Cooking with Tristin & Tyler! Episode 1 - How To Make Veggie Burger Sliders

It's here! The launch of the Cooking with Tristin and Tyler videos! WOO HOO! We've teamed up with some cool chefs, food bloggers and culinary personalities to bright you quick, healthy recipes to cook with kids! Every two weeks we will bring you another fun recipe -- are you ready? To learn more about who we've teamed up with, check this out!

First up, meet Leslie Durso, otherwise known as Veggie Dreamgirl!  Leslie makes vegan dishes, D-LISH! This first episode is all about getting the kids' hands dirty for some smashing (and mashing) good fun!  So grab your kids, nephews, neices, cousins WHO-EVER and get cooking! For the full recipe, read below!

Enjoy!

Leslie Durso's Vegan Pantry Earthburger

Makes 6 patties

Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup corn kernels
1 large tomato, diced and de-seeded
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3.5 oz. package of Hail Merry Chimayo Chili Pecans, crushed medium-fine

In a large bowl combine the beans, onion, and garlic. Using a potato masher lightly smash the beans.  Add in the rest of the ingredients except the pecans and stir well.  Place the crushed pecans on a small plate.  Form the burger patties with your hands and dredge in the nuts on each side of the burger.  Cook in a lightly greased frying pan on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side or until the sides are golden.  Serve with a toasted bun, avocado and caramelized onions.

MOMMY MONDAY: Today I Ate A Rainbow

It's MOMMY MONDAY: My day to feature mommy entrepreneurs who ROCK!  This week I'm featuring a multi-tasking mama helping kids eat right by making it fun! Meet Kia from Today I Ate A Rainbow! Today I Ate A Rainbow focuses on finding tools to help children eat healthy - we love that!

I decided to start the Get Cooking with Tristin and Tyler video series so parents can learn how to make healthy meals with their kids. I need all the help I can get so in addition to the series, I was happy to try out Kia's Rainbow Kit! It is the best! The boys love the challenge of trying to eat fruits and veggies of all colors in the rainbow.

Not only is Kia making sure her company is growing, she is super active in her daugher Hannah's school, has another company she runs with her husband and has Hannah making meals on her own! Now does she rock or what?

Wanna learn more about how she does it? Read on!

1. What is Today I Ate A Rainbow and why did you start it?

Today I Ate A Rainbow is a product we created that turns healthy eating into a fun
game! The goal of the game is to get kids (and parents) eating 5 colorful fruits and
veggies everyday...to Eat A Rainbow!

2. What is the hardest part about building your brand and being a mom?

Finding the time for everyone and everything! It can be really challenging trying to
split time, energy and focus in multiple directions. I just try to remind myself to
be in the moment, when I'm working to focus on that and when I'm with Hannah to just
focus on our time together!

3. Give us moms one tip for staying organized!

Make lists!!! I have a master list for the month and then I write daily lists.
Whatever doesn't get accomplished on the daily list goes to the top on the next
day's list!

4. Whats your favorite kid-friendly recipe?

Kale Chips!!! They are easy to make and a great way for kids to enjoy kale. We love
them so much we made a video
http://www.todayiatearainbow.com/beautiful-kale-into-delicious-chips/

5. What's Hanna's favorite?

That would be a tie between Kale Chips and Granola :)

6. What's next for the brand?

We have just re-launched our site and have added lots of free resources like fruit
and veggie coloring pages, a rainbow eaters certificate and a new chart called Today
I Tried. The new chart is a tool that will help parents keep track of how many
times they have served a new food because it can take at least 10 exposures to a new
food before it is accepted. We are also busy making more In The Rainbow Kitchen kids
cooking videos! I'm planning to write more books in our Rainbow Bunch series this
year as well. Always lots going on!

7. Give us one word to describe your business style? And why?

Friendly! Because that is always my first instinct...that is why I love social media
it's a great platform for connecting and supporting each other! That's how I
connected with you and I'm SO glad I did :)

Don't you just love Kia? What do you think of the Rainbow Kit? Would you try it? I did and it totally works!

Do you know a MOMMY that deserves a shout out on Mommy Monday? Let me know! Leave a comment below!

Get Cooking with Tristin, Tyler and Friends!

Get ready to Get Cookin' with Tristin and Tyler! Your favorite city kids are learning to make healthy snacks and they want to teach YOU to do the same!  The boys have teamed up with some amazing people in the world of food to bring you tasty recipes, safe kitchen fun and a whole lotta inspiration! Start checking out the videos in May!

Check this out!  To raise awareness for Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit who is ending childhood hunger in America through the No Kid Hungry campaign, T&T wear orange in each episode and share tips so you too can do your part to end childhood hunger.  To learn more, visit www.nokidhungry2.org, a website for kids that is filled with interactive learning tools and fundraising ideas.

We shot the videos at City Cookhouse in Harlem, NYC and had a great time! Want to meet Tristin and Tyler's cooking guests? Check this out!

Chef JJ: You may recognize Joe Johnson as a winner of Rocco's Dinner Party on Bravo.  But, if you haven't checked out Chef JJ, you're missing out! Not only is he down to earth, he is a great Chef with a really cool personality. The kids can't stop laughing when he's around. It's perfectly fitting that he is launching his own television series with kids because he gets along with the boys soo well! Make sure to catch this episode, he's making something seriously innovative! Learn more about him at www.chefjoejohnson.com

Margaret Chen:  We love Margaret! Margaret has a blog, Savory Sweet Living.com where she writes about what she loves to cook. She is such an inspiration because she finds ways to put a fun twist on the ordinary.  Cooking with T&T was no exception, she put a fun (and D-LISH) twist on the on something and the boys ATE IT UP! So make sure to twist your way to your computers to check this episode out!  In the meantime, check her out at www.savorysweetliving.com

Leslie Durso: I think Tyler has a HUGE crush on my new pal Leslie! It was fun watching him steal looks at her while we shot the episode! Hee Hee! Leslie is a vegan so I was a little worried that the boys wouldn't like her recipe since they eat poultry, but to my surprise, the boys (and everyone else at the shoot) enjoyed it! So while you wait to try this ahhmazing vegan recipe, check her out at www.lesliedurso.com

Serena Norr: Our pal Serena is a super duper multi-tasker! Not only does she operate two blogs about healthy living and eating, she's a mom and writes for Mom Trends! We can add acting to her list of accomplishments as she rocked the little bit of acting I asked each guest to do on the shoot. Stay tuned to see Serena's acting debut and get a peek at her healthy snack! Check her out at mamagoesnatural.com and seriouslysoupy.com

Hannah: Don't miss a little girl with some serious cooking power! We are getting a special report all the way from Canada from Tristin and Tyler's friend Hannah from Today I Ate A Rainbow! We are super excited to see what Hannah and her fab mom Kia have in store! You've gotta stay tuned! How adorable is she?

So, there you have it: the people, the fun, the healthy snack revolution and T&T are happy to bring it all to ya!!

STAY TUNED!

Cooking with Nickelodeon TV star REED ALEXANDER!

It's hard to get kids to eat healthy foods, but maybe, just maybe help from a fabulously famous TV star can do the trick! So, I was excited (and T and T were ecstatic) when we attended a cooking demonstration at Williams Sonoma by TV star Reed Alexander from Nickelodeon's iCarly and creator of Kewl Bites healthy eating website! Not only is Reed ridiculously nice and outgoing, he cooks! I mean really cooks!

Let me tell you, getting to midtown Manhattan during the St. Patrick's Day Parade with two kids is a tremendous feat. Only Reed could bring us out in that craziness! But boy was it worth it!  We learned new recipes and I learned great ways to get the kids interested in more than just fast food.  In addition to acting, Reed started Kewl Bites to share tips and tricks for living a healthy lifestyle. I'm definitely going to be checking it out more often!

Reed introduced the boys (and me) to Soba noodles. They were D-Lish! Reed mixed the noodles with fresh vegetables and grilled chicken. I couldn't believe how fast the boys ate it up! Note to self: MUST BUY SOBA NOODLES ASAP!

Like what you see? Then STAY TUNED for our episode to check out Reed's favorite recipes and more! In the meantime, enjoy the photos and stop by Kewl Bites to check out what Reed is up to next!!

Meet Tristin & Tyler at The Kids Food Festival!

Your FAVORITE twins Tristin and Tyler will be cooking up a storm with Kids Food Festival co-founder Cricket Azima on January 21, 2012 at 3pm on the Performance Stage! YAY!

The Kids Food Festival gets cooking on January 21^st and 22^nd, 2012, from 10 am to 6pm at Citi Pond℠ at Bryant Park.  The Kids Food Festival helps in the fight against childhood obesity through fun and flavorful activities around balanced food choices.  General admission to the Festival is FREE, but tickets are required for all events in the James Beard Foundation Future Foodies Pavilion and on the Kids Food Festival Performance Stage. To purchase tickets go to www.KidsFoodFestival.com.  The Kids Food Festival is produced by The Creative Kitchen and Two Shes Productions. 

Come on out! We'd love to meet you!! In the meantime, get cooking with this fun, healthy recipe by Cricket Azima!

Cooking with Cricket!

As you know, Tristin and Tyler are getting ready for their healthy eating campaign this Spring. It's going to be a week full of cooking and getting healthy hosted by your favorite little twins! So because we are on our healthy eating kick, we were VERY excited to be contacted by Cricket Azima, the founder of The Creative Kitchen, a website and educational program teaching "children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner."

Cricket invited Tristin and Tyler to attend the Kids Food Festival taking place in Citi Pond at Bryant Park this January 21st and 22nd. The Kids Food Festival is a free, two day event teaching families "the importance of achieving balance in food choices, through fun activities and sampling family-friendly foods."  In addition to attending the festival, Tristin and Tyler filmed a video with Cricket cooking a fun, family-friendly recipe you all will love!  Check out the photos, and make sure to check out the The Creative Kitchen and the Kids Food Festival to learn more!

Are you in New York City? Can you attend the festival? Join us! We hope to see you there!

Tristin & Tyler Strike A Pose with the Super Sprowtz!

Tristin and Tyler are excited to get started on their healthy eating campaign to encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables and get some exercise! Launching in February, the campaign will feature weeks of videos, blog posts and advice from your favorite twins and some pretty healthy friends on how to eat right and get movin'!

One of the episodes you will be happy to see during the campaign is the boyz interviewing the Super Sprowtz, the awesome vegetable super heros!

If you haven't heard of the Super Sprowtz, you've been missing a WHOLE LOTTA FUN!  Super Sprowtz creator Radha Agrawal is making kids LOVE their veggies by using books, hand puppets and soon TV (YAY!) to tell compelling stories about vegetables who save the day!

Oh! Almost forgot --  if you're visiting The Children's Museum of Manhattan anytime soon, be sure to check out the Super Sprowtz at the Eat Sleep Play exhibit! It's so cool!

Check this fun video out and stay tuned for more coming soon!

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