Princess Crown Stuffed Peppers

I have to first mention that my first daughter is the epitome of girly-girl.  She loves everything pink and sparkly and having to do with princesses or fairies.  Now that you have this important background information, I can tell you about the success of this meal.  

I was making turkey and veggie stuffed peppers tonight and was wondering how I could make it more kid friendly.  Frankly, there isn't a cute, small pepper that you can use to reduce portion size and still make the presentation look spectacular (well, there are small peppers...they just happen to be rather spicy).  So while I was chopping off the tops of the peppers to take out the insides, I was hit with a lightbulb moment!  I must somehow use this "crown" part (b/c I would hate to just throw a perfectly good portion of this pepper away) as part of the kids' meals!  Well, when I took the top off, I was left with a donut shape (a whole where the stem had been), which I placed on a cookie sheet and piled the "stuffing" right into the center.  When I gave this to my daughter, she asked me what it was and I told her it was a "stuffed pepper crown!"  Needless to say, the name alone sold her.  Anything that has to do with crowns is a home run in her book...and who's to say that this top part of the pepper isn't called a crown?  :)   

Here's the recipe that I based this meal off of.  I made some changes as I always do.  I used Italian style ground turkey for some extra flavor, but then backed off of the Italian seasoning later on.  I also used some sort of flavored diced tomato only b/c it's what I had on hand. The recipe is chock-full of veggies and color...definitely give it a try!  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Peppers-with-Turkey-and-Vegetables/Detail.aspx

Crown Stuffed Peppers - turkey and veggie stuffed peppers, yogurt, bananas   

Pinkalicious Shells

Since I have't posted consistently lately, I've decided to post dinner as well.  We had simple stuffed shells today...some shells dyed colors to please the girls (pink...E's favorite color).  Just put some dye in the water as the shells cook...instant food art!  To Eve, pink food is way better to eat.  And I say, "Hey, whatever works."  :)  Oh, and you might be able to see some orange color peaking out of the shell...it's chopped shoestring carrots that I added to the "stuffing"...b/c I add those carrots to just about anything and they barely even notice.

Pinkalicious - stuffed shells (with chopped shoestring carrots), salad, grapes

Sunny Skies Bento

First I have to apologize for my lack of posts lately.  We've had a couple of rough weeks, with busy end-of-year schedules, recitals, graduations, a broken down car, etc.  So I've really neglected the blog and I am sorry for that.  Now, on the other hand, we've had some extremely nice (really warm) weather these last few days, so we went with a fun in the sun themed lunch.  I admit that these are not homemade empanadas, but they are a quick lunch, and if you bake them, they're not as greasy.  We realized Eve liked these when we vacationed in Jamaica one winter.  She was at the height of her picky eating at that point, but for some reason really LOVED the veggie empanadas that they served.  So she ate a lot of them that week!  Anyhow, these are beef, so I probably should have added veggies to her lunch today, but eh, I went with the cupcake tops instead (yes, just two tops smooshed together with icing in between...kinda like a makeshift whoopie pie). I know what you're saying...not so healthy, but you've got mix some of these in sometimes.  :)

Sunny Lunch - Jamaica-inspired beef empanadas, tangerine slices, cheese "suns", and cupcake tops

Kabob Crazy

We were in a kabobing mood with the nice weather we've been having.  I feel like regardless of whether they are made on the grill or in the oven, they just remind me of the summer months.  And somehow, when you serve food in kabob form, kids seem to find it more enticing.  So Eve helped me create a meatball kabob skewered together with some orange pepper and quartered biscuits.  Soooo easy and quick.  Just bake them for about 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven and that's it (we used fully cooked frozen meatballs to make this a quick meal).  Served with some marinara sauce for dipping as well as a fruit kabob.  Oh, and if you're using wooden skewers like we did, don't forget to soak them first so they don't catch on fire! That would turn your quick meal into a quick mess.  :(

Kabobs a plenty - meatball/pepper/buiscuit kabob, strawberries, blackberries, marinara

Go Get a Croquette

Okay, again with the remake leftovers.  You can tell I am in desperate need for a trip to the food store.  Well, we had some honey ham and some chicken (from yes, the homemade rotisserie), so we made some croquettes.  Easy to do, but it does take some time.  I have made a quicker version of croquettes where you just grind and mix everything together, but they're definitely not as good.  Anyhow...the mac and cheese was per daughter's request (we always have it for emergency purposes in the pantry...and like I said, we need to make a food shopping trip, so this IS one of those emergencies).   :) 

Croquette lunch - mac and cheese, ham and chicken croquete, edamame, honey ham chunks   

Rachael Ray the Bento Way - Pretzel and Peanut Crusted Chicken

Since I didn't do a very good job of posting last week, I'm giving you two posts today...this is our dinner, and below you will see our lunch as well.

Okay, so first let me say that despite the fact that the recipe only calls for a 1/2c of honey roasted nuts, buy the large container anyhow!!!  I looked in several stores looking for a small jar of nuts because I thought they would go to waste if I bought the big one, but could only find the big momma jar of nuts.  WELL, you can probably guess that it DID NOT go to waste.  They are utterly addicting!  I think I ate half the jar before I even put any into the recipe!  Not to mention I had two little girls begging me for nuts the entire time I was cooking. Anyhow...getting back to the point. This is a very kid-friendly meal since they are just chicken tenders, so I didn't need to change antything this time...so this post is really just a "Rachael Ray, her own way" as opposed to "Rachael Ray the Bento Way."  Here's the recipe for the chicken and you can also click on the link for the accompanying "smashed sweet potatoes with honey". They have a bit of orange in them, which explains our fruit side today.  They went really well together, not to mention I had the other half of the orange to use up.  :)   http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/pretzel-and-peanut-crusted-chicken/

Rachael Ray Her Own Way Dinner - pretzel and peanut crusted chicken, smashed sweet potatoes with honey, orange, honey roasted peanuts

Leftovers Recreated

Whenever I have something left over from dinner the night before, I try my best to turn it into something different for lunch, instead of eating straight leftovers (this works best with chicken breasts, simple pork roasts, etc.).  Since we had some leftovers from a rotisserie chicken I made recently, I decided to make it into a chicken salad for our lunch.  I'd share the recipe, but frankly, I don't really have one.  Chicken salad happens to be something I just make with whatever I have on hand, but usually it includes chicken (obviously), grapes, pecans, celery, and light mayo.  Just chop, mix, and season to taste! We also made some trail mix with bulk nuts, raisins, and m&ms (I LOVE the bulk section of our grocery store...can't live without it).  If you have one, consider making your own trail mix as well...it's much cheaper than buying the ready made stuff, and you get to control what goes into it (not to mention you can make it much healthier by getting the non-salted variety). 

Chicken salad bento - chicken salad, celery with PB, trail mix

Under the Sea

A good friend of mine (Thanks Rosemary!) recently let me know about this cute little goldfish shaped sandwich bread.  I found them in white and whole wheat varieties in the bread aisle of my grocery store (they are Pepperidge Farm brand).  They are super cute and an easy way to dress up a meal.  We used them today for lunch and E went crazy over them.  I decided to go with a whole "under the sea" theme...I didn't have much in terms of ingredients, considering I desperately need to make a trip to the grocery store, but we did what we could. 

Under the Sea Bento - goldfish shaped turkey and cheese (grilled on our ever popular panini maker), string cheese "octopus", apple "starfish", and broccoli "coral"

Tofu Friday

Since it was just the girls and I tonight (no husband for dinner), we ate leftovers and did a good job of cleaning out the fridge.  So, I've decided to show you our Friday dinner instead.  Once again, I was looking for something to make on a Friday night other than pizza, so we went with tofu!  I don't cook it often, but when I do, I do like it...I'm really not sure why it gets such a bad rap. It wasn't my favorite recipe (so I'm not going to share it with you), but basically it was a tofu and veggie stir fry.  You can really make it up yourself and add whatever veggies and sauces you like best. The girls were a little skeptical at first, but when I told E that Kai-Lan (from the cartoon) loves bok choy, she gave it a try (even though she didn't quite believe me).  Luckily, a few days later on TV we saw a short clip of Kai-Lan picking bok choy!  What luck!  It's great when my little white lies actually pan out!  Oh, and it didn't hurt that I shaped the rice in a heart shaped cookie cutter...she went straight for the rice when I put it on the table.  :)  Can't go wrong with a good old fashioned cookie cutter.

Tofu Bento - tofu stir fry with bok choy and carrots, white rice (heart shaped), pear slices, craisins

Lent Lunch

It's another meatless Friday, so for lunch we had potato and cheddar mini pierogies.  In our house, they are referred to as "moons," and they happen to be pretty popular with the kids.  It's  nice to be able to give them something other than grilled cheese or PBJ on a day that we can't have lunch meat, etc.  These are baked in the oven, so they are pretty easy and not at all greasy. 

Friday lunch - pierogies, kiwi, carrots, organic yogurt (not pictured)