Mini Quiche

Just a quick recipe share today folks.  This is a delicious little recipe that my family enjoyed every Christmas morning when I was a kid.  Well, when I got married I decided that it is way too delicious to just eat once a year, and started making it more often.  These are great for Goodbyns because they are almost better cold than they are hot, and they are cute and fun.

Mini Quiche:

You will need:

• 2 dozen tart shells
• 8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup of swiss cheese, grated
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup 18% coffee creamer
• 2 tsp dry onion flakes
• 1/ tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• dash of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350*
Beat eggs until frothy; add cream and spices and mix well.  Set aside.
Line a cookie sheet with foil, and arrange tart shells on it.  Divide cheese and bacon among tart shells.
Pour egg mixture into shells over cheese & bacon until they are approximately 3/4 full.
Bake in oven at 350* for approximately 30 minutes, until tops are golden brown and puffed slightly.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does!  It's always a big treat when I make these, and the prep work is very minimal.  I love how easy they are to make, and the generous amount it makes.  They also freeze extremely well (if you manage to have a few leftover, that is).

And don't forget there is still a little time left to enter to win your very own Bynto!  Check out our give-a-way here.
Happy lunching,

Be Prepared

Your best defense is a good offense.  Meaning preparing things ahead of time will get you through your busy week without as much stress.  We all have busy schedules and find it hard to pack healthful lunches for our families.  It is just too easy in today's chaotic life to just hit a fast food joint instead of planning ahead for lunches.

I have some easy steps to help eliminate the lunch packing stress.

1.  Prep veggies and fruit ahead of time.  On Sunday, I grocery shop.  This means that when I come home, I spend some time washing, peeling and cutting fruit and veggies.  I keep a big container of cut veggies in my fridge at hand so I can just grab a hand full and throw it into the Goodbyn.  Wash your apples, grapes etc ahead of time.  There are some fruits that will not hold up to prep such as strawberries.  Use your own judgement, but a lot of veggie and fruit prep can be done ahead. 

2.  Meal Plan.  If you know what you are having for supper, you can plan for leftovers in your lunch.  Say you have chicken fajitas for supper...this would make awesome chicken wraps for lunch the next day.  No stress at 6am to figure out what the heck you are going to put in your lunch for the day.  This not only saves you time but it saves you money.   Here is a printable planner you can use http://www.your-printable-planner.com/7-day-meal-planner.html

3.  If you can, pack most of your lunch the night before and keep it in the fridge.  This also helps to eliminate that feeling of panic at 6am.  Nobody likes to have to deal with lunch before you have even had a cup of coffee.  If your kids are old enough, get them to help.

4.  Your freezer is your friend.  If you have leftovers that you did not plan for...freeze them for later.  If you bake cookies one week, do a double batch and freeze the second batch for later.  I do this a lot with banana muffins.  They hold up in the freezer very well and it is a treat that both my husband and kids love. 

I think that the less we stress about lunch, the more likely we are to keep packing better lunches and making better food choices for our family. 

Here is my recipe share for the week courtesy of my friend Patti H. 

Banana Bread (yeilds approx 2 loaves or 24 muffins)

1 1/4 C white sugar
1/2 C margarine
2 Eggs
1 1/2 C mashed over ripe bananas
1/2 C Buttermilk (or regular milk minus 1 1/2 tsp...add 1 1/2 tsp of white vinegar to the milk to sour it)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1C of blueberries or walnuts (you can omit if you like)

Preheat your oven to 350.  Cream your sugar and margarine.  Add the 2 eggs and beat until the mixture lightens a bit.  Add your bananas, buttermilk and vanilla.  Combine your dry ingredients and add to the wet.  Mix until combined.  Fold in your blueberries or nuts.  I use a silicone loaf pan for this but if you are using a regular loaf pan, grease it before adding your batter.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour for a loaf...approx 26 minutes for muffins. 

Monday night's leftovers

So you made too much spaghetti for supper.  Oops!  Now what to do with it all?  Make "Spaghetti Pie" of course!  It is usually a big hit with kids.  All you need is your leftover spaghetti noodles, your leftover sauce, a couple of beaten eggs and some grated cheese.   I use a marble chedar but you could use whatever cheese you prefer. 

First off... preheat your oven to 375 and lightly grease your casserole dish or tarte plate.  Mix your leftover noodles and sauce together and let cool to room temperature.  Add a couple of beaten eggs and about half of the cheese (maybe 1/2 - 3/4 C) and mix to combine thoroughly.  Pour into your tarte plate or casserole dish and give it a firm push down with your spoon.  Top with remaining cheese and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.  Let cool and slice into wedges or squares.  This is a yummy alternative to just having leftover spaghetti in your lunch! 

Holiday Baking

First off, I apologize for not having a lunch post today.  I totally flaked on a Christmasy themed lunch this week.  So instead...I want to share some yummy sweet recipes that I find myself making during the holidays.  And what kid doesn't appreciate some cookies in their lunchbox?!

One of my favourite cookies of the holiday season is ginger snaps.  My grandmother used to make these all the time...the smell of ginger, cinnamon and molasses....yummy!

Gingersnaps

3/4 cup margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar to roll your cookies in

Optional ingredients:  chopped candied ginger OR zest of one orange

Preheat your oven to 350.  Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.  Add egg and molasses and mix until combined well.   If you are adding orange zest or candied ginger I would add to the wet now.  Mix together your dry ingredients (minus the sugar for rolling).  Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.  You are going to have a dense dough that you can roll into balls.  Roll into 1 inch balls then roll the balls into the sugar.  I have used decorative sugar for this as well and it gives the cookie extra crunch since the sugar crystals are so large.  Regular granulated sugar works just as well.    Place your cookie dough balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 - 3 inches apart.  Bake for 8 - 10 mins.  Cool on a rack and done! 

The next recipe also holds some wonderful childhood memories.  Shortbread cookies!  I love these buttery, crumbly, sweet cookies.  The best and most easy recipe I have come across so far is the one that comes off of the Canada Cornstarch box. 

Shortbread Cookies

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar or powdered sugar) 

1 cup flour

3/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat your oven to 350.  Sift the cornstarch. flour and sugar together into a bowl.   Mix your room temp butter into your dry ingredients.  Form into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet....I use either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper because I don't want them to brown much.  Flatten the balls with a fork or the bottom of a drinking glass that you have dusted with icing sugar so it won't stick to the cookie dough.  Bake for 15 - 20 mins.   

You can change up these cookies with some lemon zest in the dough or top with some candied cherry pieces. 

These recipes are peanut free and safe for school and work lunches!!  Happy baking!

Recipe Share

Today's recipe is a fun one and may just be the incentive your kids (or adults) need to eat and ENJOY meatloaf.

What you will need for my Meatloaf Cupcakes:

Meatloaf  Ingredients

1 package of lean ground beef

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 tbsp ketchup

1 small very finely minced onion

2 cloves of garlic finely minced or crushed

1 large egg

1/2 C bread crumbs (or more depending on how wet your mixture ends up from whatever veg you use)

salt and pepper

Here is where we sneak in veggies....

1 smallish carrot shredded
5 or so mushrooms minced
1/2 C shredded zucchini

Basically you just mix all of that together and fill muffin tins with the meat mixture.  Bake at 350 for about a half hour or until the meat is fully cooked through.  You can adjust the recipe to your liking, increase it for larger families or use your own meatloaf recipe. (Photo courtesy of Food Network Canada)

Topping:

Mashed potatoes

Cooked carrots

Cooked peas

sliced red pepper

shredded cheddar cheese

After the mini meatloaf cupcakes are cooked.  Remove from the pan and top with mashed potatoes (icing) and then let the kids decorate the tops with the other cooked veggies!  These are also very convenient for lunches. 

The change up for this recipe is that you can use the meatloaf recipe just to make meatballs for lunches as well.  Most kids like the dippable factor.  Here I used meatballs and served them with roasted potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, snickerdoodle cookies, strawberries, orange slices and a couple of dill pickles. 

Don't forget our Giveaway!!!  You still have time to enter!

Restaurant Inspiration - Sushi

Sushi...not such a kid friendly restaurant meal. Most kids make faces at the thought of eating raw fish or seaweed. I know a lot of adults who do too. lol I personally love the stuff and make it at home. My son will only eat veggie rolls and my daughter will not go near it with a ten foot pole. My spin on sushi involves a lot of fun, kid friendly treats! All you really need to know how to do is make Rice Crispy treats!

Step 1: Make rice crispy treats according to box instructions.

Step 2: Pour out treats onto a buttered piece of parchment paper.

Step 3: Flatten out the treats into a thin rectangle.

Step 4: Add any candy you want to the middle that is pliable. I used orange and chocolate Tootsie rolls that I stretched out as well as a folded up piece of Fruit Roll Up.

Step 5: Roll up your sushi using your parchment paper to lift, roll and press down on your sushi roll. Wrap it up in the parchment paper and toss it in the fridge so it slices easier.

Step 6: Remove from fridge and wrap it in fruit roll ups. Slice into rounds with a serrated knife and serve.

I also made some home made crunchy chicken strips. I sliced chicken breast into fingers. I continued the rice theme and decided to use the Rice Crispies as the coating for the chicken strips as well. I dredged them in a beaten egg, then into corn starch, back into the egg then into some seasoned (salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder) crushed rice crispies. I then shallow fried them in a cast iron pan and done. These end up very crunchy and delicious! In today's Goodbyn there is Crunchy Crispy Chicken strips with ketchup for dipping, Baby Bell cheese, cucumber slices, Kool Aid Jammer, thermos of noodle soup and dessert sushi.

Don't forget about our GIVEAWAY!!! You still have time to get your entry in!

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.

Lunchable Leftovers

Quite often I find myself planning my son's lunch around the previous night's supper. I find that this not only saves me time and money but he gets something other than a boring sandwich for lunch at school the next day. We have yet to pack a sandwich this school year. Leftovers CAN be your friend.

Depending on who you are packing your lunch for, you can very easily incorporate last night's dinner into your lunch the next day. It doesn't matter if you are using a Goodbyn or even packing bento style or not. It is easy to use your leftovers!





This lunch was inspired by the previous night's meal. We had Swedish meatballs, roasted potatoes and salad. My son loves these items room temperature so there is no issue with reheating. I refrigerate over night and pack them cold in the morning. There is always the option of removing the items from the box and throwing them in the microwave for 30 seconds as well.

I packed meatballs (I omitted the sauce), roasted potatoes, small container of ketchup for dipping, a salad with ranch dressing, dill pickles, orange slices, strawberries and snicker doodle cookies. This lunch not only used leftovers but is also totally litterless. I included a big water bottle on the side to get him through the day.

My share:

Swedish Meatballs

1lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2C finely chopped onion
3/4 C bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1/2 C milk
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Soak bread crumbs in the milk for a couple of minutes. Mix all of the ingredients listed above and form into meatballs. Place on a sheet pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, turning frequently.

Sauce

1/4 C veg oil
1/4 C flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 C boiling water
3/4 C sour cream

Cook first five ingredients together to make a roux. Cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Whisk in the hot water and sour cream. Mix until smooth and the sauce thickens a bit.

Put the meatballs into a casserole dish and pour the sauce over. Bake an additional 20 minutes at 350.

These meatballs without the sauce freeze wonderfully. This way you can make a big batch for your freezer and will only have to quickly whip up the sauce for a quick supper and a tasty lunch for the following day!


Enjoy!