April 30, 2012

May Healthy Every Week Challenge


Healthy Eats made it again! 
It's time for the Healthy Every Week Challenge once again.

If you haven't seen their article yet, and would love to join us for this round of healthy eating, read on and learn how to jump in and challenge yourselves to the next level.

Healthy Eats is right. Spring is a good time to reevaluate your 2012 health goals and get back on track if you’ve gone off course.
To help everyone get back on track and be fit for summer, HE have set up a get-healthy challenge for the month of May. This challenge will be similar to their January Challenge, with small, weekly goals that when practiced, can turn into lifetime healthy habits.
The May Healthy Every Week Challenge is a month of healthy eating, broken down into weekly goals:
Week 1: Eat Breakfast
Week 2: Eat More Whole Grains
Week3: Cook at Home
Week 4: Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Week 5: Stay On Track
To participate, all you need to do is sign up for their weekly challenge newsletter. You’ll receive the newsletter each Sunday with an outline of that week’s goal, plus plenty of recipes and tips to help you achieve it. We’ll talk about the goals and share recipes and tips for achieving the goal right here on Healthy Eats and on Facebook and Twitter. Since many of our readers write about recipes, cooking and healthy eating tips on their own blogs, we’ve set up a board on Pinterest just for this challenge. When you share your blog posts to our Facebook wall, we’ll pin a selection to our Pinterest board each week.
Are you up for the challenge?

April 27, 2012

Bento Weekly Round 23

For the week of April 23-27.

Just 5 more weeks and it's summer break!
I can't believe I actually survived my lunch packing challenge to myself.
Next year would be another year to tackle.

It's the week for California State Testing (CST).
That means, no homework for the entire week...woohoo!!

Here are some few good advices:
  1. Make sure your child goes to bed at a reasonable time. 
  2. Prepare a healthy breakfast to help them focused and energized.
  3. Encourage your child to do his or her best.
  4. Pack a healthy lunch to replenish all the lost stamina and the so-called,"brain-drain" from testing.
 This should keep them motivated and confident for the entire week.
I made him some of my home-made eggrolls, edamame, goldfish and strawberries for Monday.

April 24, 2012

Kimbap

What's inside our Kimbap lunch today? Rice, Fish cake, carrots, spinach, pickled daikon, egg and crab sticks. Another one of our yummy, healthy and fulfilling eats.
Sushi is one of my children's comfort foods to go, the rest are fruits. It has always been on the top of their lists when asked what to pack for school, or for trips.  I was so relieved that they have outgrown the fast-food french fries.  No! Not really. They just make better food choices now.  Perhaps completely eradicating junk foods at home has helped us. When they're hungry, they always turn to natural food choices, if not all-natural, to enjoy at home. But when we're out, I let them have them so as they don't feel deprived. I just taught them that it's okay to eat it when we're outside. But when we're home, it's always best to eat as healthy as we could since I could cook it for them. 

April 23, 2012

Samosa Chole Chaat

Yesterday I had the opportunity to taste Indian Foods at a birthday party we attended. It's usually served hot and spicy, but in consideration of Asian guests, she served it with an option to make it sweeter and less spicy. It was absolutely delicious! We ate it with Basmati Rice that was served really warm. The kids may not have enjoyed it as much, but my hubby and I did. I'm still proud of them coz they had a little bite before saying no.


This is one of our great food discoveries. We will definitely try out Indian cuisine from here. Do you have any good Indian Restaurants in mind at Southern California?

April 20, 2012

Bento Weekly Round 22

For the week of April 16 - 20.

Sushi rolls, carrots with ranch, and strawberry wheels.

Under The Sea

My daughter and I tried our luck with KYARABENS (Character Bento). We took out her playdough cutters and chose the right shape for her favorite theme - The Sea! We made it with bread, turkey and cheese. Then we added some clementines for the corals or seashells, and some Nori for the seaweeds. We need some more practice to put them altogether in a bento box.  Then it would be ready for school.
And here are all the scraps which made it to my breakfast. Spread some Nutella & peanut butter for a chocolatey treat.  I am a chocoholic mom. Not everyday, but when the cravings strike, I should get a dose of it.  Nothing soothes me best, but the chocolates. 

But guess what, Mamabelly has just come up with a French Toast Casserole recipe that takes care of this scrap better and tastier. It has cinnamon that makes me itch to try it next time. I'm sure the kids will love it as well. Now, wouldn't you wanna try that out?

April 18, 2012

Green Bento...Nature Friendly

Earth day is April 22.

Together, let us:

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Replenish
Restore

My post today would be somewhat different because I'd be linking up with my fellow Bento Bloggers and Friends for a round up of bento meals featuring Earth Day.
Mine's nothing fancy though.
Just keep reading....

For this hop, I thought of using all things reusable.
Bento box,
 water bottle,
 utensils,
 Lunch bag.
 And I'm stashing a hand sanitizer, too.
Then I thought of packing everything that embodies the sea life and forestry.
I have Seafood Dumpling (shrimp, calamari, tuna),
 Broccoli (forest), oranges (sun),
school of Goldfishes
Freshly squeezed lemonade for snack 
and cold water for lunch.
The oranges represent the sun with rays stretched wide apart, flashing the prettiest smile to see the school of goldfishes are swimming on clear & uncontaminated sea water. The broccoli stands for the forest life and the seafood dumpling is my land free of trashes. 

To help you visualize my bento, I made use of photoshop to jazz up your imagination.
And this is how it should look!
(Oh well, I hope I didn't mess up neither my post nor the hop.)
I support the Earth Day because I wanted to help save our sea and forest life.  Hoping that one day we could help restore what had been destroyed and replenish what we had once.


In connection with this, I would also like to post my daughter's pre-school project for Earth Day.  It was a family project so everyone gets to pitch in, which made it easier for us to accomplish. I would not claim the brilliant idea though.  All we did was to replicate it with the available materials we have at home.
This is made of juice box, popsicle sticks that I've been hoarding, 
foam stickers, a branch stick, super glue & acrylic paint.
Hope you enjoyed this post.

For more Earth Day Bento, 
Click the button below!
Earth Day Hoppers:

April 15, 2012

Kare-Kare (Filipino Oxtail Stew)

Kare-Kare is a Filipino peanut-based stew with a variant of vegetables, stewed oxtail, and occasionally tripe.  This is very popular on grand celebrations and gatherings. It is considered a special dish for a special occasion. So we rarely eat this. Especially for migrants who have settled in limited or non-Asian demographic locations. For those who have a peanut allergy, please stay away from this dish. I wish I could make it peanut-free for people with allergies, but it wouldn't taste as good.  So I do apologize for that. 

April 13, 2012

Bento Weekly Round 21

My bento meals for the week of April 9-13.


Honey sweet-cured ham on wheat thins that was slow-cooked by his aunt from our Easter leftovers, strawberry wheels and shelled edamame on the side.
Spam sushi rolls, crabsticks, oranges and broccoli
My RAINBOW Bento!
Hubby's so glad to see good watermelons at the market last night. Son's been asking for one for weeks but we seem can't find a good one. How to tell? Well, hubby's good at that. He says it has something to do with the circle on top. But I do it with a tap. I guess everyone has their ways to tell if a certain fruit is at its best. He had some of the chocolate brownie that we baked, cheese pizza and some goldfish.
My BROWN Bento! 
Ham and cheese croissant, tortilla chips with cheese dip and pears.
My ORANGE Bento!
Spaghetti with hotdogs, carrots and oranges, crackers with the Laughing Cow.
I also packed enough Parmesan cheese on that little shaker on the side
for the spaghetti.

Normally, when I give him spaghetti for school lunch, it goes back home untouched.
The rest were done. I can't exactly tell why. He gets seconds all the time at home. and he'd always brag about it. This time, I have another strong feeling that this will come back home again. I exactly knew why this time. As I was blogging about this post, it reminded me that I forgot to pack his fork!  Not again.... Sure he can ask for a spork at the school's cafeteria.  But isn't it just difficult to eat spaghetti with a spork? Especially I didn't cut the noodles shorter. Oh poor boy! He'll come home with a not so happy tummy. And now looking at my kitchen counter with much frustration, I saw his water bottle waving back at me :(  What an unusual day. TGIF!

Have a wonderful weekend.
See you next week!!

***UPDATE:  I am so excited to report back that my spaghetti bento wasn't wasted after all. My son has expected that I forgot his fork again, and went for a trip to the cafeteria to equip himself with a fork spork, just in case. He said he can't miss another yummy meal.   He was so proud to tell me all these back home. Good job son!! You just saved my day.

April 11, 2012

Sweet Cravings: Double Chocolate Brownie

Today I made the simplest recipe of a chocolate brownie you could find to satisfy our cravings.  It doesn't happen all the time so I don't get to experiment on any exceptional recipe that people boast about. This is what we call "sugar-rush" moments. Something that needs to be satisfied all at once in a big batch.  Sorry peeps! We eat healthier than you might think.  Times like this are what we call precious, because it comes once in a blue moon.  Well, at least, for me.  

I'm pretty much avoiding sugar 100%, whenever I can. Diabetes runs in my long line of familial medical history. My paternal grandmother died of it, my dad has it now.  Chances are one of his daughters, would get it too. Sad to say but genes work in a very predictable way. It passes from mother to son, and father to daughter. Not to all, but at least one of the "most unfortunate" offsprings. I had gestational diabetes on my last pregnancy, which had given me the highest probability of getting it. I was told that Diabetes is one of those lifelong, chronic illnesses that is passed on by genes. Sad but true. So I'm trying to eat healthier and eliminate it in the process.

But for some reason I can't just say no to sugar, especially if chocolates were involved. It's my only weakness so I give in to it whenever I feel the urge. I just make sure I make it with dark chocolates which is the healthiest option for most people.  And I try to consume it in moderation.  Ok, let's keep our fingers crossed there...lol!! I'm glad my son doesn't have a sweet tooth. He prefers fruits than candies , no scrap that, chocolates. He loves candies but prefers vanilla best. Which is good because we have all these to ourselves which probably lasts for 2-3 days. Sounds horrible, huh? But that was it. The next batch would have to count months.
I have to confess that I made use of a Ghirardelli's Chocolate Brownie Mix, and added a cup of dark chocolate morsels into it. I would usually add some pecans or walnuts, but I'm eating it with my daughter, so I have to make it as simple and chocolatey as possible.
Though I would have to research on the healthiest chocolate brownie recipe from scratch, if we want this experience more often.  Perhaps something that would cut down the sugar, or a  natural sugar alternative.  Do you have any recommendations?

April 9, 2012

Marbled Easter Egg

I was so amazed how our marbled easter eggs turned out. It's easy and no matter how you crack the shell, you get a different design each time.  I love it because it has the tie-die effect on shirts and sarongs I used to do years ago.  Not only that, but I was able to make my kids eat the eggs without hesitations too. That is the reason why I never get a good photograph of our project.  I left my camera at home, I captured it with my camera phone, and we did this at their aunt place.

The kids were so anxious for an egg hunt but we ran out of time to prepare for a good one this year. So we did it differently instead. Each one of us prepared our very own version of Easter eggs and we stuffed it with treats, money and toys for each child.  So it was more like an egg-exchange party. And everyone loved it.

Then we finished it up with this activity that each one participated. Glad I brought enough food coloring. Each one wanted to experiment on mixing colors. On top, are our 5 best eggs.  My son did 3, and my daughter did 2.  Each one of them ate 2 eggs, one was given to their favorite uncle who gobbled up the egg in no time. What a good sport!

We would definitely do this again.  Only next time, we'll make use of plastic bags to put the eggs in as we color it. Food coloring takes forever to get rid off on fingertips and  nail beds.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter!

Ain't this lovely? 
I have been continually searching for themed food ideas to prepare for school potluck parties.  I'm always told the simpler the better.  But it wouldn't hurt as well if we add some fun and character too, right?  It just adds up to work, but it's worth every effort if it makes your children prouder to present them to school.
For Easter I have found so many excellent ideas on Pinterest.
If you're already following me on Pinterest, you'd see all of these ideas on my pinboards.
I pin them as I discover them.  I may not remember the specific website, but if you double click on the individual pins, it will direct you to the rightful owner of the photograph and brilliant ideas.
If you have not done so, please follow me.
  It's a great way to discover great ideas and connect with creative and awesome people.

Happy Easter everyone!! 

April 7, 2012

Spring Break: Meatless Friday

Holy Week is that time of the year when Christians reflect from what we have done for our neighbors that inspire them to live a better life.  It doesn't matter how big or little it was. The point is you have done something good for someone without expecting anything in return.  It is also a season for forgiveness.  Remember that Christ has died for us on the cross for our sins.  So let us take this opportunity to forgive others who have done us wrong. Let it start from us.

This week, you may have noticed that I have been posting meals on ceramic pans.  It is something my children and I enjoyed for a change.  However, I stopped on Holy Thursday. I had been busy and the kids and I were out the whole time. We never got the chance to dine on our mini ceramic pans. But this is what I've prepared for our Meatless Friday that extended till Saturday dinner.  We just had to add in more vegetables and seafoods to make it last.  It's our little devotion for the Holy Week.
The children were, of course, exempted from this devotion. That is why it was harder to fast and abstain. The temptations were all around us.  The first one who stumbled was of course my hubby.  At the first bite of his meat, we were all laughing at him.  But no big deal.  He just tried his best again on the next meal.

I hope everyone had a safe Holy Week!

Cracker Bento: Turkey & Laughing Cow

I am re-inventing my bento meals for the next school year as my daughter hits kindergarten. She's the one who's keen into creative bentos. So I'm trying as early as now what would work for her and him as well.  This was served to both as breakfast. It's Ritz crackers with Laughing Cow Cheese spread and star-shaped turkey deli and a cup of organic milk. 

I love the star-shaped turkey on those Ritz. The cheese spread held them in place very neatly. These aren't just nutritious and healthy, but fun to eat too. My girl was delighted to see a twist on her breakfast this morning. She didn't even asked about the spread. She's not a fan of cheeses. So I try not to mention cheese when I'm feeding her something with it. I think this would be great with Nori for her bento. She doesn't need much since she'd be home by 1pm. If she'd still be hungry, I could feed her at home by then.

April 6, 2012

Little China Town at LA

Today we explored The Little China Town at the city of Los Angeles. 
The kids weren't up to going to the park, zoo, museums or an amusement park today so we opted for an educational tour instead. We showed them China this time!
Okay, let me re-phrase that. We toured them in ChinaTown at LA.

They got so excited!  They thought we were boarding a plane to get there.
Funny!!  A little disappointed when they learned we were rather driving.  But both were still hoping for the best to come.

It took about over 30 minutes to get there without any signs of traffic on freeways. Parking was a breeze considering it was a holiday and it was still early.
Great I thought since I'd be able to photograph nicely without interruptions.
We found these lovely infrastructure over there.  I was breathless and impressed.  And so were my kids.  If you haven't been to China, this might be a decent representation of the country.  Or perhaps of a little town.
More of China Town below! 
Then we saw tons of macaroni shells scattered on the ground, which the kids had fun stepping on them and making sounds.  It resembled a sound of a fire cracker.  And this pretty much pre-occupied time while waiting for the stores to open to shop.
The stores opened quite late.
We decided to eat first at Mandarin Plaza.
Dimsum and tea as usual.

I love this bread.  It has a sweet-filling that is perhaps made of custard.
I would normally pass on breads, but this is absolutely delicious!
I ate 2/3 of it :)
The first batch of our dimsum:
5 orders of Ha-gaw (Shrimp Balls), which all went to our children's little tummies.
chicken legs
Shu-mai
Spare ribs
Beef balls
Red Bean Cake
My children's all-time favorite.
Dimsum will never be complete without all these kinds of balls
 {shrimp balls, meat balls & shumai}.
Our second batch of dimsum never made it to my blog.  Dimsum is so overwhelming. The veggies just came one by one and were distributed to each ones' plate so fast too. Would you even believe that they serve hamburgers too? My son ordered for one, with an expectation of a decent-tasting burger. And it wasn't good of course. He said it was bland. My husband was brave enough to try it out too, and said it has a radish on it that's why. Oh well, lesson learned! Next time never order an American dish from a Chinese Restaurant coz it wouldn't be the same like Americans does it.

See you on our next food trip!

April 4, 2012

Spring Break: Day 3

Still eating on pans, we had different set of lunches for Wednesday. The kids' preference differs today.  But they still ate well and happily. My boy opted for sausages and broccoli over brown rice, while my girl favored for roasted herbed chicken over white rice. My girl had seconds and gobbled up half of the apple slices.  The other half went to her brother and me.  You must be wondering what I ate. Well, I had a little of everything and lots of sauteed green beans over brown rice.  

Spring Break: Breakfast

I know I don't normally blog about our breakfasts, but I'm just so thrilled about what happened today.  My son who's not keen about eating eggs, finally asked for one when my daughter and I were talking the best-tasting ways to eat eggs.  He heard me talk about eggs are better with melted cheese and a turkey or ham on buns. It was purposely done to make him eat breakfast healthier.  And we're successful! Just imagine he would want to eat it again for lunch. No way! I told him I have better idea than that. We'll just reserve eggs for breakfast so he wouldn't get sick of eating it.

I almost forgot to photograph this. He actually had 2 bites of it on the other end of this picture.  I would have to turn it around and ask if I might capture it for my blog. Glad he agreed :)

How have you been eating breakfast on school breaks?

April 3, 2012

Spring Break: Day 2

For Tuesday and we decided to eat on ceramic pans the whole week through for a change.  I was just so amazed how they dig into that idea. It doesn't matter what's served on the pans. Today it's BBQ porkchop over brown rice and fruits (kiwi, pears and oranges) for dessert. I have to add some greens so I steamed some edamame for a quick touch.

After lunch we met up with a couple of friends for a casual play date while the moms catch up on some stuffs. We had pizza and carbonated Ginger Ale for snack.  It's a healthier than soda beverages. The kidlets love them and so did we. It was such a lovely day, indeed.  Everyone just had so much fun till the husbands were home.

HESH is on FACEBOOK

We're finally live! 

I was a bit hesitant to create my Facebook page since I know it's gonna be a lot of work. But a great friend insisted. We thought this will further inspire me to continue packing healthy meals for my kids, and help other parents (like me) who are sending lunches to school, but are clueless at times. 

I have been packing lunches since my son started school but not consistently.  As you all know, I was inspired by Healthy Eats' Brown-Bag Challenge back in September 2011. Since then I kept up and continued what I started. 

I am not one of those moms who are very creative and artistic with their bentos.  So you wouldn't be seeing much designs and artworks on my bentos. They are basically combination food items that worked in our household.  Combination items in kid-friendly portion sizes that adhere to the new Food Plate guidelines to feed healthy kids.

However, I will be featuring creative themed-bento meals once in a while by artistic bento moms for those who would love to create amazing themes on their lunches.  All of these will be either posted on the blog, on facebook, or both.

I have joined Facebook since February of 2011, but waited till the new timeline for Facebook pages took effect on March 30th.  That way I'd be able to populate the feeds from the time I started.  I would like you to see all the challenges and events that HESH been part of.  I have also added the Facebook button on my blog, for all those who would like to follow me thru Facebook.  For those who have already done so, my greatest appreciation and gratitude to you.  

All the best for years to come!


Marie

April 2, 2012

Spring Break: Day 1

It's the first day of our Spring break, which calls for a bento break as well. But it still got to be fun. So today I served spaghetti on my ceramic pots and pans. I have three of a kind so it's triple the fun. The kids love eating on it because it's easier to grab it as we lounged around the living room, where we held a picnic movie lunch.  Of course, it's the best lunch ever because it's a new experience for the kids.  Not the movie, but eating on pots.  I kept my meals simple but healthy as ever. The spaghetti's whole wheat, the sauce is tomato based packed with basil and rosemary herbs.  I added hotdogs per kids' request.  We watched the Real Steel which both kids enjoyed the story well.  This is why we love breaks.  We get to spend it together in a whole new way each time.  I hope you're enjoying your breaks as well. 
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