Summer Mealtime: Paella & A Recipe

Olympic Blog Hop - London 2012

With the Summer Olympic happening right now in London, my Bento Bloggers and Friends decided to celebrate it with another blog hop.

Of all the sports featured, we love swimming the most. Basketball is for my dad and hubby. It's something my kids and I look forward to watch. They are swimmers themselves, my son's a competitive one, but has no future plan for a competition. He said he doesn't like pressure and much training. He just wants to swim, that's all about it. And I say, we'll see.

Olympic 2012 Logo

For lunch, I prepared them sushidogs, arranged in such a way that it represented the 5-Olympic ring logo, with strawberry hearts that represented our love of the event. Each had a scoop of French Vanilla icecream topped with a swimming ring.

Gavin's lunch was packed on his favorite Easy Lunchboxes, while sissy wanted hers on her most loved Dora lunchbox.

Her lunch up close with the #1 pick on.

Now let's hop over to my amazing friend, Sarah of Bentoriffic, and see what she served her girls to welcome Olympics 2012. 

Make sure to push the button above, on every blog, to enjoy the hop till you get back from where you started. Have fun!!

Happy hopping!!

~Marie

Recipe: Fish Cake

You might be wondering what are fish cakes.  These aren't cakes made out of flour that we bake. Well, they have flour but we fry them on stove-top.  It's a Chinese cuisine that I learned from my mother-in-law.  I know that there are other variants made of fish fillets and potato patty coated in breadcrumbs.  The ones that I learned were different and much simpler to prepare.

Summer Mealtime: Salads & Fish Cakes on ELB

Have I shared the news yet?

I have received my very first Easy Lunchboxes in the mail last week.  And I was overjoyed and inspired to pack meals once again.  I know I told you before that the kids don't eat on bento boxes when home, but with our new Easy Lunchboxes, they allowed me to do it. They said the meals look better and awesome.

Why haven't I done it sooner?

So for today, my kiddos and I ate on our Easy Lunchboxes. I have to pack them last night so it's ready by lunchtime the following day.  I have work at 1pm and would have to leave by noon on Mondays and Wednesdays.

We had a salad of spinach, romaine, carrots and olives. The kids had Ranch on smidgets, while we had Light Champagne dressing.  Everyone had Fish Cake (recipe here), and Plums on the side.

More lunches will be packed on Easy Lunchboxes as I sent them to school for Fall.
And for interested parties on how to get their very own Easy Lunchboxes, click here.

Hope you're having a wonderful summer!

~Marie

Summer Mealtime: Universal Studios

We were set to visit Universal Studios once again.  But this time we planned our trip better. We decided to pack our own lunches due to my dad's dietary restrictions.  He's diabetic. So we want to make sure that he's getting the right amount of protein against carbohydrates for a balanced meal.

We visited the Transformers Ride as early as 10am with very few people in line. The 2 hours wait on weekends were cut into 15 minutes wait for family riders, and 10 minutes wait for single riders.  Imagine that! We could actually take seconds for that amazing experience. It's our favorite amusement by far.

We also visited the Dino Play, which caters children up to 48" tall. Older siblings are welcome provided they don't play rough around toddlers and smaller children.

Then we had lunch. 

Tell you what.  People around us were pretty nosy about our lunches. I know eyes were on us, speculating why I was bringing out containers and containers of lunches.  Too bad my ELBs haven't arrived  yet. Or their eyes would pop.

 5 lunches with an extra pack of sandwiches for dad's snack, placed in a smaller container (below) to hold his chocolate bar and medicines. Chocolate bar is for emergency only such as when his blood sugar level dropped.

I packed homemade veggie burgers on whole wheat bun with spinach and lettuce on the side, and a variety of berries and grapes. I tried to make it look nice as possible.  But when I'm under the morning stress, I only do what's necessary. I keep them simple but neat. We also brought with us, water bottles, condiments of ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, and mayo. All in handy small containers. Next time I'll take a picture of it so you know how I packed it hassle-free.

Hope you're enjoying your week. It's only 31 more days till school starts.

Have an awesome Wednesday!!

~Marie

Summer Mealtime: Dinosaurs

Today we learned about Dinosaurs. 

We didn't have much time to read last night due to my busy schedules.  However, they were able to pick out a book to read on their own before bedtime. Did I tell you yet, that I might start to teach phonics and reading to Kindergartners anytime this July, if all things push through. It's something that I've been formally doing for my children.  And something that I find accomplishments other than bento-ing.

To make up from last night, I brought out book this morning to read for them while they're eating breakfast.  I, of course, made them a dino breakfast to celebrate.

Summer Mealtime: A Place to Bloom

Today we went to the library to loan more books to read for the week.  We choose books at random without any clue what kind of message the book brings. We give each book a chance to relay its message. I read aloud to them on a regular basis. So I don't worry much about that. I try to answer every questions they might have. Then I throw questions to them if they have none. We try to make it interactive for added fun. It's been our nighttime routine. Nobody goes to bed without reading a single book in a day.  Except for daddy, who patiently waits till it's time for prayers and bed. 

Last night we read the book, "A Place to Bloom" by Lorianne Siomades.  It's a little book with such big message. The message conveys to us that the world doesn't exist for us alone, but for all of God's creatures as well, large and small, people and animals.  The things that we take for granted may be precious to someone else, whether it's food on our tables, or the trees in the park.  We should learn to share whatever we have, even if it has to be our own place to bloom.  We especially love this book for its rhyme and lovely illustrations.  It helps readers think about others and the world around them.

There are so many things to consider when creating a lunch for this particular book. So I asked my girl what's her favorite part of the book. She said that it's when the little girl found a worn out bear that has been thrown away, brought it with her, and became her very best friend.  She loves bears so this is what I got for her breakfast.

Summer Mealtime: I ♥ HEART!

Have I told you that we're participating in our Public Library's Summer Reading Program? Yep! And we decided to pursue on making our meals inspired by every book we read for the record. We figured it's a great way to connect with the book.  Not only that, but it helps retain the lesson of each story. An absolute wonderful learning tool for the kids and adults alike.

For this post, I have decided to make lunches from the book, 

"The Magic School Bus Has A Heart".

In this book, Ms. Frizzle's class is learning about the heart.  They are going to see a movie, but they end up on a heart-pounding adventure when Keesha trips and falls.  The class learned the circulatory system in Keesha's body, just before they went for the movie, and celebrated her birthday.

Summer Mealtime: Seaside Bento

We had a seaside adventure one Saturday afternoon. Our cravings for shelled foods brought us to the Reondo Pier. Since new moon hit the 4th of July, we thought it would be the best time to eat some crabs at the pier this weekend. It's the time when the crabs could eat better, thus meatier catch for the fishermen. Lucky none of us have food allergies, so we hit the road without hesitations. I just have to pack lunches for the kids who were both not a huge fan of shelled foods.

I packed sliced crab-meatloaf with ketchup, carrot slices & Ranch, 

strawberry hearts and cherries.

Grandma's in charge of the rice and corn, so I skipped that.  

And that's part of their lunches.

For us, I packed brown rice, diced tomatoes and cilantro salad, soysauce and lemon dip. Then we bought huge meaty crabs, red snapper fillets, and clam chowder soup for everyone to share and enjoy.  It was a fulfilling meal that everyone had. 

After, we headed to the beach side for some water and sand play,

while the oldies relaxed and de-stress.

Have a wonderful day!

~Marie 

Summer Mealtime: Inspired by The Magic School Bus and the Shark Adventure

My kids are huge fans of The Magic School Bus Series. Big G started reading those series back in Kindergarten, and still enjoys it now that I'm reading it to his Sissy.  Since I have the right tools in hand, we decided to make a breakfast the following day to talk more about it.  And further connect with the story.

I would have to thank an amazing fellow bento blogger, Keitha from Keitha's Chaos, for inspiring me to make lunches out of the books we read. My children are voracious readers, and I'd like to inspire them better by making meals out of it.  But you see, mama's not a food artist, as my fellow Bento Bloggers & Friends. I just try to put together healthy lunches and make them appear as appealing as it could be.  So bare with me.

Ms. Frizzle and her class were painting a big picture of the ocean life, when Keesha asked if she could paint a mermaid's purse. Unknown to all, Ms. Frizle decided to take the class on a trip to the ocean to find out what a Mermaid's Purse is all about. Turns out those are shark egg cases.

So here's the lunch I made for both of them, which reminded them of the whole MSB trip with Ms. Frizz, as she's fondly called by the class.

Summer Mealtime: Under The Sea

If you have been reading my blog, I'm sure that you already know that I have an incoming kindergartner who's quite picky with foods school lunches.  To be honest, I have been on the internet as much as I could to find the most adorable lunches I could that would work for my little girl to encourage her to eat in school.  I didn't have issues with her when she was in preschool because the preschool served healthy warm lunches. Thus, she eats what everyone's eating.   So this summer I have taken the opportunity that I could to practice several bento skills I need to learn for the following school year.

I made an under the sea breakfast today.

 Sissy had 3 fishes cut from 1 sandwich bread, 

and 2 octopuses (as Cute Foods for Kids call them).

I cut some Nori sheets for seaweeds background, which my kids love

to have in every meal.  I also found a good tutorial on how to make an octopus

out of hotdogs thru Cute Foods For Kids which can be found here.

Big G had 2 dolphins cut from 2 sandwich breads,

and 3 octopuses. With similar ingredients for the seaweed and background.

If you notice I lack eyes and mouth for the octopuses.  That's because we run out of big straws that can cut the right dimensions. Next time I'll show a better picture for you.

I even forgot to place hat picks for him since he was in a rush to dig into this.

But everyone's happy and didn't even notice what I did.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

~Marie

Summer Mealtime: Love That Star

Today is Independence Day. 

I made a special breakfast for my kiddos for a change.  Both of them got the same design and love, except for the filling.  He got Turkey and butter on his star sandwich, while she got her new favorite SunButter, courtesy of Keeley McGuire Blog. And both got strawberry hearts on their plate, and several more on the side (in case they want more), which they actually do most of the time.

It's surprising to have these kids eat like magic. I normally have issues on feeding them breakfast regularly this summer time.  I figured that if I present it in a different but fun way, they might buy the idea and start looking forward for breakfast each day.  And it worked! My son, who's so used with my lunch packing routine, actually misses it. Though he wanted it on his plate this time. My girl bought the idea of cute breakfast. Only she played with it first and eat it slowly as she gets to the end. 

Every child is different. And I'm determined to find what's best for them,

and what suits their needs.

Happy 4th  of July to all!

~Marie

Summer Mealtime: Soft Taco & Burrito on Make-It Plates

Alas! I found time to make special lunches for the kiddos.  Usually we just have rice and something healthy on a piece of plate at home. But today we had small leftovers to finish, which my dad and I could manage to gobble all to ourselves. Hubby took some to work this morning. And I'm feeling quite lazy to cook. So I thought of a soft taco for the kiddos, since I have all ingredients on hand, and it's pretty easy to prepare it.

Big G have 2 warmed flour tortillas on his Makit Plate, 

lightly toasted green bellpeppers, seasoned ground meat, shredded cheddar,

diced tomatoes & refried black beans.

Sissy didn't like cheese at all and can't get a good grip of the soft taco shell.

We turned her lunch into a burrito instead for an easier grasp. 

She had refried black beans and seasoned meat burrito on her Makit plate.

Of course, I would like to specially thank Sarah of Bentoriffic
for providing me the tools, to make my lunches extra appealing for the kids.
I must admit, it helped on days when they are quite picky.