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