I made this Panda shaped Nutella bread lunch for my 13 year old niece. I don’t see her very often and she loves Nutella so I baked some inside this bread just for her.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Homemade bread with Nutella baked inside, Nutella ears and eyes, food marker nose and mouth
Top Right: Cherry tomatoes with Panda picks
Bottom Right: Panda apple with blueberry ears (stuck on with spaghetti), cinnamon eyes
Read a book, watch the movie, eat themed food was on our 100 list of summer activities this year. The boys decided on a Spiderman theme – graphic novel, movie, lunches.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Spiderman raspberry pancake (I added some frozen raspberries to the pancake batter), Cheddar cheese (eyes), small container of maple syrup (not in photo)
Top Right: Red bell pepper with blue spider drawn on a tortilla with blue food coloring marker
Bottom Right: Apple with chocolate and white candy melt details
I made this for my salsa and rice loving nephew.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Nishiki rice with salsa, spinach and cheese details, spinach background
Top Right: Blueberries
Bottom Right: Pretzel sticks spider web with chocolate and M&M
I consider this lunch the worst of this bunch. It looks strange and not really Spiderman themed. I made it for myself. I was lazy and did not figure out a way to do the webbing on the tomato and watermelon.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Penne pasta with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and spinach, cherry tomato, cheddar cheese details
Top Right: Peanuts
Bottom Right: Watermelon with feta eyes, blueberries
I was excited when Fit & Fresh contacted me to try out their Bento Lunch Kit. So far, I tried the box twice for packed lunches for myself but it would also be great for kids and teens. I loved the bag! It is so pretty and using it made me feel special. The box has ice packs that snap into the lid. I used the ice packs for the first lunch I made and did not use them for the second. It also has leak proof containers that fit into the two small compartments. I used the small containers for one lunch and not the other.
Container: Fit & Fresh Bento Lunch Kit
Left Side: Kansas Medley Rice Blend (rice, wheat berries, and wild rice), roasted zucchini and yellow bell pepper, shredded Cheddar cheese
Top Right: Plain Greek yogurt, blueberries, cinnamon (I put the lid on the orange container after taking the photo)
Bottom Right: Watermelon (I put the lid on the blue container after taking the photo)
Container: Fit & Fresh Bento Lunch Kit
Left Side: Star shaped sauce-less pizzas with Cheddar cheese (I made homemade pizza dough and cut it out with star cookie cutters, added shredded Cheddar cheese and baked at 410 for about 10 minutes)
Top Right: Raspberries
Bottom Right: Cucumber stars
I enjoyed the versatility of the Fit & Fresh Bento Lunch Kit (ice pack or not, leak proof containers or not). I look forward to using it again for future lunches.
Disclosure: Fit & Fresh sent me the product shown here for review. I was not financially compensated. All opinions stated here are 100% my own.
I made this African Animal themed muffin tin for a nephew. As usual at my house, muffin tin meals are popular with my older niece and nephews. You don’t need to be a toddler to enjoy a muffin tin meal.
Top Row:
Bottom Row:
My nephews and I made these sunflower flower pot cupcakes as part of our 100 Summer Activities list. I had the terra-cotta baking pots for about 20 years and it was my first time to use them. We followed these directions for the sunflower but not the pot. We used these directions for the cake. My nephew crushed up chocolate teddy grahams for the soil (it is what I had in the house) and I made a simple chocolate frosting. They were very sweet but looked cute. I want to make bread in them next.
The Shawn the Sheep movie will be released in the U.S. this week so of course I made a Shawn the Sheep themed lunch.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top: Pumpernickel bread almond butter sandwich, cheese, food coloring marker details, lettuce
Bottom Left: Blackberries, apple with cinnamon, food coloring marker details
Bottom Right: Black olive, cauliflower, goat cheese with black olive pieces, lettuce
Linking to:
My niece and some nephews joined me for a constellation themed dinner. This dinner featured Strawberry & Kiwi Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips, Star Salad, Big Dipper Baked Pasta, and Orion Brownies. I also taught each of them their zodiac sign and showed them the constellation for their sign. I don’t think that they were impressed with their zodiac signs but they seemed to enjoy the food. I don’t believe in the significance of Zodiac signs and it is difficult to see the pictures in the constellations but I think it is considered common knowledge and kids should have a basic awareness of it.
Strawberry & Kiwi Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips: I used this recipe but did not use whole wheat tortillas, I also used olive oil and sugar instead of the coconut oil and sugar.
Star Salad: This is a simple but colorful salad that features vegetable stars – lettuce, radish, cucumber, carrots, red bell pepper
Big Dipper Baked Pasta: I made angel hair pasta, homemade cheese sauce (2 cup white sauce with shredded sharp cheddar cheese) and baked it until heated and slightly browned. After baking I garnished it with peas in the shape of the Big Dipper.
Orion Brownies: I made brownies using a Ghiradelli Brownie mix. After it was cooled we put sprinkle stars in the shape of Orion Constellation.
Consider having a stargazing party with a themed dinner to teach your kids about Zodiac signs and constellations.
I am passionate about making and eating cute food. People often assume that all of the food art I create is made for children. Why should only kids have all of the fun? I even received the following comment on Pinterest for my Lily of the Valley lunch, “Cute but terrible idea for a kid – Lily of the Valley is toxic”. It was cream cheese and chives over wild rice. I see the point but that meal was made for an adult. Cute food does not have to be only for kids. Here are 10 reasons why adults may decide to eat cute food.
1. Advanced Age – When you are old you can be young again. You’re never too old to enjoy life and eat cute food. When I was a teenager I went to a tea party at the house of my grandmother’s friend. The woman put on a cute spread and dyed Easter eggs. It was memorable to me that an older woman still took steps to make a meal fun and special. Also sometimes when a person is older they do not have as much of an appetite. You can make a cute meal for an elderly friend or relative as a way to motivate them to eat a nutritious meal.
2. Sickness – When you are sick you need to limit your diet and most food is not appetizing. Make toast more fun. Or better yet if you are feeling sick hopefully someone who cares about you would make your toast look appealing. Grace at Eats Amazing has some fantastic toast art.
3. Special Occasion – There are many adult only occasions in which fun shaped food would be appropriate. Holiday meals for adults, a wedding, tea party, bridal or baby shower are a few occasions that come to mind. You are limited only by your interests and imagination. Themed food such as shaped butter can also make an occasion more elegant.
4. Fandom – Do you or someone you love have a fandom obsession? Is there a fan of Hello Kitty, Doctor Who, Snoopy, Naruto, Harry Potter, or Star Wars in your life? Fandom possibilities are endless. Celebrate your interest with themed food.
5. Something Good Inside – If you love chocolate or cheese and know it is inside a cute bundle of food will you decide not to eat it because you think cute food is just for kids? Most likely you will eat that panda shaped bread with chocolate inside or a jack-o-lantern themed calzone. You can call me weird but the night I ate this jack-o-lantern calzone, I was delighted to eat something so cute and delicious.
6. Pick-Me-Up – When you are feeling down a way to turn that frown upside down could be a smile themed meal. This meal makes me smile every time I see it.
7. Kid At Heart – Did you retain a childlike spirit? I am guessing that most people who know me would not say that I was a kid at heart but when it comes to eating cute food, I am. Cute food amuses and delights.
8. Simply Enjoy It – Why not? It is a common misconception that cute food is only for children. You don’t have to be a child to enjoy whimsically shaped food.
9. Only Food Available – You are starving and the only food available happens to be a turtle shaped bread. You want to eat fruit but will not because the watermelon and apples are cut into star shapes? I am guessing that most people would eat it anyway.
10. Your Hobby is Crafting with Food – You enjoy creating food art and do not always have a kid around to eat it. Or there are leftovers from the meal you made for your kid. Crafting with food is a wonderful creative outlet for people who do not like clutter. When you are done with your creation you can eat it.
I made this Super Mario Bros sandwich lunch for my 5 year old nephew. I ate lunch with him and was very pleased that he enjoyed it so much. The bag was dropped on it’s side and everything stayed in place except that the apple shifted. I “glued” Mario’s features on with Peanut Butter (you could use Wowbutter or another sticky spread). I thought about using spaghetti to hold the mushroom (apple) together but opted not to do it. I did not do anything special to hold the details on the star but it held.
I knew that I wanted to make a Mario sandwich but was unsure how. This was my inspiration. I copied the apple mushroom and was inspired to make a cucumber star from this lunch.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Mario peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread (sideburns, eyebrows, and mustache are the crust from the bread glued on with peanut butter, eyes are cheddar cheese with food coloring marker details, the hat is Wegmans Strawberry Fruit Strips, the “M” is cheddar cheese with food coloring marker detail)
Top Right: Cucumber stars, one with skin and inside of cucumber for eyes
Bottom Right: Apple mushroom, I used the end of a pastry tip to create the circles and removed the skin with a knife. I dipped the apple pieces in water with lemon juice to prevent browning
Next in my monthly series of Zodiac symbol lunches, here is Leo.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Mashed potato with white cheddar cheese molded in a custard cup, blue mashed potato piped on top in the shape of the Leo symbol, lettuce
Top Right: Frozen green peas
Bottom Right: Mandarin oranges
Edited: The giveaway is now closed. I will notify the winner.
It is that time of year again! I am celebrating my 4 year blogiversary with a giveaway in appreciation for my readers. My long time readers know that I love using cookie cutters with savory food. The giveaway this year has a lot of cookie cutters!
This contest is open to anyone in the world.
The prize consists of:
How to Enter:
Important!! Please read the Terms and Conditions of this giveaway!
Prizes cannot be shipped to P.O. Boxes. Winner will be randomly selected by a random number generator and notified by the email submitted with your comment. Entries that do not fulfill the mandatory requirements will be deleted. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are in no way associated with this giveaway. If you’ve chosen to subscribe by email for an additional entry, you must still be doing so at the time of the drawing or you will be disqualified, and I will draw again. I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner. This giveaway ends Thursday, July 23, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.
Today in celebration of Cow Appreciation Day I have cow shaped food. I used cow cookie cutters for a majority of these meals.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cow shaped pizzas with mozzarella cheese, black olives (no sauce)
Top Right: Sugar snap peas
Bottom Right: Apple with “Moo” cut out
This mashed potato cow jumping over the moon was previously published here.
This cow rice ball was previously published here.
This cow sandwich was previously published here.
This black and white cow themed lunch was fun to make and eat.
Container: LunchBots Trio
Top Left: Pumpernickel bread sandwich with cream cheese and strawberry jam, cream cheese details, lettuce
Top Right: Strawberries and blueberries
Bottom: Black olives and fresh mozzarella balls
This cheese cow and moon was part of a dish and spoon themed meal. It was previously published here.
This cheese quesadilla cow was a natural choice for a cow themed meal.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cow shaped cheese quesadilla with food marker details, sugar snap peas
Top Right: Cottage cheese with cinnamon
Bottom Right: Green grapes
This cow sandwich with cheese udder and fruit roll-up details was previously published here.
This cheese cow with food marker details was featured in this “All Cows Eat Grass” music themed lunch. Previously published here.
This simple cow shaped pizza was previously published here.
This cow patterned meal is simple to make – rice and kidney beans over cheese rice.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cooked rice with shredded white Cheddar cheese (added when rice is hot), Dijon mustard, kidney beans
Top Right: Mixed nuts
Bottom Right: Broccoli with lemon
The bread in this meal is supposed to be shaped as a cow.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cow shaped bread with food marker details, Cheddar cheese stick
Top Right: Green grapes
Bottom Right: Cucumber with carrot lettering “Moo”
Little Boy Blue come blow your horn, the sheep’s in the meadow the cow is in the corn.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cheese cow with food marker details, baby corn, snow peas
Top Right: Strawberry and kiwi
Bottom Right: Lettuce with cheese sheep
Frosted sugar cookies with ChocoMaker Milk Chocolate Flakes.
I hope that you now have some ideas for making cow shaped food. Enjoy!
This was for my taco loving nephew. I made it with kidney beans instead of black beans because I wanted to try something different.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Tomatoes, lettuce, Mexican cheese blend
Top Right: Grapes
Bottom Right: Kidney beans, corn, taco sauce
Outside of Box: Corn taco shells
I made several versions of these sun pizzas and decided to share both of them. Both types have mozzarella and cheddar cheese but one type has tomato sauce and one does not. My niece ate these as part of a pizza dinner.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Two sun shaped pizzas (pizza dough, mozzarella, and orange cheddar cheese). I used a circle cookie cutter and a triangle cookie cutter to cut the dough.
Top Right: Yellow bell pepper with sunglasses pick
Bottom Right: Apple
These pizzas have tomato sauce, mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
I know that these pancakes are funny looking but my nephew loves pancakes and chocolate and he enjoyed these.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Grapes
Bottom Left: Peanuts
Right Side: Bear shaped pancakes with regular and mini chocolate chips, maple syrup
Linking to:
I love using cookie cutters for savory food. Instead of making cookies I used these 3D cutters to make giraffe and elephant shaped crackers. This was actually the second time I attempted this. Make sure when you cut out the shapes that you push the leg openings a little bit together. Cracker dough does not expand the same way that cookie dough does so you need to make the openings more narrow.
I wanted to serve these crackers with soup so I made this celery soup (with vegetable stock) to use up celery that I had in the house.
These were fun to make and eat. If I make them again I will experiment with different seeds and rubs to add color and details to the animals.
Linking to:
Happy UFO Day! I made this fun cheese and bread meal for my nephew.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Homemade bread – I shaped the roll and baked on a cookie sheet, after it was cooled I drew on it with a food safe coloring pen. Cheddar cheese stars (used a cookie cutter).
Top Right: Grape alien (I attached the eye with cream cheese, it was not easy to use celery for the antenna, use a toothpick to make holes in the grape and pea to make it a little easier), blackberries
Bottom Right: Cucumber stars (used a cookie cutter)
Not long ago I received this glass slipper pick from a friend so of course I had to make a Cinderella themed meal. I served it to my niece.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Homemade bread – I shaped the roll and baked it on a cookie sheet, after it was cooled I drew on it with a food safe coloring pen. Miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup with melted white chocolate (put the melted chocolate in a plastic zip-lock bag and cut off a small corner, pipe on the clock hands).
Top Right: Blackberries with glass slipper pick
Bottom Right: Mouse shaped cucumbers (used cookie cutter), carrots
Close-up of the Cinderella food details.
Linking to:
Here is a vegetarian grilled meal that does not include veggie burgers. My parents and I ate this meal when they came to visit. My parents are not vegetarians but they enjoyed this. My Dad did the grilling.
Menu
Beautiful composed salad – cucumber, tomatoes, romaine, feta cheese, and black olives. Serve with a vinaigrette of your choice.
Grilled cheesy potato packets after they were cooked. Delicious! This was a satisfying meal and I am looking forward to making it again.
This year for 4th of July I have themed food in the shape of an eagle, the United States, fireworks, and the American Flag. All of these feature rice and most have rice and salsa which is a new favorite combination in my house.
For other ideas see my post from last year of 14 USA Patriotic meals.
This American Flag lunch features rice, salsa, and beans. My pistachio loving nephew enjoyed this meal.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top: American Flag – black beans, cheddar cheese stars, white Nishiki rice, salsa
Bottom Left: Pistachios
Bottom Right: Raspberries
This is my second attempt at making a fireworks themed meal. As with last years meal you probably did not know that the black beans were supposed to represent fireworks. But my niece enjoyed this meal anyway.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon
Bottom Left: Mixed nuts
Right Side: Nishiki rice with salsa, black beans
This is my second time making an eagle. I think that he turned out cute.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Nishiki rice eagle with blueberry eye and cashew nose, broccoli, sugar snap peas
Top Right: Brazil nuts
Bottom Right: Tomatoes and Feta cheese
This is not my favorite in this batch but I wanted to try something different.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top: United States – broccoli (used a cookie cutter), Nishiki rice with salsa
Bottom Left: Plain Greek yogurt with cinnamon and a little sugar stripes
Bottom Right: Apple stars
What do you like to make to celebrate a patriotic holiday in your country?
It is that time of the month again, time for another Zodiac symbol themed lunch.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Wegmans Kansas Medley Rice Blend, green dyed spaghetti Cancer Zodiac symbol
Top Right: Asparagus
Bottom Right: Watermelon
This Tabouleh (or Tabbouleh) lunch with red pepper hummus veggies is low-cal but satisfying.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Near East Tabouleh with tomatoes and feta
Top Right: Wegmans Red Pepper Hummus
Bottom Right: Cucumber and carrots
In my never ending quest to make lamb/sheep themed food, I made these potato sheep. They are a little funny looking but maybe they are also cute?
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Twice baked potatoes (added cottage cheese to the baked potato and refilled the potato shell) with Craisin ears and cheese face with food marker details
Top Right: Peanut Butter Energy Balls (see recipe below)
Bottom Right: Snow peas
Peanut Butter Balls (5 servings, Serving size: 2 balls)
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbs milk
2 Tbs dry milk powder
1/4 cup Craisins
4 (2 1/2 inch) graham cracker squares, crushed
1 tsp vanilla
Combine peanut butter and milk until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Divide into 10 balls and place on a foil lined cookie sheet. Place in freezer until ready to serve.
My Mom loves artichokes so I made this for lunch during her visit. I often bring this to parties but never made it for lunch before. Delicious!
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Artichoke Rosemary Bruschetta
Top Right: Blueberries and Raspberries
Bottom Right: Asparagus
From Betty Crocker Holiday magazine #123, November 1996 (link no longer online)
Update: See the end of this post for an update on the changes we made to the list. We completed 100 activities but we did make many changes along the way.
This summer I will have my nearly 11 year old nephew and recently 13 year old nephew at my house two days a week while their Mom works at an office. I have enjoyed other summers with them and we did a combination of activities. This year I was inspired by lists of Summer Things-to-Do and worked with my nephews to develop this list. Of course this list is not only for boys. Girls can enjoy each of these items. But when searching for ideas I found a lot of ideas that my nephews would not want to do. Since I wanted their buy-in for each of these items we went through lots of ideas before getting to 100. They did come up with some of their own ideas. I separated the ideas into categories: Outings, Exercise, Science, Outside/Water, Crafts, Misc., Food/Drink. They did not say no to any of my Food/Drink ideas. I wanted an Education category but that was vetoed.
I have no idea how many of these we will actually do this summer but hopefully I will occasionally share our progress.
100 summer activities (PDF of all 100 items in abbreviated form)
At the end of this list I have some additional ideas I came up with that they rejected.
Outings
Exercise
Science
Outside/Water
Crafts
Misc.
Food / Drink
100 summer activities (PDF of all 100 items in abbreviated form)
Some Rejected Ideas
I hope that this gives you some activities to do with the kid in your life.
Update: These are the 100 items we ended up completing.
My 18 year old nephew is graduating this week. I made this graduation themed lunch for his last week of classes. I was nostalgic while making this lunch. It was my last time to make a school lunch for him.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cheese quesadillas (3 stacked) with Mexican cheese blend and kidney beans, Cheddar cheese graduate cut-out
Top Right: Chocolate Graduation Cap – mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, sectioned Chocolate Bar, fruit flat, little bit of chocolate frosting
Bottom Right: Raspberries
Not Pictured: Granola bar, additional mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, grapes
As regular readers of this blog know, I am a huge fan of using cookie cutters with savory food. I wanted to use some of my dinosaur cookie cutters so I decided to make this collection.
This dinosaur shaped cheese is a fun way to garnish a meal. I actually made it for myself as I feel that cute food is not only for kids.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Wegmans Kansas Medley Rice Blend, Cheddar cheese dinosaur
Top Right: Raw broccoli
Bottom Right: Watermelon
I made this Dinosaur themed muffin tin meal a few years ago for a nephew who was 5 at the time. He loved it!
Top Row:
Bottom Row:
I made this meal shortly after Easter. The dyed hard boiled eggs were leftover Easter Eggs.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Naan bread broiled with cheese and garlic powder, dyed hard boiled eggs
Top Right: Cashews
Bottom Right: Raspberries
I had fun making this Dinosaur quesadilla hatching out of it’s shell.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cheese quesadilla with food marker details
Top Right: Broccoli
Bottom Right: Strawberries
This is another one that I made a few years ago. My nephew who ate this was 28 months at the time. He enjoyed the dino pizzas.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Fruit: Grapes cut in half
Vegetable: Green Peas (he did not eat the peas)
Dinosaurs: Homemade pizzas, crust was cut with a dinosaur pizza cutter
I used a dinosaur cookie cutter to shape sticky rice.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Dinosaur rice (cooked Nishiki rice, pack rice into a cookie cutter and then carefully remove the cookie cutter, brush with soy sauce, cheese eye with food coloring marker detail), snow peas
Top Right: Clementine
Bottom Right: Brazil Nuts, Cheddar cheese with Caveman drawing (food coloring marker)
A few years ago I hosted Aunt Kathy’s preschool camp. I made this on Dinosaur and Volcano day for one of my teachers (my 12 year old nephew)
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Fruit: Strawberries
Vegetable: Cucumber
Volcano & Dinosaur: Homemade pizza. I shaped the volcano by hand. I tried several versions but was happiest with this one. The only sauce was the lava, the rest was cheese. I cut the dinosaur pizza with a dinosaur cookie cutter. Broccoli trees.
Yogurt: Raspberry yogurt to represent lava
Okay I think that this shaped bread was a fail as a dinosaur. It looks more like a Manatee.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Carrot and Green Pepper
Top Right: Cottage Cheese with blueberries and cinnamon
Bottom: Dinosaur shaped bread (food marker details), cherry tomatoes, almond butter (in Mini Dippers)
Recently I discovered that I prefer black beans if I mix them with salsa. These homemade dinosaur tortilla chips are sprinkled with paprika and hot paprika.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Dinosaur tortilla chips with paprika and hot paprika (I cut flour tortillas with a dino cookie cutter, brushed olive oil on each side, sprinkled with paprika and baked in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.), blackberries
Top Right: Greek yogurt with cinnamon
Bottom Right: Black beans and salsa
I hope that you now have some new ideas for making dinosaur shaped food for the kid in your life or yourself. Enjoy!
I won’t lie. I LOVE pasta. I can eat it hot, cold, or at room temperature. I love having leftovers to eat for lunch. In this collection I have Lasagna, Bow Tie (Farfalle), Liguini, Ziti, Elbow, Orzo, Angel Hair, Large Shells, and Fusilini pasta. All of these are packed for lunch in my EasyLunchBoxes. I hope that this collection of 9 different pasta recipes gives you some ideas for lunch, dinner, or anytime.
I would not eat asparagus as a kid because my Grandfather told me that it would make my pee smell funny. As an adult, I love asparagus and don’t mind the odd smell of my urine after eating it.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Bowtie pasta with cooked asparagus, a little butter, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese
Top Right: Almond and Coconut bar
Bottom Right: Blueberries
This pasta recipe is a favorite in my house.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Baked Vegetable Ziti – I did not use the mushrooms
Top Right: Almonds
Bottom Right: Trader Joe’s Dried Clementines
I love eggplant and fresh mozzarella and this recipe has both.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Clementine
Bottom Left: Hazelnuts
Right Side: Eggplant Pomodoro over Angel Hair pasta – I did not use whole wheat Angel Hair
I am a fan of Caramelized Onions and they went great in this pasta dish.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Fusillini with Caramelized Onions – I loosely followed this recipe, I did not have Panko so I used other bread crumbs
Top Right: Mandarin oranges
Bottom Right: Assorted lettuce
This is another pasta recipe that I frequently make because I love spinach and feta cheese.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Orzo with Spinach and Feta Cheese
Top Right: Blackberries
Bottom Right: Almonds
This creamy linguine recipe is easy to make and delicious for dinner and leftovers for lunch.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Linguine in Lemon Cream Sauce
Top Right: Green peas
Bottom Right: Applesauce with cinnamon
My Mom is a huge fan of artichokes so I made this when she visited.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Artichoke, Spinach, and Feta Stuffed Shells
Top Right: French bread
Bottom Right: Mandarin oranges
This vegetarian Vegetable lasagna contains lots of vegetables and is very satisfying.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Vegetable Lasagna – I mostly followed this recipe but did not use the mushrooms and carrots
Top Right: Almond and Coconut bar
Bottom Right: Blueberries
I made this meal for my teenage nephew and it was previously published here.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Raspberries
Bottom Left: Dove Sea Salt & Caramel Dark Chocolate
Right Side: Three Cheese Macaroni Stuffed Peppers
I hope that you now have some new ideas for a pasta dinner and save some pasta leftovers for your lunch.
I created this Garden Themed Trivia game similar to my Tea Party Trivia Game. You can print (cut and glue or tape) these and use them at a party. There are 59 cards in this set. The photo on the cards are my bleeding hearts from last year.
I made this game for my garden club to use at our tea party this year. We had a group of 23 play this game. There was a lot of laughter during the game. I created some trivia cards with Bible plant questions because I thought it would fit my audience but in fact only 2 players were biblical scholars. Of course you can omit those cards if it does not fit your audience.
I used these rules/instructions before playing the game:
“This game is part luck, part knowledge. For questions that have more than 2 answer choices, the next player has a chance to answer. I will give out tea bags for every correct answer (to keep track of your number of correct answers) prizes will be awarded for the most correct answers.”
Disclaimer: I do not guarantee the accuracy of the trivia. I did not paraphrase every card. I included a link to the website where I found the information and/or the question. If there is not a link the trivia was created from my own knowledge.
For the second year in a row I hosted a tea party for my garden club (I am their president). I was pleased to receive so many kind comments. I took advantage of freezer recipes and my large chest freezer to make this ambitious menu easier to pull-off. I also asked one guest to bring deviled eggs and another to bring fruit. One friend came an hour early to help me with last minute preparations. If you are hosting a party, consider asking someone to come a little early to help with last minute preparations.
I made carrot and cucumber flowers once before in an edible May Day basket I made for neighbors. This year I decided to combine a carrot flower and cucumber cup with dip ideas. I used this carrot flower idea but I used a miniature cookie cutter and a green toothpick (in a box of assorted colored toothpicks). Make sure that your carrot slices are thick enough or when you insert the toothpick it will crack. I cut the carrot flowers the night before and put them in my refrigerator in a container with water. The next day I assembled the flowers. I was inspired by this cucumber dip cup idea. Make your cucumber cup thick enough so your carrot flower will stand up. I made Ranch Dip with powdered mix and sour cream and spooned it into the cups before inserting the Carrot and Cucumber flowers. A few of my flowers did not want to stand up so I added the cucumber piece I took out when I made the cup and it stood up just fine.
These carrot and cucumber flowers in cucumber cups are sure to delight your guests. I always say, “healthy food can be fun”.
I outdid myself with my tea menu this year because I wanted a different blog post, I enjoy creating menus, and I was expecting more guests this year. I served decaf coffee and English Afternoon Tea with lemon, cream, and sugar.
Savory
Protein
Fruit/Vegetable
Sweet
Chocolate
Special Touches
If you use any of these ideas for your tea or other type of party, I would love to hear about it.
Next in my yearly series of Zodiac symbols in food, is Gemini.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Apple
Bottom Left: Pine nuts
Right Side: Cream Cheese and jam on toast with Cream Cheese Gemini details
Saturday May 9, I went on a hike to see bluebells. I am not sure if I had ever seen a bluebell before that day. This is the description that I read before attending the hike, “This walk is 3.5 miles round trip on trails, with some muddy sections. We will see working agricultural fields and arrive at a forest along the Genesee River that is host to a spectacular sea of Common Bluebell flowers.” It was amazing. Although I am happy with my iPhone photos, they do not compare to seeing the real thing.
The bluebells are on private land so the Genesee Valley Conservancy offers 2 group hikes one day of the year. I am not sure how many people attended the morning hike with me but they estimate that over 450 people joined the hikes to see the bluebells. My photos do not show many people, I was near the beginning of the pack and was able to take photos without people in them. This hike was only a 30 minute drive from my home but it was my first time hearing about it. The blooms were perfect! I am glad that I attended this awesome event.
I had a dollar symbol cookie cutter so I decided to try it with broccoli. It is not very clear but this simple lunch was satisfying to eat.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Nishiki rice with cooked broccoli (used a cookie cutter to create the shape)
Top Right: Cashew nuts
Bottom Right: Mandarin oranges
This 100 Dollar meal was featured here.
Before a planned day out with my taco loving nephew, we tried to think of a different way to prepare tacos for lunch. I think that it was his younger brother who said, “Taco on a Stick”. This is my version of Taco on a Stick.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Cherry tomatoes, lettuce, black olives and Pepper Jack cheese on mini wooden skewers
Top Right: Lettuce
Bottom Right: Black beans and salsa
Outside of Box: Banana, Mini Dippers with Taco Sauce, and Tortilla chips with a hint of lime
Today is Iris Day so I made this themed meal. I copied the Iris design from this fantastic bento made by Beneficial Bento.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Quinoa with white Cheddar, purple potato, snow pea, Cheddar cheese, black sesame seeds
Top Right: Assorted melon
Bottom Right: Asparagus
My nephew is turning 13 today so I made him a themed lunch to take to school. He is fine with a theme as long as it is food that he likes. I think that he especially loved that I included Nutella!
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Homemade bread shaped as a present, the ribbon and bow has a cocoa powder/sugar rub, Pepper Jack Cheese
Top Right: Pistachios (some with the number 13 written with food coloring marker)
Bottom Right: Pineapple
Above Box: Nutella to Go
May the 4th be with you! Happy Star Wars Day! I am excited to once again share some Star Wars themed bento lunches with you.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Blackberries, apple stars (dipped in lemon juice and water to prevent browning)
Bottom Left: Broccoli Yoda with Cheddar cheese details, Nishiki rice
Right Side: Vader and Death Star broccoli and cheese hand pies (pie crust with cooked broccoli and shredded cheddar inside – bake at 350 until lightly brown – about 15 minutes), assorted lettuce. I was inspired by this.
I could not resist when I found Kraft Star Wars Macaroni & Cheese at my Target.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Kraft Star Wars Macaroni & Cheese
Top Right: Asparagus
Bottom Right: Pineapple and blackberries
Some other Star Wars Themed Food:
Yoda Cheese Ball with Darth Vader crackers
Happy May Day! I decided to make bread that spelled, “May”.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Homemade French bread dough in the shaped of “May”
Top Right: White and orange cheddar cut with flower cookie cutters
Bottom Right: Radish and carrots (cut with flower cookie cutter)
If you are on a quest to add more vegetables to your diet or just want to try something new – here are 5 recipes. Pumpkin Stuffed Shells with Cheddar Sauce, Eggplant Stuffed Shells, Peanut Veggie Stuffed Shells, Veggie Stuffed Shells, and Taco Stuffed Shells with Mole Sauce. Some of these are not really step by step recipes per say but suggestions. You can experiment with amounts and ingredients that suit your tastes.
I experimented with these. I would not consider all of them to be a success but I am sharing all of them because maybe it will give you some insight or inspiration. Each of these meals are pictured in EasyLunchBoxes.
Pumpkin Stuffed Shells with Cheddar Sauce
My parents and I enjoyed these and I would make it again. In fact I have already made this twice (once with canned pumpkin and once with a roasted butternut squash).
Cook 15 large pasta shells according to the package directions. Mix 3/4 cup canned pumpkin with 15 ounces ricotta cheese. Stir in 1/2 tsp dried sage. Make Cheddar cheese sauce. Fill shells with ricotta-pumpkin mixture. Put some Cheddar cheese sauce on the bottom of your baking pan. Place shells in baking pan. Spoon sauce over shells. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 10 more minutes.
Eggplant Stuffed Shells
This looks like the most traditional of this set but it has eggplant. My parents and brother ate this with me and they enjoyed it.
Fill cooked large shell pasta with the sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese from this recipe. Placed the stuffed shells in a baking pan with jar tomato sauce on the bottom. Spoon some tomato sauce on top then sprinkle the shells with mozzarella cheese. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes.
Peanut Veggie Stuffed Shells
I love peanut noodles and have featured them on this blog a few times.
Cook 15 large shell pasta according to the package directions. Stir fry cut vegetables until tender (I used matchstick carrots, red bell pepper, snow peas, broccoli, garlic and peanuts). Fill shells with vegetables and peanut mixture. Place shells in baking pan. Make peanut sauce. This sauce is sweet and I cut the honey in half. If you prefer something more savory you can try the dressing from this recipe. Spoon peanut sauce over shells. Serve. This can be eaten hot or cold.
Veggie Stuffed Shells
I enjoyed this one and will make it again. My husband who prefers traditional stuffed shells ate these and said he would eat them again.
This recipe is from Woman’s Day.
Taco Stuffed Shells with Mole Sauce
This recipe was my least favorite of the group. I am including it in-case you decide you want to try this or if reading this makes you decide to try a different combination.
Saute chopped bell peppers in a little olive oil until almost tender. Add 1 can black beans, some water, and taco seasoning. Cook about 10 minutes. Fill cooked shell pasta with bean and bell pepper mixture. Put some mole sauce on the bottom of your pan. Place shells in baking pan.. Spoon mole sauce on top of shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes.
Below are links to my other meals and recipes which include large shell pasta.
My Garden Club district had a flower show and I entered in the Special Exhibits (Arts & Crafts) category. There were 4 advanced reservation spots available to decorate a door panel. The name of the Class was “A Warm Welcome”. The four of us were allowed to paint the wooden panels, remove the molding, use wire, etc but were encouraged to use materials from nature. An entry would be disqualified from judging if a person used artificial flowers or a plant on the New York State protected native plant list.
I have never taken a floral design class so I know I was at risk of not following an essential principle of floral design. I tried to use all I learned the first time I entered a flower show. I also consulted with two members of my club who have experience with this. They were wonderful help!
This is the door that won first place. The judges comments were: Dramatic Welcome! Not constructive but I guess that is not necessary for a first place win.
This is a close up to show that in addition to painting the door, she put roping on it. Amazing!
My bunny won 2nd place! I was very excited. The judges comments for mine were not helpful and annoyed me a little: Hippity, Hoppity, Welcome. I felt that the comments should help me improve for next time. These did not give me any clue what I could have done better.
This door was 3rd place. The judges comments were: Welcome to the Parish! Seed pods out of scale for the rest of the material.
This door was disqualified and not eligible for voting because the maker used artificial flowers.
Here is a close-up of my bunny. I brushed the wooden panel with olive oil. I made a cardboard frame and covered it with corn husk. I fringed and glued on corn husk for the head and feet. The nose is a hazelnut that I painted. The tail is bleached curly pods. The sign is wood that I painted yellow and glued lavender on to spell “Welcome”. I used tweezers to place the lavender. Other material I used were: Bakuli pods, Button Chrysanthemum, Cockscomb, Cotton pods, Milo, Sheet Moss, and Spray Roses.
It was a fun experience to enter the show and maybe in the future I will enter a different Arts & Crafts class.
This was made for my taco salad loving teen nephew. I try to make it a little different each time.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Ortega Mini Fiesta Flats
Bottom Left: Raspberries
Right Side: Corn, lettuce, Mexican blend cheese, black beans cooked with some taco seasoning, tomatoes, black olives
Outside of Box: Mini Dippers with Taco Sauce and Salsa, Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch Bar
I often eat dinner at my friend’s house with her family so I thought it was about time I made food for them. I invited them for lunch and made the parents and kids Mickey and Minnie Mouse themed food. We had our own Disney party for lunch! I made Mickey shaped bread, Mickey shaped quesadilla, Minnie Mouse mashed potatoes, Mickey sandwiches, and Mickey Mouse ears tortilla chips. It was fun and delicious!
I made Mickey Mouse bread brushed with cocoa for the father.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Mickey ears shaped bread with a mixture of cocoa powder and a little sugar rubbed on top before baking, raspberries and blueberries
Top Right: Broccoli
Bottom Right: Cheddar cheese (cut with Mickey shaped cookie cutter), blackberry
This is the Mickey shaped quesadilla lunch I made for the 9 year old daughter. I created a template because I did not have a cookie cutter large enough.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top Left: Raspberries and blackberries
Bottom Left: Carrots and green bell pepper (cut with Mickey cookie cutter)
Right Side: Black bean and cheddar quesadillas (2 on top of each other), salsa in Mini Dippers
I made this lunch for the Mom (my good friend). I borrowed her Mouse Ears silicone muffin mold to shape the cheddar mashed potatoes.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Minnie Mouse Cheddar mashed potatoes (I spooned the mashed potatoes in the silicon muffin cup and then refrigerated, it was very easy!), I used a bow pick to make it look like Minnie, broccoli
Top Right: Chocolate covered pretzels, some with red sprinkles
Bottom Right: Clementine (drew Mickey with food coloring markers)
This is the fun lunch I made for the 7 year old daughter.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Mickey and Minnie peanut butter sandwiches on wheat bread (I used cutters and stampers similar to this), chocolate covered pretzels, ranch dip (in blue container)
Top Right: Cucumber and carrots
Bottom Right: Watermelon (cut and stamped with same cutters as I used for the sandwiches)
Since it was a Mickey celebration, I made extra food for all to enjoy (more of the chocolate pretzels, and some Mickey mouse ears homemade tortilla chips. I cut flour tortillas with a Mickey cookie cutter, brushed olive oil on each side, sprinkled with salt and baked in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.
It was enjoyable to make 4 different themed lunches in the same day and to have fun company for lunch!
Linking to:
Next in my yearly series of Zodiac symbols in food, is Taurus.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Rice, peas, corn, diced tomatoes, Parmesan cheese (made and used stencil)
Top Right: Cucumber
Bottom Right: Grapefruit
Today is Titanic Remembrance Day, on April 15, 1912 the Titanic sank. Other than cutting the cheese quesadilla in the shape of the Titanic, this lunch is very easy to make.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Top: Cheese quesadilla with food marker details, blueberries
Bottom Left: Popcorn (air popped)
Bottom Right: Radish
Not Pictured: Greek Yogurt
Today is National Pecan Day so I am sharing some cookies I made for my husband to take to work.
I baked these Crispy Praline Cookies. I made half of the batch without chocolate chips and half with chocolate chips.
This trio of bird themed lunches came about because they were planned bentos to enter a contest. I only ended up entering the first one in the contest but I thought I would share all of them here.
This came about because I wanted to make a birds nest out of peanut noodles. The rest of it just happened.
Container: LunchBots Trio
Top Left: Angel hair pasta with peanut sauce, cucumber, lettuce
Top Right: Pistachios, flour tortilla, food marker details
Bottom: Grapefruit, feta cheese, lettuce
I guess that technically this is not pizza because it does not have cheese? But I think you can have pizza without cheese. I made several versions of this hummingbird pizza, some with cheese and some without.
I had the homemade walnut pesto sauce in my freezer. It was labeled 2012. I made it that year from basil in my herb garden. I once heard at a herb workshop that you should not freeze pesto with the cheese and should add it afterwards. I froze it with cheese and it tasted fine after a few years and I did not get sick.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Hummingbird shaped pizza dough with pesto sauce
Top Right: Alfalfa sprouts nest with Cheddar cheese eggs (I did look up the color of hummingbird eggs but it did not work artistically with this bento so I used orange.)
Bottom Right: Strawberries with dried blueberries attached with spaghetti (they are supposed to be flowers)
Above Box: Post Great Grains Bar Undone Granola Snack Mix
I think that this one is funny looking. I made the beak stay open the same way I made this alligator (with aluminum foil in it’s mouth while baking).
Container: Book Bento Box
Contents: Homemade bird shaped bread, dried blueberry, broccoli, peanuts in shell, green pepper, sweet potato
I hope that you enjoyed viewing this trio of birds as much as I enjoyed making them!
Linking to:
I enjoy working with nursery rhyme and fairy tale themes. When I showed this to friends from Japan they were confused and did not know the significance. They did not know the nursery rhyme. They said if there was a rabbit and the moon it would have made sense to them. Culture is fascinating to me.
Hey diddle diddle, The Cat and the fiddle, The Cow jumped over the moon.
The little Dog laughed, To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the Spoon.
Container: Book Bento Box
Contents: Black beans, Cheddar cheese, mashed potato, white potato, grapefruit, yellow and green pepper
My niece and I have a tradition of decorating blown out eggs for Easter. Each year we try a different technique but keep with the blue and white color scheme. For this year (our 5th time) we experimented with 4 types of marbling techniques.
Year 1 – Paper Cut-out
Year 2 – Simplified Ukrainian
Year 3 – Quilling
Year 4 – Ribbons
Year 5 – Marble. We tried Crayon, Nail Polish, Oil and Dye, and Shaving Cream techniques.
My favorite of the four techniques was the crayon one. We changed the water several times to make sure it was hot but it is easy and fast technique with beautiful results. My niece made small crayon pieces with a vegetable peeler. She used Periwinkle, Sky, Blizzard, Blue-Green, and White crayons.
The nail polish technique was very smelly. The house stunk for awhile afterwards. At first we were not sure if we liked the technique so we only made two. I liked it better after it dried.
The oil and dye technique was subtle in our color scheme. It is the egg in the left of the above photo. The egg to the right is the crayon egg.
This is the oil and dye technique with a white egg.
The shaving cream technique was the favorite one for my niece. You need to let the shaving cream dry overnight and then wipe it off. It has a slight odor but not a bad one in my opinion.
We enjoyed a simple meal of Potato and Cheese Soup with a Pesto Oil Drizzle and Egg shaped rolls with egg shaped butter.
Dessert of course was marble cake. I used the recipe in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. We garnished with fresh whipped cream and a mini Cadbury Chocolate Egg.
Here are all four types in an egg carton. I accidentally broke one of the nail polish ones when I added the ribbon hanger. I use doll needles because they are long enough to easily go through the egg. My niece and I divided these eggs between us.
I look forward to whatever technique we will do next year.
This year I have 6 new themed meals for Easter. I had fun with Easter Egg shaped food, chicks, and an English Muffin lamb. See here for other Easter themed food.
I often make and share shaped bread. For these Easter egg breads I stuffed them with a cube of mozzarella when I shaped them.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Stuffed mozzarella Easter Egg bread, lettuce
Top Right: Almonds
Bottom Right: Raisins
I wove thinly sliced carrot and then cut it with an egg shaped cookie cutter. Then I carefully transferred it to my bowl. It was easier to make than I expected and fun to eat.
Container: Kokeshi box
Top Tier: Tea bag
Left Tier: Rice and green peas, egg shaped woven carrot, cheese chick
Right Tier: Radish, grapefruit, Vans Blueberry Walnut Granola, alfalfa sprouts
I consider this one unsuccessful but it makes me laugh. The chick’s eye and too much of the color green are what I think is the problem with this one. But perhaps you can adapt some of the ideas to better use.
Container: Wooden box purchased in Kyoto at Bento&co.
Contents: Broccoli, turmeric rice, candy eye, radish, sugar snap peas, apple, alfalfa sprouts
I made this cute lamb with a cookie cutter and English Muffin. Inside the Lego box is Peanut butter to spread to make a sandwich.
Container: Book Bento Box
Contents: Angel hair (yarn), kiwi, broccoli, carrot, English Muffin (lamb) alfalfa sprouts
A simple cheese garnish can make a meal special. I placed cheddar cheese egg shapes on top of my macaroni salad (made with Greek yogurt).
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Macaroni salad (Green yogurt, green pepper, carrot), Cheddar cheese with food marker details
Top Right: Blueberries
Bottom Right: Romaine lettuce
My Mom sent these Easter Egg Cookie Cutters and Press from Williams Sonoma as an early Easter present. They made wonderful sandwiches.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Stamped Easter Egg Sandwiches – Peanut butter on wheat bread, celery
Top Right: Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies
Bottom Right: Rabbit shaped melon
I hope that you now have some ideas for making your Easter food cute. Please share if you make something.
I made this hedgehog shaped bread meal for my nephew for lunch at home. My nephew added the almonds after I baked the bread.
Container: EasyLunchBoxes
Left Side: Hedgehog bread with almonds and food marker details, cheese sticks
Top Right: Cantaloupe hedgehog, blackberries
Bottom Right: Snow peas
Eclectic Lamb 
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