Turkey Turkey

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I haven't made any Thanksgiving lunches! I'm trying to come up with some fun crafts for the kids over the holidays and came across the cutest turkey shaped sandwiches on Family Fun's website so I thought tomorrow would be the perfect day for a Thanksgiving lunch. My turkey did not turn out as cute as I would have liked, but I think it will suffice (plus big chic is becoming more concerned with having a grown up lunch, rather than a cutesy one!)

Turkey turkey and cheese sandwich with mini pepper feathers, grapes, chocolate chunk cookie

Immaculate Baking Co. makes ready made cookie dough in all sorts of flavors. Recently the hubs was reading some review of the best ready made cookie doughs and their chocolate chunk was the winner. I had seen it at Central Market, but had never tried it and that article convinced me that I should. The cookies are really good, but what I like more is that all of the ingredients are natural...no weird stuff, no corn syrup. They're made from the same ingredients that I make cookies from. LOVE that!

"O" yeah!!

Sometimes I find myself struggling to come up with a new idea for the chic's lunches, and we all know that the little chic has seriously high expectations for her lunches this year. My lack of creativity and her demand for pizazz is a recipe for disaster. In the past, on a day where I'm just not feelin' it, I can tell big chic to buy her lunch in the dining hall. But, preschool has no dining hall to turn to in moments of weakness. Needless to say, I've been a little worried about disappointing her with the uninspired lunch. So imagine my delight when she comes home last week with a calendar listing all of the themes for the month. It's like the lunches can just plan themselves! WOOHOO! This week the theme is "O is for Ocean". She had already asked for this salad in her lunch so I decided to focus on the "O" rather than the "Ocean".

Spinach salad with apple O's and pistachiOs with pistachiO dressing, O sandwich with turkey and cheese, Carrot chips, Cherry fruit leather.

Big chic is buying her lunch tomorrow so little chic got to pick whichever containers she wanted to take and she chose the blue with the big container.

The salad is another Aarti Party recipe called The Ugly Duckling Salad. Little chic devoured it and asked if she could take it in her lunch this week. Aarti is my new favorite for finding new recipes. We've made almost all of her recipes so far, and we have loved every one of them. Nothing has even been mediocre, like "meh it was okay". It has all been so good, we are fighting over the little bits left in the bowl or pan. Seriously yummy! Tonight we are making her tumeric rubbed shrimp stuffed with cilantro and garlic with her apple lime peanut slaw and the whole family is excited about another Aarti menu!

Double Trouble

As I write this post today, my little chic is sitting in a preschool class...her FIRST preschool class...EVER! She was so excited about it this morning that she was literally telling me to leave. I think the exact words were, "Can I go color now? You can go ahead and leave." Although I am so glad that my little darlings are confident enough to meet new challenges head on, another part of me is kinda sad that my baby pretty much kicked me out of her class this morning. I have to say, though, that I was a tad excited too. I haven't had a day alone with no children, and no husband, and no appointments in years. So, I'm sitting here typing, listening to the sounds of the dishwasher and air conditioner instead of whining for snacks or the sweet sweet sounds of Nickelodeon (raise your hand if you wanna scream every time you hear a Big Time Rush song).

Because big sister's lunches were such a big deal last year, little chic has been thinking about her first day of school lunch for quite a while. When I originally asked her what she wanted in her lunch, she told me to make a Tinkerbell sandwich. I told her that might be a little hard and she said, "Nuh uh. Just make the sandwich shaped like Tinkerbell and her eyes can be blueberries and her dress can be lettuce leaves." Ooooookay... Maybe she should start making the lunches? I finally convinced her to go with something a little less time consuming and she decided to help me make them. While big chic goes more for the surprise aspect of the cool lunch, little chic wants to have a bit more control (and by control I mean BOSSY!) She told me every thing that would be in her lunch and how to make it (again, BOSSY!) Did I mention that she stood over me, umm, I mean helped, the entire time? Both chics took pretty much the same lunch today with a few variations..

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Big chic's...Lite turkey bologna butterfly sandwich, Peach flower filled with goat cheese and almonds, Sugar snap peas inside mini pepper rings, Cranberry white chocolate chip cookie and dried cranberries

Little chic's...Cranberry white chocolate chip cookie and dried cranberries, Celery sticks inside mini pepper rings, Peach star filled with goat cheese and almonds, Lite turkey bologna butterfly sandwich.

Sloppy Bombay Joes

We made a new recipe last night that was a huge hit with the family. It's an Indian twist on sloppy joes from Aarti Party, the new show on Food Network. The recipe (Sloppy Bombay Joes) sounds a bit odd (raisins, pistachios, garam masala) but the end result was phenomenal. Everyone devoured their dinner and both the big chic and the hubs asked me pack up leftovers for their lunch. We served ours on whole wheat sandwich rolls and topped them with sliced mango. DELISH!

Sloppy Bombay Joe with sliced mango on top of saffron rice, Half of a cowgirl cookie, Cucumber slices, Greek yogurt with strawberries.

Three Amigos

This lunch didn't start out being faces, but when I put the ham and cheese in the container, they were just begging for a face. I'm gonna tell the big chic that the ham and cheese people are she and her two besties (one's a boy and one's a girl). She'll love that!

Natural applesauce, Whole grain sandwich thin, Frozen green beans, Ham, turkey, and cheese amigos.

Sandwich Rolls

These little sandwich rolls are always popular! Just roll out a piece of bread, top with fillings, roll up and cut. Easy and cute. Love it!

Sandwich rolls with turkey, spinach, and nectarines, Green beans, Cheese flowers, Strawberries and cream topped with chocolate disk.

It's Finally Friday!

Wow! It feels like this week has gone on forever. Chic had a field trip today where lunch was provided so I got a day off. Tomorrow though, she's back to normal. Turkey and cheese is always popular, so I figured it would be a good way to end the week.

Turkey and cheese on whole wheat, Cucumber slices, Ranch dip, Baby carrots, Babybel cheese, Nectarine slices with almonds

Cinnamon Rolls and My Foodie's First

I finally made Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. My friend got her cookbook and after looking through it, I just couldn't resist. I have another recipe that I normally use for cinnamon rolls, but I rarely make them because they take such a long time. And anyone with two kids breathing down your neck asking for breakfast will tell you that there is not enough time to make cinnamon rolls from scratch in the morning. I've always wanted a recipe that I could make up the night before and bake in the morning and this one was exactly what I was looking for.

The actual roll part of these is good but what makes them really stand out is the icing. It's a maple coffee icing. Maple...coffee...mmmmm! The hubs loves pecans on his cinnamon rolls so we added them after the icing. I only made half the recipe and still came out with three pans full. So, it makes LOTS of cinnamon rolls, but then again, I've never heard anyone complaining about having fresh homemade cinnamon rolls hangin around! These definitely lived up to their reputation. They were fantastic!

Rolled out and spread with cinnamon sugar goodness

Rolled up

After final rise

Grab a fork!

In lunch news... I decided to let the big chic make her own lunch for tomorrow. I thought that after our last week's lunch drama, she might see exactly how long it takes to make a lunch and exactly how much thought goes into it. I told her the lunch rules (a grain, a fruit, a protein, a dairy, and a veg) and she did the rest. She was very concerned with the colors of the foods in the lunch...thus the blueberries. She needed something blue in her lunch, she said. She was really excited about making it herself, so we'll see what she thinks of it after eating it tomorrow!

Banana and granola bar, Babybel cheese on turkey slices, Frozen blueberries, Goldfish, Carrots and ranch.

Veggie Christmas Tree

I can't believe I only have a week worth of Christmas lunches left! The chic has enjoyed the Christmas lunches, but I know that once the holidays are over, she's going to be demanding flowers again! For now, she's getting a veggie Christmas Tree...

Christmas Tree (cucumber, carrots, cheese, bell peppers, turkey trunk), Tropical fruit leather, Pretzels with honey mustard dip

Bell pepper and carrot presents

I made more fruit leather. This time I used tropical fruit. We buy frozen tropical fruit in the summer to make frozen fruit kabobs to take to the pool. (Very popular with the kids! I always make tons so we can share!) The only problem with it is that no one likes the papaya. I don't even bother sticking it on the skewers. I just leave it in the bag. At the end of the summer, I end up with a bunch of papaya left over with a few pieces of the other fruits. I was tired of staring at the bag in the freezer and as luck would have it, it was EXACTLY the right amount for a batch of fruit leather. I thought the girls might not be so opposed to the papaya if it were mixed in with the others. I was right. They gobbled it up!

Frozen Tropical Fruit Medley (Strawberries, Mango, Papaya, Pineapple)

Everyone always asks how I keep the food in place so today I took a picture of the tree after I Press and Seal-ed it. Love me some Press and Seal!

Snowflake Muffin

I made cranberry orange muffins today. I wanted to try out a new silicone muffin pan AND play with the new camera a bit. I learned that I love the camera, but the silicone muffin pan was not my favorite thing. It was really really hard to get the muffins out of the molds in one piece and cleaning it was almost impossible...all those nooks and crannies. I managed to get only one of the muffins came out in one piece so it went in the chic's lunch.

Cucumber slices and red bell pepper tree, Cranberry orange muffin, Blackberries, Turkey skewer and candy cane cheese

Yes, it's Instant!

The chic planned this lunch for herself. She wanted to take oatmeal and "breakfast stuff". Soooooooo...the plan is that she is taking the lunch jar (come on, say it with me...lunch jar) with hot water and will mix the instant oatmeal with the water at lunchtime.

Oatmeal, Whole wheat waffle heart, Turkey sausage links, Strawberries, Honey yogurt with almonds.

I know, I know, it's "instant" oatmeal and I'm usually totally against any pre-made food that I can make myself. BUT I was afraid that if I made "real" oatmeal ahead of time, it would be gross by lunch. Anyone else packed cooked oatmeal before?

Fruit Leather!

I'm going to try to make Thanksgiving/Fall themed lunches this week unless the chic REALLY complains about the lack of flowers and frou frou. I'm really looking forward to moving past Thanksgiving, though, so I can make some Christmas lunches. THOSE will be fun!

Cheese curds, Cucumbers, Flaxseed Cranberry and Pecan Crackers, Homemade Fruit Leather over pecans and dried Cranberries, Turkey leaf sandwich.

I've been wanting to try making fruit leather for a long time. But, it seemed like such a time consuming process that I've kinda put it off and put it off. Well, I'm tired of trying to find all fruit fruit leather and I'm tired of paying so much for it. And really, I just love to make anything I can so that I know EXACTLY what is in it. So, after doing some Internet searching, I came up with a plan of attack and went to it. Here's how it went...

I used frozen strawberries this time. Two bags. Unsweetened. They aren't in season right now, or I would have bought fresh. So, I went with four cups of fruit and a half cup of water. I simmered these, covered, for 15 minutes.

(Everything gettin ready to simmer)

I mashed them with a potato masher and continued to cook, uncovered, until they got a bit thicker. This was only supposed to take 15 minutes or so, but I let it cook for a total of about 30 minutes. Next time I will only do 15 minutes, though. I think I let a bit too much water evaporate. You'll understand why in a minute.

(I don't know why my dad's camera keeps doing this, but this is the best one I have of it after I mashed it)

Then I stuck it in the blender and pureed the whole thing. It thickens up quite a bit when pureed. And as a warning...boiling hot strawberry puree WILL fly out of the top of the blender spout, burn your hand, and make a mess out of your kitchen when you hit the "on" button. Just sayin...I ended up putting a pot holder over the spout (after I treated my scalded hand, that is!)

(You shoulda seen the floor around the blender!)

(The Puree)

Everything I read says that you should line a baking sheet with "oven safe" plastic wrap. My plastic wrap is just store brand plastic wrap and it didn't say anywhere on the box that it was "oven safe". I stuck a piece in the microwave to test it and it didn't melt. That was good enough for me, so I used it. Four cups of fruit will make one baking sheet worth of fruit leather. I must warn you, however, that after being in the oven for a while, the edged do shrink up a bit, but the plastic under the fruit was just fine. After lining your baking sheet with plastic wrap, you pour the puree and level it out. This is important because otherwise it won't cook evenly (I know because MINE didn't cook evenly.)

(Ready for the oven)

Turn the oven to "warm" and wait...

and wait...(you can start seeing where it was thicker and not drying as fast)



and wait...


(This is right out of the oven. I tore off the bottom left corner. You know I'm an impatient cook! The bright spot is the sticky spot where it was too thick.)

I left mine in the oven for about 7 hours before pulling it out. It is supposed to be done when there are no sticky spots left, but since I didn't level mine well, I still had a thick spot that was sticky. I decided to pull it out, though, cause I didn't want the rest to get too dry.

Once out of the oven, the plastic wrap just peels off the back.


I tore it into strips and put it in a plastic baggie. At first I thought that it wasn't such a success. I cooked it too long in the initial thickening stage and when I took it out of the oven, parts of it were more crunchy than dried. And I had the sticky spot in the middle because I did a bad leveling job...okay NO leveling job, whatever. BUT I cut out the sticky spot and after being in the plastic baggie, the crunchy bit softened a bunch.


The last thing to do was test it out on the chics. And as luck would have it, we had one of our friend's kids over that day. So, I gave them all a piece and stood back to watch. It's hard to act like you don't care what they think of it. I was standing there trying to act aloof about it, all the while trying to read their facial expressions without outright staring at them. Anyway, a few minutes later, they came back for another piece, and then another. Pretty soon, they had eaten almost the entire baggie! It was a success!

Next time I make it, I will change a few things...I won't cook it for 30 minutes and stick to the 15 minutes in the thickening stage, I will put a pot holder on the blender BEFORE turning the switch on, I will level the puree, and I will make two pans! Oh, and I think I'm gonna try raspberry!

Fast Flowers for Friday

Tomorrow is Friday? Wow! This week has gone by so fast! Probably cause we've been super busy this week and today is no exception. I went up to eat lunch with the chic so I brought her Laptop Lunchbox home with me. That way I'd be able to pack tomorrow's lunch a bit early. I only have a few minutes to throw tomorrow's lunch together and get this posted so here goes...

Cheez-Its, Anise and pistachio biscotti, Swiss rose, Apple and peanut butter cut-out sandwich, Raspberries, Carrot ribbons with mini pepper hearts, Wasa crackers, Turkey rose

The More Girly Lunch

By now, I've gotten used to the routine of making lunches. Maybe a little too used to it! Yesterday I started making the chic's lunch and got about halfway finished before it dawned on me that today was an early release day and she would not be taking a lunch. Oh well...that's what three year olds are for. The little chic ate what I didn't want to keep and I saved the rest.

If you read my blog regularly, you know that my big chic hasn't been too crazy about all the freaky scary Halloween stuff so tomorrow's lunch will be more girly.

Celery and carrots, Stroopwaffel cookie, Swiss and cheddar flowers, Pretzel sticks with honey mustard dip, Raspberry "beehives" with nori bees, Swiss and cheddar cheese flowers, Yellow cherry tomatoes with carrot hearts

The butterfly sandwich was turkey (she loves turkey), swiss, and sprouts. It was probably a good thing that I made the sandwich early because I used Susan Yuen's stencil idea with food color spray on the butterfly bread. She always has really creative ways to handle lunches. Her bentos are always beautiful and fun at the same time. Anyway, I had some purple color spray leftover from a birthday cake, so that's what I went with. The extra time let the color dry completely on the bread. I will have to play around with the color spray a little more. I think the purple was a bit dark for bread but it seems that there are lots of possibilities with other colors.

While I was taking pics of the lunch, the chic walked in and saw it. She clutched her heart and said, "Oh my gosh! It's so cute I could marry somebody." I think that means she liked it??

Definitely not a Lunchable

I like the idea of a Lunchable, just not the reality. They are a nutritional nightmare. Read this article about them and you'll understand why: Ridiculous Food Products: Lunchables. I've always disliked them for their questionable nutrition, but had never thought of the packaging/environmental impact. When I was teaching, seventy five percent of the students would show up with these things on field trip days. My classes probably filled their own landfill worth of trash from these things!

It's just as easy to make your own version of a Lunchable with healthier ingredients. We use all natural, hormone free meats and cheeses with baked whole wheat crackers. (and I can make it cute!)

Havarti and Cheddar hearts, ham and turkey picks, strawberries with Nutella dip, molasses cookie, whole wheat barnyard crackers, sugar snap peas with bell pepper hearts

Nutella is the consistency of peanut butter - not ideal for dipping. I thinned it out with a bit of water so that the chic could dip her strawberries in it easily.

We snack on sugar snap peas a lot. We like to eat them raw. They're crunchy and a bit sweet and they are the perfect size for using with dips!

Extreme Lunch Makeover!

Usually, the chic's lunch is a surprise to her. But, when she takes something that needs to be heated, I show her the lunch before we pack it up so that I can give her heating instructions. So, this morning as I'm packing up her Turkey Meatloaf Muffin lunch, she starts begging to buy lunch in the dining hall. I'm standing there looking at her in disbelief. Is this the same kid that NEVER wants to buy lunch? What is going on? And to add insult to injury, the lunch today - Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwiches! My wonderful lunch was getting thrown over for a ham and cheese sandwich! I did the only rational thing that I could...seeing that it was 7 am and I hadn't yet had enough coffee to engage her in an argument...I went ahead and let her buy hot lunch. BUT she had to agree to take her meatloaf lunch tomorrow.

I could not imagine what the change in attitude was toward her lunch. Especially a lunch that contains meatloaf. She loves the turkey meatloaf muffins so much that she eats them for snacks when we have leftovers. So, I knew that it couldn't be that she just didn't like the food. I decided to question her about it after school.

Turns out that I've created a little lunch monster. She was disappointed that there were no "faces or flowers or anything pretty" in the lunch. Oh how quickly we spoil! So, I took it in the kitchen and gave it a makeover (and removed the pomegranate seeds cause she's "not that much a fan of them") and now she is perfectly happy with it! So my lesson learned - pretty lunch means happy chic!

Turkey Meatloaf Muffin Makeover

Sesame cucumbers with rice wine vinaigrette, dried fruit strip, powerball, kiwi, much prettier meatloaf muffin

Turkey Meatloaf Muffin

The chics always like it when we make food in a miniature version. Meatloaf is a great food to make in all sorts of shapes and sizes and by using turkey and adding a buncha veggies, you can make a pretty nutritious meal. Fortunately, the oldest chic has a microwave in the dining hall, so she's able to take meatloaf for lunch.

Cucumber slices with sesame seeds and rice wine viniagrette, Powerball, kiwi stars with pomegranate seeds, turkey meatloaf muffin

Any meatloaf recipe can become meatloaf muffins. For turkey, spray your tins, fill and bake at 400 for about 25 minutes. A 1.3 lb package of turkey makes about 12 muffins. I use The Joy of Cooking's Classic Meatloaf recipe and substitute turkey for the beef and add shredded carrots, red bell peppers, and mushrooms.

Powerballs are kinda like a no-bake cookie but a bit healthier. This is a great kitchen project to get the kids involved in! There are tons of versions of these little guys, but here's the one I use:

Powerballs

1 cup honey

1 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup ground flaxseeds

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup raisins

Mix the honey and peanut butter together in a large bowl. Add oatmeal and flaxseeds and stir until well incorporated. Mix in remaining ingredients. With slightly damp hands, roll into a 1 1/2" balls. The mixture is very sticky. I also like to use a cookie scoop for this! Place balls in mini muffin tins and refrigerate overnight. I then freeze them in a large ziploc bag. Makes 48.

Whimsy

It has been raining for forty days and forty nights! Okay, we may have had one day of near sun, but still...it's been raining for two weeks straight. I'm going to have to get phototherapy soon! Seriously! I know in other parts of the world, this is totally normal, but here in Texas, we don't usually see Fall weather until about...uhhh...Christmas! On top of that, the beloved Kindergarten teacher has been out for a couple days, so the chic has been a bit down. In order to brighten things up a bit, her lunch for tomorrow is a little whimsical.

Strawberry and grape skewers, Ladybug Babybell cheese on green beans, Smart Pop popcorn and organic fruit roll-up flowers, Turkey sandwich on whole wheat mini bagel with provolone and cheddar heart cutout.

I've had a few people ask about it, so I just wanted to clarify - the ladybug is decorated using Nori, not black marker! : )

Brunch for Lunch

Why does breakfast food always taste so much better at lunch or dinner? My daughter certainly thinks it does, so her lunch today is a few of her favorite breakfast items.

Spinach quiche, Orange segments, Turkey sausage, Blueberry Flaxseed Pancakes with sugar free blueberry-ish syrup.

This lunch took me all of five minutes to throw together cause everything was already made and in the freezer. Usually I try to cook big batches of things and then stick em in the freezer for later. I figure if I'm already making something, why not spend a few more minutes and make more to save myself time later. The only thing I had to do was cut the orange! Simple AND healthy!

*Blueberry Flaxseed Pancakes - I'm not sure where I got this recipe, but I've had it a while and the girls love them. I serve them with sugar free syrup that has been mixed with a bit of blueberry puree.

Blueberry Flaxseed Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat pancake mix

1/4 cup ground flax seeds (not powdered)

1/2 - 3/4 cup skim milk (depending on how thick you like your pancakes)

1 egg

splash vanilla

1/2 cup blueberries

Combine all and cook on griddle sprayed with non stick spray.

As a side note, my daughter came home yesterday and said that one of the kids said, "I don't know your mom, but she sure makes good lunches!" Ha ha! I asked her if anyone ever says anything about her lunches and she said that some of the kids come over to her to see her lunch everyday. She was beaming with pride when she told me that and it makes me so so happy to know that she is proud of her lunches! That means she'll eat them more and ask to eat the hot lunch less. YAY!

One of the blogs that I read frequently http://bentolunch.blogspot.com mentioned a place in my area that carries Bento supplies. I am taking a trip over there tomorrow to check it out. I really want an egg mold (my oldest LOVES boiled eggs) and some cute accessories. I may even get a different type of Bento for my three year old (and maybe one for the hubs). Wish me luck!

You also may have noticed that my blog skin has changed. I've been experimenting with different skins, so don't be surprised if you come to visit and it looks a little different. The current on is from http://simple-blogskins.blogspot.com As the blog gets more and more traffic, it seems worth it to invest a bit of time to spruce things up a bit! Thanks for visiting!!

Flip-wich

A few years ago, I bought a Cooking with Kids cookbook. I thought it would be chock full of ideas for cute food for my girls. Instead it was full of recipes using store bought cookie dough and canned foods. Needless to say, I never use it and honestly don't know why I keep it...hmmm...maybe time to clean out the cookbooks??...ANYWAY...in it's entire life in my household, I've made one recipe from it. An inside out sandwich - pretzel rods wrapped with lunch meat. I thought it was a great idea. I was wrong. They were gross and dry and my kids did not like them. I really liked the idea, though, of an inside out sandwich. So, we gave it a try with bread instead of the pretzel and added our own touches, and voila!...the Flip-wich was born.

Peanut butter and apple ladybug (something we made when we were learning about ladybugs in preschool), Strawberry spinach salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, Whole grain Goldfish crackers, Turkey Flip-wich.

Flip-wich

1 slice thick bread, cut into a strip (I used buttermilk sourdough)

1 slice lunch meat (I used turkey)

1 slice cheese (I used provolone)

mustard (you could use mayo or anything else that would make the pieces stick together)

Lettuce, tomato, whatever you like

Lay the turkey on cutting board and spread with a bit of mustard. Top with cheese slice and spread cheese with mustard. Place a piece of lettuce at one end of meat and cheese and top with bread slice. Roll up, slice and lay seam side down in tray.