01.28.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Bear, star, and heart shaped musubi
Veggie Egg rolls
Mickey Mouse Chicken nuggets
Star and Heart apples
Corn
Finger biscuits



The Musubi was made by mixing shrimp powder furikake (bought at Marukai) and tiny bits of Kamaboko with the rice. The shrimp powder furikake is the reason why the rice is pink. (Pink is Chloe's favorite color)

Veggie egg rolls are from Sam's Club. They are mini sized and I cut it in half (angled slice) so Chloe can eat them with her fingers.  I used my toaster over to bake them instead of deep frying.

The Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets are from Costco, and I really like these nuggets because they used Whole Wheat as the breading. It has more of a golden color when it's cooked and it tends to be more on the crunchy side. Plus it's in a fun mickey mouse shape!

Instead of using my usual silicone cups, I put everything on a bed of shreadded cabbage.
Wondering if Chloe will eat it too...

I used cheese as a food divider... lol I guessing it's gonna melt with the rice but I have a feeling it'll melt before lunch. It might sound gross, but rice and cheese tastes pretty good. Chloe likes it. It's like a east meets west kinda thing I guess. (pasta and rice are both starch with basically no flavor, so... why not?)

I used the same rice mold to cut the apples. Had to cut them thinner, but hey, it worked!

01.27.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Veggie & Chicken Rotini on Tomato Sauce

Steamed Carrots with Ranch Sauce

Finger Biscuits

Melon Balls

Kamaboko

I actually wanted to do a cream sauce rotini, but I found out I was out of cream sauce.

Didn't wanna go out 7 in the morning to buy it. So I decided to use tomato sauce.

I used my Ninja Express to chop up the veggies (steamed ), then I used my hands to shred the chicken (breast meat). I mixed the veggie and the chicken in the already simmered tomato sauce. I added shredded cheese to the sauce for flavor.

When the rotini was done, I mixed the rotini and the sauce and poured it into Chloe's container.

I used the fruit scooper (don't know the exact name for it) to make melon balls. They are very quick and easy and looks nice!

01.26.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Hello Kitty Shaped PB & Jelly Sandwich

Chicken Salad

Yak Shik ( Korean Mochi Rice)

Corn

Hello Kitty shaped apple pieces

I used a Hello Kitty Sandwich mold that was given to me as a Christmas Gift.

I made the faces by using cocoa powder.

The Yak Shik, (the brown thing on the picture) is made by first soaking the mochi rice for several hours and cooking it with the Yak Shik mix you can easily buy at Korean markets. The mix is basically corn syrup, cinnamon, dates, and pine nuts, ginger extract, and water. Once the rice and Yak Shik mix is mixed, I cooked it in the rice cooker. I made a whole batch ahead of time and froze them into small servings.

The Chicken Salad was made by using Chicken breast (cooked ahead of time) and steamed veggies (I used broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots) I put the chicken and the veggies in my ninja blender. I finalized it by mixing the salad with a touch of fat free ranch sauce for a creamy texture.

The Apples were cut by using the Hello kitty cutter (bought from ebay)

01.25.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Fried Noodles
Kim Chee Fried Rice cubes
Corn
Pineapples

I made the Fried Noodles by first chopping up some Kamaboko and scrambled egg (made ahead of time) into small pieces.
I heat the wok and added a bit of grape oil to the pan so the noodles won't stick to eachother.
I added some minced garlic for flavor and add the Kamaboko and eggs, next add the noodle (bought mine at Sam's club).
once the noodles look tender, I added soba sauce to taste. There are various sauces you can use for fried noodles. My favorites are the Oyster sauce and Soba Sauce. I know that when you are using it as soba sauce, you mix it with water, but when I use it as fried noodle sauce, I use it straight out of the bottle. I think I used about a table spoon for 1 package of noodle, but if there are more veggies or more meat, it calls for more. I'm really bad at giving measurements for all the stuff I cook, I trust my instinct and it never fails. lol

The Kim Chee fried rice cubes- cut the Kim Chee into small pieces, squeezed out the excess juice, cut up some small pieces of spam, and stir fried the kim chee and spam with bit of oil on med heat, and add rice, and mix them well. Next I add a bit of organic ketchup to make it more red and also to neutralize the spicy kim chee. Once the ketchup is mixed well, set it aside for a few mins and mold it! I used the tiny square molds.

01.24.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Inari stuffed with minced brocoli and carrots
Shreadded Takuan
Seasoned Fish balls (sliced)
Broccoli
Peaches

I stuffed the Inari with rice, brocoli and carrots.
The brocoli and carrots were steamed ahead of time and I used my Ninja Blenger to mince them. I also scooped the rice ahead of time and set it out (covered so the rice doesn't get hard) a bit before stuffing the Inari.
I mixed the rice with a bit of apple vinegar and mirin to get that "sushi rice" flavor.
I just mix a bit of it because chloe does not like strong flavors.
For today's Inari, instead of stuffing it the usual triangle way, I stuffed less rice and made it into a diamond by joining the corners together. It is a smaller piece but more appealing for a toddler to eat (hopefully).

Few weeks ago, I bought a Saladacco from Amazon.com and have been experimenting with it.
It makes veggies into this angel hair like creation. I bought this one and so far no complaints.
http://tinyurl.com/6c8q7c9 -> link to my Saladacco that I bought at Amazon.

So I used my Saladacco to make angel hair Takuan. and I cut them up into sections so it'll look like Takuan noodles. lol

The fish balls and Shrimp balls were boiled and cut into small pieces. I use 50/50 Sweet Chili sauce and Organic Ketchup as sauce. I think i used about a teaspoon each today. I used 2 fish balls and 2 shrimp balls. I topped it off with some sesame seed.

I had some broccoli left over so I decided to pack them -to fill space ;)

I usually don't like to give Chloe canned fruit, but didn't have anything besides banana, so I gave this canned peaches a go.
I don't like the heavy syrup so I submerged the peaches in ice water drained the excess water off and cut them into pieces.

01.21.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Rotini in basil pesto sauce with veggies
Steamed organic baby corn with fat free ranch sauce
Pears cut into flower shapes
Fish cake

The Basil Pesto sauce was bought from Target, and in the sauce I added veggies ( corn, green peas, and string beans). The veggies were first steamed and then I used my Ninja Express to chop them up.
The fish cake was cut into birds but I don't think it matters to Chloe because she'll eat the fish cake regardless of shape or size.
Pears are from Palama Market, and The organic baby carrots are from Whole foods.

Snow Factory

We finally went to snow factory and did a taste test. The small runs about $3 but it's actually huge for small. Chloe got the Passion Fruit, but it tasted more like orange flavored cough syrup. Almost too sweet... I got the Coffee flavor and I really liked it. Not too sweet, not too bitter. Just right. It did not taste like the traditional coffee ice cream, but instead, it did taste like coffee snow.. Kinda like coffee flavored cotton candy.. But colder.
The regular size runs about $5 an u can mix 2 flavors. I think I'll try that with my hubby this weekend.
This place doesn't provide you with Spoons, instead, they give you forks.
I think it works out pretty well.
Another advantage of the Snow Factory is that they have free dry toppings! They do have fruits and mochi toppings for 50 cents each, bug you can have Oreo crumbs, Cookie crumbs, and Chloe's favorite, Gummy Bears free! I think there's about 8 to 10 free toppings!
The atmosphere is nice and clean and I think they'll even take your picture to post on their wall!
Try to avoid lunch and dinner hours, the parking gets really packed...
Overall, it's a good place to relax and hang out. I believe they have free WIFI there.
Will post more pics this weekend!

Oliver's Labels

http://oliverslabels.com/erinlee

I ordered some labels for Chloe's stuff that will be used in her Preschool.

Found this Canada based company that is unlike any other label companies.

If your child loses a shoe or her sippy and someone was to find it, they can simply go to Oliver's Labels website and enter the code on the label, and it automatically contacts you via e-mail that your lost shoe, sippy, etc is found!

They also have various designs not only for kids but adults as well.

Check this site out!

01.20.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Tofu salad sandwich
Fish sausage
Oranges
Broccoli

For the Tofu salad, I used organic firm, used my fingers to crumble it and drained it on a colander for couple of hours in the fridge.
While it is draining, I used my ninja blender to chop celery, carrots and cucumber. Gently squeeze excess water from the veggies.
In a good sized bowl, combine veggies and the drained tofu and mix them well with mayo and mustard or honey mustard to taste. Add dash black pepper and salt to taste.
I used a bear shaped mold and used cake deco pen for the facial features.
Oranges pieces were cut so that no white parts are present,
The broccoli were steamed and dunk in ice cold water to preserve the green color.
Fish sausages were boiled and cut into small pieces and mixed with a hint of organic ketchup.

01.19.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Musubi with cheese face
Yak Shik( Korean mochi rice)
Egg flowers
Tangerines ( skin peeled off)
Broccoli with cheese flowers
Konyaku with quail eggs ( these are Chloe's favorite)

I mixed diced baby anchovies and a dash of furikake to flavor the musubi. I used cheese for the faces. I like to use cheese because they stick to the rice well.

Yak Shik can be bought pre- made at Korean markets but I found a Yak Shik mix and made it for the first time.
Yak Shik is a caramel like flavored sweet mochi rice. It is a filling snack or even dessert. If you buy the pre mix like I did, all the directions are on the package in English!

I bought the egg omelet from a Japanese market and cut them into flowers. Realized my eggs taste better... Won't be buying again from this store!

I still have dome Konyaku and quail eggs left and since this is one of Chloe's favorite, I included this again.

I hope she eats the broccoli and cheese.... She used to love them but her favorites changed... :(

01.18.2011 Chloe's Lunch

Tri-colored noodles seasoned with sesame miso sauce.
Mickey mouse shaped chicken nuggets.
Veggie egg rolls
Konyaku with quail egg whites
Orange pcs with blueberries
Finger biscuit

I bought three different colored noodles and mixed them. I was surprised at how pretty the colors were. The noodles were bought at various Korean markets. You can use any salad dressing as the noodle sauce but Chloe likes the sesame miso sauces.

The Mickey mouse chicken nuggets are from Costco and the veggie egg rolls are from Sam's Club.

I made the Konyaku and the quail egg marinade by boiling soy sauce, piece of Korean radish, a thick piece of wakame, a dash of mirin and water to taste.
When the sauce starts to boil, put the Konyaku and quail eggs ( already boiled and peeled) in the marinade and simmer for half an hour. When cooled, cut& served. Leftovers can be refrigerated and served cold. We like it better cold. This is also one of Chloe's favorite dishes.

Oranges were cut into small pcs and I buy blueberries in bulk, wash them and freeze them. This way they last longer and I can ea. Them frozen or thawed.

01.14.2011 Bento

01.14.2011 Chloe's Lunch
Hello kitty shaped PB&J sandwich ( mold sold at marukai and I used cocoa powder for facial details)
Mini fish sausage links with a hint of organic ketchup and relish
Organic edamame
Hello kitty apples ( cutter bought from eBay)
I think I cheated today... Fastest lunch I made so far!!!