a few things. First, I think the point of the article was about corporate support and blogger boundaries. Yet when I read the paragraph below, I was startled:

“…she [the mommy blogger] writes, say, about how adorably orange her children's fingers get when they gobble down handfuls of yummy Cheetos. Young has, in her words, a "relationship" with Frito-Lay, the maker of Cheetos. She isn't paid a salary, but the perks include free snack food for her family of eight and a recent trip to Los Angeles, complete with parties and pampering at a ritzy hotel."

So, naturally, your first thought might be, “Wow, I’m unemployed and I’d really like to get my hands on some free Cheetos and get flown to L.A. parties. And all she has to do is write about stuff? Where can I sign?” It’s okay if that’s your response, her story sounds like she’s won the jackpot, and with six children – I’m sure she could use a break, err…party. However, Momma taught me a little piece of advice I’d like to share: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.” (Thanks, Mom.) Now, in case you didn’t see the BIG, ORANGE “CATCH”, let me state it here and now: Cheetos.

I’m sorry, but there is no way her kid’s orange fingers are adorable (though, again, I’m not a mom). I would imagine the sight of orange seasoning smeared across a white couch, blouse, or on the walls of your house would be quite distressing. Though I just said “quite distressing” in an attempt to pull off the “British understatement”, forget it. I’m going to speak for myself here: Cheetos are bad for you (and your kids), and Cheeto fingers are gross.

We can’t ignore the fact any longer. I will say, 'perhaps not bad for you in moderation', but even that admission is a little painful. I stand by the fact that there are healthier foods to eat. How about a carrot? They are orange! And they don’t leave grubby orange fingerprints around. You can even make fun little people out of them and humor your child, right? (It humored my husband.)


But enough with the preaching. Let your kids eat Cheetos if you like. I am powerless to stop you.  All I can do is give you a teensy, weensy, kind of not-good-for-you-but-sort-of-is recipe that I think your kids will love. It’s the best French toast in the world, and when you use farm fresh eggs for the batter, then they do kind of look a little orange. Heck, I don’t care if you put some food coloring in them, do whatever you have to do to get those kiddies to stop eating processed junk. 

You can call french toast “junk” – that’s fine. But I will say that the bread was a French baguette from Luna Bakery, the eggs from Double B farm, and all the other ingredients (sugar, etc.) organic and from The Daily Co-op. So if that’s bad, we’re doomed.



Now, that you’ve listened to my tirade (thank you). Here is your recipe. Good luck with the Maple Syrup. I've found you only need the slightest drizzle, and we used this:


7 comments:

ccreatif said...

Love that story, realy good. I occasionaly eat organic vegy chips, low sodium. But even if it's organic, it's still fried! I also liked the little orange figurine made out of carrots. That's creative!

anna j said...

I must tell you what I did today, as you would be proud: I presented my hair-cutting friend with one of the green eggs I stole from it's hen-mother. And I made her promise to make it for her 5-yr old little boy, as I've found that young taste buds have an uncanny ability to be able to taste how much better fresh milk, eggs, and butter taste . . . local food evangelists unite :-)

kim said...

Great post for us mommies out there! Any child (or adult for that matter) would be super excited to gobble up that superhero-esque carrot buddy. Very creative and inspiring b/c it's all too easy to want to throw something semi-healthy on the plate. Keep those yummy recipes coming, Annie!

Grace said...

Emma loves carrots so much that I keep a jar of them with water in it in the fridge so she can grab them when she wants to snack and when they are all gone, she drinks the carrot flavored water! I have found that children (well at least mine) will turn down something like a cheeto for an orange or a couple blueberries any day. They know what's good :) Thanks for another fun blog Annie

Patty said...

OK, well I did eat some Fritos yesterday, but I knew I was being bad...we just try to make and eat a lot of local, healthy stuff and figure we're better off than we would be otherwise. But my kids are grown and i will say they are both very serious about cooking and eating healthy, so I am very proud of that.

A.Kelley said...

I'm proud of all you guys! Thank you for the comments.

Anna J - I have yet to get a green egg! I'm jealous! I wanna hear how that story turns out :)

Gracie - May Emma be blessed with perfect eyesight her whole life long. I'm so grateful for all the mom insights, it's really helpful and I think you are right - I think kids know what's better.

Chantal - "organic" potato chips were the hardest thing for me to let go of. The best substitute for me was bread and hummus.

Patty - stay strong!

Joanna Goddard said...

so well said. your blog is lovely.

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