Burger Bear Bento Lunch Box

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For dinner last night, I made Homemade Chicken and Mushroom Burgers for the grown ups and I also made smaller burgers for this cute Burger Bear Bento Lunch Box  for Mr 1.5. He just adores bears and as I have a few different sized teddy cutters, there were a few different sized bears - Mummy Bear and her Baby Bears!

The smaller bears are burgers and I used a bigger bear to cut the buns (and there's a burger sandwiched between them too) I thought the teddy wholemeal roll looked quite cute and fluffy myself!

The bears are surrounded by a forest of peas, a shining sun of corn and a tomato sauce star.

Through the meal we sang "Teddy Bear's Picnic" and ended up with a "little teddy" with a full tummy!

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The Perfect Homemade Chicken & Mushroom Burger

The secret to my Homemade Chicken & Mushroom Burgers is that I grate a few mushrooms INTO the (free range) chicken mince, along with oat bran, egg and seasoning to bind and flavor the Chicken & Mushroom Burgers. I simply grill them, along with mushrooms and onions, and pile it all together on a wholesome four seed burger bun - Delicious!

For Mr 1.5, I used the same recipe and made a Burger Bear Bento!

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Smoked Salmon & Pasta Muffin Tin Meal

Mr 3 may be a little fussy eater, but he sure does have expensive taste! Smoked Salmon is one of his absolute favourite foods. I usually serve it to him in the same way - on toast with cream cheese.

I thought I'd be a tad creative with his smoked salmon and make a muffin tin meal out of it by serving the smoked salmon as the "centerpiece", surrounded by pasta, cucumbers and a bit of cream cheese for dipping.

The meal was enjoyed and will most definitely be repeated!

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Hello Kitty Bento

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I found this cute Hello Kitty divided plate a few weeks back and couldn't resist adding it to my (growing) children's plate collection.

Yes, I have two boys and pretty soon both won't want anything to do with pink. Mr 3 is already adamant that "girls like pink and purple and boys like blue and orange". Thankfully my "baby" of 20 months has no idea about gender colors, so was excited to be presented with a plate with a kitty in the middle and edible kitty paws!

The Hello Kitty Bento Meal consists of star shaped cucumbers, strawberries and mini burgers cut into paws - Hello Kitty Paws!

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Gluten Free Sesame Muffins - Wordless Wednesday

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I've been playing around with these Gluten Free Sesame Muffins the past month or so, I've made them a few times and while I like them, the family isn't too keen, so I thought I'd share them briefly this Wordless Wednesday and move on from experimenting with them!

To make them, simply beat 3 egg whites until stiff, then in a separate bowl, beat 3 yolks and 1/4 cup honey until smooth. Then fold through the egg yolks a 1/3 cup almond meal (ground almonds) and 3/4 cup sesame seeds. Finally, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture, pop into 12 muffin papers and bake in a 180°C oven for 10 to 15 mins. 

I find them to be full of honey, sesame flavour and enjoy one as a morning/afternoon snack! 


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Happy Valentines Day - Muffin Tin Meal

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Happy Valentines Day! Mr 3 has been sick at home the past few days, so I put together this fruity Muffin Tin Meal to fill him up with nutritious fruit to help him get his strength back.

There are strawberries, apples (some cut in hearts) and grapes. I was doubtful whether he'd eat the strawberries because for the past months he has politely refused them when offered - but for some reason the strawberries were the 1st to go and he admitted "I Like Strawberries"!

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Baked Potato & Beans Bento Box

This Baked Potato & Beans Bento Box was prepared for Mr 1.5. I thought it would be a fun and different way for him to enjoy baked beans and potatoes.

The Bento Box also includes 2 Cheese Bears, Peas & Corn. Cheese is one of Mr 1.5's favorite foods, in fact we have to spell the word in front of him or he runs to the fridge asking for cheese - actually we can't even say similar words or he thinks cheese is coming his way!

When he realised the little bears were cheese (which I'd cut from the block of cheese using little cutters), he couldn't believe his luck and the little bears disappeared before my eyes!

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Bento Lunch Box - Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday! This is a lunch I made for Mr 3 this week - simply avocado sandwich triangles, peaches and grapes! I love the engaging and inviting color combination of the fruit!

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French Toast Hearts - Muffin Tin Meal

I've mentioned in the past my struggles to get Mr 3 to eat eggs. So, for his Muffin Tin Meal this week, I cooked some French Toast, spread it with jam and cut it into little hearts to fit in a heart shaped muffin tin.

The usual struggle to keep him at the table and get him to finish his meal wasn't an issue with this fun Muffin Tin Meal! The hearts were empty of French Toast before I knew it! A resounding success!

I kept all the french toast off-cuts and gave them to Mr 1.5 for his dinner on his favorite Sesame Street plate - so nothing went to waste!

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Healthy Nutty Beef Schnitzel

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These Healthy Nutty Beef Schnitzel and crumbed with ground almonds in place of breadcrumbs. It's a delicious way to turn a usually high fat and high carb dish into a richly nutritious one. These beef schnitzels are baked not fried, making them EVEN healthier than the deep fried variety.

Schnitzels are one of those recipes that it's difficult to give exact measurements for because it depends on the size of your schnitzels. It's best to follow the method and use as much flour and ground almonds as you need to fully coat each beef schnitzel. I tend to throw a few tablespoonfuls into a bowl and regularly top it up, so that the flour/ground almonds keeps clean and free from bits of meat (for the flouring stage) and egg (for the ground almonds stage). 

Healthy Nutty Beef Schnitzel
4 Beef Schnitzel Pieces
Plain Flour
1 Egg, Beaten
Ground Almonds

1. I like to get organised, by laying out the bowls and plates with the flour, egg and ground almonds, and having a baking tray covered in baking paper or aluminum foil and greased, ready and waiting for the schnitzels.

2. Dip the schnitzels in the flour to coat, then dip in the egg and lastly straight into the ground almonds. Pat the schnitzel all over and turn over to completely cover the schnitzel in the ground almonds.
3. Once each piece is completely crumbed in the ground almonds, place the beef schnitzel  onto the prepared baking tray.

4. Place the baking tray in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The time in the fridge is worth it because you're rewarded with sturdy, tender beef schnitzels as a result of the fridge time. 
5. Once the Schnitzels have had their 30 minutes in the fridge, preheat the oven to 180°C. When the oven has reached the temperature, bake the Beef Schnitzels for about 35 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking time. 


These Beef Schnitzels are nutty, crunchy and tender. They were a real hit with the family - my Hubby loved a little Tomato Sauce drizzled over the Schnitzels, made for a yummy dish!

Snowman Bento Lunch

This Snowman was Mr 3's Bento Lunch a few days ago made from a couple of jam sandwiches, some slices of carrots and cranberries.

I used 2 different sized cups to cut small and large circles to make the head and body of the snowman. The feet are also sandwiches, cut using a  feet-shaped cookie cutter. I cut his carrot hands out with a hand-shaped cookie cutter.

Today he asked for a Snowman again because he enjoyed eating Mr Snowman's feet, hands and buttons so much the other day!

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Bento Lunches - Fishy Egg, Stars & Hearts

The above Bento Lunch was prepared for Mr 1.5 at home this week. The hard boiled egg was molded into a fishy shape, which delighted Mr 1.5. I included some frozen peas and corn as it was a hot day here in Melbourne and I thought it would be a refreshing element to his Bento Lunch. In the purple wrapper is an Oaty Cranberry & Seed Bite which brought some extra nutritious goodness to his lunch. 

I've discovered this week that Mr 3 will ONLY eat his lunch from the clear plastic box (below) - yesterday I thought I'd be creative and give him a red box only to be called by his kinder that he was refusing to eat from the box because he didn't believe it was his!! Doh!! I felt rather silly and will now be sticking to his every day box for kinder lunches.

This is a lunch I prepared earlier in the week - toasted cheese (his lunchbox favorite!) with grapes and hearts & stars shaped cucumber. He actually ATE the cucumber, which was a real surprise so I'll be making sure I include cucumber more often from now!

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5 Fun and Healthy Fruit Snack Ideas

Here are 5 Fun and Healthy Fruit Snack Ideas that even the pickiest of eaters will find a challenge to say no to...

Various cookie cutters were used to cut bears from apple pieces, and cranberries were used for the bear's eyes, nose and mouth.

Presenting green and crimson grapes together is appealing to the eye and a pattern kids are easily drawn to.

This kiwi and banana flower was enough to convince my picky eater to try kiwi fruit.

If your apples are a little rough around the edges, simply serve then in slices with some yoghurt for dipping. Irresistible to my kids!

When it's mango season Mr 3 practically BEGS me to make him Mango Hedgehogs by slicing a mango half into horizontal and vertical slices. 

Those are just a few of the kids favorites. I'd love to hear about how your kids enjoy their fruit.  

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