Cozy Fruit?

What is the one thing that we all dislike about bringing in an apple or pear in our lunch?  It rolls around, it gets bumped and bruised.  Frankly, nobody likes bruised fruit.  So what do you do? 

You make one of these fruit cozies!  I do NOT know how to knit anything but a basic stitch but I do have a Knifty Knitter from Provocraft.  I just used the smallest loom and made a tube.  Closing off the top after I got a desired length.  Weave a ribbon through and voila, fruit cozy! You can also sew one if you were so inclined.  Even if you are not the crafty kind, I do have a quick and easy solution!  A wool sock!  Granted I would probably use a NEW one lol...but you could even dress it up a little.  Add some ribbon, bling, google eyes...the possibilities are endless!

P.S.  I have one of these made to give away to a lucky someone.  I will put the names of everyone who comments on this post into a hat and choose! I will choose a winner Feb 1st.

                        Have fun with your food!!!

Pizza Friday!

The Thanksgiving holiday is keeping my American friends very busy this week. So I am posting again :)

Today's restaurant inspired lunch is another kid friendly one and a very EASY one to prepare. If your family is anything like mine, they love pizza! Instead of ordering in, make these really quick and easy mini pizzas. All you need is some kind of flat bread (Greek fluffy pita, naan), english muffins or hamburger buns, cheese and pizza sauce (spaghetti sauce works in a pinch too). I find that the pitas that you use to stuff for sandwiches don't quite work as well as the more dense Greek pitas or naan (Asian and Indian flat bread). Here in this lunch I used naan.

I usually make mine up the night before so that in the morning all I have to do is throw them in the lunch box. Today's Goodbyn contains flat bread pizza, cheese string, dill pickles, carrots, cucumbers, cereal bar, couple of cookies and fruit salad (strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe). Boy you can fit a lot in there!

Fun for Picky Eaters

I am sure there are many parents out there who have kids who are quite particular about what they eat. Fussy eaters can definitely be frustrating at times. I figured I would share a fun lunch that I think would agree with many of those particular kids and it is fun too!

We started off with a couple of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, sliced cucumber, sliced strawberries, cubed cantaloupe melon and a hand full of Doritos. Those are all pretty kid friendly foods that most children enjoy. The "fun" comes in with hot dog octopus (or is that octopi or octopusses? lol) resting on a bed of left over macaroni and cheese. I added ketchup because that is just the way my son prefers his but you can omit it if you like. It added an extra gross factor with my son who said it was bloody octopus. (boys are so weird lol)

To make the octopus, all you need to do is make some cuts lengthwise into the hot dog for the legs. Make sure you leave about an inch to an inch and a half at the top for the head. Boil your hot dogs as usual. As they cook, the legs curl up. Easy peasy and your kids will be the talk of the lunchroom!

Rememberance Day Goodbyn

Today in the UK (and other countries) it is Rememberance Day.

In my family we have a traditional cake that we eat at this time and it's a tradition that has been handed through my family. I believe it was my great grandmother who started the tradition and the family story is that having little in her kitchen cupboard she wanted to create something special for her family to celebrate the lives of those lost (quite a few in our family alone), the first world war being over and she had a very sweet tooth (something I have definately inherited!) and fancied a cake for pudding that evening!! :)

She decided upon a cake with the consistency of bread - for two reasons (1) she was very religious and believed in the symbolisim around bread and (2) she had a lot of kids to feed and a stodgy cake went a lot further and filled those hungry kids up!

It is a tradition on Rememberance Sunday in the UK to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph in London, I am proud that many of my relatives take part in the March as they are still active members of the Royal British Legion.

photo taken from wikipedia

Here is how to make the cake:

You will need: 1 can of pineapple rings, some glace cherries, 10oz/275g brown sugar, 1lb/450g of flour, 4oz/100g butter, 2 eggs (or powdered eggs if fresh not available), 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp cinnamon, 8fl oz of milk

I apologise for the old school English measurements but you can convert them here if you need to!!

Melt 2oz/50g of butter in a pan. Add in 4oz/100g brown sugar and a tablespoon of pineapple juice from a can. Stir and pour the mixture into the bottom of a baking tin

On top of the syrup in the tin, add pineapple rings to cover the base. The pineapple ring represents the poppy wreath and the red cherry in the middle is a symbol of the blood spilt in the war. Set the oven to Gas 4/180c/350f

Put all the other ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix together to make a cake batter

pour this ontop of the pineapple rings and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. It should come out looking something like this.... (with a crispy base)

Immediately turn it upside down onto another larger baking tray so the syrup runs over the top of the cake.

You are meant to leave it too cool but at this stage I love to cut a piece and eat it hot with some icecream!

When it is cool you can then add a slice to your Goodbyn and enjoy it for your lunch! :) A nice slice of rememberance day cake!

Also in my lunchbox today is a salad of baby leaves, cucumber, red and yellow pepper, spring onion, leftover breaded chicken and radish. I have some mixed fresh fruit of pineapple, kiwi and blueberry and some beetroot and parsnip crisps!

Just a reminder too - We have a giveaway happening on our blog right now!! You could win a Goodbyn of your own - check it out HERE.