Cute Yoghurt

 This week I've decided to share some of my old pictures as we're still settling in & as such Miss M has been asking for quite a few repeats in the lunchbox department.

I found these couple of dressed up yoghurts amongst my collection & hope you like them.

This little fellow is made with rockmelon balls, sultana pupils & a craisin mouth

This flower is made form plum slices with blueberries


~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Flashback - Full Lunch

With our move to a new town (& new daycare) Miss M has been asking for some old favourites in her lunchbox, which is great for me - I can make a 'Pingu' sandwich in 2 minutes flat I swear! But, that also means I don't get to make any new pretty things to share. Good thing I've got a few photos from last year I haven't got around to sharing yet :-)







Here we have, working clockwise from top left:
* yoghurt topped withfunny face fruit (nectarine, apricots, sultanas)
* dinner leftovers (potato, carrot, sausage cut with a bean inserted to look like a flower-ish)
* cow sandwich with sultana eyes (using my trusting old Lunch Punch - this was a limited edition cutter)
* trail mix snack with  'grape man' - held together with raw spaghetti




~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Mike Wazowski Apple

 Miss M is a big Pixar fan. The first Pixar movie she saw was Monsters Inc & while, like Mummy, she seems to prefer the bad guys, I don't think Randall would make a very appealing snack.

I know I'm not the first to do a Mike Wazowski apple. It just seems a natural selection. This very simple version was made using the cutters pictured below from affiliate Neat2Eat.

I think, looking at this picture now, that next time I pretty up an apple, it might have to be the Aliens from the Toy Story series. . . I'll keep you posted :-)

Submerse in ice water with lemon or lime juice to reduce browning.













~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Cheesecake cones Recipe

This cheesecake mix can be use in many ways - all you have to do is alter the amount of cream, cheese or flavour to suit your needs & work the mixture until you get the consistency you're after.

300ml Thickened cream

250g Philidelphia cream cheese, room temperature

250g Oreos, crushed - I like to do this in a blender

Mini Waffle cones (pack of 12)

Marshmallows if desired

Arnott's Dark Chocolate Royals if desired

Whip cream (whip it. . . whip it good)

Mix in your Philly cheese. By leaving it stand at room temperature it will be easier to dissolve into the cream

Add your chosen flavour - I'm quite partial to 'Cookies and Cream' which for me means Oreos

Mix well until you reach your desired consistency.

Use a piping bag (or ziplock bag with the corner cut) to fill your mini waffle cones. You'll want to find something you can use to support your cones while you fill them. I used an upturned storage drawer, but a selection of glasses (or helpful partner) would work equally well. 

Depending on the flavour you've chosen & how thick you've whipped your cream you may like to insert a marshmallow into the base of your cone. This will also help to keep them fresh & crunchy as they do tend to get a little soggy in storage (that is if you have any left over to store)

Ensure you overfill your cone just a little to allow your Royal topper to stick

Best served straight after assembly, but we made these in the morning & served them about 3 hours later after being stored uncovered in the fridge and they were fine. We also had leftovers the next day after storing in an airtight container & although they'd lost most of their crunch, they were still quite enjoyable.

Makes approx 12

~J

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

Barbie Cakes

This week I've shared some Tractor Cakes and some Cozy Cones with your from Miss M's birthday this year. I couldn't let the idea of a Barbie cake go, so this is what I sent to day care for her to share with her class.

You can see the Pinspiration for this one here. I'm not that great at cake pops so like most things, I changed it. . .

I purchased some cute little cake cases from Robins Kitchen and baked our good old favourite vanilla sponge, iced with vanilla icing & had a helping hand to decorate with *lots* of sprinkles





Then I found a free printable colouring page, edited it slightly, and attached the 'skirt' with a bamboo skewer. The rest of the Barbies were helpfully coloured in by Miss M & I cheated & sent them unassembled to daycare. Probably a good thing, as it turns out Miss M shares her birthday and there was *lots* of cake that day.


I think a longer skirt would have looked nicer, but I'm not sure if the skewer would then have been strong enough to hold it up. Perhaps next year I'll get to throw her a Barbie party. . . or when she turns 21, either way :-)


~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Cozy Cones, Cakes & Cars

I showed you the tractor cakes I made for Miss M's birthday this year in this previous post. We didn't have a big party for her this year, but the other treat I made were Cozy Cones from the movie Cars

(mini ice cream cones filled with mini marshmallows & 'capped' with a mini Oreo)

I purchased some colour powder from Highland Homewares and got stuck in to some mini ice cream cones with a soft brush. Those were the three at the back (and many more in a container ready to go) I also tried with some liquid food colouring (front left), and watered down food colouring (front right). I was concerned that the liquid would turn the cones to mush, and the watered down version did a little.









On her special day, Miss M got a cake sandwich, topped with some butter & sprinkles to mark the occasion.

The Lunch Punch I used is available from Affiliate Nea2Eat

I cheated for her cake though & bought it from Woolworths - I'm not that good :-)  It did get a little squished hiding in the cupboard but she didn't mind.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Tractor Cakes

After months of talking about having a Barbie birthday party, three weeks before the big day, Miss M decided she wanted a Pixar Cars party instead. . . 'Where Mater & Lightning tip over the tractors. . . yeah!'

So all these wonderful ideas I had for Barbie theme were out the window, so, back to Google & Pinterest for some inspiration. You can see the what I gathered on my Cars Party board.

I didn't see any tipped tractor cakes so I had to get a little creative.

I used an old family favourite recipe for some chocolate sponge patty cakes (I think muffin size would have worked better, lesson learned)

Slice a section off the sides so the Oreos would stick.

Ice the top

Add a Milky Way with an Arnotts TeeVee Snack Malt Stick pressed into it

Ice some Oreos for the rear wheels & mini Oreos for the front wheels.

Last but not least add some Wilton candy eyes. (I was so excited to find them at Highland Homewares in my new town - not sure if it's a good thing for my bank balance that I discovered this store. . . )





This is the first time I've ever used these eyes & I think they're going to be added to my pantry as a staple.

 Another angle of the cake



















Even after taking this photo, it wasn't until we were at the park that I realised I'd left the front wheels off the tractors except my first trial one :-(

You can see the middle tractor on the left I tried turning upside down, but I think they looked better with the wide end at the top

I had a few cakes left over so I thought I'd have a go at making some Maters. . .

I took the off cutes from the tractor sides, and iced it for the eyes, also Wilton candy eyes

Add some mini Oreos for wheels & engine

Add some mini marshmallows for the teeth

Nowhere near as pretty as most of the cakes out there, but I was quite happy with the result for something done on the fly.


~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Smile Time

A small blast from the past again today.

This little girl was made with a half circle cutter, shredded ham, cheese & sultanas.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. ~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Valentine's Hearts

I cheated a little with this post & went through my photos looking for hearts I could share. I hope you enjoy them and are able to share the love this St Valentine's Day

- Heart rice mould
- baby carrot hearts on food picks
 - butterflies & flowers also on food picks
 - served with curry

 - Babybel heart cute using the Luv-It from FunBites

- Our favourite Pepperoni from Walkerston Country Meats shaped into a heart
- cheese slices

















 - Cheerio hearts,held together with raw spaghetti . . . .

. . .  and made all pretty with some corn kernels.


~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Pancake Day

 Tuesday is Pancake Day, otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally the day before Lent when foods such as eggs, flour & sugar would be used up prior to the fasting.













I purchased a pack of pancake moulds years ago with every intention of making shaped pancakes but it never eventuated. I started using them as sandwich cutters when Miss M started daycare & thought it was about time I used them for their purchased purpose :-)














I've never used a pancake mould before but this was fun. I left the mould in place until the mixture bubbled & was ready to flip

















Somehow I even managed to get the arms & legs marked, fancy that :-)

 All cooked. . . and now I realise I didn't take a photo of him smothered in maple syrup & whipped cream, just as all good gingerbread men should be :-)


~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Cute Animal Plate Cutters

One of the cute little goodies I picked up from the Bento Bloggers & Friends Treasure hunt last year. . .

I haven't tried Miss M on much rice so thought I'd make a sushi-sandwich to try these little cutters on.

I removed the crust & used the rice mould as a guide for size

 I picked up a tip from Cristi over at Bent On Better Lunches about flattening your bread first, so I got out the rolling pin

 I added ham to the inside so I could wrap cheese on the outside (and then did the opposite later on)

 Ham sushi sandwich (which turned out a little skinnier than I thought - next time I might do the double sandwich like Cristi does)

Just a mater of line up & press down the cutter

It cuts beautifully

 I did struggle a little to remove the cheese from the cutter a little & the cheese tore between the mouth & eyes

You can see my little bunny didn't really last very well, and the sandwiches really need to be a bit fatter to show off the characters better.

At the back is the bear, then left to right is bunny, chicken and seal.

Not bad for a first try, I think & I look forward to experimenting with these further.


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

Sausage Flowers

I've seen these done over at Lunch In a Box and her tutorial is great too so I won't bother doubling up. I've only tried this a few times, but every time I run into trouble with my eggs being too big for the sausage :-(

 I prefer to use raw spaghetti in cooked sausage - that way I don't have to worry about removing, or if any pieces get accidentally left behind

See what I mean by the eggs being too big?

 I did these with one facing round side up & the other round side down. I think the round side up looks better.

I personally prefer soft yolks so can't say I'm fussed on these as a lunch, but as a breakfast or special dinner I think they're great. Also good for Miss M who prefers hard yolks :-)

 And done with a hotdog

 And with sauce











~J

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