Eat Your Heart Out

I must confess that my options are limited when it comes to lunches, at least the 'really' creative ones. Being shacked up with my mom while looking for a house means things are packed away completely or difficult to get to, but we still manage to have fun with it. Muffin tins are always an easy option to transform lunch, especially leftovers, into something special. I hope everyone has a wonderful day with their special Valentines!

Orange vanilla yogurt, raisins, Keebler Simply Made cookie, cucumber, leftover rice pilaf and chicken, shredded cheddar jack cheese.

In this lunch...

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Eye Love Ewe - Valentine Hop

The Bento Bloggers & Friends are sharing the love for Valentine's Day with some fantastic ideas for lunches for your little (or not so little) sweethearts. We had to join in on the fun, of course! Be sure and follow through the hop by clicking on the conversation hearts button at the bottom of this post, heading over to Blame It On the Bento next. Happy Valentine's Day!
Pearl couscous, provolone & Colby cheese, red bell pepper, honey Greek yogurt w/ strawberry jam, and raisins and pretzel minis in the 'Cutie' heart.

Pistachios, pretzels, vanilla Greek yogurt w/ strawberry jam, pearl couscous, and mini bell peppers.

In these lunches...

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This Little Heart of Mine

... I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Great, now I'll have that in my head all day. Know what else is on my mind every day? A sweet (most of the time) little girl! And here's an early Valentine lunch for that love of mine!

Trader Joe's kettle potato chips, Colby cheese, dried mango, orange bell pepper, spinach, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

In this lunch...

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It's Friday!

I cannot tell you how glad I am to have this week over with. It has just been one of those weeks. Ugh, and double ugh. A simple lunch was in order. Bits and pieces to the rescue for mama. Happy weekend to all!

Trader Joe's mini 12 grain crackers, Swiss and cheddar cheese, bell pepper, celery, olives, smoked ham, and a kiss (because everybody needs a kiss, right?).

In this lunch...

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Happy Birthday To You!

As anyone reading should know by now, my kiddo turned 5 last week. That means that over the weekend, the official 'party' took place. First thing's first.. I have to extend my gratitude to my girlfriend that hosted the party at her house since we remain 'homeless' at the moment. Okay, not homeless. I shouldn't say that. My mom has been wonderful to have us in her home during our 'transition', but it's a little crazy around there, so having the party in a different environment was nice.

This year, the theme of choice was dinosaurs, which has been somewhat of an obsession for the kiddo. And by obsession, I mean obsession with a capital 'O' .. and 'B' .. and 'S' .. well, you get the idea. Note the dino tail from Halloween that had to get worn again for the occasion. I will also say that we have an unhealthy abundance of carnivores in our house. It can get pretty crazy if you aren't careful.

They kind of look like they were watching me, but it might just be that I frosted them at 1am. Maybe it was the lack of sleep?? What do you think?

Normally, I make a butter cookie, but this time, I tried a different recipe that required no chilling of the dough. I loved how they rolled out, baked, and tasted, of course. I even froze them to store before party time and they did great. I just decorated them after they thawed. Aren't they cute?? Then, there's cake, right? I looked to the experts again at our local Patisserie to do the baking, but I took over decorating for better or worse. The kiddo insisted on a red/orange Stegosaurus on the top of the cake, so I found some clip art, edited some things out of it, and colored the F'n thing pixel by pixel to have it printed on chewy, nasty edible paper for the top of the cake. Yeah, I'm totally taking credit for it. It alone took more time than it took them to bake and frost the cake, so yeah. Then, I rolled out and stamped fondant dinosaurs that I stuck on around the base of the cake. I'll also take the credit for the big knuckle print in the buttercream because of it. Damn knuckles.

And, yes, there is even more news to come.. so stay tuned...

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