As requested yesterday, today’s bento is just shapes. Ovals and circles abound.
Chicken meatballs hiding under the babybel cheese and grasshopper cookies. Hard boiled egg, zucchini and carrot rounds, grape tomatoes, kiwi and grapes.
10 minute toss together this morning. I made the chicken and apple meatballs last night.
This morning was hectic. I had a PTA meeting right after dropping of the kidlet, and I have to take Baby L for her 4 month pediatrician appointment today (eek to shots!). Kidlet had asked me to do a “shapes” bento, but I really didn’t have time for anything really special. I told him I’d figure something out for tomorrow.Â
Roast Beef and cheese sandwich, cut into triangles with little cheddar bears sticking out between them. Babybel cheese with bear cutout. Grapes, yellow cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, carrots and snow peas. 2 little Meiji vanilla panda cracker things.
Time taken: super fast. 15 minutes, tops, all done this morning.
I didn’t spend much on groceries last week. I didn’t entirely follow my meal plan, but instead we ended up eating out of the freezer and pantry more. The hubby wanted pizza one night, didn’t feel well another night (so I didn’t make what we’d planned, and just fed the kidlet and I something easy). So I’m spending a little more this week than normally. After 4 weeks of rubber chickens, we’re a little tired of simple roast chicken and shredded chicken X’s, so I’m including a couple of whole piece chicken recipes.
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Monday: Salmon Cakes, Lentils, Broccoli and CarrotsÂ
Tuesday:Â Spicy Shrimp and Pasta Casserole for the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge., Salad
Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu, Green Beans, Cheese Toast
Thursday: Kielbasa with Red Beans and Rice (I mostly follow this recipe, except I don’t put all the meat in it. I just serve the Kielbasa, cut on the bias, lightly sauteed, on the side instead, Salad
Friday: Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta, Peas (I’m not sure if the chicken sauce stuff is available here, but if not, I’ll improvise)
Saturday:Â Rib Eye Steaks with Tomato Tapenade, potato wedges, broccoli and cauliflower (missed last week)
Sunday:Â Pizza or Eat Out
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For breakfasts we always have oatmeal, cold cereal, scrambled eggs, toast, freezer muffins, yogurt, cottage cheese and fruits to choose from. I’ve got ingredients to make mini waffle grills this week (apple and cheese between 2 waffles as a sandwich). I also keep us stocked with lunch meats, cheeses, etc for bentos. I’ll probably be making a big pot of soup for my lunches. Maybe my mom’s clam soup; I have all the ingredients on hand. Even when not specifically listed, I usually have a mixed greens salad and fruit available for dinner.
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So the other day I stayed after I volunteered in kidlets classroom long enough to see him go to lunch. Boy, he gives his lunch a beating. He swings his bag around, slams it down. It spends as much time upside down as it does right side up. Because I send his bento in a standard kids insulated lunch pail, when he carries it by the handle the bento is on it’s side. Knowing this, I always orient the box so that when he carries the pail the heavier / sturdier foods will be on the bottom. It’s normally held in place by the ice pack, water bottle and his dressing container so there isn’t much rattling around. I considered a larger, boxier pail that had a shoulder strap that would keep the bento right side down during transport, but seeing how he flings it all over, I suspect that would be worse since there would be rattling around room.
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I’d thought that Thursday’s lunch was well and tightly packed. Aside from a couple of sweet potato leaves that I left on top to look pretty (and those moving around a little shouldn’t matter I figured), everything was wedged in. The cheese was held down by the lid, the veggies underneath strong enough to take that pressure.
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When he opened his lunch though, everything was shifted. The raspberries were smushed a bit. The acorn sandwich didn’t quite look like an acorn. Everything was still mostly in place and everything was edible, but it wasn’t nearly as pretty as when I packed it. This didn’t have any loose small items in a cup (like corn or peas) but I suspect they would have been all over the place if it had.
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It makes me wonder about some of the lunches I see on flickr, especially the laptop lunches. The foods might not mix together because of the separate containers, but you just know each container will be all jumbled because while all the containers are tightly packed, the food in each one usually isn’t. Some of them look nice in the photo, but you know there is no way it’s going to look the same at lunchtime. My kid wasn’t the only one giving his lunch the orbital treatment; his case is hardly unique.
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I’m going to have to be double sure that everything is anchored down, especially when I do a cheese picture (usually I stick everything together with whipped cream cheese).
Because of the kidlet’s early history (he is adopted, was badly neglected the first six months of his life, and was very delayed), we did our own version of homeschooling from the time he was very little. At first we worked with an early head start program; after the adoption was final we didn’t qualify for that (too much income), so we just worked at home at improving the skills and developing new skills.
When he entered the preschool age, we created an “Alphabet Book” using a large 3 ring binder, dividers and those plastic page protector things that you can slip your standard size paper into. In that we collected his preschool work that was alphabet driven, as well as the projects that we continued to do at home to enrich him academically.
One of the projects we did for our letter of the week was a picture collage. I’ve collected pictures from magazines, snail mail ads, old books that were too torn up to keep around, clip art I’ve printed, stickers, etc. I keep them in a large manilla envellope (which I admit isn’t the best solution. I keep thinking I need to get an expandable file thing or something so I can sort them better, but alas, this hasn’t happened). Each week I’d go through and pick out a number of words that begin with the correct sound along with a few that didn’t. Then I’d have the kidlet try and find pictures that begin with the letter of the week and glue them down onto a piece of paper for his letter book.
As he got older and better at it, I’d throw in some tricky ones (like putting a picture of some eyes in with the “I” words that week, for instance). We also would go back to older ones and make sure he remembered what letter the collage was showing.Â
As we finished them up, and he is easily identifying letters by sound, I’d have him select one picture from a collage page, draw his own version, and then try and write out the word, sounding out the letters.
I’m *really* glad that this is something that we focused on. I am amazed at how many children in his Kindergarten class can receite the alphabet, but have no idea what sounds letters make. Since they are focusing on “Kid Writing” – where the child writes words without adult assistance, using the letters that they hear in the word (ie, school gets written a lot like “skool” or “skol”), not knowing those sounds really puts those children at a disadvantage, as they have to learn that before they can develop thier writing and spelling skills.
This post is linked to Kid Friendly Friday at I Blame my Mother.
Today is an inservice day in our school district, so no school. Probably no bento either. I have a question for you moms out there though … how much does your child eat for a snack when they get home from school?
The kidlet has breakfast around 7am. I *try* to give him a decent breakfast, preferably something with some protein and whole grains so it will stick around a little better and not just cereal, although that happens sometimes by his choice or dictated because we overslept or the baby is needy. They have morning snack at 9:30, which is usually quite small; what I would consider a normal snack for him. A small handful of pretzels, half an apple, or a half cup of trail mix — that kind of thing. But when he gets home from school around 2:30, the kid is just Ravenous.
Yesterday he ended up eating: hard boiled egg, half a carrot with ranch, small dish of blackberry applessuce with a tablespoon of dried cranberries, 6 lil smokies, and 4 mini muffins (really mini, like 1″ wide). He started with the egg, carrots and applesauce, and kept asking for more.
Less than 2 hours later he was asking about dinner. I’m boggled by how much he is putting away.
I was >< close to skipping bento today and having the kidlet get a hot lunch. My mom is coming to town to watch Baby L and I’m going to be volunteering at his school right before lunch and I thought I might stay through lunch and help him figure out how to use the card system they have in place for paying for the meals. We put a chunk of money on his card for “just in case”, but of course haven’t used any of that yet. If “just in case” happened, he would be clueless on the process of getting a school lunch and paying for it. I was all resolved to suffer through a “turkey hot dog and mini cheese pizza with fruit and veggie bar”. (yuck!)
Then he woke up before five (egads) and I ended up with plenty of time to make lunch.
Turkey and colby-jack window pane sandwich shaped like an acorn, baby bell cheese, cold polenta cut into leaf shapes and then fried to give them a nice crisp outside (wonder how this will fare, sitting until lunch), raspberries and checkered apple. In addition to the leaf cheese and polenta there are carrots, parsnip and sweet potatos cut into leaf shapes as well.Â
The sweet potato and parsnip are cooked just until soft enough to eat, but still firm enough to pick up and manipulate. I find its easier to cut my shapes from the raw root and then cook it. It’s a lot tougher to get a crisp edge from a cutter on the cooked veggie.
It took an hour from start to finish. That includes cutting all the shapes, cooking the vegetables and polenta and time for them to cool down completely before packing as well as making the apple. Had I planned on a bento today I would have done all the veggies and apple last night. In that hour I was also cooking breakfast and took a quick shower. Hands on time was probably about 25 minutes.
I decided to participate (or rather, have the kidlet participate!) in the Open-Ended Art Projects posted over at Growing and Learning by Leaps and Bounds. This week the theme is Fall Colors: Red, Yellow, Orange and Brown. [Apparently the creator of that site has elected to delete thier blog. This was sudden, as they had posted open ended art for the rest of the month, and gave no indication it was coming]
While he normally has unlimited access to stickers, papers, drawing and coloring materials in his art cart, any thing else I usually have to dig out. (The art cart is against a wall and its not that easy to turn it around in the corner I have it wedged in.) We do a lot of projects, but anything that requires the mixed media / collage / messy stuff usually comes out with a purpose; more a guided art project.Â
 So today I took a bag and wandered around the house raiding the art cart, the supplies closet, and my scrapbooking stuff to find a good assortment of items in the fall colors and then took the bag to the table and set it down and told him there’s a project on the table for him to do. No other instructions. I did put out some generic supplies — glue, glue stick, scissors, brushes and tape.
He started pulling things out, one at a time, examining each thing, especially if it was something he hasn’t used much or recently.
Everything dumped out, its time to start assembling! Those are very sharp scissors he is using. His child scissors would not cut the felt so he asked for help. I got the super sharp bumblebees out and let him use them with cautions and close supervision. He did just fine though.
The final product! What is it? “A scuplture collage for mommy”, or so he says! Everything else went back into the bag for another day. He has his eye on a spool of ribbon and says he wants to make shapes with the cookie cutters, but “not until another day.” I’ll leave the bag handy this week and see if he digs in and makes anything else. I think he really enjoyed the freedom of just doing whatever he wants
Simple bento today. Kidlet actually requested most of its contents (usually he just doesn’t really care, and is content to let me pack whatever I will). He wanted “devilled eggs” (all hard cooked eggs are deviled, whether they actually are or not ;)), muffins, pepperoni and corn. I used our Shinzi Katoh box again. I love that zakka / decole style that he has in his work, but I sure wish he had a single tier option. I don’t know why, but I really struggle to make 2 tier boxes look nice.
Hard cooked eggs with cheese flowers, pepperoni and cheese skewers, little bear pasta for gap fillers (I cooked those right in the same water that I was boiling eggs in and then gave them a light toss in evoo so they won’t dry out and shrivel before lunch). Chocolate chip mini muffins (yes store bought, my last homemade mini muffins were a disaster!), Corn, broccoli, purple and yellow cauliflower, carrot flowers, mini banana (those things are so cute!) which I tossed with some lemon juice, strawberries and blackberry fruit salad. Lemon pepper in the bunny soy sauce container for his corn and eggs.
Kidlet gave me the lunch requests while I was prepping his breakfast. I’d offered eggs and toast since he didn’t want cereal, and he wanted them “devilled” and I explained I didn’t have any ready, but could make them for lunch, and how about scrambled and he said that was good, AND add the pepperoni, etc. So I had to boil the eggs this morning and get them cooled down enough to be safe to pack. Thankfully we didn’t wake up late this morning (we have the last 2 days!) and I had time for that. That took probably 30 minutes total, and I gathered ingredients while I was waiting. Actual assembly was fast, 10 minutes tops.
This week features Bobby Flay. Now I used to really dislike him, back in the early days of the food network. I remember watching Ready, Set, Cook in the mid 90’s and rooting for whoever was against him. (This dates me, I know! ;)) I found him obnoxious and arrogant. One of us has mellowed with age, I guess, because I don’t mind him anymore. I still don’t watch him much, but I do like Throwdown (where he challenges a cook to whatever they do best and tries to beat them at it). This is where I first saw the recipe I chose.
So, for the Challenge, hosted by I Blame My Mother, I prepared Bobby Flay’s Shrimp and Grits, which I saw him prepare on a Throwndown show.
Bar Americain’s Gulf Shrimp and Grits
Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay
Grits:
4 to 5 cups shrimp stock
Salt
1 cup yellow stone ground cornmeal
1 cup grated white Cheddar
Freshly ground black pepper
3 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
Sauteed Shrimp:
1/2 pound thick double-smoked cut bacon, cut into lardons
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
20 large (21 to 24 count) shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the grits: Bring 4 cups of the water and 2 teaspoons of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Slowly whisk in the grits and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the grits are soft and have lost their gritty texture, whisking every few minutes, 15 to 20 minutes. If the mixture becomes too thick, add remaining water and continue cooking until absorbed. Add the cheese and whisk until smooth; season with salt and pepper. [I had no choice but to use quick cooking grits, so I followed the package directions.] For the shrimp: Place bacon in a medium pan over medium heat and cook until golden brown and crisp and the fat has rendered. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the pan and place back on the heat. Add the olive oil and increase the heat to high Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, and add to the pan with the garlic. Sauté until golden brown on both sides and just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove shrimp to a plate. Reserve the garlic oil to drizzle over the finished dish. Divide the grits among 4 bowls and top each with 5 shrimp. Drizzle the top with some of the bacon-garlic oil (that the shrimp were sautéed in) and sprinkle with some of the green onion.
I loved it. Keep in mind, I’m a PNW girl. We don’t have shrimp and grits as a rule in Oregon. In fact, I had to use a quick cooking grit instead of stone ground cornmeal, because my total choices in the store for grits were two - “instant” or “quick”. So this may not be “authentic” and some southerners out there might be appalled, but as a non-shrimp and grits connoisseur, I found it delicious. Probably 3000 calories — but delicious!
Once again my non-foodie hubbie, whose palette is almost as sophiticated as my five year olds, was grouchy and wants to know why I can’t cook the same thing every single day, or at least cook no more than 7 different things and have them every single week. I’d go crazy! He liked the shrimp, but apparently doesn’t like grits, no matter how much cheese is in them.