The Lunch Lady

Pretty Food

2012-05-10T14:30:00.002-04:00

If you know anything about me at all, it's that I love pretty food. Half the battle is making it look good, in my opinion. Plus, the more colorful your food (as long as the color is natural made!) the more nutritious.

I love plating salad for special occasions. This was our Easter salad. Nothing amazingly special right? Just some Spring Mix, a few cucumbers, baby carrots, bell peppers, and a halved grape tomato.

But so pretty no?

This was the salad we served at our church's Vision Luncheon a few weeks ago. Super easy, fairly cheap, and fantastically fancy looking.

Dress up your salad!

The Lunch Lady

Roasted Cauliflower Medley

2012-05-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here's another recipe I threw together for my last minute Easter lunch. Roasted Cauliflower Medley.

I did a vegetable recon and located a head of cauliflower, some carrots, an onion and got to work.

Wash, peel, and chop up the cauliflower, onion, and carrots and toss into a baking dish.

I like to cut the onion in half and then slice it up very thinly.

Sprinkle the veggies generously with black pepper, sea salt, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Bake at 400 degrees (F) for 35-45 minutes till the vegetables are fork tender, carmelized, and browned a bit.

The flavors mingle so nicely when vegetables are roasted together.

Serve with scalloped potatoes and a nice crunchy salad.

Use what you have.
The Lunch Lady

Starbella Scarves

2012-04-30T16:28:00.001-04:00

My sister and her beautiful daughters are selling these scarves.

Check out this website for more information

They are handmade and come in a zillion colors.

$18 for long

$10 for short

Scalloped Potatoes

2012-04-30T14:51:00.001-04:00

Yes, I'm finally back. I've been accumulating pictures and ideas for several months while I've been in the throes of getting my house on the market. What a job! It's finally on and now we are playing the "waiting game" and the "keep everything perfect game." So far so good.

This is a dish that I made on Easter, very last minute.

Originally, we were going to attend our church's potluck but I didn't make it to church that morning. I'd been battling with a flu/cold bug for a few days and just couldn't pull myself together. I think it was my first Easter ever that I didn't make it to church.

I still needed to feed my family something. I took inventory of my fridge and kitchen. I had a bag of red potatoes, a cauliflower, some carrots, onions, and a nice big tub of lettuce.

Here's the first dish I pulled "out of my hat."

Here's the deal. You either have to have a lotta patience and a very sharp knife or one of those Mandolin do dads. I have a cheapo mandolin that works great for me.

Wash the potatoes and slice them thinly without chopping off any of your fingers.

I like to arrange them in a circular pattern in a greased dish.

Layer them round and round.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with a bit of olive oil as you layer.

Dot the top with butter.

Bake in a 400 degree (F) oven for 45 minutes or so.

I put the dish under the broiler for a bit (too long) to brown it.

I love the crispy parts the best!!

Enjoy!

Scalloped Potatoes
Washed unpeeled potatoes
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder

1. Slice potatoes thinly and layer in a greased baking dish.
2. Alternate layers with seasonings and butter pieces.
3. Bake at 400 degrees (F) for 45 minutes or till fork tender. Broil for a few minutes till browned and crispy.

The Lunch Lady

No-Sew Scarf

2012-01-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here's another one of those Pinterest inspirations. (SO SORRY for the bad pics. It's dark, flash, and using my IPhone.)

You take an old T shirt. Cut it up, wrap it around your fingers into loops, tie them together, and you have a really cute scarf!

Here are the directions: Click Here.

I gave this one to my mom-in-law. It's from an old long sleeve light heather blue tee. It's super soft and she loved it.

I love the stripes on this one.

I made a bracelet from the sleeves. (The top one in the picture.)

So far, I've made six (6!) scarves (in 2 days)!

My uh...9 year old (boy) really really really wanted one, so I made him a red and blue one from 2 different Old Navy Flag tees from years ago. I alternated red and blue and made it with about 8 strips instead of 16 or so. He loves it. It's kinda more manly, I guess.

I think it might have to do with his European blood.

Or something.

The Lunch Lady

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

2012-01-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

I'm SO totally into Pinterest all of the sudden. It's like reading a magazine, loving an idea, virtually cutting on the picture, and pinning on a virtual bulletin board. The link is there for when you go back to it.

It's awesomeness.

It's addicting. But really, I can do it for 5 minutes, taking a coffee break, and get SO inspired!

This recipe is from Pinterest Inspiration. (Follow TheNewLunchLady boards to see what inspires me. Leave me a comment if you want an invite to Pinterest.)

Here is the link: Click Here. Now, the directions are great so I'm obviously not going to re-invent the wheel.

The beauty of is is that it's Gluten-Free, Yeast-Free, Sugar-Free, and if you are eating it in a Carb-Free meal, then it's guilt-free!

I made one for my boys with mozzarella, a little bit of sauteed mushroom and onions, and a few slices of roma tomatoes (I didn't have any marinara sauce.)

I made one for me and hubby with Manchego & Pecorino Romano Cheeses (Sheep Milk cheeses), lots of sauteed mushrooms and onions, and roma tomatoes, and some fresh basil.

Groan. Moan. It truly is one of the BEST things I have made in a long time. It's not terribly difficult, it takes a little while (45 minutes total time) but it's SO incredibly worth it.

My middle two sons came back for seconds.
Totally worth it.

Taken from recipegirl.com because she does it SO well! I adjusted it to my version just a tiny bit. (visit her site for lots of beautiful yummy ideas.)

CRUST:
1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 1 1/2 cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese or any combination of other cheeses
1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

TOPPINGS:
Whatever your heart desires.

1. Process cauliflower in food processor till crumbly. Place 1 1/2 cups of the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them (dry) for 8 minutes. Give the cauliflower a chance to cool. (Important or you'll cook the egg!)

2. Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups cauliflower crumbles with the remaining crust ingredients. Pat the "crust" into a 9 to 12-inch round on the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.

3. Prepare the pizza: Spread the sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on top. Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into 6 slices and serve immediately.

The Lunch Lady

Blueberry Coffeecake

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is a super easy coffee cake that I make in a springform pan. I love using frozen berries because it cuts several steps when making fruit coffee cakes. No washing, slicing, peeling, or dicing involved.

I'm a cheater. I admit it.

I made this cake for our mid morning snack since we had a bit of snow yesterday and didn't shovel it. Needless to say, my little car refused to make it up our long uphill driveway this morning and kept me and the boys home from church.

What better thing to do on my day of rest that bake? (besides go to church?)

Plus, I knew the boys would be banging down my proverbial kitchen door for something to eat. As usual.

The downside to such a yummy cake is that there aren't any leftovers. I had to sneak a piece aside for hubby's breakfast tomorrow.

This is great for breakfast, brunch, snack, or dessert.

Ya can't go wrong here.

It's a great cake because it only uses 2 cups of flour and you put the fruit on top of the batter.

Less mixing.

I like to add a butter crumb topping made with organic butter, organic brown sugar, and organic spelt flour.

It's just SO good.

Blueberry Coffeecake
2 cups organic spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup milk (or apple juice, cider)
3/4 cup agave nectar (or sugar, honey)
4 Tablespoons oil (or half applesauce, half oil)
2 cups frozen blueberries

Topping: 2 Tablespoons organic butter, 1/4 cup organic spelt flour, 2 Tablespoons organic brown sugar. Mix in small bowl with fingers till crumbly.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F)
2. Mix wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls and then mix them together till just combined.
3. Pour into a greased springform pan.
4. Top with frozen blueberries.
5. Add topping.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes till center is done.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting.

The Lunch Lady

Quinoa Pilaf

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love quinoa (Keen-wa). I was able to grab a big bag of organic quinoa from BJs about a month or so ago and have been making a few recipes with it here and there. Only one of my boys likes it so it usually ends up being a lunch for just three of us.

I actually used the recipe on the bag for most of this dish with a few tweaks. I'm a tweaker, I admit it.

It's simply sauteing a chopped onion and some carrots in a saucepan with a bit of oil. Add 2 cups of broth and one cup of quinoa, and cook for 15 minutes.

That's just a bit too boring for me so I added some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika.

Then I dumped some leftover broccoli, onions, and carrots stir fry from last night's dinner (sauteed with fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and tamari (soy sauce).

Now we're talking!

Flavor.

I love the nutty flavor of the quinoa grain. Once the grains puff into a ball, you know they are done.

Quinoa Pilaf
1 organic onion, chopped
2 organic carrots, diced
1 cup organic quinoa
2 cups organic vegetable broth
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika to taste.
extra veggies

1. Saute onion and carrots in a bit of olive oil in a sauce pan.
2. Add broth and quinoa and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Season to taste.
4. Add sauteed veggies.

Enjoy!
Be healthy!

The Lunch Lady

Drenched Tilapia with Roasted Broccoli

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is truly one of the best fish dishes I've ever made. It was super easy because all I did was use my Peppercorn Dressing that I already had in the fridge, some Pecorino Romano cheese, and Tilapia filets.

I covered each piece of fish with dressing and cheese, and a shot of white wine and baked them for about 15 minutes till done.

You can totally substitute Ranch Dressing and whatever cheese you like.

So simple, so sublime.

I also roasted the broccoli in the oven on 400 degrees.

I made an oil vinaigrette: olive oil, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika. Whisked it together in a large bowl, added the broccoli florets and tossed it by covering the bowl with a plate and shaking it up. This coats the broccoli really well and seasons it quite nicely. Throw in the oven and roast till just slightly crunchy.

So yummy. Everyone liked it so it's a keeper!

Drenched Tilapia with Roasted Broccoli
Tilapia filets
Ranch dressing
Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan)
White wine
Broccoli florets
olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika

1. In a baking dish, cover Tilapia filets with dressing and cheese. Pour in a cup or so of wine. Bake @ 400 for 15 minutes till done.
2. Mix vinaigrette ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. Add broccoli florets and toss to coat using a plate to shake the bowl.
3. Place broccoli on a cookie sheet and roast till cooked through, about 10-15 minutes @ 400 degrees.
4. Plate and serve!

I will post my Peppercorn Dressing recipe soon!

The Lunch Lady

Spaghetti with Peas and Spinach

2012-01-22T16:23:00.000-05:00

This dish is very much like any other Pantry Pasta dish I make. Meaning: throw in what you have.

I had a package of bacon, frozen peas, some baby spinach, fresh basil, a roma tomato, and a couple of mini mozzarella balls leftover from New Year's Day.

And I had a very hungry bunch of boys to feed for lunch.

I love my cast iron pan. If ya don't have one, ask for one for your birthday or Christmas. It's a great investment and cooks veggies and meat beautifully.

Heat and boil water for your pasta. I like to use brown rice pasta because we try to avoid wheat most of the time in our house.

I start with heating my cast iron pan and cooking about 4 slices of bacon, cut in half, till crispy. Set aside on a paper towel and add a chopped onion to the still hot pan full of bacon grease.

Once the onions are well on their way to done-ness, add the frozen peas and a fresh garlic clove that's minced. Season with salt and pepper and a bit of italian seasoning.

Cook the spaghetti while your stuff is sauteing.

Meanwhile, chop up a roma tomato, some fresh organic baby spinach, and a few leaves of fresh basil.

Plate the spaghetti in a deep dish and cover with the tomato, spinach, basil, and mozzarella balls. Cover the ingredients with the hot onion mixture. Crumble and add the bacon. Toss it all and season with salt.

Sprinkle with some Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese and enjoy!

Spaghetti with Peas and Spinach
1 pound organic brown rice spaghetti
4 slices nitrate-free bacon
1 organic onion, chopped
1 cup frozen organic peas
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 clove organic garlic, minced
1 cup organic baby spinach, chopped
3 leaves organic fresh basil leaves, chopped
mini marinated mozzarella balls
Salt and pepper, to taste
Italian seasoning
Pecorino Romano cheese

1. Cook spaghetti
2. Cook bacon. Set aside on a paper towel and add a chopped onion to the still hot pan full of bacon grease.
3. Add minced garlic and peas. Saute.
4. Meanwhile, chop tomato, spinach, and basil.
5. Plate the cooked spaghetti and top with tomato, spinach, basil, and mozzarella balls. Add hot onion mixture and season to taste.
6. Crumble bacon and toss the pasta. Top with cheese.

The Lunch Lady

Julienned Bell Pepper Vinaigrette

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love buying a 6 pack of peppers at BJs (our local wholesale club.) The beautiful orange, yellows, and reds brighten up any salad. It's also my boy's favorite raw vegetable.

Every so often I get inspired to do something a bit different (for me) and I had the idea of julienning the bell peppers to put on a salad instead of the chunks we usually do. I also love how my spell check is wigging out right now with this word; jullienne. I've noticed that it doesn't pick up a whole lot of cooking terms. The spell check maker guy must not know a whole lot of cooking terms.

Having said that, I also like to make up words.

This is super easy but you do need a sharp knife and a cutting board to get the deed done correctly.

I also threw in half an English cucumber to add in some green.

Once all the peppers are cut, place a bit of oil, vinegar (I love white balsamic), mustard (any kind you like), honey, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl and whisk.

Add the veggies and toss to coat.

I love me some Baby Romaine Hearts because I can buy a giant tub of these already washed. Salad is so much easier if the lettuce is already washed.

Top the lettuce with the seasoned peppers.

So pretty.

You could drizzle the salad with the remaining dressing or just use a different one that compliments the flavors. My favorite is Creamy Peppercorn. I just searched my blog and realized that I never posted this amazing dressing. That will be remedied shortly.

Shake up those salads a bit.

The Lunch Lady

Mushroom Rice

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's a bad name. Terrible description.

It's such a delicious dish. It's complex but simple. A paradox.

Brown Rice, carrots, celery, mushrooms, broth, onions, sun dried tomatoes, and garlic.

I found this recipe on Tastykitchen.com but it was supposed to be wild rice and dried mushrooms, and also had to be cooked on a slow cooker. I'm not that organized lately to stick stuff in a slow cooker, plus I have no idea how brown rice does with that method. Plus I didn't really want Bisque but just a nice rice dish for lunch. Healthy, vegetarian, organic, filling, yummy. You get the picture...

So, as usual, I lunch lady-fied it by using what I did have.

I use as many organic ingredients as I can find, especially in bulk. So the carrots, celery, onions, oil, garlic, rice, and broth are all organic.

Everything gets chopped or minced to bite size or smaller pieces. Saute in a bit of olive oil or butter till they start to sweat a bit.

In a medium to large size pot, add 2 1/2 cups of broth and one cup of brown rice.

I had a happy accident and had bought parboiled organic brown basmati rice (try saying that five times in a row) so the rice cooked very quickly.

The recipe called for sun dried tomatoes. A little too late I realized that I had used up the last of mine a while back but still had some sun dried tomato bruschetta.

I'm all about substituting.

I dumped in a couple of tablespoons of the stuff.

A couple of sprigs of fresh thyme.

Saute. Stir. Sweat.

Brown.

Remove the vegetable mixture and add it to the rice.

Deglaze the pan with a big splash of Sherry wine.

Pour it into the rice. It's the good stuff.

I added a bit more broth to mix it up a bit.

It was fabulous.

All my boys except my mushroom hater loved it.

Mushroom Rice
2 carrots, peeled, diced
2 stalks celery, peeled, diced
1 pound mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 1/2-3 cups broth
1 cup brown rice
5 sun dried tomatoes
1-2 Tablespoons Sherry Wine
olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Saute vegetables in a bit of oil.
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice till done in the broth.
3. Add cooked veggies to rice.
4. Deglaze the vegetable pan with 1-2 Tablespoons Sherry and pour over rice mixture.
5. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

I'll definitely make this one again.

The Lunch Lady

My Baby is Nine 9 Negen Nein

2012-01-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

Where has the time gone?

My baby is 9.

No. I did not make this cake. I don't do cakes. Not very well anyway.

We had the unfortunate timing of having to attend a family friend's funeral on Lukie's birthday so we spread out his birthday celebration over three days and had his cake the day after his birthday.

Lukie is our clown, our cuddler, our sweet Bear, our goofball, our artist.

Mama love you.

The Lunch Lady

Asian Brown Rice Stir Fry

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's one of my easy go-to lunches the night after we have Chinese food.

I totally cheat when I order Chinese Food. Not cheating as in getting bad food, but I order an extra 2 quarts of brown rice. I don't have a good rice cooker that cooks brown rice and I'm not organized enough during daylight hours (it's this little thing called homeschooling) to get me to make brown rice on time for lunch. So, this works like a charm.

It's quick, easy, and super delicioso.

I've been buying the gimungo bags of chopped washed broccoli at BJs (wholesale club) lately so it takes a bit of the prep time out of the, well, prep time. During the school year, I'm all about less time in the kitchen.

I chopped one bell pepper, an onion, and a clove or two of garlic. Saute them in a bit of olive oil till cooked. Add the broccoli and stir.

Dump in a quart or so of brown rice (however much you need as I'm sure you don't all have 4 hungry boys to feed, or you might, or you could be like my one sister who has 9 mouths to feed) and give it a stir.

I sprinkled in some ground ginger, salt, pepper, and a couple of splashes of soy sauce. I use gluten free organic tamari sauce instead but it's the same type of flavor.

Steaming, hot, scrumptious, tasty goodness.

Sorry, I just finished up a lesson on adjectives with my 12 year old son. It kinda stuck.

The boys couldn't scoop it up fast enough.

We ate the whole stinkin pan.

No leftovers for hubby's lunch. Oops.

Asian Brown Rice Stir Fry
1 quart brown rice, cooked
1 cup broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1-2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute onions, broccoli, pepper, and garlic together in olive oil till softened.
2. Add brown rice, soy sauce, and ginger.
3. Season to taste.

Eat.
The Lunch Lady

Cranberry Apple Muffins

2012-01-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

These Cranberry Apple Muffins made with organic spelt flour are almost to die for. I used my versatile apple muffin recipe that I keep tweaking and changing to fit the season.

It's super easy, requires 2 bowls, and a muffin tin. Or two, in my case. I'm in a jumbo muffin making phase, currently. So I made 12 jumbo muffins at a time.

This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of cranberries. I chopped them in my mini processor before throwing them into the batter.

It adds that wee bit of tartness to the muffins which is a nice contrast to the sweet crunchy topping.

The pictures kind of speak for themselves.

They are shouting "Happiness!"

Cranberry Apple Muffins
2 cups organic spelt flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
1/2 cup sweetener
3/4 cup organic apple juice
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1 cup apples, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped cranberries

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees (F)
2. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls.
4. Mix wet and dry ingredients together till just combined.
5. Add apples and cranberries.
6. Fill muffin tins evenly and top with crumb topping.

Crumb topping:
Mix 2 Tablespoons butter, 1 Tablespoon brown or turbinado sugar, and 1/4 cup flour. Squish with your fingers till crumbly and top muffins before baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes till done.

Bon Appetit!
The Lunch Lady

Homemade Organic Herb Butter

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, just to clarify, I did NOT make the butter. I could have, if I ever bothered to save my cream from our milk for this particular type of occasion, but I generally use up my cream for sauces and creamed spinach.

But I DID add the herbs to it.

Grind up italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Allow the organic butter sticks (two) to come to room temperature.

Mix in the herbs with a knife or spoon. Whatever works for best for you.

Cover and refrigerate till 30 minutes before serving so it's softens enough to spread.

This is wonderful on fresh rolls, crusty bread, veggies, or just about anything.

Enjoy.
The Lunch Lady

Nutella Fudge

2012-01-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

I found this beautiful recipe on the tastykitchen.com site, but as usual, true Lunch Lady style, I just have to "healthify" it.

As if it's possible to make fudge healthy.

But better ingredients help remove the guilt factor a little bit. Especially around the holidays.

I mean, really, if I'm going indulge, at least I'm going to be sure it's somewhat organic and not completely full of bad for you ingredients.

So, no one's invented organic Nutella. Yet.

But, Trader Joe's has an Organic Sweetened Condensed Milk that I'm pretty stoked about. The usual stuff in my local store is not even close to being real. I've only used it to make Key Lime Pie, but it's so full of crud that I can't justify the groaning goodness of even a bite of the pie.

I didn't have 60% bittersweet chocolate chips but I did have a stack of chocolate bars from my generous sis in law. They are Trader Joe's 4 oz stack of chocolate bars from all over the world. I chose the ones from Ghana and Papua New Guinea.

Give it a rough chop.

I sound so kitchenly domesticated, right?

Meanwhile, get creative because you'll need it to make yourself a double boiler.

A glass bowl is best. Place it in a pan with water, but under the level of the bottom of the bowl. You don't want the bowl's bottom dragging in the water. We want to steam the concoction, not boil it.

I made the mistake of grabbing a metal bowl and then realized it had a rubber bottom on it to minimize movement while stirring. So I had to scrape it all out into a glass bowl.

I'm a mess in the kitchen. Just ask my hubby.

I also used organic butter.

Once the mixture has melted into a nice gooey mix, using a oven glove, hold tightly onto your bowl while scraping the contents out into a parchment lined, sprayed 8x8 inch glass dish.

I say hold tightly because if you don't like me, you'll drop said bowl onto the nicely parchment lined sprayed glass 8x8 inch dish. The nicely parchment lined sprayed glass 8x8 inch dish will then break into a million pieces all over the counter and onto the floor. And then you will thank your heavenly stars that the nice parchment spared your goey mix.

Hence, no pictures of the goey mix on the nicely parchment lined sprayed glass 8x8 inch dish. I didn't have another 8x8 dish. So, I used another dish that worked just as well.

The results are spectacular and totally worth the pain and suffering of having to vacuum and wipe and clean and...you get the picture.

It's happiness in a mouthful of really good fudge. And it tastes so good, like Nutella, because well, it has Nutella in it.

I put sea salt on a few and my boys voted them down very quickly so we ate ours without the salt. I think I liked them better without too.

I made this for our New Year's Day Open House party.

We had leftovers because I didn't put them all out. Sneaky right?

The boys snatched these right up.

RECIPE HERE.

And they think they got the last one today.
But I have a hidden stash in the fridge just for me.
(It's a good thing they don't bother to read my blog.)

Oh the joys of motherhood.
The Lunch Lady

Organic Mini Cheesecake

2011-12-31T09:02:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Here's a great dessert for 2012.

Sugar-free, wheat-free, organic, and scrumptious.

Making desserts that my hubby can eat (no sugar, no wheat) can be a bit tricky. I've never attempted cheesecake before. I never liked it as a child and so I never bothered to make it as an adult. Till now.
I've had a taste bud development for cheesecake and the past for few years. I'm trying to decide if it's a good thing.

I'm happy with the results although they weren't very pretty, but that's what whipped cream is for, right?

The ingredients are simple; Cream cheese, butter, eggs, maple syrup, maple flavoring, and spelt cereal crumbs.

I try to "healthify" my desserts by at least choosing better ingredients like local free-range eggs,

Organic butter,

and organic cream cheese.

The maple syrup and spelt cereal (Arrowhead Mills) crumbs are also organic.

Melt half a stick of butter and pour over the cereal crumbs in a separate bowl.

Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cups. (or 6 jumbo)

Press them down to form a crust.

I also made one with just ground almonds (almond meal from Trader Joe's) that turned out good too.

Place 2 packages of softened cream cheese in the mixing bowl and beat till fluffy.

Add one egg at a time till incorporated.

Add maple syrup and flavoring and mix.

Spoon mixture into muffin cups.

Fill them up to the top.

I'm sure I did something wrong since they sunk a bit in the centers.

Under baked, Over baked? Cheesecake experts, a little help here?

It didn't affect the taste one bit.

Nothing that peeling off the wrapper, a squirt of whipped cream, and some fruit couldn't fix.

Organic Mini Cheesecakes
Filling:
2 - 8 oz packages organic cream cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon maple extract
2/3 cup organic maple syrup
Crust:
3/4 cup crushed spelt cereal (or graham cracker crumbs)
1/4 cup organic butter, melted
1 Tablespoon sweetener (honey, agave, or maple sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F).
2. Beat cream cheese till smooth. Add one egg at a time till incorporated.
3. Add maple syrup and extract, beat on low till combined.
4. In small bowl, drizzle melted butter over spelt crumbs and sweetener, mix and press into the bottom of lined muffin cups.
5. Spoon cream cheese mixture into cups.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes till done.
7. Allow to cool and refrigerate till serving. Remove wrapper, put on pretty plate (essential!), and squirt liberally with whipped cream and top with pieces of fruit.
8. Eat.

The Lunch Lady

Pasta Goodness

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

I know I'm breaking all my food combining rules with this one, but it's SO good.

Sometimes one just has to break their dietary rules.

Hey, and the bacon is nitrate-free, so cut me some slack.

This is a beautifully gluten-free dish that tastes amazing.

It's simple; Brown Rice Penne Pasta, a sauteed onion, cooked bacon, fresh baby spinach, olive oil, and a sprinkle of Pecorino Romano, Salt and Pepper. And garlic if you have some.

Bacon Pasta:
1 pound organic brown rice penne, cooked
1 onion, sliced, sauteed in a bit o butter
bacon, cooked & sliced
Organic olive oil
fresh organic baby spinach
grated cheese
salt & pepper
garlic (fresh or dried)

1. Cook pasta, drain.
2. Saute onion. Cook bacon. Slice or crumble.
3. Sprinkle ingredients over pasta. Add baby spinach, grated cheese, organic olive oil, and seasonings.
4. Eat

This was our lunch last week.

Yum.
The Lunch Lady

My Soldiers

2011-12-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

Making movies again.

Yup. It involved a lot of camo, ammo, and guns.

(That face. It just about kills me!)

It helps that they had all the gear from dressing up like soldiers a few Halloweens ago.

Ya really are never to old to dress up.

Yup.

That's my baby wielding his gun.
The Lunch Lady

Beautiful Breakfasts

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a sample of my delicious organic spelt cranberry blueberry jumbo coffee house muffins.

They really taste as good as they look.

No. Better.

Chocolate Chip Banana.

I use as many organic ingredients as possible. This includes the flour, sugars, butter, and fruit when possible. I also use grapeseed oil, local free range eggs, and organic vanilla extract.

I try to use ingredients that are less processed and are things that you feel good about eating.

Fresh fruit needs to look and taste good. I only serve fully ripened fruit that's delicious and healthy for you.

(No hard, unripe melon here!)

The Lunch Lady

Ornaments: Joy and Peace

2011-12-29T14:51:00.001-05:00

Our tree is full of all kinds of ornaments that we have collected, made, and been gifted throughout the years.

These decoupaged balls are one my favorites and they've lasted through the years since they can't break.

Silk flowers are a beautiful way to fill up the empty deep spaces in the tree.

A few years ago, Lance and I made a bunch of ornaments ourselves.

We just printed "joy" in different fonts on a piece of cardstock and glued them onto different pieces of fabric.

This one came from Target this year.

I made this one from scrapbooking stuff. I love how each letter looks like an ornament.

A button, a bead, a few letters on cardstock, tied with some jute twine.

Simple, free, creative.

I just shop the drawers in our craft room for odds and ends.

These are my favorite ornaments, my angel ladies. They are made from shells and odds and ends; ribbons, buttons, silk flowers, leaves, raffia, old cloth....

Each one is unique. I posted this on my old blog.

What are your favorite ornaments?

Joy and Peace to you,
The Lunch Lady

Eve and Presents: Recap

2011-12-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

We traditionally open our gifts mostly on Christmas Eve. This year we split them between Eve and Morning.

(Note** these pics were taken before I opened my present: new camera. Can't ya tell?)

The Spread:
Deviled Eggs, French Onion smothered mushrooms, Cream Cheese spread, raw veggies, bacon wrapped shrimp, Caprese, Brown Rice Sushi, Spinach Dip....

My little chef helping fill the deviled eggs.

The French Onion smothered mushrooms before baking...

Evilly good trifle.

It's yellow box cake, chocolate pudding (hey I made it with organic milk. Doesn't that count?), Cool Whip, and fresh raspberries and strawberries.

Hope your Holidays are Merry and Bright and full of happy family times.

Oh and good food. There's always that.
The Lunch Lady

My Charlie

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the younger 3 boys decided to dress up like old fashioned guys and make a video with Logan's new camcorder.

They are definitely putting the new stuff to good use.

I picked up the mustaches at Old Navy for their stocking stuffers. The best $2 I've spent in a while.

Lucas pulled his outfit together and looks surprisingly a bit like Charlie Chaplin.

Before his big on camera debut, he needed to replenish his fluids.

Consternation...

"I don't know how guys with mustaches drink water mom."

I think it has something to do with glue.
The Lunch Lady

Clay birds

2011-12-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, a different kind of clay birds. We aren't skeet shooting here, at least, not yet.

As I mentioned before, I pulled out an early stocking stuffer a few weeks ago for my 8 and 12 year old boys who were moaning about their old clay being a bit hard and tough to work with.

And, yes, we homeschoolers are not immune to the Angry Bird craze around us. My younger 2 boys love all things Angry Birds.

I just wish that they weren't so, well, angry.

I think we need to make Happy Birds.

I love that they worked hard at these little figures, details and all.

We baked them in the oven so they are indestructible.

Trust me, I dropped them. I should know.

I'm just loving my boys' creativity.

Wonder where they get that from?
The Lunch Lady