10 Oct

 

Here’s another super simple and kid friendly treat.

I made these candy corn parfaits for our Halloween party last year and they took me all of about 10 minutes to put together and that included whipping the cream.

The bottom layer is banana pudding, the middle layer is mandarin oranges, and the top layer is freshly whipped cream sweetened with a little sugar.

I had the little wooden spoons left over from Cam’s birthday party so I just wrapped each one with a little Halloween themed sticky ribbon I found on sale at Michael’s and stuck them in the parfait glasses. You can also usually find small wooden and plastic spoons at most party stores.

My “parfait” glasses are actually votive holders that were never used. I ordered a ton of them for my wedding a few years ago and ended up only using a handful so that left me plenty of extras for party parfaits!

I love using them for parties because they’re just the right size for little ones or for adults to have a small bite of something. They’re also much cheaper than parfait glasses.

You can find clear votive holders at most craft stores for a pretty reasonable price. Be sure to look for any available coupons before you go.

 

9 Oct

Have you seen these floating around the interwebs?

I have no idea where the original idea came from but it’s genius.

Seriously, check out how easy these are to make:

1. Cut an apple into thin wedges

2. Smear some peanut butter onto each wedge.

3. Lay a few mini marshmallows on top of an apple wedge.

4. Top with another apple wedge.

That’s it!

For an extra gross factor, you could also add a couple drops of green food coloring to some shredded coconut and mix it up with your hands. Then stick some coconut strands in between the teeth.

8 Oct

I’m an inspirational blogger!?

I know, I was shocked too.

It’s always so gratifying to receive an award nomination from another blogger. No one else understands just how much time and effort goes into keeping a blog going. Especially a blog centered around food.

Many thanks to The Great Zambini for the nomination.

Acceptance of the aforementioned award requires a specific set of rules and they are as follows:

First Rule: You do not talk about Fight Club.

Okay, so that’s not really the first rule for accepting this award but I can’t think about the first rule of any situation without my brain going right to that Fight Club reference.

Kind of like when someone says “stop” my brain thinks it’s hammer time.

Okay seriously, these are the actual rules:

First Rule: Link back to the person who nominated you (done).

Second Rule: Share 7 random but hopefully interesting facts about yourself with your readers.

Third Rule: Pass on the love by nominating 15 other bloggers for the same award.

So here goes, 7 random bits of info about yours truly:

1. I don’t like when people sing happy birthday to me. It’s weird I know, but I’ve always hated it.

2. I am currently learning French with my daughter. Hopefully I’ll never have to actually use it because my accent is horrible. She makes sure to remind me of that fact all the time. Ironically, the phrase I have the most trouble with translates to: “I don’t understand” in English.

3. For about 5 minutes, I seriously considered naming my daughter Plum. When that was vetoed, I actually suggested Violet Plum. I cringe when I think about that today. I blame the pregnancy hormones.

4. I’m extremely empathetic. If you’re crying, I’m crying. End of story.

5. My childhood nickname was Samuel. My grandfather still only calls me Sam, Samuel, or Muely.

6. I was way too old when I found out that approximately did not mean exactly. I wish I had a great excuse for that but sadly I don’t. So there it is.

7. I am terrible with chop sticks. It’s not cute. Not even a little.

Now that that’s done, I’d just like to say to my nominees that your blogs are fabulous. I know that I don’t comment as much as I should but I do stalk visit your blogs regularly and I appreciate all of the work that each of you put into making your corners of the internet a more interesting and inspiring place.

Here are 15 blogs that have inspired me along the way:

  1. eclecticlamb.com
  2. zoeslunchbox.com
  3. lovinglunches.blogspot.com
  4. www.becomingabentoholic.com
  5. yummy0mummy.wordpress.com
  6. sugarbitznmilkybar.wordpress.com
  7. ohbentouk.wordpress.com
  8. pinkiefae.blogspot.com
  9. bentodays.wordpress.com
  10. veggiebentolove.wordpress.com
  11. lifewiththemozas.blogspot.com
  12. rabbitcancook.wordpress.com
  13. www.mamabelly.com
  14. bentoforkidlet.com
  15. www.organizedbites.com
8 Oct

This would be a great craft for a party or to put in a lunchbox as a special treat.

And of course, it’s really easy too.

All you need is some scrapbook paper, a little tape, and a few cute stickers to spookify the front of your juice boxes.

To make these wrapped juice boxes, first remove the straws from the back of each box and set aside. You’ll obviously need these later.

Then cut strips of scrapbook paper that are as wide as the boxes are tall and long enough to wrap completely around the box.

Once all of your strips are cut out, wrap each box and secure with tape. I use double-sided tape so that I can secure each one from the inside flap of paper and the tape doesn’t show.

Then just attach your stickers to the front.

See, easy!

If you want to cover the tops, just cut a small strip of paper that will lay over the top of each box and tuck the sides down into the other paper.

 

 

 

7 Oct

gooey grapes

 

I hope you’re not tired of Halloween treats yet because I have another week of kid friendly party food to share with you.

Starting with these gooey grapes for your little ghouls.

I have to say, I was pretty skeptical about this combo when I first heard about it.

But these sweet and slightly tart little treats were much better than I had anticipated.

They’re actually quite addictive. It’s hard to stop at one.

And just like everything else I’ve shared with you so far, they’re pretty easy to put together.

 

You’ll need:

green grapes

a bag of caramels (I use Kraft)

toothpicks or Halloween themed food picks

heavy cream

sprinkles or chopped nuts, crushed cookies, small candy – whatever you want to adorn them with.

 

1. Add all the caramels to a medium sauce pan with about 2 tablespoons of heavy cream.

3. Heat the caramels/cream mixture on low and give it an occasional stir while everything melts together.

4. In the mean time, impale each grape with a toothpick and add some sprinkles into a small bowl.

5. When the caramel/cream mixture has melted, dip each grape into the melted caramel until the caramel comes about halfway up the sides of the grape. Then dip the bottom of each grape into the sprinkles.

6. Set each dipped grape on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone liner to set up.

7. Once the caramel has set, you can remove the grapes and transfer them to your spooky serving platter.

Daily Bento

4 Oct

 

Did you know that today is World Animal Day?

It’s a day set aside each year to appreciate all of our animal friends and bring attention to all of the threatened or endangered species around the world.

I missed World Animal Day last year.

Look who’s on the ball in 2013!

For lunch today, Cam’s Easy Lunchbox is full of animal friends.

She has a few little sandwiches, stamped with different smiley animal faces. Next to those, she has some cheese cut-outs in the shape of a pig, an elephant, and a penguin. She also has some broccoli and cauliflower with a few more animal friends peeking out. A small handful of chocolate covered almonds in a pink sheep add a sweet finish to her lunch.

Happy World Animal Day!

4 Oct

 

This is a great food project to make with kids and all you need is some dough.

The kind of dough you use doesn’t matter but the easiest way to make these is by using bread sticks from a can.

Just pop the can and separate the bread sticks.

To make the bony ends, you can either tie a knot at each end, or use clean kitchen scissors to snip a couple of inches down each end of the bread stick, and then roll down each side.

You can pretty much tell from that picture up there just how each one was made.

You can brush each bone with a little extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle on your favorite seasonings before baking.

Or you can just shove them in the oven plain. Either way, they’re delicious.

Bake the bones at the temperature listed on the can and pull them from the oven when they’re light golden brown.

If you’re opposed to convenience foods, you can still make these bones using your favorite home-made bread or pizza dough.

Just roll out the dough to your desired thickness, cut into strips, make the bony ends, and bake as you normally would. Just remove from the oven when they are light golden brown.

Serve the bones with blood (naturally). Just warm a little pizza sauce or marinara and spoon into a serving dish for dipping.

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Daily Bento

3 Oct

 

Cam still isn’t too crazy about sandwiches yet so I like to go a more “deconstructed” route with her lunches from time to time.

It seems like more of it gets eaten that way.

Today she has a crescent roll, some cheddar-jack cheese slices, natural salami, watermelon, sweet pepper rings, and carrot coins.

She also has two happy little animal friends to help her eat her lunch.

 

3 Oct

I’d like to first point out that it’s a good thing my husband is somewhat artistic.

Otherwise, things like this just wouldn’t get made.

Or they might get made but they sure wouldn’t look as good.

We made these Freaky Frankenheads for our last Halloween party and they were a big hit with our little freaks. 😉

To make them for your favorite little freaks, first draw some faces on a few clear plastic cups with a permanent marker.

I found mine at my local dollar store.

Then, just dye some vanilla pudding green using a couple drops of food coloring and spoon it into a clear plastic cup.

 Once you’ve spooned your pudding into each of the cups, add some crushed Oreo cookies (or generic equivalent) on top.

Voila!

Freaky Frankenheads.

Daily Bento

2 Oct

Lunch is in the Yumbox today.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how heavy this little box is.

It’s surprisingly heavy for its size.

It doesn’t hold a whole lot of food so it’s geared more towards the little ones but it sure does make a lunchbox heavy once you add it along with a thermos full of water.

Just something to keep in mind if you’re thinking about purchasing one.

In her Yumbox today, Cam has my version of Lunchables. I just put a few crackers, some cheese cut-outs, and a few salami roll-ups in her lunch. She also has some sweet pepper rings, watermelon, a few natural fruit snacks, and two flapjacks from our Graze box.