2 Ways to Serve Chicken Taco

I am finally back to blogging school lunches.  Work has gotten way of my blogging life, and I'm so way behind. I have so many lunches to post and share with you.  The good thing is, none of the days left the kids settle for cafeteria meals.  Oh they did, but just once.  That's by special request because their favorite double mini burger is on the menu this month. I believe G and his friends eat that together in school once in 2 months. I especially know that coz I'm friends with his friend's mom, which we both pack lunches for our kiddos to school.

Mr G loves chicken tacos that we have to pack them again.  But this time I made use of ground chicken instead of shredded chicken breast. I noticed that shredded chicken breast holds better and gives lesser mess.  It stays inside the corn tortilla shell. 

Missy A is never a fan of taco shells and tortilla wraps. So I made her corn tortilla chips in lieu of the taco shell.  Same tacos but served differently.

On his EasyLunchboxes are 2 chicken tacos made of corn tortilla shell with ground chicken.  Salsa in condiment cups with spoon to scoop them out, grated cheese on the smaller compartment, and medium-riped green mangoes on the bigger compartment. 

On her Goodbyn Mix and Match Set, Missy A had a similar lunch except that she got corn tortilla chips instead of a shell for her chicken taco. Medium-riped green mangoes and shrimp snacks on the side.  No salsa and cheese for her.

Procedure for Corn Tortilla Chips:

• Preheat skillet under medium high heat, if you prefer to fry.
• Cut the corn tortilla into wedges (cut it into 8's or 12' like cutting a round pizza).
• Pour vegetable or canola oil onto skillet.
• Add the corn tortilla wedges, sprinkle some salt.
• Cook for 3-5 minutes or until crisp.
• Let it stand on paper towels to blot excess oil.
• Serve.

This is a good example of how you can send lunches of the same entree but packed differently.  No kids are alike, what else on their individual food preferences.  Mine are no exception, and  I have to make both happy or one might come home with a sorrowful tummy.

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the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

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Rotini for your Heart

On my quest to feed my kids healthy and nutritious meals, I have found a way to sneak in whole grains pasta into their diet.  The kids found whole grains pasta tasted like paper.  So I thought of mixing in equal portions of regular and whole wheat Rotini with a pesto sauce.  

We all know that whole grains help fight chronic illnesses; such as, diabetes and hypertension.  So it's better that we start early on healthy eating habits.  Both chronic illnesses are in our family history line.  So preventive is the key to stay away from it.

The family is all having Rotini on our EasyLunchboxes with home-made vegetable marinara sauce for lunch today. No meat.  Both Mr G and Missy A brought them to school, while hub packed it for lunch.

FACTS: Do you know that you shouldn't supposed to be sending in pasta with tomato-based or cream-based sauce mixed in already?  For unknown reason, there is a chemical reaction between pasta & tomato sauce that causes food poisoning when not consumed within a period of time, say an hour or 2. So keep them separate when sending them to school.  Be sure to send the noodles straight from the fridge, and the sauce heated well before packing in thermal containers to keep them hot. Invest on good thermal containers that can keep foods hot for at least 5 hours. Another way to prevent food poisoning is to boil your noodles well, and store any leftover in the fridge.  Always reheat sauce before serving.

I have linked this post to Bento For Kidlet's Meatless Monday.  

Not a Monday lunch but a good and simple menu for vegans.

Visit the party and get more great ideas for your menu this week.

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

DIY: Seafood Vegetable Fried Rice & Eggrolls

I have been fond of cooking lately at home.  I believe that this is the only way to healthy eating coz you eat anything you like, and you control what gets into your system.  This is so true since you have the freedom to choose the right ingredients for your family.

We love Asian cuisines.  All of them.  And we love to eat as well.  We hop from one resto to another to try out new dishes.  Anything we love, we try to make them home-made next time.  Google is a huge place to find the perfect recipe for any food.  Then customize  ingredients according to what works best for you.

As you already know, I'm training my kids to eat meals we already eat at home to school.  That way, planning for school lunches would be a breeze and economical in a way. Imagine sending leftover dinners to school the next day. Let's re-phrase that. What about a re-purpose leftover dinner?  That might sound a little better, right?

Eggroll Recipe: Combine ground meat, minced shrimp, minced onion and garlic, carrots,
salt and pepper together. Roll them up with the use of a shumai or gyoza wrappers for a mini roll, perfect for school lunches.

Say, you had eggrolls for dinner. Do you think your picky eaters would eat them again the next day? Would it be better if it goes with another new dish? Or a repurpose dish?

I repurposed rice for that matter. I made a Seafood-Vegetable Fried Rice which has almost everything on it.  I made use of medium grain brown rice, instead of just white, to take care of fibers and grains. You can never go wrong with corn kernels.  They always add a sweet taste to any cuisine. It's not anything like sugar.  It's whole grain and it's a healthy additive to any cuisine. Add some greens with the use of sweet peas or edamame, carrots, if you wish, and some shredded crabsticks.  Season with Asian seasoning (1 part soysauce, 1 part sesame oil). YUM!!

I would absolutely say, the kids had a hearty meal.  They love it!  I hope you consider to re-purpose your dinner leftover sometime.  It makes our mornings simpler.

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
EasyLunchboxes can also be purchased here.
Thank you for your support!

Homemade Chix Burger - A Recipe

My children are always drawn towards fast food chain meals. It must be the FAD.  You know, whatever they see most eat is a must eat.  So we had a serious health education talk at home and agreed to minimize fast food products and pre-packaged meals at all cost.  I told them it's not bad to eat them once in a while if they need a bite or more, but a daily consumption would surely hurt them systemically.  Besides mommy has all the time to cook and play with food to make them yummy-licious.  So why not take advantage of it.  And reserve restaurant foods for special occasions.

Lunch was Chicken Burger, which we call it Chix Burger for short.  Mister G had a couple of whole wheat halves of Filipino dinner rolls, known as Pandesal, with the chicken patties in his EasyLunchboxes.  Condiments and pickles were on the side to prevent it from getting soggy.  Sides were plums, orange wedges and grapes.  Usually good with lettuce, but due to my pantry shortage, I sent them without, and complemented it with more fruits.

A smaller portion for Missy A on her pink EasyLunchboxes. Ketchup on the pink condiment cup underneath her Yakult drink with a yellow spoon to scoop it out and spread onto her chicken patties.  One small compartment of smaller plum cubes, and a medium compartment of orange wedges and 2 rows of mini red grapes.

Click here to access the recipe.  Consider yourselves forwarned, this recipe is very simple that anyone can follow.  All ingredients are basic unless you have allergy issues, please consider to substitute.  Feel free to modify according to your taste buds. Adjust salt and pepper measurements. Any questions, jot me a comment below.  Thank you!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

Happy V-Bento Day! A Valentine Theme

Valentine's Day has been such a special holiday in our household.  This is the day that we celebrate our love for each other.  It's an anniversary for always being together no matter what the season brings. Like Christmas, it's another season of giving.  Nothing big and fancy, but everything sweet and not good for our teeth.  It's tough when you're the dentist in the family. I am very particular and conscious of anything sticky and chewy candies, that my children brought home each time from school.  That's a huge no-no.  They carry along sugar bugs that  cause decay when left unbrushed.

To celebrate ala bento way, I have prepared school lunches with a simple Valentine theme that anyone can easily duplicate for a week long.  You might be seeing familiar lunches from the past, that I decided to re-post to celebrate our love for bento.

Shrimp Fried Rice with orange wedges on Goodbyn Mix and Match Lunchboxes.

Beef Teriyaki Strips and Teriyaki Fried Rice on Easy Lunchboxes.

Whole wheat dinner rolls & heart shaped-hotdogs on Lunchbots Trio.

Quesadilla wedges with Hearty stamp on EasyLunchboxes.

Have you tried packing lunches with notes? Lunchbox Love Notes has a special way to send your love with food.  They are credit card-sized notes with positive thoughts that boosts self-confidence and sense of security when away from home. My children love them. Some were even passed out to their friends, who enjoyed reading them with facts and jokes on the other side.

Her Lunch

His Lunch

Have you seen this simple tutorial yet?
Click here to find out!

Have a fun Valentine Day!

Happy Heart's Day to all..

All bento accessories are purchased through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other tools are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link:

Thank you for your support!

Handcrafted Valentine Cards

Each year, we are requested to bring Valentine treats for everyone in their class.  I usually make it special, but this year is quite a rush. I have 2 classes to make, 52 kids in all. I just bought lollipops for them, since it is one of the sweet treats that surely won't go to trash. So I customized a Valentine note card that can go with the pops. 

Tools:

• paper cutter or scissors
• border puncher or craft border scissors
• index cards or construction papers (any color) cut into 3" by 2.5"
• label stickers
• punchers
• lollipops

Here's how:

• Pre-cut 3"x5" index cards into halves and border punched them to make appealing borders. 
• With a hole puncher, punch out on each side of the longer side, where you would insert the pop sticks to secure them well in the card. 
• Print your Love Notes on your choice of Avery label stickers.  Here's a template to help you print it out correctly.  Just choose the right label stickers you have, and customize your message.

I hope you like this mini tutorial that won't break the bank.  Just utilize whatever you have at home so there's no need to purchase anything other than the label stickers and lollipops. Or you can actually skip the label stickers and handwrite them all.  It's better because they're personalized with your mark.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

A Week of BIG and SMALL Bento School Lunches

It's been a whole week of crazy schedules last week, when blogging is not a part of it.  I was called to work twice during the weekday, and once on a weekend. Then the rest of the days were volunteer duties in school.  Well, like it or not, but I am that one of those crazy parents who love to volunteer their precious time for their children's classes, no matter what the duty calls for. And, I honestly LOVE it.  It feels good to be needed.  It satisfies me all the way.  What's worst? I was invited to be a part of the PTA-Board Committee the following school year. Of course, I finally accepted after constant invitations for a year now.  So get ready for the drama!

Asian Fried Rice

This lunch was inspired by Momables' menu plan.  I have been sending varied rice meals to school, but never thought of making use of Asian Seasoning which is an equal mixture of soysauce and sesame oil drizzled onto the rice as you stir-fry.

My girly-girl, Missy A adores flowers.  And, she eats anything shaped in florets.  So in her 2-tiered bento box, courtesy of Bento USA, I packed 3 Asian Rice shaped in florets by making use of a 4-shaped onigiri maker {found at the end of this post}, grapes and Oreo cookies on flower-shaped bento cups.

On Mr G's Aqua-lidded Easy Lunchboxes, he got a similar lunch and sides except its cuteness. No more cute shapes for my 4th grader boy. He just wanted me to toss everything in his box.  Glad I could still make use of my silicone cups though.

Breakfast Sushi Rolls

Sushi is one of the best rice meals sent to school without the need of any utensils.  May not be the easiest one to make for most, but once mastered, you'd be hooked like a PRO.  Right now, I'm challenged to make the inverted sushi rolls, which Nori sheets are placed in between the rice and the filling. Are you in?

 

On Missy A's Goodbyn Mix and Match Box, she had half of the amount of sushi roll Mr. G got on his EasyLunchboxes {below}.  Both got apples for fruit sides. The only difference was that Missy A got hers chopped up, while Mr G 's apples were chunked up. Broccoli florets for my veggie loving swimmer, and a choco chip cookie for my sweet tooth little fairy.

 

DIY-Pizza Bagel Lunchables

Addicted to pizza lunchables? Why not DO IT YOURSELF.  It's easy.  All you need is any type of bread. I have used pita breads, thin bagels, thin wheat round breads, and pocket breads.  I even tried Pillsbury's pizza dough, and they worked just fine.  I send them pre-toasted to get the crusty taste of a pizza crust. They taste better.  Then pack it with shredded cheese of your choice, meat toppings, marinara sauce, and a fruit.  Don't forget the spoon to scoop up the hearty sauce and spread them onto the bread crust.

On Mr. G's EasyLunchboxes, he had shredded 4 types of cheese (Mozarella, Parmesan, Cheddar, & Monterey Jack), spaghetti sauce, and turkey pepperoni.  On his other compartment, he had some strawberry hearts.

Bagels

Since we had a stash of bagels at home, I thought of sending in bagels for Thursday as well.  I worked on this day, so something quick and easy was highly favored.  Another easy and simple lunch to go by on rush mornings without compromising healthy nutrition.

Missy A's Goodbyn Mix and Match containers was filled with PB & J bagel thins, 2 heart bento picks of red globe grapes, and a strawberry on a heart shaped cup.

On Mr G's Easy Lunchboxes, a ham and cheese bagel was accompanied by some strawberry wheels and dill slices.  Best of all, it held a special Lunchbox Love Note to send this lunch with a burst of LOVE.

Leftover Dinner

I was called to work again, so Friday's lunch was just a leftover pizza dinner.  It was homemade though, so it wasn't that bad after all.  I was thinking of packing a different lunch, but the kids insisted on pizza.  So it was pizza all the way with a little fruit heavy for Mr G {Aqua ELB}.

On both of the kids' EasyLunchboxes BRIGHTS, they both had each one's portion size of pizza and oranges. On their smaller compartments, Mr G {aqua lid} had kiwi and Missy A {pink lid} had whole wheat fishy crackers swimming on a yellow cup.

It was a long and winding lunch making last week.

So glad you were able to drop by today.

Thanks for stopping by!

All bento accessories are purchased through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other tools are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link:

Thank you for your support!

LOVE Biscuits for Valentines

 

Now that Valentines Day is in the air, we thought of making some lunch ideas that you can pack to school and work for your family.  I like simple meals that can easily be recreated by busy moms.  But since it's V-Day, I'd like to add some special touch that our wee ones would enjoy while eating.  So I made this Love Bento that we could all share and enjoy.