0 Away we go. Tamago!

Monday Sept 24, 2012

Woke up early, and decided to try a Tamago recipe, that I found on YouTube.

Here is the recipe:
  2 Eggs
  1 tsp sugar
  1 tsp mirin
  50 ml (.21 cup) dashi (substitute chicken stock).

I watched the video a few times and decided to try chopsticks as my primary utensil.

It did not take long to make a thick, rectangle omelet that I could cut into cute shapes. As I cooked the tamago, I noticed that my first layer was a little brown, but that got covered as I added more layers and "rolled" them up.  (Refer to video.)  I let it cool only a few minutes, and had no difficulty cutting it into birdie and flower shapes. We ate the scraps with breakfast.

Tamago tastes a little sweet (like the tamago you get at sushi joints).  This is OK with me - I consider this "strategic sweetness."

The mirin reminds me of vanilla extract, which I might try in the future. I'm not too worried about the sake / alcohol content - it's a small amount. Hey - maybe it will help my child sleep at nap time. JK.

Lunch: Tamago Birdies, Carrots, Grapes, and one  Raspberry.

Snack AM: Hard Boiled Egg (Fish Shape with soy sauce detailing), Tiny Tamago Flower, Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.

Snack PM: H.B.Egg Fish Shape with Tiny Tamago Flower surrounded by Green Grapes.

YumLunch? 
You betcha.

2 Robot! Rotate! 4th Week of School

September 25, 2012         

Today is picture day. We went to the trouble to pick out and launder the outfit our child picked out in advance. Our boy, however, was less pristine.

I'll admit, we are kind of lax about bathing our son. When he was a baby, I discovered that all the parenting book advice -- to bathe my baby before bed so it would soothe, and prime him for sleep -- did not work.  A bath did the opposite and revved him up.  

As a result, a regular bath is NOT baked into my son's bedtime routine. And we lose track. Hmmmm.  When was the last bath or shower?  A few days ago? Last week?

This morning, a sniff test told us our boy was not fit for any public appearance, let alone picture day.  

My kid prefers baths, but avoids hair-washing. The usual "What-a-Big-Boy" compliments were not incentivizing him to shampoo. He was not havin' it. 

Thankfully, my funny improviser husband busted out his Robot bit. In his best mechanical voice, he asks our son to do things, like "Rotate" and "Commence Rinse." 

Yay. Success. Clean Boy.  Thank goodness for funny husband, Robot bits, more joy and using humor to reduce arguing.   

Bonus - I remembered that today is Robot making class after school, hence Cheese + Ham Robot man. 

Lunch: Ham Cheese Toothpick Robot, Carrots, Grapes. 

Snack AM & PM: Red Grapes, PB Sandwich

YumLunch?  Yes. All Gone. 

0 Cute Nectarine and Carrot Flower Shapes

September 21, 2012

I have almost caught up with my blog! I've been taking pictures everyday, since the start of school, but didn't get my first post up until Sept 16th, so I've been racing to get all my posts written and posted.  Going forward, I am hoping to get one post up every day.

Lunch: Liverwurst + Cream Cheese spread on Ritz Crackers (actually Savoritz from ALDI.) Rotisserie Chicken.  Nectarines, simply split in half.  Carrot, with cute tulip shape punched out, using Bento sausage cutter (Ugh - what a name - but that's what they are for. Not sure using it on carrots is something I can continue without breaking the device - it's meant for wieners.)

Snack AM:  More L'wurst Ritz and Nectarines Flowers, using Japanese Vegetable Cutters.

Snack PM:  Rotisserie Chicken, Grapes, and cute Carrot Tulip.

Sidebar: I prefer Peach flowers to Nectarine flowers. The skin of the peach is more velvety, and the nectarine skin did not cut as cleanly. 

YumLunch? 
Yep. All Gone.

0 Nana Banana Sandwich with Cute Monkeys

YAY Nana!  She's been visiting with us, and we are so happy to have her here.  She also shared a favorite of hers when she was a girl - Peanut Butter Banana "Sandwich" (no bread - just peanut butter and bananas.)

Did I mention? No one in our son's class has a peanut allergy.

While here, we say my husband's improv team Whirled News Tonight on their 9th anniversary show. As a reward for not disrupting the show, the boy received a bag of pretzels. He requested more pretzels to be incorporated into lunch.

September 19, 2012

Lunch:  Nana Banana Sandwich, with cute Japanese Bento Monkey Picks. Liverwurst sandwich - just phoned it in with no cute cookie cutter action today, and pretzels - as requested.

Snack AM: Avocado!  (Much better picture than last time.)

Snack PM: frozen cheese and ham cubes (they thaw by 2PM).

YumLunch? 
Oh yeah.  Although my son commented that "the monkeys did not work at all - they did not hold the banana together, and it was a total mess."   Oh well.






















Cute pictures of the boy and his Nana.

0 Chicken Cream Cheese Croissant and Corn Salad

September 18, 2012

We're into the third week of school, and have Nana in town. So we're having a lot of yummy dinners, with yummy leftovers.

Lunch: Croissants sandwich, rotisserie chicken and cream cheese. Side salad of corn, golden potatoes (cooked last night) mixed with a small amount of sour cream and plain yogurt.

Snack AM: Cream cheese rolled up in tortilla, grape tomatoes.

Snack PM: peanut butter sandwich, on freshly baked whole wheat bread (yes, we make our own bread.  Actually - husband is the bread maker, and we love our bread machine! )

YumLunch?
85% Yum. 
The corn salad was untouched.
Mommy ate some for her lunch though, and her biased opinion was yum, so we'll have to try again another day.

0 Love Bird Liverwurst Sandwich, Monday, third week of school.

Decided to try Liverwurst again, and confirm it's a YumLunch.

Lunch: Liverwurst Cream Cheese filling, between whole wheat bread, with white and orange American cheese on top (I use a straw to cut the tiny circles for eyes.) Cute Birdie Cookie Cutters from Amazon. Birds are nested on some spinach leaves.

Got a great deal on Peaches at Trader Joe's, and used cute Japanese vegetable cutters to make the flowers.  (I also found the cute flower stem picks on eBay, using a "bento" search.)


Snack AM:  Carrots and Hummus.

Snack PM: Tomatoes and cute H.B. Bear Egg.

YumLunch? 
Yes - except the spinach leaves. Oh well.

Japanese Vegetable Cutters

		Stainless Steel Vegetable Cutters #K8444 "100% Made in Japan!!" by JapanBargain

	Cute birdies

		Kate Aspen Tweet Baby Mamma and Baby Bird Stainless-Steel Cookie Cutters, Blue by Kate Aspen

0 Liverwurst YumLunch! Friday, 2nd wk of school.

While at Whole Foods Market this weekend, my son kept grabbing tubes of organic Liverwurst, and putting them in the cart. You know, the way kids do.

At first, we put them back, but then I thought, Why not!

We are still waiting for the school to tell us if any of my son's schoolmates have a peanut allergy. Liverwurst is a great sandwich spread - high on protein - and a great alternative to peanut butter, (if you eat meat, which we do.)

Modest Makeover: I mixed the Liverwurst with cream cheese for extra yum factor.

Lunch: half a hard boiled egg (car shape) and "train sandwich" with L'Wurst + Cream Cheese filling. Train cookie cutter  was a gift from Nana. White American cheese on top with orange American cheese for details. Carrot "track."

Snack AM: a small sandwich (same Liverwurst filling) pita chips, and olive-hummus, from Trader Joes. Hummus not pictured.

Snack PM: half a Hard Boiled Egg (car shaped) and green grapes.

YumLunch?
Yes! Only a smidge of hummus left.



Thank you for cute train cookie cutters, Nana!

0 A Late Morning with Fred.

Lunch:  Pre-Fab Tuna Salad from Aldi, Crackers, and Grapes.

Snack AM:  Carrots, half a hard boiled egg bunny, and hummus.

Snack PM:  More Grapes and half a hard boiled egg bunny.

Yum Lunch?  
We thinks so.
The Tuna container was thrown away.

Today was a wake-up-late day.  Booo. 
I took benedryl last night, and woke with that awesome my-tongue-no-worky, my vision bleary, huh-what-am-I-doing, benedryl-hangover feeling.  

In fact, I was in the middle of who knows what and started muttering, "What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?"

So my husband taught my son and I the Fred Schneider game his improv team uses as a warm up. In your best Love Shack voice, you say "Hey, hey Mommy (or insert name), what whatcha doing?" then the other person replies with a brief description of her or his activity. The goal is to do your best Fred impersonation, and stick to a love shack meter similar to "hop in my Chrysler, it's as big as a whale"

Kiddo picked up the meter and did a great Fred impersonation! We were WhatWatchaDoing all morning long, all the way until drop off.

Of course lunch suffered a little. I reached for pre-packaged tuna salad from Aldi. These cost a dollar, and have a proven Yumfactor, because my son and I ate them all summer.

Despite the jovial Fred-Schneider wackiness, I was still a sluggy stuffing-head.

Fashion also suffered - I had to drop boy off in my ugliest house-hag sweats complete with uncombed bed-head. Boy looked fresh as a daisy, although even he suffered fashion faux pas -- he somehow managed to grab a pair of mommy's socks! which had to be rolled down from his knee. Hopefully the rolled-down socks looked cute in a woodsy-mountain-bootish kinda way, and not pathetic, like a certain depression-era cartoon character's socks.

Oops - Mommy's socks.

0 Meow Chicken Lingonberry Croissant

Over the weekend, I got these adorable tooth picks from Japan via Amazon.

Lunch: organic rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods with lingonberry jelly, and cute kitty cat pick. Grapes and Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.

Snacks: oops. Forgot to photograph.

YumLunch?
Yep. NomNom. All Gone.

P.S. My son loves the book ALL GONE

Begin Smart All Gone! 
by Elliot Kreloff, $5.95, from Amazon

Giraffe, Monkey, Cat, Bear, Dog Bento Toothpicks 

0 Hard Boiled Egg Cuties! 2nd Week of School

Hurray! My hard boiled eggs turned out - See cute bunnies...
(Well, three out of four turned out... One got sort of mangled. Oh well, more egg salad.)


Snack AM: Annie's organic cheesy bunny crackers, carrot, and half a hard boiled bunny egg.

Snack PM: other half of bunny-egg, and grapes.

Lunch: whole avocado, rotisserie chicken.

Note: avocado does not work-it for the camera, or create a YumLunch glamor shot. Still, avocado is a fav with my boy. I cut the avocado in half, score it, but leave the pit and reassemble it. The pit helps to keep the avocado from turning brown. My son uses the skin like a bowl and scoops the avocado out with a spoon. He has been eating them like this since he was a baby.

YumLunch?
Yes. All Gone Mommy.


Also, here are some gratuitous baby pictures of my son conquering avocado when he was 14 months old. (Sigh. Sniffle. My baby is a big boy now.  And now he's at school. Whaaaaa.)

0 Hard Boiled Egg Makeover -- Reality Check

As a follow-up to my last post, I got super excited about cute Hard Boiled eggs in adorable shapes, like bunnies, bears, fish, or cars.

My cute Egg Molds from Amazon finally arrived.
(Mon. Sept 10, 2nd week of school)

It's a school night, but I'm eager to try them out!

I have 4 molds, so I boiled 6 eggs in anticipation of some spoilage.
Sure enough, I could see a crack in one as he was boiling, so removed him.

The peeling is not as easy as the video would suggest. I'm wearing rubber gloves, using a tiny spoon to peel the egg, and holding the egg with a paper towel -- all flimsy protection from the heat.

I ruined one egg while peeling. 

They tear easily while hot. 

This egg won't work in the mold, 

but not a total waste - 

hello egg-salad-sandwich!

1. 
   

Boy these babies are hot! Normally, I give my HB eggs a cold bath -
which makes them easier to peel later.
Peeling them while hot, however, is a challenge.
Note to self - must research and order some thermal kitchen gloves. 

It took me a half hour to carefully peel 4 eggs 
and put them into the molds. 
The molds will chill over night.

Kotobuki Plastic Egg Mold, Rabbit and Bear Kotobuki $4.27 from Amazon Kotobuki Plastic Egg Mold, Rabbit and Bear Kotobuki $4.27 from Amazon

0 Hard Boiled Egg Makeover

 Prior to this blog, I suppose I knew the term "bento box," but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the crafty beaver moms out there making nut-ball cool lunches for their kids. style="clear: both; text-align: left;"

There is no way I will achieve this level of perfection. And that's a good thing, because then my kid would grow up into an adult who expects his wifey to do weird fifty shades of perfect things in the kitchen. Uh-uh. No thank you. style="clear: both; text-align: left;"

But how can I resist these cute animal eggs?  And more importantly, how could my four year old resist them in his lunch box?

After being inspired by other people's bento boxes (OPB), and a little intimidated too, I decided to turn to my good friend YouTube, who has helped me learn how to do moderately difficult cooking things like make philo dough triangles and "fold an egg." Which have turned out to be completely do-able, btw.

So, how does one make cute egg animals?  Watch the video above! (BTW - this is not me in the video - it was filmed in Japan, I think.) 

AMAZING!! OMG!  I've placed my order for these nifty gadgets on Amazon.
My kid likes hard boiled eggs enough, but this will definitely push him over the edge!
I cannot wait for them to arrive.

0 OPB - Other People's Bento - Truly Inspiring

Seriously, there are some cake decorating, bento box, crazy creative people out there!
Amazing, fun, and completely unachievable. Consider the bar set impossibly high.

But at least this will serve as inspiration.

Wallace and Grommit Bento?
32 Creative Bento Boxes

Adorable Sandwich and
Hard Boiled Egg Bunny
Crouching Mother Hiding Toddler Blog

Cute Butterfly Bento Box
Bento Box Cooking Gallery Blog

0 Day 2. Chicken Lingonberry Cornbread Bites

Doesn't that sound yummy? My kid loves cornbread, and he and I made some good ol' fashioned Jiffy Cornbread over the weekend. The loaf was a little odd shaped - not traditional 'wich sized slices, more like bite-size.

We had leftover rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods, and a tiny bit of Lingonberry Jelly from AnnSather. I sliced a plum in half for lunch, and paired the other half with cheese cubes for morning snack. For the afternoon snack, I made cream cheese + ritz cracker sandwiches.

YumLunch?
Yes!  Completely eaten.

BTW - How do I know my kid is eating everything? What if he's throwing away food, you ask? The PK teachers tell the kids to pack up uneaten food so Moms know to pack more/less/ or different items.

Rotisserie chicken and
lingonberry jelly
on bite-size cornbread. 

Lunch: Chickie-Cornbread-Bites
with half a plum
and cherry tomatoes.

Snacks stacked:
AM: Plum + cheese cubes /
PM: Cream Cheese Ritz

0 First Day of school. Sept 4.

So excited about the first day, I forgot to take a picture of lunch. Derrrrrr.

Oh well, it was only a single snack because school let out early @ 11:30. Lunch and afternoon snack at home.

Snack: ham & cheese cubes plus grape tomatoes - all favorites.

YumLunch? Yes!
All the snack was eaten.