A Cupcake for Lunch

Problem: You are four years old. (OK just kidding with that....but not really hehehe) So the problem is you want a cupcake for lunch (which I completely understand have never experienced said problem)

Enter the Lunch Punch Sweet Set (as Eliana says: "to save the day!") Problem Solved.

So instead of an actual cupcake we made a cupcake sandwich :)

Using the cupcake cutter from the Lunch Punch Sweet Set we made this cute cupcake lunch. 

We decided to make it a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. Inside the sandwich is chocolate soynut butter with fluff (make your own fluff if you dare). I put some more chocolate soynut butter on top to make it look like a chocolate cupcake. For the vanilla "frosting" I used the Lunch Punch cutter on a piece of cheese. We thought adding confetti sprinkles would be fun :)

The cherry and the mini cupcakes are cut with organic fruit leather.

I used one of the crusts that Eliana didn't eat and put it as the plate.

I'll have you know that she munched on veggies while we made this. So no need to bring the veggie police here ;)

This is almost better than a real cupcake. Almost.

And a quick shoutout to my friend Kristen of Pixelated Crumb: 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Here is your cupcake.. that we ate for you ;)

This was so easy to make. Which is why I love Lunch Punches.  They are simply one of the easiest ways to make a plain sandwich into creative food in seconds. I have the Lunch Punch Sweet Set and I have two more on the way! I can't wait to play with them all! Yes-- I do mean play! It is part of the fun Eliana and I have in the kitchen together :)

Creative Food Supplies:

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Giraffe Bento

Last Thursday we went to the zoo. And of course I had to pack a cute lunch to go :)

I stuck with one animal for this zoo bento lunch: the giraffe.  I honestly wasn't that fond of it but I made it right before we left so I literally threw it together! I haven't cooked or made any bentos or really done anything in the kitchen since my grandpa died so it isn't my best work... However Eliana loved it, so that is much more important than what my crazy perfectionist self thinks ;) plus it got my creative juices flowing again and I think I may find the energy to get myself together this week :)

The main compartment has a Momma giraffe and her two little babies walking on green bell pepper grass.  The Momma is a creamy honey soynut butter with extra honey sandwich cut with a giraffe cookie cutter.  I used the cookie cutter and cut a piece of a tortilla and placed it on top with cheese decorations and a candy confetti eye (attached with some honey). I used a black edible food marker to make the pupil. (I think the giraffe's spots are not as clear so I think next time I will use two different color cheeses instead. But again that is crazy me talking-- Eliana could care less!) The baby giraffes are organic fruit leather cut with a mini giraffe cookie cutter.  I added a cute little sun from my eco-planet Organic Cookiesup top.

In the upper left Eliana had sliced yellow and orange bell peppers (my baby loves peppers!)

In the upper right she had diced watermelon with a cute giraffe pick. Eliana of course has now decided she doesn't like watermelon anymore.. and only ate one or two pieces... but she ate all the veggies so I can't complain! :)


**oh and I'm sure you are wondering-- creativefunfood.com? Yup. Its mine! My own domain! *dancing* One day (hopefully sooner than later) it will get an overhaul of a makeover, but for now it will redirect here to blogspot. So for the time being you can familiarize yourself with creativefunfood! *squeal* My FB page, Instagram and Pinterest are now all creativefunfood as well :)**

Here is what I used to make this lunch:
   

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Fruit Salad To Go

Back in the beginning of August we took a mini road trip to Connecticut to visit family.  I packed a fruit salad to go in our EasyLunchbox, which worked perfectly as Eliana held it on her lap in the car :)

In the main compartment was a fruit salad of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.  In the upper left compartment we had mango.  I used my car sandwich stamper to make two cars.  In the bottom left container we had some cucumbers with a cute road sign pick.  

I literally threw this together right before we left. Since we were leaving at an odd time of day and would probably get hungry on the way I quickly decided to pack a fruit salad for us all to share.  That way we could snack on fruit for the 2 1/2 hour drive and it would hold us over until we got to my uncle's house where we would eat. If I had planned ahead I might have made something more hearty and filling, but this snack ended up working out perfect for us! :)


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Bee-Baga

Last Friday my grandpa passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 85 years young. He was an amazing man and I am so thankful that we got to live with him these last two and a half years.  Because we lived together we grew closer and for the last two and a half years I grew closer to my grandpa than ever before.  I will never forget his strong personality :) I always try to make everyone eat more vegetables, including my grandpa.. I was not successful though! He would tell me "I wouldn't mind if you never brought me that again" to my eggplant parm, butternut squash mac and cheese and my spinach stuffed pasta shells! It didn't matter how hard I tried. He was so outspoken and at the time I may not have been laughing but I do find it hilarious now! He was also a stubborn man and would say no if I asked if I could make him anything or help him with something. So I learned quickly not to ask and just do.  Little did he know how much love I put into those waffles I would sneak into his fridge for his breakfast the next morning (And I do mean sneak. Eventually he got over it and I could openly bring him down his next supply of waffles.) ♥

My favorite memory has to be the last time I brought him his favorite oatmeal raisin cookies. I love to bake and so I would try to make them slightly different and see "which is best". When I asked him did he like these cookies better than the ones I brought the time before I will never forget the look on his face. He looked at me like I was crazy and said he loved them either way :) It was the best way to calm a perfectionist crazy person like me and I realized in that moment it didn't matter which cookie was better.

Eliana called him "Bee-Baga". We have no clue where she came up with it, but she named him that ever since she could talk :) Eliana and Bee-Baga had such a beautiful bond.  It was even more beautiful to me being that that he was her great grandpa.  They had their special cheese and cracker time and would play games on the computer together. Many times, before Bee-Baga got really sick and couldn't live in the house anymore, Eliana would just go downstairs and spend time with him.  She loved him and cared for him dearly. We all did.  And while I miss him terribly, I am also thankful he is no longer in pain and is now in Heaven.

The picture above is from Eliana's 2nd birthday party. It is still the best picture of the three of us even though it is over two years old :)

So as you can see there hasn't been a lot of action here or on the Facebook page lately. These past days have been difficult and it was important to spend that time with our family. New posts to come soon. Much love to you all :)

♥ Michelle

Simple Whale Bento

I made this simple whale bento for Eliana the other day. It was super quick and easy to put together and Eliana loved it! (Win win!) This only took about 5 minutes to make :)

I made her favorite (I M Healthy Honey Creamy Soynut Butter with extra honey) sandwich and shaped it with a whale cookie cutter. I added an edible candy eye and some confetti sprinkles as the water coming out of the whale's spout.

In the lower left she has sliced cucumber rounds and on the lower right she has blueberries.

**tips** 
Use a little dab of honey or soynut butter to keep the sprinkles in place.
Stack another whale sandwich on top if you have a child with a bigger appetite

So I decided to take the picture on our blue chair. Because this is a whale, and whales swim in the ocean. So no granite counter top slab today. I know you missed it ;)

Eliana loved this lunch! She gobbled it all up, which doesn't always happen! It really was quick to put together and I'm glad she ate it all. She actually asked for more cucumbers. She seriously could eat an entire cucumber every day.

So she has a weird love-hate relationship with blueberries lately. Thankfully she likes them right this second. But that will change tomorrow and then change the next day.. or she might not like them for a week and then like them for one day and then again not like them for a week. You see my dilemma? I'm thinking of leaving blueberries out of her lunches for now. Or maybe I will have to check the blueberry mood of the day before I pack it haha! Of course I'll eat them, but I don't want to keep giving her blueberries when she won't eat them and then have her think I'll finish them off every time LOL. 

Does your child have any love-hate relationships with any specific foods?

Here is what I used to make this lunch:
 
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Guest Post over at MOMables!

Today I am guest posting at MOMables!  

You may not know, but I LOVE to bake. I don't share it that often here on Creative Food, but I am happily sharing it over at MOMables. This recipe is a family favorite and we make these Carrot & Zucchini Bars (peanut-free and nut-free) often! Check it out! :)

Carrot & Zucchini Bars

**Also stay tuned later this week for my review of MOMables and a giveaway!**

Frog on a Log Bento

Taking inspiration from this lunch I made a long time ago and from the cute frog bento we made a few weeks ago, I put together this easy bento for Eliana:

In the main compartment we have ham and cheese on a spinach tortilla frog sandwich. The eyes are edible candies, and I drew the mouth with an edible food marker.  The frog is sitting on a "log" of pretzel sticks.  His tongue is organic fruit leather and the fly that he caught is a raisin with sunflower kernel wings.

In the upper left Eliana has some raspberries.

In the upper right she has cut up cucumber and some carrots.

Eliana chose the frog picks and they easily made this lunch even cuter :)

This lunch was super quick and easy-- It took less than 10 minutes (counting all the washing and cutting of fruit time too!) and Eliana loved it. Can't be beat! :)

Here's what I used to make this lunch:

Car Bento

I am Eliana is on a car kick lately. 

We made this car-tastic (fantastic car) bento in our EasyLunchboxes:

This was a super quick and easy bento and Eliana loved it :) It only took five minutes to put this together. If you have vegetables and fruits already washed and cut in your fridge it makes packing a lunch much less time consuming!

In the main compartment is a ham and cheese sandwich.  I used my sandwich stamper to make this simple lunch extra cute.  I also spelled out "car" with Scrabble Jr Cheezits.

In the upper left she had a vegetable traffic light: sliced red, yellow and green bell peppers (you could always add dip underneath the veggies too, but Eliana doesn't like dip so I don't usually add any in our lunches)

In the bottom left there is honeydew melon with a cute traffic light pick.

Super quick, easy and ready to eat on the go! :)


What I used to make this lunch:

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SoyNut Butter Review and a Recipe

Are you looking for a peanut butter substitute?  Well say hello to SoyNut Butter.

Eliana loves it. And my dad likes it too. Now this is a big feat for us.  As you know, Eliana is allergic to peanuts, cashews and pistachios.  My dad is highly allergic to sunflower seeds, pecans, and well basically every nut except the ones that Eliana is allergic to.  I say highly because when he even gets close to them he starts to feel funny. So far, thankfully, Eliana only has had reactions with direct contact. But between the two of them they cover all the nuts!

I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter does not contain peanuts, tree nuts of any type, sesame, sunflower, dairy, egg, wheat (gluten), fish or shellfish.  Their products are manufactured in a facility free of those ingredients to eliminate cross contamination. SoyNut Butter is made from soybeans.

The reason I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter is so awesome is because I don't even need to worry about cross contamination within my own family! You see, we like Sunflower seed butter, but my father is allergic. My father loves peanut butter, but Eliana is allergic. It means that we have to be super safe when making any nutbutter sandwiches-- by using separate knives to ensure that there is no cross contamination issues that could hurt either one of them.  SoyNut Butter can be eaten by both of them (neither are allergic to soybeans) and I really really really appreciate there being a product out there that they can enjoy together! There are also a lot of versions too-- Eliana's favorite is the Honey Creamy SoyNut Butter. I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on the Chocolate SoyNut Butter, and I'd love to try the crunchy too.

SoyNut Butter would also work perfect in a lot of recipes as a peanut butter substitute. I know Eliana would love that!  I was thinking about whipping something up when on Monday I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter put a recipe on their Facebook page. So I decided to try it out, with Eliana as my sous-chef of course, and this was the result:

Chocolate SoyNut Bars (easy no bake dessert!)

Gorgeous aren't they? They were a hit! David and Eliana love them! For me, they are a bit too sweet and I might play around with the recipe next time I make them but they were good, especially with a tall glass of milk.  We don't have a food processor so I improvised and used our Ninja, so it might have taken longer to come together but it worked out just fine :)

Ingredients:
*2T butter, melted
*3/4 cup I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter
*2 cups confectioners sugar
*3/4 cup crushed graham crackers
*2-4 T apple juice
*3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
*Combine butter and I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter in food processor. 
*Add sugar and graham crackers, drizzling in just enough apple juice (one tablespoon at a time) to make the dough stick together, but not enough to make it wet.
*Press dough into 8" x 8" pan. Chill for 20 minutes
*Meanwhile melt chocolate chips
*pour and spread over dough. Chill for 20 minutes
*Cut into squares, or desired shape and enjoy :)

(recipe taken from their Facebook Page)

So we are really enjoying our new peanut butter substitute! I will definitely be using it in recipes to come. We have finally found one PB substitute that everyone in the family likes, and that for us was not easy. I did some research (research = calling up a bunch of stores) and I found out that Whole Foods (well one of the ones by us) carries a lot of I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter variations.. including the chocolate one.. yummy..... I think I know where I am going today.. you know for research... ;)



Disclaimer: I received one jar of Original Creamy SoyNut Butter free from I.M. Healthy but it was my decision to do a post and all opinions are my own.