Christmas Bento #2 - Snowflakes

C's Lunch

M's Lunch

Snowflake sami's, frozen grapes, baby bell cheese, and homemade peanut butter rice krispy treats. C has tomato snowflake skewers and M has snowflake carrots.

Leftover Stuffing? Make A Stuffing Frittata!

Stuffing Frittata? You heard right. While once again browsing Food Network I found this recipe from Robin Miller. Perfect I thought since I have a ton of leftover stuffing. Apparently even though it is super delish, I seem to be the only one willing to eat the leftovers.

Now I changed the recipe to suit what I had in my fridge and pantry, so here is what I used.......

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
2 to 3 cups leftover stuffing
1 cup shredded cheddar mix
6 large eggs
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup milk
Salt and Pepper
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese
Salt and pepper


Directions:

Preheat broiler.

Coat an ovenproof nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Put stuffing in the bottom of pan to warm and stir to break up a little. Sprinkle cheese over top.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, and milk. Pour mixture over stuffing and cheese to cover stuffing. Season with salt and pepper then sprinkle Fontina on top. Cook on stovetop over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to the broiler and broil for about 2 minutes, until egg is cooked through and cheese is golden and bubbly.

I should have used my bigger skillet because the Frittata is more like a crust-less quiche which is okay because I love quiche. Because it is thicker however, after the top got all bubbly and golden I turned the oven down to 400 and finished cooking until the center was firm.

This recipe rocks!! I could not stop myself from having a second slice. This is definitely a new leftover tradition.

Muffin Tin Monday - Christmas Theme Lunch

Top to Bottom:

Veggie straws / hummus and celery sticks

Frozen grapes / peanut butter rice krispy treat tree

Stuffing frittata (recipe post later this afternoon) / cheesy trees

Today is Muffin Tin Monday! I have been out of the MTM loop the last few weeks but as always, I can not stay gone too long. Today is a "no theme" week so I decided for M since C got a Christmas bento (see previous post), she could have a Christmas theme tin. It was a hit as always.

To see more awesome and yummy tins made for kiddos by their mommies, stop by the original home of serving food in muffin tins...Muffin Tin Mom!

Christmas Bento #1 - Trimmed Tree

Christmas tree pb&j trimmed with mini candy cane and snowflake sprinkles, Cheez-Its with cheesy tree's,

frozen grapes, mini heirloom tomatoes and Christmas Tree Mallows.

Christmas is around the corner and in a few days it will be December so why not start the Christmas bento's today! C was very excited about the trimmed tree in her lunch today, she said it was the cutest little tree ever...lol 

Linking to What's For Lunch Week 27

Leftover Sami #2 - Panini

Leftover turkey, thin sliced Fontina cheese, homemade cranberry relish and spinach in between muli-grain sourdough. Toasted and melted in my Panini press..yum!

Turkey & Havarti Leftovers

Turkey with melted Havarti and stone ground mustard on toasted French bread

Spinach with walnuts, Pomegranate Craisins and champaign dressing.

My most favorite part of any holiday is the leftovers. Not just because there are so many creation possibilities but also because the flavors are blended and more prominent the day after, yumm! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Roasted turkey with fresh sage and garlic butter

Buttermilk, parsley and bacon mashed potato

Spiced sweet potato mash

Sage, sausage and apple dressing

Steamed green beans

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope all my US lovelys had a wonderful day yesterday full of family, togetherness and of course stuffed bellies! I know I ate more than I should...nothing unusual about that..lol I cooked for my family and my grandmother came over to celebrate the day with us. Everything turned out so delicious. I do not cook my bird in the oven I have a roaster from Rival and it is the best thing ever! My bird never browns like in the oven, but the meat is always so juicy and  flavorful no one ever minds.

Turkey:

Under the skin on the breast I pack a butter, fresh sage and minced garlic mixture. I then squeezed an orange, lemon and grapefruit over the top of my bird and then stuffed the cavity with the rinds.

Stuffing:

I use this recipe from the food network every year, it has become our tradition...it is the best recipe ever! The recipe calls for "sage sausage" which I never find so I just use fresh sage and then regular pork ground sausage. This year I used a country sausage from a pig by friends in NorCal raised themselves, wow what a difference!

Mashed Potatoes:

Butter, fresh parsley, buttermilk, bacon and the bacon grease. There is no recipe for this I just add everything to taste.

Gobble Gobble Turkey Waffles

I bought my first waffle iron and lets just say I have been having a blast with it! Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I decided to make a special breakfast for the girls today...a super delish Turkey! Our turkey is made from a chocolate chip waffle with a whip cream body, mini choco chip eyes, candy corn beak and bacon legs. Besides being super cute is was totally tasty and the girls gobbled it up...lol

Cooking Class With C

A few Saturday's ago C and I had our first day of cooking class at Kitchen Art Studio's. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out after we got there that we were the only ones signed up for the early morning class. Guess everyone else decided to sleep in..lol It worked out perfect especially with C being as shy as she is in new situations. She had personal one on one attention from Chef and even got to help out at the stove.

C learning to use a knife

Tossing the apples in lemon juice

Seasoning the pork chops

Helping Chef at the stove

Seasoning the mashed potatoes

Future Iron Chef??

Time to eat!

Roasted pork chops with apples and caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, sweet and sour cabbage.

Apple Tartin

I always enjoy learning tips and tricks in the kitchen and Chef had a few I loved....

* You can tell if the grocers have washed your apples based on how hard it is to get the sticker off. She says if it is tuff to get the sticker off, then they have been washed. The sticker is designed to be tough to remove after being washed...interesting!

* To keep your cutting board from slipping, place a damp paper towel where your board will be and then place your board on top. The damp paper towel acts the same way as the sticky rug mats we use in our home.

* Do not use metal knives to cut lettuce. This is why your lettuce turns brown at the cut points. Either tear or use a plastic lettuce knife. 

* The lettuce knife is also great for teaching little ones like C how to use a knife without cutting her fingers off!

* After your mashed potatoes are done do NOT put a lid on the pot. Instead use cling wrap and actually cover the potatoes leaving no room for condensation (see below picture). Leaving a lid on hot potatoes will cause condensation and drips down into your potatoes and can cause them to become starchy and gummy. Totally makes sense!

* This is my tip for preventing condensation in your food. I put a layer of 1 or 2 paper towels on my pot and then replace the lid. The towels capture the steam before it can gather on the lid and drip down into my food.

Thursday Bento

C's Lunch

HK sami, veggie straws, bunnies cookies, zebra apples, tomatoes.

M's Lunch

PB&J bagel, bunny cookies, zebra apples, carrot sticks and hummus.

Linking to What's For Lunch Week 26

Chicken Katsu

Chicken Katsu, mashed potatoes and veggie medley.

C had a Thanksgiving party on Thursday and I was in charge of the mashed potatoes. Needless to say I made too much but that's okay we could have it for dinner...but what would be my protein? I have been dying to make Chicken Katsu from Susan's book Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook. The recipe is super simple. It does call for chicken thighs and all I had was breasts. So I butterflied the chicken and followed the recipe. Everyone loved it! Hubby loves super crunchy chicken so this was perfect for him and he requested it to be added to our regular meals list  :)

Puntas en Chile Colorado con Frijoles y Arrozo Rojo

Red Chile Steak with Beans

Classic Mexican Red Rice

My husband loves Mexican food. If he could he would eat it morning, noon and night. Comes I guess from growing up in SoCal where we have some of the best authentic south of the boarder food. So because of his love for Mexican food and my new culinary awakening I bought Rick Bayless's book Mexican Everyday. I watched Rick on Top Chef Masters and routed for him all the way (p.s. he won).

I asked hubby to go through the book and pick out what he wanted me to make and last night I made it. The recipes were both very easy, made the house smell amazing and had everyone Ooo'd and Ahhh'd while eating. I was skeptical about the different chili powders the recipe called for because I had never used them before and was worried the meal would be too spicy. I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful flavor of the dish and by the heat. It was a very nice punch of heat up front and then melted away leaving the flavor...delish!!!!!

Flower Power Bento/Tiffin

Today C has a flower garden lunch. In the bottom tier is two flower BP&J sami's with cheesy accents, Annie's bunnies and alphabet gummies. In the top tier is flower carrots, watermelon balls and cheese skewers. 

I found this awesome two tier Indian Tiffin Lunch Box at Cost Plus/World Market last week. While I was there shopping for Christmas gifts for others, I saw it and could not resist buying myself an early present..lol

Linking to Whats For Lunch Week 25

Bunny Bento and Tea Party Lunch

C's Bento

PB&J sami with bunny pepperoni, yellow cherry tomatoes, apple bunnies and candy sushi.

M's Lunch

Today M has home with me and she wanted a tea party. So for her I did a cheesy tea cup on water crackers,  tea pot sami, candy sushi, veggie crisps and juice in her pink tea cup.

Candy Sushi- Yumm!

This is one awesome treat and apparently the only way I will ever get my family to eat Sushi...lol One of my Virginia BFF's Stephanie had posted some she made on her Facebook page for her son's classroom and I knew I had to make them. I mean really, how cute are they and they fit perfectly into the girls bento lunches so be on the look out for those upcoming posts ^_^.

Linking to My Sweet Creations - Sweet Sunday Blog Hop! Did you make something sweet this week? Stop by and link up!

Mommy Bento / LunchBots

I finally purchased my first LunchBots. It's so pretty and shiny I almost didn't want to get it dirty...lol I bought the Duo because I loved the size and that it was divided. Inside I have leftover Boeuf Bourguignon with rice and a cherry blossom nori detail. The other side has a veggie mix of edamame, carrots, black beans and snap peas in the blue cup. Bread with hummus in the pink cup.

Linking to this weeks Whats For Lunch Week 24

Fit and Fresh Bento

1st Sml box: Hummus with carrots. 

(Nori detail..got the idea from this weeks MTM at Muffin Tin Mom)

2nd Sml Box: Honeycrisp apple slices

Main box: Uncrustable sami with cheesy trees and salami

Ice pack on top of sami (placed a wax paper lining between food and ice pack)

All set!

I was at Ross the other day and found this awesome lunch box by Fit and Fresh. It has so much room and yet is compact enough to still fit into my girls taller lunch bags. I am keeping my eyes open for more of their products because I just love this one!

Littlest Pet Shop 3 Biggest Stars: DS Game Review

What little girl doesn't know what Littlest Pet Shop or rather "LPS" is? C's addiction first started when she received one as a birthday gift. Soon after McDonalds had LPS Happy Meals and she of course had to have them all. From there she has been building her collection.

For this reason I knew C would be over the moon when I presented her with a box the mailman had left. I had been contacted a few weeks prior and asked if I would like to review the newest LPS game for the Nintendo DS, Littlest Pet Shop 3 Biggest Stars. Needless to say the squealing that proceeded opening of the box made me feel like mother of the year...lol

After everyone was calm both girls and I sat down on the couch to play the game. First off it is just too cute. All the little animals and how they "speak" to each other is funny. Right away I noticed this game might not be suited for a 5 year old whom is just learning to read. However mama can read so I got to be the narrator and with that we proceeded to have a blast. Naming our different LPS, seeing what their talents were and practicing. You can also collecting flowers and fruits to make colors for clothing and accessories. After all, you can not expect to be chosen for the Team without looking sharp as well....lol

"The LITTLEST PET SHOP 3 Biggest Stars releases include three separately sold games for the DS, each with its own customizable pets, colors and team accessories that girls can collect and use to showcase their pets’ unique personalities. Budding sports stars, artsy tweens and young fashionistas alike can show their team spirit with the three new games: LITTLEST PET SHOP 3 Biggest Stars Blue Team, LITTLEST PET SHOP 3 Biggest Stars Purple Team, and LITTLEST PET SHOP 3 Biggest Stars Pink Team. Each version will offer six in-game exclusive pets and team-themed accessories, allowing girls to do what they love most when it comes to LITTLEST PET SHOP – collect, customize and socialize. Each title also features ten novel mini-games such as “Top Flight” and “Skate Star” and five fun areas to explore like Biggest Stars Village and Midtown.


As players dance, design and skate through an exciting assortment of mini games and challenges, they will see their pets’ personalities come to life in an array of colorful animations. Simultaneously, their pets’ skills will improve as they develop a competitive edge on the way to becoming a big star. Upon completing key training tasks, players will pack up their pets, select dazzling team uniforms, and gather all the accessories needed to enter and compete in the big and final event, where they will face three tough in-game pet judges who will evaluate performances based on talent, pep and cuteness in hopes of grabbing the coveted “Biggest Star” crown."




The girls and I continue to have tons of fun playing this game. Yes even I have my own profile and have found myself "shushing" them. What? Mama needs to concentrate too, I do not like to lose...lol Along with the fun game there are extras like coloring pages which is where M usually heads first. This game is defiantly fun for all ages and I would recommend putting it on Santa's List this year ;)

Disclaimer: I was contacted by a Rep working with EA Games. I was given the above mentioned game free of charge to keep and review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone and are unbiased.

Tea Cup Bunny Bento

Stencil using Nestle Quick Strawberry Powder

Inside divided compartments

New two level lunch container

M's school was having a catalog fundraiser a month back and of course I had to buy something. I saw these double decker lunch boxes and knew they would be perfect for us. It's pretty cool that the whole thing is one piece that way it is easier for C to use and I know she will never be coming home with a missing lid or bento strap.  ^_^