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   

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

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