The Pink Princess Pancake and the Blue Boat Bento

Doesn't that title sound like some sort of fairy tale?!

I wanted to make a princess lunch for the 3 year old - because what 3 year old girl wouldn't be into that? And if there is one thing we all know about princesses, they involve pink - lots of pink.

Her princess lunch consisted of blueberry applesauce with a princess ring stuck in it and watermelon with pink heart picks. The little containers have dried cranberries with a pink raccoon pick and a beautiful grape rose. At the bottom, tiara pancake (recipe below) sandwiches (2 pancakes with jam in the middle) adorned with raisins and fruit leather on a pink napkin.

The big highlight was the spoon. I got this set of 3 skinny spoons and forks the last time I was at Daiso and they have a seriously love for those little spoons, who knows why!



Now, I'm not a waster. I try and use all the scraps. So after I cut out the tiara pancakes, I had almost half pancakes left - but not really big enough to cut anything out of them. Sooooo, I trimmed them flat and they became boats for the 6 year olds lunch. I'm pretty sure he's glad he got boats instead of pretty, pretty princess.



I punched out fruit leather circles then punched out holes in the boats and stuck the portholes in. Little flags became the masts and you can't see it, but there are fruit leather waves.

Above, he has grapes with sea life picks and waffle mini pretzels with a cheese boat and fish, and more fruit leather waves. He enjoyed it but did file a complaint about his lack of ring!

On sports nights, we try and have some quick that we know the kids will eat and the night before it was pancakes, hence the leftovers. I always have a big container of homemade mix on hand to quickly throw them together.

Here is the recipe - now please note - this will make a big container - you will NOT use all this at once, this is to keep on hand! That could be mighty confusing!

Pancake Mix (to keep on hand)

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

Now, when you want to use it, combine 1 egg, 3/4 cup of milk and 1 mashed banana in a bowl. Whisk in 1 cup of your mix. If you choose, fold in 3/4 cup of blueberries.

Cook pancakes in lightly greased pan.

So good and better than buying a bag of mix.

Blast Off Bento

I bake a lot for my kids. I usually manage to cram it in once per week among my full time job, sports etc - sleep is over rated, right? Anyway, I like to bake and freeze - muffins, mini muffins, savory muffins, loaves, cookies - you get the idea. It lets me have a whole variety of things to pack for their school/daycare snack which is fruit and whatever I've pulled out.

Sometimes I get tired of making muffins hence why today I used one of my favorite pans - the multiple mini loaf pan! I had a new recipe I wanted to try and it ended up being so good as mini loaves.

Here they are, Banana Carrot with Raisins, yum.

And here is the recipe for you - this is to make it as a loaf:

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar (I used between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't use any)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I didn't use any)
I did add about 1/2 cup of raisins

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to the creamed mixture alternately with bananas. Stir in carrots and pecans. Transfer to a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For my mini loaves, I baked them at 325 for 30 minutes.

Lunches were done early today as the kids went over to my mom's and are sleeping over. Love that Granny!

Now, before I start - the 6 year old is a pain lately and won't eat the veggies I try and pack in his lunch. I can get him to eat some at home (you know, with constant nagging, I'm not above it) but at lunch, they get returned every time. So I've given up. So while his sister is a veggie fiend, instead of the adorable veggies I gave her (as you'll see), he got a babybel cheese. I just thank my lucky stars (ha - goes along with the theme!) that my vegetarian kid isn't my dairy allergy kid!

So lunch for tomorrow is a Blast Off, space theme. I got some new cookie cutters and was dying to try the, aren't they the cutest? They cut the face out at the same time.


So we have a planet and star sandwich with mini cloud sandwiches to use up the rest of the bread. The cup is a rocket theme (that you can't see) with rice cake moons and fruit leather suns (ya, I know they look like flowers, I think they are LOL).

The cups above are grapes with space picks - I didn't have any suns so I used a lion turned backwards.

Finally planet veggies using the same cookie cutter and some randomly cut. I added a little thing of dip after the picture was taken.

Pictures of your bentos that you submitted will be posted tomorrow so check back!

Hodge Podge

First, if you have any pictures of lunches you've made this week, please send them to me to post! I have 4 so far and would love more! Email them to kimineurope @ hotmail.com

This is yesterdays lunch. It's a bit of a hodge podge, didn't make it the night before, not much time before work/school... that type of deal.

The first container has a garlic knot - we had them with our dinner and seriously best.thing.ever, we all fell in love! Super quick and easy, I'll post the recipe below! Some fishy crackers around it.

This is the 3 year olds - she also had honeydue melon and veggie booty. The last container is cucumbers and red and yellow peppers. There is dip inside the penguin container.

Took 2 seconds to throw together but they still enjoyed it!



Here is the recipe for the Garlic knots. I used Crescent Rolls as I had a thing of them in the fridge and didn't use the parsley. I also had to bake them a few minutes longer than called for.

1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Roll each biscuit into a 12-in. rope and tie into a knot; tuck ends under.
Place 2 in. apart on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; brush the warm knots with the mixture.

Lunchbox Recipe - Blueberry Pumpkin Muffins

OK, so I'm not a super huge muffin fan. I make them for my kids but I don't eat alot of the ones I make because I feel they are just wanna be cupcakes - ha! Except these. These are sooo good. Seriously. You'll eat as many as your kids! (Is that a good or a bad thing?) Try them and let me know what you think!

Blueberry Pumpkin Muffins

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
2/3 cup white sugar (I don't always use all the sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted (I use margerine)
3/4 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries, thawed (I use frozen)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
2.Mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl until evenly blended. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, egg, and butter. Gradually stir in the flour mixture, just until all ingredients are moistened. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling to the top.
3.Bake in preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

Freezing instructions:
They freeze great! I freeze them in freezer bags and take out the night before for lunches.

Lunchbox Recipe - Homemade Granola Bars

These rock! My kids adore them.

Homemade Granola Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup raisins (or 3/4 cup of whatever dried fruit(s) or extras (coconut, chocolate chips etc) you like.
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour and raisins. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Don't let them get too brown - just the edges! Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

Freezing instructions:

After cutting into bars, place a flat layer in a freezer bag. (I usually do 4 per bag). Then take out the night before and by morning, they will be ready to get put into lunches.

Go make a batch and let me know what you think!