Fun food find

So, we're not really health food nuts here in our house.  I cook healthy, good food for my family, but I'm not going to give up using butter, or eating something that has a lot of fat and calories in it.  Quite frankly, butter isn't all that bad for you, and since I use MAYBE 2 tablespoons a week, I don't think I'm hurting myself using the real stuff.

*Climbing down off of soap box*

That being said, I DO look for and will buy things that are suggested from other blogs/websites for no other reason than someone said they use it, they like it, so why shouldn't I try it?  I do cringe sometimes at the price and will slowly step away from the product.  But every once in awhile, I find something that is completely worth the cost and my evidence is that my children will eat it.

Enter Mediterranean Snack Food Company.  I saw on a blog (don't remember which one - I look at 20 a day) and this mom had purchased veggie straws for her kids to eat.  I thought the straws were interesting and wanted to find some.  I headed to The Fresh Market in Savannah, because it's  a specialty food store, and they always have something fun and nifty to look at. 

I found this bag of veggie straws and was immediately drawn to the fact that these straws are made from potato, carrot and spinach and that they're seasoned with sea salt.  That seems fancy to me, like it's going to taste so much different than table salt.  The only difference is the size and shape of the grain of salt.  Table salt is pretty uniform in shape, sea salt is actually flakes of salt.  But I digress...

I bought them and Asher and I broke out the bag when we got in the car.  (So much for restraint)  I can't begin to tell you how yummy these things are.  They taste, no kidding, like french fries, but crunchy.  I think that's why the boys love them so much.  Plus, they're fun to eat.  They are literally straws, with a hole in the middle, so I've spent many minutes blowing on the kids through a straw I was holding.  :)  They kind of melt on your tongue too, so that's a fun texture thing.   They also have veggie chips, Baked Lentil Chips and Muiti Grain Chips, none of which I have tried yet, but plan to soon!

If you have the opportunity to try this particular brand, or find some veggie straws of some other persuasion, please do.  It's a great way to add some crunch to your meal, but to ensure your family (read: kids) are getting a few more bites of veggies in their tummies.

Blessings,
Missy

*Disclaimer - Mediterranean Snack Food Company has no idea who I am.  I'm just a mom looking for some fun things to add to her children's lunches so they'll want to eat them.  This is not a paid endorsement.  The End. 

I won, I won!!

Ok, so I'm a little over the top about this.  :)  The girls over at The Goodbyn Girls had a giveaway during November, and I won!  Their blog is all about using the Goodbyn box for lunches (or any meal) because they're reusable and they hold a lot of food! 

The concept of the Goodbyn is a great one - everything, even down to the drink, fits inside the box.  There are six compartments and they're all covered with a tight fitting lid, which keeps things separate.  I LOVE this concept.  Timothy has a lunch box that he loves, but it would be so nice to send a Goodbyn and not have to worry about wiping out his lunch box every day after school because something has spilled.

This is the lunch that I submitted as part of the contest:  My Contest Submission.  Of the contest entries, they chose my name randomly. 

Thanks, Goodbyn Girls, for this contest and that I won!  I'm looking forward to filling my Goodbyn with yummy lunches for my family!

Blessings,
Missy 

Getting better...

...at packing bento lunches, I think.  For Timothy's lunch tomorrow, we're trying the Mickey Mouse box again.  I asked his teachers how he did with it the first time.  They said it was easy getting into it, but trying to figure out how to put it back together wasn't easy.  I knew that Timothy would have some issues putting it back together, because it is rather finicky about how it wants to fit.  However, I think with time and practice, he'll remember how to put it together, so his teachers can help him.  At least, that's my hope.

Anyway, here's his lunch for tomorrow...

Top Box - 1/2 clementine with raisins, goldfish crackers, pb&j roll ups

Bottom Box - carrots and celery with ranch in the snowman cup, string cheese, pretzel grids, 1/2 clementine

I say I'm getting better at packing bento lunches because I'm starting to realize all the things that I can make or use to fill up the box to keep it from shifting and making a mess.  Now, bentos aren't about how much you can stuff in a box.  It's about WHAT you put into the box.  Is it healthy?  Yummy?  Fun to eat?  All of these things rank right up there on the healthy, yummy and fun lists for Timothy.  We're trying celery with ranch tomorrow.  Celery with pb hasn't been a hit yet, although I've enjoyed eating what he doesn't finish.  :)

Also, I think bentos are about having a compact meal without a lot of leftovers.  I usually end up sending separate containers of things for Timothy to eat for lunch, but I think all he's going to need for tomorrow is this box, a juice cup and he'll be set.  That's nice to know.  Less to wash tomorrow evening! 

Blessings,

Missy

***Update Dec. 1 - I added this bento lunch to Bentolunch.com's  What's for lunch Wednesday blog.  Shannon herself does some amazing bentos!  Check out all the fun bentos from other families! :)

Goodbyn lunches

I recently ordered a Goodbyn lunch box for Timothy.  They're a really neat idea for keeping items in your lunch separate.  Great for bento style lunches.  Check them out!  Goodbyn Lunchboxes

At the blog The Goodbyn Girls, they show how they use Goodbyn boxes for lunches.  I've gotten so many good ideas of what to pack for Timothy's lunches so he doesn't get bored with the same old thing.  Of course, he'd eat pb&j with tortilla chips every day, so getting him to try something different is much easier when it's packaged in a fun way.  Enter bento style lunches and the Goodbyn box.

The Goodbyn Girls are holding a giveaway for a Goodbyn box.  I had to make a fun bento lunch and include the 3 C's - Cucumber, Carrots and Cheese.  I think I got those easily and added 4 C's to it - Chicken and Chocolate Chip Cookies.  :)

Timothy's lunch tomorrow consists of:

Apple and Eve juice

Drinkable yogurt

2 Chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce underneath

Grapes

Mac and Cheese

Carrots and Christmas tree shaped Cucumber with Ranch dressing

2 Chocolate Chip Cookies

Goodbyn Girls - I got 7 C's in my lunch!!!  Does that count extra?!  :)

Blessings,

Missy

Muffin Tin Monday

It' Muffin Tin Monday over at Muffin Tin Mom and there's no theme this week, so our theme is "Fix whatever you can that the kids will eat so they'll take good naps this afternoon." Good theme, no?  XD

Top Row L to R - 'ants on a log', mac and cheese, cucumber and carrot with ranch

Botto Row L to R - clementine, more mac and cheese with octodog,

bread and strawberry yogurt spread roll up

I've just recently started introducing celery to my kids.  What better way than with peanut butter?!  It's been mildly successful  -  I'll keep trying!

Blessings,

Missy  

Rice Mold Success!

I purchased some rice molds a few weeks ago, having no prior experience using them but having some knowledge of how to use them.  I bought what I thought were single heart, star and bear shapes.  However, they are joined together.  No biggie...

Anyway, so I steamed some sushi rice (Nishiki) tonight in my steamer and covered the top because I had read that sushi rice needs to steam for about 10 minutes after it's done.  The lid on my steamer has holes in it, so I just covered it with a kitchen towel.  Worked great.

I made these molded pieces of rice for my oldest son, who LOVES rice.  I gave my little guy some rice on his plate because he's not been a huge fan of rice in the past.  Next time, I'll be sure to make him a molded rice of his own because he loved the rice!

Here's how my first attempt turned out...

Not too bad for my first attempt with no directions!  Well, there were directions on the packaging, but they were in Japanese.  That doesn't help me out any.  They're a little rough around the edges because I wasn't careful how I was filling the molds.  I'll be more careful next time.  The face of the bear is made with cucumber and carrot.

Here's what Timothy thought of them:

He had no problem eating them.   As a matter of fact...

He managed to shove them in.  He loved them!

I'm so glad that he likes them and I'm glad I bought the molds.  I hesitated, because I thought it would be a lot of trouble.  But it's no trouble at all, if you don't mind dealing with sticky rice.  He told me he'd like to have one in his lunch this week at school.  We'll see what his teachers think about him bringing shaped rice to school!

I'll post soon about making shaped eggs.  Those are as adorable as these!

Blessings,
Missy

Muffin Tin Monday - Thanksgiving

It's Muffin Tin Monday and the theme is Thanksgiving.  We have much to be thankful for in our home:  Daddy got to come home from Afghanistan for R&R these last 2 weeks.  He has to go back today, so I'm surprised I even got it together enough to make a MTM.  However, it did provide about 30 minutes of thinking about something else.  :)

I went with foods that they may have had at the first Thanksgiving.  Some of it is a stretch, I know, but work with me.  I figure berries and apples, veggies, and 'turkey' were there.  Turkey shaped PB&J, pumpkin pie and Ranch dressing...probably not.  XD

From L to R - top row:  Apple shaped apples and blackberries, popcorn,

pumpkin shaped cucumbers and carrot sticks

bottom row:  pumpkin pie with cool whip, turkey shaped pb&j, ranch dressing cup



Hope everyone has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

Blessings,

Missy