Stickers you can EAT! Food Fun.

 

At the Studio City Farmer's Market this weekend, I discovered My Fruity Faces.  My Fruity Faces are fun edible stickers for food.  They are natural, slightly sweet stickers that are OK to eat and dissolve in your mouth.

Adam Gerber, Partner and Kidxecutive showed us these edible stickers.  They are designed to make fruits and vegetables more fun for kids to eat.  When I suggested they would make great cupcake toppers, Adam stopped me and pointed out that their mission was to encourage healthy eating and to help fight childhood obesity.  He then gave my kids a couple of stickers on a cucumber slice.  They ate it up (so to speak!)

You can find My Fruity Faces at http://www.myfruityfaces.com/

Typical Kindergarten Lunch

It's almost the end of Kindergarten and I wanted to show the typical lunch I am making for the girls now.  The meals are bigger, boxes are bigger, and there are less food "pictures" as they get pretty jumbled in the backpacks. 

Their lunches also include a snack - on the side: 1 Frozen Gogurt & 1 canister of water.

 .

These lunches included:

Pepperoni and provolone with lettuce and Miracle Whip on wheat bread - 1/2 Sandwich

1/2 Banana

Broccoli Crowns

Green Pepper Slices

Grapes

Cheddar Goldfish Crackers

Chewy Granola Bar

Raisins

A Mosaic Review of Bento

1. bento, 2. bentoDay2, 3. FishtankBento, 4. RosesInTheGarden, 5. Flowerbox, 6. farmbox, 7. SpookyBatBento, 8. ClownsAreScary, 9. TheVeryHungryBento, 10. Thanksgiving Bento, 11. LoveBento, 12. TwinBento, 13. DinoBento, 14. BENTO 001, 15. BentoStars, 16. PacManBento, 17. bentoFlowers, 18. Bunnies, 19. SpringFlowers, 20. OwlFaceBentoPub, 21. SpongebobSingle, 22. SpongebobSquareLunch, 23. LoveBento, 24. BentoOtheIrish, 25. EagleBento, 26. LoveBugBento, 27. LoveBugBento, 28. TwoButterflies, 29. CatBento, 30. Butterfly Bento, 31. MonstoBox, 32. beegirlbento, 33. PrincessBoxes, 34. HeatWaveBento, 35. LastDayofDaycareRainbowStar, 36. Snail Bento

Thank You

Today is the day before Thanksgiving.  In School, my children made Thanksgiving place mats with some things they are thankful for, and I am inspired. 

I am so grateful for my life right now.  Things are a little sketchy financially; freelance money is just not the same as full time money.  I can't buy a ton of presents for the Holidays, my clothes are shabby chic to put it nicely, and I haven't been able to afford to renew my membership at the gym, so with my love of food, I'm not exactly trimming down this holiday season.  I miss my dog.

The thing is, without regular hours I get to spend more time with the kids and that is a true treasure.  I can't afford many gifts, but maybe I could get a few, or make some.  I am thankful for friends who don't care what gifts they do or do not receive. I am thankful for I have clothes, luckily many from years of plenty, some do not.  I can't go to the gym, but I am able to cook delicious meals which I creatively put together in the fashion of Grandmother of Food when she had little, "If we had a dollar, we used a dollar."  I am thankful for her wisdom and her recipes.  I am thankful for my garden.  I am thankful for our water to drink.  I am thankful for those who are reading this post.  I am thankful for the years I had with my dog.  I am thankful for my Husband.  I am thankful for love, and toys, and candy.  I am thankful that my Daughter is thankful for her Sister and just like her Sister, my Daughter, I am thankful, very thankful, for my family.

Barn Cake!

Little friend of food, Naomi turned 4 this week!

I loved the Barn Cake that her Mom and Grandma made.

The Sheep cupcakes went early (young kids are attracted to marshmallows.)

I preferred the ducks.  The coconut feathers and moist cake made a cleveland bar type of flavor was fabulous to taste.

The bakers said they got the recipe and idea from Betty Crocker online, which I did find here.

My only suggestion if you want to try it, is to leave out some of the red food coloring in the barn frosting. Apparently, some red food color has iodine in it which causes a bitter taste, but gives the most vibrant and prettiest results.  There is a no taste food color available, but it may not be very bright red, kosher, or vegetarian.  Check with the ingredients for your needs.

Great job guys, beautiful cake!

Little Lovin Bento

Just a little lovin' for my kindergarten kiddos, inspired by a trip to the local farmer's market.

This box includes:
A collection of small heirloom tomatoes,
fresh strawberries,
frozen green grapes
carrots carved into heart shapes
romaine lettuce
heart shaped PB&J

That's right, this box contains peanut butter!  New school, new rules.  The kids are happy about the change.
Everything in the boxes was eaten except for half of one of the pieces of romaine.

Snail Bento, or Escargo-to

My kid started Kindergarten and already she has come to me with one of those I-knew-the-other-kids-were-going-to-be-a-bad-influence-on-you-questions, "Mom, can you get this thing that is in the grocery store near the salami and it has cheese and crackers and it is in a box..."
"Are you talking about a Lunchable?!"  "Yes!," she says,"Get me that!"
Sigh...

I made snails instead.
May my children forgive me.

These bento include one Turkey and Cheese Sandwich as a snail body
a Vanilla Wafer for a head, detailed with sparkly green icing
Carrot antennae, also detailed with icing
Lettuce as a meadow background
Grapes as the mossy floor
Carrots topped with Raspberries make the mushrooms on which the snail likes to snack

Dough for Playing!

 

When you have kids, there are certain things you can't wait to try.  This project was one I have been waiting to do for 3 years.  We tried an uncooked recipe a while back and now... at last, we made cooked Play Dough from scratch.  Both recipes are listed below.

 

This is the pre-dyed dough.

Add some food coloring to make many variations of color. This is a great project for teaching color mixing.

By the end, many balls of dough were coming out a mossy green.

We experimented mixing decorating sugar into some of the balls of dough.  This looked pretty at first, but after a few hours, the sugar broke down the dough and made a slimy concoction.

The project was fun to make and generated hours of fun after the completed dough was made.  This recipe made a dough that is still perfectly pliable and sculpt-able a week later.

From Creative Kids
Cooked Playdough (flour and salt)
3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp cream of tarter
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water
Dissolve salt in the water.
Pour all ingredients into a large pot.
Stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms by pulling away from the sides.
Knead the dough mixture until the texture matches playdough (1-2 minutes).
Store in plastic container. Should last for at least 3 months.

NOTE: This recipe is made from edible ingredients and not toxic in small amounts for children. However, a dog got sick after eating a batch of playdough. It is not intended as a food item. Please be sure to put it away after your children have finished playing.

The Uncooked Recipe:

From Master Cook
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Kids

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 c Flour
1 1/2 c Salt
3 tbsp Oil
1 c Water
1 tbsp Food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl. May be seperated into 4 to make 4 different
colors.

Last Day Rainbow Star Lunch

It's the end of an era.  This is the final pre-school lunch for my wee ones, and yes of course I made two.
My twins are soon to go on to kindergarten where who knows what the lunch situation will be. I wanted them to have one last special bento box lunch made with love from Mommy before their next big adventure.
Here is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Seedless Grapes
1/2 Peach
1 Peeled Carrot
1/2 Banana
1 Celery Stalk
1 Turkey, Bacon, and Cheese Sandwich on Wheat, cut into quarters
2 Hand Cut Green Pepper Stars soaked in blue food coloring for extra blue hue

Cat peaking Out of the Bushes (Sounds better than "Cat Box")

Today's feline inspired bento "Cat peaking out of the Bushes" is composed of :
broccoli to create a background and to hold everything in place,
celery and dip,
Laughing Cow cheese wedges for the ears,
hummus in a nice round sealed pack,
crackers, both as the face of the cat and underneath the cheese and broccoli as a base,
tomato slices for the mouth,
shelled edemame for the nose and eyes,
and carrot slivers for the whiskers.
 It's just something joyful for my little kittens.

Heart Box

I could not let a Valentine's Day go by without making a special Heart Box for my babies.
This one features:
Turkey and cheese on wheat bread with heart cut outs and the crusts removed.
Heart shaped strawberries.
Flatbread and creamy wedge cheese slightly mushed into a heart shape.

You can see my other love inspired bento box lunches on this blog, at the following links.

A Little Extra Love
Love Bug Bento
Valentine Lunch, Bento of Love, Heart Shaped Box?

The Fever is Spreading

Today I went to a birthday party for young Friend of Food's Daughter (Friend of Food once removed?) and just look at the loving care put into these cat themed goodies.  Friend of Food's Mom made these treats.

For the kids, peanut butter and jelly Cat Sandwiches, with raisins for eyes, pretzel sticks for whiskers, and grape tomato noses.

For everyone, there were chocolate Cat Cupcakes frosted in purple (the Birthday Girl's favorite color) with M&M eyes, marshmallow teeth, licorice whiskers, raisin noses, and tart gummy candy ears.  There was a secret surprise, the paper cups were Hello Kitty, so there was a cat at the bottom of the cup cake. 

Nicely done, Friend of Food's Mom.  It seems the fever for making iconic foods is spreading, maybe in this case it is a cat scratch fever?

Valentine Lunch, Bento of Love, Heart Shaped Box?

I was overcome with love for my two little girls this week and I had to express it somehow.  Hopefully my expressions will be remembered by my children always.  This little Pre-Valentine was made like this...

A bunch of washed edemame pods are topped with cherry tomatoes cut into heart shapes with a sharp knife.
Deep Red Chilean cherries are sliced in half and pitted, then covered with sprinkles of hearts picked out of a box of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal.
A bed of romaine heart lettuce is laid beneath heart shaped roast beef and muenster sandwiches.  The sandwiches were easily cut with heart shaped cookie cutters. 

Maybe this will inspire you to share some food love with someone special.

Spongebob Truth or Square Ships!

OK, this is more Family than Food, Spongebob Truth or Square Shipped today. It is now available everywhere fine videogames are sold. You can get yours at these convienent amazon links. Daughter of Food especially reccomends playing level 6 and 7.

Bento Collection

This is a collage featuring some of the Bento I made for my twins. You can find most of them on this blog. Check the Bento Boxes tag for these and more.

Bento of the Sea

There is no fish in this lunch, but yet, it is all about fish.



Here is what is in this fish tank:
Goldfish Crackers
A fishlike Red Radish swimming in a "roe" of peas
Bologna, Turkey, and Cheese on Wheat Bread, hand carved to look like a fish.
This sandwich was a special request from the twins, "We want Turkey and Bologna."

I hope they ate it up like sharks.

The Best New Kids Joint in The Valley

I have always been a big fan of the local chain of Mexican Restaurants called Poquito Mas, but the newest one on Ventura Blvd. takes the cake when it comes to dining with the kids.

Poquito Mas focuses on fresh healthy food and their newest location is the nicest I've seen. The seating area is split into inside and out, with a more modern look than the others. Clean and bright, the dining room features a tortilla bar were you can watch the tortillas being made by hand. Is that what we see in the picture above? No, that is an image of my two year old playing with the "Mexican Playdough" we were given with our meal. Poquito Mas has thought of something different than the average set of crayons, they give you a small cup of tortilla dough to mash and sculpt. My kids love it! Add in the friendly staff, the delicious food, the abundance of high chairs, the balloons, lollipops, and yes, crayons, and I can barely get my kids to leave. Poquito Mas is a great spot for kids of all ages.

Poquito Mas
13924 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 981-7500