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)

Spring Cleaning

So did you ever open a pantry door and have food tumble down on you?  Well, that is what inspired this lunch.  :)  We had a serious amount of open boxes of pasta that had just a little bit left in them. So for lunch we had an eclectic mix of pasta, which my daughters gladly ate.  In fact, whenever they smell pasta cooking, they run to the kitchen yelling, "noodles, noodles!"  So clearly, this simple lunch was a big hit.  Now, I'm off to organize the pantry because simply getting rid of the pasta boxes didn't quite do the trick.  :)

"Spring Cleaning" Bento Lunch - pasta and meatballs, strawberries, and crunchy raw green beans

A Day of Firsts!



Today was a day of firsts!  It was a wonderfully warm day here, so we got in the grilling mood.  We grilled some steaks, which is a first for my kids.  I never gave it to them before because I've always thought that it's a texture that takes some getting used to, but we gave it a shot and it went extremely well!  It totally goes to show that you can't assume your kids won't eat it...you've got to try.  It was also the first time that my youngest (1.5 years) had corn on the cob (also successful!).   Anyhow, to celebrate how well our dinner went, we had our first ice cream cones of the season!!! 

 

"Firsts" Bento - steak, parmesan couscous mixed with carrots and peas, blueberries, corn on the cob, icecream

Lunch for a Long Day at School

Today was a big day for my DD!!!  It is the first day that she stayed for the extended day program at school, which means she had to pack a lunch and stay all day.  We decided to go with something fairly easy because frankly, she eats at a snail's pace and I wanted to make sure she had a chance to actually finish.  So we went with PBJ "sushi" along with some fruit, veggies, cheese, and star cookies for dessert.  To make the "sushi", just flatten one slice of bread with a rolling pin (or your hand if you don't have a rolling pin handy). Then spread the PB on and a little jelly on top (not much or else it will squirt out when you roll it).  Roll it up and with the seem side down, cut it into small pieces. Voila!

Oh, by the way, this is the cutest little bento box.  It was marketed as a "jibbitz organizer" at the Crocs stand at our mall (on clearance!!!), but any bento lover knows that it is just a transformed two tier bento box. Thanks Crocs for the bargain bento box! Here's a pic of it assembled.

PBJ Sushi Bento - PBJ "sushi" rollups, cheese cubes, green peppers, strawberry and marshmallow kabob, star cookies

Kids Cook - mouse potato

Almost too cute to eat, right?!  Since my DD was such a good chef the other day, we decided to use another idea from the same kids' cookbook to make a cheesy baked potato.  After baking, she helped to scoop out all the insides and mash it up with some cheese, milk, etc.  Then she scooped it all back in so that we could "decorate" it. The kids decided not to eat the features (except for the raisin eyes), but it did make eating the actual baked potato more appealing (I don't think they would have been so eager to try it otherwise).  They didn't finish it (I didn't expect them to) because I don't think the portion size was appropriate, but presentation trumped serving size today.  :) Oh, and for the chicken, I just had some chicken breasts that I wanted to use, so I cut them into small pieces and breaded them (bread crumbs mixed with grated parm cheese) before pan frying them (not deep fried).  I would have baked them but dinner was running late so I went the quicker route. 

Mouse Potato Bento - cheesy baked potato, parmesan chicken cutlets, edamame, bananas

Kids Cook - Eve's Sweet and Sour Chicken!

My daughters cook and bake with me all the time, but I've never given them very much responsibility other than dumping, stirring, etc.  So when we fount a kids cookbook at the library (called Mom and Me Cookbook by Annabel Karmel), Eve was pretty excited to become the "chef."  I basically only cut up the chicken, did the reading (and handing her the right measuring spoons), and the actual cooking on the stove.  Other than that, she did everything by herself...from making the batter for the chicken, the sauce, breaking up the veggies into smaller bite sized pieces, and dipping the raw chicken into the batter before cooking.  Here's a picture of the girls snapping the baby corn and green beans in half.

They loved doing the work and Eve was so proud of what she had accomplished!  I was skeptical of the recipe only because it was so simple, but it actually tasted really good!  We will definitely be making this again!

Eve's Sweet and Sour Chicken Bento - sweet and sour chicken, baby carrots, baby corn, green beans, white rice, and apple stars on the side

Rachael Ray the Bento Way! - Grilled Eggplant Roll-ups

I'm trying to introduce lots of new foods to my kids, and eggplant is something we don't eat often.  Other than eggplant parm, I really don't know what to do with it.  So I decided to give this recipe a try, and I am sooooo glad I did!!!  It was delicious and really easy.  My kids were really excited to eat it (partially because both of them thought it smelled like pasta, and I was not going to tell them that they were wrong as long as they were going to eat it!).  Basically, I followed the recipe as is for the adults, but made the following changes for the kids: left out the spicy ham and used regular spaghetti sauce out of a jar instead of the homemade one (because I was worried about it being spicy as well).  They LOVED it!  Oh, and you'll see a candy bar in one of the plate compartments because Grampa was visiting and he brought it for them...they were pretty excited to eat that special treat as well.  :)  Here's the link for the recipe. Give it a try...it won't disappoint! http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/grilled-eggplant-roll-ups/#

Grilled Eggplant Roll-ups Bento - grilled eggplant roll-up, spinach strawberry salad, candy bar

Crab quiche

Sorry for the long absence in posting, but we've had some serious internet issues around here.  I do have a fancy phone now, so technically I could post using that, but frankly, I am not that tech savvy.  :)   But don't worry...I have a backlog of meal pics so that I can post periodically.

Okay, so with it being a Friday during Lent, I've been trying to figure out some more creative meatless meals (other than pizza, baked fish, etc.) So we went with a crab quiche, which I've never made before!  It was super easy to make and really tasty!  Well, it didn't go over really well with my mini food critics, but statistics say that it takes lots of tries in order for a kid to decide to like something, so I'm not ready to give up yet!  From an adult perspective, it was yummy and easy to make, which is a home run in my book.  If you want the recipe, check it out here. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crab-Quiche-I/Detail.aspx

Crab Quiche Bento: heart shaped crab quiche (one heart served both my children), salad, tangerine

Rachael Ray the Bento Way! - Beef Pot Pie

So I've decided to start a weekly special called "Rachael Ray the Bento Way!"  I've always loved watching her show and enjoy trying out her recipes.  Many are quick and easy to make, and the ingredients are usually pretty easy to find.  Here is a recipe I've had for a while (and used to make frequently), but haven't made lately because I didn't think my daughters would go for it.  So I decided to "bento-ize" it for the kids!  Basically, I followed the recipe as is, except I used teriyaki sauce instead of worcestershire sauce (I thought the teriyaki sauce would be easier on the kids...worcestershire has a pretty intense flavor in my opinion).  I also added chopped shoestring carrots (only because I add these into almost everything...it's a way for me to sneak in a vegetable without them really even noticing).  :)   Then, instead of folding the pie crust into a wedge, I used a flower cutter to make it extra cute! Lastly, I added some extra fruit, veggies, and cheese and VOILA.

And the verdict is...both daughters ate it all up!  YUM!  And let me just clarify that my daughters do NOT like red meat.  So for them to have eaten this happily was a HUGE success!  Thank you Rachael Ray! 

I will be spotlighting another recipe next week on "Rachael Ray the Bento Way!"  In the meantime, if you'd like a copy of this week's recipe, check it out here.  http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/beef-pot-pie-wedges/#

Beef Pot Pie Bento - beef pot pie flowers, peas, blueberries, cheddar cheese flowers, organic cinnamon graham ABC cookie

Ode to Pancake Week

Okay, so this week hasn't been so healthy due to National Pancake Week.  And in no way can I claim this as bento.  But it IS National Nutrition Month, and with that said, I am trying to focus on serving food with different colors (which is sort of bento...each meal having 5 colors).  Serving food that represents lots of different colors makes for a healthier meal.  Sooooo...here it goes.   Red strawberries, check.  Green spinach, check.  Yellow eggs, check.  Orange carrots, check.  Brown, um, chocolate?  Sure, that works, right?!  :)  Well, regardless, BOTH of my dear daughters cleaned their plate...I know, I know...not hard to do when serving chocolate and banana pancakes.  But they even loved the omelet! Oh, and if you want the recipe for the "Chunky Monkey Pancakes" (chocolate chips, bananas, and pecans), you can find it here.   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chunky-Monkey-Pancakes/Detail.aspx  They are to die for!

Chunky Monkey "Bento" - chunky monkey pancakes, strawberries, omelet (with spinach, carrot, mushroom, sausage, and cheese)

Zoo Bento

It was a GORGEOUS day here, so we decided to take a field trip to the zoo. We packed our lunch and in honor of visiting the animals, we went with animal chicken nuggets.  Okay, they're really dinosaurs, but who says they can't be a rhino and a kangaroo or something (squint your eyes and you'll agree). Oh, and by the way...we LOVE our new bento box set. Check them out here!   http://www.laptoplunches.com/

Zoo Bento - baked animal chicken nuggets, banana, alphabet pretzels, celery and PB, and rice krispy treat

Gotta LOVE Pancakes!

It's National Pancake Week (a week we have NO problem celebrating!).  So to begin the festivities I figured we'd show our love pancakes (hence the heart shapes).  Nothing fancy...just simple buttermilk pancakes in a cute heart shape.  This is a national celebration that my DD can definitely be on board with.  :)   Breakfast for breakfast is good, but breakfast for lunch or dinner is even better!

Pancake Bento - heart pancake with dipping syrup, vanilla yogurt, and strawberries