 |
| Sandwich: 35g, apple slices: 12g, sesame sticks: 4g |
The Boy has a sandwich with salami and cheese, sesame sticks, and apple slices. His snack is a granola bar (not pictured, 17g).
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Lunches: 3.30.16
Happy Wednesday!
The Boy has a sandwich with salami and cheese, sesame sticks, and apple slices. His snack is a granola bar (not pictured, 17g).
The Girl has a salad with grains and chickpeas, with dressing, along with cara cara orange slices, and sour cream & onion puffs.
The Boy has a sandwich with salami and cheese, sesame sticks, and apple slices. His snack is a granola bar (not pictured, 17g).
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Lunch: 3.29.16
The Girl was super sick on Sunday, and was recovering yesterday. She went to school today, but late... with just a thermos of soup and some crackers.
Because I did not have a chance to go shopping yesterday, groceries are light in the house... so, The Boy has a catch as catch can lunch...
He has some waffle and lemon curd sandwiches, a fruit leather, a cheese stick, and some salami. His snack is some crackers (not pictured, 15g).
Because I did not have a chance to go shopping yesterday, groceries are light in the house... so, The Boy has a catch as catch can lunch...
 |
| Waffle: 20g, fruit leather: 14g, salami: 1g, cheese: 1g |
Friday, March 25, 2016
Lunches: 3.25.16
Happy Friday!
The Boy has some crackers, cheese, salami, puffs, and apple slices. His snack is a nut & seed bar (not pictured, 15g).
The Girl has a salad with chopped veggies, grains, and chick peas, with some salad dressing on the side to add to it. She also has dried blueberries, and Cara Cara orange slices.
I also have a salad, along with a leftover Semla. :)
 |
| Crackers: 18g, cheese: 1g, salami: 1g, puffs: 1g, apple slices: 14g |
The Boy has some crackers, cheese, salami, puffs, and apple slices. His snack is a nut & seed bar (not pictured, 15g).
The Girl has a salad with chopped veggies, grains, and chick peas, with some salad dressing on the side to add to it. She also has dried blueberries, and Cara Cara orange slices.
I also have a salad, along with a leftover Semla. :)
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Lunches: 3.23.16
Happy Wednesday!
The Boy has a sandwich with turkey, cheese, and hummus, along with apple slices, and some sesame sticks. His snack is a seed & nut bar (not pictured, 16g).
The Girl has a sandwich with turkey, cheese, and hummus, along with cara cara orange slices.
 |
| Sandwich: 40g, apple slices: 10g, sesame sticks: 4g |
The Boy has a sandwich with turkey, cheese, and hummus, along with apple slices, and some sesame sticks. His snack is a seed & nut bar (not pictured, 16g).
The Girl has a sandwich with turkey, cheese, and hummus, along with cara cara orange slices.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Lunches: 3.22.16
 |
| Sandwich: 45g, apples: 10g, sour cream & onion puffs: 3g |
The Girl has a sandwich with hummus, turkey, and cheese, along with Cara Cara orange slices, and sour cream & onion puffs.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Lunches: 3.21.16
Happy Monday!
The Boy has some spanikopita, salami sticks, a cheese stick, sour cream and onion puffs, and apple slices. His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 18g).
The Girl has some spanikopita, salami sticks, a cheese stick, sour cream and onion puffs, and cara cara orange slices.
 |
| Spanikopita: 10g, cheese stick: 1g, salami sticks: 0g, apple slices: 10g, sour cream & onion puffs: 2g |
The Boy has some spanikopita, salami sticks, a cheese stick, sour cream and onion puffs, and apple slices. His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 18g).
The Girl has some spanikopita, salami sticks, a cheese stick, sour cream and onion puffs, and cara cara orange slices.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Lunches: 3.17.16
Happy St. Patrick's Day! No green milk here, just yummy lunches!
The Boy has some chicken meatballs (leftover from party), a mini sandwich with ham, cheese, and hummus, sesame sticks, carrots, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit and nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
The Girl has some chicken meatballs, a mini sandwich with ham, cheese, and hummus, a plum, sesame sticks, carrots, and cara cara orange slices.
 |
| Sandwich: 20g, chicken meatballs: 5g each, sesame sticks: 3g, apple slices: 8g, carrot sticks: 3g |
The Girl has some chicken meatballs, a mini sandwich with ham, cheese, and hummus, a plum, sesame sticks, carrots, and cara cara orange slices.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Lunches:3.16.16
We are still rocking the party leftovers around these parts!
The Boy had some leftover mini sandwiches with hummus and ham and cheese, along with pea crisps, blueberries, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit & nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
The Birthday Girl - and today is the actual day - has mini sandwiches with hummus, ham, and cheese, along with pea crisps, a plum, cara cara orange slices, and apple slices.
The Hubby has chicken wings, blueberries, and cara cara orange slices.
 |
| Sandwiches: 20g each, pea crisps: 2g, apple slices: 8g, blueberries: 5g |
The Boy had some leftover mini sandwiches with hummus and ham and cheese, along with pea crisps, blueberries, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit & nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
The Birthday Girl - and today is the actual day - has mini sandwiches with hummus, ham, and cheese, along with pea crisps, a plum, cara cara orange slices, and apple slices.
The Hubby has chicken wings, blueberries, and cara cara orange slices.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Lunches: 3.15.16
More party leftovers for lunches today!
The Boy has a couple mini sandwiches with ham, cheese, and hummus, spinach & kale bites, grapes, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit & nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
The Girl also has a couple mini sandwiches with ham, cheese, and hummus, along with spinach & kale bites, grapes, and pomegranate seeds.
The Hubby also has a lunch for his new job - leftover chicken wings, spinach & kale bites, grapes, and blueberries.
I have the day off today, so no lunch for me!
Happy Wednesday!
 |
| Sandwiches: 20g EACH, Spinach & kale bites: 8g, grapes: 6g, apple slices: 8g |
The Boy has a couple mini sandwiches with ham, cheese, and hummus, spinach & kale bites, grapes, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit & nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
I have the day off today, so no lunch for me!
Happy Wednesday!
Monday, March 14, 2016
Lunches: 3.14.16
I know it's Pi Day, but it's also "Wow, we have a lot of leftover party food" day....
So, lunches are leftovers!
The Boy has some spinach & kale bites, a mini sandwich with hummus, ham, and cheese, deviled eggs Benedict, strawberries, and grapes. His snack is an apple (not pictured, 14g).
The Girl also has spinach & kale bites, a mini sandwich with hummus, ham, and cheese, deviled eggs Benedict, strawberries, and grapes.
So, lunches are leftovers!
 |
| Sandwich: 20g, spinach & kale bites: 5g, deviled Eggs Benedict: 4g, grapes: 5g, strawberries: 4g |
The Boy has some spinach & kale bites, a mini sandwich with hummus, ham, and cheese, deviled eggs Benedict, strawberries, and grapes. His snack is an apple (not pictured, 14g).
A Dragon for The Girl's 13th Birthday Party: Cake, Recipes, and more!
I cannot believe that The Girl is turning 13 this week. Completely insane. Of course, I had to make her a cake befitting of the occasion....
She asked for a dragon cake. I made her a dragon cake.
Well, technically, I made her a dragon decoration to go with her dragon's mountain cake... semantics.
The dragon was made with rice crispy treats. I made the rice crispy treats according to the directions on the box, but I did run the rice crispies through the food processor a little to get them to a finer texture that would stick together a little more densely. I made the basic shape of a dragon, and used a dowel through the neck to get it to stand up straight. Then, I refrigerated the rice crispy treat shape overnight, so that it would harden.
To cover the dragon, I decided to use a mixture of modeling chocolate and marshmallow fondant. I wanted the pliability of modeling chocolate, but I'd read that by mixing it with fondant, it helps to take care of the oiliness that is sometimes a problem with modeling chocolate.
I just mixed them 1:1, kneading in the stand mixer, and finishing up by hand. What resulted was really great textured "clay." I rolled it out very thinly on parchment paper, and carefully draped it over the hardened rice crispy treat dragon. I admit, I held my breath. I was so worried she would collapse. To my immense relief, she remained upright as I pressed the modeling chocolate fondant to her shape. I trimmed off the excess and put it aside.
From there, I started molding a more refined dragon shape. This took some time. I made a small batch of slightly darker green for a chest plate for her, and used white fondant for her eyes and the tips of her claws. I ended up redoing her eyes a few times - The Girl preferred a serpentine eye, so that's what we ended up with. For the scales, I used the end of a popsicle stick to press indentations into her.
Her wings are rather leafy, and I would have preferred a little more bat-like wings, but The Girl liked them, so I'm happy with that. We dusted her with luster dust to get her really shimmery, and I used a tiny paint brush and black gel food coloring to draw on the details.
Now, for the CAKE! I wanted a good dense cake that I could carve and stack easily, so I used what amounts to a lemon pound cake. I found this recipe from Korena in the Kitchen, and it was PERFECT! I ended up making 2 batches of cake (form over function - we have a TON of cake left after the party, but a dragon needs a nice big mountain top...) I made 2 x 10" rounds, a bundt cake, an 8" round, and a 6" round. I neglected to take a picture before covering the cake, but I cut each layer (except for the bundt) into two parts, layered with lemon curd and with a "dam" of Swiss Meringue Buttercream (flavored with just a pinch of cardamom, along with vanilla), and I cut out part of the 10" + bundt stacks to make a side stack of the smaller cakes, which I carved to be more "mountainous."
I covered the cake entirely in a crumb coat of the cardamom Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and then covered it in a dark green/greyish fondant + modeling chocolate mix. I molded the cake covering to have some crags and outcroppings and painted it a little with brown food coloring, then dusted with a little shimmer dust.
I also carved out a cave in the side, for the dragon's clutch of 13 eggs (these are store bought candy eggs). The cake board was covered in some remaining buttercream, and then the dragon sat next to her mountain top, awaiting the party.
I'm pretty darned pleased with the outcome. As a note, I also marbled the cake in "fire colors," a request from The Girl.
********
Now, for the rest of the party!
The recipe I am most proud of is Deviled Eggs Benedict. The Girl is IN LOVE with Eggs Benedict. SO - I made deviled eggs, but instead of using mayo, I combined the yolks with store bought Hollandaise sauce (I used a tub from Trader Joe's), along with a little pepper and dried shallots. I topped with "flames" of Canadian bacon, and dusted with paprika. Pretty darned delicious.
I also made some eggless ice cream (one of The Girl's friends is allergic to eggs, and essentially cold eat the fruit and veggies... so I made a wonderful ice cream.
Cardamom Vanilla Ice Cream
2 c cream
1 c milk
2/3 c sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Mix all ingredients together and put into an ice cream maker. Churn until thick, according to your machine's instructions. Transfer to the freezer to harden for a few hours before serving.
*******
The rest of the food was store bought, including some wings from a restaurant The Girl loves. It was a lot of fun, and totally worthy of a 13 year old.
She asked for a dragon cake. I made her a dragon cake.
Well, technically, I made her a dragon decoration to go with her dragon's mountain cake... semantics.
The dragon was made with rice crispy treats. I made the rice crispy treats according to the directions on the box, but I did run the rice crispies through the food processor a little to get them to a finer texture that would stick together a little more densely. I made the basic shape of a dragon, and used a dowel through the neck to get it to stand up straight. Then, I refrigerated the rice crispy treat shape overnight, so that it would harden.
 |
| Oily modeling chocolate, meet fresh marshmallow fondant |
I just mixed them 1:1, kneading in the stand mixer, and finishing up by hand. What resulted was really great textured "clay." I rolled it out very thinly on parchment paper, and carefully draped it over the hardened rice crispy treat dragon. I admit, I held my breath. I was so worried she would collapse. To my immense relief, she remained upright as I pressed the modeling chocolate fondant to her shape. I trimmed off the excess and put it aside.
From there, I started molding a more refined dragon shape. This took some time. I made a small batch of slightly darker green for a chest plate for her, and used white fondant for her eyes and the tips of her claws. I ended up redoing her eyes a few times - The Girl preferred a serpentine eye, so that's what we ended up with. For the scales, I used the end of a popsicle stick to press indentations into her.
Her wings are rather leafy, and I would have preferred a little more bat-like wings, but The Girl liked them, so I'm happy with that. We dusted her with luster dust to get her really shimmery, and I used a tiny paint brush and black gel food coloring to draw on the details.
Now, for the CAKE! I wanted a good dense cake that I could carve and stack easily, so I used what amounts to a lemon pound cake. I found this recipe from Korena in the Kitchen, and it was PERFECT! I ended up making 2 batches of cake (form over function - we have a TON of cake left after the party, but a dragon needs a nice big mountain top...) I made 2 x 10" rounds, a bundt cake, an 8" round, and a 6" round. I neglected to take a picture before covering the cake, but I cut each layer (except for the bundt) into two parts, layered with lemon curd and with a "dam" of Swiss Meringue Buttercream (flavored with just a pinch of cardamom, along with vanilla), and I cut out part of the 10" + bundt stacks to make a side stack of the smaller cakes, which I carved to be more "mountainous."
I covered the cake entirely in a crumb coat of the cardamom Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and then covered it in a dark green/greyish fondant + modeling chocolate mix. I molded the cake covering to have some crags and outcroppings and painted it a little with brown food coloring, then dusted with a little shimmer dust.
I also carved out a cave in the side, for the dragon's clutch of 13 eggs (these are store bought candy eggs). The cake board was covered in some remaining buttercream, and then the dragon sat next to her mountain top, awaiting the party.
I'm pretty darned pleased with the outcome. As a note, I also marbled the cake in "fire colors," a request from The Girl.
********
Now, for the rest of the party!
The recipe I am most proud of is Deviled Eggs Benedict. The Girl is IN LOVE with Eggs Benedict. SO - I made deviled eggs, but instead of using mayo, I combined the yolks with store bought Hollandaise sauce (I used a tub from Trader Joe's), along with a little pepper and dried shallots. I topped with "flames" of Canadian bacon, and dusted with paprika. Pretty darned delicious.
I also made some eggless ice cream (one of The Girl's friends is allergic to eggs, and essentially cold eat the fruit and veggies... so I made a wonderful ice cream.
Cardamom Vanilla Ice Cream
2 c cream
1 c milk
2/3 c sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Mix all ingredients together and put into an ice cream maker. Churn until thick, according to your machine's instructions. Transfer to the freezer to harden for a few hours before serving.
*******
The rest of the food was store bought, including some wings from a restaurant The Girl loves. It was a lot of fun, and totally worthy of a 13 year old.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Lunch: 3.11.16
The Hubby didn't end up starting his new job yesterday, so The Girl is taking his lunch today...
So the new lunch today is for The Boy - a sandwich with hummus, ham, and cheese, along with apple slices and strawberries. His snack is a fruit & nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
 |
| Sandwich: 40g, apple slices: 10g, strawberries: 5g |
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Lunches: 3.10.16
It's Thursday!
The Boy has mini tacos, grapes, strawberries, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit & nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
The Girl has a wrap with ham, hummus, and cheese, along with grapes, strawberries, and apple slices.
The Hubby is starting a new job today, so I think I will be packing more lunches for him! His lunch is a sandwich, grapes, strawberries, and half a cara cara orange.
 |
| Tacos: 20g, grapes: 7g, apple slices: 8g, strawberries: 5g |
The Girl has a wrap with ham, hummus, and cheese, along with grapes, strawberries, and apple slices.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Lunches: 3.9.16
Happy Wednesday!
The Boy has a sandwich with ham, turkey, and cheese, along with grapes, strawberries, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit and nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
The Girl also has a sandwich with ham, turkey, and cheese, with grapes, strawberries, and cara cara orange slices.
 |
| Sandwich: 40g, apple slices: 10g, strawberries: 5g, grapes: 6g |
The Boy has a sandwich with ham, turkey, and cheese, along with grapes, strawberries, and apple slices. His snack is a fruit and nut bar (not pictured, 14g).
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