Annoucement!

I have a wonderful announcement to make! 
And what better way to do that than through fun food?

This Christmas we'll have a special present under the tree. We'll be adding a new family member. Yes. You read that right.  I'm pregnant! I actually am well overdue with this message and kept meaning to post but I never got to it.. I mean only took me 38 weeks to mention it! Perhaps due to being so busy and possibly having more anxiety this time around I just never made things official here. But NOW it is official and there is no avoiding it! This baby GIRL is coming out SOON and we are all so excited to become a family of four! (well five if you count our puppy ;) Eliana is thrilled to be a big sister and I'm hoping her little sister decides to come out before Christmas and doesn't leave us all waiting ;)

To make this cute baby sandwich I just used my circle cookie cutter, mini chocolate chips and molded a tootsie roll for the cheeks and bow.  I used an edible food marker to make the mouth.  It was really that simple! :)

But basically this is why the posts have been more sparse.  My mind has been completely gone and I forget everything. So I'm sorry if I took longer to email you back, or call you back, or completely forgot altogether. It was not intentional, I promise :)  I will still be posting a few things and will have some guest posts after baby is born so I'll still be around, but won't be as present here on the blog the weeks after baby is born.  I'm looking forward to meeting her!! :)

♥ Michelle

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Special Announcement!

I am sooooooo excited to announce that I am going to be a part of the MOMables team! You can now find me at MOMables as a contributing blogger!

What is MOMables? Simply put: Mom made, simple, easy and nutritious fresh school lunches made in 10 minutes or less. For just $0.22 cents a day! Each Friday paid subscribers receive a new weekly menu plan including a shopping list! It is so easy to use and it is very easy to adjust the meals to accommodate food allergies if necessary.  Here is an example of what you would have access to as a paying subscriber:

Every week you have access to awesome lunches that are quick and easy to make. Each lunch has your ingredients, directions, tips if necessary, and a picture. That is right. A picture of every single lunch. I am so visual so I LOVE that part! I also love how a shopping list is included so you don't have to think about what ingredients you need. Just print it out and go shopping! Here is a sample menu. Of course you'll hear more about MOMables in the weeks to come! :)

My posts on MOMables will be different than my posts here.  I will still be writing about creative food, but more about how to be creative with your food and incorporate more vegetables into recipes and such. I will save my creative fun lunches for here :)  I had guest blogged earlier this year with my Carrot Zucchini Bars. Seriously the most perfect desert bar that your kids WILL enjoy and they are packed with vegetables!

I am so honored to be a part of a wonderful team.  MOMables is all about making healthy lunches for your children.  And that is exactly what I try to do for Eliana, of course with a creative twist :)

So go head on over to MOMables and check out my first official contributing post!!!

*squeal*

Cheesy Stop Light Rice

So remember to stop by at MOMables and check it out! Or better yet, sign up for a week of MOMables and a FREE newsletter and you'll get awesome posts sent to your email!

I may sound like a broken record: but SQUEEEEEEEEEE! So excited! :)

One Lovely Blog & Very Inspiring Blogger Award

On Tuesday I received four awesome notifications and then one additional one later. And I would like to thank Bento-logy, Bentoriffic, Bobbi's Bentos, Healthy Eating Starts at Home and Zoe's Lunchbox for nominating my blog for the One Lovely Blog & Very Inspiring Blogger Award!!!

My first blogger award ever! *happy dance* Thank you!!! I am so thankful and grateful to be nominated for this lovely award by such incredible bloggers! Please check out their amazing blogs:

Bento-logy

Bentoriffic

Bobbi's Bentos

Healthy Eatings Starts at Home

Zoe's Lunchbox

The Rules for accepting this award are:
1. Thank and link back to the awesome person who nominated you
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers and comment on their blogs to let them know

7 Things About Me: (other than what is listed in my About Me section)

1. I like to make lists. I make lists and write down things I have already done just so I can cross them off. It makes me feel better.

2.  I sometimes eat cookies in my room with the door closed so I don't have to share.

3.  I love to read.  I also read super fast. Depending on how into the book I get I can read a book that is 300+ pages in one day. I get into a zone and just want to finish it! However I cannot speed read for the life of me. If it is a textbook, or something I need to read (usually non-fiction) I read very slowly.

4.  Taking a shower alone in the bathroom is my interpretation of an ideal world at the moment. Right now my 4 year old and my puppy follow me everywhere. Everywhere.

5.  On the very rare occasion that you catch me driving alone in my car you may not recognize me. I get into my own world.  Music blasting, dance party, singing (or rapping depending on my mood) with an empty car seat in the back. Seriously. I know I'm crazy.. I get looks.

6. I find coloring therapeutic sometimes. I love to color and shade (simple shapes), especially with pencils. However I have NO drawing ability. Ask me to draw a dog and you can't tell what it is.. ask me to shape something out of clay? Forget it. I also have been known to keep my own pictures and put them on the wall next to Eliana's. Especially if I am proud of my work. A+ artwork should be displayed regardless of who did it ;) !

7.  I am such a procrastinator. It has been a problem for me since elementary school! I remember I had a huge project due and didn't complete it until the night before. Ever since that time I have had issues with procrastination. Specifically with school related things.  Thank goodness I graduated in May! I am not going back to school anytime soon! :)

15 Bloggers I admire and find inspiring (in alphabetical order)

1. Another Lunch
2. Bento Monsters
3. Bento On Better Lunches
4. Bento School Lunches
5. Family Fresh Meals
6. Hungry Happenings
7. Jenni Price Illustration
8. Keeley McGuire
9. Kitchen Fun with my 3 sons
10. Little Nummies
11. Meet the Dubiens
12. Pixelated Crumb
13.  Sugar Swings! Serve Some
14.  This Lunch Rox
15. Veggie-bento

Here is an award button if you choose to display it!  Thank you for being so inspiring and having lovely blogs :)

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

Volcán Arenal

As you are reading this now, I am in Costa Rica!!!!! (no I can't multi-task like that! I set this to auto-post hehe) My husband was born in Costa Rica so we have a lot of family down here and have been looking forward to going again ever since our last trip five years ago. For this trip we are partaking in a small missions trip with a church and helping out at a camp for very low-income kids, getting together with family, celebrating the abuelos 61st anniversary, and also visiting our favorite place in Costa Rica: Volcán Arenal. It is a full packed week! Since we haven't been in five years a lot has changed and there are lots of new cousins to meet and I am looking forward to it all :)

Here is a picture I took from our last trip to Arenal in July 2007:

You can easily see why it is our favorite place.  The volcano is absolutely gorgeous.  It is also active so that is always fun! ;) I hope to get some good views and pictures of it during our trip because the top of the volcano sometimes is covered by clouds, which is to be expected with such a high altitude. But to see it without any clouds is breathtaking. I can't wait!

So this is Eliana's first trip to Costa Rica!! She could hardly contain herself the week before! Last time we went to Costa Rica I was pregnant with Eliana. So technically she has been ;) haha but of course she doesn't remember any of that. 

I made her a Volcán Arenal Bento right before we left:

I outlined the shape of the volcano on some wheat bread with a brown edible marker and then I cut the shape out with a pair of kitchen scissors.  I later put honey on her bread (not shown in the picture), but it made the volcano darker so it looked even more realistic actually.  At the base of the volcano is gallo pinto (traditional Costa Rican food of white rice and black beans). I put some pieces of broccoli as greenery by the volcano. I added "Arenal" cut from organic fruit leather above the volcano.

In the upper right container we have cauliflower clouds since by the volcano it can be very cloudy :)

In the bottom right Eliana has the colors of the Costa Rican flag in edible form: cut strawberries, blueberries and queso blanco :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Pura Vida!

**Don't forget to enter for a chance to win 4 EasyLunchBox containers and a cooler bag in the color of your choice! Giveaway ends when we return from Costa Rica: July 20 at 11:59 EST.**

Weekend Getaway

Two weeks ago David and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary! I can't believe we've been married 6 years! Feels longer ;) We left Mia with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed a wonderful family weekend away at Hampton Beach with Eliana. It was wonderful to celebrate our six years together with Eliana, who is a part of us and has brought a lot of joy and excitement into our lives :)  I know a lot of couples do only adults or time alone away together to celebrate a wedding anniversary, but we have never been like that.  We do everything together all the time. Which is probably why we drive each other crazy all the time ;)...But I wouldn't have it any other way!

We went to Hampton Beach in NH and relaxed for the weekend.  So I'm sharing a few pictures of our wonderful weekend! I know--I know two weeks late, but better than never! ;)

Family Picture by the beach :)

The gorgeous sunset we saw the first night. I wish I could live on a beach. So peaceful.

We hadn't known this when we planned to go to Hampton Beach, but there were fireworks and a sand sculpting competition planned that weekend! Added surprise to our weekend getaway! Eliana was so thrilled and I'm glad this year fireworks don't scare her anymore :)

I'm always so impressed with sand sculpting. Here are some pictures of the sand sculptures:

And who would have known -- EasyLunchboxes can sand sculpt? ;)

I wanted to make sure we had some healthy snacks while spending the morning at the beach so I filled an EasyLunchBox with some fruits and veggies. It worked out perfect since it fit so well into the hotel's mini fridge! :) So instead of snacking on chips or junk food, which are so easy to find at the beach, we snacked healthy.

Eliana with our snacks :)

I packed blueberries, strawberries, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes and baby carrots. I also brought two cute food picks to prevent the sand from getting in our food. (I don't like eating sand covered fruit). As you can see, sand on her hand, no sand in the food. 

Eliana eating some strawberries. Actually she ate them all before I got a chance to have any! :)

We love our EasyLunchBoxes so much we bring them on our weekend getaway :) 

How much do you love your EasyLunchBoxes?

p.s. Stay tuned later this week for a giveaway celebrating my one year blogiversary! :)

Graduation

This past weekend was full of celebrations and family time.  On Friday I graduated with my Masters Degree of Social Work (**happy dance!!**) YEAH!!! :) You can now refer to me as "Master Michelle" ;) We had a nice ceremony on campus and I was so glad to walk across that stage and get my diploma! All of that hard work paid off and I have the diploma in my hand to prove it! My whole family went out to eat afterwards and had our own celebration dinner at La Casa de Pedro, which was amazing.

However after all the celebrations on Friday I woke up feeling super groggy the next morning.  Even after coffee and breakfast I could not seem to wake up myself. I first thought maybe I was just exhausted from graduation and all.  But on Sunday I had a sore throat, it hurt to swallow and talk, and I was officially sick. Even though I didn't feel that great I did have a wonderful Mother's Day with my family :) My cold turned into a mini flu, and I was in bed all day basically for two days. But today is the first day that I feel better and I hope by tomorrow I will feel back to my normal self!

I wanted to post this last weekend, but being sick and all I am posting this today. For Graduation I made some Chocolate Graduation Caps for me myself and moi (don't judge me! it was all about me that day!) OK. I actually did share. Eventually. ;)

 I got inspiration for this treat from Bakerella's Candy Cup Graduation Caps 

These are so simple to make and would be a perfect treat for a graduation party!

To make these Chocolate Graduation Caps you will need:
*mini dark chocolate Reese's peanut butter cups
*One dark chocolate bar (Lindt Dark 70% cocoa Smooth Dark is what I went with)
*yellow candy melts

*one bar will make 10 graduation caps..I think so.. (I counted after we ate some...whoops)

**update to make these peanut free you could use Sun Cups or make your own cups with a Peanut free spread. I made these before we were aware of Eliana's allergy (she did not eat them because she didn't like peanut butter but we didn't know she was allergic).**

First I stuck the Reese's into the freezer for a few minutes so that the sides didn't come off when I took off the wrapper.  While they were in the freezer I broke my candy bar into squares and I melted my yellow candy melts.  I chose that candy bar because I knew that it was squared off already so breaking it off into squares wouldn't be as difficult.

I unpeeled my Reese's peanut butter cups and placed them upside down on a cookie sheet with parchment (or wax) paper. I used the yellow candy melts as "glue" and put a glob of yellow candy melts on the top of each peanut butter cup. Then placed the chocolate square on top of the peanut butter cup (logo facing down, unless you want to represent Lindt lol). Using the candy melts again I made a dot of yellow in the center and made thin strands for the tassel.  

*It may have been a little neater looking had I bought individually wrapped chocolate squares, or used mini M&M's and other things for the top of the graduation cap but since I had yellow candy melts I decided to use what I had. I also chose not to put them on a stick, because honestly that stick would just get thrown away and I'm not a fan of building up extra trash. But by all means if you want to put it on a stick then be my guest!

~*~*~*~

Since Graduation was at 2 in the afternoon, we were going to leave at about 12:30 to get there in time for me to line up and to make sure everyone got seats. I knew that we would all be hungry, especially Eliana.  So I made her a graduation bento:

I whipped this up lunch quickly before we left for graduation.  I cut up some apple and put them into a flower silicone cup (rubbed them with lemon juice to keep them from browning).  Eliana asked for flowers so I cut up some cucumber and carrots into flowers. I then gave her a mini salami and cheese sandwich with 2012 cut out in fruit leather. I could have stacked two sandwiches on top of each other but Eliana wouldn't have eaten that much. She also wasn't a big fan of the salami either.. And lastly I put a Chocolate Graduation Cap for her (see--I did share! But she didn't eat the whole thing because of the PB. She ate the top and David ate the bottom)  The cute little graduation food picks completed the lunch and made it easy to eat with no utensils :)

That was my first official bento on this blog! I've been making them for quite some time, but honestly haven't had the time to take pictures of them all or post them with the hectic last few months. I look forward to sharing some of the ones Eliana and I have made together soon! :)

I would like to wish everyone who graduated this month, and will graduate this year, whether from grade school, high school, college or grad school, Congratulations!! :)

~Master Michelle, MSW :-)

  

I link up. Check it out! :)

Puppy Lunch

So for lunch today I made Eliana a puppy lunch. Why a puppy lunch you ask? Well because puppies are so cute, cuddly, adorable, playful, energetic and most importantly we just got one!!! Yes you read that correctly! We got a puppy.  We fell in love with a Sheltie puppy..She was the last available girl out of her litter and she melted our hearts and well we couldn't say no.. so we said "this one is mine", named her Mia (mine in Spanish) and took her home ;)  So to celebrate our new puppy I made this fun lunch for Eliana:

To make this lunch I cut a ham and cheese sandwich (or whatever fillings you prefer) into a dog shape with a dog cookie cutter.  I added the small details on the dog (bread crust ear and tail, edible candy eyes and nose, and fruit leather tongue).  For the border I cut grapes to be "balls" because what puppy doesn't like to play with a ball? I then added some Scooby Cinnamon Graham Cracker Sticks (of course in the shape of a dog treat!).  And Let me warn you in advance.. those Scooby biscuits are addicting! ;) Eliana loved the lunch and the fact that it didn't take a lot of time to put together is always nice!


Now of course you are dying to meet Mia aren't you? Well here she is!

Mia at 7 weeks old

You can see why she easily melted our hearts! She is so much fun and Eliana loves to play with her and run around with her. She is the most beautiful Sheltie puppy I have ever seen (just a little bit partial) and I love her personality already.  Mia already plays differently with me versus my husband versus Eliana.. Its quite impressive how she has picked up the differences between us and treats us differently in a matter of days. She likes to cuddle and sleep on me, she likes to rough house with my husband and follow him around, and with Eliana she runs around with her and always wants to play with her as if she literally were a puppy! 

We brought her home last Friday and while we are exhausted from her night time wake-ups to go pee we couldn't be happier! :)  I can see she will be house trained easily, as it hasn't even been a week and there have fewer and fewer accidents each day.. well the biggest part of house training is really training the owner... haha so I guess we are training ourselves well ;) **update** if you'd love to see newer pictures of Mia head over to my Instagram! I share pictures of her all the time there :)


Mia is just perfect for our family.  She was born on November 18, 2011, which happens to be my father's birthday.  It also happens to be the day before our precious pet bird Kiwi died. For us, it has been a healing process.. And it seems like Mia was meant for us :)

Creative Food Supplies:

Goodbye Kiwi

This post has nothing to do with food. So i apologize for that.  I will post some of my newest creations tomorrow.


I write this post with a heavy heart. Two days after I put up my last post and we celebrated five years of having Kiwi he was suddenly taken away from us.  Like I mentioned before we have always let Kiwi have his flying wings and ever since we have been in MA he had a normal flight path from the dining room where his cage was to the kitchen, where he would normally fly right to either David's or my shoulder.  


On Saturday we had only left the dining room for a mere second. We heard Kiwi scream and we ran over.  Kiwi had landed on my parent's parrot's (Baby) cage. Baby had mortally bit Kiwi. We rushed him to the animal emergency hospital but they confirmed what we already knew deep down inside: there was nothing they could do.  We were devastated.


The sudden shock of this violent death of our beloved bird has been very difficult for us.  Kiwi was unlike your normal bird.  He was trained.  He could do tricks, and even was poop potty trained (if thats what you call it for birds). He was always on our shoulder whenever we were home.  We always left the cage open so he could fly to us.  He loved for me to hold him close to my chest and scratch his head.  When I scratched his head he would close his eyes and just rest with me. He would cry for us whenever we left the room.  He liked to snuggle against my neck or inside my bathrobe when he was cold... Like I said. Not your normal bird.  


We loved him very much, and he very much became a part of our family.  Even if you don't like birds you can understand if you imagine your pet suddenly died in a violent way.  Green Cheek Conures can live up to 25 years of age.  We were expecting Kiwi to meet all of our potential kids and be a part of our family for a long time.  Kiwi has been such a constant part of our lives.  In the past five years we have moved to four different states, had different jobs, Eliana was born, I started grad school... Throughout all those years we always had him.  I have never had to do a paper for school without him on my shoulder and his death has really shown me how much he really meant to us.


It was such a freak accident and it is such a complicated situation since Baby is also a part of my family.  My parents got Baby before I was even born. So this situation is very delicate, complex and layered.  It has been a very difficult weekend for us and I know it will take time for us to feel better. I know I will have to get used to the silence.  It has been very quiet since Kiwi is now gone.  He was always chirping in our ears since he loved to snuggle on our necks, next to our ears.  He also loved to "talk" exactly when we were talking... I miss that.. :'(


Hope is the thing with feathers 
That perches in the soul, 
And sings the tune without words, 
And never stops at all. 
Emily Dickinson


RIP Kiwi 06/01/2006- 11/19/2011

Meet Kiwi, our Green Cheek Conure

So five years today my husband David and I got a bird. It was the cutest bird in the pet store.. for days I would just go to the store and play with him through the glass. I looked up all the information I could get on Green Cheek Conures (GCC) and I learned everything there was to know. I even named him before we bought him (oops?). I named him Kiwi. And apparently that is what made my husband make up his mind to get him. So I guess lesson learned? Name the animal you want and your family members will want to get it for you ;) 


All kidding aside I love my Kiwi.  He loves for me to scratch his head, he cries when we leave the room, he loves to sit on my shoulder or to hide in my bathrobe when it is cold, he repeatedly says "I want some" whenever I am eating, regardless of what it is and he LOVES to shower in the sink (he'll shower in the shower too but he prefers the sink!)  All in all he has been such a wonderful bird who is playful, cute, and really not high maintenance (unless you consider the fact that you can't do dishes without him flying over to you and trying to jump into the sink high maintenance lol).  We decided to let his feathers grow so that he can fly.  And he actually has learned to figure out which room in the house we are in and can fly to us and land on our shoulder which can catch you by surprise if you didn't remember you left the cage open! 


This is a picture of Kiwi the day we got him (11/17/2006)

5 month old Kiwi

Kiwi was born in June of 2006.  My husband and I had just gotten married that June.  So of course I thought Kiwi was destined to be ours! Now Kiwi is 5 and my husband and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this past June. This is my most current picture of Kiwi. This is also Kiwi's way of telling me "I want a shower!" He flew to the kitchen sink faucet:

5 year old Kiwi

Alright enough about my bird ;) Now onto food! In June I decided to make a cool lunch for Eliana to celebrate Kiwi's birthday. Sorry for the poor quality in advance.  It was taken with my phone and it was dark that day! 

Happy 5th Birthday Kiwi! :)

I made the parrot sandwich out of a spinach tortilla filled with ham and cheese cut with a parrot cookie cutter.  I cut some of the beak out the spinach tortilla and use a food safe marker to color the cheese underneath to make it look like a beak. For the maroon colored belly I cut out the shape with fruit leather.


The "perch" is a bread crust


The cupcake was cheese that I cut with a small cookie cutter and then decorated it with food safe markers.


"Kiwi" was cut out with cheese with alphabet cutters


I added some raspberries and blueberries for the border


This lunch was fun to do and Eliana loved it! Next time I try to make a sandwich like Kiwi I may want to try to add more colorful tail feathers, but for a first try I was really happy with it.

My First Blog

First things first I think I should let you all know:


1. This is my first blog post.
2. I am not a food photographer (I so wish though). I just use a digital..point and shoot..no real technique.. hopefully I will improve on that
3. Most Importantly I am a mother to a beautiful three year old named Eliana
4. I make cool lunches for my daughter
5. My three year old is my heart and soul
6. I love her with all my heart and my love grows for her everyday
7. My husband is pretty darn amazing too
8. I mean, I guess our daughter wouldn't be here without him...
9. No seriously we've been married for five years and I'm fortunate to have married my best friend
10. We own a green cheeked conure named Kiwi. He is the most cuddly bird you will have ever met. (yes you read that right. cuddle. we have a strange bird..)




So this was my first blog post... we'll see how this goes :)