Lunches : 5.29.15

Trail mix: 14g, watermelon: 6g, peppers & hummus: 4g, feta cheese: 1g, flatbread with hummus: 35g

For Friday lunch, The Boy has watermelon,  trail mix, feta cheese, mini sweet bell peppers stuffed with hummus,  and a flatbread with hummus. His snack is a yogurt ( not pictured, 9g).

The Girl has leftover "everything in the fridge" pasta - roasted bell peppers and cherry tomatoes,  with meatballs and a sauce involving cream cheese. She loved it for dinner last night. She also has a berry applesauce and a trail mix.

Lunches: 5.28.15

Lunches today continue to include party leftovers.

Mini tacos: 19g, trail mix: 14g, applesauce: 14g, feta: 2g, melon: 6g

The Boy has some mini tacos, along with berry applesauce, trail mix, mixed melon, and feta cheese.  His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 9g).

The Girl has mini tacos, along with berry applesauce, trail mix, blackberries, and cherries.

Lunches: 5.27.15

Happy Wednesday!

Still working through some party leftovers.

Flatbread: 20g, mixed melon: 6g, feta: 2g, tofu: 5g, tomatoes: 3g, hummus: 5g

The Boy has some feta cheese, some baked teriyaki tofu (he's been wanting to try it, I bought it, it isn't bad!), mini heirloom tomatoes, hummus, mixed melon, and some flatbread.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl has a couple leftover chicken samosas, rainbow carrots, flatbread, hummus, cherries, and blackberries.

Lunches: 5.26.15

Today's lunches are filled with leftovers from The Boy's birthday party.

Rhubarb cake: 10g, melon: 6g, tomatoes, cucumbers & dip: 5g, flatbread: 4g, meatballs: 8g

The Boy has mixed melon, along with mini heirloom tomatoes, cucumber slices, and a dip called Muhammara (it has roasted red peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate juice.  The kids love it.  It's near the hummus in the store).  He also has a couple pieces of flatbread with meatballs, and a small piece of my mother's rhubarb cake.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl has blackberries and cherries, mini bell peppers, rainbow carrots, and muhammara, along with flatbread and meatballs.

A Map Themed Birthday Party

The Boy's birthday was last week, and he asked for a map themed birthday party.

For food, we went simple, with frozen International appetizers, cooked up easily, and fruit and vegetable platters, so that I could focus my attention on the cake.

Chicken Shu mai, pork gyoza, mini chicken tacos

Lemongrass chicken sticks, spanikopita, vegetable gyoza, and chicken samosas

Marinated mushrooms, because yum

The kids arranged this beautiful vegetable platter

Plenty of melon

Assorted cheese

Deviled eggs

Cherries, blackberris, strawberries

A Global Spread

We decorated the walls with maps, taken from The Boy's bedroom walls - it was basically wallpapered with the maps, and they will be returning to their spots soon.

For the cake, I used the same modification on a Dunkin Hines mix that I used for The Girl's birthday - one cake mix (in this case, vanilla), made with 1/2 c oil, 1/2 c water, 1 c sour cream, 3 eggs, and one box pudding mix.  This makes a moist and sturdy cake.

I made Swiss Meringue buttercream to use as a crumb coat, and as a filling (which I mixed with leftover lime curd).

I covered the cake in marshmallow fondant.

For the globe, I used a spherical pan.  It came with almost no instructions.  I basically just cooked it until it looked done - this was much longer than a standard cake pan.  It took maybe 40 minutes to bake through.  After cooling entirely, I filled the cakes with lime curd buttercream, applied a crumb coat of plain Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and then covered with fondant.

My spherical covering skills could use some work.  My continents are highly representational, and I am very optimistic about the arctic ice shelf.

For the "painting," I used some food coloring and water, to make a kind of water color.  I dusted the map on the bottom (the Vermont) with gold edible shimmer dust, per The Boy's request.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this party.  Sure, the globe could have come out smoother, and the continents could have been more accurate, but The Boy loved the cake, and it tasted delicious.  That's a win, I'd say!

Lunches: 5.22.15

Sandwich: 40g, blueberries: 5g, muffin with lime curd: 25g

The Boy has a leftover vanilla muffin with lime curd (though a larger one than the ones he took to school), along with blueberries, and a sandwich with cream cheese, ham, and cheese.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl has a leftover vanilla muffin with lime curd, with cherries, and a sandwich with cream cheese, ham, and cheese.

Happy Friday!  The kids are off school on Monday, so lunches will return on Tuesday.

Recipe: Vanilla Mini Muffins with Lime Curd

The Boy's birthday was this week, and I didn't have a chance to make a school treat for him until today (birthday party is coming up on Sunday - plenty of food happening there, too!  Watch for the blog post).

He has recently discovered a love of lime.  I decided to make a lime curd for him, and put it inside vanilla mini muffins.

There's a fine line between a muffin and a cupcake.  These will be served at morning snack at school.  Thus - no frosting, and they are muffins.

The lime curd was very easy.  It came together in 10 minutes or so.  I used the recipe from Crazy for Crust, with fresh lime juice, and I strained the curd at the end, to give it a smooth and luscious texture.

The muffins could be modified in many ways, by adding fruit or nuts or anything you like.  I love a good versatile recipe.  I used this recipe from Dine and Dish for the muffins.  Mini muffins take only 10-12 minutes to bake.

To stuff the muffins, I just carved the center out with a sharp knife, and then spooned in a little lime curd.

Oh, darn, there's leftover lime curd... I know The Boy will be upset about that... I've got plans to incorporate it into his birthday cake.  More to come!

Lunches: 5.21.15

Salad: 5g, trail mix: 14g, watermelon: 5g

The Boy has a salad for lunch today, with baby spinach, chopped vegetables, and sunflower seeds, along with ranch dressing, and couple pieces of ham.  He also has watermelon and trail mix.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl also has salad, with baby spinach, chopped vegetables, and sunflower seeds, along with ranch and some ham.  She has cherries and blackberries with her salad.

Lunches: 5.20.15

Salads for lunches on this Wednesday!

The Boy has a salad with some ham, sunflower seeds to add to it, and some ranch dressing (I wrapped the cup in plastic wrap to keep it from leaking).  He also has some blueberries and an applesauce.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl also has a salad with ham, sunflower seeds, and ranch dressing, along with cherries and blackberries.

Lunches: 5.19.15

Today is The Boy's birthday!  He will have his birthday party this coming weekend, but for today, he has a special lunch, full of some of his favorite things.

Sandwich: 30g, blueberries: 5g, bunny gummies: 15g, tortilla chips: 8g, watermelon: 6g

The Boy has a sandwich with ham, cheese, and baby spinach, along with watermelon, blueberries, veggie tortilla chips, and some pink bunny gummies.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl also has a sandwich with ham, cheese, and baby spinach, along with some veggie tortilla chips, cherries, and blackberries.

Lunches: 5.18.15

Happy Monday!

Sandwich: 30g, yogurt: 10g, applesauce: 15g, crackers: 8g

The Boy has a turkey sandwich on a hot dog bun, along with an applesauce,  a yogurt, and some cheddar rocket crackers.  His snack is some homemade granola (not pictured,  18g).

The Girl has a  sandwich on a roll with turkey,  along with yogurt, blackberries,  broccoli and carrots leftover from dinner,  and cheddar rocket crackers.

Lunches: 5.15.15

Friday lunches are simple.

Sandwich: 35g, applesauce: 15g, sour cream and onion puffs: 5g

The Boy has a turkey sandwich, sour cream and onion puffs, and berry applesauce.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 27g).

The Girl has a turkey sandwich, sour cream and onion puffs, and cherries. 

Happy Friday!  May the weekend bring you wonderful things.

Lunches: 5.14.15

Sandwich: 30g, yogurt: 10g, trail mix: 14g, apple slices: 20g, puffs: 5g

For Thursday lunch, The Boy has a sandwich roll with lettuce and turkey, along with a yogurt, a trail mix pouch, sour cream and onion puffs, and apple slices.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 27g).

The Girl also has a sandwich roll with lettuce and turkey, along with trail mix, yogurt, sour cream and onion puffs, and cherries.

Lunches: 5.13.15

Simple lunches for this Wednesday.

Sandwich: 35g, cucumber: 1g, apple slices: 8g

The Boy has a sandwich with turkey and baby spinach, along with cucumbers and apple slices.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 27g).

 

The Girl also has a sandwich with turkey and baby spinach, along with a plum and cherries.

Lunches: 5.12.15

I got some curried chicken salad last night for dinner, and the kids loved it.  So, I put leftovers in lunches.

Sandwich: 45g, cucumber: 1g, apple slices: 12g

The Boy has a curried chicken salad with spinach on a sandwich, along with apple slices and Persian cucumber slices.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 28g).

The Girl has a curried chicken salad with spinach on a sandwich, along with cherries and a plum.

Lunches: 5.11.15

It's leftovers in lunches today, from my Nutty Olive Turkey cutlets.

Turkey: 5g, spinach and tomatoes: 2g, rice: 8g, apple slices: 12g

The Boy has sliced rounds of the turkey cutlet on a bed of baby spinach, with some cherry tomatoes, along with some rice medley, and apple slices.  His snack is a cereal bar (not pictured, 27g).

The Girl has sliced rounds of turkey cutlet on a bed of baby spinach, with some cherry tomatoes, rice medley, and a plum.

Recipe: Nutty Olive Turkey Cutlets

The other day, I saw turkey cutlets at the store, and needed to do something with them.  It was 85 degrees out and I didn't want to do anything autumnal, so I developed this recipe.

I did not tell the kids that there were olives in it.  They didn't know until after they had eaten it, and liked it.

Nutty Olive Turkey Cutlets

6 turkey cutlets
~1/4 c olive tapenade
~1/4 c goat cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c walnuts, crushed
1/2 c pistachios, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Pound out turkey cutlets to about 1/4" thick.  Spread with about 1 Tbsp olive tapenade, and ~1 Tbsp goat cheese.  Roll the cutlet tightly and secure with toothpicks.  Coat the cutlet with egg, and then roll in the combined nut mixture.  Place in a baking pan lined with parchment paper and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature of the turkey is 165 F.

Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing into rounds and serving.

Culinary Adventure: Istanbul Kebab House

For Mother's Day, we decided to bring my mother out to a fantastic Turkish restaurant, the Istanbul Kebab House.  The Hubby and I had been there before, and have wanted to bring my mother since our visit.  She and my father went to Turkey several years ago, and she said it was her favorite food of any of her travels.

My sister and her husband were with us as well.  We got to sit on the roof patio (and it only sprinkled on us a little).  We shared the food all around.

Turkish meze platter

Amazing lavash bread

Calamari

We shared some appetizers - a Turkish meze platter, crispy phyllo cheese rolls (missed a picture of those), and calamari.

I got a cucumber martini... it was .... weird.

My mother got a fig martini.  That one was delicious.

For main dishes, The Hubby got a spicy lamb (Adana) kebab.

My mother got lamb kofte.

My sister and her husband shared a mixed grill kebab.

I got a vegetable stuffed eggplant.

I didn't get pictures, but the kids got a meatball plate with rice, and a pizza on lavash (they shared).

For dessert, we all got maple apple baklava.  I also had a delicious Turkish tea.

Wonderful Mother's Day!

My beautiful mother!

It was an amazing meal, and the kids tried pretty much everything as well.  It was certainly a culinary adventure, and my mother said that the food was very reminiscent of what she had in Turkey.  That's a win for sure!