Family Fresh Meals

St. Patrick's Day Craft

2012-03-09T08:45:00.000-06:00

Once again...thank you Pinterest! I found this cute project on Pinterest last month,and couldn't wait to give it a try with the girls. The thing I loved most, was that fact that if combined a craft AND food!

What you need for this project:
-1 bell pepper
-green paint
-paint brush
-paper


1. Cut off a thick slice of pepper.	2. Carefully paint the edges with green.


3. Gently pick up pepper.	4. Flip and press firmly on paper.	Ta-Da!

The best part about this art project, is snacking on the unused pepper while you craft! YUM!

Hope you enjoyed this St. Patrick's Day project! XO Chef Corey

Things I used to make this craft :)

Fun Food: Cucumber Chain Tutorial

2012-03-08T09:02:00.000-06:00

Pin It

I have done a couple of posts using cucumber chains. The girls LOVE them so much, I thought I would do a quick tutorial for you. It's a great way to get your kiddos to eat more green! Little D HATES the skins of things...apples, pears, pickles, etc... But for some reason, she will eat these. HA!


1. All you need are some cucumbers, a knife and an optional round cutter.You can do it by hand, but the edges are not as clean. Don't have a round cutter? A cap off a water bottle will work just fine!.	2. Slice cucumbers.	3. Place cutter (or bottle cap) in the middle of slice and cut out middle.

Now you have a perfect little chain link!

Here is what my hand-cut one looked like in comparison. Still works, just not as clean cut. If you don't have a cutter, or a bottle cap laying around, I really don't think your kiddos will mind ;)


4. Next, make little slits in the side of the rings.	5. Then, interlace the rings, trying to close slits as best as possible.

And that's how you make cucumber rings!

The cutter I used for my cucumber rings came in this pack from All Things For Sale!

Time to Vote! Potato Recipes

2012-03-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

What an amazing group of potato recipes!!! Thanks to all who participated:) The vote button will be serving as a "like" button. Each visitor will haves 6 votes to pass out. Votes will become visible after you have used all of your votes. ANYONE can vote, so please invite friends, family & followers to come check out these amazing recipes. Voting will go until 3/10/12, 11:59pm CST.

Sunday morning the winner of the gift card & Featured Recipe will be announced & new theme ( St. Patrick's Day Recipes ) will begin, so make sure to check back.

*And don't forget, for MOST weeks, the random number generator will be selecting the winner...but you never know when that number generator will break down and it will be left to the votes! So make sure to vote!)*

Bento Love: The Tooth Fairy

2012-03-07T09:46:00.001-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: The Tooth Fairy

In the large compartment of the Easy Lunchbox is a turkey tooth fairy sandwich, holding a carrot tooth. She is surrounded by grapes, blueberries and raspberries. In the upper right are bread teeth on top of rasins. The bottom right are cheese coins the tooth fairy left behind :)

One of Big D's older friends lost a tooth recently. This was very concerning to Big D. So, what's a mom to do?....turn to Yo Gabba Gabba! There was a fun Tooth Fairy episode that explained the whole process. After watching that episode... Big D has been talking about the Tooth Fairy NON STOP! So, I thought this bento lunch would make her day! She loved it :)

What I used to make this lunch! XO Chef Corey

MOMables Review & Giveaway!

2012-03-06T07:56:00.001-06:00

Pin It

I first found MOMables on a search for quick, easy lunches for kids. And that is EXACTLY what MOMables provides. When you subscribe to MOMables, you are able to access weekly menus, shopping lists for each week, step-by-step guide on how to create the lunch AND a big beautiful picture to show you how the lunch should look.
There are no special gadgets needed to make the lunches and each lunch can be made in 10 minutes or less. HOW GREAT IS THAT! This is perfect for those uber busy parents.

PLUS.... MoMables is hard at work creating Gluten free options for the fall, in addition to vegetarian and dairy-free options.

Each week, I print my weekly lunches out, hole punch, and throw them in a binder. I LOVE how easy the instructions are, and the amazing photos of what the finished product should look like.

No thinking required on my part.... which I love! hahaha!This MOMables lunch instructed you how to make the Pinwheels, and to serve with a side of fruit, veggies and snack or treat :) How easy and how cute! Right?!

Of course the girls loved it!

Now as a mom... what do I love about MOMables? Let me count the ways....
1. Lunches can be made in 10 mins or less. Some of my bento creations leave me with a week brain, so i turn to MOMables on the days I need a quick, healthy lunch idea. These are perfect for the busy parent.
2. No tools needed. ANYONE can put these beauties together.
3. Fresh, healthy food. Plain and simple. These meal plans will provide a well rounded, healthy meal for you kids (and even you!)

Go check out some of the sample menus for yourself! You won't be disappointed!

MOMables was generous enough to offer one of my readers a free 3 month subscription to MOMables for a giveaway!! Entries will be accepted NOW, through Friday, 3/09/12 at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be selected at random and announced on Saturday morning (3/10/12). I will email the winner, who must then respond to familyfreshmeals@gmail.com, no later than Tuesday, 3/13/12 at 6:00pm CST.

How to enter the MOMables giveaway:

1. Just leave a comment letting me know what is the most difficult part of making school lunches.

EXAMPLE:Keeping food fresh for the following day is always difficult for me.

Only one entry per person.

I must have a way to contact you. If you are leaving a comment as anonymous, you must also leave your name & an email so I can reach you.

Anyone can enter!!! So spread the word :)

ATTENTION! ATTENTION!

A couple of my bento buddies are ALSO doing giveaways right now. Make sure to go check them out!

Bento On Better Lunches - Super Healthy Kids plate giveaway

Bobbi's Bentos- FunBites Giveaway

Bento School Lunches - Coach Purse Giveaway

Crazy?...Maybe! - MOMables Giveaway

Bentoriffic - FunBites Giveaway

Mamabelly's Lunches with Love - FunBites Giveaway
Veggie-Bento - FunBites Giveaway

Crockpot Ravioli Lasagna

2012-03-05T11:03:00.000-06:00

Pin It

With a new found love for my crockpot, my wonderful hubby brought home a Southern Living cookbook, FULL of slow-cooker goodness. So you'll be seeing a couple recipes from there in the near future.....including this one :) This gem was the first one to catch my eye. It doesn't get much easier and is a new favorite of the family. Adapting it to be vegetarian friendly was a cinch, using MorningStar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles.
Just a quick note about the cooking times. The original recipe said to cook on LOW for 6 hours or until pasta is tender. I checked mine after 4ish hours and it was ready to rock (I swear my crock runs hot). So I would give this one a test run on the weekend when you are going to be home, just to play around with the cooking times. I hope you love it!

XO Chef Corey

Here is what you need (serves 4-6)
- 1 lb ground round (or MorningStar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles for veg friendly)
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (24oz) jar of pasta sauce
- 1 (25oz) package or frozen cheese-filled ravioli(do not thaw)
- 1 (8oz) package shredded Italian blend cheese

1. Cook ground round (or veg crumble), onion, and garlic in a large skillet over a medium/high heat, until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain if needed and set aside.
2. Spoon 3/4 cup pasta sauce into bottom of a lightly greased crockpot. Layer half of the ravioli.


3. Next layer with 1/2 the meat mixture.	4. Then top with 1 cup of cheese.

5. Repeat layers, starting with 3/4 cup of sauce, ravioli, meat and end with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.

6. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours until pasta is tender. Like I said above, the original recipe said 6 hours, but mine was ready to go after 4.5 hours. So test your crock out with this one!

Hope you enjoy!

I Might Have a Problem

2012-03-04T15:39:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Hello,

My name is Corey, and I'm addicted to bento & lunch making supplies!

Please don't judge... I know I have a problem. Every time I see a new lunch cutter, or bento box....I just must buy it!
I have had several requests in the past couple months to post about the tools I use to make my lunches. On top of that, one of my awesome bento buddies, Candy Girl of Bent On Better Lunches, started a pin board on Pinterest for our lunch making group to put pictures of our lunch making loot. So I thought it was finally time to do a bento stash post.
PS... if you need an invite to Pinterest, please email me at familyfreshmeals@gmail.com, and I will send you an invite asap.

The bottom draw of my ~~kitchen island~~ lunch making station.

1. Lunch Punches
2. Silicone cups
3. FunBites
4. Egg molds (great for sandwich balls )
5. Mini alphabet cutters
6. Mini shape cutters
7. decorative animal cups
8. MORE mini cutters
9. decorative picks
10. Mini silicone cups
11. nori cutters

Next drawer, more goodies!

1. random cookie cutters I used the most.
2. Lunch Bot
3. Goodbyn
4. square and circle lock'n'lock boxes
5. Planetbox
6. small bentos: All Things For Sale.
7. Rice molds, small cutter and sauce containers
8. Easy Lunchboxes
9. Smart Planet boxes
10. Laptop Lunch box
11. Reuse Box

There is the lovely spice rack that I converted into an extra bento box holder.
1. Lunch Box Bento
2. Small bento boxes

Then, I keep cookie/sandwich cutters that I don't use all the time in small tupperwears.
1. Letters and numbers
2. holiday
3. sports, transportation
4. animals

Well... there you have it! These are some of the supplies behind the lunch making magic here at Family Fresh Meals.
I linked up some of the products to where I bought them, in case you are interested in adding to your collection. You can also find most of what is pictured and more in the In Corey's Kitchen tab at the top of you page :)
I hope you enjoyed the post! Let me know if you have any questions!
XO Chef Corey

Recipe of the Week: Potato Recipes

2012-03-04T07:47:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to Recipe of the Week! Thank you to everyone who participated last week. What a great week of hot, hot, hot dishes!
Now on to Recipe of the Week: Potato Recipes
Sweet potato, mashed potato, baked potato.....I love them all, and would love to see YOUR favorite spud recipe!

The winner this week will be announced as the Featured Recipe next Sunday & will be snagging themselves a $10.00 gift card for Amazon.com. And please don't forget to stop by on Thursday, when voting/liking begins!

Recipe of the week: Potato Recipes

Do you want to join in on the fun?!?

1. Pick out your favorite recipes from your blog that match the theme for the week.

2. Copy the URL of that post from your blog and enter it into the linky below.
3. Click on the "Add Your Link" button and follow the steps. It's just that easy!

Up Coming Recipe of The Week Themes:

3/11 - St. Patrick's Day Recipes

3/18 - Red Meat Masterpieces

3/25 - Brownies

Rundown of the week:

1. Sunday: Winner/Featured Recipe of the Week is announced & new linky theme is started. Recipes will be accepted until the following Wednesday, 11:59 pm CST.

2. Wednesday: 11:59 pm CST - Linky is closed to submissions & voting or "liking" begins.

3. Saturday: 11:59 pm CST - Voting is closed

REPEAT :)

*note: Sometimes I may post 1 of my recipes to get the ball rolling, but my entry will not be included in the giveaway. The recipes you enter must be from your blog. The Featured Recipe of the Week will be announced Sunday mornings, and the winner will have until the following Tuesday (6:00pm CST) to claim their prize by emailing me at familyfreshmeals@gmail.com. Prizes will only be mailed to addresses within the United States. I reserve the right to delete any inappropriate entries at any time. These rules may be subject to change as this Linky grows, but I will always notify you of said changes. This giveaway is not affiliated with Amazon. Gift card has been purchased by Family Fresh Meals for giveaway.

Featured Recipe of the Week: Hot & Spicy

2012-03-04T07:46:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to Recipe of the Week! Thanks to everyone who participated last week. I hope you enjoyed the variety of spicy dishes!

Featured Recipe & Blog of the Week

Amee's Savory Dish
Sweet and Spicy Crock Pot Chicken

The random number generator was on the fritz this week, so the winner was left up to the votes! The winning recipe, Sweet and Spicy Crock Pot Chicken, posted by Amee's Savory Dish, is our featured recipe for the week. Doesn't it look melt-in-your-mouth GOOD!

In addition to being Featured Recipe of The Week, Amee has also won a $10.00 gift card for Amazon. Please contact me at familyfreshmeals@gmail.com. You have until 3/6/12 at 6:00pm (CST) to claim your prize.

At a near second was the Buffalo Chicken Wing Wontons, by Peanut Butter and Peppers. Super yummy....right?!

Make sure to check out Recipe of the Week: Potato Recipes and enter a few of your best!

Bento Love: Olive Wands

2012-03-03T09:48:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: Olive Wands

For this bento, there is a 1/2 vegetarian chik'n salad sandwich, olive wands (celery sticks with black olive ends), chocolate wafers and Annie's Bunny cheese pasta.

These olive wands were a MUCH bigger hit than I thought they would be. So easy to make, and the girls had so much fun eating them. Will you be giving them a try?
XO Chef Corey

Here is what I used to make this bento :) XO Chef Corey

And the winners are...

2012-03-03T08:17:00.000-06:00

And the Family Fresh Meals

Birthday Giveaway Winners are....

Comment #5

Bobbi@bobbisbentosFeb 29, 2012 05:37 AM

Happy Birthday! Love this blog! One of my faves!

Comment #132

Angie {Successful2gether}Feb 29, 2012 04:45 PM

i follow you on twitter

I will be emailing the winners this morning! Congrats! Thank you again to everyone who participated. And another HUGE thank you to all the Family Fresh Meals fans. Thank you for all of your support!

Chef Corey, Darryl, Big D & Little D

Bento Love: Dr. Seuss Lunch

2012-03-01T21:20:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: Dr. Seuss Lunch
For this lunch, there is an open faced cheese and ham Lorax sandwich on a bed of spinach, with vanilla meringue cookies and blue sky fruit snacks. On the top left is The Cat in The Hat & 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish section, with 1/2 a Joe Joe cookie, topped with alternating strawberries and yogurt covered pretzels to make Cat's hat. The hat is surround by gold(1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)fish:)
On the bottom left is the Green Eggs & Ham Section. There are 2 piece of veggie bacon and a shortbread cookie with a fruit leather center.

The girls were sooooo in love with their Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss Lunch! We had been reading all of these stories for bedtime this week, so the lunch was icing on the cake!

Some bento friends & I have all posted today, in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday. So please take a moment and hop on over to the amazing Veggie-Bento to see another fun bento blog & Dr. Seuss Lunch. Keep on following the links until you make it back here! Have fun! Click HERE to see the next Seusstastic lunch!

Time to Vote! Hot & Spicy Recipes

2012-03-01T07:32:00.002-06:00

Look at all of these HOT recipes!!! Thanks to all who participated:) The vote button will be serving as a "like" button. Each visitor will haves 6 votes to pass out. Votes will become visible after you have used all of your votes. ANYONE can vote, so please invite friends, family & followers to come check out these amazing recipes. Voting will go until 3/03/12, 11:59pm CST.

Sunday morning the winner of the gift card & Featured Recipe will be announced & new theme ( Potato Recipes Recipes ) will begin, so make sure to check back.
DOH! Someone put chewing gum in my random number generator!! Looks like it might be left up to the votes this week! (HINT HINT)

Don't forget to go check out the HUGE giveaway going on. Family Fresh Meals turned 1, and I wanted to celebrate!!!
Click HERE to enter :)

Happy Birthday Family Fresh Meals : GIVEAWAY!!!

2012-02-29T07:11:00.000-06:00

So much has happened this month! Family Fresh Meals had it's 1 year birthday, we hit 1,000 likes on Facebook, and I have made so many cooking, baking and bento friends! I wanted to thank all of you for supporting me through this blogging journey, and host my biggest giveaway yet!

In honor of my baby blog's birthday, this giveaway is for a $50.00 gift certificate for Amazon.com. And that's not all....
there will be TWO WINNERS!
Each winner will be emailed their very own gift card to use on Amazon.com. Fun right?! This will be a random drawing, so the more entries you do, the better chance you have at winning!

GIVEAWAY ENED

How to enter the Family Fresh Meals Birthday Giveaway:

- Leave a separate comment here for each thing you do.
- Each comment counts as an one entry.
- That makes up to 7 total entries per person.

1. Leave a comment on this post. It can be a bday message, a memory of your favorite recipe found on here, or just a hello.
2. Like Family Fresh Meals on Facebook. (or let me know you already do)
3. Follow me on Pinterest (or let me know you already do. If you need an invite, email me familyfreshmeals@gmail.com)
4. Follow Family Fresh Meals on Google Friends Connect (on the right side bar labeled "followers" Click "join this site" to join) (or let me know you already do)
5. Follow @familyfreshmeal on Twitter (or let me know you already do)
6. Share this giveaway on Facebook by clicking HERE
7. Tweet this message about the giveaway Go check out the HUGE giveaway over at @familyfreshmeal Easy entry, 2 winners! http://tinyurl.com/7froyvp

Don’t forget, you must leave a separate comment below for each thing you do. (Only comments below count as entries.)

Please make sure I have a way to contact you. If I cannot locate an email, I will draw a new winner.

Entries will be accepted NOW, through Friday, 3/02/12 at 11:59pm CST. The winners will be selected at random using random.org, and announced on Saturday morning (3/03/12). I will email the winners, who must contact me at familyfreshmeals@gmail.com, no later than 3/05/12
Please make sure I have a way to contact you. If I cannot locate an email, I will draw a new winner.

Disclaimer: This giveaway is not affiliated with Amazon.com. Family Fresh Meals purchased gift cards for this giveaway.

Bento Love: Flowers, Chains, Bunnies & Stars

2012-02-28T07:53:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: Flowers, Chains, Bunnies & Stars:

For this bento there are Star sandwiches with Stuffed Baguette filling, chain of cucumbers, a flower made of oranges and cucumber and bunny crackers for dessert.

Once again, the chain cucumbers were the favorite. Both girls had a fun time with those! hehe Which is making me think, I should do a cucumber chain tutorial asap. It is super easy, and a great way to get your kiddos to eat some greens! I promise to get that up soon.
If you haven't checked it out already, please stop by and look at the Stuffed Baguette post. Not only is it a fun, original appetizer, but the girls LOVED the filling. I used the little bit of leftovers I had to make a couple sandwiches for the girls and Darryl. The girls have been requesting MORE creamy sandwiches! Love that!
XO Chef Corey

Products I used to make this bento:) XO Chef Corey

Gooey Chocolate Nut Bars

2012-02-27T12:04:00.003-06:00

Pin It

One of my favorite dessert bars to make are the Gooey Cookies and Cream Chocolate Cake Bars I posted last year. VERY easy VERY yummy. Well boys and girls, this one is just as easy and just as yummy. I actually saw this one of the Pillsbury mini magazines in the check-out line at the grocery store. What I like a little better about these gooey bars, is that they contain a ton of protein (thank you nuts) so you feel satisfied with 1 serving :) I made these the night before, covered and refrigerated. They tasted even better the next day, so don't be afraid to make these in advance for your next gathering or dinner dessert ;) Hope you enjoy! XO, Chef Corey

Here is what you need: Makes 24 medium bars.
- 1 (8oz) can refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1 cup white vanilla baking chips
- 1 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup cashew halves and pieces
- 1 can/bottle (14oz) sweetened condensed milk


1. Heat oven to 375 degrees (350 degrees for dark or nonstick pan). Unroll dough into 2 long rectangles.	2. Grease botton and sides of 13X9. Place rectangles in pan and press over the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 5 minutes.


3. Remove the parially baked crust from the oven. First sprinkle with your cup of white chips, then chocolate chips.	4. Next sprinkle on all of your almonds.	5. And finally, sprinkle on the chasews evenly over the crust.

6. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top.

7. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until golden brown. For 10 minutes and then run a knife around the edges to loosen. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or until chocolate is set. Cut into squares and serve.
(Note: When I made these, I chilled them in the refrigerator over night, COVERED, and they turned out perfect.)

Little D isn't a huge nut fan, but she really loved these gooey bars of goodness :)
XO Chef Corey

Recipe of The Week: Hot & Spicy Recipes

2012-02-26T08:04:00.001-06:00

Welcome back to Recipe of the Week! Thank you to everyone who participated last week. Darryl had fun looking through all the cheesy goodness. Don't forget to go check out this week's Featured Recipe of the Week. YUM!

Now on to Recipe of the Week: Hot & Spicy Recipes
This week should be fun and bring in a variety of recipes. I can't wait to see all the HEAT!

Recipe of the week: Hot & Spicy Recipes

Do you want to join in on the fun?!?

1. Pick out your favorite recipes from your blog that match the theme for the week.

2. Copy the URL of that post from your blog and enter it into the linky below.
3. Click on the "Add Your Link" button and follow the steps. It's just that easy!

Up Coming Recipe of The Week Themes:

3/04 - Potato Recipes

3/11 - St. Patrick's Day Recipes

3/18 - Red Meat Masterpieces

Rundown of the week:

1. Sunday: Winner/Featured Recipe of the Week is announced & new linky theme is started. Recipes will be accepted until the following Wednesday, 11:59 pm CST.

2. Wednesday: 11:59 pm CST - Linky is closed to submissions & voting or "liking" begins.

3. Saturday: 11:59 pm CST - Voting is closed

REPEAT :)

Featured Recipe of the Week

2012-02-26T08:03:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to Recipe of the Week: Secret Ingredient Cheese. Thanks to everyone who participated last week. All of the cheesy goodness was so much fun to look through!

Featured Recipe & Blog of the Week

Debbi Does Dinner... Healthy & Low Calorie
Pizza Roll Up Burritos

The random number generator selected the cheesy, Pizza Roll Up Burritos, posted by Debbi Does Dinner... Healthy & Low Calorie, to be our featured recipe for the week. Congrats! These looks fun, easy and very filling!

In addition to being Featured Recipe of The Week, Debbi has also won a $10.00 gift card for Amazon.com. Please contact me at familyfreshmeals@gmail.com. You have until 2/28/12 at 6:00pm (CST) to claim your prize.

Honorable mention goes to Cooking in the Florida Heat for tallying up the most votes for her cheese filled Seafood Quiche post. Check it out!

Make sure to check out Recipe of the Week: Hot & Spicy Recipes and enter a few of your best!

Tomato Paste...the new and improved ketchup.

2012-02-24T07:50:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Yes, you heard me right. Toss out your ketchup and pick up some tomato paste. As a mother of children who are obsessed with dipping and dressing their food in ketchup, have always been concerned with the amount of sodium entering their system. In just a little old tablespoon of ketchup, there are about 210mg of sodium, which equates to 10% of an adult's sodium intake for the day. YIKES! Also, reducing sodium for me & hubby means weight loss and health :)

Last year, I remembered Dr. Oz mentioning something about replacing sodium rich ketchup with tomato paste. So I did some research. Tomato paste is a source of several nutrients and also features some compounds that are not highly available in raw tomatoes, making it a healthy addition to recipes, not to mention a great substitution for ketchup. The sodium registers at less than 15mg.. which is less than 1% of our daily recommendation.
It also provides a ton of vitamin A, which is important to eye sight health, reproduction and fetal development. Although it is not as rich in vitamin C as fresh tomatoes, tomato paste still provides 3.5 mg of this antioxidant that improves immunity and tissue repair. And that's not all. You'll also find vitamin K, B, iron AND potassium.

I bet you are all wondering about the taste. My husband was the first to pipe up saying "No, thanks, I'll take regular ketchup on my veggie burger." I made him his usual burger that night, but the next night, I didn't ask... and I made the swap :) He raved about the burger, and had no clue! After I filled him in, and informed him on all the health benefits, he is a tomato paste convert.

With the kids, I didn't even mention the change. I just put paste on their veggie burgers, and a squirt on their plates for their sweet potato tater tots. They enjoyed the burger and dipped away. No questions asked!!! I was amazed!

Now, I'm not going to lie and say they taste EXACTLY the same.... but it is so similar, it is hard to tell the difference. Trader Joe's just put out this tube form of tomato paste which rocks (and only cost .99!) Squeeze what you need, then throw it back in the fridge. If you can't find the tubes anywhere, the cans would work, you would just need to store in a ziplock.

Bento Love: Hello Kitty

2012-02-24T07:49:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: Hello Kitty

For this bento, there is an open faced cheese Hello Kitty sandwich on a bed of mixed greens, with cheese "hugs and kisses". Next to the sandwich are raspberries, blue berries and carrots. This bento is packed in a Smart Planet lunchbox.

My girls both love Hello Kitty. Whats not to love about that cute little kitten? The theme this week over at the Bento Blog Network bento challenge was Hello Kitty. So I thought I could try my hand at this famous cat. I didn't have a Hello Kitty cutter, so I printed out a picture online, and then traced along the food with my knife. Worked like a charm!
Make sure to stop by Bento Blog Network to check out all the cute creations. Voting will start Thursday :)

What I used to make this fun bento lunch :) XO Chef Corey.

Time to Vote : Secret Ingredient Cheese!

2012-02-23T07:49:00.000-06:00

What a beautiful week full of cheese!!! Thanks to all who participated:) The vote button will be serving as a "like" button. Each visitor will haves 5 votes to pass out. Votes will become visible after you have used all of your votes. ANYONE can vote, so please invite friends, family & followers to come check out these amazing recipes. Voting will go until 2/25/12, 11:59pm CST.

Sunday morning the winner of the gift card & Featured Recipe will be announced & new theme ( Hot & Spicy Recipes ) will begin, so make sure to check back.

*And don't forget, for MOST weeks, the random number generator will be selecting the winner...but you never know when that number generator will break down and it will be left to the votes! So make sure to vote :)*

Bento Love: Potted Plant

2012-02-22T07:34:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: Flower Pot

For this Easy Lunchbox bento, there is a sweet potato tater tot flower(tots, cherry tomato & cucumber stem), potted in a turkey sandwich pot with cheese detail, surrounded by broccoli. On the side is Greek yogurt, cucumbers and cheese.

During my weekly Trader Joe's trips, I always make sure to pick up a flower of some sort for my girls. TJ's always has some fun, inexpensive flowers and the girls LOVE the surprise.

Well, scattered brain mommy forgot them this week. So when the girls got home for lunch, I presented them with a this flower instead. Big D said it smelled just as good as the other flower I have brought home. hehehe

Hope you enjoy!

XO Chef Corey

What I used to make this bento lunch :) XO Chef Corey

Bento Love: Our First Planet Box!

2012-02-21T09:10:00.000-06:00

Pin It

Bento Love: Our First Planet Box!
For this Planet Box bento, I used cream cheese filling for the flower sandwiches, with green and black olives, cucumbers, oranges, bunny crackers and a penguin gummy for dessert.

WooHoo! We finally got a Planet Box! These lovely lunchboxes are great! I loved how they hold the food in place and are sectioned off :) Both girls could open these with easy and loved the decorative magnets. Make sure to check them out HERE!

Big D couldn't wait to shove one of those cucumbers in her mouth! hehe. Cucumber smile!

Products used for this bento lunch :)XO Chef Corey

Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

2012-02-20T07:11:00.000-06:00

Pin It

This recipe goes out to my rib-loving father :) The one other time I made ribs, it was such a mess, and they really didn't turn out all that great. Since I have been on my crockpot kick lately, I thought, what better thing to cook in the slow cooker than ribs! No muss, no fuss, and by the end of the day you have finger-licking barbecue ribs to feast on. There were a ton of recipes out there for ribs in the crockpot, but there was either too much heat, too much ketchup and not enough sweet. So I got to work at a good combo. The big key to this recipe is the quick roasting in the oven. This removes the fat and liquid that would otherwise cause soupy results in the crockpot. I know it seems like an extra step, but it takes no time, and is worth it! Hope you enjoy! XO Chef Corey

Here is what you need: Serves 4
2 pounds pork baby back ribs
salt and pepper to taste
1(18oz) bottle of bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
1-4 tsp hot sauce (depending on how spicy you like it. Since the girls were eating this, I only did 1 tsp)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.	2. In a bowl, mix together the bbq sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, hot sauce, oregano, and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.


3. Place ribs in slow cooker.	4. Pour sauce over ribs.	5. Turn to coat.

6. Set crockpot on LOW for 6-8 hours. I would recommend 7 hours. Stir once during cooking time so ribs don't stick to sides and burn.

Ooooooooh. This IS finger-licking good :) XO Chef Corey

Here's an awesome crockpot you can cook this in :)

Recipe of The Week: Secret Ingredient Cheese

2012-02-19T08:38:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to Recipe of the Week! Thank you for posting all of your lovely desserts. Big D had a blast looking through all of them with me. Don't forget to go check out this week's Featured Recipe of the Week. YUM!
Now on to Recipe of the Week: Secret Ingredient CHEESE!
My husband has a ~~slight~~ major addition to cheese. One of his favorite snacks is a brick of cheese....yes, the whole brick. HA! My man loves all things cheese. When I started the Recipe of The Week linky, he begged, every week, "please do a cheese recipe." So, this one's for you babe. Bring on the cheese baby!

Recipe of the week: Seafood

Do you want to join in on the fun?!?

1. Pick out your favorite recipes from your blog that match the theme for the week.

2. Copy the URL of that post from your blog and enter it into the linky below.
3. Click on the "Add Your Link" button and follow the steps. It's just that easy!

Up Coming Recipe of The Week Themes:

2/26 - Hot & Spicy Dishes

3/04 - Potato Recipes

3/11 - St. Patrick's Day Recipes

Rundown of the week:
1. Sunday: Winner/Featured Recipe of the Week is announced & new linky theme is started. Recipes will be accepted until the following Wednesday, 11:59 pm CST.

2. Wednesday: 11:59 pm CST - Linky is closed to submissions & voting or "liking" begins.

3. Saturday: 11:59 pm CST - Voting is closed

REPEAT :)