National Literacy & Numeracy Week (part 4)

An oldie but a goodie. . . 

Run run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the. . . .

Gingerbread man

Cut using a pancake mould (that's been in the cupboard for years, but it's similar to this one) so the edges aren't the neatest.

Did this as a 'zebra' sandwich (one side white, one side multigrain) too so he stands out a bit more.

Sultana eyes & buttons

Craisin mouth

Served in a Tupperware square round

~ J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written fro Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post.

National Numeracy & Literacy Week (part 3)

So this one is not really a book we read, but I know you can get them in book form. Tonight packing Miss M's lunch I was requested to make a 'Pingu' sandwich.

*Cut with 10cm circle cutter
*Corner off cuts used for beak
*vegemite on top
*1.5cm cutter used on off-cuts for eyes
*sultana pupils

I know this looks a lot more like Pingu's little sister Pinga, but I haven't had any complaints yet :-)





~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written fro Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post.

National Numeracy & Literacy Week (part 2)

Another of our favourite books is 'Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb' by Al Perkins and Eric Gurney, also known as the 'Monkey book' :-)

Monkey Sandwich
*Sandwich cut with 10cm biscuit cutter, corners retained for ears, crust used for lips.
*Wholemeal tortilla also cut with 10cm cutter for the mouth, cut with heart cutter for the eyes.
*15cm cuter used for the eyes (from the off-cuts), topped with sultanas
*cherry tomato halved for ears - only looking at this now do I realise this monkey's going to have great hearing with 2 sets of ears - oops

Hint
Laying a piece of baking paper in your container before arranging your sandwich makes it easier to remove without disturbing your artwork.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post.

National Literacy & Numeracy Week

Did you know it's National Literacy & Numeracy Week? (27th Aug-2nd Sept)

Our current favourite book is 'Hullabaloo' by Gordon Volke so I made Miss M a sandwich of the 'cow called Cassie who keeps saying Moo'

Made with LunchPunch cow & FooDoodlers which are getting a bit worse for ware now - especially the purple.

Have you heard the old poem:
I've never seen a purple cow,
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one!

I've never seen a purple cow,
I never hope to see one.
But from the milk we're getting now,
there certainly must be one!

Gelett Burgess, 1895

 Rice crackers, Ray & Otto's Special Pepperoni (from Walkerston Country Meats) & Cheese slices cut with biscuit cutters

This is how this gets sent to daycare.

This container came from the $2 shop & I'm sorry to say I can't remember which one, or how much it was, or the brand or anything but it is the perfect size for a little snack or some yoghurt








~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post.

Long Life Lunches

I've been a bit distracted of late & haven't been posting many lunchboxes sorry. I've had a request for inspiration for lunches that can stay out of the fridge. I must admit I don't have an awful lot of experience with these as our day care has a fridge (& a microwave) available in the room for the munchkins. I do, however, do up 'day-boxes' for those days when we are going to be out & this normally kicks around in my handbag until the inevitable 'I want something else. . . '

I tend to use the Decor Quarters container a girlfriend got me on to earlier this year. I love the overall size of it & how easily it slips into my handbag, leaving plenty of room for Miss M's water bottle. I haven't tried putting anything particularly messy in them yet, although I did take yoghurt in one to work one day, making sure the container was right way up as much as I could & had no issues with leakage. This size box also fits perfectly into Miss M's Bobble Art back pack.

If you use Brumby's size bread, you can quite easily fit a sandwich in if you remove 2 of the inner containers (see the second zoo-box below) and this size bread also divides quite neatly for 'roly' style sandwiches without having to squish it too much. We tend to use the $1/loaf now available from the 3 major supermarkets I have nearby which has larger slices & doesn't fit quite so nicely, so you will see below it's been cut into squares with a bit of room left over.

Crackers, sultana/craisin mix (in lidded Tupperware smidget), Aldi cheese stick and Damora Cheese spread & crisp bread (Le Snack style) , Little Bellies muesli choo-chew bar, kiwi fruit & strawberry mix, butter & strawberry jam heart 'roly-poly' sandwich

This was one of our boxes when we went to Alma Park Zoo
More Little Bellies, this time Animal Biscuits; butter & apricot jam 'ropy-poly' sandwich; Kraft crackers & cheese spread; Rafferty's Garden long life yoghurt and yoghurt drops in the lidded Tuperware Midget

This was the our other lunchbox at the zoo.
Sandwiches for the grown-ups (vegemite or honey); more Little Bellies Animal Biscuits; and a trail mix of - sultanas, craisins, Rafferty's Garden yoghurt drops, Little Bellies Peach Number Cereal, Kellogg's Sultana Buds

Strawberries;  Kraft crackers & cheese spread; jam sandwich; trail mix - very much the same as above, but with the added bonus of a cut up cheese stick

Jam 'roly-poly sandwich; strawberry & kiwi fruit mix;  Kraft crackers & cheese spread; Little Bellies Cheese Fiddle Sticks











Little Bellies Animal Biscuits;  Rafferty's Garden yoghurt drops; cheese sticks; Little Bellies Cheese Fiddle Sticks and some Aldi chocolate/nut/muesli bars for mummy

Strawberries; Arnott's Scotch Finger biscuits; butter & apricot jam 'roly-poly' sandwich; trail mix similar to above but the numbers cereal has been replaced with Uncle Tobby's Cheerios

I hope this has give you a little inspiration
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post.

Father's Day Breakfast

Father's Day is fast approaching. Do you have anything special planned? Sundays are normally our 'egg-breakfast' day and of course anything with bacon is going to be a winner with hubby :-)

I remember a few years ago seeing a story on Better Homes & Gardens  about making the perfect scrambled eggs with Fast Ed. Since then I've never looked at good old scrambled eggs the same.

I made this batch when the fridge was a little bare so please forgive the basic ingredients, but at least it's a good place to start from





Start with all your ingredients. . . .














in a bowl.
The kids will love helping here













For ratios this is roughly what I work on

2-3 eggs (depending on your mood)
1-2 tbsp cream
1-2 tbsp butter (I use the block style, cubed)
1 small handful of grated cheese
1 small handful of diced bacon (I normally use Ray & Otto's Special Pepperoni (from Walkerston Country Meats), but we're running low on supply so it's being rationed ;-D )

Mix gently. . .














you want to break the yolk, but not fully incorporate it












Heat your pan to medium (or lower if you have the patience)











 & add your egg mix.
Can you see how the whites still hold their own?












Gently scrape across the pan -that way you get those gorgeous long curls of egg

Fast Ed's tip - Don't overcook it! You still want to see a bit of shine from the liquid -don't forget it will continue to cook off the heat in the pan & also in a bowl. I personally prefer to cook a little further than that so that there's only a glimmer of liquid, but that's me.








Other ingredients to add:
sauteed mushrooms (the more butter the better, right?)
tomato (cherry or regular)
onion
chives
shallots






Serve as is or as part of a full cooked breakfast

Also great for a 'I don't know what I want for lunch so long as it's not another sandwich' day and dinners when you need a little break

RSPCA Cupcake Day

Have you heard? Yet another excuse to eat cake!

Are you doing anything to celebrate/support RSPCA Cupcake Day on Monday 20th August?

Here's a sample of what Miss M & I whipped up today

Miss M 'helping' to decorate. Figured out she could 'dip' the patty cakes in 100s & 1000s without too much of a mess . . . but then there are the bite marks to deal with *sigh*

 Strawberry Butterfly's. Will post a tutorial for this soon
P-Inspiration found: here

Miss M's Strawberry butterfly. . .

Hippos & Piggies. For some reason my camera decided to chew up the shots of the multiples so we're left with the shots of my first goes. . . oh well, you get the idea
 P-Inspiration found here:
Pig
Hippo

 Lady Bug Cupcakes.
(I realised after I'd taken all the photos I'd forgotten the black line down the middle)
Red-ish icing
chocolate flakes
half dark choc melt
white choc drops
Cake Mate Writing Gel
P-Inspiration found : here

 Turtles - now the inspiration for these used spearmint leaves, but I personally prefer bananas, so we got Rainbow Turtles instead.
Banana lollies; jubes; mini marshmallows (halved); Natural Confectionery Company Forbidden Fruit
P-Inspiration found: here

Funny face frogs
Marshmallows (halved)
Confetti sprinkles
Zaidee's Rainbow Strings
P-Inspiration found: here

Zucchini Slice

Just because the recipe says to bake in a lamington tray is no reason not to experiment. . .

I do recommend a giant mixing bowl for this one if you are going to 'vege-it up' like I do. My Tupperware servalier bowl holds about 4L

• 400g zucchini, grated - skin & all
• 1 large onion, finely diced (or cheat & use the small jullienne on your mandolin slicer like I do)
• 2 medium carrots (about 200g), grated - skin on or off to your preference
• 400g corn kernals (I use a 420g can, drained, but I'm sure frozen would work just as well)
• 3 rashers bacon, finely chopped (about 150g if you buy the pre-diced)
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1 cup SR flour
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (if you are simply baking this you can leave the oil out as I have done by mistake in the past :-) )
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• salt & pepper to taste (I like a lot but tend to add it at the table so Miss M doesn't develop a taste for it)

Throw it all in a bowl

& mix well. 

You will end up with a consistency like thick coleslaw

Bake at 180 degrees until golden brown & cooked through (depending on your container anywhere from 20-60min)

Now for the fun part! How would you like to serve it in the end? 

Lunchbox? - try muffin sizes or even pretty muffin sized moulds like these Will & Jess ones I bought from Aldi a few months ago.

Dinner party? -still nothing wrong
with those muffins, but how about individual kugelhopfs? 

Family meal? - in a lamington tray topped with sliced tomato on top
(sorry don't have a shot of this, will take one next time I make it :-) )

Party? Try this - I received a Kambrook Doughnut Factory (looks like this model is discontinued, otherwise I would have linked direct to Kambrook, sorry) as a gift from family and have been wanting to try something other than doughnuts in it - what do you think?