Menu

03 October 2013

DIY BBQ!

Fall is...

a zillion things. Leaves falling, jumping in leaf piles, pumpkin spice lattes, crisp morning runs, hot cocoa, decorating for halloween, apples, pumpkin EVERYTHING...

and crockpot meals!

ANDDDD crockpot LEFTOVERS!!!

Which means, lunch making is about to get even easier.

this lunch is packed in our Laptop Lunchbox container!

You only need 3 ingredients for the sauce!
- organic, high fructose corn syrup-FREE ketchup
- bragg's liquid aminos or some coconut aminos (or whats-his-shire (hobbits, anyone!?) sauce, but make sure you read the ingredients!)
- low sodium soy sauce (also make sure you read the ingredients)

Don't even worry about mixing these in a bowl, first. Shred your meat and then just put the 3 sauces in the bowl with it and mix together. If you like spicier stuff, toss in some red pepper flakes.

The BBQ wraps pictured above are on a spinach tortilla. Olivia also had hummus and carrots, kiwi berries, and banana bread (recipe here) with PB Crave Cookie Nookie for dipping, that I topped with a few Enjoy Life Foods gluten/dairy free chocolate chips. 

02 October 2013

Oh Emm Geeeee

wow.
just. wow. It has been far, far too long!

We have been so so so oooooo very busy here in the Poirier household! I mean.. I haven't blogged in nearly two months!!!
Sorry!

Besides just making fabulous lunches, we've been working on our house, re-arranging our lives, trying to spend as much time together as possible! For what reason? Just.. that we love each other. My family is thriving. This is something I'm very proud of!

Ok, ok.. enough talking... time for some LUNCHES!

I'm going to post my favorite ones first, in my favorite boxes- our brand spanking new YUBO tall boxes!

When you see them and love them (and you will) you can grab your own right here: http://www.getyubo.com

Tell them Kandice Poirier sent you.... I don't get a reward or anything, but I want them to know how much I appreciate and love them! You will, too.










I love the Yubo so much, with its ice pack. Love love love. We're going to the pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks and our Yubos will be going along, too. But, not in lunchbox form. Well, in lunchbox form, but not in the traditional form. More like.. coolers. SO COOL. Get it... because I love the ice pack? :P hahaha

A couple of other lunches since the last time I blogged:







*whew* That is a LOT of lunches! 

Look out tomorrow for an easy-peasy BBQ recipe!! And if you're in Arkansas, make sure you check ArkansasPTA.org in a couple of days for the latest newsletter- and an article written by yours truly about healthy lunches for our kiddos!

xoxo
kP


05 August 2013

Back to school GIVE AWAY!!

oh yeah, thats right!

Raise your hand if you're SOOOOOOOO excited to send your littles back to school!! MEEEEE! ok, not really. My kids have been in a summer care program all summer since I got my big girl job. Heh.

Olivia begins FOURTH grade and Sophia will go to the k3 at Olivia's old school. Exciting, eh? I'm trying to figure out how on EARTH I'm going to get up, ready, and out the door for work, and delivering the kids to two different places... across town from each other.... on time. Luckily, my job is pretty flexible and so... maybe.. not too much pressure.

Ready? OK!
Jessica from Tupperware with Jessica is sponsoring this AWESOME give away!! :) I'm super excited for y'all (and me!) because I LOVE LOVE LOVE the old tupperware stuff my Grandmas own and the new lines are starting to really look like the old stuff! So pretty much.. I want it all. :) Don't you?

You can win THESE fabulous items!!

These side-by-sides are fab for pre-school size lunches or bigger kids snacks. They're adorable, dishwasher safe, and of course, amazing quality since they're made by Tupperware.

Then there is this, lunch n dish + cold cup! I love this- I'm already envisioning sending chili for lunch- Olivia LOVES chili! :) This is microwave safe, too, so perfect for us working mamas to take ourselves!

All of this can be YOURS! And, for one lucky winner, it will be!

If you want to see what other amazing, fabulous, totally retro-ish lunch and kitchen supplies Tupperware has to offer- you can do so here- Jessica's Tupperware Storefront. The side-by-sides are only available through August 9, so if you really want one (who doesn't!), order while you can! If you win, you'll just end up with an extra set and who knows- you could use them, gift them, donate them, or host your own give away on YOUR bento blog. :) Super fun stuff! 

The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter on Friday, August 9th! Good Luck and Happy Bento-ing!! 







a Rafflecopter giveaway

23 July 2013

Quinoa & Turkey Meatballs

This is a delicious spin on an old favorite.

I use quinoa instead of noodles since well, its healthier. That and Sophia will eat anything she thinks is "wice, mommy!" ..... so here you go!

You will need:

1lb ground turkey
1 cup quinoa, cooked
Your preferred marinara or spaghetti sauce
Cheese (optional)
1 egg
fresh parsley
fresh garlic (or garlic powder)

Mix meat, cheese, egg, and spices in a bowl. Divide meat evenly in to non-stick mini muffin tin (sorry, you can roll the meat in to balls too, but I don't touch raw meat!) Heat at 350 until done.

Heat sauce in a pan, pour over cooked quinoa, top with meatballs and cheese. If you're feeling really adventurous, you could spread the quinoa over a portabella mushroom and garnish with a stem of parsley!

enjoy!

22 July 2013

Taco Salad {the family table}

Or non table, in our case. Yeah... we have to buy one for our new house! :)

Here's my most recent taco salad recipe. I'm always making new things in to tacos and taco salad... I can't help it, tacos are my fave food EVAH!

You'll need:
1 lb ground turkey
1/4c chopped fresh cilantro
1 c prepared brown rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
chili powder
cayenne pepper

Brown meat with cilantro, set aside. Add rice, beans, and spices. You may want to add 1/4c water and let everything simmer for a bit.

Put the mixture on top of a few chips, top with lettuce, tomatoes, all the toppings you desire!

I made some guacamole to go on the side, too.
1 avocado
juice from 1/2 lime
fresh cilantro to taste
sea salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
tomatoes

smush everything, add tomatoes, enjoy!




20 July 2013

Pizza Eggs

Raise your hand if you love pizza!! (great, I'll need to raise BOTH hands, and then I can't type!)
haha

So yeah, I am a pizza FANATIC. Honestly, who isn't? My kids love pizza, too. Last week I made them mini pizzas and mini calzones out of biscuits. They loved them.

Sometimes we do breakfast for dinner, but I get bored with normal breakfast. And... I always want pizza. So, I got a little (and I mean.. a little) creative in the kitchen to mix up our Brinner.


The kids AND husband both loved these eggs. 
You'll need:
a muffin tin (I used a silicone muffin mold, shaped like half-eggs)
eggs
pepperonis
mozzarella or parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 350. Crack one egg per muffin hole on the tin (mine held 8). place a single pepperoni on the top of the egg, then sprinkle with a little bit of cheese. Bake about 10 minutes, or until eggs reach your desired "done."

15 July 2013

My Bento Wish List {back to school edition}

School bells will be ringing and summer will be over, before we know it. I have always loved "back to school" time, even as a kid, because I love fresh notebooks, new pencils, school clothes shopping, getting that brand new pair of keds hi-tops in black (can you tell I was a child of the early 90s? 1990-1996, kindergarten through 6th grade, I always started school with fresh keds and fresh LA gear).

Now I'm always super excited to take Olivia shopping for new clothes, shoes, school supplies... and most of all, BENTO GEAR!! Bento gear is probably my favorite. I order all bento supplies without her input, because I love the surprise she gets at lunch time each day.

Here are the items I will be purchasing for myself Olivia and Sophia's bento stash this 2013-2014 school year!

This great box makes me super excited. If you didn't know, our last name means Pear or Pear Tree in french. I find it totally fitting that my little Pie girls have pear lunch boxes! Snag your own Pear box here!

I love these little forrest friends! Andy and I watch Brickleberry and I could totally see myself making him a Daniel Tosh as the bear lunch! :) Get your forrest friends here!

I LOVE GNOMES!! No explanation necessary! Grab your gnomies here!

I love these leaves, and I have wanted them since I started bento in 2010. I'm not sure why I haven't ordered any yet? You can grab some here!

These adorable silicone baran sheets! Get your own set here!

You had me at peas in a pod. Silicone food cups available here!

All images courtesy BentoUSA.com 






14 July 2013

#PastaSaladSunday

Happy Sunday, y'all!

I love Sundays. I love them because I'm excited for a new week to begin. I love church (however, we skipped this morning due to intense amounts of unpacking and little home repairs we needed to do). I love Sunday lunch!

So, I'm going to try to start something. Each Sunday that I can, I'll post a new pasta salad recipe. Pasta salad is super easy, delicious, and fun. It can be gluten free or regular. Its a fantastic dish to bring to your family's Sunday lunch, your church potluck, or an after church picnic with your family.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my offices had a potluck and a baby shower. My super sweet office manager, N, brought a pasta salad that was SO DELICIOUS (and perfect for my then-sore, newly-braced teeth!), I had to re-create it today.

Here's your first #pastasaladsunday recipe!

You will need:

1.5c uncooked corkscrew pasta
1/2c italian salad dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp water
1/2c broccoli, chopped
1 small package cubed cheese
1 package mini pepperonis
1 tomato, diced

cook pasta, drain, set aside.
Mix dressing, oil, water, then pour over pasta. Add broccoli, cheese, pepperonis, and tomato. Toss to make sure everything is coated with the dressing mixture. Serve chilled!


Now, share YOUR pasta salad sunday recipes! :) 



13 July 2013

I'm alive, I promise!

And, while I've been living, I've also been making bento!

Here's the dealio. I don't have a DSLR anymore, so bear with me as far as photos go. I plan to get another one soon, but I had a d7000 and I hardly ever used it. So, I sold it. I want to downgrade to a canon rebel or something. Professional photography is a thing of my past, and for family snapshots and bento pics, I don't need anything crazy!

So, without any further mumbling, here are a few bentos from last week!

a totally upside down, awful bento. This is when we just moved in to our home and had for real, zero groceries! crackers, lunch meat (snagged at walgreens a few blocks away), pb sandwich, dry cereal, pita chips. YIKES.





01 July 2013

Puppies in a blanket

hahahahaha. All I can do is laugh about this one!!

I have been spending quite a lot of my spare time on pinterest lately. I mean, that is what you do when you have a new house to paint, decorate, and love, right? I thought so.

Well, when I saw these adorable puppies in a blanket (yeah, hot dogs wrapped in biscuits), I decided I would make them for dinner for the kiddos. ONLY I didn't repin, or even like the post. So of course I couldn't find it again.... Just these ridiculous photos of a weenie dog in a hot dog bun.

cute, yeah? 

I did find someone else's failed attempt on their blog, so I used that image as a guide.... of course I can't find that photo again or the link! UGH!

After my failed attempt (that still tasted delicious, according to the kids!), I found an awesome version here:

I wish I had found this blog before I tried to make the others.

Ok... now, here's the moment you've been reading for.. my EPIC FAIL at puppy dogs!


HAHAHAHAHA

Seriously, they're so terrible! And thats ok, I know they are! I made a huge mistake using regular biscuits and not crescent rolls. They puffed up SUPER HUGE in the oven and stuck to each other. This little puppy is missing a nose for sure. The OP I tried to use had rolled the dough into strips and draped over the hot dog to make ears, and paws. I didn't do that. Anyway... I will probably try to do this again another time. With the right biscuit product. 





31 May 2013

Super Adorable Apple Turnovers

So.. I packed all the bento stuff away, school is out...

And then Olivia had a sleep over tonight and I couldn't resist pulling it right back out! :D

I made the girls easy apple turnovers for dessert.

You'll need:

  • egg roll wrappers
  • 3 apples, cubed/diced/sliced
  • 1/3c sugar
  • 1/2c honey
  • cinnamon to taste (I am a heavy cinnamon sprinkler!)
  • allspice (just a dash or two)
  • 2/3c water
Combine everything besides the egg roll wrappers in a pot, boil until apples are tender.

Pre-heat oven to 350, and spray a cookie sheet. When the apples are ready, lay an egg roll wrapper on the pan (where you want it placed during baking). Spoon about 1/4c of the apple mixture on to the egg roll wrapper. Dip your finger in water and run it around the edges of half the wrapper. Fold the wrapper over and then fold the edges. Repeat until you're out of apple filling.

I love to take another egg roll wrapper and use my tiny bento cutters to decorate them! Just bake them for about 12 minutes or until they are golden brown!




24 April 2013

Come Sail Away

Good Morning!

It has been a while! My bento break turned in to a punishment for Olivia. She keeps getting in trouble at school and part of her punishment was going back to boring lunches... and *gasp* school lunches!

Today is our first day back to being ungrounded and yummy bentos!

In this lunchbots container:
Strawberry cream cheese sandwiches using the FUNBITES heart cutter to make sailboats
a clementine
blueberries
corn nuts
muenster cheese clouds
not pictured: a plum

Use my affiliate link to the right ---> to purchase your own lunchbots container!

05 April 2013

Hiatus

Hello! :)

Just popping in to say that I believe I'm going on a small hiatus from bento blogging. I'll keep photographing my bentos and posting them on my facebook page... But I'm lacking in the blog department. Lots of things going on with school and running my own health coaching practice! Its a good thing. :)

I'm sure I'll be back sooner than later :) I just wanted to give a little heads up instead of just abandoning this blog for a little bit!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Join me on facebook HERE!

02 April 2013

National PB & J Day!!!

Thats right!!! :D Happy PB & J day! In my house, we LOVE peanut butter and jelly! I so wish that I could partake, today! Dang carb cycling!

Anyway, since its PB&J day, Sophia got a little celebratory bento!


This is a super simple bento, in a hello kitty box we got at Epcot. It contains half a bagel, cut in to slices to make them easy to eat! 
She also has chobani plain yogurt in a super adorable container that came from her Auntie Rachyyy :) The lid has Minnie Mouse on it, and Minnie is her favorite!

How did YOU celebrate PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY day?!

A mama lunch


Grown-Ups Gotta Eat

Hi there! Today is the super fun linky over at A Boy & His Lunch- Grownups Gotta Eat!
And that, we do! :) 

In this lunchbox I had a salad, consisting of I <3 kale by Organic Girl, broccoli, pepperoncini peppers, hemp hearts, and baked chicken. 
In the side compartments, I had a tomato, cocoa roasted almonds, and a clementine.


28 March 2013

Go Green Lunchbox Review

I love it when new products give me the opportunity to use & review them! So a great big thank you to Go Green Lunchboxes is in order!

I got my Go Green in February, at the beginning of the month. I have waited to review it so I could use it a couple of times to really get to know it. I know, that sounds so silly, its a lunchbox, not a person! But truly, each box is different, and with such space, there are lots of opportunities and options to work out.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this lunchbox. Olivia really likes it because "It keeps my lunch SUPER safe, mom!"

What is she talking about? All the clicks and switches, of course! I'm not really certain about the little black "rope" buckles that hang off the edges of one side. They fasten together, connecting the lid to the container. This is really awesome if your kid loses the lids to their lunch box. OR it could be really bad, if your kid sits across from an overly excited child that decides to grab the lid, yanking your kid's lunch into the floor. Hopefully, your child sits across from someone reserved. haha.



This box is really, really huge. I love that about it. Its easy to pack it for a 3rd grader, though. Just don't pack really small food. ;) In bento, often the best, most creative lunches contain many small elements jammed together in a small box to create an aesthetically pleasing lunch. I feel like the Go Green Lunchbox is for a more traditional style lunch, like the Easy Lunchboxes containers are. I find that I tend to pack a more "traditional" style lunch in containers that are divided. My most "bento" style lunches tend to be in containers like the Lunchbot or authentic boxes from BentoUSA. 

I love the water bottle that came with the GGL. Its the perfect size and the fact that it has a designated place INSIDE the lunchbox makes me super happy. 

This is the bag that GGL sent with the box. I love the bag. It is super durable, its a cooler-bag, and the whiteboard for writing notes is "probably the coolest thing in a lunchbox, ever!" according to Olivia. There are lots of fun prints available for the bags. I kind of want them all!
I also really like the little hang tag off the bag where I wrote Olivia's name and phone number. She tends to forget her lunchbox at school a little more often than I'd like. 

The only real thing I totally dislike about this Go Green Lunchbox are the little rubber bands around the dividers in the lid. They're there to create a super tight, leak-proof seal. And they work! So thats cool. I just hate having to take them out of their little space, and clean them. But, I learned the hard way.... if you don't, they will grow mold/mildew and be a PITA for you to clean after that. So, just know that you have to take the bands off. You might be able to get away with hand-washing the lid, with the bands in place, but not if you pack something like spaghetti sauce, apple sauce, etc., where the food gets squished in to the band's little space. Its not hard to take them off and put them back on, its just tedious. But, honestly, totally worth it for such a cool, clicking, snapping, huge lunchbox. 

This Go Green Lunchbox is totally something that I would purchase for myself, or for a birthday gift, or even as a starter-bento box. Its similar to planetbox, but less expensive (and includes a water bottle). It is bright green and eye-catching. Olivia loves that about it. I would love to see maybe purple or pink, though. I'm a girly girl, through and through. 


As you can see, I could pack a LOT more food in this box. As it is, Olivia would not eat more than this. I think this box is really fun and will last through a growing appetite. A great investment.


** All opinions in this review are mine and mine alone. I was not compensated in any way to write this review.


27 March 2013

Hump Day!

Hello! Good Evening! 

This post is a lot later than usual, I know! Today was SO GORGEOUS outside, we barely stayed in. I love having our patio furniture in our little back yard. Lots of kids live on our street so every afternoon, there are little girls running back and forth from our yard to theirs. Olivia loves it! Who wouldn't? 

I made Sophia a little lunch "Pinto," and she loved it.


This little bento is super simple. Turkey roll ups, pepperjack cheese, strawberries.

The girls had so much fun playing outside. Sophia got SO DIRTY, she even had dirt up her nose. She kept poor Artemis on the run... Artemis is currently in her kennel snoring away... and she's been there since 730!

*thats dirt, not a boogie, haha