Spring Forward

I've never really enjoyed the time changes of Daylight Savings Time, so I thought I would try to make it a little cheery today.

I made the "spring" from cucumber peel. I tried several times to peel the cucumber so it would be curvy but I am not talented in the ways of peeling fruits and veggies... so my next try was to slice the cucumber as I normally would, then slice the peel off, in a circle, which worked much better. I wrapped the peel around one of my bento basket clothes pins to sit while I made the rest of the lunch. I cut the little leaves with scissors out of the peel scraps from when I was trying to peel the cucumber. Sliced grape tomatoes in half, arranged them on some fresh rice as a flower.

I hardly ever use my veggie cutter but today I found a big fat carrot and got to use my cutter to make a cute little inside to the flower, then I made a bunch of extras for my little one's lunch just for fun.

Smitten Salad

Heart Salad:

Heart shaped eggs, here's how.

Heart Tomatoes

Heart Carrots

Heart Cucumbers

Heart Strawberries on the side  

Sesame Street

Sesame Street premiered on PBS November 10, 1969.

Here's to Elmo and all of our friends, that we grew up with, new and old. 

Tomato sauce and rice, corn tortilla and nori eyes, mustard nose and a nori mouth. 

Valentine's Day Foods

I absolutely love celebrating Valentine's Day with the three little loves of my life, they bring me such joy and it's always fun to do something together to celebrate our little family.

My oldest decorated some hard boiled eggs with the rice cheese and the alphabet cookie cutters.

While I was in the shower, my kids cut out these letters out of apples and rice cheese for me, and put them by my coffee, so I would be sure to see it! 

My little one always needs a snack at Pre-K so I made her some heart shaped hearts and carrots, complete with valentine picks. 

The youngest is allergic to beef and there was some ground buffalo on sale and I thought we would try it. I made some small, heart shaped mini meatloaves for dinner. I made up the meatloaf, then used my rice mold to make the hearts and then cook them up! I also made more heart carrots and Roma tomatoes, cut on the diagonal and put together as hearts. My son is very into presentation and fancy drinks and desserts so he insisted we have our sparkling strawberry cider in our pretty glasses with blueberries, all on top of a white tablecloth. What a fun treat! 

Holiday Penguins

I found these Olive Penguins and just had to make them! These took quite a bit more prep than what I usually like to do, but, hey, it was holiday break... well, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated, but I think it's just me, and I wasn't using regular cream cheese.

I first made this cashew cheese the day before because it needs to refrigerate and started on the penguins. They turned out pretty cute and the kids loved them. Another good afternoon snack, and I didn't make as many as I wanted. I will probably still try again next year just for fun!

one of the kids wanted to try... poor little penguin. 

Christmas Tree Platter

Some new friends invited us over for a holiday party, and asked us to bring something to share. Now, I am the person who, when asked to bring something,  I stop by the store and grab a bag of chips and don't even bother to put them in a nice bowl. Because I'm classy like that. Usually I'm just at a loss for things to bring and even forget things like, say, a bowl to put the chips in. Hostessing is not my forte! 

Anyway, I found this idea online and went with it... I even went to the store and bought a holiday platter! 

Broccoli Christmas tree, cauliflower snow, carrot and tomato ornaments! So much fun, so easy, and a hit at the party! 

Later, my mom was inspired and sent me a picture of what she made for their family get together! Yay, I love being an inspiration! 

Rough morning

This was one of those rough mornings, running late, feeling under the weather and not very creative. I just made some pasta and threw it in their lunch boxes. Well, the kids came to the rescue and couldn't have just pasta! They had to make a face, so grabbed some olives and tomatoes and made faces in their pasta! And it kind of goes with the Halloween theme with looking slightly like a mummy...