31 Dec

2013 was a great year.

Remember when I put bacon and booze in ice cream?

You’re welcome.

And I made candy that looked like bacon and put it on top of a cupcake.

What’s not to like about that?

And let’s not forget about the time that I put avocados in brownies.

Who does that?

Craziness.

Sadly, none of those culinary masterpieces are my most popular posts.

Nope.

Not even close.

My stats don’t lie. You guys come here for the lunches.

And that’s okay, Cam had some pretty cool lunches this year.

Since 2013 is almost over, I thought it might be fun to see which posts were the most popular this year.

Some of these really surprised me. Some of them didn’t.

Think you know which posts got the most attention this year?

Prepare to be shocked.

Keep scrolling to see which posts you guys couldn’t get enough of in 2013:

#10 Space Bento

I’m surprised this one isn’t higher on the list. Either way, it’s one of my favorites.

#9 PBK Spencer Bento Box Review

This one surprised me. I had almost forgotten about this post. As it turns out, that box didn’t get much use this year. Did anyone buy the Spencer Bento Box? I’d love to know how you felt about it.

#8 Froggy Bento

No surprise here. This one is pretty cool.

#7 Cam’s Bento

aka the time my five-year old out bentoed me.

#6 How I Bento

I’m so glad this one made the top ten. This post is one of my all time favorites. If you’ve ever wanted to make bento-style lunches for your kids but weren’t sure where to start, how to find the time, or how to stay organized, this post is for you.

Or if you just want to see what the inside of my refrigerator looks like, this post is for you as well.

#5 That Pretty ELB Lunch

I can totally see why this one made the list.

#4 Bunny Bento 

I made quite a few bunny bentos this year but this one topped them all.

#3 Easy Pizza Lunch

Okay. How is this the third most popular post? I can’t figure it out.

And if you think that’s crazy…

#2 The Head Scratcher

rainy day lunch

Behold! The second most popular post on this blog. Yes, really.

And finally…

#1 Measuring Up!

This one is no surprise. I got tons of feedback on this post. The fabulous Kelly Lester, CEO of Easy Lunchboxes, shared it on her blog and let’s just say – people noticed. Aaah, the magic that is Kelly.

If you have ever wondered how six of the most popular lunch containers stack up, this one is for you.

There you have it. The most viewed, most loved posts of 2013.

I can’t wait to see how next year compares.

Here’s wishing you a healthy and happy 2014! ♥

Blogger Down!

20 Dec

I sprained my foot this week which is a whole new kind of injury for me.

I know you’re wondering how in the world I managed to do that.

I wish I had a much more impressive answer for you but sadly I don’t.

I injured myself stepping up on a curb.

Yep.

Stepping. Up. On. A. Curb.

Actually, I stepped up on that curb in the most awkward fashion that anyone has ever stepped up on a curb and then things went very very wrong shortly after that.

Up until a few days ago, I had never sprained anything.

I’d say that was a pretty good run.

Aside from the pain it wasn’t all that bad.

I got to wear my pajama pants out in public and no one so much as even glanced in my direction.

I get to ride on one of those motorized carts with the big baskets in front when I go to the store.

And, I get to spend the next few days with my feet up asking other people to bring me things and do my housework for me.

Although the kids keep running off with my crutches and I haven’t quite figured out how to do anything in the bathroom on one foot so there are definite low points too.

Since I’m out of commission for a few days, my sweet husband has been picking up the slack.

This includes lunch making.

It would have been so much easier on him to just make a sandwich and bag up some chips for Cam’s lunch but instead he did this:

 

 

And this:

Not bad for someone who was already really pressed for time in the morning.

He would rush home from work, get Camryn fed and ready for school, make her lunch, and then drive her to school.

This morning he even did her hair.

I died.

 

This is the lunch I made on Tuesday. It was very early in the morning so there was no light which would explain the sad photo:

My camera is broken and won’t take decent pics in low light anymore.

Maybe Santa will bring me a new one.

A girl can dream.

Happy Friday! ♥

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13 Dec

 

I hated peas as a child.

Maybe hate isn’t a strong enough word.

The only way that I could get them down was to swallow them whole, like pills.

My daughter however, adores them.

She can sit down in front of a big bowl of peas with nothing on them but a little sea salt and maybe a drizzle of olive oil and be the happiest girl in the world. And she has, many times.

For me, even a small side of peas on my dinner plate meant that I was going to be sitting at that table for a while. Or at least long enough for my mom to finish her dinner and leave the room so that I could scrape them into the trash.

I’m still not crazy about peas on their own but I love pea pesto.

For Cam, the mention of pea pesto always elicits a fast-clappy jump up and down frenzy of excitement.

She uses it as a dip for chips, crackers, and veggies. She eats it rolled up in tortillas and as “cheesy peasy bread spread”  smeared on toasted bread.

Last night it was just us girls for dinner.

That rarely happens but when it does, girl food is required.

So I sliced and toasted a baguette, topped each slice with goat cheese, sweet pea pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes, and that was what we ate while standing in the kitchen.

Actually, Cam sat on the counter.

I didn’t follow a recipe, I just used what I have in my kitchen.

The only hard and fast rule I always follow is that I only use frozen sweet peas. NEVER sad mushy canned peas.

Gross.

This batch was made with walnuts and it’s my favorite so far.

 

Sweet Pea & Walnut Pesto

1 cup of frozen sweet peas

1 clove of garlic chopped

lemon zest

squeeze of lemon juice

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

handful of walnuts – chopped and toasted

extra virgin olive oil

herbs: thyme, tarragon, basil, whatever you have – I stripped the leaves from one sprig of thyme

salt & pepper

 

Directions

There’s no need to measure the ingredients so all of the amounts are approximate.

Just thaw about a cup of frozen peas and dump them into a blender or food processor along with all of the other ingredients except the oil.

Pulse a few times and then slowly drizzle in the oil while the machine is running until everything comes together.

You can leave it chunky if you want or you can blend until it’s totally smooth.

Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Use immediately or store in an air-tight container for a day or two.

Cam brought the leftover pesto for lunch along with some tortilla chips for dipping.

 

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Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

10 Dec

Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

I missed the pumpkin extravaganza that was the entire month of November. It was just too warm.

With Christmas being only two weeks away, I should probably be thinking about all things peppermint… and egg nog… and white chocolate, but I’m just not there yet.

Even though we kind of get cheated out of Fall around here, I still crave things like squash, spice, and cider around this time of year.

It’s just hard to get into that mindset when all of the trees are still green, the air conditioning is still running, and people are still wearing shorts and flip-flops.

Still, there was a bag of frozen butternut squash in my freezer that has been taunting me since I bought it back in September. I’m pretty sure that I had big plans for that squash but I never got around to them, thanks to our infamous heat.

So I made us some soup.

It’s basically Fall in a bowl.

It was also incredibly easy to make and it came together quite fast.

Garam Masala is what gives this soup such a fragrant and complex flavor and makes it taste like something much more complicated than it is.

Wait.

If you’ve never had it, don’t be put off.

Garam Masala is just a spice blend that contains things like coriander, black pepper, cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. Spices that give the soup an aromatic warmth and a slightly sweet, almost exotic flavor.

See, not so scary.

It’s one of those things that when you serve it to people, they can never quite put their finger on what it is but they love it.

As he was eating it last night, my husband actually kept saying “It’s squash and beans… why is it so good!?”

Therein lies the beauty of this soup, and most things in life for that matter.

Sometimes, simple is best.

Toss a few simple ingredients into a pot. Warm them up. Blend until smooth.

Nothing scary about that.

 

Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

1/2 a sweet onion – diced

1 clove of garlic – minced

12 oz bag of frozen diced butternut squash

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 sprig of fresh thyme

3 cups veggie stock

1 can canellini beans – rinsed and drained

splash of apple cider (optional) – I use the hard stuff

salt & pepper to taste

 

Directions

Add a little extra virgin olive oil to a big pot or dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the diced onion and a little salt and pepper.

Cook until the onions are translucent, giving them an occasional stir.

If your onions start getting brown, turn the heat down just a bit. You want your onions to sweat, not brown.

Once the onions have softened, add the garlic and toss it around with the onions for a bit.

Add the whole thyme sprig, squash, and garam masala, and give everything a stir while you rinse and drain the beans.

Now add the stock and increase the heat.

Once the mixture has come up to a bubble, add the beans and reduce to a gentle simmer.

At this point, everything should be cooked, we’re just introducing flavors to each other and letting them become friends.

Remove the thyme sprig and carefully ladle the soup into a blender. Whir it up until it’s silky smooth and creamy.

Pour the soup back into the pot and add a splash of cider.

This is also the time to taste a little and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Now you can ladle it into a mug and sip on the couch or pour into a thermos and drink it on the go.

You can even pour it into a big bowl and top with dried apple and a tiny sprig of fresh thyme if you’re feeling fancy.

If butternut squash isn’t your thing, you can use pumpkin or any other squash you like.

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Daily Bento

6 Dec

Happy Friday!

For lunch today in her Yumbox, Cam has pb&j sandwiches, some cute reindeer cookies I found at Target, sweet pepper rings, strawberries, and a Babybel cut into fourths.

It will be interesting to see if she actually eats her mini pb&j’s. She doesn’t usually like peanut butter but I keep giving it to her anyway, hoping she’ll warm up to it.

Also, we’re out of lunch meat. So there really wasn’t any other option.

Off to the store – Have a great Friday ♥

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Daily Bento

4 Dec

Lunch is in our Yubo today!

It was still dark when I snapped this pic. I had a very early meeting to get to this morning and there just wasn’t enough light to get a great picture.

Honestly, I was just trying to make sure I got out the door in regular pants and some kind of hairdo.

Priorities.

In her badly lit Yubo, Cam has a chicken sandwich cut with our Funbites cutter, some pepper rings and carrot coins, a few veggie straws, a Babybel, and some juice.

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Kitchen Sink Cookies

3 Dec

Kitchen Sink Cookies

 

There aren’t a lot of things that I do extraordinarily well.

Driving a car with a manual transmission, cartwheels, wearing white without spilling something all over it, washboard abs…

Yeah, not so much.

I also never spell exercise, separate, or nauseous correctly either. The only reason those three words are spelled correctly now is because of spell check and its angry red lines.

What I can do well is bake. Which is cool because I reeeally like to eat.

This also would explain why I’ll never have those aforementioned abs. And that’s fine with me. Whoever said that “nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels” has obviously never had a patty melt with cheese fries and extra cheese sauce from Steak n’ Shake at 2 a.m. after a few cocktails… or microwaved a donut.

Getting back on track…

These cookies actually came to be because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to bake spice cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal cookies.

All I knew is that I wanted a cookie.

Then I thought why should I have to choose?

I’m terribly indecisive anyway. Ask my husband – I’m the worst.

I basically never have an answer for ANYTHING.

So I just made a cookie that had everything I wanted in it.

I made… Frankencookie.

And it was Frankendelicious!

There were almost no cookies to photograph because I could not stop eating them.

They’re crispy on the edges but chewy on the inside (as they should be) and they’re just sweet enough with a hint of spice in the background.

They’re pretty much everything I want in a cookie.

And that’s saying a lot about a cookie that contains no dark chocolate or caramel.

Even the dough is delicious and I’m not a dough eater. I always taste a bit to make sure the flavor is right before I put it in the oven but I found myself going back for more over and over.

You certainly do not have to use all of the mix-ins that I used. I had a surplus of dried fruit, nuts, and seeds so I chopped them all up and tossed them in. Just use any combination of your favorite dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and chocolate chips.

 

Kitchen Sink Cookies

2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups old-fashioned oats

Mix-ins: I just threw in a few good-sized handfuls. If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably a cup and a half to two cups worth of the goods.

My mix-ins:

  • Dried Apples
  • Dried Cranberries
  • Dried Blueberries
  • Dried Cherries
  • Dried Lingonberries
  • Raisins
  • Walnuts
  • Pecans
  • Sunflower Seeds
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • Flax Seeds
  • White Chocolate Chips

Directions

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Should take 2-3 minutes.

Beat the eggs in one at a time followed by the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, spices, and oats and whisk together to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and mix just until everything is incorporated.

Add your mix-ins and mix gently to combine or fold in with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Cover and chill the dough for an hour.

Line your cookie sheet with parchment or spray with non-stick spray.

Use a tablespoon measure to form dough balls and place them about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 12-15 minutes.

The time they need to bake will depend on your oven. Cookies are done when they are golden brown around the edges and no longer look wet on top. You want to pull them out of the oven when they are just set so they stay chewy in the middle.

Allow the cookies to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely but be sure to eat a few while they’re still warm.

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Daily Bento

3 Dec

Lunch today is in one of our ELB Brights and consists of a chicken sandwich, strawberries, one single solitary grape, sweet pepper rings, and some veggie straws.

I smooshed a My Little Pony ring into the sandwich to cutify it a bit. I think that’s Pinkie Pie but I’m not totally sure.

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Daily Bento & Snack

2 Dec

How was your Thanksgiving?

Did you score any deals on Friday?

I originally had no intentions of leaving the house on Black Friday but early in the afternoon my attitude quickly changed when I thought I might be missing out on a deal or two.

So I got out of my stretchy pants and into an actual outfit, attempted a hairdo, and headed out in the direct of the nearest Super Target.

My children make very specific Christmas wish lists so I was able to literally push my cart right to the items that I needed, toss them into my cart, and then move on.

My motto: Stay focused. Keep moving.

I have to shop this way or I will buy ALL THE THINGS. Seriously. It’s a problem.

Toys for little girls are super cute and I’m way too easily tempted.

At any rate, I’m glad I went. I put a dent in my shopping list and I ran into a friend that I hadn’t seen in forever and we were able to catch up over some shopping and an impromptu lunch. Which was much appreciated after a week at home with my kids.

Speaking of my kids…

It’s Monday.

Which means that my littlest kid gets a snack in addition to her lunch today.

For lunch Cam has a chicken sandwich (no cheese, light on the mayo), veggie straws, and some sliced sweet peppers. I stuck an Angry Birds ring into the top of her sandwich just to spruce it up a little.

For snack she has some sliced celery, strawberries, and two chocolate covered stars with sprinkles.

 

Daily Bento & Snack

18 Nov

bento & snack

 

Hi!

How have you been?

What have you been up to?

You’re probably wondering where I’ve been.

No posts in over two weeks. What’s that about?

I’d love to tell you that I was on vacation or doing something so interesting and wonderful that keeping the blog current just slipped my mind but that’s not the case.

Unfortunately we’ve been dealing with strep for the last three weeks.

Three weeks people.

I swear my youngest is a magnet for whatever bacterial or viral scourge is going around. If it’s out there, she’ll pick it up and bring it home with her.

I learned recently that nothing will jerk you out of REM sleep faster than a little one screaming for you to come get them and carry them to the bathroom because they “can’t see out of their eyes” and they’re too dizzy to walk.

Needless to say that warranted a trip to the pediatrician which resulted in a throat swab and a prescription for antibiotics.

But not 24 hours after finishing her ten-day course of antibiotics, the strep came back. With a vengeance.

She’s now on her second ten-day course of a much stronger antibiotic and seems to be doing much better.

So… that’s what I’ve been up to.

Now that we’re caught up, let’s talk lunch!

Today is Monday which means that Cam needs snack. So I packed her a homemade organic blueberry and white chocolate chip muffin, some fresh pineapple, and a mix of pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds in the little rainbow box.

For lunch, she has four little sandwiches, Cheez-Its, a chocolate drizzled honeycomb flapjack from our Graze box, a fruit rope that I cut in half to fit in the box, some yellow tomatoes, and a few carrot coins.

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