Mexican Vegetable Soup Maker Soup

 I had the idea a few weeks ago that a Mexican inspired soup would be just the thing, and this is what I came up with.

1 jar of salsa
500g frozen peas/carrot/corn/capsicum mix
1 - 2 cups beef stock

Pop it all in the Kambrook Soup Simple on 'chunky' setting and wait for lunch to cook itself!

 I took some to work for a light evening snack with some rice crackers and a few TicTacs for after :-)

Served in my Compl-Eat Energy Booster.

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Bread Repurpose - Japanese Slow Cooker Curry

In yesterday's post I shared how I often make crumbed chicken with my bread off cuts. Well, here's something I make with the crumbed chicken!

I used to make this in the frypan and still do on occasion, but I love walking into a house filled with aroma of this curry cooking. So now I like to make it in our Kambrook Quattro Multicooker.

First brown some onion in a little oil.






 Then add some celery & carrot and cook until it begins to soften.












Next add some capsicum, broccoli and cauliflower. I've added potatoes at this point as well, but this day I didn't.












Not-so-Secret-Ingredient time. My sister put me onto this curry base which I've found at Woolworths, Coles & IGA. It comes in mild, medium & hot. For us I use a pack of mild & a pack of medium.








Break apart & add to the pot.

Next add 2 cups of water. I realise this is half the amount the packet recommends, but I prefer a thicker curry.








Stir and bring to the boil. At this point if you are using a frypan continue to simmer until all the veggies are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. If you're using a slow cooker, now's the time to cover & walk away.









Come back in 4-8 hours depending on your machine to a house full of gorgeous curry fragrance.











Now add your leftover crumbed chicken and heat through.

Serve on a bed of rice alongside some seasonal greens (let's just pretend they're hiding at the back here ^-^)

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Easter April Fools Lunch

I'm having a little fun with Miss M's lunch for April Fools' Day today :-)

A few years ago I made sandwich balls and sent them for lunch inside plastic Easter Eggs. You can read all about it in this previous post. This year I made them a little differently and there's much more room in the eggs now.

And cheese shaped in silicon moulds. I must admit I'm so much happier with this batch than the first lot I ever made (in this previous post). Vaguely following the instructions form Hungry Happenings I melted some grated Colby cheese in the microwave before smooshing it into the silicon moulds. Set in the fridge and then they're good to go. They taste pretty much the same as regular cheese but the texture is a bit more powdery. . . not sure if it's something I did, or if it just works that way.

I did think if I was clever I could colour the cheese with regular food colouring before moulding it, but then forgot all about it! So out with the FooDoodlers for a little Egg-stra Easter fun.

For sides there's more eggs!

Well, it *is* April Fools' Day. Grapes are a healthier choice after all. And the chocolates that came in them? Well, what Missy doesn't know won't hurt her, right?

That egg? No, it's not an egg either! I've wanted to bake cake in egg shells ever since I first saw the idea years ago. I thought it was over at Not Martha, but now I can't find the original I was thinking of.

They were really quite simple - I used my Kambrook Soup Simple to mix the batter in one easy step. I like how this particular mix is a bit denser when made this way.

Then baked some (cleaned) egg shells with the rest of my mini-muffin batch.

Oh - and the extra batter became Easter gifts for those who prefer a break from chocolate ;-)

Yes! Back to lunch! This is Miss M's brain break along with a few rice crackers. I must admit I'm expecting a little of this lunch to come home. Not because she won't like it, but because now I remember there's fundraising pizza at school today.

Did you play the Fool today?


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Blue Room Lunch

Miss M is in the Blue room this year so I decided to make her a blue lunch.

Brain break is blue popcorn (food colouring mixed with a little butter & salt) in a Nude Sandwich Keeper.

Afternoon tea is blueberries and yoghurt with blue star sprinkles.

Lunch is a juice and Vegemite sandwich with a Rainbow Dash 'Breezie' cheese art. I used this image as my base and used Robot Squirrel & the Monkeys cheese art technique. Served in a Nude Food Movers Mini Rubbish Free Lunchbox, which also happens to be blue :-)


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Advance Australia Bento

 What an exciting week we had last week. Miss M began her journey into Prep and although I'd planned a 'blue' lunch for her first day, a last minute change of plans seemed in order to celebrate Australia Day.

For 'Brain Break' I packed her favourite salami & cheese with some grapes & blueberries, inspired by our national flag.

I must admit I'm struggling a little with thinking of what to pack for her afternoon tea. Her lunch routine has changed this year and instead of morning tea where we would usually have fruit, she's now having lunch at that time, followed by afternoon tea, brain break and after school snack. 

Her lunchbox stays in the fridge for most of the day, however it sits in the playground while her class has their 'lunchtime ' play. I thought I would play it safe for her first day and packed some blue popcorn and frozen lamingtons for her afternoon tea. Lunch was a vegemite CuteZCute Cuddle Palz koala, yoghurt and some strawberries with a small flag pick. Under the sandwich is her drink bottle with milk.

I used some baking paper decorated with FooDoodlers to help her to pull the sandwich out of the box.

All served in our Nude Food Movers.

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Chicken Broccoli Soup

Just a quickie today. This was my snack at work - chicken & broccoli soup with croutons and a mint chocolate. All served in my ComplEAT Energy Booster.

The soup was so simple - 500g chicken thighs, roughly diced; 1 head of broccoli roughly chopped, 500-750mL chicken stock, salt & pepper to taste. Pop it all into the Kambrook Soup Simple and select 'smooth'.

For the croutons I took some of our sandwich offcuts and tore into small pieces. Fry well in *lots* of butter and garlic.

What have you tried for your #52NewFoods challenge?


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches & 52 New Foods Challenge who generously provided me with a copy of their book. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Soup Maker Strawberry Fruit Leather

Did I really not end up sharing my attempts at making fruit leather last year? While I wouldn't say they were a complete success Wouldn't say they were complete failures either.

There were a few recipes online that basically involved blitzing fruit and/or water and/or sweetener. I chose to use my failed strawberry jam.

My first attempt turned out a little limp and undercooked.

So I popped it in for a little longer. . .

Perhaps that wasn't such a good idea o.O

So I tried again with the next batch, making it a little thicker this time

And a longer,slower cook time made a big difference too - only I forgot to take photos at the end - D'oh!

Did you know that trying an 'old' food in a new way still counts towards your #52NewFoods challenge?


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches & 52 New Foods Challenge who generously provided me with a copy of their book. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

And His Name is Santa Claus

 How are your holidays going? We're busy busy and I haven't had much of a chance to share our last lunches of the year yet. You may have seen them on Instagram, but if you missed it, here's the lunch Miss M had the day of her Kindy Concert.

They've been practicing for months and I think her favourite song has been this one.






He has a red, red coat (salami with vegemite and cheese detail) (Pinspiration here)

And a red, red hat (strawberry with marshmallows held in place with raw spaghetti).

His boots are black (black grapes on apple wedge pants held in place with raw spaghetti), (Pinspiration here)

And he carried a sack (strawberry jam puff pastry parcel)

He has a twinkle in his eye (FooDoodler eye on her Vegemite sandwich with cheese-y star)

And a friendly smile (apple wedge with marshmallow teeth above)

And his name is Santa Clause!

Served in our Easy Lunchbox.

We also had a take-a-plate for morning tea so I used our Kambrook donut maker to whip up some mini chocolate yummies before adding a smidge of icing and a red M&M. The morning of I pressed in some smashed pretzels.

Perfectly imperfect and a tonne of fun!

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Flower Cutter Pocket Sandwich Fail

Flashback Friday this week is brought to you by my failed attempt at cookie cutter pocket sandwich making. If you want to see how it's done properly, check out this tutorial from Bento Monsters.

Start with some cutters of the same design but varying sizes.

You can mark your bread if you choose

But I've since discovered this is an unnecessary step.

Especially since you add the filling after cutting out the shape.

And if you overfill, like this. . .

. . . you will end up with a pocket sandwich fail. Still tasty though :-)


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~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 my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.